BENJO'S LIST is a list of stuff i (benjo, aka noomajamoon) have read/watched/listened to in a significant way..
and, if applicable, its impact on me/my work/my perception. i also usually put a synopsis/review in there!
A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr.
This amazing novel was suggested to me by a close friend in highschool,
and it really got me seriously considering the art of archival, as well
as nomadism. These two topics are still quite close to me today of course,
and themes of pilgrimage and religious congregation directly influenced my
three part short story Love Song (2020), which will be featured in my first
book (likely to be called "Domesday")
A Laughing Death in Meatspace by Tropical Fuck Storm
The debut album of australian rock band Tropical Fuck Storm is full of energy
and sewn together with lightly veiled politics, an awesome introduction to
the sound of TFS as it continues to swirl around the powerful lyricism.
I'm just looking at the wikipedia page for the album now, and I see that the
title for the album was derived from the term ""meatspace"" which was created
endearingly by silicon valley engineers to describe the real world- as well as
Kuru, a wasting disease created by the presence of prions in the human brain-
this is immensely significant to me, since my stories have derived inspiration
from this album, as well as the actual term meatspace, as well as the TV series
named after the real silicon valley, AND as well as wasting disease in humans as
derived from prions. the world is a small place i guess!!
ALL MY HEART by GOJII
I'll admit i've listened to this album a scarce three or four times, but I really
love the energy and speed of it all, and the uhh.. "choppiness?" of the vocalizations...
I had the pleasure of meeting GOJII at Midwest FurFest 2021, they seemed super cool,
and I placed an order for the CD version of this album near the end of the convention,
having missed my chances to request a copy in person...
Anthem by Ayn Rand
I'll preface this text by stating outright that I think Rand fucking sucks. Capitalist
suckup ASF. But, the underlying principle behind this story- I guess the kind of feeling
it exudes, of post-society society, was a big turning point in my understanding of what
could be. WIthout having read it, I might not have written entire foundational swaths of
my universe. So, thanks, I guess. BTW I also got like halfway through the fountainhead,
and i thought it was kinda neat because i like drawing buildings with the same kind of
style Howard Roark does.
April Fools by The Scary Jokes
I discovered The Scary Jokes from a song my ex partner sent me sometime in freshman year
of highschool, it was a youtube upload of "Apple Pie," and I was intrigued so much as to
listen to the full album. I loved it a lot, obviously! I've bought it twice so far, once
on bandcamp digitally, and then again through the needlejuice records 2021 remastered CD
version. Some of the songs, though specifically i refer to here, Toynbee Tiles, are sung
as a kind of first person dialogue, by whom i can only assume is the "demon" creature
depicted on the cover of Bad at Math, and possibly the cover this album, which was a kind
of design i was inspired to borrow from for the new species I created of "Volantrans" in
my own stories. The "first" Volantran I created was Iliah Fidlar, a janitor and gas station
employee living on the Volantran home planet. But even disregarding its influence on my work,
this album is really good. Lately ive been getting the song "Pleasure Cruise" stuck in my head!
The lyrics work so nicely
Bad at Math by The Scary Jokes
Bad at Math... my recollection of listening to this album (EP?) was days of wandering between
classes, through the labrynthian hallways of my highschool (which I always loved so much!) I
know that the song about ren & stimpy was what finally got me to watch that show.. its real
silly but i like it. "i wanna be the moon" struck a chord with me at the time, too..
Battleblock Theater by Behemoth Studios
This cartoonish 2D platformer game was one of my absolute favorites when i was a kid, and the
story is still really cool to me from what I can remember. Memories of beating the final stage
on my laptop at a picnic table in a field come to mind. I played this game a lot with one of my
old friends, Tulio, and its safe to say it was a large basis for my humor.
Beautiful Freak by Eels
This album is real hauntingly beautiful.. I think I had found the song "novocaine for the soul"
somehow when I was a kid, and got the album on itunes at some point, finding the rest good too.
The feeling behind the lyrics on the song "not ready yet" was a large influencer for the kind
of individualistic, lonely nature the creation of the Volantran Interior in my stories was
meant to inflect.
Big Generator by Yes
The album is great, but the title track is what really I'm hooked on- it sparked the idea
behind a centralized power generation facility in the early draft ideas of "Lily Hill"
in my story "Sweeper"
Braindrops by Tropical Fuck Storm
TFS' second album, and probably my favorite (unless i've more recently listened to one of
their others), the duo of faded-together songs "Who's my Eugene" and "The Happiest Guy Around"
are total powerhouses, brought down to a sort of solemness by "Maria 62" until the title track
bursts back in gradually.. i love the denseness of lyrics in TFS' work, not sure if I've
mentioned that. "Aspirin" is a sad song, but needed. It reminds me of the people I've lost.
