Sustenance

[I wrote this entry just before leaving work, but Blogger wouldn't let me publish it. So I'm backdating it to that time.]

Thumbs up: Woolworths Select Raspberry And White Chocolate Cookies – dense and intense! Eat four for brekkie and feel the sugar rush!

Thumbs horizontal: "Eternals" (Marvel Comics, 2007) – In a hardcover collecting the seven-issue series, Neil Gaiman retells Jack Kirby's myth of space gods, immortal guardians and militant mutants with a magician's flair. Sadly, excepting a few pages involving the Celestials, John Romita Jr's art is mediocre. The back-of-the-book bonuses are generous – alternate covers, Gaiman interview, Kirby essay, etc.

Thumbs down: "Hyperdrive" (ABC, Wednesdays, 9.30pm) – as disappointingly unfunny as "The IT Crowd". Decent spaceship sequences, though.

Now I'm off for KFC, then the opening night of the play "Men At Arms" (based on the Terry Pratchett novel) at Sydney Uni's Seymour Theatre Centre.

Trivia

This year's "Epic Movie" sends up "The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe" and has a leonine chap named Aslo (played by Fred Willard) found in bed with a scantily clad starlet. Guess who I interviewed today? Hint: it wasn't Mr W.

DVD review: "Jason Byrne – Out Of The Box: Live!" (2006)

The audience at Dublin's Vicar Street made plenty of appreciative noise during the taping of this show, but there weren’t many laughs at my place. Things began well, with paper-bag-headed dancers trouping through a set resembling a warehouse and Byrne bursting forth from a cardboard box. It wasn't the only surreal moment as the Irishman later pulled a burly bloke from the crowd, swaddled him in a towel, and weighed him on a kitchen scale. He also hosted a game – "That's not a badger!" – in which he severely badgered the two contestants.

Therein lay the problem. Unlike other highly interactive comedians, such as Ross Noble, JB's back-and-forths are more fierce than friendly. His routines can be downright cruel. Only devotion to duty prevented me ejecting the DVD during a drawn-out impression of a pet rabbit suffocating in a shed. While there were amusing observations about sex and marriage, religious differences and useless hand gestures, they couldn't redress the balance. After the wild intro, I expected more from the finale than a headless doll and three prehistoric gags.

Final word: Lotsa people like him. I'm not convinced.

[Australian release date: out now]

Movie mini-review: "The White Planet" (2006)

The title refers to the Arctic, captured over one seasonal cycle. "T/W/P" has everything you could want from a doco – spectacle (the annual mass migration of the caribou), humbling grandeur (skyscraper-tall blue-white 'bergs calving), cute furry animals (a mamma polar bear tending and teaching her cubs), nature being "red in tooth and claw" (burrow-busting wolf, ravenous octopus, egg-snatching fox), colour (from the aurora borealis to miniscule jellyfish lit up like a Vegas street), mating rituals (musk oxen jousting for alpha-male status) and an environmental moral (when the ice disappears, so does all this). Unless you happen to have stumbled across a crowded pool of narwhals or witnessed thick-billed murres "flying" underwater, there are sights here that will amaze.

Final word: Tour another planet.

[Australian cinema release date: September 6]

Cutting-edge retro

In 1988, I was in Year 11 and less interested in studying for the HSC or celebrating the Oz bicentenary than upgrading my Commodore 64 to an Amiga 500. By selling the former via classified ad for $700 (I had oodles of games and accessories) and scraping together another $149*, I graduated to what appeared a supermachine, with a windows-based, mouse-driven interface (don’t even joke about GEOS), 512K of memory and an 8MHz processor.

The 16-bit games looked and sounded fantastic, though they tended to lack the balance and replayability of the top 8-bit titles. Nevertheless, I got my money's worth from the A500. I spent hundreds of hours processing words (essays, letters, an ill-fated fanzine, RPG material, reams of teen-angst poetry long since binned), bought a proper monitor and memory expansion and external drive, faffed about with the simpler utilities, discovered bulletin boards, MUDed remotely...and didn't for a nanosecond feel the same connection as I had with my C64.

Even now, I associate more fond memories with the beige box than all other consoles/computers I've owned combined - and we're talking early handhelds, Atari 2600, Amiga 500, Sega Master System, NES, Game Boy, SNES, Lynx, Sega Saturn, PSX, GameCube, Amstrad 6128, Xbox, DS and various PCs.

