You mess with the bullshitter, you get the hornswoggling

Heading unrelated to blog entry. Just playing with words.

Speaking of play, on Friday night, I reunited with one of my old gaming groups for the first time since before the Pandemic. We played the boardgame "The Princes Of Florence", plus several hands of the original "Fluxx" card game. Buddhists say that if there's a thing you can't give away, you don't own it - it owns you. I'm far less attached to material possessions than I was in my younger years. It was hard giving up said group for four years, though, and I'm extremely glad to be hanging out with them again. Hopefully on the reg.

Shows: "This Is The Zodiac Speaking", "Like A Dragon - Yakuza".

Listening: Anthology "D/W - You Are The Doctor" while walking, "Swamp Ophelia" by Indigo Girls, "Beavis & Butt-Head Do America" soundtrack. The two CDs are now off to the charity shop. Thanks for bringing back the '90s vibes, but I don't care for you anymore.

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"Da Vinci" a rewatch.

* "Borderlands" (2024) [Prime]: All feels off; forced, unfunny. Sorry, Cate!

* "Damaged" (2024) [Prime]: Maniac resurfaces elsewhere. Unsubtle, unbelievable, ultimately unsatisfying.

* "Justice League - Crisis On Infinite Earths, Part 2" (2024) [Netflix]: Neither boring nor thrilling. Decent character moments.

* "The Boogeyman" (2023) [Disney+]: There's competent traditional horror under the bed.

* "The Da Vinci Code" (2006) [Foxtel]: Howard, cast earnestly tackle religious-conspiracy escapade. BUT: In hindsight, what was all the fuss?

<<< Pick of the bunch is N/A. >>>

Rambling

James Acaster likes to annoy fellow comedian Ed Gamble by insisting EG got diabetes as a result of falling into the Thames. Years ago, a colleague showed me a depression in her skull suffered in a car accident. You couldn't see it, but you could feel it under her hair. I remember thinking, "Is that why she's so wild?" I suspect my wacky brain was equating it with bullshit theories about trepanning opening a person's "third eye". The wildest thing that happened this week was, while I was preparing the double block for mowing, finding a scattering of cable ties. What have people been doing in our yard late at night? Nothing. The ties woulda been dropped by birds who'd pinched them from somewhere (perhaps a construction site) as nest-building material. We've observed nests containing all sorts of man-made items, including coloured ribbon and electrical wire. A number of Aussie bird species are known for doing this, whether for practical reasons or as a decoration.

Minimal mooveez this time as I've been smashing shows. "Comedy Revenge" (you definitely need to see "Comedy Royale" first), Season 6 of "Divorced Singles", the "Tomb Raider: The Legend Of Lara Croft" cartoon... Listenation: revisiting 2009 album "Forever Is The World" by Theatre Of Tragedy, failing to be grabbed by "Space 1999 - Breakaway" on my daily walks. BITD, I stuck a big T/O/T sticker on my company computer. A coworker who had little tolerance for anything that wasn't classic or desert rock took one look at it and said, "*You're* a bloody Theatre Of Tragedy." Haha, maybe I was/am/always will be. Surprisingly, "Martial Law" (below) wasn't a rewatch. I had a female cousin who was a huge Cynthia Rothrock fan and aspiring martial artist herself. Unfortunately, we lost contact with her years ago. Not by choice - messy family bizo. I hope she still trains. I now get why she dug CR, who's cool in a kooky way.

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* "Caddo Lake" (2024) [Foxtel]: Gritty swamp drama develops into temporal tangle.

* "Killers Anonymous" (2019) [YouTube]: Assassins' support group goes awry. Ritchie-ish. Skippable.

* "Martial Law" (1991) [Prime]: Kungfu cops. OTT crime boss. Tasty cheese.

* "The Bad Guy" (2024) [Kanopy]: Effects of shootings/drills on teachers, schools.

* "Twisters" (2024) [rental]: Exciting, engaging. Pretty much the ideal sequel.

<<< Pick of the bunch is "Twisters". >>>

Ages of ice and steel

Binged "Ancient Apocalypse: The Americas" on Netflix. Could have been an episode shorter if they'd cut out the conversation with Keanu and removed a bit of repetition towards the end. Nevertheless, presenter Graham Hancock continues to ask challenging questions about the origin of human civilisation as we currently understand it. And, unlike some - most? - of his critics, continues to get out there and investigate sites himself, while speaking to *longtime* local researchers as well as Indigenous knowledge-holders. Do I agree with all of his conclusions? Heck, no. But I always appreciate hearing 'em.

