January 5th - January 11th 2026

Movies

• Joe Dirt | 2001 - I was gifted this physical DVD, two spliffies, and some snacks as a white elephant this past Christmas. First, S-tier white elephant idea. Second, this movie is really solid! It’s painful watching how explicitly terrible people are to ol’ Joe Dirt, but the bombastic, all over the place nature of story really makes you get on Joe Dirt’s side by the end. It’s fucking funny and worth a watch, spliffies only enhancing the experience.

Music

• JANE DOE | Kenshi Yonezu & Hikaru Utada - It makes me feel things :')
• Isabella’s Lullaby | Takahiro Obata - Elegance.

Podcasts

• Henrike Kohpeiss “Bourgeois Coldness” | New Books in Sociology - Have you ever wondered why and how your rich friend seems both brought to their knees by how terrible society is, yet can do nothing about it? A empathetic and philosophical conversation that bridges the Black radical tradition with the Frankfurt school - cool shit.
• Brendan Carr is a dummy | The Vergecast - Brendan Carr is the FCC chairman. The FCC is a federal agency that… and we are asleep. Look, if you’ve ever wondered why streaming is now more expensive than cable and why Jimmy Kimmel is allowed to be threatened by the President, listen to this podcast.

Books/Manga

• Hungerstone | Kat Dunn | 2025 - Finally finished it! I was told this book is a good “baby’s first gothic horror,” and I would generally co-sign that description. The writing and story aren’t particularly striking in any way. The pacing is slow, to say the least. There aren’t any significant plot twists, though there are moments of nice tension. It’s an easy read through and through with some exceptional lines and a treatment of the main character that is painful to read (in the best way) at times, for those of us who have also given away their power like Lenore. The ending is acceptable, though I wish there was more after the finale. Overall, I’m happy I read the book, it wasn’t too long nor difficult to read, and it helps me contextualize a historic text without reading the original.
• Love Bullet Volume 1 | Yurikuma Arashi | 2025 - I have complicated feelings about this yuri. On the one hand, it’s a super novel concept that brings elements the best action manga into the world of yuri. On the other hand, the main character can’t fall in love. What the fuck is that about?? I do think it’s fine as I love genre experimentation and the first “case” that the mc has to deal with is appropriately heartbreaking, I just don’t know if I will stick with it if I have to watch romance through the filter of an unromanceable mc. TBD.

YouTube

• I Want To Tell You About My Favorite Halo Level | Thane Biship - An excellent video essay on the last Bungie entry in the Halo franchise <3
• I Played Mass Effect: Andromeda 9 Years Later… Is It Worth Playing? | Ashton Lovell - As someone who deeply love the Mass Effect trilogy, with all of its flaws, I come back to this question at least once per year. If you ever need to squash that feeling, well, here you go. :/