photo saturday: stone and structures

The current End of the World continues... the main problem, as with all things since the invention of humans, is people.

People is dumb motherfuckers. It makes me think of that quote from Men in Black:

"A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it."

Particularly the people who don't think the rules apply to them. The people who decided to go to the beach today, and seeing a large number of other people there didn't immediately say "hmmm, that's a bad idea, let's not do that". And those people at the supermarket that just don't pay attention to where other people are or where they're going.

If we make it through the next several weeks without me either very pointedly telling people in a shopping centre exactly what they are doing wrong and what they should be doing or just screaming the same information in a much less effective manner, then I should get a fucking medal.

But, let's rewind.

We entered soup season with a bang, I made chicken chowder, the soup I've been thinking about basically since last soup season. It was pretty much perfect with the possible exception of it not necessarily having much spicy kick to it. But then that's not really the point of chowder. It was much better than having to think of what to make multiple times in a week.

This week I'm attempting chicken noodle soup. Because my soul needs it.

DnD got very technological this week. I actually played twice, once on Monday and then with the regular Wednesday night group.

The Monday session was a special one off game that was also a one-on-one session that I quite enjoyed. I will say that the author is way too fond of just doing a straight version of existing pop culture properties with only minimal interpretations. It worked pretty well this time around, but honestly, everyone needs to get over this Witcher/Mandalorian boner they have right now. I'm sure they're good, but when you've seen one "homage", then you pretty much know the shape of the story.

Or I'm possibly just a grumpy old man right now.

Or maybe both.

The Wednesday session was not the total chaos I fully expected it to be. Partially because it was our first attempt at doing the online thing, partially because it was a reduced number of people and not the 6-7 plus DM I was expecting.

And we managed to finish the adventure we started a couple of weeks back. So bonus there.

There should have been a third session on Friday night, but due to circumstances one of our number had to step out of the game, so instead the remaining three played board games online. Thanks to a very quick online search, I found Board Games Arena. Not perfect, some of the games we would have otherwise played were locked behind their "premium" account, but we found a few games that we knew and played the living shit out of one of them.

All the while being in a video chat... so it was definitely a good way to finish off the week.

The site could get to be addictive however.

I also made what might end up being the last Friday night bread for a while. I'd kinda rather make Monday bread to enable me to have soup with bread during the week honestly. And making it just for me isn't the same as making it to share with other people. Much less fulfilling.

I didn't leave the house between around noon on Sunday to around the same time on Friday when I took on the pointless task of checking Coles for toilet roll at Ma's request. Because the people in Coles in the middle of the day on a Friday... most of them were exactly what I was complaining about at the top of this post.

Doubly so because the worst offenders were people in their 60's and above and a woman pushing a stroller with a toddler in it. WTF.

The toilet paper aisle was half taken up with their Easter egg supplies. That possibly says something about the world, but buggered if I know what it is.

What was weird was the lack of any seating at any of the cafes, and also none of the shops seemed to be doing those free food samples. I'm glad, don't get me wrong, but overall it just felt weird.

Today wasn't as fraught, shopping wise. Although again, worst offenders, old people.

There was also another one of those little human moments that just made me feel slightly better. One of the women at the deli counter, who I've seen if not every week, more weeks than not, shared a smile with me as she handed me my purchases. Not sure if it was because I was one of the few people actually standing in the taped areas they'd put on the floor in the last week, or if we were just having a human moment for no reason.

Then when I got to the register I actually thanked the check out girl, because everything about that job has to suck right now. Dealing with people. Dealing with those, hopefully rare, cases when people are trying to buy more stuff than they should. Standing there in latex gloves for hours at a time. All so we can buy our milk and our pasta and our baked beans.

Do me a favour, next time you're served by anyone in a shop, tell them you appreciate them and what they're doing right now. I mean 3000% do that if you know anybody who is a health care professional of any stripe right now. But also thank anybody who provides you with goods or services in exchange for money right now.

