Knowest thou of...

...The Future Library?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Future_Library_project

Somebody should do a genre-specific version.

Bronzed Aussies

There was a decade or so where Australia was OBSESSED with Ironman* athletes. Kenny, Hendy, Leech... They advertised various products, especially breakfast cereal. Their private lives made it into the gossip pages. (To be fair, they also did positive things in the community.) We had the Ironman drama flick "The Coolangatta Gold". And we had parodies in "Mad" magazine and on sketch-comedy institution "The Late Show". Who could forget "The Bermagui Bronze"?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pH0EGzrNDVY

*Longer form of the triathlon.

Hot take

Listened to this award-winning 2018 take on "The War Of The Worlds" during my morning walk, then while watching cricket/NFL with the commentary muted, then while preparing and eating lunch. Armitage and Briggs-Owen give superb performances. The build-up draws you in completely. The thoughtful bits are truly thoughtful. The horrific bits are truly horrific. So much is crammed into 2.5 hours. Basically, it breathes new life into the tale...before injecting new death into...

The 10 days of Christmas

Yay! My favourite team on this year's Xmas edition of "University Challenge" (for distinguished alumni) went all the way. Are they the first entirely female team to win the whole she-bang? There's no reason why they should be, except for women being underrepresented on the program across the decades. But that's a separate conversation about boys and their contests, unequal levels of public scrutiny and so on.

Looking back at my scoresheets for the 10 episodes, I managed 21, 20, 20, 18, 33 (which I think is a PB), 20, 15, 22, 12 and 17. Average of 19. Obviously there's no pressure playing at home, where I won't be ridiculed for dumb guesses, nor penalised by host Amol when I buzz in early and get it wrong. That said, I only award a point if I answer correctly out loud before any contestant does. Just so we're clear :-)

Jedi jelly

The intersection between cosplay, foodie travelogues and cute laughter.

Singaporean cos-er Yosuke's channel >>>

https://www.youtube.com/@yosukecosplay/videos

Japanese cos-er Keeko's channel >>>

https://www.youtube.com/@keekoriiin/videos

Both ladies are super likeable and fun hosts.

NYE was...

Old faces and new. Friendly magpies. Interesting convos. Eight players on the "Jackbox" trivia/bluffing/drawing, etc. videogame (along with audience quasi-players). Rich food. Too much beer and wine. Six of us testing out the "Let's Hit Each Other With Fake Swords" not-exactly-a-boardgame. Watching distant fireworks from the top of a hill. Big sparklers. Little sparklers. Triggered memories. Reminiscing. Plenty of laughs.

Added a day later:

Forgot to mention the toasts. We didn't sing "Auld Lang Syne", although I briefly heard it being sung in the distance.