Monday, October 03, 2005
Finals Weekends
[Life] Footy, digital free-to-air and more footy. And beer. Lots of beer.
(Continues...)
Last weekend it was AFL's turn. The crew gathered northside for the first BBQ of the season. Beer flowed freely and much was eaten while Brave Brave Delta kept the crowd entertained at the G. The assembled were briefed on the lyrics to the Swans song in anticipation of ultimate victory.
As for the game, AFL's never really been my sort of game, but that last quarter was damn cool. There was lots of shouting, yelling & clapping and T-bone got so excited that he leapt out of his chair & danced around in a little circle on more than one occassion.
Considering that I'd been into the beers since lunchtime, it wasn't entirely surprising that my gaming reflexes were a little dull that evening. Jimmy & I headed up to Lazyboyz Cafe in Belco for the monthly gaming session that Jimmy's work crew organise. One guy wasn't interested in taking part, but took his kids along; a pair of shorter attention spans I've not seen in a long time. "Let's play Unreal! Let's play Unreal!" one minute and "Everybody switch to Dawn of War!" the next. One didn't take it well when I stuck to BF2 and even less well when I sniped him several times in succession in Far Cry.
On Sunday I wandered around Woden for a couple of hours. Why is it that when you don't want 'em around retail people are in your face but when you've actually got money to spend they're nowhere to be found? JB's lost a sale, as did EzyDVD. Tangent: I wonder how EzyDVD's management feel about staff who avoid contact with customers? Can't be too impressed I'm guessing. Dick Smith's ended up getting some of my cash. Enough for a digital set-top box but not enough for the big TV to go with it (perhaps another time).
Basic STBs are now available for under $100 and the improvement in service, at least here, is well worth the outlay. All I really wanted was to get Ten in stereo because here in Canberra for some reason analogue Southern Cross Ten still broadcasts in mono. Now Ten sounds gooood. I've also had wins with ABC2 with their weeknight live music - The Blind Boys of Alabama were on last week and it was a pretty good show - and with the DIG Jazz radio broadcast. I reckon it's a pity that the ABC had to can the dedicated music and kids channels; at <$100 for a STB, those channels would've been a good incentive for most families. Widescreen vision and subtitles (for those who need 'em) are also good selling points. If you're ummming and arrrring about digital TV, I say jump in.
This weekend the action returned southside.
Friday night's 'one or two drinks' turned into six-hours of pub fun. A special guest appearance by (non-web) Mel went down well with the regular cast and we're hopeful she'll want to appear in more episodes in the future.
Saturday saw a quick trip to the markets and an afternoon of gaming before an evening in front of the box of pretty lights. Sahara struck me as pretty average; yes there were some good moments, but as a whole film it didn't rate highly for me. Without Steve Zahn (who usually shits me), it wouldn't have been watchable. White Noise did better in that it made me jump a couple of times and scared the housemate into his room. Watch it with the lights off.
Sunday was good start to finish. After visiting some of the new southside castles and a quick food stop, Pawnstar & I spent the afternoon in the pub beergarden with beers and a couple of games of chess. More training than full-on games, Pawnstar bested me twice; first quickly, then again in a second more drawn-out chase. It didn't matter though; with beer and sunshine, everybody won.
Back home for balcony beers and preparation for the Tigers/Cowboys NRL final. After showing Pawnstar the Dead Like Me pilot it was game time. Barracking for the Cowboys got tougher as the game went on; the boys weren't tackling very well and - while damn funny - Roy & HG were definately on the Tigers' side. When all was said & done, we returned to the pub for more beer & shots, but not before having a few laughs at seeing John Howard completely ignored in the post-match goings-on and introducing Pawnstar to the D-Generation in The Best Bits of The Late Show.
[Tags: Life, Canberra, Australia]
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