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This one’s for the boys: Top Ten Cricket Sledges. (Not safe for work, and probaby not interesting for anybody who doesn’t know cricket.)

Anybody got a spare half-million lying around? I’d like this for my birthday, please. *sigh* That place looks nice, and it’s only about a block from where we are now. I wish we had a deposit!

Okay, so I just finished Volume 2 of The Astonishing X-Men, and I’ve got some more questions for you experts…Overall impression: I definitely agree with John that the “Danger” storyline wasn’t quite as interesting as “Gifted,” but it was still a fun, enjoyable read. You’re always going to have that disappointing discrepancy between major story arcs and “Monster of the Week” storylines (as on “Buffy”), but I liked that they still threw in a little bit with Ord so you remembered that the Breakworld storyline was still simmering in the background. There was a lot more cool fighting in this one, and I definitely laughed out loud a few more times. (Joss’s Canadian jokes always crack me up.) That said, I have a ton more questions after reading this one. I realize some of these might not have definite answers though; we may be dealing in the realm of speculation. It’s just that with characters so well known, I can’t help but wonder if other people read the clues differently than I do. So any help or even wild guesses are welcome here…

– I haven’t read any Fantastic Four (or seen the movie, for that matter). Is there anything I might be missing about their brief appearance here? Seems pretty straightforward. But hey, aren’t they “mutants” of a sort? I remember from the trailers that they got blasted with radiation or something. The one bit I didn’t get was the Torch guy asking if they could be evil now. Some reference I don’t know? And – forgive me if I’m attacking a sacred cow here – what the hell does the stretchy guy do? They’re fighting the big huge monster and the chick’s shooting him with a force field, and the Torch is flaming him, and the Rock guy is bashing him… and Stretchy’s just there in the background, all stretched out. Seems a pretty useless superpower.

– Who is the mysterious voice talking to Emma at the end of Volume 1 and while she’s unconscious in book #8? At first I thought it was the Danger-bot, but now I’m pretty sure it was someone else. Do we know or is there some common speculation? Is it the same person she talks to in the shadows on Genosha? Was it one of those Hellfire guys on the last page? Who are they, anyway? Are any of them supposed to be recognizable? I know that they were baddies and she used to be one, so I’m guessing that they’re hinting that she’s really still a villain all along. Is that what the Danger-bot is referring to when she says she knows “the truth”? Is this how she knows that the last Sentinel is designed to use Cyclops’ power against the X-Men?

– Jesus, can Cyclops really take out a Sentinel just by removing his glasses? He’s a *lot* more powerful than I realized. I like that Wolverine gave him some small props there.

– My only knowledge of Professor Xavier is from the movies. This Xavier is a lot younger and stronger looking, and seems to take a lot more violent action. (Hello, semi-truck?!) I’m assuming that the friend he mentions who puts out a magnetic pulse is (the real) Magneto. If he’s helping Xavier, then is he not one of the Hellfire baddies Emma (might) be allied with? Or does this mean Xavier’s evil too? And what’s with that ending, where it comes out that he knew the Danger-bot was sentient all along? That’s way more morally-ambiguous than I thought the movie Xavier would ever get. Is this characterization of Xavier new, or is this how he always was in the books? What does the Danger-bot mean when she says no one really knows who Xavier is? If Jean knew, does this mean he’s some sort of Dark Phoenix-like thing?

– When they’re getting ready to go to Genosha, Hank mentions asking if “the Avengers” have anything lying around. Who are the Avengers?

– So Kitty’s dad was on Genosha; does this mean he was a mutant too? I somehow got the idea that the mutations didn’t necessarily run in families.

– Wow, did Hank go totally “Beast” there at the end when he attacked the Danger-bot? I got chills with that “MINE.” He was worried about completely devolving. Or is it just sort of a battle rage thing?

I think that’s everything for now, except… when does the next one come out??

Trail Note
Happy Australia Day! As this marks the start of three straight days of social engagements, I thought I’d better get in some exercise before the beer starts flowing. Today I headed out on a long run through the city to see everything going on for the holiday. As I jogged down George Street, I was amused to see the number of people wearing Australian flag T-shirts increase as I got closer to Circular Quay. Everywhere along the harbour was just packed with tourists and residents alike. (Only at Circular Quay would people pay money to watch two Aboriginal guys covered in mud smoke pot.) I zig-zagged through the crowd and went past the Opera House, where a big screen is set up so everyone can watch the Australian Open live. I chugged around Farm Cove to the Botanic Gardens, smiling as families spread out picnic blankets and waited for the festivities to begin. I walked up the steep hill to Macquarie Street and found myself in the middle of the Hunter Valley Classic, which featured several blocks’ worth of classic cars and trucks. (Only one made me stop dead in my tracks – a classic red convertible Beetle. My dream car. And it was for sale! Only seven grand!) Soon I crossed over into Hyde Park and had a peek at the food stalls lining the grand tree-lined avenue. There were stages set up elsewhere and families were settling down for lunch. Next I cut over to Castlereagh and followed it down to Belmore Park, where tents were being erected for tonight’s Hawker Food Market (as part of the Chinese New Year celebrations). We definitely need to head back there. Then it was up to Central and back down Broadway to home. Total time: one hour and fifteen minutes. Whenever I do stuff like this, I’m reminded why I like living in the middle of a big city. I’m sure I’ll want peace and quiet some day, but for now, being able to leave my house and jog down to the Sydney Opera House – one of the most iconic buildings on arguably the prettiest harbour in the world – is just too, too good.