We also wore latex gloves to the supermarket today. We absolutely were not the only ones either. A few people even had masks and gloves (some just in masks, which I get but also, you've gone that far, let's just do gloves also, yeah?). Like that's the world right now. Shopping wearing latex gloves. And resisting every single urge in your body to touch your face with said glove.

After that, obviously, we came straight back here. And I unpacked and we did the YubTubs thing, talked crap for a bit and then Ma went home and it wasn't even noon.

Current mood:

photo saturday: lie to me

The world, she has gone totally crazy insane.

Which has, in turn, simplified my life right now. Which in turn, made ME a little bit crazy insane.

But, rolling the clock back.

Sunday I had a visitor, which was nice. I don't get a lot of visitors in general, I tend to go other places. It was one of the players for the upcoming DnD campaign I'm supposed to be running (we might need to look at online options at some point). And I made a half-loaf of bread to be ready for when he arrived. Because that's what I do now. We did get some character details worked out, which was good.

Tuesday I had contractors come and test my smoke alarm. I stood at the other end of the main room until they left.

Wednesday... crickets. As in the sound of crickets, used to indicate the absence of activity. The comic shop cancelled their event space, hence DnD was cancelled. Then our current Wednesday night DM pulled out on Tuesday night because of reasons, but also it was the smart thing.

The same DM is the guy who hosts Thursday board game night, which was also supposed to be this week. Which obviously didn't happen for the same reasons.

I had the pest control man come and visit on Wednesday (I think, I'll be honest, the entire week really blended together, but because I know what happened Thursday and Friday, I'm sure it was Wednesday). He pointed out all the places that the stupid possums (and possibly rats) are enjoying themselves around the outside of the property. First point, fuck that shit, hopefully the strata actually DO something about it. Second point, part of his advice was to use Deepheat on certain outside features to dissuade the little fuckers. Taken that one under advisement and filed it away.

Thursday I got out of my own head and built Lego. Not perhaps my best Lego photography day, but that wasn't really the point. I also crossed the streams and watched Captain America: The First Avenger while I put together a Lego Batman model.

Friday was the first time I left the house. Since Sunday. Beyond going downstairs and talking to the pest control man. Getting on a bus that only had one other person on it, and only picked up two other people the whole trip, at 10am on a weekday, was super weird.

As was the concept of being out in the world and knowing that I shouldn't touch my face. It's like that "don't think of elephants" thing. As soon as you're told not to do something, it's all you fucking want to do. My face has been 900 different kinds of psychosomatic itchiness basically all week to be honest. Which was fine when I was at home alone, but felt like a transgressive act once I walked out my front door.

I was also (internally) super judgey to the woman who came into the chiro and didn't use the provided hand sanitizer, as well as anybody who sneezed anywhere within my hearing in the street. Yeah, some paranoia kicked in on Friday, not gunna lie.

Once I was done at the chiro, I got straight back on the bus and came home again.

I then washed my hands about 50 times during the course of the day. Mostly because I was making bread for Friday night DnD, which I honestly wasn't sure was going to happen, but I made the bread anyway. Salami, sundried tomato and mozzarella bread, with herbs. And like actual cubes of cheese. T'was good.

We also had a remote player beam in with technology, because the world is... what boys and girls... correct, totally crazy insane. And it worked better than I thought it might. I mean it wasn't the same, but it still worked pretty well. A weird night honestly, but also one we all kinda needed I think.

Today was... honestly, today kind of made me want to punch people in the face.

And we only went to the supermarket.

The hording of things. Or the general shortage of things. I mean, yeah, I know part of that is a lack of deliveries, but no toilet paper, no hand sanitiser, almost no kitchen towel, very little liquid soap, more than average amounts of real soap, no flour, restrictions on pasta and pasta sauce and frozen vegetables and tinned fruit and a ton of other things... including eggs which makes no fucking sense to me because you can't stockpile an egg, unless you're attempting to hatch it perhaps, and if so, you have bigger problems.

I also had a little rant about this dumb "toilet seat sanitiser" they had in place of all the toilet roll, because seriously, just wash your fucking hands afterwards you morons. Unless you're actively rubbing butts with people it's going to do fuck all except separate you from your $4.95. And I realised this woman probably in her 50's was standing off to one side while I had said rant. Which led to a nice little human moment, which was pleasant.

