0-Die Bastard : 1-Crap : 2-Rubbish(watchable) : 3-OK : 3.5-Nice : 4-Good : 4.5-Very Good : 5-WOW
31.12.15 : FABBA : Burwood RSL
There might have been 500 people there, but they were all two decades older than me. 3
30.12.15 : Wisecracker Wednesday : Oatley Hotel
Peter Meisel. Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3.75
30.12.15 : Star Wars - The Force Awakens - movie
Action, Adventure, Fantasy : Yaya yada. More conventional than exceptional. A touch slow and a touch long at the end, but it's ok. Between 3.5 and 3.75
29.12.15 : Joy - movie
Drama : A mother tries to get ahead with an invention, It was idiotic, tedious, and slow. The first half is idiotic Soapie type scenarios, and the second half is premeditated audience manipulation. I should have left after ½ an hour, POS 0
28.12.15 : Daddy's Home - movie
Comedy : A mild-mannered radio executive strives to become the best stepfather to his wife's two children. Not that this even started off funny, but it got less and less funny until it turned in to a steaming pile of sh!t. Not even the PG kids this was made for would find this interesting. 1
23.12.14 : Wisecracker Wednesday : Oatley Hotel
Luke Heggie. Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3.75
17.12.15 : Rock With Laughter : Star Casino
It looked promising, but it turned into a write-off. It started well enough but then the second act didn't turn up, so there was a 1 hour wait, the last act wasn't funny, and we've had the same host for 6 months in a row. 2
16.12.15 : Anya Tonight! : Giant Dwarf Theatre
All the way from Generic Eastern Europe, Anya hosts the greatest late night comedy show since her last show. Join some of Australia’s most electric comedians including Greg Larsen, Steen Raskopoulos, Penny Greenhalgh, Henry Stone, William Erimya and “special” guest, Susie Youssef, for a night of laughs – you’re welcome. No review.
15.12.15 : Spoiler Alert : Giant Dwarf Theatre
I drove home stinking of Batman. It's getting better, the host only let one story from the guests meander nowhere - the host must keep things on track when things get boring -, and Brendan Cowell was super funny. Tonight was Star Wars themed, with one of the guests working on set for one of them when he was on work experience. We had a new game where the guests had to guess the Batman perfume from the Superman perfume, but while they were doing that the perfume was passed around for us to try - OMG that Batman stuff was strong -. They fixed the game where they had to put 6 movies in order of popularity - if you are out by one they are all out - by cutting it down to a choice of 3 movies. Unfortunately they used the IMBD rankings, and IMBD ranking are no where near realistic - nothing scores lower than 5/10 -, so they should have gone Rotten Tomatoes -. They had new buzzers - thanks Rhys -, and there was a game were two guests had to read from scripts and do a mock recreation of a deleted Star Wars scene while the others had to work out which movie it came from. I can't say it's super funny, and it probably needs to be a touch tighter, but it is a decent night out - better than TV -, and I would go to more of them. Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.75
10.12.15 : Good Lord! It's Christmas! A Nativity Pantomime : Giant Dwarf Theatre
Musical plays aren't my thing, and the subject matter it's based on doesn't interest me, but it was still ok. If you look at comedy plays the majority aren't high end comedy but a simpler type of comedy, which this was, but it did have enough puns, one liners, and sexual innuendo to make it funny enough. Pat never needs a microphone so when his quit it wasn't a problem, but when the others stopped also I could hear what they were saying better - strange because the sound didn't seam that bad to me when it was working. Amusing enough. Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.5
07.12.15 : Story Club - Xmas Spectacular : Giant Dwarf Theatre
Musical Hosts: Benny Davis & The Santasaurus!! were ripping it up with the comedy songs. They had that AoA feel where the songs were quick, funny, succinct, and with none of those extra mild verses that comedy musicians use to stretch out a song. There was a Aussie Xmas carol that actually sounded commercial, if it was released as a comedy song for Xmas.
Susie Youssef (How Not to Behave) - Xmas with Youssef's, smoking, gambling, and killing bats with a shotgun.
Craig Anderson (Comedian Plus Actor Plus Writer) - Steve Foxx working as Santa witnessed another Santa have a breakdown, that left many children scared.
Lewis Hobba (Triple J) - The competitive world of Xmasing is taken to another level when the sociopathic Hobba's get together for Xmas.
Richard Glover (702 Broadcaster, Author) - Watching is son leave on an exchange program that had him return a German after adopting his new pseudo family.
Zoe Norton Lodge (Stories) - Zoe has a lot of stories that are a detriment to her long suffering parents, and this was no exception. She started by mentioning the trip to Whales story, and sensing it was going to be embarrassing her father and mother quickly ran out of the building - her dad knows how to milk a gag and and they soon returned -. Her uncle married a very young wife, so to save embarrassment everyone had to fake a younger age, and that meant it was the "Night of Lies".
Crowd : 4.75 - Me : 4.5
03.12.15 : The Night Before - movie
Comedy : On Christmas eve, three lifelong friends, two of whom are Jewish, spend the night in New York City looking for the Holy Grail of Christmas parties. One big unfunny Redbull/Sony Xperia/drugs/Jewish commercial with no story to it at all. I should'ave left after 30 minutes because that's how quickly I figured out this was one serious POS. 1
01.12.15 : Love the Coopers - movie
Comedy : When four generations of socially dysfunctional Cooper clan come together for their annual Christmas Eve celebration thing don't turn out that good. It was written and executed well, it's just that it didn't go anywhere and wasn't funny. I would have preferred amateurish and funny like Parental Guidance(2012), rather than this. 2
30.11.15 : Dragon Friends - A Live D&D Comedy Show : Giant Dwarf Theatre
The first one wasn't that good, but it's fixed it now. In the first one none of the players knew the rules, so it was hard being creative when you didn't know what you were doing, but now that everyone knows what's going on, they are comfortable enough to put lots of gags in. What you will notice is that it takes a lot of time every time there is an interaction, but now that everyone knows the rules it's a bit faster. I missed 4 episodes between the first and this one - too lazy to listen to the podcasts - so I thought I would be lost, but because interactions take so long they might only go into 3 rooms per episode, and that means that you can catch up relatively quickly. It also has a catchy sing-along. Crowd : 4.5 - Me : 3.75
27.11.15 : Creed - movie
Drama, Sport : The former World Heavyweight Champion Rocky Balboa serves as a trainer and mentor the son of his late friend and former rival Apollo Creed. It travels a bit slow, and it's a bit predictable - all boxing moves are the same so they are all pretty predictable -. Someone clapped at the end, but for me it was only ok. 3.5
26.11.15 : The Chaser’s Media Circus : ABC Studio Ultimo
It's kind of weird because the recording was quite good, yet when the show gets transmitted, it's not that good. Out of the 12 episodes 9 weren't that good - they feel scattered and not that funny -, with only 3 being funny enough. Live it was like Good New Week, where everyone is constantly making gags, and even though this episode was one of the good TV ones, it wasn't as good as live. This episode was recorded at lunch time and had to be on air 4 hours latter so there wasn't any dead time for an audience to get bored - which is what I prefer -, but there was still a lot of funny stuff that didn't make the cut. Good 3.75
25.11.15 : Bonus Stage : Giant Dwarf Theatre
These guys know how to put an entertaining show together, and I didn't know what they were talking about most of the time. They kind of talk at a non technical level, so that non games can follow, and basically everything they talk about is from a comedy angle, so it's more a comedy show than a gamer show. This was that last show of the year so it was a long show at 2 hours 20 min without a break - you can't say you didn't get your moneys worth -, which was probably a touch too long for a non gamer - gamers probably didn't mind -. But the only parts I found slow was two 10 min blocks where they interviewed gaming writers at the end were the question and answer were from a non comedy standpoint. 80% was very good, with the highlight being Dr Karl Kruszelnicki being questioned by the audience if things in games could be real. Questions like :-
Q : A character in a game drinks irradiated water to get energy, what would happen in real life?
