Peroni monster

Wednesday. The theme of the Baramount Bictures Bome B'ntertainment Buarter Bour Baunch Barty (take that, random Googlers!), held at the Overseas Passenger Terminal in Circular Quay, was "Home Of The Heroes". Essentially, the function was a thanks-in-advance piss-up with action-oriented eye candy. Parked outside were a big rig custom-painted with "Transformers" designs and a tank. The entryway was tres cool – an airlock with blue-lit smoke and automated warnings playing in the background. An MC popped up intermittently to set the scene. Video presentations on jumbo screens hyped upcoming DVD releases. Actors dressed as the Watchmen stood statue still inside glass cabinets or wandered the floor in character. Funky dancers on podiums and positioned throughout the throng performed to a medley of hits from Hollywood musicals. A decent hip-hop group occupied the stage, then a trio of female DJs. In a quiet(ish) area, there was a line of "Dance Dance Revolution" machines on freeplay. What else? A familiar black and yellow Chevy Camaro revved its way into the middle of everyone. That dude from MTV's "The City" mumbled lame As to Qs. G.I. Joe Blow came smashing through a door, then stalked off in search of his quarry. Yes, dull moments were kept to a minimum - and stomachs were as extravagantly catered for as peepers. The fab finger food included cubes of pork belly dusted with chilli powder and Peking duck pancakes with orange marmalade. Plus, there was as much Peroni, spirits and wine as ya could guzzle. Three specially concocted cocktails as well – the Starscream (vodka-based), Bumblebee (tequila-based) and Snake Eyes (???). CM and I needed only the S/E for the trifecta when the bar's stock of fruit/juices was exhausted by the massive demand. We drowned our sorrows by returning to beer. What else? Ran into journos I vaguely knew. Attempted to take and shake the hand of a "Top Model" star who, perhaps understandably, recoiled in horror. (Bah, I never liked her.) But proving I'm not a completely loathsome creature, I later got along fine with a former reality TV host, who invited me to his house-warming. Alas, poor light put paid to the brilliant idea of photographing my pal pretending to sock The Comedian in the jaw. The willing punchee was even gonna cinematically spit at the moment I snapped the shot. There was an after-party at Cruise Bar, which is merely a separate section of the O/P/T with insufficient loos. By chance, I spoke to a coupla prominent Paramount staffers - a senior account manager (if memory serves) and the woman who actually buys the movies. Colour me impressed. A business card would've been handier than digits for a mobi I rarely switch on. Somewhere betwixt midnight and 1am, I'd reached my limit of gratis grog, was repeating silly phrases and had mislaid my goodie bag. CM retrieved said holdall, then herded me downstairs and into a taxi - like the top mate that he is.


L: "How Did Hannibal Cross The Alps?", a Stanford University History Department podcast available on iTunes.

Sunday arvo footy

Like "Gus" Gould, I love Sunday arvo footy - whatever the code. In this instance, it was soccer, as my Newcastle United Jets faced Sydney FC in a friendly at a sparsely populated Sydney Football Stadium. We'd already lost to the Sky Blues in this pre-season period, 0-2 at Port Macquarie, but were filling in for Chinese side Shanghai Shenhua (who reckoned that, missing their quintet of national reps, they were unable to field a competitive team). Could we reverse the previous result? Nope, but we did at least improve upon it. The rain-soaked, relatively incident-free match finished 1-1. Brosque netted a beauty for SFC before the break, damn him, while Song equalised for us in the second half with a somewhat bizarre lob over the keeper. Given how even the sides had been for the 90 minutes, I was satisfied with a draw - as were the diehard opposition supporters seated beside me, aka The M. Brothers.


L: "Tennessee Pusher" (2008) by Old Crow Medicine Show. Bluegrass with street smarts.

R: "Take A Girl Like You" (1960) by Kingsley Amis. Familiar with the majority of Martin Amis's literature, I was entirely ignorant of and mildly curious about his father's. Then I spotted this orange Penguin in an exchange. The clincher was the bookmark wedged a chapter shy of the end - a page from a desk calendar, dated Thursday, February 13, 1964. Forty-five years on, the infoverse demands closure!

W: Forthcoming fillum "Spread", about livin' off your looks in Los Angeles (loaner from a publicist who wants me to plug it); "King Of The Cage: Greatest Hits" (2001), which I picked up from Go-Lo for two bucks; the premiere of "Hulk Hogan's Celebrity Championship Wrestling" (2008) on FOX8; and British PM Gordon Brown's terrific speech "Wiring A Web For Global Good" on www.ted.com, as tweeted by Stevo Fry.

While this site lay dormant, I...

