The collected works of ScottyB

And just when you thought I couldn’t work any more ‘M’ words into the title, I’m going to throw another in there… because the Magneto movie has been ‘officially’ confirmed.

Slated for a 2009 release, Magneto is looking to be the first of the ’spin-off’ series to come from the X-Men films (whether or not this means we’ll be missing out on the rumoured X-Men 4 or not, its anyone’s guess).

From the blurb;

“In a storyline hinted at by the original “X-Men” films, Magneto comes to grips with his mutant ability to manipulate metal objects as he and his parents try to survive in Auschwitz. Magneto meets Professor Xavier (played as the wheelchair-bound mutant leader by Patrick Stewart) when the latter is a soldier liberating the concentration camp.”

Sounds more like its going to be a prequel/biography, but definitely has potential.

In other Marvel news, another shot has emerged from the upcoming Iron Man release.

Downey Jr (as Tony Stark) appearing to be forging the original Iron Man helmet. As seen in the complete suit (from the earlier release picture) here:

I can see Iron Man being blockbuster awesome…

As I prepare to chow down on a delicious home-made works hamburger, I start thinking how quickly this weekend has gone. Obviously this is nothing new - I’ve written about it before, but this weekend I had set out to do so much and already its over again for another week.

Thankfully, I did get to wash the car this afternoon. Yesterday it looked terrible sitting out in the street; A dirty bum and wheels that looked completely as if they had been painted black. I love the JCW Brake kit, I really do - but the dust they leave behind, particularly after rainy periods is just incredible! Nonetheless, I wouldn’t trade them for the stockies again. The Sun was out, assuring me I wouldn’t freeze my butt off while washing and despite the annoying wind (that only and always seems to strike right when I put the car in the driveway to wash it…) blowing little bits of sap and stuff onto the roof, it was well and truly worth it. She looks amazing, glimmering and shining under the garage lights tonight.

I had an intention to take some photos this afternoon, but some big, black, threatening looking clouds at about 4pm, right after I finished chamoising advised me to stay inside. They produced little precipitation, barely enough to lay a fine mist on the ground before being evaporated right back up, but I saved the ‘rain-spot’ scenario from happening.

If there’s one thing I hate about washing and detailing the MINI, its discovering all the new damage. It used to be stone chips, fresh from drive days when stray rocks on the OPH/Putty/Wollombi etc.. roads would wind up thrown from the car in front, landing squarely in the windshield or against the (MINI-esque) flat front end, leaving horrific scars for you to find after each wash. Today however, it was a 2-inch long scratch on the passenger-side wing mirror. How or when it occurred I do not know, probably from an evening in at Beaumont or parked up in a theatre carpark.. victim of a carelessly driven shopping trolley or a jealous patron.

I love the MINI, I do. But I hate worrying about it all the time. I can’t park it anywhere without thinking of its proximity to other cars, location in relation to shopping trolley bays, local pedestrian traffic, nearby trees with the potential to drop sap/branches, threatening weather etc.. It’s a car I know.. I know.. I’ve been told that before and I tell myself that all the time, but it still doesn’t change that sinking feeling you get when you come back to it to find a trolley inconsiderately left against the bumper.. or the scratch on the wing mirror that goes without explanation.

*sigh*

Us MINI owners are doomed to worrying about our cars

Imagine my elation when I discover that someone has churned out a brilliant modification for my new favourite racing simulation game; GTR2. I speak of the Porsche Carrera Cup 2006 mod.

GTR2 is a complete racing game, so much so that I am on the verge of buying a proper steering wheel/pedal setup so I can actually enjoy it to its fullest and be competitive at the higher difficulty levels. As used to keyboard controls as I am, I just can’t remain competitive with the smooth driving and adjustable throttle applications that the computer AI uses - and as a result, the on/off effect that my keyboard controls have lead to way too many spins and messy laps.

The modding community has managed to make it better though. Support for the 2006 Carrera Cup category is simply awesome. The new 911 (997) generation GT3 in all its glory. Liveries faithfully reproduced for the game.

Quite a few hours of playability in this one I think…

This afternoon Kate and I went DVD shopping (good deals to be found on City of God and The Matador.. hehe) and afterwards, we came back here to play some games.

Unable to stay away from Insaniquarium Deluxe, Kate immediately jumped onto the other computer and booted it up. No question, no second thought about it. Zoned out and fully, 100% immersed in the wonders of virtual aquariums (that strangely, are attacked by aliens… I’ve not quite worked that one out yet).

However, afterwards, I convinced her to play a co-operative game of Marvel: Ultimate Alliance. And amazingly, she seemed to actually enjoy it.

Though like it was any question in my mind.. I mean who couldn’t like the Marvel Universe once being subjected to it? It is completely immersing.

My divine plan is slowly piecing itself together… muahahaha

… Gliese 581 …

Stuff like this really does get one a thinking.

Is the reality of us jettisoning off into space and settling down to colonise a new planet a reality? Could it be possible in our lifetimes that we crack the ‘light-speed’ travel or some kind of quantum physics ‘foldspacing’ / ‘wormhole’ theorem that allows us to travel these immense distances between star systems and explore - or even inhabit other planets?

Watching films like Event Horizon bring forward questions about stasis during travel of this magnitude. Maybe we could get chucked in a tank on life-support or maybe cryogenically frozen until we reach our destination?

“The planet orbits a faint star more than 20 light years away.”

20 light years away. Even travelling at the speed of light, it would still take us twenty years to get there. That’s a long time to be holed up in a little space ship, or stuck in stasis. A third of a lifetime could pass while you were hurtling through space towards a planet you’ve never seen.

Its a big risk.

There is word that ‘future space missions’ could target this planet - but using rocket technology and such.. I doubt even early probes would get there in my lifetime, let alone the lifetimes of my children, or their children..

It’s such an incredible world away. Well it seems that way.

Scientists say they have discovered over two-hundred planets and this one is the most like Earth of all they have ever encountered.

I guess I am a sceptic. I mean I’d love to see Governments investing time and money in space travel, colonisation of other planets, inter-galactic travel.. but I just can’t see it happening. Too much short-term thinking has a hold of us these days. Then there’s the closer, probably more realistic prospect of trying to establish bases/colonies on planets like Mars. Or Saturn’s Moon, Titan.