Which is why I was so chuffed when PG latterly snailed me a DVD with recordings of Commodore 64 demos from the late 90s up to 2003! For those blissfully ignorant of the demo scene, such programs aren't games or utilities; as the name suggests, they're demonstrations of a machine's technical capabilities.

In the mid-80s, this translated to a pretty fantasy/sci-fi picture, Jean Michel Jarre-inspired melody (or blatant rip-off), animated heading (the name of the crew) and scrolling message (hellos to their mates). Sometimes you'd get multiple piccies or a choice of choons or a bit of primitive 3D animation (bouncing balls were popular), but generally that was it. And we loved it.

The demos on PG's disc are - to this self-styled C64 expert - beyond believing. Multicoloured epics of plasma effects (!), licking flames, liquid flows, Mandelbrot Set-type patterns, unfamiliar fades and wipes, real-time light sourcing (!), high-res animation, 2D artworks surpassing any title screen from back in the day, 3D that's rungs up the evolutionary ladder, morphing (!), scrollies with a sense of po-mo irony, extended samples, and the SID chip singing its heart out.

There are anti-war messages, jiggling anime girls, full-screen faux dance clips fusing slogans and icons. For Tramiel's sake, one demo even recreates the entire opening credits to the film "[Pi]"!

How mistaken I'd been to think the Commodore 64 was dead in 1988.


*With help from what my erstwhile colleague RB calls "M & D Finance".

+7/+7

I'm not proud of staying out mega-late last night, sinking beers like a dead Viking in Valhalla, puffing a cigar like I was P. Diddy, playing numbskull poker (I squandered 50 squid) and pool, and doing whatever I did to injure my poor right thumb.

I *am* proud that, while staggering to the bus stop, I managed to help someone who was in a far worse state - viz. a young fella slumped in a shop doorway. He was booze-addled and missing bark on his face and knuckles from a fall or possibly a fight. I got him on his feet and talking sense (sorta kinda), hailed a cab and made sure the driver knew where to take him.

In a weird way, that tiny act (you would've done the same) has assuaged the Catholic guilt that usually accompanies my hangovers. I keep telling myself: If I hadn't gone on a tear, I wouldn't have been able to play Good Samaritan.

So far, it's working :-)

Continuing the theme

I seldom gamble outside of poker evenings and occasional trips to the races. Rarely ever on rugby league. Today, I decided to plonk a lazy $5 on the Bulldogs to break their losing streak and upset the top-of-the-table Sea Eagles. They did just that - 27-8 - in a contest more exciting than the numbers suggest. Tomorrow, the ticket will return me $12.50. Compounding the satisfaction is that after I announced my intended bet at work, our picture editor AH got me to put $5 on for him, too :-)

Movie review: "The Final Winter" (2007)

Fans of any footy code will appreciate this Australian flick, set in the early '80s, about an old-school bloke – in this case, a rugby league player for Sydney’s Newtown Jets – who hates the way the money men are changing his beloved game. Grub (Matthew Nable) doesn't believe in star signings or razzle-dazzle, he's about pulverising the opposition every time you take the field and total loyalty to one club.

Unusually for a sporting story, we only witness the outcome of a single match. The meat of the movie's the week that follows, as Grub's uncompromising brutal behaviour finally becomes too much for his missus Emma (Raelee Hill), brother and lifelong rival Trent (Nathaniel Dean), coach Jack (Matty Johns, who thoroughly inhabits his flawed-yet-lovable character) and flashy club boss Colgate (John Jarratt).

"The Final Winter" revels in its setting, but the clothes, cars and music aren't nearly as shocking as seeing footballers smoking in the dressing shed. Whether Grub is "right" is a complex question. His violent style of play isn't the work of a bully – he's happy to take what he gives. However, it borders on the psycho, as when he's demonstrating to a young team-mate the best way to punch out a rival.

Nable deserves credit not just for a mesmerising performance that I reckon could have people labelling him "the next Russell Crowe" but for penning a script of emotional depth and subtlety. There's one particular scene involving a wordless apology that rocked me harder than a boots’n’all tackle into the dirt of the Jets' Henson Park.

Well, maybe not that hard.

Final word: Spot the famous league players in cameo roles.

[Australian cinema release date: August 30]

Page 263

Finished "D/I/L/Y:A/M" (see below). If you're in the mood for a mildly uplifting, "Who"-centric coming-of-age yarn, spun in an irreverent music newspaper fashion, Griffiths is your guy. Even non-fans will find it worthwhile. Those after something more hard-core should seek out instead Andrew Cartmel's diary "Script Doctor: The Inside Story Of Doctor Who 1986-89" (2005).