Attended preview screenings of "Shall We Kiss?", "Push", "The Girlfriend Experience"*, "The Hangover"*, "Coco Avant Chanel", "Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen" at IMAX, "The September Issue", "Julie & Julia"*, "Anvil! The Story Of Anvil"*, "Moon"*, "Looking For Eric", "Fighting" and "Blessed". (Highly recommend the five marked with asterisks.) Had to pay cash money for "Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince". Your heart may commence bleeding for me.

Turned 37 and had a lovely meal with AK, VK and CK.

Sat/slumped/reclined through the DVDs "Russell Brand: Doing Life Live" (2009), "Bigger Stronger Faster" (2008), "The Spirit" (2008), "College" (2007), the bonkers "The Man In The Glass Booth" (1975), "Transformers" (2007), "UFC Ultimate Knockouts #6" (2009), "Pride FC: Bushido #11" (2008?), "Robot Chicken - Star Wars: Episode II" (2008) and "Grandmaster Ip Man" (2008).

Found a local deli that can supply me with proper biltong. Not that beef jerky crap.

Tuned in to episodes of "Future Weapons", "Is It Real?", "Who Do You Think You Are?" (UK), as well as the brainy brats of the "2009 Scripps National Spelling Bee", "P!nk: Live At Wembley" (2007), "Triple J TV Presents Lily Allen" (2009?) and the Seth Green-hosted "WWE RAW".

Began wearing Playboy aftershave. Quit laughing, it was free.

Tried the beers Oettinger Pils, Miller Chill ("with salt and lime"), Cobra, Samuel Adams Boston Lager and Mythos. And while I was damaging my health in the name of empiricism, I also smoked apple tobacco from a shisha pipe with AZ and R. at Lebanon And Beyond.

Heard Richard Hatch, Dirk Benedict and Dave Gibbons speak IRL at the Supanova convention.

Read the manga volumes/graphic novels "20th Century Boys #2-3", "Bleach #27", "Dan Dare" (2008) by Garth Ennis and Gary Erskine, "Berserk #9", "Runaways: Dead End Kids" (2009) by Joss Whedon and Michael Ryan, "Captain Britain And MI13: Hell Comes To Birmingham" (2009) by Paul Cornell and Leonard Kirk, "Tintin: Land Of Black Gold" (1950) by Herge, "Fullmetal Alchemist #19", and Alan Moore and Melinda Gebbie's metafictional erotic odyssey "Lost Girls" (2009).

Rode the new, mostly underground rail link between Chatswood and Epping, via Macquarie University.

Bought an LCD telly for my guest bedroom, which now does double duty as a games room. Haven't zapped much of late, however - "Kingdom Hearts" on PS2 (PG scored me this console at a garage sale, in near-perfect nick, for $20!) and a weird version of "Bomb Jack" on the Plug'N'Play that's more like, I dunno, "Solomon's Key"?

Won the first tourney at DL's poker night and came runner-up to him in the second.

Polished off the books "John Constantine - Hellblazer: Warlord" (2006) by John Shirley - wordsmith, "Karlology" (2008) by Karl Pilkington, "Torchwood: Border Princes" (2007) by Dan Abnett, "Comic Store Guy's Book Of Popular Culture" (2005) by various, "Diary Of A Dr Who Addict" (2009) by Paul Magrs, "Twilight Of Love: Travels With Turgenev" (2006) by Robert Dessaix and ripping 007 yarn "Devil May Care" (2008) by Sebastian Faulks.

Rotted my teeth with Toxic Waste ("hazardously sour candy"), Cinnamon Mentos, a Zero bar and Sweet Potato KitKats (cheers, AC). Nah, I promise I brushed 'em straight after.

Went along to support the Wallabies versus the Barbarians at SFS and the 'Wicks versus Wests at Coogee Oval. Didn't mind who was victorious out of Sydney FC and A-League debutantes North Queensland Fury, I was just hoping ex-Liverpool star Robbie Fowler would take the field for NQF. Sadly, he was a no-show. There was a blue in the crowd.

Successfully answered the Mega Bite challenge at CM's b-day bash at Bite Me Burger Co.

Pored over "ABC Cricket" mag (The Ashes 2009 edition), the May 30 "New Scientist" (for the cover story on ancient undeciphered scripts), the February "PC PowerPlay", "Hyper #189", "Data Extract #202" and, especially, "Doctor Who Magazine Special Edition: 200 Golden Moments" - surpasses any hardcover "D/W" tome.

Burnt an annual leave day on the delayed telecast of "UFC #100".

Avidly followed the FA Cup final, State Of Origin, World Twenty20, Socceroos' qualification for South Africa 2010, Jets' nosedive from a great height in the ACL, and the World Series Of Poker. Glued to The Ashes, natch.

