"Coin detected in pocket!"

This is tops. Am working through the book-faithful chapters in 1P mode. It's elegant and challenging, with oodles of replayability. Stylish presentation, too.

"Beyond Words" [Steam] is also tops. Word builder + engine builder + level explorer. Wild horses were only *just* able to drag me away to blog a hasty reco.

Wetware engineering

The supermarket where we purchased groceries today had a Community Noticeboard. Yes, they still exist. It was covered in busy squares/rectangles of paper/cardboard. "Missing cat". "Skin analysis" (whatever that is). A handyman offering his services. An experienced carer also seeking work. Contacts for mental-health support and legal advice. The opportunity to play for a senior soccer team, try your 2B at life-drawing classes or attend a classical recital. The only other specific notice I can recall was an advert for a car engine...which doesn't make for an obvious closing line. Nevertheless, I was glad to see the tradition of these bit-of-everything boards still motoring along in defiance of the digital.

--

If you're a fan of "B/T/T/F", musical theatre or - like me - both, I recommend this 1h40m documentary from 2025:

PPPoddd rrreccc

Four parts, three available as I write. His life and career. Wonderful yesteryear anecdotes and nuggets of wisdom.

A garden of trees

LEGO KIT OF THE FORTNIGHT-PLUS

Great! Technic builds are more satisfying. The downside is they aren't as much of a stress reliever because you can't put as many brain ops into sleep mode. 

ANIME FILM OF THE...IT'S BEEN A WHILE

"Gintama: Yoshiwara In Flames" (2026) [Netflix]. Criminals, courtesans, close-quarters combat, crass and corny humour, and consistent chaos that carries you along to the curiously compassionate conclusion.

CURRENT AUDIOBOOK ON MY WALKS

(However, I'm taking it fairly easy at the mo'. Trudged too many kays in Sydders, often with a bag, and am still recovering from the negative effects :-( )

Two nights in Sydney

Read half of this. Like the later Adrian Mole diaries, when he's an only semi-successful adult and the joys of his youth aren't quite the same, it is bittersweet.

Met CM at his CBD workplace, so I could stash my bag. This was the first photo I took. I guess when JA became free, they blacked over that part. Long may he stay so!

I was craving potato wedges, so we went to the 3 Wise Monkeys pub. Served with the traditional sweet-chilli sauce and sour cream, they satisfied the hankering.

Next was the Nat. Maritime Museum, for the "Treasures Of The Viking Age: The Galloway Hoard" exhibition. I wanna steal the idea below for an RPG module!

Afterwards, cutting through the Entertainment Centre due to rain, we spotted this vending machine containing only high-vis vests. Wish I'd checked the price.

Bought a Pokemon card I "needed" from Pidoof, then we headed to gaming bar Fortress Sydney for a pint of the house lager in faux-Medieval surroundings.

Upstairs from FS is the JF. "S/T/O" is a video diary of a Japanese artist's journey to Cowra, site of an infamous WW2 POW uprising. We found it poetic and moving.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cowra_breakout

I crashed at CM and AM's place for the two nights. Our first dinner was at a Chinese restaurant which recently opened in their street. I opted for a simple beef dish.

C. always has new figures. This fig of Motoko Kusanagi from "Ghost In The Shell" he 3D printed (using resin) and painted himself. Commercial quality, I reckon.

Because none of us had seen it, we sat through the following. Barely scifi and one of the worst movies ever made. Even so, LN's antics raised the odd chuckle.

On the second day, I arrived in Randwick an hour early for a medical appointment. Spent it on the campus of my former uni. This is their resident bilby sculpture.

Having gotten the thumbs up from my specialist, I ate a Subway sub. Then: WW1 postcards exhibition at the War Memorial. The librarian shared a few cool stories.

"Avatar: Forms Of Vishnu" at the Art Gallery Of NSW was impressively large and full of wonders, although it left me with more questions than it answered! 

I'd planned to spectate on park Chess at this point, but was too tired. Returned to the lads' joint. Dinner was Turkish fare at Sahara, Burwood, a past fave of mine.

With fancy ice-creams for dessert, we watched actual scifi (shorts) on the Dust channel on YouTube 'til it was time to call stumps. I trained it home the next morning.

Herkermer Homolka

COMIC COVER (& JOURNAL COVER) OF THE WEEK

Multiple names listed for "U/R/G", so I'll just say, "Well played, team." The "Totoro" cov is plush!

SONG OF THE WEEK

"Hugget I Sten" By Hugorm feat. Ghita Norby (Denmark).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Qy0MSvuACY

Commended >>> "Voice" by The Oral Cigarettes (Japan), "I Can Feel Your Solar System" by R. Missing (US), "Candy Blue Magic Hole Flip Phone" cover/remix by Azikazin Magic World (South Korea).

RANDOM TRPG-RELATED REMINISCENCE OF THE WEEK

As a "D&D" nut in the '80s, you met a lot of adversarial DMs. Even good DMs didn't take much pushing to begin issuing dire warnings. There was a term for when a DM took a dislike to and repeatedly - unfairly - injured one PC: wandering damage. Like...they were the character the burly tavern bully targetted without cause or who triggered the swinging-blade trap despite being third in line or whose horse decided to buck them off when a group of kobolds approached. I remember once JH was DM-ing. He was annoyed with DP for some reason and had started to make things hard for his chara. Our party was in a city, so there didn't appear to be any imminent danger...then a literal giant began walking towards us. He seemed friendly, though - the cityfolk showed no signs of alarm. The giant walked over to D.'s PC, dropped trou and crapped on his head from above. "D&D" was a wild frontier in the '80s.

Citywide misting system

As someone with no knowledge of the case, I found the docofilm "Inside The Trustor Scandal", about a super-dodgy Swedish company takeover and cash siphon from the '90s, pretty fascinating. As you'd expect with high finance, most of those involved are unlikeable, but compellingly so. Don't switch off when the end credits roll - there's a little more to come...