Otherwise much punching of other people was resisted. Especially those who don't seem to understand the concept of social distancing. And that's not just at the supermarket, that's across the board.

*dark mutterings*

And that was basically it. We shopped, we came back here. I unpacked. We looked at random crap on the YouTubes. I investigated Discord. Ma went home. There was no hugging.

Honestly, that's very probably what is going to do my head in before anything else. The no hugging. I hug. I'm a hugger.

That and mostly being in my house. Like more so than usual. Without the going out part to look forward to.

I can't help thinking of the end of the Buffy episode, Lie to Me.

Buffy Summers: Does it ever get easy?
Rupert Giles: You mean life?
Buffy Summers: Yeah. Does it get easy?
Rupert Giles: What do you want me to say?
Buffy Summers: Lie to me.
Rupert Giles: Yes, it's terribly simple. The good guys are always stalwart and true. The bad guys are easily distinguished by their pointy horns or black hats. And, uh, we always defeat them and save the day. No one ever dies and... everybody lives happily ever after.
Buffy Summers: Liar.

There are smart people in the world, right? They'll find a way to fix this soon, right? Lie to me, okay.

Current mood:

lego: the lego batman movie - the scuttler

I've had The Scuttler from The Lego Batman Movie sitting on top of my linen cupboard since about March 2017.

It wasn't that I didn't want to put it together, it's just that it looked like it was going to be a massive set, and I really didn't have the room for it.

But then this week happened... and honestly, I needed something else to occupy my mind.

So I got it down and wiped the dust off the top edge of it.

Like with many Lego sets and many other things for children, the whole thing could probably have fit comfortably into a box about half the six. Two thirds the size certainly.

And I do love a Lego set with many numbered bags, seven large bags, and most of them also contained at least one additional bag for the very small parts. As well as a magazine-sized set of instructions.

I mostly did some casual knolling... less rigorous than I've done in the past. It was more what I'd call functional knolling rather than aesthetic knolling. I've often wondered why they don't just put all of the minifigures in the first bag, especially on a set with so many, but for once only dealt with them as the bags came up.

This first bag also comes with Lego Batman (because of course) and Dick Grayson in his sparkly powder blue tuxedo jacket. If memory serves, it may have been better to put Dick in his Robin duds. But I know Lego likes to do the whole "exclusive to this set" thing, and I think this was the only casual Dick outside of the minifigure series.

The first bag was what I assume was the cockpit of the Scuttler (surprise, turns out it was actually the cargo hold). I do love a set with some good Technic connectors (all those blue and grey pieces), and the angle plates for some good old SNOT (Studs Not On Top) building.

The jetpack is kind of ridiculous, Batman doesn't stand up in it very well, his cape gets in the way and it's very grey rather than being black or very dark grey. There also isn't anything that tells you that it will fit pretty comfortably into the cargo hold. It might have been nicer if there was a way to properly secure it there, but at least it looks good once it's in.

The second bag finishes off the cargo hold, adds in the slightly temperamental net launcher (as in the net flies out if you so much as tap the cannon, and it's not secure if you angle to cannon much beyond the horizontal).

However this bag also contains the Poison Ivy and Commissioner Gordon in his dress uniform minis. And while I'm not a huge fan of Ivy's thornmobile (or the fact that in large sets like this they usually throw in a very small and often not well thought out or secure secondary vehicle... this at least feels thematically appropriate), she does have a gorgeous minifig otherwise.

The third bag held the last of the minifigs, The Joker with his very long tailcoat and Barbara Gordon in her bullet proof vest. Also, one of the "biceps" of the vehicle.

I've said before that I really, really love the design of the Joker in the Lego Batman Movie Universe, so much so that I have at least five different versions of him (Brickheadz, Lowrider minifig, Vacation minifig, this version and my minifig torch). I do love finally having one with the ridiculous tailcoat. I also really like the design of the hairpiece for Barbara, as well as the vest. The fact there's no design on the "t-shirt" under it isn't a huge issue, but they could easily have thrown another GCPD logo on there.

