The T. rex couldn't hug

Went to Football Emporium with the M. brothers, where I replaced my ratty old wallet with a natty Liverpool FC job. I also grabbed a sheet of supporter stickers - "This is Anfield" and the like. Next on the itinerary was Anime At Abbotsford. They'd mistakenly sold the "42" T-shirt CM had ordered many moons ago for my birthday, so I ended up spending a comparable sum on excellent figurines of characters from "Galaxy Express 999" (the ethereal Maetel), "Fullmetal Alchemist" (an appropriately silvery-grey Edward Elric) and "Cyborg 009" (Joe Shimamura in a dynamic pose). We lunched at the nearby, multi-awarded Ocean Foods, which boasted "the best fish'n'chips in the universe". I couldn't fault their barramundi pack. Back on Broadway, the lads headed home to view the Brisbane Roar/Central Coast Mariners clash, while I dropped in at the UTS Open Day and enquired about their Dip. Ed. Basically, it's not feasible even to do part-time if you're working 9-5, but I admit to being half tempted by the government scholarship that covers your fees and provides you with a stipend while you're learnin' - in exchange for which you agree to teach for three years in The Bush. Smells like an adventure! Basement Books was kinda-sorta on the way to the bus shed, and a shipment of new stock ensured I left with a few bargains for my father and myself. I suspect there may be more books published about golf than any other sport.


D: White Rabbit dark ale.

L: "Labyrinth OST" (1986).

R: "Data Extract #203" fanzine, fictional diary "Spud" (2005) by John Van De Ruit - imagine Adrian Mole relocated to a South African boarding school. Oh, and nerdling.net/slushpile, a weblog of an Antarctic science expedition. Don't dismiss it without reading the entry "The Icy Orrery".

W: Miss Universe 2009 pageant, Kaiju Big Battel bouts, "Tony Robinson's Crime And Punishment", standalone Michael Palin doco "The Last Day Of World War One".

Druid persecution must end

Last night, I attended an unusual and memorable gig staged within one of the brick arches of a tram-line bridge to raise funds for a local hockey club. Kings Of The Day III was the amped-up uke of Superintendent Of Electric Light (aka my buddy CM); honed classic rock of The Faults; keyboard-driven, new wave-ish, Brazilian pop of Rocky Acoustica; high-energy punk of Constant Project and Run! Hide!; infectious enthusiasm of hip-hop posse Glebe Bay Dynamite Crew (feat. Lizzee Rascal); and sheer awesomeness of Raise The Crazy, who reminded me of Rose Tattoo and Acca Dacca and The Screaming Jets and had a lunatic frontman with a penchant for climbing onto the bar or speakers...then somersaulting off. Before we made like Elvis and left the building, the raffle was drawn and I won third prize - a bottle of silver-label Bundy Rum that Dad will enjoy adding to his coffee.

This arvo, my poor earses still ringing, I paid a months-overdue visit the Art Gallery Of NSW. There were more temporary exhibitions than I had time to properly appreciate, so I focused my attention on "Printmaking In The Age Of Romanticism" - 150 works, on all manner of topics, by Blake, Delacroix, Turner, etc. I also checked out the micro-exhibit about Goulburn-born painter Sydney Long's "Pan" and his related scenes of Antipodean Arcadia. These were wonderful. Browsing the gift shop, I contemplated purchasing a mounted print of a Jeffrey Smart landscape. Although he's among my favourite contemporary artists, none of the images on offer begged to be hung on my walls.

Miscellanea I'm too lazy to shoehorn into the preceding pars... This weekend, I also devoured my first Scottish pie (yummy spiced mutton in a distinctive open-topped pastry). The sound'n'lighting guy at the concert was wearing a cool belt buckle he'd fashioned from an NES controller. While we're on the subject of attire, some bloke was marching through the gallery in a pith helmet! And in Hyde Park, I saw a young Japanese fellow scoring spare change from passers-by with his arrangement of intricately carved fruit. Having seen such carvings done on Jap game show "TV Champions", I recognised him for the supreme blade master that he was.


L: "Australian FourFourTwo Insider" podcast (but skipping the adverts!), the neo-prawg rawk of "Frequency" (2009) by IQ.

P: "Alara Reborn" solo magickal cards :-)

R: Deepening manga mystery "20th Century Boys #4" (2001, translated 2009) by Naoki Urasawa, coffee-table photobook "Tokyo - A Certain Style" (1999) by Kyoichi Tsuzuki, unputdownable autobiography "The Two Of Me" (2007, revised 2008) by Andrew Johns with Neil Cadigan.

The new, as-yet-unnamed* Vegemite

As someone who considers the original spread to be perfect, I saw no reason (except corporate greed) for this offshoot to exist. But hearing the taste variously described as "cheesy", "chocolatey" and "ham-like"(!) aroused my curiosity and I bought a small jar on sale.

I'm not sure about the similarity to pig flesh, but it is choc brown in colour and contains cream cheese. Shame the flavour's so mild - nay, bland. Ever eaten a Vegemite sandwich that had too much marge and not enough of the black stuff? That's what this is like.

In the words of my colleague CS, it's "Vege-shite".


*There's a prize for the No. 1 public suggestion.

