Planets in rotation

Frickin' windy - it'd blow a dog off a chain, as my father would say. Once the essential chores were done, I confined myself to quarters and unlocking minor achievements. (That ain't a euphemism, filthsters.) Season three of "Robot Chicken" - in DVD emporiums December 3 - is the crudest and cruelest yet. The "Bob The Builder" and nativity scene skits made me laugh so hard I teleported five feet to the left. Luckily, it wasn't into a wall. On DQ's recommendations plural, I picked up AC/DC's "Black Ice" from Sanity. That'll get a spin as soon as I tire of the Gunners, which may not be for a while (current fave: track #6 - "There Was A Time"). PG reminded me of the new Sultry Sally potato crisps range with the '50s pin-up logo, so I threw a bag of salt & vinegar into my grocery basket. They're skins'n'all speckly, healthily dry, but the flavour's a tad weak. I've seen Fighting Fantasy #57 "Magehunter" sell for US$40 on eBay. Mine was AUD$4 at a book exchange in the Hunter Valley I won't disclose. It has an Arabian setting, the finest background rules and regulations of the range (excluding Steve Jackson's "Sorcery!" series), an extremely complicated structure, a 10-beast battle...and I'm buggered if I could solve it in three goes. "Scarfies" (1999) is a New Zealand black comedy about five Otago Uni students and rugger fans who find a potentially deadly secret locked in the basement of their squat. It's a piece of low-budget brilliance and well worth the small gold coin I paid Go-Lo. Searching for lighter fare on my "unread" shelf, I pulled out YA adventure "The Flight Of The Silver Turtle" (2005) by John Fardell, the brains behind the two consistently best strips* in "Viz" magazine, viz. "The Critics" and "The Modern Parents". Thus far, "T/F/O/T/S/T" isn't up to the standard of its predecessor, "The 7 Professors Of The Far North"; the admittedly necessary refamiliarising with multiple characters feels like treading water. My comment on Australia losing the Rugby League World Cup: ultimately, a positive. Firstly, it proves the competition wasn't a one-horse race. Secondly, it's reignited Trans-Tasman rivalry - payback's bound to be a bitch!


*"Jack Black And His Dog Silver" runs a close third.