Next tome off the teetering pile: "Baghdad FC: Iraq's Football Story" (2005) by Simon Freeman, a thoughtful gift from PG and DG that'll add meaning to the Asian Cup clash between the Socceroos and Iraq on July 13. I've barely creased the spine but already feel I understand the riven country better, which is both a credit to the author and embarrassment to myself.

Page 75

While his humour isn't fully compatible with my funnybone, the pages of Nick Griffiths' "Dalek I Loved You: A Memoir" (2007) keep on turning. It recounts his fluctuating "Doctor Who" fandom from 5.15pm, January 3, 1970 - when he gazed in boyish wonder at Jon Pertwee's debut in the first episode of "Spearhead From Space" - through school, work and fatherhood to the present day. If the English fan experience wasn't different enough to the Antipodean one, Griffiths ends up a privileged insider, writing about the show for the "Radio Times" and gaining access to cast'n'crew. I suspect he still loves Daleks.

Now hear this!

"Send Away The Tigers" (2007) by the Manic Street Preachers. Unstoppable rock of raw emotion and jagged beauty. Politics as personal or global as you wanna make them. Unapologetically Art, without the stuffiness that implies. James Dean duets (faces off, in the video) with Nina from The Cardigans on "Your Love Alone Is Not Enough" and, astonishingly, usurps "Working Class Hero" from John Lennon.

Lunch of champions

My lucky workmate XS is covering Chinatown for one of the annual restaurant guides, so CM, DL and I eagerly accompanied him to a Japanese joint named after a hallowed samurai - Musashi. The fare was superb. I had a tonkatsu and sashimi set that was overflowing with flavours, and we all drank Yebisu Lager (malty good!). XS is an engrossing anecdotist and didn't disappoint when peppered with questions about his sojourn in Italy and Turkey. After the reasonable bill was settled, the geekier members of the company ducked around the corner and up the stairs to the gashapon (capsule toy) machines. I got an SD Gundam mech :-)

Very warm beer

Cave Creek Chili Beer - a new American import - contains only a hint of chilli to which you soon grow accustomed. I'm lying. It's lip-tinglingly hot from tentative first sip to somewhat relieved final gulp. There's a whole seranno chilli floating in every bottle and, through alcoholic alchemy, all of its fire is absorbed by the liquid. Legend (ie. the carton) has it the drink was invented when Arizona brewer "Crazy" Ed Chilleen got jack of customers asking for lah-di-dah slices of lime. He began using serranos instead, but the joke was on Ed 'cos a number of patrons took a liking to the spicy combo. By the end of my first bottle (which went well with a jumbo plate of nachos), I was ready for a second - and that was sufficient. The chilli had overpowered my feeble tastebuds and it was time to switch to regular beer. Your tolerance level may vary. Would I drink CCCB again on my lonesome? Doubtful. Would I bust out a sixpack to provide boozy thrills for mates at a barbie, poker night or bucks' party? Absolutely!

Comic review: "The Plain Janes" (2007)

Cecil Castellucci and Jim Rugg's graphic novel "The Plain Janes" (from DC Comics' Minx label) is aimed at teenage girls, but one of the copies missed and hit me. Truthfully, I caught a rave either in "Entertainment Weekly" mag or on www.avclub.com, but that sentence was too good to waste.

Rugg's black-and-white drawings are very Dan Clowes ("Eightball", "Ghost World"). His people have the same variety of expressions, and similar awkward bodies and slightly prominent heads. Except for the angry policeman, who has a comically undersized noggin...and who I shouldn't be mentioning yet.

Castellucci upends new-kid-in-school conventions with a spunky, capable heroine traumatised by a (subtly alluded to) terrorist incident, stifled by a now-paranoid mum and in love with a coma patient. "Main Jane" interacts easily with the cool clique, but struggles for acceptance from the outcasts.

Her solution is to convince "Sporty Jane", "Brain Jayne" and "Theatre Jane" to form P.L.A.I.N (People Loving Art In Neighbourhoods), a secret gang who nip out at night to perform their own brand of town beautification, such as erecting pyramids of rocks and flowers on a shopping mall building site.

These "art attacks" lead to condemnation, support, discovery, new recruits, a crackdown and inevitable punishment, just not in the ways you might predict...apart from the bust, which is obviously the doing of that cop I told you about. The conclusion is imperfect and all the more inspirational for it.

[The back-cover price is US$9.99, but I picked mine up for roughly the same amount in Aussie dollars. For that, you get 176 pages, including previews of three other Minx yarns, all of which lack the spark of "The Plain Janes".]

