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Yes My Friends, The Fated Day Has Arrived! It’s Time Once Again For The Christmas List!

Wednesday, December 7th, 2016

I got a postcard the other day with a kiwi stamp on it. On the back, next to the sketch of the extinct ‘kiwi squid’, was the following request: “Please blog a Christmas wish list!”
I think we know who sent it, so here goes.

Video Game Section

Slap Fight for the Megadrive is pretty high on my list, but – as with most Genesis shooters – is a real dog to find (boxed with manual of course). It’s a mostly forgotten game these days but I always loved it. Bernard may be able to use his contacts to obtain this, but he’ll weep quietly when he sees the price (>$350) so may want to consider this only-slightly-less-expensive alternate:

Taito Nostalgia 2 is a plug-and-play TV game, which includes a remixed Slap Fight amongst its handful of games. This is a 10 year old JP-only release and may be ‘challenging’ to find at a reasonable price 🙂

That’s a Sega Master System, an obsolete 8-bit system I’ve been getting more and more interested in. They’re not too difficult to find, and not prohibitively expensive, but of course they are nothing without games to play. And here’s where things get a bit chancey. Because if he gets me one of these, he’d have to get me some games as well.

These two are a good start. Other good options include Sagaia, Zillion, Master Of Darkness, Phantasie Star etc. Very likely each of these games will cost more than the system!

Speaking of games…

Bernard’s going to need the devil’s luck finding these two TG-16 games (boxed of course), and then open his wallet wide to get them for me…

RPG Section

This AD&D module was published a startling 31 years ago and is a legendary classic. It’s also bloody expensive and rarely complete (the complete boxed set has oodles of maps and handouts in it). I almost bought it myself about 25 years ago but chose not to knowing that in 2016 my brother would get it for me.

This is apparently a mostly stupid expansion to D&D that was put out in 1986 to keep stubborn gamers who hadn’t moved on to AD&D busy. I’ve always been intrigued but it’s bloody hard to find complete. And sticker-shockingly pricey. Thanks Bernard.

With a bit of effort, sacrifice and prayer Bernard should be able to get me one of these AD&D manuals for under a Benjamin. The Conan ones are apparently very short (one is only 12 pages I think) which means the cost/page is sky-high. Good thing Bernard spares no expense!

Toy Section

Gore Magala Girl just came out. As in last week. It would be challenging get it before Xmas to say the least, plus it’s expensive; more than I’ve ever paid for any figure. I’m putting it here mostly to show it off since you can bet I’m buying it the second I get back from Oz. In other words this was originally added as a sincere list item, but like the ZOID from 2014 I’ve now retracted it to buy it for myself 🙂

Computer Section

That’s a Casio FX 890P handheld computer, which (apparently) has several built-in languages. Just the machine for me to write the next (long awaited) Mercenary King game on. I’m putting any generic programmable handheld computer on this list, so Bernard can surprise me!

That’s a RetroPie handheld. It’s a lovely handheld MAME device based around a Raspberry Pi. Now I have conflicting feelings about emulation, especially of consoles, and frankly couldn’t be bothered setting up a Pi or (even less so) downloading MAME roms. But Bernard will do it all for me, because Christmas 🙂

Trading Card Section

Get me this and I promise you’ll get Tron stickers on postcards 🙂

MTG Section

My MTG basic land collection is pretty massive now and almost complete. But I don’t have any of the five stupidly rare and expensive ‘guru’ lands. If Bernards got about $2000+ lying around, he’ll get me these 5 cards for Christmas!

‘There’s only two weeks and this list is insane!’ Section

– Any Gundam kit
– A t-shirt (size L)
– An interesting jigsaw (suitable for framing)
– Any gamebook I don’t own (check the list on your network)
– No metal miniatures 🙂
– Glowworm stamps!

