Plan B

Three of us fronted for a screening of new actioner "Transporter 3", but a caretaker had neglected to unlock the building. Fortunately, one of my fellow exiles was a rep from the distributor, so at least I came away with a copy of the production notes. Given that I also own the previous instalments on DVD, it shouldn't be too taxing to cobble something together to meet my brutal Chrissie deadlines. It won't be posted here, though. Fake reviews - usually glorified previews that fall into either the hyperbole or levity camps - are a necessary evil of which I'm not proud.

Denied screeching tyres and gunshots, I buried myself in Wizards Of The Coast's as-comprehensive-as-ya-want-it-to-be coverage of Day One at the "Magic: The Gathering" World Championships in Memphis (www.wizards.com/magic/Magazine/Default.aspx will get you there). As a patriotic sort, it's my pleasure to report that after the six-round Standard portion, two of the four Australian team members were undefeated. Justin Cheung was 1st/357, Rookie Of The Year contender Aaron Nicastri was 4th on "resistance", Glenn Shanley was 56th (vindicating his rogue deck choice) and Brandon Lau was 163rd. The day closed with two rounds of multi-format team competition that left us sitting at 4th/57* in the standings. I'll resist jinxing our efforts with optimistic predictions at this stage. Go Aussies!


* If this number seems low, that's 'cos there are avenues of qualifying for Worlds besides national selection (eg. DCI rating) AND not every country sends a full squad.


MMA FYI: "The Ultimate Fighter 8" commences Sunday, 9pm on FUEL TV. DL has been following online response to the show and assures me it's the most out-of-control season yet. [Record-button finger itching]