Data dump

* The best thing I've read in 2007 by a country light-year is Stuart Maconie's "Pies And Prejudice: In Search Of The North". A more incisive travelogue and better balance between literate and hip, history lesson and anecdote, you will not find.

* Yay for basketball season! My Sydney Kings have already beaten the new Gold Coast Blaze franchise and the Townsville Crocs (just). There are a few Wednesday night games coming up that I'll be doing my darndest to attend.

* Yesterday, I had a lunch of three entrees at Sakura in Pitt St that included renkon chips - fried slices of lotus root dusted with shichimi powder. The closest food I can compare 'em to is paprika potato crisps, except these things are naturally patterned with holes.

* Stephen Fry now has an online journal - www.stephenfry.com/blog - and it's techy as. The lengthy first entry is about SmartPhones. (PB: You'll love it! SC: Thanks for the heads-up.)

* I've been watching some yohoho DVDs this week, courtesy of GH. "Death Proof" floored me like the accelerator under Stuntman Mike's boot and I look forward to purchasing the deluxe edition and hearing Tarantino explain all the in-jokes. "The Ultimate Fighter 4" also rawks.

* The final issue of "Dungeon" was sweet, but the last-ever ish of "Dragon" is pure sugar. It's worth the inflated cover price ($20!) for the "Unsolved Mysteries Of D&D" article alone. The disappearance of writer Carl Sargent is freaky!

* Those online bookstores based on either side of the Atlantic continue to lure the cash from my wallet. Nicholas Christopher's intriguing novel "The Bestiary" latterly joined the other 17 items jostling for position on my Amazon US Wish List...

* It's surprising how much the new Siouxsie album "Mantaray" doesn't suck, which is a credit to her backing band, really. Far be it from me to tell the grandma of goth to put down the mic, but her stuff's more cabaret than cutting edge these days. (Cheers, LA.)

* Are you guys following "The Guild" on YouTube? Ya ruddy well should be! It's a send-up of "World Of Warcraft" junkies that stars Felicia Day aka Vi from "Buffy The Vampire Slayer". There are three eps so far. Sorry if I mentioned it already.

* Card bought, hair cut, speech printed. I'm sorted for the wedding :-)