Wuberg Motiga

COMIC COVER OF THE WEEK

There were two I preferred, except they were reprints. This bottom-heavy Steve Mannion cov reminds me of vintage tattoo art. Y'know, Sailor Jerry-type gear.

SONG OF THE WEEK...THAT I MISSED HEARING FIVE MONTHS AGO

"Bare Rolig" by Katinka (Denmark). Pop with depth.

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

Commended >>> "I Wanna Rock" by DJ Fong Fong feat. Mart One (France x2). I also seriously dig the music in the sensational 40-year-retrospective PC demo from Razor1911 (Norway).

NEW BREW OF THE WEEK

SPY ACTIONER OF THE WEEK/YEAR

Attic of opportunity

In my early teens, I sat a maths exam to try to win a scholarship to an elite boarding school. My buddy M., known more for banter than mathematical acumen, insisted on joining me in the attempt. On the plus side, his parents drove us to the venue, so my oldies copped a break. As for the test...there were some questions I could answer confidently, some I could only partially solve and some that left me stumped. After the examination, they asked everyone to wait around while they marked the papers. Then, a select few lads (and their chaperones) were invited to stay, while the rest of us were thanked for coming and told we could go home. Obviously, those boys whose names were called had scored the highest and would be further tested and/or interviewed until the scholarship was decided. M. and I simply hadn't made the grade. This was confirmed when we discussed our answers - or lack of. But that didn't stop my chancer of a pal, a day or two later, claiming a representative from the school had phoned him personally to say he'd "only just missed out". You don't have to be a maths genius to calculate the likelihood of such a scenario.

Heart Strings XVIII

Instead of repeating the damning criticisms I made about new 'toon "Maul: Shadow Lord" to RS1 and BS, or the lukewarm review of Oz scifi flick "Occupation: Rainfall" that I gave PG, I present the latest instalment in this babes-with-bows series begun back in 2015.

1. Figure of Atalanta from the anime "Fate/Apocrypha".

2. Chou Tzuyu from K-pop group Twice.

3. Cosplayer Sara Moni as Dani Moonstar from the comic "New Mutants".

4. & 5. Maisy Dunne in the clip for the song "Headlights" by the band In Color.

6. Mystery lass at London Fashion Week in 1964. (Mum wouldn't be living and working there, and into the whole Carnaby St scene, until four years later.)

7. Illo of Scarlett by Harvey Tolibao from the "G.I. Joe" TTRPG...which is excellent, by the way.

Smoke Morleys

Even though I was familiar with the key incident and ongoing controversy/rivalry, this docufilm easily held my attention. And while I remain #teammagnus, there's no real hero to the tale as told. I mean, HN is shown up as highly flawed ("Once a cheater..."?), but there are also times when MC, his father and the ChessDOTcom guys are cast in a negative light. Not saying that's fair - just the way it came across to me.

After a TV news report of nearby servos running dry, I ducked out to fill up the car with overpriced fuel. Swung by the Korean grocery store for "essentials" :-)

Venusian sunrise

Was researching and writing a policy most of yesterday. Did manage to finish that season of "Wheeler Dealers" I mentioned. And this LEGO kit. The three little objects at the front are slides that go into the top of the telescope. It contains a light and can (weakly) project images onto the wall. You can turn a dial to make the orrery revolve. The alternate builds are a microscope and a UFO.

"Write drunk, edit sober"

Neither a worthwhile fighty historical adventure nor an effective "Elseworlds"-style Batman yarn. Tedious and predictable, yet also confused. Give it a miss.

Hardly uproarious, but I just find the dude super likable. His bumbling, wide-eyed, wannabe-hip comic persona has a special charm. The water gag ruled.

Palm trees are loud

7/10 for the importance of the subject matter. Overly stagey and bombastic. Overly massappeal-Hollywood, in other words. Didn't buy the main character or his decline in the epilogue. Brilliant performance from Russell Crowe, as per. Geez, that bloke can act.

Surely one of the oddest BF audios. Athens and Sparta. Tyrants and playwrights. Zombies and alien tourists. A giant beetle and a mystical mask. I think it will require a second listen to get this story straight in my head.

Great man, great piece of cinema. 8/10. If you don't know DH, it's worth reading his Wikipedia entry - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dag_Hammarskj%C3%B6ld