Stewart's Favourites & Preferences

I think you can learn a lot about someone from the things they choose and prefer. Here’s some of my preferences, with reasons where possible.

Transport

I’m not much of a ‘car guy’ so I’m not that interested in fast sports cars or stuff like that. The vehicles that have piqued my interest are the Mini Moke, or a big Bedford or GMC van.

Mini Moke
Classic Californian Mini Moke
The A team van
The A-Team Van

The Practical Choice

Blue trayback 4-door ute
Functional Perfection: 4-door, 5-seats, trayback.

Cars are more a utility for me, so if I could buy anything right now it would be a 4-door (dual cab) old trayback ute. A ute so I can carry wood around for my building projects, trayback so I don’t have to worry about damaging the paint job when I’m putting stuff in the back, and dual-cab so I can fit the whole family in. (Or the Lads!) I’ll have one of these please (preferably electric if that exists):

Desserts

  • Vanilla icecream
  • Chocolate covered honeycomb
  • White chocolate rocky road

Cola

Cans of Coke Zero

I’m trying so hard to give up cola and fizzy drinks, but so far I’ve cracked every time I try and go cold turkey. I was pretty annoyed when they got rid of Coke Zero, and I still don’t understand that decision.

Pizza

I like pineapple on pizza.

Text Editor

Depending on context:

  • vim
    Quick edits at the terminal, always on the server.
    I’ve tried emacs a few times but I just can’t get into it – I think if you start in either vim or emacs and do a significant amount of work in one of them then it’s hard to switch.
  • Sublime Text
    Bigger projects like Rails websites or ruby apps.
    Editing this site.
    It has first-class emoji support. 🙂👍🏻 (I don’t have to type these as codes.)

Colours

Blue of copper sulphate crystals, which is therefore my preference for vehicle colour.

Copper Sulfate Crystals
I first saw CuSO4 crystals in high school, and was immediately hypnotised by the colour.

Alcohol

I don’t really drink beer any more, in my 40s I started to react badly to it and get really bad hangovers. But that’s okay, because there’s plenty of other things to drink!

I’m a big fan of spiced rums & coke, especially Sailor Jerry, Kracken and Dead Man’s Fingers.

Sailor Jerry Spiced RumKraken Spiced RumKraken Spiced Rum

On occasion I enjoy White Russians.

The Dude with a White Russian

I’m also a big fan of red wines (from WA or SA) and ports & fortified dessert wines.

Quarantinis

During the 2020 Coronavirus lockdowns I wanted to use up some of the leftover booze in the liquor cabinet, so I started drinking Quarantinis of my own design: Malibu white coconut rum, blue curaçao, vodka, sparkling mineral water and a wedge of pineapple, served in a glass mug. They are delicious!

Blue Curaçao bottle
Malibu Coconut Rum bottle
Vodka bottle

It’s no accident that the final result is my favourite colour.

quarantini cocktails

Hang Out Location

I much prefer a beer garden on a summers day to a night club with loud music.

Southbank Beer Garden

Plants

Succulents

My favourite kind of plants are succulents: there are so many different shapes, sizes, colours and styles, and they’re basically impossible to kill through neglect. They’re a lot of fun to propagate, and it’s amazing how a whole plant can grow from a seemingly dead leaf.

Cactus Flower

I also like that they tend not to be all flashy with loads of flowers – they only flower occasionally, and then they usually put all their effort in to a few (or sometimes only one) stunning flowers.

Podcasts

These are the podcasts that are in my high priority list in Overcast so that I hear new episodes of these ones before others. These are the ones where I feel a bit of excitement when I see a new episode pop up in my unplayed list.

I’m always happy to hear new podcast recommendations, please get in touch.

Music

Achtung Baby by U2
Ænima by Tool
Album of the Year by Faith No More
And All That Could Have Been by  Nine Inch Nails
Astro‐Creep: 2000 - Songs of Love, Destruction and Other Synthetic Delusions of the Electric Head by White Zombie
Betty by Helmet
Blue Sky Mining by Midnight Oil
California by Mr. Bungle
Contraband by Velvet Revolver
Core by Stone Temple Pilots
Diesel and Dust by Midnight Oil
Dirt by Alice in Chains
Dummy by Portishead
Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace by Foo Fighters
Facelift by Alice in Chains
Foo Fighters by Foo Fighters
Going Somewhere by Colin Hay
Ill at Ease by The Mark of Cain
In Utero by Nirvana
Interiors by Brad
King for a Day by Faith No More
Out of Time by R.E.M.
Peeping Tom by Peeping Tom
Post Orgasmic Chill by Skunk Anansie
Purple by Stone Temple Pilots
Quality Control by Jurassic 5
Rage Against the Machine by Rage Against the Machine
Rattle and Hum by U2
Red Sails in the Sunset by Midnight Oil
Revenge by Eurythmics
Superunknown by Soundgarden
Ten by Pearl Jam
The Dissociatives by The Dissociatives
The Downward Spiral by Nine Inch Nails
The Fat of the Land by Prodigy
The Honeymoon is Over by The Cruel Sea
The Joshua Tree by U2
Tomahawk by Tomahawk
Undertow by Tool
Visual Audio Sensory Theatre by VAST
Vs by Pearl Jam
Welcome to Sky Valley by Kyuss
Zooropa by U2

Film

These are some the films I could watch (or have watched) more than once.