Me: I might be awhile. I’m gonna shave my legs.
Him: Really? Huh.
Me: What?
HIm: I’m just wondering if you’ll weigh in again afterwards…
Me: Oh, HAR HAR.

From the Dictionary of Snook: “Bus Panickers” – A name for idiots on public transport who seem to worry that they’ll be trapped on the bus forever. You can usually spot one by his reluctance to move down the back of the bus (away from the back doors), or by her insistance on getting up five minutes before her stop and pushing her way to the doors, without regard to the fact that half the people she just shoved out of the way are getting off there too. I hate bus panickers.

I just made a connection. Those stupid “zeromovement.com” thingies that were spraypainted all over the city’s sidewalks a few weeks ago are part of the marketing campaign for Coke Zero! Those asses. I take back my compliments about it. There’s nothing I hate more than vandalism masquerading as advertising.

I’m happy to say that the “85-kilo monkey” is off my back at last; and in fact, I think the little bastard might be dead. Official weight tonight: 84.1 kg. That’s a drop of 1.5 kg from last week, and it brings my total loss to 16 even. I’m ecstatic. Here’s the thing though: I KNEW it was going to be a good week. I KNEW I was going to have a loss. I’ve been faithfully tracking everything (using the online eTools) and I knew exactly how much more output than input I had every day. I’ve been feeling POWERFUL. I don’t even feel like I’ve done a ton of exercise, but I know I’ve done something every single day. I even had two social engagements last week: trivia on Wednesday and the symphony on Saturday. Normally that would have been excuse enough to wreck the whole week. I feel like I can handle anything now.

Joanne asked me at work today whether I thought the hypnotherapy had done me any lasting good. It’s an issue I’ve been thinking about lately. I mean, I don’t feel “cured” or anything. I’m still hungry ALL THE TIME and I’m still worried that my progress could stall if I lose focus. What I don’t have, though, is that crushing feeling of depression and futility I had a few months ago. I feel more capable and confident. I don’t know if hypnosis was the key to that, or whether it was simply trying something different to shake me out of the doldrums. (Or whether I’d have had the same result with any sort of counselor.) So I don’t know if I’d wholeheartedly recommend it as a bona fide proven weight-loss treatment just yet. It was exactly what I needed at that time, but that doesn’t mean it would have the same effect for everyone.

I think I may be facing a new hurdle though. Now that I can finally look past the 85 kg barrier, I can actually see the end in sight. Folks, I AM SEVEN KILOS FROM GOAL. That means I’m seven kilos away from NOT BEING A FAT PERSON ANYMORE. I mean, I know I’m not magically going to turn into an Olsen twin once I hit 77 kg, but I mean that mentally, I won’t have to think of myself as overweight anymore. That is utterly inconceivable to me. It would be like changing gender or race or something. Being “big” has been an intrinsic part of my self-image since college. If you take that away, what’s left? It’s like staring into an abyss. I won’t have it as a crutch anymore. It’s going to take some serious getting used to.

Quiddity pointed me to a fascinating little eassy on sex and comics. I’ve sorta been thinking about these issues myself as I’ve started exploring the world of comics. Fortunately none of the books I’ve been reading – Astonishing X-Men, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, and The Sandman – fall into the heavy T&A category. (Although I have to admit, when I got to the sex scenes in Volume 2 of LoEG my jaw dropped. I wouldn’t say they were exploitative – or even explicit, in the case of Mr Hyde and, um, Mr Griffin – but I found them pretty shocking, nonetheless.) To be honest, I feel that the “soft-core exploitation” issue is the same one that dogs the video game industry. You’ve got an art form that traditionally appeals to guys, so the guys who make it put in the chicks that the guys who consume it want to see. Then they all get together and bitch about how no real girls are into games or comic books. The fact is, we tell them over and over exactly why we don’t like participating in that vicious little circle. They just don’t want to hear it. I don’t mind if a chick is sexy while she kicks ass; I own all seven season of Buffy. I just don’t think her boobs should be the only thing that makes her interesting. (I’m looking at you, Lara Croft.)

Kenya has just discovered his grandfather’s cricket player stats. How cool is that? I like the bit about how, in his one first-class match, he opened the batting for Dublin University with the playwright Samuel Beckett. He was out there batting with the guy who’d go on to write Waiting for Godot. That blows my mind. (Also cool that he went on to be the Secretary-General of the International Planned Parenthood Federation. Good on ya, Grandpa Deverell.)