Jesse Stone

i happen to like the Jessie Stone series starring Tom Selleck, and to think i just stumbled upon it during a sleepless night. so far, i've managed to catch 3 episodes on melbourne's broadcast tv close to the witching hour. the character has this hyperactive sense of responsibility that seem to survive his addiction to good whiskey (as a coping mechanism for being left by his wife?). i have to admit that there were a couple of instances when i thought i'd zone out, but they kept me afloat!

i've since found out that the series was inspired by Robert B Parker novels. but what's weird with the episodes that were shown is that i don't think i've seen them in sequence. i thought the network made a mistake here, but apparently this was intentional from its original production (flashback?).

i think i'm ready for another session set in Paradise sometime soon. bring on the Stone-cold sense of justice. i can sense a parable....

Do Not Eat Here...!

alas, we've just fallen victims to food poisoning from eating out (lesson learned: go back to your savings and eat less outside). to all who reside in and will visit Melbourne, avoid the following places:

...Party Boat Cruises - the dinner buffet was served right in front of the 3 toilet doors on the boat, nuff said!! what were we thinking! we should've retreated when we first had the thought.

...The Spice Box - Level 3, Highpoint Shopping Centre. we've reported this one to the local Maribyrnong City Council, and we hope that they would promptly follow up on this complaint. it was just some noodle soup with chicken broth (aha!), unbelievable.

moments like this, i miss the very efficient food safety board in New Zealand where nearly every single food place gets reviewed and rated by the strict officials from the NZ Food Safety Authority. now that's a healthy diet! my research in Melbourne, so far, has come up with zilch for a similar endeavour. maybe the Liberals can pay attention to this.

Australian Leadership Debate

this Australian leadership debate happened today on broadcast tv. it was a landslide victory for the opposition, as demonstrated by the election Worm, but i'm not convinced. i'm not yet a voter, but given the chance, i would still support the Liberal Party based on the arguments. the Labour Party had the gift of gab, but for me they shot blanks and only presented plenty of criticisms as opposed to believable policies. they touched on certain economical stands, but economic patterns are cyclical anyway, so we can't hold it against anyone if they crave for more substance. let's have a closer look at this duel in the next 5 weeks to have a much better informed decision going into the federal election.

Rotten Eggs at the Expo

ARMAGEDDON EXPO WAS RUINED FOR ME BY THE VERY INDUSTRY THAT I'VE BEEN FOLLOWING FOR AS LONG AS I CAN REMEMBER. AFTER AN ENCOUNTER WITH GAIL SIMONE (SO-CALLED WRITER) AND JIMMY PALMIOTTI (CRAP PERSONALITY ALL TOGETHER), I RECKON I'VE BECOME EVEN MORE JADED NOW THAN WHEN I FELT DURING THE CLONE SAGA IN THE 90'S. THESE TWO SOUNDED AND LOOKED LIKE THEY WEREN'T GLAD TO BE IN MELBOURNE. WHEN I WENT TO THEIR DESK (AS THERE WAS NO QUEUE!), THEY COULDN'T EVEN SAY HI UNTIL AFTER I WAITED IN FRONT OF THEM... AND WAITED... TWIDDLE ME THUMBS... THEN, MY AHEM. OH, WHAT'S UP? I TELL YOU WHAT'S UP -- A COUPLE OF RUDE EFFIN PEOPLE THEY WERE, AND THEY SHOULDN'T BE ASKED AGAIN TO COME BACK TO THESE SHOWS. FOR INSTANCE, I SAW DRAWING PENS ON JIMMY'S DESK, SO I ASKED IF HE WOULD DO A SKETCH. THEN HE CHURNED UP THIS STORY ABOUT HIM NOT BEING A GOOD ARTIST, AND THAT PEOPLE THINK OF HIS WORK AS CRAP (NUFF SAID!). THEN HE ASKED IF I HAD A PIECE OF PAPER. HUH? THERE'S ONE NEXT TO YOU, BETWEEN YOU AND AMANDA CONNER! THEN HE TELLS ME TO COME BACK WHEN I CAN GET ONE, TO WHICH I SAID, YOU KNOW WHAT MAN, NEVER YOU MIND. I HOPE OTHER FANS GOT MORE COURTESY FROM THESE UNGRATEFUL GUESTS AND ENJOYED THE SHOW, BECAUSE THEY TRULY RUINED IT FOR THIS ONE. YOU'VE LOST THIS CUSTOMER FOREVER. TO THE STAKES TO THE BOTH OF YE. (struck the Hulk nerve in me, yes?)

