2019.01.02
Disappointing stuff in gray, great stuff in red, really great stuff in red and bold. The +- after the number is how it compared to 2017.
Still feels weird to think about how I am sort of gamifying my media consumption - plowing through a book I'm not digging just so I can put in a notch as "done", but hey.
Movies at the Cinema (8 (+4))
Black Panther,
The Princess Bride,
The Avengers: Infinity War,
Deadpool 2,
Ocean's Eight,
Solo: A Star Wars Story,
Bohemian Rhapsody,
Aquaman
Not much to say here, though "Into the Spider-Verse" would probably have been a better bet than Aquaman, which was way too "lets make sure we hit every trope, hard". I guess I tend to go for big spectacle films in the theater.
Movies on Video or Streaming (37 (+4))
Dave Chappelle: Equanimity,
Dave Chapelle: The Bird Revelation,
Sarah Silverman: Speck of Dust,
Thor,
The Avengers,
Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby,
Slaughterhouse-Five,
Snatch,
Lady Bird,
MST3K: Prince of Space,
Thor: Ragnarok,
Kingsmen: The Secret Service,
Dr. Strange,
Captain America: The First Avenger,
Ant-Man,
Breakfast at Tiffany’s ,
Jupiter Ascending,
Top Gun,
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2,
Blazing Saddles,
The Disaster Artist,
2:22,
The Little Hours,
The Shape of Water,
Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels,
Touch of Evil,
Stick It,
Life of Brian,
Pirate Radio,
From Russia with Love,
The Big Lebowski,
Bad Moms,
Seven Samurai,
Apocalypse Now,
Ready Player One,
O Brother Where Art Thou?,
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
Looking back, "Dr. Strange" has really stuck with me - the reality warping is similar to "Inception", and the way Dr. Strange wins the final battle is quite striking. "Pirate Radio" would have been better if it hadn't been expurgated. "Bad Moms" had a surprisingly kicking soundtrack. Towards the end of the list, I start getting into films I'm watching because of that "100 Films You Should See" scratch-off poster I bought; I was sort of gratified that I was already 2/3 done when I got it - the ones remaining all seem worthy, though some are challenging.
TV Show Seasons (8 (-2))
Black Mirror Season 4,
Wild Wild Country,
Archer Danger Island (Season 9),
Marching Orders,
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia Season 12,
Monty Python Season 1,
Disenchantment,
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia Season 13
When "Black Mirror" hits, it really nails it, finding the philosophical implications that good sci-fi has always drawn out.
It's been interesting seeing "Archer" reinvent itself and play with the "characters as tropes/characters" bit.
I was hoping "Marching Orders" would be a bit more like "Drumline" but it was kind of reality TV.
Books (32 (--))
Life, God, and Other Small Topics,
Slaughterhouse Five,
Lagom (not too little, not too much),
Truly Tasteless Jokes,
Letters (Kurt Vonnegut),
100 Ideas that Changed Graphic Design,
Pastoralia,
The Orange Girl,
The Compassionate Mind Guide to Overcoming Anxiety,
How to Survive the End of the World (when it's in your own head),
12 Rules for Life: an antidote for chaos ,
Breakfast at Tiffany's,
Searching for Stars on an Island in Maine,
In Cold Blood,
The Swerve: How the World Became Modern,
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet,
Yearnings,
A Closed and Common Orbit,
The Philosophy of Andy Warhol (From A to B and Back Again),
Of Mules and Men,
My Favorite Shorts,
Callahan's Crosstime Saloon,
Katamari Damacy (Bossfight Books),
Creative Quest,
The Complete Fables (Aesop),
Envisioning Information,
Brief Answers to the Big Questions,
Cherry,
Time's Arrow,
Play Anything,
YT-1300 Milleniim Falcon Owners’ Workshop Manual,
Fire Sermon
Slaughterhouse Five suggestion of what time might be puts it as my second favorite Vonnegut book, behind only the incomparable "Cats Cradle". "The Swerve" introducing me to classical Epicureanism - the idea that maybe seeking personal gentle happiness and pleasure can be a moral good (especially if you have a baseline of 'I'm happier when I act in accordance with solid principles of morality I was taught") might end up being very important to me in the long run.
Bell hooks' "Yearnings" broadened by mind on American racism, and with "My Favorite Shorts" I was glad to discover Spider Robinson.
Martin Amis' "Time's Arrow" exercise in a life felt and observed (but not lived) in reverse, with poetic swaps of cause and effect, was also striking.
Audiobooks (11 (-1))
Watership Down,
So My Dad Wrote a Porno Season 1,
So My Dad Wrote a Porno Season 2,
Consciousness and the Brain,
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas,
So My Dad Wrote a Porno Season 3,
The River of Consciousness
So My Dad Wrote a Porno Season 4,
Retronauts,
The Talk Show,
Waking Up with Sam Harris
I guess I moved away from Audiobooks, preferring podcasts
(and deciding to mention the Podcast I consistently listen to).
"So My Dad Wrote a Porno " makes me laugh more than almost anything else I listen to.
Comic / Graphic Novel (9 (-1))
Star Wars: Heir to the Empire,
Star Wars: Dark Force Rising,
Star Wars: The Last Command,
Mooncop,
Step Aside, Pops,
I Never Liked You,
The Hic & Hoc Illustrated Journal of Humor,
Batman: White Knight,
Woman World
Discovered "comics on large iPad" which is kind of pleasant.
Video Games (15 (+6))
Florence,
Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild,
Zelda Breath of the Wild: The Champions' Ballad,
WarioWare Gold,
Lesbian Spider-Queens of Mars,
Crackdown,
Monument Valley,
Forgotten Shores,
Ida's Dream,
Picture Cross,
Monument Valley 2,
I'm Ping Pong King,
Just Cause 4,
It Is As If You Were Making Love,
The Farmer's Daughter
It's kind of funny that "Florence", a delightful little poem
of a mobile game, gets the same rating as the new "Zelda", a truly sprawling and amazing epic, but such is gaming life! Ditto replays of games from a few year back, "Lesbian Spider-Queens of Mars" Wizard of Wor like handcrafted gaming fun with "Crackdown", a truly stupid and violent yet engaging adolescent empowerment fantasy. Monument Valley is a lovely little IOS puzzle game I finally got to finish, and "I'm Ping Pong King" was a study in the small. "Just Cause 4" should probably be a little higher, since it's assuredly a more fun game than Crackdown, but since it was somewhat inferior to 3, eh.
Olives are the perfect snack for anyone who loves the taste of drowning at sea
Jerry Falwell Jr:
There's two kingdoms. There's the earthly kingdom and the heavenly kingdom. In the heavenly kingdom the responsibility is to treat others as you'd like to be treated. In the earthly kingdom, the responsibility is to choose leaders who will do what's best for your country. Think about it. Why have Americans been able to do more to help people in need around the world than any other country in history? It's because of free enterprise, freedom, ingenuity, entrepreneurism and wealth. A poor person never gave anyone a job. A poor person never gave anybody charity, not of any real volume. It's just common sense to me.Jesus:
You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions!
A Hippo is faster than a human both on land and in water, so the bicycle is your only chance to beat it in triathlon