Category: Otaku

The Master At Work

Yesterday I spent the morning catching up with my old friend Kirsten. Much laughter ensued πŸ™‚

Later in the day Bernard and I visited Pizza and Pinball, the restaurant not too far from where mum and dad live.

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Of all the games I played, Judge Dredd may have been best. But the one above – an ‘indie’ pinball made in Newcastle in 2013 – was certainly the most memorable. I think I’ll have to go and play it again before I leave.

Here’s what Bernard had for dinner: a fish salad sandwich (with beetroot):

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Here’s his five word review: “It was good, no, ok”.

I gave dad my phone and he took a few snaps. Here’s his best selfie:

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And a shot of Bernard and I watching the cricket while eating ice blocks:

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Bernard’s working hard on our game. Later today I plan to start the graphics and ‘monster design’. We regularly talk about the core mechanics and the scoring. It will be playable online when complete. Here’s a code preview:

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It’s going to be awesome!

The Arrival

Both of my domestic flights had delays which meant running in airports to make connections. The international flight was a near continuous 15 hours of turbulence that made virtually any activity outside of listening to music on headphones impossible. Taken as a whole, this was by far the worst travel to Australia I’ve ever done.

Which made me even happier to arrive, and to rendezvous with Bernard at the airport soon afterwards.

What followed was a day that included some shopping…

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Some eating…

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Some drinking…

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And picking up the car!

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As of right this moment I’m going on 48+ hours without sleep and am slurring my words.

Tomorrow we’re off to the Blue Mountains but before then I’ve got a date with a pillow!

Christmas Cards

No, not those cards, these cards:

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That’s a selection I obtained through my usual sources (ie. purchased at a Con). I was debating what to do with them for a while and since I’ve gone overboard with Xmas gifts already decided it was time to open them all. And so, in no particular order…

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I recall having some of these cards before I ever saw the film. I think I was a bit scared of some of them actually, especially the alien ones. If I lived in the US I may have joined the fan club!

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Gremlins was a bit of a phenomenon when it came out wasn’t it? And yet these days I only seem to recall the effect Phoebe had on me (and probably every other teenage boy that watched it). Looking at these cards reminds me I haven’t seen the film in 20+ years. I wonder how it has held up?

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The Jaws 3D cards are as dreadful as you’d imagine, but the curiosity factor is certainly raised by the inclusion of a ‘3D viewer’. How good is the 3D effect? Well, using a bit of technomancy I can let you judge for yourself:

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It’s almost like the shark is jumping out of the screen isn’t it? πŸ˜‰

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The Black Hole cards do an equally good job of making me want to see the film again, after 30-odd years. And who among you isn’t impressed by concept art stickers?!? But the most nostalgic part of these cards was actually on the back of the wrapper:

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OMG! I remember this candy! I used to buy the coffin containers, and all the little pieces were bone shaped. Tasted terrible, but I loved the little plastic boxes πŸ™‚

The Jurassic Park cards were very disappointing in their design, being less impressive by far than all the others. But to my excitement, the pack contained an incredible lenticular hologram card:

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And even more amazingly, it’s a sticker! This is one of the most amazing chase cards I have ever seen, and I certainly didn’t expect to pull it from a $0.50 pack of 20-year old cards!

I guess Christmas came early this year πŸ™‚