XIV

"Blogs I read" has inflated to 14 journals. It's starting to feel like a university reunion :-)

The football factoids

I've been catching up on "(Australian) FourFourTwo" magazines while watching the Dragons/Sharks league derby and Poms/Windies cricket near-thriller.

The May issue mentioned a smile-raising method used by Dutch authorities to control Feyenoord hooligans attending away matches against enemies Ajax:

"The 43-mile journey should take an hour, but football trains deliberately travel more slowly with the heat turned on full and the windows closed to make occupants drowsy." ("Fight Clubs" by Andy Mitten)

In the June edition, I was struck by the poetry of Cameroon/Barcelona striker Samuel Eto'o, African Footballer Of The Year 2003-05:

[On scoring goals]
"Out of every 100 stones you throw, you never know which one will kill the bird."
[On switching from midfielder]
"He who fights for every every ball is he who doesn't have a number on his back."
[On being away from home]
"The continent is a mental state. I live in Europe, but I sleep in Africa. Every goal of mine is a celebration of there."
[On Liverpool]
"They have a big red heart."
("Pssst...Wanna Know A Secret?" by that man again, Andy Mitten)

OK, so the fourth example was a biased inclusion :-)

On the topic of the round-ball code, CM pointed out to me that the A-League 2007 Pre-season Cup draw is available (www.a-league.com.au).

My Newcastle Jets are in Group A with Perth and - grumble, grumble - last season's grand finalists, Melbourne and Adelaide. Unless we make the play-offs, I won't get to see any of it live as our "home" fixture is in Port Macquarie and the other two are in Geelong and the Croweaters' capital.

The P/C kicks off on July 14, while the A-League proper begins on August 24.

Five go gaming in Cronulla

BC holds an annual Queen's Birthday long weekend gamefest at his well-appointed homestead in The Shire, and this year I was lucky enough to be invited. I could only attend yesterday and today due to work commitments (weekly magazine = ignore public holidays), but I had a 10-megaton blast.

Along with the host, TC, SC and TC2, I made the most of the ghastly weather by sitting around a table, playing fantastic board/card games, listening to classy music (pop, rock, jazz), eating blokey food (meaty sangers, burgers, hot dogs) and - you knew this was coming - quaffing Beck's beer.

Below is a list of what we played. The selections were primarily based on the group mood at the time, although we tried to alternate between diceless and dice-based. Each is followed by my simple summation, the game's current "user rating" from www.boardgamegeek.com (out of 10) and where I placed. Bear in mind that I had zilch experience with any of them.

"Taj Mahal"
Maharishis vie for control of 19th-century India. This requires bidding for areas of influence, erecting castles, creating networks and amassing power. A random map and numerous ways to score points ensure "T/M" could never be boring.
BGG: 7.8
Addster: 2nd

"Escape From Colditz"
Allied prisoners attempt to abscond from a German prisoner of war camp during WW2. There are various ways out (eg. tunnel, staff car), but the clock is ticking! BC owns a first-edition copy he and TC have been using since they were lads.
BGG: 6.5
Addster: =2nd (I was the Polish group. SC and I each got one POW to safety; BC and TC both freed two. TC2 took the role of the guards.)

"Elfenland"
Straightforward, undeniably pretty exploration game in which elves travel from city to city, using transports appropriate to the terrains, aiming to cease journeying in their home towns. Hinder your opponents with costly conveyances and roadblocks.
BGG: 6.9
Addster: =1st (three-way tie)

"Formula 1"
Control speed, manage tyre and brake wear, avoid slippery corners and getting stuck behind slow traffic, and reveal secret cards to boost your racer's performance. This is another classic that's been in the C. family for decades.
BGG: 6.8
Addster: last (turns out slow'n'steady doesn't win the race)

Texas Hold 'Em poker
For this Saturday night special event, we were joined by three dudes I hadn't met, G., S. and K. - and one I had, TO. Limit put me in the black and I was killing it in the first no-limit tournament (chip leader, six foes slain) before agreeing to a split to be sociable. Despite being eliminated from the second n-l tourney fairly early, I don't believe I made a mistake on a single hand. A rarity!
BGG: N/A
Addster: > $25 profit

"Aladdin's Dragons"
Blind bidding galore! Pinch treasures from the aforementioned serpents, gain skills in the bazaar, evade/defeat the guardsman, then help yourself to an artefact or two in the palace. Wonderful boardgame, this one. Pity I only started twigging to the strategy at the end.
BGG: 7.2
Addster: 2nd (on treasure countback)