Quite incredible to imagine all the possibilities…

Source: Scientists say newly discovered planet could support life…
Source: Life on the New Planet?
Source: Astronomers report new planet…

Rise of the Silver Surfer, June 2007.

Starring Ioan Gruffudd as Reed Richards, Chris Evans as Johnny Storm, Michael Chiklis as Ben Grimm and Denise Richards as Susan Storm.

Wait.. what? No.. is it Denise Richards? That’s Claire Forlani isn’t it?

Well there you go.. it’s actually Jessica Alba. I had assumed it must have been, seeing as Alba played The Invisible Woman in the first installment of the F4 series, but you’d never know it to look at the promotional posters released this week.

You think the people photoshopping and airbrushing the original photo would have eventually taken a step back and gone ‘ahhh.. **** it, it doesn’t even look like Jessica Alba anymore, we better start over!’. Especially when the first trailer for the film looks incredibly awesome and - after all - it is Jessica Alba. Any movie can sell when it has Jessica Alba in it, boys will go see it simply because Jessica Alba is in it. Personally it wouldn’t worry me who played The Invisible Woman; hell it could have been Denise Richards or Claire Forlani for all I care - I just want to see another wicked Marvel comic brought to the big screen.

Whatever the case, it just surprises me that somebody… anyone… along the production line didn’t stop and go ‘Wait, you can’t release that, it looks like a wax doll of someone completely different’. Sometimes airbrushing really does go too far.

That aside, I really can’t wait to see this one. We saw the first teaser trailer the other night when sitting in for Disturbia and it looked great. I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw how awesome Silver Surfer looked.. I must admit I was a little skeptical as to how they were going to pull off the CGI.. but it looks convincing.

Spiderman 3 is just around the corner. The Iron Man film announced and ready for next year, its all very exciting.

Source: Marvel.com

25th of April - so much more than just a day off work. Anzac Day is probably Australia’s most important national occasion. It marks the anniversary of the first major military action fought by Australian and New Zealand forces during the First World War. ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. The soldiers in those forces quickly became known as ANZACs, and the pride they soon took in that name endures to this day.

When war broke out in 1914 Australia had been a federal commonwealth for only fourteen years. The new national government was eager to establish its reputation among the nations of the world. In 1915 Australian and New Zealand soldiers formed part of the allied expedition that set out to capture the Gallipoli peninsula to open the way to the Black Sea for the allied navies. The plan was to capture Constantinople (now Istanbul), capital of the Ottoman Empire and an ally of Germany. They landed at Gallipoli on 25 April, meeting fierce resistance from the Turkish defenders. What had been planned as a bold stroke to knock Turkey out of the war quickly became a stalemate, and the campaign dragged on for eight months. At the end of 1915 the allied forces were evacuated after both sides had suffered heavy casualties and endured great hardships. Over 8,000 Australian soldiers were killed. News of the landing at Gallipoli made a profound impact on Australians at home and 25 April quickly became the day on which Australians remembered the sacrifice of those who had died in war.

Though the Gallipoli campaign failed in its military objectives of capturing Constantinople and knocking Turkey out of the war, the Australian and New Zealand troops’ actions during the campaign bequeathed an intangible but powerful legacy. The creation of what became known as an “Anzac legend” became an important part of the national identity of both nations. This shaped the ways they viewed both their past and their future.

Well, beating out TMNT and Sunshine for our weekly cinema visit this week was the thriller; Disturbia.

I had heard very little about this film before I found out we were going to see it tonight. Reading the IMDB review, it sounded alright… “A teen living under house arrest becomes convinced his neighbor is a serial killer.”

Apart from the spelling of ‘neighbor’ which irked me slightly, the tag line sounded okay, any suspenseful thriller is worth a watch in my opinion, so ‘What the hell’, I thought and went along to see it.

I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised. I had assumed it was going to be a real ‘teen thriller’ if you know what I mean - but as soon as I saw David Morse (of The Green Mile, The Rock, 16 Blocks etc..) was in it, I knew this was going to be something a little different - a departure from the usual thriller aimed at the younger generation movie-goer.

Reading about the trivia, I was unsurprised to read this little tid-bit; While David Morse (Mr. Turner) was filming a scene with Shia LaBeouf (Kale), he slammed his hand into a wall, breaking three fingers. LaBeouf said, “You could see that they were broken. They were all mangled. But he didn’t say a word about it. Everybody’s asking him what they can do to help, and he just says, ‘I’m okay. I’m okay. Let’s go again.’ It was intimidating, to say the least.”

Awesome.

It’s always a good feeling to leave the cinema knowing your money was well spent. And even better when you can add another notch to the ‘must-buy on DVD’ list. I’ve seen quite a few movies lately and with the exception of the new Mr. Bean film, I’d honestly say they were all movies I’d love to see again and own on DVD. And Disturbia is no exception.

Last night I was driving home, watching the sheet lightning from the approaching storm light up the sky. I could see a great distance ahead of me, my headlights illuminating the wet tarmac of the bypass a short distance ahead.

There was not another soul on the road save for a car in the very far distance. Over the hills and valleys of the road ahead, I could see its tail lights; like red mist, and the headlights, carving a conical beam of light through the thin fog created by the drizzly rain. It looked tiny in the distance. I wondered if someone was in the distance behind me, observing my car and the little wash of light it was casting in the blackness ahead.

At that moment I felt completely small.

A huge black sky above, occasionally lit up like day with massive flashes of light, the rain beginning to lash down.

It is such a massive World, a gigantic planet, a seemingly endless Universe.

I struggle to get my mind around the sheer expanse of the Universe..

* “What is the total number of galaxies in the universe? Sagan assumed 100 billion. Is that still valid? Recently the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) surveyed, to the faintest levels yet detected, a small area of sky. Extrapolating from the number of galaxies detected by HST to that expected over the whole sky, I calculate 130 billion galaxies, slightly larger than Sagans estimate. Then the number of stars in the universe is 400 billion x 130 billion, or about 50,000 billion billion. A billion billion. That’s 1,000,000,000,000,000,000. So, grasp the concept of a billion billion, then think of 50 thousand of those. Easy!”

