Where on Enceladus is Carmen Sandiego?

Lone-wolfed it (but not in a kinky, animal-suited, anthropomorphic way) for the majority of my holiday, which ultimately made me stir crazy. So rather than stay home smashing the furniture, I determined to use the final weekend to catch up with as many Sydney friends as poss. DL was a cinch as we'd already arranged to attend an advance screening of "Paranormal Activity" together on Friday night. Afterwards, sinking Amber Ales at the Coronation, we agreed that even with the strains of Wacko Jacko seeping through from the adjacent cinema, not to mention the gal behind us constantly apprising her fella "I'mmm scarrred", it was an unnerving experience - and a frankly astounding achievement given the US$15,000 budget. I would've been content to spend all of Saturday arvo yakking with SC over Carlton Draughts at The Rose Of Australia in Erskineville, perhaps sampling the "Chocolate Slut" dessert, but we were both on a clock. He had to hie to a Halloween beano to garner plaudits for dressing in jester fashion, while I had an appointment in Neutral Bay to watch the Bledisloe with PB and VB. Yeah, the All Blacks over-ran us again, but the Tokyo venue was a novelty, a succession of Blondes went down easy (a double entendre for ya, Finbarr Saunders) and I was treated to a scrummy meal of roast duck. Post-footy, PB busted out his X-Arcade board, fired up the PS3 and we gleefully beat each other senseless on "Street Fighter IV". This afternoon, I didn't imbibe any more booze. I did, however, meet the brothers M. at Bondi Beach, where we joined the procession of people following the postcard-worthy coastline around to "Glamorama" while viewing the annual Sculptures By The Sea. The cluster of large, single-colour pennants in the hilltop park was impressive. Wiggling and snapping in the wind, they put me in mind of Tibetan prayer flags. The installation I liked most was the line of completely sand-covered shoes - of every variety - tromping down a grassy slope towards the water. Which returns us, disturbingly, to anthropomorphism.


P: Schooling "SoulCalibur III" on PS2 (ta, PG).

R: "Naoki Urasawa's 20th Century Boys #5", quarterly 4E "D&D" periodical "Level Up #2", "The Magicians" (2009) by Lev Grossman.

W: First-rate MMORPG dork-umentary^ "Second Skin" (ta, CS), "21 Up Japan", "Iron Maiden - Flight 666: The Film" (ta, LA), "The Secret Saturdays" on Cartoon Network, "The Great Escape - The Reckoning" (in which dogged British justice sees Gestapo murderers hanged), "Guest Booker With Jim Cornette" (ta, DL), "That Mitchell And Webb Look - Series One" (ta, CM).


^"Pleased to meet you, black Kettle. Just call me Pot."