Dr Karl ; A person did drink irradiated water in real life, and his jaw fell off and he died.
There were sketches where the hosts interviewed game characters - comedians dressed in the characters costumes -, they comedically mocked gaming click-bait articles on the net like, How to Spot a Fake Gamer, they showed comedy videos from InsertCoin, and a whole lot more. Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 4
Q : A character in a game drinks irradiated water to get energy, what would happen in real life?
Dr Karl ; A person did drink irradiated water in real life, and his jaw fell off and he died.
There were sketches where the hosts interviewed game characters - comedians dressed in the characters costumes -, they comedically mocked gaming click-bait articles on the net like, How to Spot a Fake Gamer, they showed comedy videos from InsertCoin, and a whole lot more. Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 4
23.11.15 : Absolutely Anything - movie
Comedy, Sci-Fi : A group of eccentric aliens confer a human being with the power to do absolutely anything. It reminds me of those simple light Disney comedies of the 70 where Kurt Russell acquires some unfortunate power. Not super intelligent, not super funny, but good enough to be a nice time filler. 3
20.11.15 : Erotic Fan Fiction : Giant Dwarf Theatre
Nakkiah Lui - Good Andrew Bolt kills bad Andrew Bolt by fu*king him to death.
Jordan Raskopoulos - The Hamburglar deposits cum, blood, piss, and sh!t in hamburgers for Grimace to eat.
Eddie Sharp - Taylor Swift delivers Kim Kardashian's baby while on the highest mountain in the Himalayas. This one had a string section and singers.
Pat Magee - Used the recent Minions movie where they steal the Queen's crown jewels, but changes it to stealing the Queen's virtue.
Miranda Tapsell - Zorro sex romp.
Brendan Cowell - Gave inner Sydney suburbs personalities like they were girls -, eg Kings Cross likes to party, but has to go home early - 10:00pm lock-out law gag -.
I think they have to add a warning about graphic sexual content in the blurb, because a few people couldn't handle how confronting it is. Crowd : 4.5 - Me : 3.75
17.11.15 : Spoiler Alert : Giant Dwarf Theatre
It's like Spicks and Specks, but instead of music it's a movie based game show. Hosted by Kyran Wheatley, with guests Zan Rowe, Zoe Coombs Marr, John Conway, Gary Eck, and with Ray Badran as point scorer and co-host. It was ok, but I shouldn't have gone to the first one because the bugs haven't been ironed out yet. I have a special problem because of my hearing, but the muddy sounding microphones came back - I could hear them perfectly from the stage without any amplification when they forgot to use the mics -. Other problems are :- Most S&S game don't have many options, to keep it fun, but this one had a large Talking About Your Generation game where they had to put 5 films in order from best to worse. The problem with too many options is if one is out of place it offsets all the rest by one, making the score very low and less fun. Ray Badran did a good job geeing up the crowd, so at least the podcast will sound good with lots of applause. On a whole it was ok, but the muddy sound kills a lot of fun for me. Crowd : 4 - Me : na
17.11.15 : COMEDY(ish) : Giant Dwarf Theatre
It's tough going on a new material night when you are used to pro comics, but the lack of a sizeable audience makes it even harder - the audience laugh track helps -. Heath Franklin has some good jokes, and Zoe Coombs Marr was all right even though it seamed like she was ad-libing everything. Not fun for me because I know too much about comedy. Crowd : 3 - Me : na
Action, Adventure, Thriller : A cryptic message from Bond's past sends him on a trail to uncover a sinister organization. Overall it feels exactly like Skyfall(2012), in that it starts brilliantly, so you think it's going to be good, but then quickly changes into a very conventional film. This new franchise tries to make 007 more gritty, which it does, and also tries to add a more complete story, but the story just isn't that much cleverer than the old stuff. Starts at 5, but the rest is a 3.5. maybe 3.75ish
05.11.15 : Wil Anderson, Political Wil : Giant Dwarf Theatre
There was a late release of tickets, because they found some more chairs, so I just made it in. Becky Lucas opened, and was very good. Wil said that this $35 show isn't as good as his $50 show, so I don't know what were missing, but it was pretty good. It was political based, but mainly Tony Abbott based, who was the Prime minister at the time when he wrote this. There was one story at the end that was a more elaborate version of one he told before, so that was kind-of a repeat. The usual 4 we get from Wil. Crowd : 4 - Me : 4
05.11.15 : Man Up - movie
Comedy, Romance : A single woman who's mistaken for a stranger's blind date takes a risk. Thankfully the UK doesn't do saccharine sweet Rom-Coms like the US, but instead makes fun films. Fun 3.75
02.11.15 : Story Club - You Know What? I’m the Jerk? : Giant Dwarf Theatre
Things done where you end-up being the jerk
Ben Jenkins - Chasing a bag snatcher, who was just someone without a train ticket.
Pat Magee (Ghost Stories) - Assuming his job of taking pictures at museums and then selling them back to patrons for exorbitant amounts was a leech on society.
Rebecca Huntley (Mamamia) - Inappropriate things said in focus groups
Alex Lee (BuzzFeed) - Working in a exclusive handbag shop Alex thinks she spots a shoplifter.
Chris Taylor (Plonk, Chaser Man) - After the infamous child cancer comedy sketch, death threats roll in.
Zoe Norton Lodge - I guy asking for a bucket becomes an interrogation when Zoe thinks he is casing the joint.
Crowd : 4 - Me : 4
30.10.15 : Bridge of Spies - movie
Biography, Drama, History : An American lawyer is recruited by the CIA during the Cold War to help rescue a pilot detained in the Soviet Union. It's not this dynamic rollercoaster-of-emotions drama, it's this kind-of ok story that is interesting enough that it's fine. 3.5
29.10.15 : Rock With Laughter : Star Casino
Mikey Robins(MC) - again -, Merrick Watts, Cal Wilson, Michael Workman. Merrick was good. 3
29.10.15 : The Last Witch Hunter - movie
Action, Adventure, Fantasy : The last witch hunter is all that stands between humanity and the combined forces of the most horrifying witches in history. Most of it doesn't have the big action wow factor that would make it fun, it's more story, but it's ok. 2.75
21.10.15 : Galloping Genes - Equine genetics in the racing industry : University of Sydney
It was kind-of weird because it felt like scientist/gamblers, like how can a brain dead gambler but be an intelligent scientist. Hopefully they love horses and the thrill of racing, and not gambling aspect. The interesting thing was that genetics don't play much of a roll in winning, but it does play a big roll in earnings. Female horses aren't as fast as male horses but seam to have longer racing careers. They have found the DNA gene that makes Myostatin, so they can tell if the animal will be a sprinter or a long distance runner. It seams like there is a lot of vets trying to get into the racing industry, maybe it's lucrative.
19.10.15 : Royal National Park - Stanwell Park to Sutherland
That is one mad winding road - it explains why there is so many motorbikes on it -, but it does get a bit boring on the straight bits on the end.
12.10.15 : Story Club - 4th Annual Spookaween Specdracula : Giant Dwarf Theatre
This was the ghost story edition, and oddly enough the mispronunciation edition. Maybe the ghosts scared them speechless because everyone was doing it.
Mark Sutton hosted and formed Benny Davis & The Spookasaurus to do some funny spooking songs at the start and half time.
CaitASTROPHE Harris (Playwright, Funny Lady, Safety Warden) - Mysterious dreams come true.
Nakkiah BOO-EY Lui (Award Winning Playwright, Writer/Actor for ABC's Black Comedy) - Used the traditional Smoking ceremony to keep her safe.
SiMONSTER Greiner (Writer, Funny Man, Designer Extraordinaire) - His Lithuanian Grand Father real life story ended up being quite mysterious.
Osher Gunsberg (Host of the BATchelor) - Mysterious things happen in an old house he rented, until he tells the ghost to leave.
Zoe Norton Lodge - Jeremiah is pretty pissed when Slut Jack disappears, but he actually has been murdered by a menacing mower and a horrendous Hills Hoist.