Part of the "but why" I came across while building this is the fact that you build the bicep at the front, then the fourth bag contains the two back legs... before you build the other bicep, which makes the whole thing sit all wonky-like, which just irritates me.

I can't say that I was especially impressed with the stickers in this set. Putting them on clear plastic was a good idea in theory and some of them look great, however they don't go on totally clearly, and honestly, for most of them black backgrounds would have just been better.

At last, bag five, and we get to add the other "bicep", as well as possibly one of the coolest Lego elements I've come across in a while, those black tubes. I don't think they're the same as the ones in the R2D2 set, these feel like they'll stay where they're placed better.

I also love the phone handsets as lights. And those "hydraulic tubes" on the outside.

A little difficult to take a good photo of bag 6's parts in situ, but here we have the front legs. Or at least the first half of them. Weirdly, given how quickly they came together, and how strange they look out of context, I like how these ended up looking.

I also managed to put the legs in place without firing the little stud cannons all over the place. I can guarantee I won't remember that later and I will lose studs. But the model does come with a lot of extras for that very reason.

The final bag held the "claws" in front, the decorative moulding on both forearms and the massive extentions at the top.

Also the very bat-like head. Which, when it was finished, was about the point that I suddenly realised which way around the thing pointed.

Overall, I really like it... it was super weird in the movie and it's super weird as a model. It's placing all of it's weight on those two grey cheese wedges on the back feet and one corner of those "claws" at the front. And if you extend the arms all the way out, it very much feels like it could fall apart with the least amount of provocation (and yes, I could pose it with flattened claws and feet, but that doesn't feel as bat-like).

I do love that pulling the arms and legs in gives it this werebat/ape/mech vibe. Because I do love me a Lego mech.

Current mood:

post fringe round up 2020

And there it is, the end of another Fringe.

Unsurprisingly I feel a little like this year's Fringe very much passed me by. On the upside, everything we saw was excellent. And I didn't really get a sense of missing out on things until the last show we saw.

It could also turn out to be a good thing given everything that's currently going on in the world, that I didn't spend a month rubbing shoulders and elbows with twenty plus groups of strangers.

At least that's what I'm telling myself for right now.

What I will say is that when it came to arranging these four shows in a ranking, I realised that not only were they four very different shows, but they could more or less have gone in any order. And I reorganised them at least two or three times while working on this post.

So this year, the order absolutely doesn't matter... but for the purposes of right now, the order below is the subjective order I finally decided on right before I finally hit the publish button.

1. The Bakers
   "I loved their chemistry and their clowning and the twists and turns of the story... and a very sweet ending." 5/5
   
   One of the things I love most is having my expectations completely and totally shattered. I had no real idea what I was walking into with this show beyond the basic premise, but it ended up being brilliant.
   
   
2. The Will To Be
   "There is so much lightness and deftness to his performance, and so much specificity." 5/5
   
   The thing I've said to so many people about this show (and in my review) is that the writing was so solid that there wasn't a disconnect between play and Shakespeare, which is incredibly impressive.
   
   
3. The Tempest - The Handlebards
   "I think I may have actually laughed more and harder and longer tonight than last time." 5/5
   
   I do love me some comedy Shakespeare, and both incarnations of The Handlebards are now at the top of that particular list.
   
   
4. Barbaroi
   "I think I can safely say that After Dark did things that I have never seen other circus performers do." 5/5
   
   Although the performer I originally went to Barbaroi to see wasn't there (I didn't mention it in my review because honestly it wasn't relevant and didn't effect my enjoyment), I had an amazing time and this was one of the more impressive circus shows I've seen.

Current mood:

fringe: barbaroi

It is very likely that one of the few art-forms to survive the end of the world intact will be physical theatre (or circus if you prefer).

Barbaroi by After Dark Theatre is perhaps a little glimpse into this Mad Maxian future where a band of circus performers roam the land, using their skills and the things they've found along the way to entertain the masses and each other.

