The truth blurts

I enjoyed the men's and women's rugby-league grand finals as a neutral yesterday. Preferred the women's game, but both were riveting. Earlier, I'd had a long catchup chat with AZ and her friend T. at a boho cafe. Even earlier, I'd lunched at a lauded Korean-Australian fusion restaurant...

The soft-shell crab spring rolls were the best (non-homemade) springies I've ever had*. Filling was incredible. Mini salad and sauces went well. Didn't realise the BBQ beef noodles would be served cold. Was OK with that. Beef was spot on, tender and tasty, and the overall flavour of the dish was lovely. Noodles were too chewy for moi - they'd stop me ordering it again. 

1

*PG's missus, D., used to make awesome vegetarian spring rolls by the truckload when JH, GH, AG and I would visit their then-farmhouse to play "M:TG", "HeroClix", Sega Dreamcast or whatevs.

--

Hung out with RS2 for a while today and we tried the card game "Trickdraw". It didn't feel balanced for two players. To be more precise, it felt as if the potential broken combos could lead to a huge imbalance. We definitely didn't hate it, but both wished we had 2-3 more opponents. And it does score points for originality, for the spell-slinging cowboys theme and the nifty interactions between face-up and face-down cards.

--

COMIC COVER OF THE WEEK

By Hector Trunnec. Love a robot in a naturalistic pose.

SONG OF THE WEEK

"Doll" by Hitsujibungaku (Japan).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqcXYJhE1rg

Commended: "Miracle" by Memi (Korea) and the live clip of "Tamat" by Nusantara Beat (Netherlands/Indonesia). If you don't know Memi, check out "Sorry For My Late Reply", about tragically losing someone before you could reconcile. In this case, her dad. Hits hard.

--

Memory modules, Part 11

We all had a couple of Judges Guild books in our collections BITD. They tended to be cheaper than the TSR equivalents due to the low-quality paper and ink. On top of that, they occasionally strayed beyond the unofficial maximums in the "D&D" rules. I distinctly recall us scabbarding a +7(!) sword.

My mother and aunt had arranged for my younger cousin, G., to stay with us for a week of the holidays. When he arrived, I introduced him and my older cousin, T., to "D&D" via "Citadel". Knowing me, I'd have made one a fighter and the other a mage. (Who needs thieves or clerics when you can smash open doors/chests and quaff healing potions? :-)) Suffice it to say that when it came time for my aunt and T. to leave, my elder cuz was loudly regretting that he wouldn't also be staying. "I wish I'd brought spare clothes," he said. Or words to that effect. Which just goes to show Judges Guild's modules could hook beginners as effectively as TSR's.

--

The "An Adventure In Space And Time" cast reunite for a First Doc historical that wasn't, yet so easily could have been. I adored it. Recaptures the spirit of the era while toying with "Who" continuity and confronting the problem of not being able to change the past in refreshing new ways.