Crowd : 4.75 - Me : 4.5
12.10.15 : Stanwell Tops
I'm running in an engine I just built, and this is my usual run. The tourist road goes from scenic to tragic pretty fast if you stop, because you put 2 and 2 together when you see the large drop and the suicide prevention signs.
06.10.15 : The Martian - movie
Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi : A man is left stranded on Mars. There were big holes in the science, but that wasn't a problem compared to the lack of drama and emotion in the first two thirds. The last third does switch to what this movie should have been, an emotional roller-coaster, so it does end on a high. At the end I was thinking how much better this movie would have been with a good director, and then Ridley Scott's name came up and I nearly fell off my seat at how he botched most of it by not injecting any drama into the early parts. It's ok, but it could have been a lot better. 3.75
05.10.15 : Trainworks - Railway Museum : Thirlmere
I've been to the old Enfield museum twice - I used to live nearby -, but I've only been to this one once before, and it has changed a lot. It's been fixed up and made new, clean and modern. I would have preferred a technical tour, but the family tour covering occupations on the railways had enough actors hamming it up to make it good. 3.75
02.10.15 : Rhys Nicholson, Ray Badran & Kyran Wheatley : Factory Theatre
3 comics sharing one trial show is so much better for an audience because if it was only one comic doing 1 hour it would be sparse and stretched. Good value for money. Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.75
01.10.15 : The Intern - movie
Comedy : A retired widower finds his life empty so he applies for an intern-ship with a modern internet company to fill the void. It will make you cry if you are a low level depressive, or is that just me. You will love this sweet and gentle movie if you are in the movies demographic. 4
24.09.15 : SUDS - Would I Lie To You? : The Red Rattler Theatre
It is the same exact format as the TV show, just not as funny - the recording of the TV show might not be any better because we only see the highlights -. It had the problem that the performers knew each other, but it didn't affect things much because the lie/facts were weird enough to throw people off the track. Fun enough, and worth going too. Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.75
22.09.15 : Alice Fraser - Savage : Factory Theatre
It's a hard show to perform, and it's a hard show to watch, because it's about the loss of a loved one. Alice has mentioned the heath problems of her mother - I was at the stage where I wonder how her mum is doing every time I see one of her shows - and we always hope for the best, or at least that things aren't getting worse, but reality usually always has a bleaker conclusion. It's always sad to hear about the loss of a person that has never done anything wrong at relative young age, so Alice tried to make it more of an uplifting moment. But you can never truly make it totally fun because of it's frank and honest underlining material. It's good, just in a different way. I hope the sharing of her story is cathartic experience, and hopefully the audience listening to it will draw some of the pain away. Crowd : 3.75 - Me : na
11.09.15 : The Game Is Afoot : Factory Theatre
Sold out.
10.09.15 : Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials - movie
Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller : After having escaped the Maze, the Gladers now face a new set of challenges on the open road. This one didn't have the mystery and intrigue that made the first one good because everything was explained at the start, so it was a conventional "run for the baddies" action adventure film. Good scenic CGI in city, but a pretty conventional story. 3
09.09.15 : Catch CO2 - Getting Creative About Climate Change : University of Sydney
The currently technology it's way too expensive to capture CO2, so they are working on molecular sponges to capture it and then use the CO2 to make products, to make it cost effective. Not a subject I'm that interested in, but free is all I can afford these days. Not that exciting, but still fine. 3
08.09.15 : American Ultra - movie
Action : A loser stoner discovers he is an agent that has had his memory wiped. Nothing is explained so it like those movies were a bunch of stuff happens with much point, but unlike similar films like Constantine(2005), The Maze Runner (2014), etc it's just not as good. The whole movie is just kill the asset. 2
07.09.15 : Story Club - I Fought the Law : Giant Dwarf Theatre
The logistics of getting to places has become drag, but this show is usually uplifting for flagging moral.
Ben Jenkins - Being propositioned for a kidney from an Uber driver
Eddie Sharp - Like his father, who tracked down a taxi driver who cut him off after one year, he too sought revenge when one of the boxes was stolen during a recent house move.
Tracey Spicer - Her being sacked, but in the form of a poem.
Benedict Hardie - A late train has Ben witnessing his car being driven away by thieves. But to make things worse, he gets accused of the thief by the cops.
Kate McClymont - Hollywood misrepresents the intelligence of criminals, because the real life murder of McGurk was perpetrated by complete morons that were soon caught.
Zoe Norton Lodge - Low-Go stealing frenzy
Crowd : 4.5 - Me : 4.25
29.08.15 : MX-5 Track Day : Sydney Motorsport Park, South Circuit
Fact finding mission.
25.08.15 : Vacation - movie
Adventure, Comedy : Rusty Griswold tries to recreate the trip he had with his parents and takes his own family on a road trip to "Walley World". The original(2.75) wasn't that great - it was pretty sparse in humour -, but this one has been updated to 21 century standards so is ruder, cruder, busier, and funnier. Funnier than the original, but not super funny. 3.25
20.08.15 : Hitman - Agent 47 - movie
Action, Crime, Thriller : A genetically modified assassin is hired to kill the only person with the key to his secret. This felt like European cinema, so it wasn't as intelligent as most Hollywood stuff, but it was more intelligent that something like The Transporter. It's got glitches, so it has amateurish moments, but it's ok. 3.5
19.08.15 : Time After Time: Measuring Evolution with Molecular Clocks : University of Sydney
Presented by Associate Professor Simon Ho, School of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Sydney.
It's a bit technical, but quite clever how they can back track and work out when a species started using Molecular Clocks. They get the DNA of a current animal, and then get the DNA of the transition animal where it branched on the evolutionary tree, and then compare how much the DNA changed. They then factor in the length of time between generations, ie, flies have 2 weeks between generations, humans have 30 years, and then interpolate that information to predict when a species mutated into a different branch on the evolutionary tree. Because bird samples don't last the test of time, so can't confirm it with actual samples, they used this technique on them and discovered that all the wonderful bird species we have today all appeared about the same time that dinosaurs became extinct, indicating that they were somehow stopping the evolution of birds. Not a subject that I would personally pursue, but it was still very interesting. Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.75
17.08.15 : Einstein: Space-time, Black Holes and Expanding Universes : University of Sydney
It was really good, except for the fu*kwit heckler that spoilt the night for 500 people - keep your comments to yourself as it disrespects the traditional owners, and everybody in the audience -. Prof Geraint Lewis, professor of Astrophysics at the Sydney Institute for Astronomy, was so good that when he started running out of time I wished they would extend the night as long as it would take to hear all of the Einstein story, and how his work is used today. Crowd : 4 - Me : 4
13.08.15 : The Man from U.N.C.L.E. - movie
Action, Adventure, Comedy : In the early 1960s, CIA agent Napoleon Solo and KGB operative Illya Kuryakin participate in a joint mission against a mysterious criminal organization, which is working to proliferate nuclear weapons. Too slow by today's standards - lots of talking and only sparse low level action -. Too stuck in the sentimentality of the original series, which wasn't that compelling either, so it more for a generation that hardly exists any more. Dull. 2.5
11.08.15 : Trainwreck - movie
Comedy, Romance : Having thought that monogamy was never possible, a commitment-phobic career woman may have to face her fears when she meets a good guy. I think it is glued together sketches, because it's up and down and a bit all over the place. You can see it has no Rom between the characters, but was more a vehicle for riffing impro between the actors. It has it's moments - LeBron James was crazy - so it's ok. 3
06.08.15 : LNL - Teen Diary Readings : Surry Hills Library
Because it was packed to the max I was disconnected standing at the back - I should of got a ticket instead of crashing it -, but even with those problems it wasn't as entertaining as usual. Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3
05.08.15 : Fantastic Four - movie
Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi : The prequel. I like these origin stories because there is more story than the usual fight the baddie stories. Interesting enough to be ok 3.75
04.08.15 : Sleek Geeks Unplugged and Unplanned - Pure Raw Data : Manning Bar
I wasn't in the mood and nearly walked out before it started, but it ended up being good, just uncomfortable because you had to stand. It was the same format of comedy mixed in with new science facts, plus added guests. The first guest was the amazing Cloe Loi, the Syd Uni student who found the plasma tubes following the earth's magnetic lines. They split the Western Australian Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) radio telescope in to 2 parts, so that it could see the tubes in 3D like eyes see depth.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3107166/Giant-plasma-tubes-SPACE-Huge-structures-spotted-circling-Earth-filled-charged-particles-sun.html#ixzz3hsuU1S00
There was a question section, and special guest at the end was Professor Wil Anderson, who gave his crazy interpretations of the same science stories discussed during the show.