And I'll say this about tonight's excursion into the wasteland... I love circus shows, a lot. In the past 10 years of attending the Fringe I've seen at a rough estimate at least 40 circus shows. It's one of the first sections I go through in the Fringe guide.

So I think I can safely say that After Dark did things that I have never seen other circus performers do.

I've never seen anyone use handcanes that tall, which Ryan Darwin did with grace and power. I've never seen giant sheets of perspex (that light up no less) used as balance beams like Karina Schiller did... and that was a sequence I didn't want to end.

Then there's Byron Hutton's juggling... I've never seen someone juggle rings using their ears, or flick them around like he did. I also didn't know that musical juggling balls were a thing... but they are, and they're amazing and I want some, even though I can't juggle. I loved that the focus would come back to him between acts, just showing him do a "simple" balance trick that got more and more complex as the show progressed.

And even the things I had seen versions of before were done brilliantly here. Watching Darwin work on the corde lisse (and I realise now that I possibly saw him in By A Thread a couple of years ago) was so stunningly beautiful, as was Stan Ricketso on the aerial straps... but then I do love watching strap performers. Ricketson also looked super familiar, but I honestly don't know from what.

I was also totally blown away by pretty much everything Jon Griffingham did. I always say that the circus bases don't get enough love... they're the ones throwing everyone around and Griffingham did it spectacularly. Plus he did twists and dives during the hoop diving section that absolutely blew my mind.

And Schiller's finale on the Chinese pole was sensational. So manic and powerful.

Last but by no means least was Amy Nightingale-Olsen who I ended up thinking of Psycho Pixie throughout most of the show (it was that thing with the flick knife, honestly) was just a delight. I especially loved her interactions with both Griffingham and Hutton and she did some amazing foot juggling.

All in all this was exactly how I like my circus, fast, frenetic, powerful and with excellent music.

yani's rating: 5 juggling clubs out of 5

fringe: the bakers

I will freely admit that if I hadn't started making my own bread last year, I might not have gravitated to The Bakers by The Latebloomers.

But I did, and I am so very grateful that fate led me to this sweet, funny, moving little show.

The Bakers is about a father (Jonathan Tilley, centre) and his two sons, Jean-Pierre (Oliver Nilsson, right) and Jean-Claude (Sam Dugmore, left)... and as you can guess by the names, they're a family of French breadmakers.

Crazy, miming, slapstick, farcical French breadmakers.

Tilley folds his long and lanky frame into that of an older man as Papa, takes forever to answer the phone, loves his sons and his bread in equal measure but he has a secret.

Dugmore has a fabulous moustache, his Jean-Claude dreams of better ways to do things, and taking petty revenge on his brother.

Nilsson has one of those wonderful, contortable faces going from one extreme to another, his Jean-Pierre bullies his brother and chews very loudly.

I don't want to give away too much about this show... you could say that not very much happens in it, and that's true, but it's all in the details, and the way the trio convey emotions through mime and slapstick and a little French here and there.

But I can say that I loved the show very much... I loved their chemistry and their clowning and the twists and turns of the story... and a very sweet ending. Plus their interactions with the audience (and this is definitely one of those "sit in the front rows at your own risk" shows).

So now The Latebloomers go on that "will definitely see again" list.

yani's rating: 5 imaginary loaves out of 5

it's my (46th) birthday

So, you get to claim the whole week before your birthday as your birthday week, right? Hence, commence my birthday week, starting last Sunday.

But today is the actual day, and as always, all the birthday love to those famous faces that are also born today, including, for the third time, Jamie Bell as well as Johan Paulik, Taylor Hanson, Michael Caine, Chris Klein, Albert Einstein, Corey Stoll, Daniel Gillies, Ansel Elgort, Demetrius Joyette, Stephen Curry and Antoni Porowski.

But it's also our regular weekly round up... so...

Monday I made chilli for the week. Not bad.

Tuesday I made another batch of relish. And made myself a note to say that I need to stop buying peaches, tomatoes and plums if I'm not actually going to eat them, because there's only so much relish I can keep for myself and only so much I can give away. Mostly because I only have so many jars.

