Self-deceiver

Sunday - Caught up with my pal MB, who is presently employed as a primary school teacher in a remote township. We ate German food and admired graffiti prints/shirts, then I helped him stock up on cheap tech and worthy tomes.

Monday - Registered for Sydcon on the October long weekend. Assuming I get my choices for all eight sessions of the convention, I shall be role-playin' basic "D&D", "Call Of Cthulhu", "Giallo" (surreal horror), "Legend Of The Five Rings", "Paranoia", "Warhammer FRP", "World Of Darkness" and a homebrew system.

Tuesday - Through my DWCA membership, I won a seat at a cinema showing of "Day Of The Daleks: Special Edition". It had new footage, visual effects and Dalek voices. The Q&A afterwards with Dan Hall from 2entertain, plus the preview of "Reign Of Terror" animation by Oz's Theta Sigma, were the vanilla icing on the carrot cake. Exiting the theatre, we were handed what was alleged to be a world-exclusive alternate inlay for the DVD (which was available for sale prior to its official release date). I can hear the colour photocopiers now...

Wednesday - There was a story about my pal JH on one of those 6.30pm current-affairs programs. Considering I loathe their brand of sensationalist reporting, I thought it was a pretty fair treatment of his grievance/situation.

Thursday - Along with my pal SC, I got a special demonstation of the nearing-completion THQ title "WWE '12". Without instructions, it took us strugglers a while to figure out how to score a pinfall. That didn't prevent me being dazzled by the range of moves and bells'n'whistles. But then, I'm into wrestling.

Friday - Interviewed a smart, spunky MMA chick. Lunched at a Japanese restaurant where the waitress accidentally spilt a bottle of sparkling mineral water on my baseball cap and phone. I could tell the mobi was fine in its sleeve, so I told her not to worry about it, but she wouldn't stop apologising. A second waitress came over to assist with the mopping-up operation and they urged me to check the items weren't damaged. They weren't. When I went to pay for the meal, the cashier looked at me concernedly, and asked, "Are you all right?" I assured her I was A-OK. Then, as I turned to leave, I felt a touch on my arm and there was the first waitress, bowing and apologising again. I hate fuss and found the whole incident faintly embarrassing, but it does illustrate how amazing Japanese customer service can be.

Saturday - No award.

Fangs to "The Ultimate Fighter 14", "Mega Factories: LEGO", the cartoon "Monster House" (2006), the Chekhov play "The Three Sisters" (1900) and the Steve Martin And The Steep Canyon Rangers bluegrass album "Rare Bird Alert" (2011). No fangs to the latest season of "Beauty & The Geek Australia" for eliminating the stunning girl in Week 1.


Check your pants.

Anton Pavlovich

Sunday - Was delighted by Chekhov's 1896 play "The Sea Gull" and surprised by Neil Gaiman's cameo in S05E07 of "The Guild".

Monday - TG introduced me to David Maxim Micic's overflowing-with-creativity "Bilo" EP. I lashed out on an Xbox 360 pack and rearranged all of my other consoles to accommodate it.

Tuesday - Interviewed an up-and-coming cricketer, viddied the "Torchwood: Miracle Day" finale, won something I'll reveal later.

Wednesday - Yum cha with the dream team (as we don't call ourselves). Was also privileged to attend, as the guest of SC, Tim Willits' excellent presentation "An Evening With id Software" at the Sydney Opera House.

Thursday - Continued and discontinued... Acquired the "A Song Of Ice And Fire" 2012 calendar to carry on from my 2011 edition. Was beguiled by another Chekhov play in "Uncle Vanya" (1897). The 93rd issue of "Retro Gamer" produced less nostalgia than usual, which will make it easier not to renew my subscription.

Friday - Went to a preview screening of new MMA drama fillum "Warrior". Left a minuscule, barely perceptible scratch on the surface of "Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker" on the NDS.

Saturday - Deemed the limited-edition dark cherry Cherry Ripe inferior. Caught up on present TV faves, such as "American Pickers" and fun fluff "House Gift".


Ah, the artificial colours and flavours of my life. Might not utilise this format again as it depresses me somehow.

Irrelevant headings attack!

[EARLY IS BECOMING REGULAR]

I managed to return to the magazine right on deadline, which meant three hectic days of pushing one issue out the door, followed by two of beginning to build another from scratch. Fortunately, my enthusiasm level is at "11" thanks to my extended staycation.

Helping make the SMTWTFS enjoyable were: Mum's visit, "NY Ink", welcoming workmates, Vietnamese rice-paper rolls, collecting my tickets for "Roger Waters: The Wall Live" in February, securing a prime spot for the Louise Jameson night in October, "Duel Decks: Ajani Vs. Nicol Bolas" (ta for the tip, RS), mango and yoghurt muesli bars, socialist cabbies, finals footy/RWC and a concerted effort to get more sleep.

I keep seeing Asian girls with purplish-grey hair.

Tomorrow, we're resuming SC's "Dark Sun" adventure.

Praying for a miracle in the Knights/Storm clash!

Nicol Bolas 8 - Ajani 2.

I've been dry since July!

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!