BOOKS! It is 2016 and I read some BOOKS!

I will not apologise for watching so much tv in 2016 because well it was mostly very very good and also it is probably what I like the most. I did also read some real life actual books though, and I can't remember a time I actually finished so many in a year and enjoyed a good proportion of them so here we go! The best 5 I read all of in 2016:

The Soul of an Octopus by Sy Montgomery. I wanted to read this again immediately as soon as I finished hey. I now have the lifegoal of being able to befriend or at least meet an octopus one day and look in their eyes and have it grab at my arms with its crazy lil suckers. Also I don't think I can eat them anymore which should be devastating because they are so delicious but so far I have really not found it so hard to say no. I love u, octopuses, pls spare me when you take over the earth.

And then in no particular order and without explanations cos guess what I just can't be bothered:

The Natural Way of Things by Charlotte Wood
The Girl with Seven Names: A North Korean Defector's Story by Hyeonseo Lee
A Murder Without Motive by Martin McKenzie-Murray
Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl by Carrie Brownstein

TV in 2016: Very very good

Hoooooly smokes TV in 2016 was so good omg! Here is a list of tv shows made this year that I LOOOOOVED. It feels like there are so many! In a little bit of a particular order:

BASKETS. My god, I love this show. I love everything and everyone in this show. 4EVA.

BrainDead. This one too. Everyone was great. It was so much fun. RIP.

The Night Of. It made me so itchy but it was worth it. Vote #1 John Turturro to be in everything pls.

Stranger Things. Few things are better to me than adventures of kids riding bikes through the 'burbs.

Search Party. Feel like every show I've listed so far I wanna say how much I love the cast. This too.

Love. Oh man this was SO LONG AGO. 

Divorce. Who knew Thomas Haden Church was so great? Oh everyone? Ok.

The Good Place. This is on some dumb break & if it doesn't actually come back I will be MAD.

3%. This Brazilian dystopian thriller series was very enjoyable. How good is Netflix, guys, really.

OJ Made in America. Good and better than the dramatised version for sure.

American Crime Story. Feel like this got a bit TOO much hype? Luv u Sarah Paulson, tho.

Last Chance U. Ahh I forgot about this! Rude. Probably the best 2016 doco series I watched.

Making A Murderer. Ok here's another doco, technically Dec '15 but it deserves a big mention. Oof.

Noooo I didn't get around to Horace & Pete or Atlanta or the new season of Rectify, I am certain they'd be up there if I did.

Special mentions to shows in second+ seasons that were also still great: Catastrophe, Veep, Togetherness (RIP), UnREAL (although... pushing it, guys, pls take a breath and calm down), Another Period, Silicon Valley, Jane the Virgin, Orange Is The New Black (though I feel like most of that season could've been one episode and just get to the last couple of episodes?), Bojack Horseman, Transparent...

And things I just discovered and got all caught up on:

Difficult People & American Crime. Both of those were SO GREAT. They should get a ranking above those 2nd seasoners above. A++ for all their seasons.

Oh oh also Narcos! And Olive Kitteridge! Damnnnnn.

Thumbs down award goes to Westworld which I got through 5 minutes of, and In Treatment which I got through way too many episodes of before realising there was a billion still to go. 11.22.63 was duuuuumb. Oh and The Crown made me develop a napping habit like no other. Pitch started so promising but got disappointingly cheesy and not that great but maybe doesn't deserve a thumbs down I guess. File with Nashville and The Good Wife for easy viewing. There are so many other shows I got through not even a full episode of but there's no need to be so mean about them here.

In conclusion I probably spent too much of 2016 watching tv but what ya gonna do? Recommend some more? Yes please.

Top 5: Documentary Topics

I'd watch these topics all day every day.

Deep Sea Creatures

Cults/Extremo Religion/Scientology

True Crime Mystery

Elephants (happy ones pls)

Old People

Ok if anyone has specific recommendations on any of these please tell me.

TV Opinions: 2015

HI! I might as well keep going with these eh? I finally got around to listening to Fresh Air's best of 2015 episode and I kid you not I was yelling at my phone/the TV guy over his picks. I'm trying to try this mai pen rai attitude of Thailand but sometimes it is hard, you know. I mean.. Mr Robot? Gimme a break. In no particular order:

Togetherness was always going to rate pretty highly for me lets face it.

Another Period. Every person in this show was/is just the straight up greatest. This could have gone so wrong but they got it so right. I could listen to Armen Weitzman forever. Aw just looking at this picture now how tiny is Natasha Leggero?? So tiny!

Bloodline. I mean again this show had me from before it began. Coach Taylor and Lindsay Weir? Pretty winning combination. I enjoyed everything else about it too though. A+

UnREAL. This was a nice surprise! I don't remember how or why I started (TFids?) but it was a fun drama to get hooked on and hit just the right amount of bullshit reality tv that I can handle. Roswell girl and Constance Zimmer (which is a baseball name if ever I heard one) were both great!