Wednesday was DnD Day... I ran a fairly lackluster game... I mean the game was fine, but the adventure itself was slightly pointless, the first half of an adventure in which nothing actually happens and could easily have been binned in favour of a more interesting sequel. It feels like they had way too many ideas, and didn't divide them correctly, too few in part one, too many in part two. But I made them care about a bunch of the NPCs, so that will make the inevitable betrayal when werewolves bust in and start to murder the villagers I made them care about. Because I'm evil. And the module told me to.

Wednesday night was... not my finest hour. Let's just say that a massive overreacting was had. Also the other thing is that they've never seen me get riled up, and that was only about a 5 or 6 max on my scale... so it was very much a Hulk "you wouldn't like me when I'm very upset" moment. File it under I'm a schmuck, it was the week of the full moon, and my birthday week. So if there's any point where I can throw a spaz, that would be it.

But, moving on.

Thursday... stuff probably happened.

Friday I did the usual breadmaking (well, technically the making happened on Thursday night, the shaping and baking happened Friday), then went out to what should have been Friday DnD, but ended up being Friday boardgames, because of reasons. But it was a very chill evening... a seemingly calm game of Pandemic (we basically won with like four cards to go). Thankfully it never seemed to get super out of hand, which is good.

We followed that up with a somewhat cooperative game of Carcassone... or just super chill where we didn't so much screw each other over as point out places that tiles could go. And the person who didn't think he was going to win won thanks to his farmers. Seems about right.

But it was a nice relaxed evening. Which is good. I am looking forward to finally getting back to DnD next week though.

Today was actually my birthday. And honestly it was a pretty quiet day.

Ma was getting her hair did this morning, so I went shopping by myself, shaking my head at people scouring the toilet paper aisle, stocking up on pasta and tinned fruit and veg, while also buying toilet paper, pasta and tinned fruit/veg because they were on special or else I needed them.

Then I got home, unpacked, and tooled around a bit before Ma arrived. And then we didn't really do anything. We took a brief trip across to the Village, then didn't do much of anything between then and when we headed out for the afternoon Fringe show before heading back here before dinner (I'm in the mood for hamburger, I have to say) and then the evening Fringe show.

So not a thrilling birthday, but thrilling is overrated at present.

Plus I have half-naked male acrobats to look forward to tonight, so I'm not complaining.

Current mood:

fringe: the tempest - the handlebards

Last year we saw the male company of the Handlebards doing Twelfth Night.

It was fantastic, and as such, when the female company showed up with The Tempest for this year's Fringe, it was a given we were going to see them.

And I think I may have actually laughed more and harder and longer tonight than last time.

Tempest is not quite as "everybody pretending to be everybody else" as Twelfth Night, but there is definitely a lot going on, and once again, in the Handlebards style, there's a lot of roles but only four actors, so in parts of the show both random pieces of costume and random audience members stand in for some of the characters... or in on particular instance, every other character but one.

And all of our Handlebards were excellent, Lucy Williams in the green socks as Prospero, Tika Mu'tamir in the blue socks as Ariel, Gonzalo and Trinculo, Roisin Brehony in the red socks as Ferdinand, Caliban and Antonio and last but not least Katie Sherrard in the yellow socks as Miranda, Alonso, Stephano and Sebastian. I'll be honest that I'm not 100% about the sock colour this time, but I think that's right.

But there are always favourite actors and favourite roles, and Williams was scenery-chewingly sensational as Prospero, and I don't say that just because I ended up interacting with her a number of times from my front row seat. It started out with me being thrown her cloak, then replacing the cloak, tying it in a bow (I don't do bows well, it was horrible), and then later being brought up on stage to assist Prospero with her big magic show. Not my first time being dragged up on stage, but definitely a memorable and hilarious one.

Mu'tamir was great throughout, although I think I liked her as Ariel the most, just because of the rapport with Williams. But her beatboxing moment as Gonzalo was a standout.