Adam : Can your eyes pop out if you sneeze with your eyelids open?
Wil : Yes, that's how Pirates are made.
Karl : But how do you explain that it's only one eye?
Wil : That happens when you sneeze on the equator.
Crowd : 4.5 - Me : 4
Links to the video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzAzrZk8luY
04.08.15 : Ant-Man - movie
Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi : Armed with a super-suit with the astonishing ability to shrink in scale but increase in strength, cat burglar Scott Lang must embrace his inner hero and help his mentor, Dr. Hank Pym, plan and pull off a heist that will save the world. It was way better than I was expecting. Fun, and not dumb at all. PS : Clip after the credits. 3.75
03.08.15 : Story Club - The Odyssey : Giant Dwarf Theatre
There was tragedy in amongst the usual light heated frivolity.
Ben Jenkins : Three years of running pranks goes wrong when one is sent to the wrong person.
Kirsten Drysdale (The Checkout, Hungry Beast) : Her and her whole family get roped into doing the Kokoda trail by here father.
Jack Gow (Writer, Comedian, Did Mad Show Called: "Everybody's Doing It.... Dying That Is") : Being swindled by his manipulative drunk grandmother leads to tragedy.
Mark Sutton (Dr of Bob Dylan, Professional Idiot for The Checkout, Fair weather Radio Host) : The truth behind those expensive junkets across the world, disguised as talks.
Kate Mulvany (Playwright, Actress, Legend, Winner of A Kajillion Awards) : Her and her friend escape the terminal cancer ward when they were children, to meet the famous Fat Cat.
Zoe Norton Lodge : Being stuffed full of lollies by well meaning adults while her family was living on a Greek island, resulting in getting fat and tooth decay. It must it's a European thing, because I had a face full of filling by the age of 5, so make sure you brush you're kids teeth if you give them sweets.
Kristina Keneally was a no-show due to sickness. Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 4
03.08.15 : Mission Impossible - Rogue Nation - movie
Action, Adventure, Thriller : Ethan and team take on their most impossible mission yet, eradicating the Syndicate. It's not as action-ney as advertised, but it's alright. 3.75
23.07.15 : Self/less - movie
Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller : A dying real estate mogul transfers his consciousness into a healthy young body. You don't have to be a genius to work out what is going to happen, so you will see things before they happen, but it's interesting enough to be ok to watch. It's no Limitless, but it's fine. 3.75
16.07.14 : Free to a Good Home : Giant Dwarf Theatre
I don't think it was as funny as the last one, but I couldn't really tell because I couldn't hear most of it. I think they turned down the sound so it would record better for the podcast, but with my damaged hearing I couldn't hear the gags that people were laughing at - I have the same problem with digital TV and the multi sound channels covering up the dialogue -, but even then they sounded like they were laughing a bit less. I think it was ok. Crowd : 3.75 - Me : na
07.07.15 : First Tuesday Comedy Club : Giant Dwarf Theatre
MC Rhys Nicholson, Greg Larsen, Heath Franklin, Celia Pacquola
I didn't want to go because after seeing so much standup it has become drudgery for me, but strangely enough I hadn't seen Celia before, so I went anyway. Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.75
06.07.15 : Story Club - Everybody has a Price : Giant Dwarf Theatre
This wasn't the big laugh edition, but more the 50% big laugh edition. 2 of the stories were for people in the know of the theatre industry, so was funnier for them.
Ben Jenkins. Ben signed up to teach bankers to think laterally, but which turned in a farce when no one knew what they were doing.
Debra Oswald (Award Winning Writer of Everything incl. Telly's 'Offspring', Theatre's 'Stories in the Dark' & the novel 'Useful'). Debra goes to the UK selling her writing skills to no takers. Good
Dave Harmon (Director Extraordinaire, Professional Nerd Wrangler, Z-Town Creator). Dave experiences the horrifying situation of the blocked toilet at a strangers house, something that can never be denied when you are the only person there.
Zoe Coombs Marr (Dirty Laundry Live, 1/3 of Post Presents Post, Possessor of Alter Ego 'Dave'). Being poor, Zoe sells here soul cheap for an acting job that has her playing a distasteful character.
Rhys Nicholson (Award winning comic plus Best Hair). His big "coming out" story, that wasn't a surprise to anyone. Naturally it was funnier because a comedian writes more for laughs
Toby Schmitz (Award winning Playwright & Actor whose played Hamlet in 'Hamlet', Tony the Bully in 'Griff the Invisible' & everything in between). For every famous actor there are thousands that don't make it, and Toby was one of those.
Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 4
02.07.15 : Terminator Genisys - movie
Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi : John Connor sends Kyle Reese back in time to protect Sarah Connor, but when he arrives in 1984 nothing is as he expected it to be. It's the story that makes the film great because it's so big and interesting, it sucks you right in and makes time fly. The action and gags are a bonus. 4
01.07.15 : Dragon Friends - A Live D&D Comedy Show : Giant Dwarf Theatre
I think you really have to be a D&D person for this show, because they were kaking themselves because they knew all the internal nuances. I'm pre D&D, so have no attachment, so to me it was just storytelling with the usual attribute points and probability die roll to decide outcomes like in military war-gaming. Compared to the Impro show Dungeon Crawl, this one is more toward the technical game side of things, where as Dungeon Crawl is more toward the entertainment, so for me Dungeon Crawl is better. Both have the same foibles, positive things like the mayhem character adds excitement because their actions aren't nice, and the bad things where characters just keep trying things until they get the outcome they want. Not really for me, but everyone else loved it. Crowd : 4.5 - Me : 3.25
26.06.15 : The Axis of Awesome and Friends Sing Songs : Giant Dwarf Theatre
I was expecting it to be loose, but I was also expecting it to have enough intermittent content that it would gloss over the looseness. One song I didn't get the reference, because I'm old, one song was pretty predictable, and one song I could see where the gag was coming from, but ultimately is probably too offensive to use. The first half was good, but the rest petered right out so I left early. na
26.06.15 : Susie Youssef: Owl Eyes On You ; Comedy Store
The little Indian girl was smart, sassy, and sketchee - lol -. This one had sketches like the last show, but there was a lot more standup storytelling and audience participation interview setups. Good show. Crowd : 4.5 - Me : 4
25.06.15 : Rock With Laughter : Star Casino
Mikey Robins(MC), Umit Bali, Jonas Holt, Sean Woodland. Umit and Sean was good. 3.5
25.06.15 : Ted 2 - movie
Comedy : Newlywed couple Ted and Tami-Lynn want to have a baby, but in order to qualify to be a parent, Ted will have to prove he's a person in a court of law. The first 1/3 is some sick sh!t, so it's funnier than the original, but the rest has some serious lawyery stuff so the gags slow down. 3.75
24.06.15 : Jurassic World - movie
Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi : Dinosaurs escape again. The reviews are pretty much on target, this movie is too dumb for adults. Dumb story. dumb script, dumb characters, and dumb clichéd/predictable scenarios. Kids film using CGI as the driving force. 2
18.06.15 : Sutton & Cunningham - A Timeriffic Past-tacular Humour Hour : Giant Dwarf Theatre
It's kind-of shemozzlely, but it has to be because of what it is. It's basically a game show where no one is going to know the answers, so they have to keep interest by making it funny and easy. There is no time for things to get stale because there was 16 short rounds, so there is always something new. There was an impromptu re-enactment of the Battle of Waterloo using audience members and poppers, from a name pick whether it's a French general or a Cheese, other famous thing that happen on June 18th, etc. It was quite aright for only $10. Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.5
16.06.15 : Aloha - movie
Drama, Romance, Comedy : A celebrated, but dishonoured, military contractor returns to the site of his greatest career triumphs and has to launch a rocket. This is one weird/unconventional film. Was it drama, romance, comedy, paranormal, espionage, Hawaiian tradition, who knows, and I wonder if the people making it knew what it was, or even how to make a movie. Hours would pass in the story without a scene change, so it looked weird. They used shaky-cam for romance, which was weird. A bit disjointed and all over the place. 2
16.06.15 : Hot Pursuit - movie
Action, Comedy : An uptight and by-the-book cop tries to protect the outgoing widow of a drug boss. It's a movie that we have seen many times before, so it's pretty much by the book, but it's still ok. 3
I knew it was something about social etiquette from the promo, which didn't sound that good, but I also knew Matt Okine was in it so I reasoned it must have some humour in it, which it did. It wasn't super funny, but it was a lot better than I expected. Basically the hosts Gretel Killeen and Matt Okine talk about what to do, and what not to do in social situations, and bring up humorous situations. Then they roll a video tape of characters doing the right and wrong things. This video is just like sketch comedy from the days when it was really funny, so was quite good. Matt was pretty quick with the gags, and Gretel Killeen was pretty good as well because she had lots of funny real life experiences. It's probably not funny enough to be a hit - edits change shows totally so we will have to see -, but for me it is still worth watching. It was funny that the show was about social etiquette, because so many people(girls) got so drunk on the free wine, that they showed no social etiquette and keep talking to the hosts during the show. 3.25
01.06.15 : Story Club - The One That Got Away : Giant Dwarf Theatre
It was packed to the max, and every story was exceptional. No audience complacency, so even they were good. It's good that I don't do comedy much any more, because I've forgotten most of the stories.