Catastrophe. Yessss just great.

Master of None awwww shit I left this out and am sneakily adding it in 3 hours later. I will never forgive myself but please can you? This show was beyond excellent I am still so pleased just thinking about it.

Other Space was enjoyable too! I just saw it didn't get a second season (Yahoo TV haha woops) but I hope everyone in it shows up somewhere else soon.

Transparent I thought was 2015 but turns out it was 2014? Buuuuut I didn't have a list last year so here is a big old mention to it here. Great enough to be counted as the best of the two years combined? Definitely.

Honorable mentions to non 2015 shows I watched for the first time: BoJack Horseman, Getting On, Review, Jane the Virgin.

Thumbs down to Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Clipped & Mr Robot. Oh and maybe a half thumbs down to Better Call Saul. Bye!

A top 5 after 5 weeks in Bangkok (7 months later)

I just found this post that never got published, I assume because blogger is a goddamn piece of shit. So here it is, I stand by these 5 things though probably could add another 20. Thailand is still generally a great place to live, almost 8 months in.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -
July 2, 2015:

I have lived in Bangkok for about 5 weeks now here are a few of my favourite things:

* Cute babies everywhere:

* Super efficient and refrigerated train system.

* Hailing a taxi by making a gentle palm down wave motion "like you are patting a dog on the head".

* All kinds of tiny, delicious & cheap as shit street foods:

* Seem to be pretty happy and kind people?

Seriously this "land of smiles" is no bullshit. I'm sure there's a decent amount of just saving face but they're at least trying. I can almost feel that Australian cynicism fading every day. I bristle when I read someone back home making a snarky comment about something out of habit. Something that I would usually find funny but now am like cool your jets whitney, they're just doing their thing who cares it is fine to like one sport more than the other one you know?

Movies in 2015

#1 with a bullet! The Lobster

What a weird, surprising delight <3 <3

Solid runners up: Inside Out, Mad Max: Fury Road, Amy.

Special mentions for great non-2015 stuff I watched: Boyhood, Transamerica, Birdman, Obvious Child, Whiplash, Still Alice, Away From Her, Shotgun Stories, Iris, Love and Mercy. Wow That is quite a lot of good stuff. Great movie catch up, me.

Double thumbs down to Attack on Titan and also The Beach lololollol

WOOPS 2015 WHERE'D U GO? (Top 50)

Oh man that year got away from me in a weird way. I feel guilty for having a mostly great year because I know a lot people didn't, and there were definitely very awful things. But. Well. I don't know how to end this bit.

1. I done had a pretty good wedding if u ask me
2. Bangkok is pretty good place to live if u ask me again

And then in no particular order but still numbered?

3. Walkerville minimoon
4. That sunset at the farm at Easter
5. Elephants <3 <3 <3

Luv u hello

6. Team Waffdog & Pattaya DreamHouse
7. BKK Visitors Extravanza 2015
8. Pad Pak Boong Fai Denggggg
9. TINY WAIS OMG THERE IS NOTHING BETTER
10. Tiny Gentle Asians
11. Billy C with Leonie B
12. Norway / Crombies / Norwaaaay
13. Katie & Al & Helsinki
14. Beer on ice
15. tiny cactus addiction
16. Chiang Mai treehouse holiday

Treehousin'

17. Chiang Mai cooking class
18. ERR
19. Boat Noodle Alley
20. Banana Roti
21. Summer St
22. Uhhhh every edible thing in Thailand tbh
23. Them Mighty West Coast Eagles omg
24. Cowgs footy tip emails
25. The Yard
26. Ko Samui & Krabi island holidays

Somewhere off Krabi

27. Erawan Falls
28. treerachin and all the other cute shit in Thailand
29. #icecreamnews
30. The Lobster.
31. SPONTANEANATION
32. Time Keeper on Comedy Bang Bang
33. Transparent
34. Togetherness
35. Review! Master of None! Fargo! Bojack! Another Period! Bloodline! Catastrophe! tv etc
36. New albums from Barnett / Gorman / Kelly / Beirut / FJM...
37. All them fancy wedding gift meals
38. What Rhymes With Cars & Girls
39. Melbiversary #5! Luv U Melbo <3
40. Cowgs' birthday cake:

probably my finest moment

41. Eagle Pies:

my other finest moment

42. The Worst Idea of All Time
43. NORA breakfasts
44. Rilakkuma Bangkok madness
45. Augie at Melbourne Recital Centre
46. backyard summah paradise:

47. top chef just desserts hens day cake party
48. Sleepover / colouring in fest with Hillevi
49. lil Gene emoji messages
50. Friends With You thing at Central Embassy

DONE ahhh blahhhh 50 is so many things to remember after a whole year, why do i do this.