Also just finished the "History Extra Podcast"'s four-part special "1066: The Battle For England". Great stuff. Gave me a new perspective on the events surrounding that momentous year. I recommend it - and even more so their earlier five-parter on Ancient Egypt. While I'm praising pods, check out "The Legend Of 'SwordQuest'" (infamous Atari game promotion), "Uncut - Diamond Daniella" (Kiwi boxing world champ's entertaining journey), "When We Were Wizards" (TSR/"D&D" by the folks who were there) and maybe "My Friend, The Serial Killer" (young journo's close call). That last one appears to have stalled.

Kwohts

I'm bad at writing down quotes. I absorb info rapidly and don't like to pause. A while ago, a descriptive passage mentioned "pincushions of moss". Delightful metaphor. I think it was in a spy story.

Heard an interviewer - Richard Fidler? - refer to the current "international democratic recession". V. sad but v. apt.

When I worked with computer programmers, they'd talk about magic numbers. Turns out tradies sorta-kinda have an equivalent: "assisted fit". Funny.

"Nobody has ever been so much themselves over the span of three thousand years as the ancient Egyptians, whose aesthetic you recognise the moment you enter these galleries" - from the memoir "All The Beauty In The World" by Patrick Bringley.

Author Susanna Clarke telling "SFX" magazine of her love for the historical YA fiction of old: "I wanted to stand in a frozen winter landscape, at sunset, with a horse, on the verge of doing something noble and tragic."

Harry Sullivan: "Doctor, what do you think?"
The Doc: "Highly intelligent thoughts, mainly."

I'll work on it...

Recent viewing

I'm counting "One For The Road" as a movie because it's more than two hours long.

* "A Casualty Of War" (1989) [YouTube]: Clunky opening. Weapons-smuggling malarkey. Pleasing ambiguities.

* "Apollo 13 - Survival" (2024) [Netflix]: Superbly edited, TENSE doco transcends rescue subject.

* "Cast A Deadly Spell" (1991) [Foxtel]: Detective Lovecraft in magical '40s seeks Necronomicon!

* "I.S.S." (2023) [Foxtel]: Conflict on Earth causes chaos for astro-/cosmo-nauts. BUT: None of these personality types'd be there.

* "Lee & Grant" (2011) [Kanopy]: Feature-length documentary fairly compares famous generals.

* "Longlegs" (2024) [Free rental]: Bonkers-brainy, deeply creepy FBI - psychic? - sleuthing.

* "Sleeping Dogs" (2024) [Free rental]: Crowe terrific in patchy murder-reinvestigation puzzle.

* "The Grand Tour - One For The Road" (2024) [Prime]: Chemistry, car-nage, customisations, nostalgically calling it quits.

* "The Passenger" (2023) [Foxtel]: Bizarrely believable psycho hostage yarn. Effective shocks.

* "There's Something In The Barn" (2023) [Foxtel]: More silly than scary, but escalates madly.

<<< Pick of the bunch is "The Passenger". >>>

1d6 gems

Depending. I rolled a 6.

"No Way To Relax When You Are On Fire" - Dora Jar (USA).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9z5TVnvh_w

"Words Unspoken" - Night In Athens (UK).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0C5ERltif4U

"www.hotxulito.com" - Akriila feat. Young Cister (Chile).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzB-xSRC-r8

"A La Folie" - Adele Castillon (France).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8AgGTtXmac

"Away" - 7 x Liza (Japan).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnXMK35KBqM

"Istanbul Not Constantinople" - Anne Reburn with Die Sauerkrauts (and back to the USA).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AP62vMnwMA

Recent viewing

"Lifeforce" a rewatch.

* "Io - Last On Earth" (2019) [Netflix]: Subtle, thoughtful, challenging - hence low aggregate scores.

* "Killer Heat" (2024) [Prime]: Honestly, I'll watch anything with Shailene Woodley. BUT: A moderately intriguing rich-family murder investigation.

* "Lifeforce" (1985) [Prime]: Scifi-horror schlock. Fascinating project. Stunning nudity. 

* "My Professor's Guide To Murder" (2023) [Foxtel]: Telemovie with one red herring, no twists.

* "The Key To Rebecca" (1985) [YouTube]: Epic-length wartime Cairo subterfuge (bestselling novel).

<<< Pick of the bunch is none of them! >>>

Heart Strings XII

Hard carry by the popsters.

1. Alice Longyu Gao posted this on her Insta. I believe it's a BTS shot from her "Bird Without Nest" clip.

2. Anna Yamada as Asirpa in 2024 flick "Golden Kamuy".

3. Cosplayer Grayoranges as Fran from the game "Final Fantasy XII". How appropriate!

4. Dorofeeva on the cover of her "Heartbeat" album.

5. Chappell Roan at the MTV VMAs.