The numbers are meaningless really.. who can truly envision such a number? It belies comprehension.

I slept last night, albeit a light, unsatisfying sleep. Couldn’t help but think about all this. Those questions you sometimes ask yourself. There are bigger things than me. Quite incredible and absolutely amazing to think.

Today was one of my days. I woke up to lovely black skies and the threat of rain. Cooler temperatures and by the time I was making the journey to work, the skies had begun to open up and the rain fell. Showers all day it would be, with some great heavy downpours this afternoon. As I speak, the heavy rain continues outside, a great sound - I can’t wait to slip into bed tonight, warm and cosy while it lashes down outside.

On a completely unrelated note, I found these fabulous pictures this afternoon and couldn’t think of anywhere else to put them!

… Watermelon Art …

… ** Glass sculpture by Dale Chihuly at a 2005 exhibition sponsored by GlaxoSmithKline in Kew Gardens, London, England. The piece is 13 feet (4 m) high …

* Source: To see the Universe in a Grain of Sand…
** Source: Glass sculpture.

Turns out my Birthday wasn’t completely over. Turns out Kate had a little something extra planned. So I had to be up early this morning for a ’surprise’. The surprise was two tickets to the Australian Reptile Park!

I woke up at a ridiculously early 7:30am. Simply insane for a Saturday. I expected Kate to be completely and totally excited and up at the crack of dawn, waiting for me to pick her up, possibly even ringing me to make sure I was on my way when I said I would be. Instead, I arrived at her place to hear a muffled ‘I’m supposed to be up aren’t I?’… yeah… so not exactly a text book start. For once, ScottyB, renowned for sleeping in and being late - was on time. It was the other party that was late to the game this morning.

Nevertheless, it had no effect on our progress. We had a good run down and besides, Gosford really isn’t that far away anyway, so we were still able to make it there with enough time to catch all of the park itinerary!

First up at 9:45am was the Funnel-web Milking show in ‘Spider World’. I’d never seen this done before and to be honest, had absolutely no idea how they did it! I was always picturing it the way they milk venomous snakes. Its nothing like that really.. they just try and piss off the funnel-webs by blowing on them and touching them with a pair of tweezers, then sucking up the venom that accumulates on their 3-4mm long fangs! Crazy (cool) stuff.

We explored ‘Spider World’ a little more before heading outside again.

The collection of Tarantula’s in there are incredible!

We checked out the Reptile Display Pits outside, full of beautiful snakes, lizards, turtles etc..

Over to Eric the Crocodile for a quick visit. He was preoccupied sleeping in the Sun though. We’d see him again later anyway.

We had enough time before the next show to check out the ‘Lost World of Reptiles’.. an Egyptian themed building full of alligators and prehistoric looking lizards and turtles and tortoises.

Then it was over to the Galapagos Tortoise Feeding at 10:45am.

I’ve never seen a Tortoise move so fast! They follow the food around their little exhibit and one of them even waddled over to the big plate of lettuce and carrots while the keeper was in the other pen giving his chat! Almost got away with it too.. hehe..

Straight after, the Reptile Show starts in the ‘Show Pit’.

An assortment of alligators, snakes and lizards all made appearances and showed off for the crowd. The presenter, ‘Mike’ with his usual brand of dark, witty comedy which had some people in the audience gasping and wondering if he was really being serious!

At the conclusion of the Reptile Show, people had the option of getting photos taken with the Python or the Koala (or both!) and Kate ended up deciding to go for the safer option with the Koala!

Crazy presenter got his hands dirty again with a massive Funnel-Web Spider in the Show Pit at 12:30pm with the ‘Spider Talk’.

After our lunch, it was time to see Eric the Crocodile have his lunch at 1pm..

The ‘Crazy Critters’ show was directly after at the Show Pit come 1:30pm.

Starting with a very well trained Kingfisher and an adorable Wombat!

And the Koala’s made another appearance, plenty of ‘awwwwww’ and ‘oooooooohhh’ -ing from around the crowd. They were fed over in the Koala exhibit just after, so we followed them over and watched too.

Part Two of the ‘Reptile Show’ got under way at 2:15pm and we got to see baby Crocs mauling baseball caps from the crowd, Alligators… well just being timid and lazy..

We also got to see which one is easier to give a big ol’ smooch to!

If I had to choose, I’d definitely be going for the Alligator!!

We also got to see the beautiful (baby) Burmese Python on show again.

With a bit of time to spare, we headed over to the Goanna exhibit and found one huge example catching some afternoon Sun rays.

Amazing colourings in their scales!

The penultimate show for the day was the Tasmanian Devil talk. Unfortunately with the sinking Sun and the already shady exhibit, I only managed a couple of photos, but they truly are amazing creatures. And the sound they make when picked up (or unimpressed) is unbelievable!

One ‘lucky’ girl got picked to feed the Dingoes so we followed that over at 3:15pm which also wrapped up the days talks and exhibits.

We spent the next hour and a half walking around the park, doing the bush walks and having a look at the other exhibits scattered around the outskirts of the bush.

I missed this guy last time I went to the ARP, the little Echidna, who, with the setting Sun was out-and-about, scurrying around his exhibit.

Kangaroos and Emus run wild around most of the park. You can walk up to the majority of them and feed and pet them.

In addition to the ‘Roos and Emus there are plenty of families of Ducks wandering the park too! Often underfoot of the bouncing Kangaroos!

We visited ‘Miss Piggy’, the pig-nosed turtle, one of only three animals to survive the devastating fire of 2000.

All in all a a fantastic day at an excellent Australian wildlife park. Man did I have some tired legs when I got home yesterday! Its a full day of walking and scheduling to get around, see and do it all! Definitely great seeing everything this time around though, even if it was a massive day!

Tonight around a game of 6-player Uno, a certain person.. let’s call her ‘Kate’.. managed to laugh at a joke at the exact moment when a significant amount of water was still present in her mouth. If the water shot any less than two meters across the room, I would be truly surprised.

While completely hilarious and utterly comical, it made me wonder how often something like that happens.

