Fannuals spaniels

More retro reading arrived. Not to mention my brand-new C64! I now have four remakes of that machine. (Can you tell I regret ever letting my 1980s one go?)

NYEP

Last year, I summarised RS2's party thusly:

Old faces and new. Friendly magpies. Interesting convos. Eight players on the "Jackbox" trivia/ bluffing/ drawing, etc. videogame (along with audience quasi-players). Rich food. Too much beer and wine. Six of us testing out the "Let's Hit Each Other With Fake Swords" not-exactly-a-boardgame. Watching distant fireworks from the top of a hill. Big sparklers. Little sparklers. Triggered memories. Reminiscing. Plenty of laughs.

This year's equivalent synopsis would be:

Old faces and new. A lone friendly magpie. Amusing convos. 10/12 players on "Jackbox" voting/social-deduction games. Food with a Greek streak, and some extremely rich desserts. Not too much beer. Almost too much tucker. The boardgame "Dixit" (inc. heaps of extra picture cards). Big sparklers. Glow-in-the-dark Frisbee. Watching distant fireworks from the top of a hill. SkyView astronomy app. A thoroughly pleasant time.

Get yerself sumfink nice

Free festive download from the champs at Big Finish about a missing weekday (we've all been there):

These looks are the bomb

Started watching this reality comp [Prime Video] with one of my nieces who has done a professional makeup course. She got bored halfway through Episode 1. I kept going and am now on Ep. 5. Maybe it's more fascinating to me because I had zero prior knowledge on the topic. Anyway, I have a definite favourite competitor and will continue viewing until the end (10 episodes). If you're worried about it being repetitive, challenges can involve looks from Wedding to K-Pop Video to Grunge to Futurist to Drag to Eastern Beauty... I could go on. There's even a dash of SFX makeup.

Most of the visitors are off to the seaside today, so of course, worrywart that I am, I've been warning them about sunburn, rips and other dangers. Sister AK reminded me how her childhood chum, who was a bit of a wild child, transferred a deadly blue-ringed octopus (don't ever try this!!!) from a rockpool into her home fish tank, where it proceeded to eat all of its tankmates. I was friends with said chum's older brother, who used to keep fireworks and gunpowder extracted from them in his bedroom year-round, so he could construct "bungers" (pipe bombs) when the desire arose.

Fresh peanuts

COMIC COVER OF THE WEEK

By Taurin Clarke. Bluntly put, the competition wasn't particularly strong, but this is an image worth exploring.

SONG OF THE WEEK

"Sword Of Vigor" by Power Paladin (Iceland). The most selected track on the magical jukebox in Valhalla.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1D4wXxFyE-8

Commended >>> "Kinoko" by Pinponpanpon (Japan).

MOVIE OF THE...YEAR, ACTUALLY

Family, film-making, flaws, failures, fears, painful understanding and liberating acceptance. Made me wanna exclusively watch arthouse flicks.

Not only but also

Visited this local attraction for the first time in years. Highly recommended.

For logistical reasons, spent the night in a hotel in Sydney (free upgrade)...

...and ate a different kind of Christmas lunch. Made up for it on Boxing Day!

Back at the ranch

Last three comics read. "The Circus: Losing Control" has real promise.

Two 2026 annuals materialised. The "Zzap!" and "Fusion" ones are T/C.

New figurino, courtesy of sister AC. Asuka is no longer alone :-)

Moray Eelmas!

Hope you have a lovely day.

Pine cones

Seeing this sign got me thinking about pine cones.

You're not supposed to collect the native variety. Not unless they've opened and released their seeds. Even then, I'm not sure it's legal within a national park.

As infant warmongers, they were the pretend hand grenades that complemented our trusty stick rifles.

Crafty parents/older siblings might spray-paint them silver to make Xmas decs. Plenty of peeps used 'em to kick-start their fireplaces or outdoor wood barbecues.

Especially talented folks transformed 'em into cute hedgehogs worthy of stop-motion animating.

One of sister EM's colleagues created edible pine cones out of Milo cereal artfully fixed around a cake core. She said he told her, "Never again - too much work."