Posted in Blog, Family, Miscellaneous | Comments Closed

B & L’s Great New Zealand Adventure

Saturday, December 3rd, 2016

Recently, as you may know, B and L went to New Zealand. Now they’ve both been a bit mysterious about this trip. Where exactly did they go? What did they see? What did they do?

I haven’t even gotten any postcards!

So I have taken it upon myself here to imagine how the seven-day trip may have played out. I’m pretty good at vacation planning, so I reckon this hypothetical NZ adventure is pretty much exactly what they did. So join me dear readers, as we experience New Zealand through the eyes of B and L….

Day 1: Auckland

They landed in Auckland, and spent mere seconds in the hotel before heading out into the city looking for postcards, souvenirs, postage stamps and the nearest McDonalds to try out the local menu item called the Kiwiburger (which doesn’t contain kiwi flesh). As time permitted during all this scurrying, they also did some touristy things in and around the city (such as bungee jumping from that tower).

Day 2: Te Puke

Got up at the crack of dawn and took a train to Te Puke (about 5 hours), arriving before midday. Spent the afternoon at the Kiwifruit theme park Kiwi 360, being sure to ride the kiwifruit-shaped road train, seeing the kiwi birds and eating lots of kiwifruit. After sunset bribed a local fisherman to ferry them out to Motiti Island to see tuatara by torchlight in the wild. Returned to the mainland and took a late taxi to a hotel in Rotorua (about 1 hour).

Day 3: Rotorua

Visited Tamaki Maori Village and were screamed at by ~~professional actors~~ Maori natives. Ate some kiwifruit. Went to the Polynesian Spa for a mineral soak in the afternoon and spend the evening sketching kiwis on dozens of postcards. Relaxed a bit this day, since things would pick up tomorrow.

Day 4: Waitomo

Took a train to Waitomo (about 3 hours) to visit the famous glowworm caves. Found the little buggers dazzling, and make special note to spare no effort in finding and sending brother the full set of glow-in-the-dark glowworm stamps that had been recently issued. After lunch wandered aimlessly through the forest looking for kakapo, and during the late afternoon siesta sketched worms on postcards and grazed on kiwifruit in the hotel. After dinner (kiwifruit pasta) spent time in souvenir shops supporting the local greenstone-carving industry. Had an early night, since things would pick up tomorrow.

Day 5: Tasman Glacier

Woke at 1 am and boarded a chartered helicopter to fly them to Tasman Glacier park on the south island. It cost a small fortune and was terrifying, but was well worth it since the boat trip through the glacial lake in arctic temperatures – or rather the brush with hypothermia due to insufficient warm-weather clothing – made them feel more alive than they had in years. Sadly the kiwifruit supply B was by now carrying in his backpack froze, but as he leisurely sketched frozen vistas on postcards while on the overnight train to Te Anau (about 12 hours) he knew it had all been worthwhile.

Day 6: Te Anau

Visited the other famous glow worm cave, all the way down the southern tip of the south island. They were as dazzled by these little buggers as they had been up north, although perhaps the crisp weather made this experience a little more memorable. Triumphantly found a glow-in-the-dark glowworm postcard in the souvenir store, and later on that day as he sketched glow-worms and wrote my address on the back in glow-in-the-dark ink after applying the full set of glow-in-the-dark stamps he knew that the pinnacle of their trip had been reached. Dinner was steak with kiwifruit jelly washed down with a light kiwifruit juice cocktail. Had an early night since tomorrow would be taxing.

Day 7: Middle Earth

Took a 3 am flight to Auckland (2 hours) and immediately hopped into a rental car and drove 4 hours to Mt Ngauruhoe – aka Mt Doom – since who would go to New Zealand and not visit Mordor? Both of them took turns videoing each other scrambling up the loose shale hills and almost fatally falling before sprinting back to the car and speeding off to Matamata, or as everyone knows it: Hobbiton (about 2.5 hours). Here they rented costumes and spent the afternoon running around as a lady Hobbit and as Gandalf the wizard (watch for a video on youtube soon) before once again driving back to Auckland for some last minute greenstone-carving shopping and then the final mad dash to the airport to catch the flight home.

