Tasty morsels I've digested in 2018, most not made in 2018, most not literally food.
~ Best Album of 2018, Not from 2018 ~
The Cranberries, Gold (2008 compilation)
My music taste has always been about 25 years out of date in real time, so I get to experience the 90s now. Belatedly discovering this famous band I'm too obscure to have heard of wasn't a direct result of the news, but it only took a couple of songs for me to be interested enough to google them and learn why they were probably being recommended by YouTube during my moody rock marathon.
Also listened a lot to Current 93's Thunder Perfect Mind (1992), The Smashing Pumpkins' Adore (1996), Angelo Badalamenti's The Straight Story soundtrack (1999) and Eric Chiryoku's Journey of 3 Seasons (2013), but ignore that one because it ruins the narrative.
~ Best Book of 2018, Not from 2018 ~
Wayne Douglas Barlowe, Expedition: Being an Account in Words and Artwork of the 2358 A.D. Voyage to Darwin IV (1990)
I could have read some important non-fiction to learn more about the dying fauna of our actual planet, but this convincing pretend zoography was more captivating.
Other books I liked a lot included Flann O'Brien's self-destructingly surreal The Third Policeman (1940), the gothy goodness of Shirley Jackson's We Have Always Lived in the Castle (1962), Philip K. Dick's trippy Galactic Pot-Healer (1969) and Alan Moore's literally heavy Jerusalem (2016).
~ Best Film of 2018, Not from 2018 ~
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
I finally got around to watching a whole lot of classics this year. It was satisfying and moreish. This was the best new-to-me Kubrick, Strangers on a Train (1951) was probably my favourite Hitchcock, Skyfall (2012) maybe my favourite Bond, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988) a delightful new-to-me Gilliam.
Other old films enjoyed but not obsessively catalogued (until now) included It's a Wonderful Life (1946), Star Trek forebear Forbidden Planet (1956) and The Haunting (1963), despite me having rudely dismissed it outright at 14 for being "made in black and white decades ago."
~ Best TV of 2018, Not from 2018 ~
Detectorists (2014–17)
That was a close call, I was almost current there. Mackenzie Crook's "gentle" rural sitcom was only groundbreaking in the literal sense, but it was a very nice thing to settle in and watch. Fleabag (2016) was a differently good sitcom and rewatching Monty Python in production order helped me to stay sane during a gruelling work month.
I'm not much of an event series binge-watcher, preferring my old-school episodic telly, but I finally got around to True Detective (2014) and The Leftovers (2014–17), which was a bit of a slog that eventually started paying off. Finally finished off Firefly too (2002–03).
Favourite 2018 things I saw: Taskmaster, Inside No. 9, Better Call Saul (still should have been a sitcom), Killing Eve, Limmy's Homemade Show, Stewart Lee: Content Provider, James Acaster: Repertoire, one episode of Doctor Who, one minisode of Star Trek: Discovery.
~ Best Game of 2018, Not from 2018 ~
Ascension: Deckbuilding Game (2011)
Since I only ever play one new game a year, this continues to be the underachieving category where literally anything can wind up getting disproportionate praise.
After clocking up too much time on Star Realms (2014) and Cthulhu Realms (2016) when listening to audiobooks or procrastinating, I fancied a slightly different but still basically identical deckbuilding game. This did the trick.
~ Best Food of 2018, Not from 2018 ~
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| Image: Small Footprint Family |
Mustard greens
Makes rabbit food fun.
Best of (not from) 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017