The second certainty in life

Did my income tax without expiring of boredom. Lodged the details by phone and was told to expect a return of 700 quid. That'll go towards a short trip before the year is out. At this stage, I'm thinking the south coast - maybe Jervis Bay. My pollution-poisoned body would benefit from some nature walks/cruises. (Though I doubt any whale watch could compare to the one I did, yonks ago, in Coffs Harbour. We had a playful critter fully breach right alongside the boat.)


L: Sky's eponymous 1979 classical rock debut.

R: "New Scientist" (July 25 and August 1) - cheers, EM; "Hikaru No Go #16"; "Fables #12 - The Dark Ages" by Bill Willingham and his funky bunch.

W: "UFC #101"; the 10 webisodes of "Clark And Michael", by Messrs Duke and Cera.

Well, what I wanna know is...

* Who will sign this petition to have the "insert" key banned from future keyboards?

* What makes folks think it's acceptable to walk four abreast along a busy footpath?

* When did Cheezels and Killer Pythons stop tasting as good as they did in my youth?

* Where were all of those flashing, wailing fire engines going in the pouring rain?

* Why don't musos combine Gregorian chants with synths and dance beats anymore?

AND

* How was Pluto demoted using such flawed definitions of "planet" and "dwarf planet"?

Black spag

Was meant to be at a science-fiction club meeting today, but awoke feeling unenthused and decided my priorities lay elsewhere. Domestic duties, niggling trivialities, blah blah. Sorted the bulk of it.

Met my Brisbane sis EM and her hubby TM at Central Station in the early evening. Stowed their gear at my joint, then we ambled to Grotta Capri in Kensington. Named in honour of a famous blue grotto on the Italian isle, this venerable establishment (as seen on telly's "Underbelly") had an interior that was like an underwater cave, the faux-rock walls decorated with an assortment of shells.

You won't be surprised to learn the menu was predominantly seafood. Our meals were substantial and tasty. After the obligatory garlic bread, I opted for the daily special of spaghetti with cuttlefish meat and ink sauce, which I chased with pinot grigio and mixed gelato.

Desserts scoffed, it was back to mine for beer, whisky, conversation, cricket and file sharing. Eccellente!


L: Old Crow Medicine Show's self-titled 2004 album and "Doctor Who: Mission Of The Viyrans" (2007) by Nicholas Briggs. Couldn't resist a 99p download starring Doc Five and Peri.

P: My "M:TG - 2010 Core Set" tourney is done. Extremely close. The Black/splash green deck was the victor; second place was a tie between U/b, R/u and W/r; fifth by a whisker was G/w. The "Alara Reborn" pre-cons beckon...

R: "Rose" (2000-02) by Jeff Smith and Charles Vess. The colourful prequel to "Bone".

Hey, hey, it's...

Spent the morning at an anime con, where I acquired a framed print by Hong Kong digital painter Cuson Lo. It depicts an elderly inventor type playing chess in a basement(?) against a humanoid robot. Google image search his name and you'll soon find it.

In the afternoon, I witnessed the Galloping Greens fix the Marlins' wagon, 41-13. The Bledisloe Cup was on display. Oddly, so was the flag of Texas, draped over a barrier. At one point, the announcer raised a chuckle with, "Conversion *very* unsuccessful."


D: Monteith's Doppelbock Winter Ale from NZ.

L: "The Truth" (2000) by Terry Pratchett, abridged audiobook read by Tony Robinson. Ta, PB.

R: Strine "FourFourTwo" rag (September).

W: "Survivorman" and "Man Vs Wild" on Discovery Channel, A-League soccer on Fox Sports.

Slight exaggeration

Talk about the worst way of being reminded you're running late... As I rushed around Darling Harbour to a 6pm screening, I was rudely made aware that the hour had just arrived by the fleet of million-dollar vessels moored there as part of the Steak'N'Kidney International Boat Show sounding their enormously powerful horns in unison. This auditory bombardment was sustained for up to 30 seconds by the most sadistic skippers and, of course, the shortest distance to my destination was hurry-scurrying through ground zero. Which I did. Fortunately for me, things were behind schedule at the theatrette and I didn't miss a minute of the film. Pity I couldn't hear a single word as both of my eardrums were severely ruptured and blood and bright yellow pus were oozing down the sides of my head. Then I died.

(The bit about the sudden horn honking is true.)

Sedentary

L: Marina And The Diamonds' "iTunes Live: London Festival '09" EP, which is pretty rough, to be honest, but does come with a "digital booklet" and rendition of "What You Waiting For?"; new Big Finish and old Daniel Kitson podcasts; "Big Iron World" (2006) by Old Crow Medicine Show.

R: A copy of the April/May Oz "GQ" that, apart from the Russell Brand profile, I'm very glad I didn't purchase (who aspires to such a vulgar level of luxury?); the splendidly nostalgic yet paradoxically post-modern "1985" (2009) by Mark Millar and Tommy Lee Edwards, the best Marvel comic since "1602"; "The Man With The Iron Heart" (2008) by Harry Turtledove. Blurb for that hefty paperback - "What if a brilliant Nazi strategist survived to orchestrate a deadly guerrilla resistance that extended WWII?" Frightening!

W: Teams of athletes interacting with Adidas, Duke and Steeden balls; sports entertainers grappling in four- and six-sided rings; series two of "The Sarah Silverman Program".