06/01/25
Happy new year!
Had a mostly chill end of year ‘break’ (although I was still working through most of it). I’ve been feeling kinda anti-online lately so haven’t been motivated to update much. Hope all is well out there!
Playing: Red Dead Redemption 2
Reading: Acceptance – Jeff VanderMeer
Listening: Cartoon Darkness – Amyl and the Sniffers
Watching: Nosferatu, Killers of the Flower Moon, Space Jam
Oh also, my whack.zone domain is running out soon-ish and is too expensive to bother renewing, since I’m not really using this site for anything special to justify having it in addition to williamhackworth.com.
I don’t think I’m necessarily going to transfer the whole Blog format to my main site, since I haven’t found a good way to regularly use it.
I do really like the ‘Now’ status update format, so I will likely just move that to the main site and use it to blast out little posts every now and again.
Stay tuned, I guess!
Movies of 2024
This is my last lil 2024 media wrap-up post.
I made an effort this year to watch more movies and think about them a little bit more and give them star ratings (full stars only) on Letterboxd which has turned out to be a really good time.
I don’t think I have a whole lot to say to these, but here’s some takeaways:
- The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert rules, and is astonishing for the time that it was made and the cast that it has.
- The Star Wars original trilogy will forever be good, and the prequels will forever be bad. Rogue One is the best.
- Old Pixar films are the ultimate sick/hangover comfort watches.
Music of 2024
2024 was a great year for new music for me! Although, my top albums of the year are a mix of new releases and classics.
Standout for me would be Amyl and the Sniffers’ excellent Cartoon Darkness, but I would highly recommend their previous releases as well. I’m super annoyed that I missed the sale of their two Brisbane shows early this year. Oh well.
I was surprised to see Vinocio‘s Cafe Tortoni as my most listened album of the year. That album, as well as Me Estas Haciendo Mal are excellent albums to have on while concentrating on work, which is clearly how I’ve managed so many plays.
Not specifically featured here is Ilan Amores’ recent release Caballo Negro, which is quickly becoming a favourite of mine behind Borí Borí 1.
Midnight Crawler are still a criminally underrated Dungeon Synth Beats artist, of which I am still somehow the only supporter of both of their releases on Bandcamp!
Anyway, all these albums rule. Give em a listen if you don’t know them already!
Books of 2024
Here are the books I read in 2024 according to my Storygraph profile!
I’m glad I got 12 in after all, to try to maintain my vague goal from the last few years of reading at least one book per month of the year.
It’s been really rewarding to dive into the First Knowledges series and learn more about the Aboriginal history in this country. Highly recommended for anybody curious about the culture of the Aboriginal people, and even indigenous people around the world who have oral histories.
On the horror front, I’ve still been semi-keeping up with the Last Words Book Club, with my favourite by far from this year being Tender is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica – a harrowing read about our relationship to meat and how it is sourced.
Lastly, I’ve been really enjoying returning to the Southern Reach series with Authority. I read Annihilation back in 2022 and loved it but didn’t continue the series at the time. Once I get through Acceptance and the newly released Absolution, I’d love to revisit Annihilation with all the knowledge from the rest of the series.
With heaps of travel planned in 2025, I’m really looking forward to exploring lots of new reads in different genres!
Nintendo Sound Clock Alarmo™
wow I can’t believe I get to Engage with the Nintendo Brand as my first thought every morning and it only costs me $99 USD and a Nintendo Switch Online subscription!
don’t think i’ve ever been as bored by a console announcement as the ps5 pro
$1200 dollarydoos and it still can’t play Bloodborne at 60fps 🗑️
Welp, I’d better start updating the ol’ website again.
Cohost, the Only Good Social Media Website, is shutting down. I didn’t post there often, but it was the only place that I did occasionally drop some thoughts, and it is full of wonderful people that I enjoyed following.
I’ll be looking out for a new community online. But until then, I might just drop some thoughts here.
Catch you later!