As I said I haven’t received any souvenirs and/or postcards yet. But I know they’re coming, and they’ll be great. When I get the glow-in-the-dark one covered in glowworms, you can expect to see it right here on the blog 😉

Posted in Blog, Family | 2 Comments »

Farm Holidays

Tuesday, September 20th, 2016

When we were kids, we spent a few vacations on farms. We called them ‘farm holidays’ and they are a fond – if fading – memory of my childhood.

I seem to recall we did this at least three times, maybe more. I was probably under 10 at the time, and I’m sure the holidays occurred in the summer (around January) when school was out. We’d all pile into the car with supplies and drive what seemed like forever until we arrived, then spend a while (a week?) living on the farm, seeing how it worked and using it as a base for day trips.

I think the destinations were country New South Wales, Locations like Kempsey and Tamworth spring to mind, but maybe they were just towns we drove through on the way. The drives themselves were exciting, as Bernard and I would play games in the back seat and we’d often stop for lollies in small towns or at petrol stations. I recall getting a few smurfs at BP on one of these drives, which would date it to about 1980.

I think it was the earliest farm we stayed at that had pigs and a large homestead shaded by gum trees. I recall sleeping in a bunk bed in a room without any glass in the windows (just screens for insects). There was a massive storm one night and I was scared of the lightning! I rode on a tractor with a farmer as he did some chores, playing with pigs and horses, and ate sausages almost every meal.

We also visited a wheat farm. The fields seemed to go forever, and during that stay I went with some older boys while they hunted rabbits with a bow in a nearby grove (they never hit any). I desperately wanted to shoot the bow myself but didn’t have the strength to pull it back. My memories of this place are very dim. I don’t recall exactly where we stayed or for how long. Maybe it wasn’t an actual holiday but we were just visiting someone? Mostly I can just remember the wheat fields.

There was also one time we took out cat Louis with us! He was free in the car as we drove, but mostly sat in the back window behind Bernard and I. We stayed in an old homestead on a hill that time, and a river wound around. Louis had the range of the house and I think we even let him outside! I don’t really remember much farming at that stay; maybe mum and dad just rented the house like a sort of early outback Airbnb. This place came with a little boat we used to take out onto the river, and I can remember long hours playing on the water even amidst the threat of horse flies. I think we did fireworks there as well, which confuses me since it wouldn’t have been cracker night.

I think it was on that trip that I saw a kangaroo out the window of the house and ran outside to find it but it had already gone. I think it was also that trip I collected grasshoppers in my Bug Catcher and released them in the house 🙂

I can recall getting sick enough on one of these trips that I was taken to hospital, although that may have been when we visited Canberra in the late 70s. I can vividly recall one time staying in a motel (again, on the way or way back) that had an arcade and Bernard and I spent time playing Tempest and Galaxian while mum and dad went to the bar! That would have dated it to about 1981. I think we ate chinese at a restaurant at that motel, which seems unremarkable now but was quite an event for us in those years.

All these are fleeting memories, or possibly bits and pieces of different memories arranged incorrectly. Given how little I recall I have a profound fondness for these holidays. No-one else I knew used to do this (they’d go placed like Queensland or New Zealand) and I felt special as a result. I’m sure cost was one reason our family did such holidays, but maybe mum and dad just had the foresight to know that staying on a farm would be more of an adventure for boys of our age.

I did some research and this type of vacation is still very much in existence. They are called ‘Farm Stays’ now, and there are many websites catering to people interested in booking farmhouses or even staying on working farms. It’s nice to know families today can still have the same type of holiday we had over 35 years ago.