Ben Jenkins - Been caught stealing
Cait Harris - Love triangle
David Quirk - Being punked by a friend.
Rob Carlton - Taking a job as the a continuity expert on a movie, and not even knowing what that was.
David Cunningham - Battling depression, but in a humours way.
Zoe Norton Lodge - Mass fish murderers come to trial.
Super good. Crowd : 5 - Me : 5
29.05.15 : San Andreas - movie
Action, Drama, Thriller : An earthquake hits California. Another run-of-the-mill CGI/cartoon disaster movie. 3.25
28.05.15 : Rock With Laughter : Star Casino
Mikey Robins, Sam Bowring, Katie Burch, James Smith. It was fine. 3.5
28.05.15 : Tomorrowland - A World Beyond - movie
Action, Adventure, Mystery ; A teen bursting with scientific curiosity and a former boy-genius inventor embark on a mission to unearth the secrets of a place somewhere in time and space that exists in their collective memory. It's one of the few PG movies that is intelligent enough that adults won't get bored and will like. It was fun and it was nice, I liked it. 4
21.05.15 : Spy - movie
Action, Comedy : A desk-bound CIA analyst volunteers to go undercover. It wasn't as bad as I was expecting and ended up being quite decent. 3.75
20.05.15 : Pint of Science(AU) - Batteries Not Included : The Royal Hotel
It's a difficult room for people with hearing difficulties with no PA and noise from the hotel.
What will it take to make a better battery? - Chris Ling (Associate Professor)
A run through of emerging technologies, and the slow progress of batteries. This one wasn't concise and wandered.
Can we make a robot that walks as well as a 3-year-old? - Ian Manchester (Senior Lecturer)
Walking robots and the problems making them.
Molecular Sponges: a new way to breathe underwater? - Anita Das (PhD candidate)
Using internal pocket shape, size, material, construction, and design to get molecular sponges to only attract a single element at a time. I couldn't hear this one because of soft speaking.
3.5
19.05.15 : Pint of Science(AU) - Intergalactic Planetary : The Royal Hotel
I understood this one - yah -.
Crash of the Titans: When Galaxies Collide - Amanda Bauer (Research Astronomer)
This cover how the Andromeda galaxy will eventually collide in to out Milky Way galaxy.
Structures in the Universe - Krzysztof Bolejko (Cosmologist)
It explained why the universe is clumpy and voidy.
DIY Guide to Universes - Pascal Elahi (Cosmologist)
What to look for when making a computer simulation of the universe.
3.75
18.05.15 : Pint of Science(AU) - Quantum Leap : The Royal Hotel
It was quite interesting, but because I couldn't get some of the stuff it was a bit depressing - I'm stupid -.
Quantum origin of galaxies, stars and life - Archil Kobakhidze (Theoretical Particle Physicist)
Basically, particles in quantum physics simulations clump just like stars do in the universe.
Universes, one after the other - Luke Barnes (Postdoctoral Researcher Sydney Institute for Astronomy)
Looking at the possibility that multiverses could exist.
Quantum Technologies of the Future - David Reilly (Professor)
Why quantum computers and what they are up to at the moment in that regards. His last lecture was pretty bad because it didn't cover anything new, but this one was a lot better because there was a lot more new technical and interesting stuff.
3.75
15.05.15 : The Festival Club : Enmore Theatre
I didn't really want to go, but last week was so good I figured it would get me in the mood. Unfortunately it wasn't that funny, so I kind off wished I skipped it. Bart Freebairn and Greg Larsen were new here, and quite decent, but after that, the other 4 weren't that spectacular. Crowd : 4 - Me : 3
15.05.15 : The Axis of Awesome: Homecoming Kings : Enmore Theatre
I think this is a repeat of a previous, or a best off, so for me it was only good because I pretty much know it all. The crowd on the other hand were much more taken back with how good it was, and I think that was because they were new to joining the AoA funny train. I think there was a lot of first timers because the applause was much larger that I would have expected from regular fans. Crowd : 4.75 - Me : 4
15.05.15 : Mad Max - Fury Road - movie
Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi : Max must run from the warlord. It was amazing. The whole movie runs on it's look, and there hasn't been anything spared in making it look amazing. The attention to detail, the artistic direction, the cinematography, the imagination, the insane ideas, made it all look incredible - those CGI movies like Transformers could get pointers from it -. People complained afterwards that is was exhausting, because it was so intense for so long - it was basically a 2 hour action sequence -, and it even had my jaw on the floor for most of it - how people didn't die in the making of this film I don't know -. Who cares about the story, the look was way beyond imagination - imagine Tom Hardy fighting iOTA while he's playing a guitar while hanging off the front of a truck, you couldn't, but it did happened -. 5
14.05.15 : Lawrence Leung - The Escapist : Factory Theatre
All of Lawrence's previous shows have been absolute killers - so he is a must see -, but this one is a notch down on brilliant, and just plain good. Didn't do as much laughing, but still loved it. Magic based, with stories about his love of magic, mixed in with some historical facts about Houdini. Crowd : 4 - Me : 4
13.05.15 : Rhys Nicholson - Forward : Enmore Theatre
I was quite good. I wasn't a fan of his last show, because it was just travel stories from his trip to the US with hardly any zingers, but this is a return to form with shorter stories with lots of embellished gags. Even though my mind wasn't fast enough to get all the quick jibes, I still love the fast-talking back-handed comments he squeezes in. 4.25 - Me : 4
13.05.15 : Andrew McClelland - Overdressed & Underwhelmed : Enmore Theatre
Andrew's quirkiness has put together some brilliantly funny shows, but this ain't one. Half of the audience was giving decent laughs throughout, but for me I didn't find it funny at all. I found the first 2/3 tedious, with the last 1/3 the minimum that I need from a show to be acceptable. It seamed that the front half of the audience like it, but the back half was pretty quiet, and even though some of the audience laughed enough to sound like it was a high score, the final clapping was a weak 3.5. Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 1
08.05.15 : The Festival Club : Enmore Theatre
Neel Kolhatkar was a lot better than when I saw him in his early days
Nick Cody was killer funny with his thick-shake routine - I was seeing spots - .
