Is there a common theme?

There was a queue the length of a diplodocid for the Australian Museum's new dinosaurs exhibition. Plan B was "Bateaux Jouets - Toy Boats From Paris 1850-1950" at the National Maritime Museum, via the tourist bustle of Darling Harbour.

Don't be misled by the title, these multifarious miniature vessels are on loan from a French institution, but many of them were manufactured in Germany. From wooden Noah's Arks for toddlers to steam-driven "leviathans" (one that can fire .22 caliber blanks!) with a hundred variations in between, it's a window on a European craze and a massive, competitive industry now almost vanished.


All change:

* "The Machine Gunners" (1975) by Robert Westall. Kids' yarn about surving bombing raids and gleefully exploring/collecting/trading the military wreckage in WW2 England. From the bulging "classics I missed at school" file.
* "A Brief History Of Rhyme" (2004) by MC Hawking. Phat beats and synthesised gangsta raps dropping physics knowledge. Tracks include "All My Shootings Be Drivebys" and "Entropy" (in the style of Naughty By Nature's "O.P.P.").
* "Dark Matter" (2007). A brilliant foreign student's thesis is rejected with dire consequences. Ignoring what's been altered from the tragic real-life inspiration, this arthouse fillum is a gripping depiction of culture clash and alienation. Another preview DVD from DL. [Australian rental release date: June 25]

When the clock struck five:

I was sampling Oporto's "new" Oprego burger - the usual ingredients with a sweet brown sauce instead of a hot red one. Ho-hum.