A chain of gold or silver is still a chain

COMIC COVER OF THE WEEK

A gloriously armoured Wondy lost in thoughts beyond our mortal ken. By Jenny Frison. Simply angelic.

SONGS OF THE WEEK

* "Naeme Veel" by Sadu (Estonia) - change of pace for the normally high-energy outfit.

* "Jaapahan" by JVG (Finland) - bounced off this a year ago, but I've realised I was wrong. In fact, I'll go so far as to say it could be mentioned in the same breath as their "Liike On Laake".

* "Feelings" by Ailee Band (Korea) - promising debut from the veteran singer plus new crew. Tight band and her voice remains fantastic. See also their live cover of Choi Baek-Ho's "Run".

*  "Yuzutsu" by Radwimps (Japan) - another hit to the feels by the group with the all-time best name. Falsetto bit is great.

* "Montagem Nada Tropica" by Eternxlkz (Kazakhstan) - A year late to this festa as well. Stupidly catchy Brazilian phonk. Love it.

* "Blue Season" by Jeon Seyeon (Korea) - Not to be confused with Jeon S-O-yeon! Second promising debut in this list. Sweet, interesting, uplifting vibe.

RANDOM TRPG REMINISCENCE OF THE WEEK

MD was DM-ing at a sleepover. Our characters were low level - minimal abilities and resources. We had to cross a guarded bridge to reach a privileged inner district of the city on an urgent mission. Except...nothing we did or said would convince the guards to allow us passage. Lies, bribes, threats and sneakiness all failed. And the scenario was designed such that there were no feasible alternative routes at our level. It was INCREDIBLY frustrating. I verbally quit after an hour or so, then M. wouldn't let me rejoin the game. Didn't matter - the rest of the party never crossed the bridge. My hazy memory was of him getting the adventure from an issue of "Dungeon". However, while Googling uncovered a few annoying bridge modules printed in that magazine, none sounded like what we faced. Did he invent it to teach us some kind of lesson, or perhaps to have a laugh at our expense? Simply demonic.

Greebling

Read "Wargames Illustrated #466" from cover to cover. Has the hobby been healthier since the 1970s? I may get "The Silver Bayonet: Venice - The Alchemists's Legacy".

Chatted with a neighbour about their upcoming trip to Norway. Half their luck! That said, they're heading to the far north of the country, where it'll be freezing every day.

Enjoyed the new docofilm "Who Is Martin Mull?" [N]. While an instantly recognisable supporting actor, I was clueless about his careers as comedian, songwriter and painter.

Can't wait for the RLWC to launch tomozza. Also eagerly anticipating Korean survival puzzler "The Devil's Plan: Dead Again" (Nov. 10), starring past winners and more.

Illegal knee

Backed a book project - https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/goodman-games/goodman-games-25th-anniversary-celebration

Caught up with the new season of "The Celebrity Traitors UK". Whoever selected this group of famous folks did a terrific job.

Ate a meal that was half lasagne and half fried rice for the first and possibly only time. Don't get me wrong - it was yummy.

Also caught up with the entries in the upcoming, inaugural Eurovision Asia contest (Nov. 14). I like the Vietnamese entry best. 

Concreting in new shoes

RS2 and I rewatched "The Search For Spock" with beverages. Conventional wisdom holds that the even-numbered "Trek" movies are the better ones. Part 3 is OK, though. Just a bit simple and, in places, drawn out. 1984: what a year. I entered the scary, eye-opening, life-changing world of high school, where I met some top blokes like DQ and DW with whom I'm still friends. Also resurrected a dead Vulcan. NBD.

Face, armpits, crotch

CURRENT PAPER READING (ta, PG)

Shame about the Wallabies. Damn All Blacks are nigh on impossible to beat at home. Our recent victory over the Springboks had given me false hope, then when we crossed first at Eden Park... Never mind, let's move on to Alabama versus Georgia and "WWE Money In The Bank", followed early Monday by Liverpool against the billion-dollar cheats.

Penelope Black

The Aussie men's and women's cricket teams are both in action this arvo/eve. Yay!

BEER OF THE WEEK

Undecided on this'un. Will conduct further research during the aforesaid matches.

"WHO" AUDIO OF THE WEEK

While we didn't need another Cybermen origin, "G/O/T/C" may be the best yet.

BONUS RANDOM TRPG REMINISCENCE

Does anyone like PC-party-versus-rival-NPC-party fights? For the DM, they're a pain to run compared to normal monster encounters. For the players, you're facing a group that, in my experience, will have been designed from scratch with deadly synergies in mind, i.e. you're probs gonna lose. When I ran module A3 as a lad, my players *hated* the showdown with the slavers, who are basically an evil adventuring party and tough AF.

SPEAKING OF MONSTERS...

Check out this modified (understatement) Rolls-Royce from a Chinese car show.

Heart Strings XXI

Going and going, it's the DGN equivalent of "Treehouse Of Horror" :-)

1. Self-explanatory.

2. Harriet Slater as Ellen MacKenzie in "Outlander: Blood Of My Blood".

3. Rebecca Romijn as Number One in the "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" episode "Once La'an A Time".

4. Sarah from the "Final Fantasy" TCG.

5. Shin Min-A as Navier in "The Remarried Empress".

6. Vex from "Vox Machina" by Veneroso Figures.

7. Self-explanatory. Praise be to the goddess ZS.

Hopefully there's some hope

Older blog entries don't seem to be accessible at the moment. Dunno why. I've been busy getting over a chest cold, battling sleeplessness and doing another work handover.

That "Strange Buildings" book from a post back is fab. Delicious deduction and literary rug pulls. Am also enjoying French MMA reality show "The Arena" [Netsy]. And "Dice A Million" from two posts back, which is proving to be deep, with heaps of strategic options.

The Rugby League World Cup kicks off *next* Thursday! Keen as a bean.

COMIC COVER OF THE WEEK

"Generation X-23 #9" by Partha Pratim. I don't love the colour palette, but the creativity does it for me. Gal-pal road trip rudely interrupted by some bastard villain ripping the roof off the car!

SONGS OF THE WEEK

* "Cry Out Loud" by Roy Kim (South Korea) - typically stirring track from my fave Korean singer.

* "Stoner Mentality" by The Paradox (US) - flawless fun pop that makes me wanna blaze a doobie, haha.

* "Same Old Game" by Aaron Frazer (US) - '60s-style soul destined for a period-film soundtrack.

RANDOM TRPG REMINISCENCE OF THE WEEK

Things we used instead of metal miniatures in our teenage "D&D" games: erasers, pencil sharpeners and other items of stationery; little ripped pieces of paper with penned initials; Cheetos, M&Ms, nuts, lollies, etc.; LEGO figures, especially knights; plastic army men; cardboard standees; our youthful imaginations!!! :-)