Wealth hazard

New mates

Spent Sunday "D&D"-ing at TC's joint (also present: LPO, JM, LM). Was mightily impressed by his latest import - a dedicated gaming table with slide-out trays for each of the six places (complete with dice holders), plus two covered compartments inside the tabletop where he had encounter maps/miniatures set up ready, out of sight. My Half-orc cleric was joining the party for the fourth session of what was already a convoluted campaign, so I concentrated on the tasks at hand. These boiled down to us slogging through a disease-ridden jungle, vanquishing a gang of assorted lizardfolk in the ruins of an Elvish temple, then holding off another, trickier force as we defended a village until its inhabitants could flee by boat. But for my comrades' heroics, I would have died in the first battle AND the second. Got a lift to Kogarah afterwards, caught a train to Central, then decided to hop a cab from there because it was growing chilly. Ended up in one of only a dozen or so (I'm told) Toyota Prius taxis in Sydney. When I expressed an interest, the driver turned on the "energy monitor" display and explained how the car's hybrid petrol-electric system works in practice. Fascinating stuff! An unexpected bonus.

Waiting for the man

Why is it that courier companies, even when rung as soon as they open, can't provide a more precise delivery time than a four-hour window? Do their drivers choose a route at random?

Funnier than "Tron: Legacy" (ta, DL)

http://bit.ly/pMKgrC

On the turning away

Let's pretend the boring, overly self-indulgent "The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen - Century: 1969" never happened. In fact, I'm tempted to mindwipe myself of everything post-"Volume II". Can't wait until Alan Moore gets off this copious-references-to-the-detriment-of-the-rest-of-it track.

Useless movie reviews (August, part deux)

"Hancock": Has forced me to totally reappraise Will Smith's acting abilities.
"Faintheart": It's a play on "Braveheart", don'tcha know.
"The Sacred Blacksmith - The Complete Collection": "Awaken, and slay God!"
"Eko Eko Azarak III - Misa The Dark Angel": Dunno if I can sit through another of these.
"JourneyQuest - Season 1": Must remember to "like" Dead Gentlemen on Facey.
"The Dungeon Masters": There but for the grace of Pelor go I.
"Harvey Putter And The Ridiculous Premise": Remind me again why I bought this.
"Zack And Miri Make A Porno": A Christmas gift...in 2008.

Stewart Lee rocks

Read this tabloid crap - http://bit.ly/pg3oZM
Then read SL's rebuttal - http://bit.ly/pfWhWZ
And then, if you've got time, check out some of his comedy routines on YouTube.

Cute disclaimer

"In the interest of privacy, names and identifying characteristics have been changed, timelines have been compressed, and some of the dialogue is more exact than some of the other dialogue. Although subject to impression and memory, this is a work of non-fiction. The events described have happened. Except, of course, for a couple of passages, which I'm pretty sure have been so distorted by interpretation that no place and no-one involved with them actually exist, including myself, including you"
- "How Did You Get This Number" (2010) by Sloane Crosley.