Sure, I can remember a mate in year 3 of school ejecting milk through his nose after hearing a joke. I can also remember another mate sending Fanta across the classroom on a rainy day at lunchtime after a similar incident among jovial students. In fact, now I think about it, there are at least half-a-dozen occasions I can now remember where a harmless, completely innocent consumable liquid has become the comedic nasal/oral projectile subject to many months of flashbacks and ridicule.

Just like tonight’s incident.

Unfortunately a camera was not present at the time, but I can assure you, it would have been a great shot.

Is this a common occurrence? Or do you all have absolutely no idea what I’m on about?

Because now I have found yet another website that beckons for me to spend my hard-earned pennies within its bountiful pages.

Collectoybles.com.au is pure evil. It contains some of the coolest items I’ve ever seen produced in the comic book genre.. collectibles that make your jaw hit the floor and your hand reach for your wallet.

The Spider-man Mini Bust is one of those tempting ones.. can just see it sitting on my desk really. Classic pose, fantastic character..

Then slightly on the more ‘action’ side, there is the Spiderman Vs Venom Diorama Statue - which would also look good on my desk. A hand-painted, limited edition. Two terms that have more recently come to force the little hairs on the back of my neck to stand up.

Foolishly, I kept exploring. Why? I don’t know.. perhaps I like to torment myself, view items far out of my reach. Beyond the affordable. But then I always have been a dreamer.

Anyone who saw the Marvel comic adaptation film, The Punisher, will know why this next one is soooo awesome.

Marvel Legends Icons (Series 2) Punisher 12″ Figure in all its glory. And at that price, it’s actually pretty reasonable.

Another one that would look good on my desk. I think I’m going to need a bigger desk though… Maybe a big desk, one of those corner desk jobbies that hug the wall and give you heaps of extra platform to put stuff on. Like Marvel collectibles for example.

Of course there’s always the AVP 12″ Scar Predator which looks completely awesome.

And for those of you who use to (or still do) play Street Fighter, there’s always the 15th Anniversary 10″ Ryu figure. Everyone’s favourite character.. brought to collectible modelly goodness right here.

Perhaps the most incredible items on this site, are the Lord of the Rings 1:1 scale helms.

… High Elven War Helm …

I wasn’t a massive fan of the LotR films. I mean they were fantastic, don’t get me wrong.. but I don’t follow it to the extent that I’d go out and buy collectibles, or the eleventy-billion disc special edition of the DVD’s or run around getting them autographed by everyone in the cast (and crew). They were top movies. And they were filled with some amazing props and sets. The helms in particular, were wicked.. so seeing them here brought (potentially) to your living room, or wherever you want your LotR memorabilia (your LotR shrine maybe) is seriously cool stuff.

Gondor Infantry/Calvary Helm, Helm of Gimli, Helm of Isildur, Helm of King Elendil, Helm of the Dark Lord Sauron and Helm of Witchking all faithfully reproduced in incredible detail. Starting at a whopping $699.95.

Last but not least is Spawn. Probably the most recognisable character in the Image Comics’ universe. I already own a McFarlane Spawn collectible. Hellspawn 10th Anniversary edition. And I wish now I had bought two! Still remains one of my favourite collectibles today.

The cape is made from soft rubber and there’s a ton of detail in the cape sculpt, and the pieces cover the more obvious articulation points perfectly. The chain is great - real metal, and extremely long. You can drape it over his body, through his hands, and around the base with ease.

The real work of art here is the base. Designed to look like a church steeple, the bottom has a detailed gargoyle along with two pegs for Spawn’s feet. The ornate cross also has two pegs above - one on the left arm, and one on the front center - to attach his feet for more display possibilities.

So imagine my excitement when I noticed the Spawn 12″ - Spawn Issue 7 Cover Art:

And the 12″ - Spawn V figure.

Simply awesome..

I’m going to need a really big desk…

Is it completely unusual?

Do you often find yourself talking to… well… yourself? And when you do it, do you talk out loud? Or do you have an inner-monologue that you bargain with, or argue with? Perhaps even reason with?

Over lunch today, I found myself essentially talking to myself. Had there been a psychiatrist in the room, I’d have probably ended up in a mental institution this afternoon, under close watch and barred access to any and all sharp objects.

The truth of it is simple; I was leaving a message for a certain woman on the wonder that is Google Talk (and for the record, I was typing, not actually talking - ’cause that would just be really weird) and after a short period of time, I realised indeed, that I had basically conducted an entire conversation, as well as some bargaining, with my own self.

This was not the aim of course - I had not set out to talk solely to myself - but it a twist of the unpredictable, it had ended up that way… to the casual onlooker a crazy person typing to his own screen persona.. but to myself - a perfectly respectable conversation with another person - one that just wasn’t there at that current point in time…

I am confident I am not alone in doing this.. it’s like replying to older posts in forums, or part of a conversation that referenced you hours before.

It’s really nothing to be ashamed of - it is one of those uncontrollable elements of life on the Internets.

Feel free to share your stories? (and make me feel better)

And its over. Another day and another year added to the tally!

My Birthday came and went in the best possible fashion. It was a fantastic day - in fact I can’t remember the last time I enjoyed a Birthday so much. My closest friends made me feel special, my loved ones made me feel whole. A huge thank you to everyone who sent me messages and presents yesterday! I think its so cool that a bloke all the way away in Australia sends and receives gifts with UK’ers met - of all places - over a MINI forum. I love this little thing we have going peeps! Makes our special days that little bit more special.

Dinner was at home, a pasta Carbonara, topped with Parmesan cheese - my Mum’s special - with toasted cheese bread entree. Naturally I ate too much and felt quite bloated for the next hour or so. It was worth it though - I’m about the only one that seems to really (and I stress really) enjoy the Carbonara.. nevertheless, for my Birthday it was prepared for the family (well three of us anyway, Dad decided he wanted a pork chop instead) and a big pasta bowl later, I was already appreciating turning 24.

As the Sun disappeared behind the mountains, another day passing, the cool evening air washing through the windows, I was joined by Kate. Fresh from her sisters Birthday dinner (in a miraculous turn of coincidence, her Birthday happens to be on the exact same day as mine - even the same year - and in fact, we are only separated by a few hours!) and she came bearing gifts. The best one wrapped in a big blue ribbon.

