Trademe Auctions

I was looking at auctions this morning and there was an item there with no Buy Now and quite a low starting bid.

There was already a Q & A item below and it asks:
Q What is the reserve?

I'd like to comment about this...it bothers me how people will ask "What is the reserve?" Surely it does not matter what the reserve is because if you want this item then you are only prepared to pay a certain amount!? If after making a bid, it hasn't reached the reserve then simply ignore the auction, right?

If the reserve is higher that what you bid (i.e. reserve not met), asking for what the reserve is will not make it lower.

"Buy now": Another common question is "Will you put $#### buy now?" While this is not as annoying, a person selling with no buy now is most likely trying to maximise the auction outcome. The buy now option is there during the setup of the auction and if the seller really wanted a buy now he/she would have added it.

Finally this is the most annoying of all...people who sell items at the same price (or higher) as retail stores. e.g. I've been watching the Marvel Ultimate Alliance auctions and there is this guy (username holland1 or something) who listed it as $90 buy now and his reserve is around the same. Maybe a few $$ cheaper than retail but with postage and packaging the item becomes more expensive than retail shops! I mean this item is available down the road at The Warehouse for $89 and if you are not happy with it you can return and change for another game. I mean I can understand if the item is not sold anywhere else. I've been watching his auction for several weeks now and at the end he offers me the item only to be declined. In these type of auctions people usually ask questions "Do you know this is sold for $## at **********" (eg of the more polite ones). the seller usually ignores these type of questions or they say "go buy it there then". Well ok we will heheheh..

Writing from beyond the grave

There was this news story today on the herald about a guy murdered 6 months ago but check who wrote the story...here's a screen shot in case the herald come to their senses.

Orion Pax

"One day, an Autobot shall rise from our ranks..and use the power of the matrix to light our darkest hour. Until that day..'til all are one."

DVD Review: Most Haunted, Season 1 boxset

oh boy. don't even bother with this one. 0.5 star for this British tv programme. if you have nothing better to do on a Saturday night, even if, do NOT pick this one up.

hosted by Yvette Fielding, apparently the series lasted up to series 8 or 9 (how gullible can some people be?), but going through the 3 discs of this set was such a chore. forced labour.

there were no evidence of paranormal activity captured in film or any other instruments, except for these so-called orbs that they claim are manifestations of "spirits". the film crew would be running away from a scene when they think that they saw something, and all accounts of ghostly encounters are presented merely from a witness point of view by either the camera man or the producer! to make matters worse, their resident medium, Derek Acorah, is an alleged prominent psychic in the UK whom the show states has no knowledge of any of the sites that they investigate across, uhm, the UK. duh.

avoid this like the plague.

DVD's worth getting in a Weekly Bundle

Reporting...


Wonder Woman: Series 1, Disc 1

All The Rivers Run

The Dish

The Legend Of Bagger Vance

Final Fantasy VII: The Advent Children


...all 3.5 stars!

Real ghosts, reflections, or photoshopped - you decide

Transformer The Movie Trailer

http://video.vividas.com/CDN1/5029_paramount/en/web/
http://www.transformersmovie.com/main.html

The movie trailer looks real cool. Great to watch in the cinemas and something for the DVD collectors, too, I'd say.

We had a bit of discussion here:

• Will Soundwave be a giant iPod? or a CD player that ejects our CDs or perhaps an MD player?
• Will the car transformers have hydraulics and spinners?
• Will Xzibit be there and host a special edition of Pimp my Transformer? "Check this yo'...we're gonna pimp your ride and install 7" LCD screens on your headrest!"

I'm sure you'll have more questions as to what the new millenium Transformers will be like.

Film Review: Night At The Museum

3.5 stars! the movie might've been slightly dragging at first, but the rest of the film made up for it in adventurous fashion. you'd find the usual strong points from Ben Stiller, and the supporting cast members were equally delightful in adding to the mix of the nightly exhibits, with the exception of the lead character's son, whose lacklustre performance proved a bit distracting at times.

this one is for the Hoyts Cinema in Broadmeadows if anyone from Management is reading...

...you have to be disciplined in getting all patrons, children or otherwise, to observe decorum in a theatre. there were no ushers who could've prevented around a dozen kids with heavy boots parading up and down the aisles whilst the film was running. you have just lost this customer for the foreseeable future.

Motorsport in Auckland?

forerunner for the blow off article of the year:

Reid believed the race car, which has a top speed of 300km/h, was doing more than 160km/h at the peak of its crossings. He was driving on one of the clipon lanes which was closed at Christmas to be resurfaced and which would reopen to the public on Monday. He said the lane had not been properly swept and at the top of the bridge the surface was quite slippery. "It was mega slippery at the top but we always knew that would be the situation and it was just great to show the public a little bit of what we were about." He said even with the slippery surface, he never worried he would lose it. "It was fully under control." He said the event, to promote the sixth round of the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport in Taupo in a fortnight, gave him a real buzz, particularly with police support. "I absolutely thrived on it. It was a very unique experience which you don't come across every day. "It was mega, it really was." - NZPA

i honestly don't know what the article seems to be promoting here. maybe one: that motorsports in auckland is no more, thanks to the wisdom of the local council. perhaps two: that speeding is probably all right over the harbour bridge, as cops were also involved in this little man's stunts. save the boasting in a real race track, boy, and just maybe you'd make a difference to motorsport fans. the bridge? fah! try 180km/h at 2:15am.

Miis in Wii

As I've mentioned in a previous entry, the Wii menu is made up of channels. like so...

In the Mii Channel, I've created several Miis (including the Kuyas)...see them below in formation.

They are not entirely accurate of course ... some need a bit more tweaking...couldn't quite get it.

This is Lor. (NB: I've also included the Ates)

This is Jiggasaurus.

This one's Ernie.

This one is Godzilla.


Myself...see the controls? That's how you change features... you can change anything from height and weight to the mouth. Even the size and colour of facial features and their tilt angles.

This particular one is very accurate I think because everyone who's seen it knew straight away who it is. :) (Notice the goatie?)


Here's Dia...


There are others in the previous post and the last one is Rennanimal. This form wouldn't let me add it. But you should be able to find him in the formation pix above.

Last Wiikend

Last wiikend we had a little play with the Wii. Rem, B0log3r, Thea, and Shakoo came over to have a bit of fun.

Highlights of the night are...

• I got beaten twice in a row in boxing , by huge combos too.
• Shakoo coudn't seem to win againts Thea...
• We all got beaten in Bowling by Thea's strikes (see below)

Try to guess who the faces are... I've created several adn I'll post photos of them soon.

Since we couldn't win againts Thea, we decided to surf the net.

New Year's Resolution

1. Eat healthier.
2. Blog 5 times in 2007 (this one doesn't count)
3. Get better sleep.
4. Work harder.
5. Buy more comics.
6. Do more artwork.
7. Help mum with her house DYI.
8. Send more stuff to Philippines.
9. Read more fantasy literary.
10. Stay on the path.

i have just downloaded IE7 and i, for one, am really disappointed that it has destroyed the pleasure and convenience of using the image toolbar! boo, IE7. oh god of internet browsers, please let there be some great benefits in using this browser's upgraded version!

2007!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL! counted down last night by enjoying a concert by the George Kamikawa Band (remember that Japanese guy playing rock n roll over a red milk tray along Queen St, Auckland? he's the one on the right.), and then embedding ourselves by Federation Square to marvel at the fireworks from the Yarra River with the Eureka Tower show in the backdrop. It's going to be a wild Year of the Fire Dog! WOOF!!!