Then we come to Brehony as "Babyhands" Caliban... I genuinely thought I was going to pass out from laughing so hard. From the hands to the helmet to the voice, a tour de force!

Sherrard was excellent, however she ended up with the characters who don't especially steal their scenes (she had some stiff competition), but she gave it her all, and worked that clamshell bikini.

I was also entranced by the "briefcase accordion" they had... I don't know what in the world it was, but it was beautiful.

And on top of all of that, some beautifully spoken and acted Shakespeare.

So once again, hats off to the Handlebards for providing an afternoon of quality entertainment

yani's rating: 5 magic cloaks out of 5

photo saturday: skybabies

So, the end of this week was basically an insanity sandwich. At least relatively speaking.

Firstly, and briefly, the finale of the 12th series of Doctor Who was this week. I haven't particularly commented on either the 11th or 12th series, because, honestly, they've not been particularly inspiring and, on the whole, especially in this most recent series, not that well written overall.

Too many companions, questionable acting choices, stories that feel mostly like a rehash of things that have gone before, and then in the finale, fucking with 57 years of history and continuity in order to... I don't even know, because it certainly didn't have any impact on the finale episode.

So, in the nicest possibly way, Chris Chibnall please leave the show or stop making dumb, pointless choices. And that is definitely the nicest way I could say how I feel about that.

Moving on.

Wednesday was... a shit show. But not necessarily in the worst possible interpretation of that phrase.

To start off with, I ran my first DnD game in maybe nine months, and while the module looked like it should be good, it may have not been the right module for that particular group. Which sometimes happens. I won't say that I didn't enjoy myself, I always do, but it was a little more chaotic than it might otherwise have been.

Follow that up with our Wednesday night group, which is always chaos personified, and more so when there are more than five players, and we had six players. There are certain games where I need to get a little cranky just so people pull their heads in.

There was some interesting roleplay in the session though, which I always appreciate. Even if it almost derailed the entire adventure. But we got there in the end. But it was still that level of chaos again.

Which is incredibly tiring.

Thursday was Haircut Day, so I toddled on up the hill to see Tink. And the result was possibly one of the better hair colours... we went more of an ashy blonde rather than the purple tone, and it came out very nicely.

Then Thursday night was Boardgame Night. And it was quite chill, which was nice. Thankfully the usual source of chaotic energy was absent, and I had a better idea of the game, so I had a good time.

I got home, made the bread dough, then while I was relaxing there was suddenly the sound of water trickling... from I knew not where. Only to discover that weird orange liquid was pouring out of one of the halogen light fixtures in the kitchen. Thankfully it stopped almost as soon as I worked out what was going on, but it was still super weird. So I reported it to the land agent, who said it might be an animal in the roof (that fucking possum again) and we'd keep an eye on it.

Friday there was much tidying of apartment, then baking of bread, then heading out for Friday night DnD. Which wasn't DnD because of DM issues, so instead we just did board games. And it was exactly what we all needed I think.

We also turned a really chill, zen game like Takenoko and really work out some frustrations, as well as getting super Aussie in the process. And there was a moment when I said something "somewhat" inappropriate and we all lost our collective shit and laughed until we cried and had trouble breathing. You know, those moments when things just hit peak funny.

But we all felt better later, so yay.

When I got home at around 1am, I was greeted by a gross orange puddle under the aforementioned light fitting. So whatever was up there, definitely came back for a second go. Buggering fuckery.

And on the Friday before a public holiday, because of course.

So the bucket is firmly in place in the kitchen, and we'll see what happens tonight.

Today was fairly simple overall.

We did the supermarket, came back, futzed around a bit, then headed out to Kmart for some bits and pieces. I picked up a cool denim apron for breadmaking and cooking in general. But mostly for bread, because flour is a bitch.

Then we detoured around to Haighs to make a very early Easter egg purchase, because why the fuck not.

And then we came back here, ordered a pizza and I found some nice British TV shows (Time Team and The Great Pottery Throwdown) on YouTube for Ma while I worked on this post. Once I finish this we're going to head out to this week's Fringe show, and then maybe some dinner.

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