The instrumental "Desert Sands of Venus" followed by "Maria 63" are a somber
leadout of the album, too...
Burn Pygmalion by The Scary Jokes
Burn Pygmalion is the kind of (not a) love story I needed in my life at the time, i think...
its a nice concept album following a journalist fallen in love with a celebrity... if im reading
it right! i do kind of poorly with that sort of thing. But I really love the music! it's been a
while since i've listened to it through, but it came out around the time i was starting to break
up w/my partner of the time, actually the same person who introduced me to scary jokes
Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
I just recently read this short novel, and i have to say, it's FUCKING amazing. the division into
such tiny parts was an awesome choice in my opinion, it's very close to how i think about and come
up with information- brief, but verbose.. kind of. the actual story itself is a kind of satirism at
the idea of human driven technology, set in a realistic scifi setting, with obvious allusions to the
nuclear arms race that was occuring by the cold war around that time. i highly suggest you read it!!
Chi's Sweet Home (Anime Adaptation)
Chi's sweet home was the first anime I watched past the first episode, it's just super cute. My friend
recently got me the first volume of the collected comic version, serialized for english speaking readers,
and though it diverges from the story that its anime adaptation had, its still just as adorable of a
slice of life comic from the perspective of a young cat named Chi!
Crime Pays But Botany Doesn't by Joey Santore
This ongoing youtube series is close to my heart, and close to my hometown near Chicago. Joey is a
foul-mouthed italian chicagoan who travels the world to describe the rich foliage and geological presence
our planet offers... with a ton of wit and nearly-political observation of the world around him at the
same time!! totally watch this if you love plants, nature, geology, or Italians.
Deep States by Tropical Fuck Storm
TFS' third album, and possibly my favorite so far, it starts off with a driving track "The Greatest Story
Ever Told," which begins with a sample from the 1977 film Jesus of Nazareth. The second track goes hard as
fuck, it's called "G.A.F.F.," short for "Give a Fuck Fatigue." it's savage, bold, blatant, and energetic
and noisy as fuck!!! It straight up says what the hell they were thinking when writing, which I can
appreciate as someone who finds literary devices hard to penetrate sometimes! The whole album is good, but
another favorite track of mine is "Reporting of a Failed Campaign" with a Goodfellas-esque storyline following
a couple of sleezebags cheating their way into positions of unstable power-when it comes crashing down at a
pace comparable to the afforementioned film. The following song, New Romeo Agent, is simply beautiful and
poetic, and a kind of foreboding nature about it. "Legal Ghost" is a sort of callback to the song "Aspirin"
from the previous album, following what I believe to be someone picking up the beaurocratic trails left behind by a deceased love one.
UNREVIEWED YET:
DOOM (2016) by id Software
Drama by Yes
Foundation by Isaac Asimov
from the pink light in your bedroom by baycun
Gamers Against Weed (SCP Group of Interest)
Goodfellas by Nicholas Pileggi and Scorsese
Half-Life 2 by Valve
Half-Life by Valve
Hitchhiker's Guide to The Galaxy by Douglas Adams
Homestuck by Andrew Hussie
Homestuck^2
In Search of The Lost Chord by The Moody Blues
Incellectuals
Inception (2010)
Industrial Society and Its Future by Theodore Kaczynski
Infest The Rat's Nest by King GIzzard & The Lizard Wizard
Is This It by The Strokes
It's Such a Beautiful Day by Don Hertzfeldt
Joe Hawley Joe Hawley by Joe Hawley
Jojo's Bizzarre Adventure (Manga/Anime)
Megastructures Series, by Isaac Arthur
Murder of The Universe by King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic by Lauren Faust
Obscured by Clouds by Pink Floyd
OFF by Mortis Ghost
Plastic Beach by Gorillaz
Polygondwanaland by King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard
Portal 2 by Valve
Portal by Valve
PRIMER (2004)
Problem Sleuth by Andrew Hussie
Roko's Basilisk
Shadow of Israphel by The Yogscast
Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse
Silicon Valley by Mike Judge, John Altschuler and Dave Krinsky
Sketches of Brunswick East by King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard
Sparklecare by Minnie "Trip" Sansom (aka lps666)
The $50 and up Underground House Book by Mike Oehler
The End of Electronics by Конец Электроники
The Gods Themselves by Isaac Asimov
The Infinite Computer by Spumwack
The Nine Billion Names of God by Arthur C. Clarke
The Rat's Nest Canon (SCP-Wiki)
The Stanley Parable
The Warrior Cats Series by Erin Hunter
True Stories by David Byrne
WHO COULD FUCK WITH YOU BUT ME by BAYCUN