Fiona O’Loughlin did here new material and it was darker and seemingly a bit bitter - and probably a bit drunk -, so gone was the fluffy fun old material and in was something a bit disturbing, but still quite funny.
Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 4
08.05.15 : Tom Gleeson - Live : Enmore Theatre
It wasn't as super killer funny as Tom can be, but since it's been so long since I have seen him live, and it was all new material, it was still quite good. Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 4
08.05.15 : Adam Richard - #FGT : Enmore Theatre
Not so much a comedy show per se, but more like a friend telling anecdotes about what he's been up to. I'm not sorry I went, because it was something quite different to what I'm used to. Not very laugh funny, but more interesting nice. Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3.5
07.05.15 : Steen Raskopoulos - Character Assassin : Factory Theatre
There has been comedy shows with some audience participation, but not so much that an entire show is based totally on audience participation. It's like it's a new genre of comedy show. Nobody in an audience likes being picked out for audience participation, and you could see it at the start of this show, but after a while everyone got into it and seemed to not mind that much when they found out it wasn't that hard. Even though everyone fears it, I have seen it work in Theatresports where after the crowd is loosen-up they do applaud more - sometimes Sydney audiences need a rocket up their asses -. Not as laugh out funny as the first show, but funny in a different way. Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 4
05.05.15 : Jane Simmons - 100 Points of ID : Factory Theatre
The very brief life story of Jane Simmons, with all those embarrassing ID photos from the past. I'm naturally going to like it because I'm invested after a decade of seeing her perform, but I was trying to pick a demographic that would be more attracted to this show. I wondered if it was an age thing, but both young and old people were laughing, and that's when it clicked, all the laughs were female. I suppose women can relate to disastrous fashion choices more, so they would naturally laugh more. It's a simple little show, that is quite nice. Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.75
05.05.15 : Avengers - Age of Ultron - movie
Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi : When Tony Stark and Bruce Banner try to jump-start a dormant peacekeeping program called Ultron, things go horribly wrong. It was all-right. 3.75
04.05.15 : Story Club - You're So Vain : The Giant Dwarf Theatre
There was no big celebrity draw-card this time, which has never make a difference to the quality, but the slightly annoying thing was an audience that was too lazy to clap. Social etiquette dictates that you should fake enthusiasm, at least at the start.
Ben Jenkins
Bridie Jabour (Journalist for The Guardian Australia)
Jordan Raskopoulos (The Axis of Awesome)
Phil Spencer (Playwright, Legend)
Tommy Dassalo (The Little Dum Dum Club podcast plus Telly Writer)
Zoe Norton Lodge
Crowd : 4 - Me : 4.25
This is a show for out-of-state teams to practice for tomorrows big show. They practised all the stuff they won't be using tomorrow, and that's the stuff I don't like. There was no Theatresports games, and familiar teams were split up so as to loose any magic they had. I hoped it would be different after a decade and a half, unfortunately it was exactly the same. It was about 10% funny. Crowd : 3 - Me : 1
30.04.15 : Erotic Fan Fiction : The Giant Dwarf Theatre
The place was full, and that got me wondering if anybody came in form the Sydney Comedy Festial, because to an outsider this show is pretty offensive. thankfully no one left or heckled so everyone was cool and knew this is all just fantasy.
Eddie Sharp did his horrendous Bindi Irwin/Irwin family one. It is funny, because I know what this show is about, but I'm not a fan of degrading young girls because they have enough image problems, You can see how one joke was latched onto by comics and repeated so much that it has gained hurtful proportions - comedy is not always innocent -
Brendan Maclean had Snuffleupagus auto-erotic asphyxiating Big Bird
Lewis Hobba did Stephen Hawking have virtual sex with Siri in a black hole
Henry Stone did Pokemons having sex. This went well with a crowd that didn't know all the Pokemons characters, so I wonder how it would go down in Carlo's Bonus Stage where everyone does - you would need a graphic warning first, because it's pretty graphic -
Nikki Britton did Kyle Sandilands f__king Rupert Murdoch
Catherine Deveny did Tony Abbott on George Pell on Gina Rinehart on Andrew Bolt
The night did taper because there was two political stories right after each other, but the rest was 4.5 crowd wise. Crowd : 4 - Me : 4
29.04.15 : Bonus Stage : The Giant Dwarf Theatre
The rain had no effect on this hard core bunch, because a big crowd turned up again. It's kind-off good because you don't really have to know about the actual game they are talking about - just that you've played a game - because you can work out what's being referred too on the fly. Like if they mention a character from a game that you don't know, when it's referred to with a politician you can work out it's an evil character. Details of some of the stuff I didn't know, so a slide/picture at the start would help, but there wasn't that much stuff I didn't get. An interesting thing that happened was that Stephanie 'Hex' Bendixsen (ABC2's Good Game) brought a large, mysterious, black suitcase with her that she didn't want to talk about, After a lot of probing by Carlo, we found out it was a test sample of a game that hasn't been released yet. But to keep it safe, the game is encrypted and embedded on a chip in a console, and the whole console is given to the give tester so that you can't get to the program even if it's stolen. Daniel Townes (Comedian & Cuckoo farmer) did a comedy routine using all his gamer gags, that went down a treat with this crowd - never seen Daniel that animated before -. There was a lot of show that just tapered a touch in the very last segment, but that ended before it was a problem. The only thing I would change is add and audience participation section, like last months pick the celebrity from a made up game character, but with the audience putting up their hand and trying to guess. Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 4
29.04.15 : Dr Karl Kruszelnicki-House of Karls: Knowledge is Power : Syd Uni
This one wasn't as scattered as the last one so you could follow it easier because things didn't chop and change all the time. There was a trade off because it was done by making things slower, so we didn't get as much stuff - it was mainly about that dress colour -, but at least the stuff was more thorough. The show started late, so it was cut short, and we did have a guest speaker that won an Ig Nobel Prize like Dr Karl that wasn't as good, but what can you do when it's a free show. Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.25
28.04.15 : Akmal - Lost : Factory Theatre
It's pretty much the same show, but there is enough ad-lib and new bits that it's still good. Crowd : 4 - Me : 4
28.04.15 : Lawrence Mooney - Surely Not! : Factory Theatre
It was so different to last year, that it was like it was a different comedian. This was the death show. Basically it was about him and his brothers going to England to finalise their Uncles estate. Not as funny as the last show, but good in another way. Crowd : 4 - Me : 4
23.04.15 : DeAnne Smith(CAN) - Get Into It : Factory Theatre
"Sex sells" is a crude way to say that all humans are naturally more accepting to cuteness, because that was the only reason I can come up with that would make me go see DeAnne again after being put-off by that terrible, falsely advertised rip-off trial show that I got sucked into going to 2 years ago. I also figured that the show must have been worked into something decent at the Melbourne Comedy Festival, so I took the risk. I can report that she is back to her usual form, and was very good. Crowd : 4 - Me : 4
22.04.15 : Mike Wilmot(CAN) : Enmore Theatre
He's such a big name, and always super funny on those TV specials, but tonight it just wasn't that funny. It was a terrible night due to all the rain, and only half a crowd turned up, but Mike still put in the effort in what was a value for money 1½ show. More swearing that clever, but it was ok. Crowd : 4.5 - Me : 3.5
10.04.15 : Fast & Furious 7- movie
Action, Crime : Deckard Shaw seeks revenge against Dominic Toretto and his family for his comatose brother. It still has that F&F amateur dumbness, so it's no work of art. The dumbness is a bit annoying, but when they stop talking it's ok. 2.5
07.04.15 : Story Club - Told You So : The Giant Dwarf Theatre
Ben Jenkins
Myf Warhurst (TV Lady, Writer, Double J Presenter)
Alex Lee (BuzzFeed Plus Telly)
Patrick Lenton (Writer of things inc. Book!)
