Minibar madness

The amusing/tender scenes are fine. And Malta is cool. The criminal mystery is lame.

Made a Brawl deck using this guy that works OK. Lots of annoying tapping and bouncing.

Podcast rec! Perfect 10ish-minute explications of 197 (so far) vintage skiffy novels.

Bench-pressing cotton buds

COMIC COVER OF THE WEEK

"Clayface: Celebrity Dirt #2" by Mike Del Mundo. No affection for the character. Zero interest in the movie. Nevertheless, this cov is clever and impactful.

SONG OF THE WEEK

"Part Of Time" by Nerd Connection (Korea)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-R9yzWN_Js

B/G I'M PLAYING TONIGHT WITH BUDS

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/342942/ark-nova

ALSO EYEBALLING

"The Traitors - Oz" S3. Ever looked at the main Wikipedia entry and seen how many countries have done or are doing a version of this show? So many!

Bingo mansu

A director’s cut of the film, titled “The X-Files: I Want to Believe - Vrach Frankenshteyn”, which will restore horror elements that were previously removed, is set for release on Hulu on August 14, 2026.

Metre eaters

I'm constantly searching for the next "Solo Leveling". "Tomb Raider King" isn't it. However, there are enough thematic similarities to make it comfortably familiar, and sufficient structural differences and unanswered questions to have me mildly intrigued. On the downside, there's an undercurrent of anti-foreign sentiment and - four episodes in - main man Seo Joo-Heon's behaviour is often far from heroic. The centrality of legendary artifacts to the story brought to mind Aussie TRPG "Relics" (RIP, SD). Will stick with it for now. Also: 21 correct while armchairing "U/C".

Inquisitive acquisitiveness

Binged in full! Honestly, I'd tune in to see Professor Alice catch a courtesy bus to a bowlo. 

BEER OF THE WEEK

Sixer for $12. More flavour than some blondes. More even than some brunettes and redheads.

TESTED THIS COMMANDER

The deck ended up being a fairly typical U/W value pile with a sprinkling of equipment. Ho-hum.

Porg chart

If you share my fondness for the golden age of text adventures and haven't yet made the acquaintance of "The Classic Adventurer" magazine, then ya totally should. It's available as a free .PDF, so even if you're as broke as a joke (happens to us all), there's no excuse not to do so. I've loved every ish.

https://classicadventurer.co.uk/

French Perth

Finished "Hello, World!", now reading this.

Publisher's blurb:

"For more than a decade, John Nathan-Turner, or 'JN-T' as he was often known, was in charge of every major artistic and practical decision affecting Doctor Who, the world’s longest-running science fiction programme.

"Richard Marson brings his dramatic, farcical, sometimes scandalous, often moving story to life with the benefit of his own inside knowledge and the fruits of more than 100 revealing interviews with key friends and colleagues, from those John loved to those from whom he became estranged.

"The author has also had access to all of Nathan-Turner’s surviving archive of paperwork and photos, many of which appear here for the very first time."

Washing soap with other soap

This was ace. Watched a pro play through it.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2957720/Neon_Inferno/

This is ace-er. Eloquent high-concept history.

Am digging NRLW Magic Round. Nothing else to report, sir/madam.

Feculent marshes

If you haven't read one of these spin-off encyclopaedias for popular manga/anime series, they are super dense and worth the money. They even contain new material.

I really like new companion Eleanor Fong (Jasmine Bayes), who is running an electronics firm in Hong Kong in the 1990s when she first meets the Eleventh Doctor.