Last updated 29-Nov-2022, but no matter what date I just wrote here, you should assume that this list is likely out of date...
I'm currently seeking a volunteer for the position of "someone to coordinate purchases so that Michael doesn't receive the same gift from multiple people".
This list is split into sections, listed in no particular order:
tl;dr
Can't be arsed reading the entire list? (Fair enough)
- Expensive stuff: I do still want one more lens to complete my current camera kit.
- Cheap stuff: shirts, or various camera accessories (macro extension tubes, neutral density filters that you can generally buy off DealeXtreme and other similar sites.
- Otherwise I will always welcome the bread-and-butter gifts from my tshirt/CD/DVD lists. Chocolate is also good. (dark>white>milk)
- I have separate wishlists for Steam and PLE.
- Vouchers are cheerfully accepted.
T-shirts
In very loosely descending priority within vendor. Some of these have been on the list for a while, so might be out of stock (or even 404). I'm a Medium. When in doubt, black is a good choice.
- Sithrak, an insane god for an unjust world @Topatoco
- Soy Soylent Green @Topatoco
- This Is Fine @Topatoco
- Transition @Threadless
- Om Nom Nom! @Threadless
- IRL Winning @cottonbureau
CDs
Harder to find
Try REAL music stores like 78's or Dada's. Or elsewhere on the internet. Most of these are on Spotify, so probably less critical these days I guess. In approximate preferential order:
- Lloop – Bulbbs, a fine example of the illbient genre.
- Biosphere - Substrata, a classic ambient album.
- Aes Dana - Memory Shell
- Bluetech - Elementary Particles (try 78s?)
- Bluetech - Prima Materia (try 78s?)
- Kip Mazuy - Ocean Euphoric
- Kid Loco - DJ-Kicks (try 78s or JB?)
- Jazzanova - Jazzanova EP
- Hiatus Kaiyote - Tawk Tomahawk
- Easy Star All-Stars - Dub Side of the Moon
- Easy Star All-Stars - Dubber Side of the Moon
- Solar Fields - blue moon station
- Smog - Red Apple Falls (try 78s?)
- ? Sasha - Airdrawndagger (try 78s?)
- ? X-Dream - Irritant
Easier to find
Places like JB HiFi will have some of these, or can at least order them in. Also in approximate preferential order:
- Robin Guthrie & Harold Budd - After the Night Falls
- Robin Guthrie & Harold Budd - Before the Day Breaks
- Aphex Twin - Selected Ambient Works Volume II
- Simone and Girlfunkle - Hurry, Harry
- UNKLE - Psyence Fiction
- Jean Michel Jarre - Oxygene
- Brian Eno - Ambient 1: Music for Airports
- Harold Budd & Brian Eno - Ambient 2: The Plateaux of Mirror
- Harold Budd - The Pavilion Of Dreams
- Boards of Canada - In a Beautiful Place Out in the Country
- Boards of Canada - Music Has the Right the Children
- Zero 7 - Simple Things
- Joanna Newsom - Have One on Me
- Abbe May - Design Desire
- Faith No More - The Real Thing
- The Orb - The Orb's Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld (UK releases are a double album, dunno which release Australia gets)
- Future Sound of London - Dead Cities
- Vangelis - Voices
- Jean Michel Jarre - Équinoxe
- The Mars Volta - Amputechture
- The The - Soul Mining
DVDs or (preferably) Blueray
- Archer (seasons 1, 2, 3, & 4)
- Sherlock (Season 3 onwards)
- Marvel's Jessica Jones
- The Expanse
- What We Do In the Shadows (once it becomes a thing)
Tech stuff
Mostly expensive stuff here.
- Not currently looking to upgrade my PC, but if a (edited Dec 2021 to add: reasonably priced) Radeon RX 6600 gets released by the time you read this, then I'll probably want one...
- The noise-cancelling king: Sony WH1000XM4 headphones. Probably wins at decibels-cancelled-per-dollar too, despite the $350 price tag.
- I may or may not have something useful listed on PLE wishlist.
Games
- I have a useful Steam wishlist.
Books
- Tintin:
- The Calculus Affair (1956)
- The Red Sea Sharks (1958)
- Tintin in Tibet (1960)
- Philip Francis Nowlan - Armageddon 2419 A.D. (the original Buck Rogers story)
- One day I'll add a (longish) list of the Discworld novels I don't own yet. I have a soft spot for the Josh Kirby covers.
- Non-fiction:
- Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software (Gamma, Helm, Johnson, Vlissides) ISBN 0-201-63361-2
- Clean Code: A Handbook of Agile Software Craftsmanship (Martin) ISBN: 9780136083238
Camera stuff
(Comparatively) inexpensive accessories (in descending priority):
- Extension tubes, if you can find them for Micro Four Thirds at a reasonable price.
In approximately descending order of priority; greyed out sections serve merely as a note to self for when I am feeling rich...
- Sigma 56mm f/1.4 DC DN
- Olympus M. Zuiko Digital ED 75-300mm f/4.8-6.7 II
- Micro Four Thirds lens:
Random stuff
- Lego is always welcome :P (Technic, mindstorms)
- The Birth of Venus figma.
Changelog
- 29-Nov-2022
Add figma. Remove a couple of old items. - 03-Nov-2022
Some changes I can't be bothered elaborating on. Also despaired at the demise of both Thinkgeek and the XKCD store. - 07-Sep-2020
Remove tablet, add Sigma 56mm 1.4 - 15-Dec-2020
Revise most of the list. Mostly by deleting large out of date chunks. - 09-Aug-2016
Add Selected Ambient Works Volume II, and a pair of Robin Guthrie/Harold Budd albums. - 18-Apr-2016
Add hydraulic press shirt - 17-Apr-2016
Add Sithrak shirt. Move a bunch of shirts to the "no longer available" section. - 12-Mar-2016
Add Biosphere - Substrata; revised camera sections. - 19-Apr-2015
Add lens reversing adapter; add reference to Discworld novels. - 15-Apr-2015
Massaged Camera section a bit more; added Canon's new 10-18mm STM as preferred lens; added tl;dr section. - 25-Feb-2015
Reorganised the Camera section a bit, added Canon 760D, fixed links for 70D. - 06-Nov-2013
Added wireless keyboard. - 22-Jul-2013
Added Archer. - 11-Jul-2013
Revised and greyed out my camera lens "think out loud" sections. - 19-Jun-2013
Added Armageddon 2419 A.D. - 18-Jun-2013
Added SD cards, James Blake albums, and tele mirror lens. Removed Flickr Pro account. - 14-Apr-2013
Converted plain text list to HTML for improved readability. Revised shirt list. - 26-Dec-2012
Removed xmas loot, added Hiatus Kaiyote. - 23-Nov-2012
Revised CD list, added DVDs!