Bernard and I have booked out next Australian trip, and it will include a lazy drive from Queensland to Newcastle down the NSW coast. I suspect some of the places we drive through – Grafton, Taree, Kempsey – may hold long-forgotten memories of my youth. Maybe during that drive some of it will come back to me…

Posted in Family, The Unknown, Time | 2 Comments »

Cracker Nights

Friday, July 8th, 2016

This past weekend we had four nights of fireworks. It was fantastic 🙂

We had an irresponsibly large amount of crackers – the above shot was Saturday nights haul only – running the gamut from tiny little things (‘crazy jacks’) to massive fountains that ran for over 3 minutes. We had also driven to Pennsylvania to buy some launchers, which are not legal in NY state.

It took hours to set them all off – over four nights – and we still have more left! Others were doing the same, and the noises of booms and crackles were heard around. Even so we may have upset the neighbour slightly, since we thought they yelled at us after we set off a particularly loud and bombastic launcher!

By the third day I was up to my usual tricks, slightly ‘modifying’ the fireworks for dramatic effect. Here’s 15 little guys I taped into 5 groups of 3 and lit simultaneously for a large group explosion:

A lovely photo of the ‘Coral Reef’ in action, which we all agreed was the most magnificent fountain (and which cost $50!):

Here’s a video of one of the more boistrous fountains going off. I’ll admit i was a bit scared during this tumult, since I didn’t know what it would do (true for all the fireworks; the descriptions on the packaging are vague enough to be useless) and found myself standing perhaps a little too close:

And lastly, a video I made on my phone editing together highlights from many of the different types we lit:

As you can tell, much fun was had by all 🙂

Posted in Family, Miscellaneous | 1 Comment »

Fire In The Sky

Thursday, June 23rd, 2016

It’s almost July 4 and once again fireworks are back in stores. Last year was the first time they were sold here in NY in many years and we had a great time setting them off. This year the selection is incredible… and we’ve invested heavily!

That’s the haul so far. I don’t want to calculate how much we’ve spent already but I think we’ve layed the groundwork for two fireworks shows to celebrate JAF’s birthday in a little over a week 🙂

We’ve got big ones and small ones and sparklers and cracklers and smoke bombs and even a frog! Still no launchers though; they’re still not legal here. We’d have to drive to Pennsylvania to buy some of those…

That’s the biggest we’ve got so far. It cost $25, stands about a foot tall and judging by the disco ball in the art will probably dazzle us with holograms and shooting stars and maybe silhouettes of dancers made of living fire! The little guy next to it was only $2 and is similar to most of what we had last year. We’ve upgraded 🙂

This is a two pack: “Rocketman vs Rage Monster”. They’re both quite large, and (again) judging by the art I’m expecting cybernetic warriors made of flaming smoke and a terrifying monster radiating purple fire and bellowing curses from the deepest pits of Gehenna!

We accidentally bought two of these two packs. So double everything I just said 🙂

This is the most expensive one we have so far, at $35. It’s a large fanning fountain, which means the showers of sparks will not just go up but also out to the sides. If I position it carefully in KLS’s parents backyard I may be able to incinerate trees on both sides simultaneously!

It’ll be a night we’ll never forget!

Sparkzilla. Sparkzilla! I don’t know who named this but he was a genius. Although fairly large in my hand, this isn’t even in the top five of biggest fireworks I’m waiting to ignite. But it has to be the best, based solely on that name: Sparkzilla!

Im expecting a titan of ash and cinders rising out of this box, trumpeting with the joy of freedom as it mercilessly rains destruction down upon us. I wish you could be there to see it!

And then we have the ‘Fiery Frog’. Like a green Pac Man from hell, this one boasts of glowing mouth and eyes as the purifying flames issue from its head. I’ve never seen anything like this and cannot wait to set it on fire.

That’s just a portion of what we have so far. And I don’t doubt there’s more to come. Yes it will all – quite literally – go up in smoke, but watching it happen is going to be glorious!

Posted in Family, Home, Miscellaneous | Comments Closed

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