Mark Sutton (Dr of Something)
Zoe Norton Lodge
Crowd : 4.5 - Me : 4.25
02.04.15 : The DUFF- movie
Rom Com : A girl discovers she is the DUFF (Designated Ugly Fat Friend) in her group of friends. There's nothing special about this film and there is barely a laugh in it, and even some would say it's average-ish, but I didn't mind it. Ok, but don't expect too much, especially if you're older. 2.75
26.03.15 : Rock With Laughter : Star Casino
Rash Rider(MC), Chris North, Sean Woodland, Mick Meredith. I don't know what happened, but it ended up a quiet one. The comics put the effort in, the crowd listened intently, but it was still mildish. Maybe the crowd was more reserved than usual, maybe the 2/3 crowd was too small, or maybe the comics are repeats for this crowd, either way it was ok but nothing special. Sean and the repeating Mick were good. 3
26.03.15 : Get Hard - movie
Comedy : A millionaire is nailed for fraud so he enlists a criminal to prep him for gaol. This is just a copy of the movie Big Stan(2007). I like Rob Schneider, but Big Stan was seriously unfunny. This is better and has laughs to the order of 2, but that isn't saying much because 1² is still 1, and that means this film is still pretty unfunny. Big Stan was so crude that it was off-putting, this one isn't as bad so it's only pretty unfunny. Lots of gags meet by dead silence. 1.5
25.03.15 : Big Head Mode-Bonus Stage : The Giant Dwarf Theatre
I didn't understand it, but I liked it. I was umming and ahhing, until I saw the promotion video that changed my assumptions from a dry gamer talk show to a game related variety show. It's basically a late night TV talk show - stole that from Carlo - that is game related. There was no boring discussions of game play, but what they actually did was find comedic things in games. There was a great opening monologue, but with game gags. There was a discussion of the most useless Pokemons with Ben O'Brien. There was a guess the game from the haiku. A gamer news report from Rae Johnston (Kotaku, Gizmodo, Lifehacker, Wonder Woman). Songs and parody songs from the band. Jordan Raskopoulos (The Axis of Awesome) telling the story of how he got hooked on Street Fighter. An inexperienced Ben playing SF, and getting mercilessly pounded to great amusement. Guess the celebrity from changes Ben was doing to a character in a game - Tony Abbott, Steve Buscemi -. A big crowd turned up and there was a lot of laughing, and because it had regular spaced gags that an outsider could understand, I found it quite good. Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 4
25.03.15 : A Game of Homes - How honeybees choose a nest : Syd Uni
Even though the title suggests bee behaviour, it was actually about how to model it mathematically. They picked social insects because it was one of the simpler, complex and random systems. There was a lot of observing bee behaviour, then coming up with maths to describe it, making hypothesis to fill in gaps, testing the hypothesis in the field, correcting the wrong parts, and then finally coming up with suitable maths to make the model realistic. What they observed was, when I nest gets overpopulated scout bees run through the next repeatedly flapping wings getting the other bees worked up until a swarm separates with the old queen to a temporary hanging swarm. Scouts then fly out looking for a new permanent home. When they return they walk in a straight line wagging their tails, with the length of the walk proportional to distance, the angle to the vertical the direction of the site, and the number of times they loop this walk equating to the quality of the site. If other nearby bees get excited by the dance they will fly to the site with the first bee, and if they like it they will fly back and do the same dance. The wagging/looping is the key to the quality of the site, less W/L attracts less bees to have a look, and lots of W/L makes lots of bees look. Professor Mary Myerscough is a great presenter that really knew how to engage and audience. The behaviour was interesting and something I could understand, but the maths was depressingly beyond me because I've become stupid. 3.75
24.03.15 : Bad Blood-Unravelling the Link between Gut Ischemia and Remote Organ Injury? : Syd Uni
That was not for the general public. Basically there were so many technical terms, that only people in the field would totally understand it. I thought they knew what Ischemia was - that's TV science for you - but it turns out to be highly complicated and not fully understood. This lecture is the current research that they are doing to try and find out the mechanism, and how to control it. Basically Ischemia is major organ failures after trauma. TV science said it's the body being poisoned by the RNA of bacteria after the white corpuscles the shredded them, but now it looks like just one theory. What they think happens from testing is after major trauma the body goes into fight or flight mode, sending all the blood, nutrients, and adrenaline to vital organs and the extremities. Unfortunately the first place it gets that from is the gut, and that weakens the gut so much that it releases a toxin. This toxin kills the platelets in the blood and they clump. Next the velocity of blood flow over the clumps shears the weak membrane of the dead platelets and spreads it's gluey fibrous remains all over the body. This glue then clumps everything, making massive amounts of blood clots in major organs and killing them one by one until the patient dies. 3
23.03.15 : Run All Night - movie
Action, Crime, Drama : A hitman has to protect his son from being killed by mobsters. Even though they dragged out another "father saves son from criminals" plot, it was still decent. Basic, but thankfully not annoying. Ok. 3
18.03.15 : Insurgent - movie
Adventure, Sci-Fi, Thriller : A girl must must try and over throw a dictatorship. I guess it was a long shot expecting a squeal to be equal or better than the original, because there has only ever been 2 of those. Slower, less action, and makes less sense, but at least it's still better than the Hunger Games. 2.75
18.03.15 : Focus - movie
Crime, Drama : A con-man takes on a girl as an apprentice. The biggest con is if anybody thinks this BS is believable. If you spot the hyped Hollwood BS early, it's 2 hours of being annoyed. I hated it, but if you believe it it's still average-ish. 1
17.03.15 : Top Five - movie
Comedy Romance : A comedian tries to make it as a serious actor when his reality-TV star fiancée talks him into broadcasting their wedding on her TV show. It's the classic case of " Just because you CAN do something, doesn't mean you SHOULD be doing it". Like Manny Lewis it proves that comics can write movies, but shouldn't. Also they both aren't funny, and both have the same twist. This movie is pretty Black-centric, so I didn't understand most of it, so it's a movie made for a minority that is being sold in a white demographic, which surprisingly was a major plot point in this movie. Clunky and a bit amateurish, but at least I wasn't bored. 2.75
16.03.15 : Manny Lewis - movie
Comedy Romance : The film follows the story of a famous fictional stand-up comedian Manny Lewis, who connects with millions of fans but finds it hard to connect to one person. It's more like a depressive, emotive, romance, comedy. A middle age depressed loner meets a girl. Not one for young people, but if you can empathise with the character it's a 3.5. Sparse and a bit simple, but the emotions it conjures keep it from being dull. 2.75
12.03.15 : Chappie - movie
Action | Sci-Fi | Drama : When one police droid, Chappie, is stolen and given new programming, he becomes the first robot with the ability to think for himself. It wasn't as bad(juvenile) as I was expecting. It's South African, so it doesn't have the gravitas of a Hollywood film - the bad guy wears shorts -, but you get accustomed to the quirkiness after a while. Not as significant as District 9, but better than the juvenile Real Steel. 3.25
11.03.15 : Confession Booth #10 : Goodgod Small Club
I've seen so many shows that there is no magic any more, and that makes little thing like being uncomfortable a deal breaker. After 45 minutes of sitting on a bench without back support it went from uncomfortable, to pain, to boredom, to depression, to wanting to leave. I found a better seat, but couldn't see - not a real problem -, but after recognizing the first 3 stories I decided to make an early start back home. The same as usual, but in a room that's uncomfortable for old people. Crowd : 4 - Me : na
11.03.15 : What Dead Animals Teach Us About Wildlife Conservation : Syd Uni - Macleay Museum
A more interesting talk turn up in the morning about microbes, but I couldn't unregister for this one so I had to go. It was about spotting pure dingos, so that people can shoot dogs and hybrid dog/dingos for the sake of conservation. We all think we know what a dingo looks like, but old specimens from museums showed that they were very different from what we see today. They weren't all sandy colour, their skull size has increased over time, the genome is very mixed, basically there are no markers to identify a dingo, and that makes it's hard to tell dingos from dogs, and impossible to tell dingos from hybrids. The thinking now is that dogs have a recessive gene and dingos have a dominant gene, so all hybrids are actually real dingos. 3.5
09.03.15 : Unfinished Business - movie
Comedy : A hard-working small business owner and his two associates travel to Europe to close the most important deal of their lives. Even though this is advertised as a comedy, I don't think it was ever intended as a comedy. Most of it is about a man that keeps getting punched in the face by life, so it's a bit sad, and that makes me think they were going for poignant more than comedy. Not funny, but not annoying, either way I wouldn't really recommend it. 2
08.03.15 : Sydney Camera Market : Ultimo Community Centre
That was a waste of time. I'm looking for a LCD screen for a digital camera, but this was mainly old stuff at high collector prices.
