The fanboy in the striped pyjamas

[VERY EARLY EDITION]

Drama king

How many people do you know who changed their Christian name upon reaching adulthood? Note: I'm not talking about using a shortened form of it or giving preference to a second or third name. I mean they adopted a whole new name. Right at this minute, I can recall meeting four - two guys and two gals - one of whom, to the understandable disapproval of his parents, took a different surname as well. I'm also aware of a former schoolmate (male) who did the first-name switcheroonie. I wonder how many other name-changers I've encountered without realising.

Useless movie reviews (late Aug./early Sept.)
* "Remo Williams - The Adventure Begins": Prior to captaining Voyager, Kate Mulgrew was a major in the US Army.
* "To Live And Die In L.A.": Music composed and performed by Wang Chung.
* "Helvetica": I'm more of a Data 70 man, myself.
* "The Parking Lot Movie": [Empathises]
* "Best Worst Movie": Will ask for "Troll 2" on my next trip to Video Ezy.
* "Jackass 3": RIP Ryan Dunn.

Spring dawning

A brief investigation of the Amazon "top reviewers" list and its discussion board reveals a subculture of genuinely helpful souls (often experts in a particular area), underhanded tactics (e.g. using negative feedback dishonestly to manipulate the rankings), plagiarists (boosting their tallies with write-ups stolen from IMDb, etc.), gloating/jealousy (make it into the Vine program and you may be sent freebies to assess), vindictive obsessives (repeatedly targetting rivals or those who criticise their beloved whatever), eccentricity (in both what is said and how it is written), and voices of reason crying out for Amazonian reform amid the apathetic, the confused and the regenerating trolls. However, there are stimulating debates to be discovered, such as whether a reviewer should be verified to have purchased the item in question. We won't get into that worm-can of kettle-fish here.

Once were worrywarts

While emptying a box of textbooks and papers from a tertiary false start circa 2006, I unearthed a signed photo of Hulk Hogan! It was in the back of a plastic folder marked "uni work" and filled with administrative bumf. Who? Where? WHY?

Arkham postponed

The state government is considering extending the light-rail service to my suburb. According to the recent council newsletter, 11,000 people commute to the CBD from "Randwick City" every weekday! No wonder it's so tough to get a seat on the bus!

Benny > Lara

The bag I throw my pocket change into was getting ridiculously full, so I fished out all the $2 coins. There were four-hundred bucks' worth! Took fiddy to the newsagency and grabbed a stack of magz/comicz I loved in decades gone by, to see how they'd evolved. You'll be pleased to hear that "Mad" and "2000AD" continue to kick goals :-)

Locked in a little grey cell

Although I've moved on from periodicals specialising in one-handed entertainment to a rag that deals with the two-fisted persuasion, I like to socialise with my champion ex-colleagues. It's hard at the moment because I'm avoiding nocturnal excursions and abstaining from alcohol, but I wasn't missing Wednesday's farewell for XS, the person who's inspired me most in publishing - even if it meant drinking litres (exaggeration) of sickly lemon squash. You could pick any notable journo to go against him, randomly set a topic, allow breaks for strong coffee, smelly cigarettes and spicy food, and I guarantee XS would write circles 'round them. His copy would be word perfect, too.

Season of the magpie

Go-Lo's videogame bargain bin had two titles I wanted (one PS2, one PS3). Score! I carried the empty cases to the counter, where the checkout chick rang them up and called a young dude from the floor to retrieve the discs and instruction booklets. He searched the cupboards underneath all of the registers, found zilch and notified the manager. *He* appeared, searched the same cupboards with the same result and, eventually, sheepishly, offered me a refund. So apparently their entire store of games has gone AWOL.

Because lettuce

To ease into further education, I have enrolled in and paid for a six-week evening course on Russian literature offered through Sydney University. The fee was a mere $200, although the reading materials will cost a comparable amount. I'm a student again!


DON'T FORGET THAT "DOCTOR WHO" RETURNS TONIGHT - ABC1, 7.30PM!