"Draco & Co."
Keeping on the good side of the thieves guild boss will bring silver coins; close proximity to his bad side will cost ya. Player characters and amusing NPCs constantly shift positions around Draco's table in this loopy card-driven creation in which you can go from champ to chump in an instant. Trust me on that.
BGG: 5.6
Addster: last

"Kahuna"
While the other three were attending to various things, SC and I had a quick go of this two-person title. Lay bridges between Hawaiian-sounding islands to bring them under your sway (you're a voodoo priest, apparently). Destroy your rival's connections to cheese him off :-)
BGG: 6.8
Addster: lost (the best I could manage was a stalemate in the third and final round)

"Alhambra"
Each player's Moorish manor is scored based on the number of buildings and gardens it contains, and the length of its most impressive wall. But first you have to save up for the individual sections, compete in the marketplace AND make the bits fit together efficiently, leaving room for future expansion.
BGG: 7.2
Addster: =3rd (another three-way tie)

"Incan gold"
As the ruined temple is randomly revealed, the chance of your Indiana Jones-type meeting his doom - from falling rocks, fire, snake, spiders or ghoul - is increased. As is the amount of loot (gems and archaeological curios) you could potentially carry back to civilisation. Only greed will determine how far you push it. It's likely I'll order this game from Military Simulations tomorrow.
BGG: 6.9
Addster: last

Page 149

"Big Deal: One Year As A Professional Poker Player" tells you most of what you need to know about Anthony Holden's 1990 memoir. Here's the rest: his erudite storytelling is as fearless and rewarding as his time at the table. It's especially fascinating now as a snapshot of the international Hold 'Em scene pre-boom.

If you need a frame of reference, "Big Deal" has grabbed me harder than James McManus's "Positively Fifth Street" (2004), Ben Mezrich's "Bringing Down The House" (2004) or David Kushner's "Jonny Magic And The Card Shark Kids" (2005) - probably my three fave poker/blackjack-related books before I started this one.

Oil's not well

Our society's using more oil every year, while reserves are dwindling. "Limitless" supplies have dried up before - in Azerbaijan, Venezuela, the US. As India and China industrialise, our demand will be massively multiplied.

Still we refuse to pay what oil's truly worth in terms of energy produced. Nor are we perfecting the alternate sources to save us when it's gone. Hydrogen fuel and solar cells are decades away from large-scale feasibility.

Even if every car on the road was magically replaced today by a fuel-electric hybrid such as the Toyota Prius, the present level of demand is too great. Our grandchildren will never travel by plane, predicts one expert.

The oil-producing nations are guilty of pretending nothing's wrong. Insiders say they're no longer discovering major deposits - and won't. They have the tech to find oil anywhere, but they've looked almost everywhere.

Granted, companies are now extracting more oil from tar sands in places like Canada. But the process comes at a higher financial and environmental cost. And seems to be an admission traditional sources are running out.

Within 30 years, or maybe 10, we face an energy crisis. Consequences include a stockmarket crash, widespread depression and Iraq many times over as countries fight "resource wars" for the oil and natural gas remaining.

It's World Environment Day, I've been to see the doco "A Crude Awakening" and I'm worried.

Mini-review: "Blondie Live! The Farewell Concert 1982"

I'd be more excited about this release if Debbie Harry and (most of) her bandmates hadn't reformed in 1997 and been gigging ever since. Still, I'm reliably informed this is the first time their "farewell" show - recorded in Toronto, Canada - has been available on DVD in Oz, so that should make Blondie buffs happy. The 11 tracks include "Heart Of Glass", "Hanging On The Telephone", "One Way Or Another" and an effective cover of the The Rolling Stones' "Start Me Up". You don't get "Union City Blue" or "Atomic", but you do get a group in top form, bolstered by a horn section and guest guitarist, and led by a sex-on-crazy-legs singer who knows how to give her audience a little more with each number. The frantic concert closer, "Call Me", will have you wishing you coulda been there. For $20, you can.

[Australian DVD release date: Today!]

"Who" and roo

There was a Doctor Who Club of Australia event today but I couldn't muster the enthusiasm. Back when I was studying/seeking employment, fan functions (NUGS, NDWSFC, Novatrek, NSFAS, etc.) were a welcome way for my pals and I to fill in six-eight hours. Nowadays, they've all outgrown fandom and I'm stingier with my Sundays. Sure, I would've enjoyed watching further episodes of season three "Who" (I've only seen the opener), chatting to folks and, inevitably, increasing my stack of Big Finish audioplays. But strangely, I feel more satisfied having divided the day between housework and quiet reading.