I was presented with:

The basket of goodies to end all baskets of goodies! In fact, this was no ordinary basket of goodies. This one would be talked about for years to come. Entire civilizations would base their religions upon such basket fulls of gifts and nations would fall at the hand of the mighty gift-basket followers - it really was that good - but for the time being (and with my Nostradamus-like predictions set aside for a minute) I had to settle for the original gift-basket.. the holy grail of gift baskets.

It contained one of the absolutely awesome Marvel ‘Figure Factory’ kits. This one was of the Thing. They also are packaged with a collector card - four in fact (for the record, I got Nightcrawler, Vulture, Apocalypse and Captain America - awesome).

The kit began coming together…

And I didn’t even consult the instructions!!! Anyone would think these were designed for 5 year olds! Oh.. wait.

Too cool… I’ve gotta get more of these things. (Ooh, see what I did there? ‘Things’ hehehe)..

I think Kate was testing my construction abilities, because next up was a robotic Spider-man.. which came in about eleventy-billion pieces (come to think of it, I have a feeling it may have all been an elaborate ploy. Have me assemble these things for an hour, while she gets to play Insaniquarium Deluxe… hmmmm)…

Needless to say I passed the test. One robotic Spider-man, complete with shooting arm launcher, successfully assembled.

Joining my desk in the little gathering of Mr. Men characters, was Mr. Happy, looking quite happy (quite ironic really) to be reunited with his long-lost Mr-friends.

Mr Noisy, Mr Tickle and Mr Happy look quite impressed to be around.

Also included, but not pictured;

Uno - the special, talked-about, hyped, addictive card game. Finally my own personal edition of Uno. I finally own it after all these years of being left out, or playing it only when at friends places. Now I can even play it by myself if feel like it!! muahaha…

Finger Bowling! I played marbles as a kid, but never took it that next level, to mimic bowling. Now is my chance! I just have to fashion up a little mini-lane out of the old bed tray I have downstairs and I’m set!

Formula One Play-Doh - almost as strangely as Kate having never seen a Bond film (with the exception of half of Casino Royale the other night.. before falling asleep), she has also never eaten Play-Doh. I think this is a hint. I mean really - how can one say he or she has lived without downing a little Play-Doh at least once in your lifetime. Its right up there with eating dirt from the garden (or was that just me?).

And completing the ultra gift-basket was a barrage of sweets and chocolates. A bunch of Kinder Surprise eggs (OMG yum.. I’m surprised there’s still any left this afternoon to be honest!), Willy-Wonka Nerds, Starburst Fruit-Chews, Starburst Gummis and the elusive Starburst ‘Anaconda’ clearly misrepresented as this one is only about 30cm long - not the 30m long thing that was in the movie with Jennifer Lopez. Though a giant gummi Anaconda would probably be a bit of an ask, as I imagine it would be quite difficult to ingest in the Human body as well as the associated cost of producing such a mammoth piece of gummi.

Great pressies Katie!! Love ‘em babe

I think that pretty much covers it. Another Birthday wrapped up!

Cheers everyone

Kate has just reminded me that today is my Birthday.

I’d like to state for the record, that I do not in any way smell like a monkey, contrary to the insinuation she makes in that post. Rather I smell like the nice, manly, Lynx ‘Java’ body deodorant. Any accusations stating otherwise are wholly and completely untrue.

With that disclaimer out of the way, I will go on to say that the truth of that comment is; today is my Birthday.

24 years of age.

On the slippery slope. The downhill run. An old, shell of a man. A victim of the hard years.

*I awoke this morning to a muscle cramp in my back. My bones cracked as I emerged from the bed. All sorts of unusual sounds emanated from my body. I hobbled into the bathroom where I stared back with sunken eyes at the reflection of a bald, paunchy man. The weathered skin on a face that I barely recognised.

I splashed my face with some cold water, hoping it was all a dream. The water did little to allay my fears. This was me. Another year older and a step closer to the grim, bitter end.

* Dramatic re-enactment

The reality was much brighter. I awoke after a fantastic night with a smile on my face. I was only 6 hours asleep, but it was one of those solid, deep, satisfying sleeps so I felt refreshed and ready to start opening prezzies! My parents had left my Birthday presents out for me the night before, so I was able to have a quick look before bed, but managed to spend a bit more time in the morning opening them up and having a better look!

Some cool new T-shirts (replacing my long-loved, years-old faithfuls, worn at the collar and starting to frey) and the Australian edition of Monopoly!!

Spiderman 3 goodies! Notebook and a Spidey wall clock! (perfect for the new room when my brother moves out at the end of the month!) - and finally, a PS/B MINI Cooper ‘assembly line’ toy model kit.

Finally I could open the presents from MM and Phanny that had been sitting on my shelf, taunting me for way too long!

From MM, McFarlane toys’ ‘Alien vs. Predator - Alien Attacks Predator’.. the detail on this thing is incredible, I opened it up and took some photos this evening, but the lighting (and lack of macro) just doesn’t do it justice! I already own a Spawn figurine from McFarlane toys, so I knew the quality would be sensational, but the intricate attention to detail is just brill! So need a proper display case for it… thanks MM!!

From Phanny, first up was the 20Q (Radica 20 Questions). This thing is awesome. Tried a bunch tonight and with the exception of ‘Baseball Cap’ that I reckon we answered too many questions anally, it got all my words right! Kind of freaky when the last couple of questions are - seemingly - random or unrelated, then it pulls out ‘Bed’.. the exact thing you were thinking of! Neat.

“The 20Q A.I. uses a true artificial neural network to pick the questions and to guess. After the player has answered the twenty questions posed (sometimes fewer), 20Q makes a guess. If it is incorrect, it asks more questions, then guesses again. It makes guesses based on what it has learned; it is not “programmed” with information or what the inventor thinks. Answers to any question are based on players’ interpretations of the questions asked.”

Also from Phanny, the Radica ‘Chillin’ Mood Beam! I can’t stress how cool this thing is.. its like an active night light. You can cycle through modes like Heartbeat (which alternates between its primary and secondary colours - in this case, orange, then red respectively), Strobe (exactly what you’re thinking.. super bright, white flashing light) and Rainbow (slowly runs through the colour spectrum) and the coolest of all is the Beat Sensor which responds to music, beats of a sub woofer, the sound of your voice, clapping etc.. very cool! Thanks Phanny!

