Mainly concerned with food

Curious crisps killed the cat

Calbee Paripari Variation Mentaiko Mayonnaise Potato Chips. Mentaiko is marinated pollock roe. I heartily recommend these to fans of burning lips and stomach upsets. Enough said.

"LOOK AT THIS PHOTOGRAPH!"

(Shouty Nickelback quote to hopefully make SC laugh.) After it got two separate plugs in "The Sydney Morning Herald", I had to scope out the "AC/DC Exposed!" exhibition at the Blender Gallery in Paddington. The converted townhouse is crammed with forty-plus black-and-white prints by Philip Morris that follow the band from a green promo shoot in '74 to Bon's final Aussie fling in '79, crashing a gig by The Ferrets in Cremorne. There are also shots from the same era of international acts in Oz.

When you're done with the Acca Dacca pics, head citywards along Oxford to the Australian Centre for Photography and the four-gallery "Hijacked" exhibition, the hippest heap of snaps I've seen this year. Is it wrong that they provoked more of a reaction in me than those annual collections of news and nature photos?

World of rugger

At the M. residence, we fortified ourselves with Afrikaner fare - Castle Lager, samoosas (not samosas) and boerewors rolls - before driving to ANZ Stadium to watch the rugby union international between the Wallabies and France. Coupla funny things... On carts around the edges of the field were giant torches that spouted flames into the air whenever points were scored. And at regular intervals, eg. a restart kick, a trumpet would play and the crowd would shout "Ole!" We won in fairly convincing fashion, 34-13, but I fear we'll be flogged by the All Blacks and Springboks in the Tri Nations.

Grumpy old man

Attention: Thai restaurants! Glass noodles and carrot do not a vego spring roll make. How about some greens and mushrooms with that?

Grumpy old man 2

Attention: supermarket fillers! Don't throw goddamn bags of rice onto goddamn metal shelves. At Food For Less today, there wasn't a single packet of Sunrise Long Grain White without a hole in it! I had to buy goddamn Uncle Ben's.

Obligatory "Doctor Who" reference

Recently, I have partaken in chapter 4, verses 6-10 of the new TV series, as well as the audio "Unregenerate!" and novel "Sick Building".

What a voice!

"Sweet About Me" by Gabriella Cilmi (Jools Holland pronounced it "chill me", so that must be correct). I realise I'm so late to this party that the chairs are being stacked, but I don't generally pay attention to the charts here or overseas.

Fast food movement

The Scottish restaurant's limited-edition McAfrica burger is a floury bun housing a pair of wafer-thin beef patties, greasy cheese, whiteish tomato, whiteish lettuce and a harissa-style sauce whose zing goes well with a strawberry shake. Hurry, boys, she's McWaiting there for you!