Good Things

Certain movies, songs, and books have given shape to my life and work. Others have given me some of my happiest moments. I’ve tried to gather all the best stuff on one page.

Books
Movies // TV
Music
Comics
The Real World


Books

I record all the books I read on Goodreads. Ten of my favorites:

  1. Worm, Wildbow*
  2. The Book of Disquiet, Fernando Pessoa
  3. Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality, Eliezer Yudkowsky*
  4. Oblivion, David Foster Wallace
  5. The Collected Stories of Lydia Davis, Lydia Davis
  6. The Dark Forest, Liu Cixin
  7. Getting Things Done, David Allen
  8. The Neapolitan Quartet, Elena Ferrante
  9. Catch-22, Joseph Heller
  10. Sapiens, Yuval Harari

* = Free to read online

I’ve reviewed many books on Goodreads. I’ve also written posts about the best books I read in:


Movies // TV

I’ve rated every movie or television series I remember watching on IMDB.

Top five for each:

Movies

  1. Life in a Day
  2. The Act of Killing
  3. Synecdoche, New York
  4. The Incredibles
  5. Kung Fu Hustle

Television

  1. Avatar: The Last Airbender // The Legend of Korra
  2. Rick and Morty
  3. Freaks and Geeks
  4. Azumanga Daioh
  5. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood


Music

I listen mostly to electronic dance music, but also everything else.

Songs

Not my top 30, but 30 of my top 300.

  1. Just One Second, London Elektricity
  2. Ghost Love Score, Nightwish
  3. 13 Angels On My Broken Windowsill (Fractal remix), BT
  4. Stompbox (Spor Remix), The Qemists
  5. It’s Too Late, The Streets
  6. Worldwide Choppers, Tech N9ne (ft. lots of other people)
  7. Still With Me (Seven Lions Remix), Tritonal
  8. Almost Human, High Contrast
  9. Together, The New Pornographers
  10. The Choice, Rory Kane (ft. Nika Rosa Danilova)
  11. 9x Outta 10, DJ Quik & Kurupt
  12. Just a Thought, Fred V & Grafix (ft. Reija Lee)
  13. You and Me (Flume Remix), Disclosure (ft. Eliza Doolittle)
  14. Stem/Long Stem, DJ Shadow
  15. How Could You, Maduk
  16. Without You, Danny L. Harle
  17. Moving Glowstream, Eskmo
  18. Urge For Going, Joni Mitchell
  19. Witchcraft, Pendulum
  20. Popcorn, Hot Butter
  21. Ain’t Cha, Clipse
  22. Someone Great, LCD Soundsystem
  23. Never Say Die, CHVRCHES
  24. Archangel, Burial
  25. Hitz, Chase & Status (ft. Tinie Tempah)
  26. XO, Beyonce
  27. Come Together, Camo & Crooked
  28. California, Grimes
  29. Daydreaming, Paramore
  30. Pessimist, Koven



Artists

A few favorites, in alphabetical order:

Adam Ant, Angel Haze, Aphex Twin, araabMUZIK, Arcade Fire, Bjork, Broken Social Scene, Camo & Crooked, Chase & Status, CHVRCHES, Citay, Das Racist, Dead Sara, Depeche Mode, Florence and the Machine, Fox Stevenson, Garbage, Gorillaz, Japandroids, Jlin, Joni Mitchell, Jurassic 5, Kathryn Calder, Koven, London Elektricity, Lorde, Manic Street Preachers, Merchandise, Moby, Neko Case, Nero, Netsky, Nightwish, Outkast, Pendulum, Phantogram, Radiohead, Robyn, Run the Jewels, Seven Lions, Sleater-Kinney, Sleigh Bells, Special Request, Starkey, Tech N9ne, The Chemical Brothers, The Decemberists, The Flashbulb, The Lonely Island, The New Pornographers, The Stone Roses, The Streets, Trentemoller, TV on the Radio, Venetian Snares, Wiley, Yo La Tengo

Albums

A Long Way to Fall, Ulrich Schnauss

Black Noise, Pantha Du Prince

Blackwater Park, Opeth

Body Talk, Robyn

Bright and Vivid, Kathryn Calder

Dig Your Own Hole, The Chemical Brothers

Endtroducing, DJ Shadow

Endless, Fox Stevenson

Funeral, Arcade Fire

Hug of Thunder, Broken Social Scene

I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One, Yo La Tengo

Imani Vol. 1, Blackalicious

Immersion, Pendulum

It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, Public Enemy

New Forms, Roni Size & Reprazent

No More Idols, Chase & Status

Plastic Beach, Gorillaz

Selected Ambient Works 85-92, Aphex Twin

Silent Alarm, Bloc Party

The Stone Roses, The Stone Roses

Drops

Songs that are good overall and also have ten seconds that make me want to jump over a building or surf through a volcanic eruption.

  1. Billboard, S-Type
  2. Turn It Around, Sub Focus (ft. Kele)
  3. More Than You, Koven
  4. No Turning Back, SPL
  5. Summer of the Occult, Seven Lions
  6. Led Astray (Culprate remix), Friction
  7. Between Two Points, The Glitch Mob
  8. I Need You (T-Mass Remix), Ramses B
  9. Let You Go, Chase & Status (ft. M. Ali)
  10. Mediums, The Upbeats
  11. Going Through Hell (Dot Rotten Remix), The Streets
  12. Jah No Partial, Major Lazer (ft. Flux Pavillion)
  13. Relapse, ShockOne (ft. Sam Nafie)
  14. Heartbeat (Calyx & Teebee Remix), Wilkinson (ft. P Money & Arlissa)
  15. Clockworks, Canblaster


Comics

  1. XKCD
  2. Subnormality
  3. Kiwis by Beat (especially Minus and Great) (complete)
  4. Calvin and Hobbes (complete)
  5. Transdimensional Brain Chip (complete)
  6. SMBC
  7. Hark! A Vagrant
  8. Digger (complete)
  9. Strong Female Protagonist

Transdimensional Brain Chip is much, much better than it looks.

Subnormality is hard to get into, but it’s worth the effort once you’re through the early comics. Here are a few of my favorites, all of which can be enjoyed without reading the rest:


The Real World

Laser Tag: My favorite thing to do in physical space. I hope it becomes a professional sport once we live in a post-scarcity society.

Frisbee: My second-favorite thing to do in physical space. Projectiles that fly reliably in straight lines aren’t nearly as much fun.

Food: Hot chocolate from Spain, sourdough from San Francisco, sushi from anywhere, protein bars from everywhere.