The photos don’t do it justice.. might have to take a movie to show if off in action!

When I arrived home this afternoon, I found another parcel on my bed - Becca’s present! Right on time too!

Expanding my ever-growing DVD collection, with The Prestige and True Lies. I’ve lost count the number of times I have watched True Lies - but the thing is, I could watch it time and time again and never get sick of it. It is one of those films that I’m sure will be timeless - you’ll be able to watch it in 50 years time and still think it’s cool!

And the Prestige, one of the best films of last year - saw it at the cinema and was extremely impressed. Great plot, great twists and turns. Will have to watch it again soon!! Thanks Bec!

And last up on the picture front is the card haul..

Thanks everyone for your SMS’ and messages today, it is much appreciated!!

With Felipe Massa at the helm.

… Race Results …

It was pretty hard to fault his virtually flawless drive - a tremendous achievement after the terrible run he had at Malaysia the previous race weekend. Apart from early on in the first stint, his race was never really compromised or challenged and he surged home to take valuable points for his Drivers Championship tally and adding to the pool of Ferrari’s Constructors results.

McLaren Mercedes still hold the top spot in the Constructors Race, at 44 points to Ferrari’s 39.

… Constructors championship …

At this point though, it is still anyone’s guess as to who will shine come the conclusion of the season. There is virtually northing between the top two teams at the moment and BMW are consistently showing that they have the ability - and are not far off the pace of the front runners, to start stealing away valuable points.

Once again, Nick Heidfeld shone in the BMW and his move on the outside of Fernando Alonso to take 4th position was executed perfectly.

Lewis Hamilton once again had a great race, challenging early on, languishing a little to Massa in the second stint, then picking up the pace again at the end of the race. The kid has talent - but the ranting from James Allen on the ITV coverage is really starting to crap me I have to say. Half the time you have no idea what else is going on around the track, because he’s busy flapping and gushing over the rookie. My how quickly we forget about Button?!

‘Who’s your driver of the day? As if I need to ask!’, James Allen asked of Martin Brundle, already assured the answer was going to be Hamilton - and ready in waiting with his pom-poms and orgasmic cries of pride.

‘I’d have to say Felipe Massa’, replied Brundle.

The logical response. Pole position, the fastest lap of the race (on hard compound tyres no less) and the race win. Massa had the perfect weekend.

You could almost hear the fire burning within Allen’s heart… haha.

The sooner Allen goes the better IMO.

Kimi had a lacklustre weekend, easily overshadowed by his team-mate and was later criticised by Ferrari for not being aggressive enough on the restart after the Button/Speed incident caused a Safety Car period.

Alonso, plagued with an unbalanced car all weekend was unable to deliver better than 5th position.

However, all of this is good for the fans, as it means the Drivers Championship is now closer than it has ever been.. in fact, I can’t remember a Championship running this close after 3 races of the season!

… Drivers Championship …

It’s really shaping up to be a terrific season.

And this weekend’s result means I’ve jumped up a few places in the MINI2 guessing game (though that bugger Dean - MiniMinor - has sprinted away to a good lead after this race :P) and also the FF league is looking healthy for me.. though I’m annoyed I forgot to put in my qualifying tips.

Bring on the next race!!! A harsh four week wait!

Don’t worry, this isn’t referring to me - it isn’t a result of some tragic accident, or being kneed in the groin or some such horrific vision. I am referring to the UK television series which I watched on DVD.

The Channel 4 comedy is hosted by some dude called Mark Dolan, whom I’ve never heard of. The special guests of the show (all of which I’ve never heard of too) perform crazy stunts, exhibit insane pain thresholds and generally annoy/puzzle or stir the celebrities in camera set-ups. It all sounded a bit ‘Candid Camera’ when I read the blurb but the reality was much funnier and more polished that its predecessors. Not to mention they manage to get away with a lot more stuff on television these days. The F***ers are a perfect example!

Toju the Militant Black Guy is absolutely hilarious. Deliberately mistakes names of things for racial slurs to the discomfort of various people, normally members of the public at work.
(WARNING - some cursing.. Not Work Safe!)

And another one worth a look…

The ‘Kill Bill’ sound effects make it I think, just brilliant.

And Bunny Boiler (played by Thaila Zucchi), according to the blurb, ‘flirts with a man whilst in the company of his girlfriend to provoke a reaction from her. Thaila is very attractive and usually wears provocative clothes’.

Unbelievable that they get away with that sort of stuff! Soooo funny.

You may be wondering why I’ve suddenly gotten access to a UK-based television programme.

Well my good mate, partner in crime, brother from another mother, Dean (MiniMinor), has sent through another of his personally edited, sensationally selected DVD’s. I’ve been watching episodes of Balls of Steel, the proper coverage of the MotoGP races (without breaks and all that other rubbish), races from the WTCC and miscellaneous other programmes such as Top Gear of the Pops and the Gadget Show.

Interestingly, I’m actually enjoying watching this stuff. The motor racing is no surprise obviously, but the other stuff we simply don’t get on television in Australia - its all reality TV shows here. Changing Rooms, Changing Gardens, Backyard Blitz to name just a few variants - and god forbid, Big Brother which is about to start again soon, no doubt wiping everything else worth watching off the schedule, including my beloved F1.

This British stuff is all fresh, creative ideas, good ol’ crazy comedy that you struggle to find here even in bargain bins at your local ABC shop, let alone on the tele.

I can’t remember the last time I sat down and watched television here. With the exception of the Formula One coverage - which is a delayed telecast now anyway (thanks Channel Ten, you’ve done a crap job again this year. Why buy the rights to Qualifying when you’re going to show it six hours late, and why when the rounds coincide with decent Australian time slots - ala Malaysia - do you bump the telecast back seven hours?) I simply don’t turn the television on anymore unless its to watch a DVD. And as a result my DVD collection has expanded exponentially over the last year or two.

Which isn’t a bad thing really. At least I get to watch something decent.

Oh and thanks again MM. I now want a Playstation 3. I almost can’t wait another minute to play the GTHD demo. Even if it is a demo. OMG. Sensational.. the little details are great and I love the new menu system (apart from that strange elevator music.. haha) the shadows, smoke and higher detailed models finally do the cars justice.