HOWEVER, congrats to Amanda Conner (The Pro, JSA) and Melburnian Jason Badower (Heroes comics) for accommodating your fans with sketches and autographs (and the simple and sincere Hello). and the other saving grace for the expo would've to be the panel discussion with the various voice actors (Billy West amongst others), crew-stars from both ships the Enterprise (Trip) and Serenity (Wash). too bad, i missed out on The Flash since i was too much of a grouch after the saturday comics session. kudos to the Mattel booth, with their friendly and helpful staff and lots of great buys on Warner Bros items.

Armageddon Expo (version 1 - first time for most of us in Melbourne) gets 2.5 stars out of 5 from me, and it certainly has a lot of potential for growth. the venue was good, booths were set up all right, the tv celebrities were warm and informative, but the comics segment fell way below expectations. this event still has a lot of things to learn from its Auckland big brother (advertise, peeps!), and it's already nearly there compared to Supanova in Sydney. As Stan would say, Excelsior!

Random Thoughts During A Sick Leave

i guess a sick leave can easily translate into a day filled with bed sheets, a near doctor's visit (bloody 60-minute queue, no thanks!), working out Halo 2 in the ol' Xbox, and of course Dr Phil. i have also found out that Alyssa Milano is joining My Name Is Earl, that Samsung fridges are overpriced in the Aussie market, and that I needed a revision on how Churrascaria is supposed to be pronounced.

in between hot meals, i managed to complete a meeting minutes for submission to my boss, and i've been volunteered to organise the Xmas-do for our team. no problemo, except that instead of having an adventure filled with exotic foodstuffs for the company-sponsored luncheon, our only choice apparently is plenty of meat (thus, that Churras word above)! NOTE: don't be fooled, I'm a meat lover.

despite the gripes, today i was content being armed with my car, my cellphone (who the heck still uses that word!), and my trusty HP Pavilion. but what do those bloodshot eyes mean? eye strain, perhaps. it's the computer screen at work, and it's the laptop screen at home (add a sprinkle of problematic staffers). what's going on?! time to take a break, the missus says. oh well, there's Heroes, Smallville, and Bionic Woman to devour. signing out, peace.

Pop Culture Photo-Essay

Armageddon Expo Australia will be held in Melbourne (finally!) this weekend.

Halo 3 outsells the competition in Australia since its release a couple of weeks ago and catapults the Xbox 360 into the top spot in gaming console popularity.

Smallville Season 7 gets shown in Melbourne TV ("Bizarro loves Superboy!"). Supergirl is just around the corner.

Iron Man teaser poster -- this'll be another May blockbuster!

ST:TNG The Complete Series -- 49 DVDS!

UPDATED: Bathurst 1000 This Weekend

WOOHOO!! it's the Bathurst 1000 this weekend at Mount Panorama, with its 45-year anniversary being celebrated by motor enthusiasts all over the federation and around the world.

a couple of Evo's failed to complete the Performance Race yesterday (<$150K cost for a performance car to qualify) versus a top 3 finish of HSV's. a pity... variety is the spice of life after all.

joining the 4-day festivities from the comfort of my tv, i think it's really refreshing and almost unexpected to witness a prayer being said at the start of today's races (hail, Brockie), whilst Ford and Holden flags are being flown in the sidelines. Jimmy Barnes belts out a great rockish rendition of Australia Fair, and away they go.

3 cheers for Lowndes, Winterbottom, and Murphy!!

the (in)famous Nissan Skyline that won the 1992 Bathurst

UPDATE

and the winner is...

triple 8, mate!

Oz & NZ: Out Of The Rugby World Cup

this is abysmal for the trans-Tasman neighbours -- NZ beaten out of the Rugby World Cup by France, and Australia by England. let's try again next time, All Blacks & Wallabies. :(

Heroes: Season 2

what's that you say? Sylar and the Brothers Petrelli are alive?! tune in to Heroes Chapter 2 currently being "fasttracked" by channel 7 from its broadcast time in the US. and yes, it's that chick from Veronica Mars in the last pic, who joins the cast in upcoming eps.

Alvin, Simon, Theodoorrrrrre!!

as the poster says, happy Christmas!

I have work to do. Read your newspaper everyday and you'll understand...

gatecrashers. gate-freakin-crashers. what kind of culture is this? when i used to live in the City Of Sails, i got to witness these bastards during a visit to Hamilton, NZ when a pack of 6 cars invaded a friend's party... now trust me to get caught in the middle of the storm while we drove them off. about a decade later, i read an article about just another friendly Aucklander who also visited this lowly town, and he was stabbed to death by probably the same mob. and what're the coppers doing??? ... and here i thought that it only takes 5 years to change a culture. problem is, nobody's probably trying. time for some punishment, i reckon.

NRL Grand Finals: Melbourne vs. Manley

Geelong's made a killing in yesterday's AFL Finals, so one more to go for Victorians...

GO MELBOURNE STORM!!