Listened many times to "Greatest Hits" (2002) by Lighthouse Family, the "Flight 666" soundtrack (2009) by Iron Maiden, "Loveboat" (2000) by Erasure, "Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Once More, With Feeling" (2002) by the cast of same, "Operation: Mindcrime" (1988) and "Operation: Mindcrime II" (2006) by Queensryche, "The Revenge" (2007) by Allen/Lande, "It's Not Me, It's You" (2009) by Lily Allen and the Pinky Beecroft & The White Russians EP. Less times to "Rupert's Funhouse" (2009) by UMaq students and the gentlemanly memoir "Who & Me" (2008) by Barry Letts, which was reduced from $35 to $8.95 at the ABC Shop. RE: "Once More..." - the absolute standout track is "Under Your Spell". Amber Benson, please release an album!

Added Anime At Abbotsford and Football Emporium to my list of fave stores. (Swag: Nendoroid figure of Konata from "Lucky Star", gashapon toy of Nova from "Star Blazers", Liverpool cap, large Liverpool pennant for lounge room.)

Inherited LA's collection of "Doctor Who" discs. Such a generous fellow.

Took a liking to tsukune, cha soba, pineapple and guava juice, potato'n'beetroot dumplings (at Indian eatery Darbar), creamy mushroom soup with loadsapepper, black pudding and Spanish cider. There's no doubt I inherited my Dad's tastebuds.

Tested the "Conflux" intro packs for "Magic: The Gathering". Currently assessing the "2010 Core Set" decks. Not forgetting a "D&D 4E" session with TC, etc.

Got trolleyed at the "WrestleMania XXV" DVD media launch at the CBD Hotel, slamming tequila and propositioning innocent women until everything went black. Comported myself rather better at the "WWE RAW Live Tour" at Acer Arena, the play "Dealer's Choice" at Darlinghurst Theatre, a ukulele-fest at The Harp, White Russians gig at The Excelsior and Nightmare Wrestling event at The Drummoyne Club.

You really wanted to know that stuff, right? :-)

GOOOOAAL!

Love Supreme was quite the culinary experience. A non-descript exterior made the chaos within extra surprising. The kitchen spilled out into the restaurant, with stacks of plain brown pizza boxes and sacks of organic flour competing for space with the tables and chairs and a wine bar that'd nestle easily in the corner of a boutique hotel. My waiter had a full-on Salvador Dali moustache and I wondered whether he might be an aspiring actor or avant-garde muso. Bloke was exceptional at his job – the type who makes every customer feel like a VIP. Can't say I'd wanna be friends with *all* of the clientele, though. The unpretentious gals next to me were happy to share a gag. But then there were obvious poseurs like the guy who walked over to the umbrella stand to take a call on his mobile. I swear he only did it so he could lean on one of the longer ones and affect a Steed-esque stance. To the fare, then. Unsure of the different main dish sizes, I didn't order an entree. (Should have got a few of the deep-fried zucchini flowers as they looked awesome.) Played it safe with a medium pizza topped with West Aussie sardines, mozzarella, capsicum and salsa verde. God, it was good – a rich aroma and strong flavours. Well suited to the hand-harvested grenache I was drinking. How's this for cute? The first glass said "love". The second glass said "supreme". And the third, fourth and fifth glasses said "thanks", "for", "noticing". I'm joking. The third glass also said "supreme" and the enchantment was dispelled. Pudding was an old-skool apple-and-rhubarb crumble. The chunky bits brought back memories of the biscuits my oldest younger sister and I would bake with Mum's leftover pastry when we were kids. That alone was worth the amount at the bottom of the bill. Incidentally, I should explain – I was in Paddo to appraise Mexican football flick "Rudo Y Cursi" at the Chauvel.

Best wishes, sis

Visited my sister on the occasion of her 30th. Spilled Boag's Draughts down my neck. Ate enough Portuguese chicken to feed all of Cristiano Ronaldo's exes. Chinese pandan cake for dessert - soft, subtle and green. Chatted with some of my brother-in-law's relos who were in Sydney making arrangements for a typically expensive-sounding wedding. Unbeknownst to my satiated self, cricketing tragedy was unfolding at Lord's...


Heads-up: "We Are Wizards", a doco about rabid "Harry Potter" fans, is on ABC2 this Wednesday at 8.30pm.

Still alive

Thanks to a modest outlay on my part and spare quality hardware, IT nous and untold (in the literal sense) hours donated by PB, I am the proud owner of a PC that eclipses any I've had in the past. So I can stop paying for Intarwebs access I'm not using and start snobbishly insisting on Blu-ray discs, developing a "World Of Warcraft" habit and mebbe even doing a little aperture science.