Recent viewing

Let's do these in seven words each...

* "Beyond The Wasteland": Moving personal accounts of a global fandom.

* "Downton Abbey - A New Era": Lady Mary's voice gets its own plotline!

* "Fire Of Love": Doomed volcano lovers capture magnificent photos/footage.

* "His Girl Friday": Awful-people farce doesn't work in 2022.

* "How To Talk To Girls At Parties": Padded short story has its (freaky) moments.

* "Panama": More like a cheesy rock clip. Pointless.

* "Punk The Capital": Wish I'd attended some of those gigs.

* "See How They Run": Smart, funny, everything else "Knives Out" wasn't.

* "The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen": Rewatch. Betrays eclectic source with Hollywood shallowness.

[Seen on: SBS On Demand, Prime, Disney+, Kanopy x4, Disney+ x2.]

Sailing the Tethys Sea

Excuse the turbid title. The other day, I saw an online retrogaming poll asking voters to choose between "Galaga" or "Phoenix" as the ultimate classic shooter. I honestly couldn't decide. Of the two of them, though, I was more skilled at "Phoenix" - especially on the Atari 2600.

I'm sure I've mentioned that in my first (and best) sharehouse, we had an Atari with its own dedicated 34cm telly set up in a corner of the lounge. I've probably also mentioned that there was a list of high scores on the wall for the many cartridges we collectively owned, challenging visitors to test their mettle. I might have even mentioned the titanic tussle between PG and RS2 for dominance on "H.E.R.O.". Or when SL shocked us by revealing himself to be a supreme master at "Yar's Revenge".

I had the top score on "Phoenix" and I don't think anyone ever got near it. I'd go into The Zone with that game. Although there were other carts on our hotly contested list, e.g. "Frostbite", at which I managed to claim the #1 spot, I don't believe I sank more hours into any of them than I did the 2600 "Phoenix" port. So mayhap this blog entry is me voting in the aforesaid poll, days later yet decades earlier.

(Unprepossessing static images, but it was all about the relentless bird-blasting action.) I don't wanna yuck your yum if you prefer "Galaga". I dig that, too. Still play it on any machine on which it appears, and check out all obvious clones. On that note, if you have access to a Commodore 64 in whatever form, I highly recommend this ever-so-clever take -

https://www.protovision.games/games/galencia.php?language=en

PSA

When you turn 50 in Lostralia, the government automatically mails you a bowel-cancer screening kit.

As the accompanying instructions note, it may be unpleasant collecting the minuscule poop samples, but better that bit of mucking around than to be lolloping along merrily and suddenly discover you have a cancer that's too far gone to treat.

After putting it off for a few months, I used my kit yesty and sent the samples off to the lab today.

If your country doesn't run a similar program and you've joined the ranks of us Ancient Ones (50+), talk to yer GP about testing options.

Dragonflies

There are a lot of dragonflies zipping around our backyard at the moment. I haven't tried photographing them with my mobile as I know it'd be a waste of time. I'd capture only a blur or, more likely, nothing.

Dragonflies remind me of the unique fantasy art of Rodney Matthews, in which the dragons have an insectoid aspect. Here's one adorning the front of his latest calendar.

They remind me of the great Ziggy Marley album "Dragonfly", which I'd listen to on repeat when I was working in mags in the early 2000s. Dunno why I bought it, since I'm not a reggae guy. Luck!

They remind me of the ornithopters in the 2021 adaptation of "Dune".

They remind me of my late grandmother's garden, where someone first explained what they were to me. You can hang around here for as long as you want, little dragonflies.

Recent viewing

"350 Days" boasts an impressive lineup of interviewees sharing eye-opening recollections - if you're into rasslin'.

That "Constantine: The House Of Mystery" cover is misleading. As seen by me, it was one of four shorts run together as a single movie-length program on Netsy. The other three featured Kamandi, The Losers and Blue Beetle. Didn't love any of them.

"Enola Holmes 2" outdoes the original. A perfect all-ages adventure-romance with dashes of mystery and real history. I'd honestly rather have more of these from MBB than more "Stranger Things".

Hammer doco (from 1994) is epic.

"Turtles" a rewatch. I was terribly disappointed when I saw it at the cinema in 1990. In hindsight, it isn't terrible. It's pretty faithful to the lore and spirit of the comic/cartoon, and contains everything you could ask for in an initial live-action adaptation except mebbe Bebop and Rocksteady. However, it's severely lacking in star power. Imagine if April and Casey had been played by, say, the "Willow" pairing of Joanne Whalley and Val Kilmer. Woulda added so much.

"Assassination" focuses on an odd and undeniably suspicious character. But that's all she is. There's no definite alternate explanation presented.

[Seen on: YouTube, Netflix x2, YouTube, Kanopy x2.]

Rhymes & misdemeanours

On Saturday morning, I woke at reasonable hour with a desperate desire to play "Moon Patrol" on the Atari VCS. Am yet to satisfy that particular craving. On Sunday, I fell out of a nightmare while it was still dark. I'd been dreaming that my legs were simultaneously on fire and being crushed. I realised I'd been yelling in distress in my sleep. And, just as I came awake, I thought I saw a shadowy form dart away from me into an upper corner of the room. The mind playing horrible tricks. Better to play "Moon Patrol"!

Moving on... I've had a notion for a while to do a blog about rude rhymes. The problem is there are so damn many of them. Maybe I can just do a simple little timeline...

"Boys are strong, like King Kong / Girls are weak - chuck 'em in the creek!"

I remember dudes chanting this in the playground in primary school. Just a few years later, the same guys would be practically begging our female classmates to give them the time of day.

"The one who smelt it dealt it", "The one who denied it supplied it", "Listen to this - too good to miss!", "Here I sit, broken-hearted / Tried to shit but only farted", etc.

Farts were always a popular topic for rude rhymes (and other humour). Perhaps the most popular.

"Hands off socks! Socks off cocks!"

At high-school camps, a Thing To Do if you were an annoying teenage boy (and we all were), was rise super early and wake everyone else. That on its own wasn't enough, though. You also had to imply the only reason the victims were still abed is they'd been masturbating. I recall lads from another hut coming to ours, banging on the door and repeatedly shouting the above.

"Eaters are cheaters."

I first heard this mantra from an ex-colleague while we were out drinking. Said fellow, while a genuinely nice person, has had his troubles with booze. At the time, I thought it was clever...even a good idea. In fact, it's the worst advice you can ever give in regard to alcohol consumption. Be like my sensible Japanese brother-in-law: when the food stops, he refuses to have more beer. Then you'll never make yourself ill.

Why "Moon Patrol"? When I switched towns as a kid, I stayed in contact with DJ. We lived too far apart for term-time visits but would occasionally crash at each other's joints during school hols. The Atari VCS was all the rage then. His town was considerably bigger and had a store where ya could rent carts. So he'd hire one for a week and bring it when he came to ours. The game that sticks in my memory is "Moon Patrol".

Hoppy Halloween!

I know it was yesterday in Australia, but it never feels like it's really hoppening until it hoppens in America. 

(CFTL: Game, jiangshi from "Mr Vampire 2", beer, "Night Of The Lepus".)