I see what you mean too about F1 being a bit ‘arcadey’ but I would well-and-truly live with it for those fantastic graphics.. wow.

Thanks matey, top job again on editing.

After Friday morning’s practice session you might have been forgiven for thinking that Ferrari would walk Sunday’s race, but the pace shown by McLaren in the afternoon indicates that we should have another nip-and-tuck encounter between Formula One racing’s two current leading marques at the Bahrain Grand Prix.
This weekend, of course, Kimi Raikkonen has no concerns about Ferrari engine life, as both he and Felipe Massa have new units in their F2007s. The Finn was able to make the most of his equipment and set the fastest time of 1m 33.527s on Bridgestone’s soft tyre option. But he certainly had to hustle to beat Lewis Hamilton’s time of 1m 33.540s in the McLaren, and neither of their team mates got close to beating them.

… Practice 1 times …

Massa’s cause, yet again, was not helped by bad luck. On this occasion it was Jenson Button spinning in front of him when the Honda’s engine lunched itself and showered him with debris, flame and hot oil. Massa ruined a set of tyres as he spun backwards through the gravel. He lapped in 1m 33.772, just ahead of Fernando Alonso on 1m 33.784s.

Ferrari got a good balance in the morning, as the McLaren team chose not to chase set-up in the difficult conditions, but in the afternoon the boot was on the other foot. Both McLaren drivers spoke of a positive session and decent balance, but Raikkonen admitted that he struggled to find that in the second session.

It is interesting that Robert Kubica split them from their team mates, after lapping the BMW Sauber in 1m 33.732s, which was another indication that the German-Swiss team continue to make progress. However, Kubica is still not happy with the F1.07’s balance, and actually used the T-car in the afternoon just in case the instability, which he also complained of in Malaysia, was exclusive to his race car. It wasn’t, although the problem wasn’t quite as bad with the spare. Team mate Nick Heidfeld complained a little about oversteer, but that was probably a result of changed track conditions since the previous test here before the season started.

The other team in a hurry these days are Williams, who had the fourth-fastest car. It has been clear all season that the FW29 is an awful lot better than the FW28, and with Alex Wurz sixth on 1m 33.973s and Nico Rosberg eighth on 1m 34.189s they were right in the thick of things. Considering that the team hadn’t tested here over the winter, this was a promising performance that underlined the technical progress Williams have made since 2006.

Red Bull continue to make a little progress, and once again had a car in the top 10 courtesy of David Coulthard’s lap of 1m 34.359s. Neither he nor Mark Webber (14th, on 1m 34.677s) pushed particularly hard in the slippery morning session, but in the afternoon they found a decent balance and were relatively happy.

Toyota are making quiet progress too, with Jarno Trulli setting their pace and completing the top 10 with 1m 34.366s. Ralf Schumacher had a minor mechanical problem, but mainly struggled more than Trulli to find grip.

Thanks to Coulthard’s reactions a nasty moment in the pit was avoided at one stage; the Scot was coming into his Red Bull garage and ducked behind one of the Toyotas which was about to be pushed backwards into its garage. At that very moment Toyota’s brake man stepped back towards the garage, and avoided being run down only when DC managed to stop just in time.

Honda’s problems are clearly not going to be solved easily or quickly, and both Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello again complained of inconsistent handling and instability under braking. The latter in particular is the last thing you want here. The Brazilian got his car slightly more to his liking late in the session, to vault up from the back to 11th overall with 1m 34.391s.

Renault didn’t look very clever, with Heikki Kovalainen 12th and Giancarlo Fisichella 15th, with laps of 1m 34.585s and 1m 34.796s apiece. But the Italian was quite happy with the consistency on long runs and said the general feeling of the R27 was good. He explained his time by admitting that he ran wide on his best lap. Kovalainen echoed his sentiments, and suggested that the times made the situation look worse than it really was.

At Super Aguri, Anthony Davidson was right back into it now that he left his ‘flu behind him in Malaysia, his 1m 34.595s best leaving him 13th. Team mate Takuma Sato was 16th on 1m 35.001s. Davidson fought gearbox problems in the morning, but quickly found a decent balance once he got going.

The Toro Rossos were only 17th and 20th (1m 35.268s for Tonio Liuzzi and 1m 35.687s for Scott Speed), but they set their times early in the session and at one time were first and third fastest. Both the Italian and the American were pleasantly surprised that the STR02s felt not only better than they had in the Bahrain test, but better than they did in Malaysia.

The Spyker team felt they had made progress in Malaysia thanks to a new aero package that was created in preference to taking the team to that race’s test session. Using it here, Adrian Sutil got among the Toro Rossos with his lap of 1m 35.582s, and Christijan Albers wasn’t far behind on 1m 35.835s. Considering they had missed the Bahraini pre-season test too, there was reason to be cheerful after a productive day.

… Practice 2 times …

Source: F1.com

Or National Geographic to be more precise.

Most of you that know me, will know of my affection for the National Geographic website (and the magazine). Those of you from M2 have probably seen posts in the past about it and the thread, 200 great National Geographic photos in OT, from the vast collection of wallpapers and article images I have accumulated over the years.

The photography is just sensational, but its not just about the photography - its the incredible visionary; the breathtaking scenes and inspiring sights from all around the globe. Thus is combines two of my favourite interests, photography and the amazing world we live in.

April 10, 2007—Residents of Ranongga island in the South Pacific Ocean sit on a massive coral reef that was exposed by the magnitude 8.1 earthquake that struck in the Solomon Islands last week, sparking a deadly tsunami.

The quake lifted Ranongga ten feet (three meters) out of the sea, widening beaches by up to 230 feet (70 meters), according to news reports. The uplift has left some of the island’s pristine coral reefs fatally exposed.

Source: Quake lifts island ten feet out of Ocean

Just incredible. Until today I never knew this could happen - or even that it was a common occurrence after Earthquake’s of that magnitude. Imagine waking up in the morning to see the coral reef outside, above water, fatally bleaching in the Sun..

Then there’s the cave in Mexico full of giant gypsum crystals.

April 9, 2007—Geologist Juan Manuel García-Ruiz calls it “the Sistine Chapel of crystals,” but Superman could call it home.

