Five years on

Cancon, the national capital's legendary annual gaming convention, is 31 this year and I'll be there to celebrate. When I last attended, in 2004, I played "Magic: The Gathering" tournaments for the entire long weekend (in the vintage, extended, standard and sealed formats) and, despite a couple of minor prizes, regretted locking myself into an activity requiring fairly intense concentration. I recall relishing the breaks between rounds when I would hurry to the main hall and rubberneck at the hundred-plus fantasy/historical/modern era/sci-fi wargames in progress, with their gorgeously painted miniatures and participants friendlier than many of those at the "M:TG" tables, as well as cruising the dealer stalls for cool stuff. I was travelling on my own then, but in '09 I'll be sharing a hotel with my buddies TC and LPO and we plan on playing a casual mix of RPGs, boardgames and cards. My accommodation is booked, ditto my preferred mode of transport (Greyhound now give you the option to "purchase carbon offsets" for an additional dollar, which I think is great). That leaves a fortnight to prepare the "single-session module using a non-'D&D' system" that I've promised to GM.


Yummo steak at Yama, Queen Vic Building

Big chunks of sirloin on a bed of kumara mash and baby spinach leaves, topped with asparagus spears and surrounded by a sweet, brown sesame sauce.

Bargain of this century

An official Rush (as in the band) 2009 calendar, sealed in plastic, for $2 at Kmart! Incredibly, I found it dumped on a shelf in the toy section while selecting LEGO for my nephew's birthday.

Who cares who wins?

With my Colts eliminated from the AFC race by the Chargers (deja bloody vu!), I'm just enjoying the remaining NFL playoffs for what they are - such as this morning's punishing encounter between the Titans and Ravens, in which the penalties almost equalled the points.