It's not like I wasn't awake early enough to convey my carcass out to Drummoyne RSL, either. Mum and Dad buzzed by at 7.20am, on their way back to Newie with my sister's car (which they're minding). I loaded them up with three boxes of read books for the mini-library my old room has become. With typical parental concern, they brought me apples, bananas, ginger cake and kangaroo curry. To my swag of early b'day goddies were added a new vegie peeler (trying to tell me something?) and two nifty Corgi die-cast models featuring the Fourth Doctor - exiting the TARDIS with K-9, and at the wheel of "Bessie".

Separate lives

If it wasn't hard enough having a sister permanently based in Japan who I seldom see, now I've got another spending the European summer in Croatia, in what could conceivably become a regular arrangement. I bid "dovidenja" (hope that's correct) to AK, VK and baby CK yesterday morning. As well as hugs and handshakes, we exchanged pressies - a Lonely Planet phrasebook and emergency euros* for sis, "Tintin" toys for my impending b'day (a handsome model of Tintin, Snowy and Captain Haddock in his Lincoln Zephyr, plus playing cards decorated with panels from the comics). Have a fantastic three months and come back safe, mate!

*Good luck finding Croatian kunas at a currency exchange in Sydney.

Some sequels are superior

In October 2005, DL and I were among the 2000+ professional wrestling fans who packed the Olympic Park Sports Centre for "International Assault". It was always gonna be a solid show. Samoa Joe, Team 3-D (aka The Dudley Boyz) and Rhino did everything right, while Christopher Daniels and AJ Styles were responsible for the best live match I had ever seen.

On Friday night, CM, PB, LA and I were among the 200+ rasslin' afficionados who didn't quite fill the UNSW Roundhouse for "International Assault 2: War Of The Worlds". Although it had fewer overseas stars (and more local AWF talent), it was better than "I/A/1"!

Austin Aries got himself and the crowd totally fired up, Kid Kash played the perfect heel and Billy Kidman was all right (although he's looking more like Disco Inferno these days). The main event between Bryan "American Dragon" Danielson and Nigel McGuinness outdid even the flawless Daniels/Styles bout, resulting in a standing ovation and farewell chant of "THAT WAS AWE-SOME!"

Props also to a wrestler in the opening four-way match known as The Captain. He came out in cricket whites, brandishing an ACB bat. At one stage, with his foe cornered, he pretended to rub a six-stitcher on his trousers, ran towards them as if bowling, then brought his arm crashing down on their collarbone. Oh yeah, and his entrance music was the classic Nine Network cricket theme.

Despite the modest attendance, the atmosphere at "I/A/2" was supreme - I've never been so vocal or felt so involved. Our group was cheering, clapping and heckling the whole time as were most people around us. Ample alcohol was imbibed during and after (at the Doncaster Hotel).

Cardboard, plastic and electric glass

Thanks to the great guys at Good Games, I was able to acquire the 20 "Magic: The Gathering" cards I needed to complete my "Future Sight" set. They ranged in price from $2 for Shah Of Naar Isle (a cheap brute with a terrible drawback - your opponent gets three draws) to $18 for Pact Of Negation (a "free" counterspell that’s hot on the tourney scene). Less discount, it worked out at $5.50 a card. Considering boosters are $7 and there's no guarantee the random rare will be a spell you need, I reckon that's acceptable.

While I was at GG, I spotted two new expansions for “Pirates Of The Spanish Main”, a constructible strategy game where you build and battle plastic ships. I have a shelf full of these weeny wonders and try to get at least one pack from each release. I left the store with boosters of "The Frozen North" (Vikings and sea monsters) and "At World’s Edge" (remind you of any piratical film title?). American two- and four-masters, a French three-master, a giant serpent, a whirplool and an icy island now populate the Coffee Table Sea :-)

Having completed as much of "Clubhouse Games" (in Mission Mode) as I'm ever going to, I've moved on to another Nintendo DS puzzler. In "Magnetica", you use the stylus to flick marbles into groups of a similar hue. Think "Tetris" but with a line of spheres spiralling relentlessly toward the centre of the screen. The difference is that matching marbles are magnetically attracted - knock out a bunch of red ones between two clumps of dark blue and those will be pulled together. If you plan things properly, it's possible to set off spectacular chain reactions. I'll know it's rewired my head when I start having "Magnetica" dreams...