A sort of south-of-the-border Fortress of Solitude, Mexico’s Cueva de los Cristales (Cave of Crystals) contains some of the world’s largest known natural crystals—translucent beams of gypsum as long as 36 feet (11 meters).

Source: Giant crystal cave comes to light

Absolutely incredible.

Things you would probably never see or even hear about if it wasn’t for the Internet and websites and magazines like National Geographic. It is so easy to spend hours wandering their website and following up links, or heading to Google with a new search string, finding galleries and forums where this sort of stuff pops up.

‘Tis an amazing World we live in.

I really do love the Internet.

Perhaps one of the most popular, addictive and vindictive card game around. There’s nothing like receiving the dreaded Draw Four. And there’s nothing like having one in your cards to hand back.

Uno was a childhood experience I never really picked up on. I can remember my mates playing it at school and at the time, I was always wondering what the fuss was about… and what the ‘R’, ‘S’ and ‘D’ cards were all about. Maybe it was the fact that nobody ever really told me how it had to be played, or the fact that I was never really invited to play - largely because I probably showed no interest or was off playing Soccer or Handball.

It was more recently, my MINI years in fact, that truly introduced me to the world of Uno. The wonders it contained and the laughter it conjured. It was a club run down to Eden, near the Victorian border that saw the re-introduction of the card game to my life. We had settled for the night at our hotel when someone, an enthusiastic female, owner of an electric blue/white roof Cooper S, whipped out the Uno deck.

Since then, my life has never been the same.

I remember thinking at the time.. ‘oh.. I remember that game’. And once again, I have to admit a lack of enthusiasm when the familiar red pack was juggled around the room and the cards were shuffled. Though perhaps because this was a group of people I really enjoyed hanging around, or maybe it was just because of the overwhelming anticipation the card game had created amongst the group, I got quite excited about it and proceeded upon a crash course in Uno-dom.

We’ve been playing it ever since.

I had never realised the extent of Uno’s effect on the population. It’s everywhere. Everyone has a deck tucked away in the corner of a wardrobe somewhere, sitting on a top shelf covered in a layer of dust, its still at the shops too; Even staying modern with special editions like the Fantastic Four.

You can play it online. Microsoft even supports it as a plug-in to its (often hated) Messenger. And you can buy it to play on your Xbox and probably just about any other system around…

My only regret is I missed so many years of playing Uno in between.. and now have to make up for lost time.

Work was always going to be a pain after the long weekend, I knew that. After falling into holiday mode after four days of sleep-ins and mucking around, the return to work was always going to be a harsh mistress. Somehow it managed to be even more taxing than expected. I felt like the proverbial sandwich; caught in the middle, and pressured from all sides. The day started with a failed Dell Inspiron laptop. The LCD screen was working.. but you could barely make out the very faint image - it was almost pitch black. A blown back light? A dud inverter?

Cue a couple of hours on the phone with Dell Tech Support. What a joke that is… initially spent thirty-five minutes on hold to finally get put through to Bishanpal Gurnam-Poorvi who spent all of two-and-a-third seconds with me telling me I needed my ‘Machine number’ and I had to speak to another department. Add another fifteen minutes of hold music and ‘Your call is valuable to us, we apologise for the wait, your call is in a cue, the next available operator will be with you shortly’ voice-over.

Next up was a soft-spoken women whose name I didn’t manage to catch - who told me I’d probably need a warranty for this sort of thing - which would cost about $6-700 and then we would have to pay an additional $700 or so for a replacement screen.

‘Kidding… Right?’. We could almost buy a new computer for that, I thought.
‘No, I put you through to correct department’, and the phone clicked as I was put back on hold again. Simple as that. No time for question.

Finally through to what sounded like ‘Priyaranjan’ who told me it was probably a busted inverter, or maybe a back light - but because the Dell is out of warranty he can’t help me. Great. Tell me something I don’t already know.

There was a light at the end of the tunnel though. An additional one-year warranty could be purchased - after re-certification of the said Notebook - for a whopping $790. For this small fortune, they would then be able to assess the Dell with their ‘next-day, on-site service’. The technician said he would have someone call us back soon (unsurprisingly, we’re still waiting for that phone call).

After all that, the boss passed on the idea. We brought in an old 17″ CRT and plugged it in. Problem solved - for now.

The phones ran hot for most of the day - mainly problems, dramas that had occurred over the long weekend and needed fixing, people wanting money, people wondering why they hadn’t seen their parts yet.. umm.. long weekend maybe? Just a moment, mate, while I drive to the local transport company, grab your parts, drive all the way out to who-knows-where and hand deliver them for you? How’s that sound? It’s no problem, I’m only processing a new nine-thousand item pricelist which needs converting from Euro to AUD. I got plenty of time to burn.

I survived the long, arduous day (obviously, or I wouldn’t be writing this I guess) to come home and find that Activision have released 8 new characters for the hit (well, my favourite anyway) title; Marvel Ultimate Alliance. And get this; included are The Hulk, Sabretooth, Nightcrawler (sweeeet), Dr. Doom, Cyclops, Magneto, Hawkeye and… Venom (OMFG awesome)..

So I read on, intent on a couple of hours blasting around the various Marvel worlds with Venom as part of my Alliance. Imagine my frustration when I read they are only to be released for the Xbox 360. Which of course, I don’t own.

Fantastic.

So that’s only $600-odd for the Xbox 360, $100 or so to buy Marvel Ultimate Alliance again and then an additional $10 to buy the additional characters. Rich!

Talk about annoying.. I mean releasing characters for only a single platform is one thing, but releasing perhaps Marvel’s most fan-favourite character on a platform I don’t have is just cruel. I support the developers by buying the game, by not pirating it like loads of people probably do, only to get shafted in the post-release expansions. Ironic when you consider its probably the easiest to do on the PC. And I’d be surprised if the sales are higher on the 360 than on the PC. Looks like I’m not the only annoyed fan either.. plenty of PC players/forum users disappointed in the decision.

Ah well.. I now live in hope that someone will port them over!

And if my Brother would get home with the car, I could go out and meet up with Kate too, but that’s seeming more and more unlikely as the time ticks past.

*sigh*
Welcome back to the work-week grind, Scotty