Strength versus power

Wowed me a tad less than "Verily, A New Hope". I liked the way Lando, the Ugnaughts and the space slug spoke. Yoda and Boba were OK.

This combination comic-gamebook works so well. The structure is devilish, and you feel clever when you breach each invisible barrier.

Pot-fondling archaeologists

How chaos in US politics and turmoil in American society led to a revolutionary, industry-changing year in cinema. Convincing! My sole criticism: it wanders off the road (and cheats, e.g. mentioning "Star Wars") a little in the second half. Fab editing - there are moments when films are in a dialogue with each other.

Infodumpster

Another "University Challenge" grand final over. Now, the depressing three-month wait for next season begins. Congrats to Manchester and especially to their MVP, Madgwick. The lovely "Quizzy Lizzy" (from 2013) will always be that uni's #1 contestant, but he's surely earnt the #2 spot :-) I only managed to answer seven of the Qs correctly out loud before any of the students did. The level of play is just too high at this stage of the competition to expect a score of 20+ or even 10+. Sometimes, I look at my scoring answers - in this case, Eugene Onegin, corpse flower, Tarkovsky, Ian Smith, "Grizzly Man", Baron Samedi and Charlie Parker - and perceive the pathetic narrowness of my range of knowledge. Couldn't get a bloody STEM question to save meself. Even when my brain was young, sharp and untouched by alcohol, I don't think I was good enough to succeed on "U/C", but was I good enough to at least qualify for a team (maybe as a reserve)??? I've helped a few pub-quiz sides to glory in my time. Then again, that's likely true for *every* contestant. Madgwick is probably banned from his local trivia night for winning too many prizes. Those poker-machine vouchers are supposed to be spread around, mate ;-P

Looking to get back in the win column

The brand-new "Fist Of The North Star" gets my thunderous gut punch of approval. It's faithful to the original manga, with superior visuals and sounds to the previous anime adaptations. There are four episodes presently available on Prime. Watching 'em has made me realise just how influential "F/O/T/N/S" has been. A couple of caveats: avoid the dreadful English dubbing (which you probs would anyway) and allow yourself time to return to the old-school mindset required to appreciate what is a relatively simple tale.

Matchstick toothpick

COMIC COVER OF THE WEEK

By EM Gist. Call it a Grogu-appreciation pick.

SONG OF THE WEEK

"All 4 U" by INI (Japan). Am far from a boy-band fan, but this is v. slick, catchy and dancey.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBBYmYvsbP0

Commended >>> The beatbox/looping cover of "Small Town Boy" by Sxin (Germany). Best version since Paradise Lost's 2002 metal take.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9ySXILRFpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uf4q2rUc57M

PETITE PAGE-TURNER

Really worthwhile history and analysis once you get past the intro. KL is a champ.

It's WrestleMania weekend, ya turnbuckles.

Nuke-mad pollies going bananas

Played boardgames with four chums. First, "7 Wonders" incorporating the "Leaders" expansion. Loved it.

Then bygone Flying Buffalo release "Nuclear Escalation". Got wiped out almost instantly. Didn't love it.

I don't normally snack. However, since there were mini Kiwi chocs on offer, I had to revisit the Perky Nana after maybe 20 years. I'd forgotten how sticky they are. Will be another 20 years before I eat one again!

Speaking of nuke-mad pollies, I need to go vote in the Lord Mayoral election.

Rainsmeller

LATEST AUDIOBOOK ON MY DAILY WALKS

Blurb:

Poor boy. Dark star. Spy. Transgressor. Genius.

From one of the greatest writers on the Elizabethan era, Dark Renaissance is the thrilling and subversive life story of Christopher Marlowe – Shakespeare’s inspiration and rival, who helped to bring England out of the cultural darkness and into the light.

In brutally repressive Elizabethan England, artists are frightened; foreigners are suspect; popular entertainment largely consists of coarse spectacles, animal fights and hangings. Into this crude world comes an ambitious cobbler’s son from Canterbury with an uncanny ear for Latin poetry – which to him is a secret portal to beauty, visionary imagination, transgressive desire and dangerous scepticism.

What Christopher Marlowe finds on the other side of that door, and what he does with it, brings about a spectacular explosion of English literature, language and culture, enabling the success of many others, including his youthful collaborator William Shakespeare. By the time of his murder in a Deptford tavern in 1593, the 29-year-old Marlowe will be the most celebrated dramatist of his time.

Stephen Greenblatt grippingly reconstructs the involvement with the queen’s spy service that shaped Marlowe’s brief, troubling life and gave us his masterpieces about power and its costs. And he explores how the people Marlowe knew, and the transformations they wrought, gave birth to the economic, scientific and cultural power of the modern world – involving Faustian bargains with which we reckon still.