06.03.15 : Seventh Son - movie
Action, Adventure, Fantasy ; A boy becomes an apprentice to a ancient Knight. It's done well enough, it's just that it's nothing new. Got a little bored. 2.5
05.03.15 : Exploring the interrelationships between diet, the gut system and metabolic health : Syd Uni
Dr Yan Yan Lam is a Postdoctoral Research Associate within the Boden Institute of Obesity, Nutrition, Exercise & Eating Disorders.
Wow. That was amazingly detailed with thoroughly though out experiments delivered in logically blocks that made it very easy to digest. It was like a technical engineering paper but without the boring task of having to actually read it. What we learnt was that visceral fat, the apple body shape as opposed to the pear body shape, is intestine permeability with fat accumulating at the leaks to block them. Saturated fat is super bad for the body, n-6 polyunsaturated fat keeps you fat but doesn't affect your health as much, and n-3 fatty acids don't have any heath implications. If you change all your fats to only fish oil you stay thin and healthy. Fish oil supplements in a saturated fat diet only has a minimal effect, so don't do much if you are still consuming saturated fat. I was very surprised how they get such detailed results for such things like unpredictable wobbly flesh animals. 5
04.03.15 : Nerd Nite Sydney : The Arthouse Hotel
Dr Amy Reichelt - ARC DECRA Fellow Psychology. UNSW
Candy Crush - The dark side of delicious food.
It was testing high sugar diets on rats and observing their behaviour. The rats got addicted when they were young and would wrestle a lot, but when they got old they got depressed, solitary, and demotivated - they didn't even want to go and get more sugar -. The talk was ok, but it wasn't as detailed and logical as I would like. It was like vague facts floating in random order.
A/Prof Darren Curnoe - ARC Future Fellow. UNSW
Palaeolifestyle or palaeofantasy?
A/Prof Andrew Barron - ARC Future Fellow. Biological Sciences. Maquarie University
There is no evolutionary science that supports a paleo diet, and if anything it proves the exact opposite of what is essentially a fad based on a small simplistic, exaggerated, and now proven to be wrong, paper written in 1985. The talk debunked each claim one by one in a well set out and scientifically supported logical way - I always felt it was a stupid idea -. Good
Understanding honey bee colony collapse
Bee colonies die so fast and without warning, that the keepers don't notice the 2-3 weeks process because there is no apparent signs. Usually the old bees do all the foraging. But if something happens to them, the young nurse bees get called into action. Unfortunately because they are young they can't cope - they fly out and don't return - and the colony slowly starves, even though there is still a lot of bees around, and within a short time the colony is dead. This was also detailed and logical, so it was also good.
Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.75
02.03.15 : Story Club - Canary in the Mine : The Giant Dwarf Theatre
Ben Jenkins
Chas Liccardello (Chaser Man)
Lewis Hobba (Triple J Drive)
Nikki Britton (Super Funny Lady)
Susie Yousef (Also Super Funny Lady)
Zoe Norton Lodge
Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 4.25
26.02.15 : Rock With Laughter : Star Casino
The crowd was unusually quiet and attentive for a free comedy night crowd, and that made it good - I could hear everything -. Still not a fan of Tommy Dean(MC) mild ad-libbing - I wish he would stick to routine -, but Corey White - new to me -, Andrew Barnett, and Rhys Nicolson were good.
26.02.15 : Project Almanac - movie
Sci-Fi | Thriller : Time travelling sh!t. Filming from the perspective of a shaky hand held video diary camera absolutely killed the movie for me. It was so bad that it totally pissed me off, and made me hate every minute. The premise that someone would be holding a camera 24/7 is stupid, and the motion was so exaggerated it looked forced and totally idiotic. Also the dialogue is more for teens, because it's pretty lame. 1
20.02.15 : Jupiter Ascending - movie
Action | Fantasy | Sci-Fi : A girl and a genetically engineered warrior must stop a space tyrant. It looks visually good, but ultimately it's at a child's intelligence level. Plenty of action but no substance. 2.75
13.02.15 : Fifty Shades of Grey - movie
Drama | Romance : Literature student Anastasia Steele's life changes forever when she meets handsome, yet tormented, billionaire Christian Grey. It's not convincing because the premiss of the story is flawed, at least it is in this movie - I wonder if the book is clunky like this movie -. If you want to see a great sex based movie, go see Secretary(2002). No magic, just another movie. 2.5
12.02.15 : The Interview - movie
Action | Comedy : 2 celebrity reporters try to interview Kim Jong-un, and kill him. I thought this was going to be lame, because Seth Rogen is pretty unfunny, but it was ok. Seth was bad(unfunny-ish), but James Franco was good, making the film overall amusing. 3
09.02.15 : Kingsman: The Secret Service - movie
Action | Adventure | Comedy : A secret spy organization recruits a street kid. Nothing outstanding, but still watchable. 3.5
07.02.15 : V8 Supercars sydney.com SuperTest : Sydney Motorsport Park
A 4.6km walk spoilt by this cr@p.
06.02.15 : The Unexpected Universe : University of Sydney
There was no new surprising revelations, like twin Sun planets from the Dance of Planets talk, but it was interesting all the same. Mainly covered the historical discoveries using optical telescopes, followed by the progress of the new Giant Magellan Telescope they are building in Chile. The telescope isn't any new radical design that could go over budget using designs that haven't been invented yet, but instead a scaled up version of technologies that work now. It will have 7, 8.4 metre mirrors, totalling 24.5 meters(965"). They should have a 4 mirror version running by 2019, and the other 3 mirrors added by 2021. It uses sodium lasers to measure fluctuating atmosphere that instantaneously adjust the adaptive optics. And it weights about 1100 tonne. 3.75
05.02.15 : American Sniper - movie
Action | Biography | Drama : Hollywood version of Chris Kyle, the most lethal sniper in U.S. military history. I don't know what Clint Eastwood was trying to achieve because this movie isn't that good. A mishmash that is full of predictable clichés. 3
04.02.15 : Comedy(ish) : The Giant Dwarf Theatre
I was in Newtown so I thought I walk over to this one and see if I can get in. This is a comics new material night, so there is always a risk because none of the stuff has been worked out to guarantee laughs yet. Susie Youssef (Sketchual Chocolate) was the funniest in the first half - it was what I term real comedy, because it was just plain funny -. The rest of it was ok, but it just wasn't funny enough to distract me form the long late night walk back so I left before the second half started so that I could get a head start. Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3
02.02.14 : Free to a Good Home : The Giant Dwarf Theatre
Eddie Sharp (Versus on FBi) and Ben Jenkins (The Checkout, Story Club) were on fire with the quips. The first one of these I went to was good, but the second was 50/50, so I was hoping for a big crowd - more people make it funnier - just in case it was average like the last one. It looked a bit bleak audience wise, but just before the start it packed out to capacity - they well have to work out emergency seating next time -. There was an add for an actor to prank someone, but not for a TV, but for the one individual's personal amusement. A love listing for woman looking for man, who liked the way he ate cat food from a can. A guy that will write a fantasy stories about you for a price. An add of an actor for a one man play, where the actor didn't have to speak but had to urinate and masturbate on the stage. A funny Tiler looking for work, but who didn't want to actually do any work. A guy selling he Xbox 360, who was selling it because his wife left him because he played too many video games. And an add for Sydney Monorail carriages - down from $6000 to $3000 since I saw them at the start of last year -. All of it was good except a small spot at the end about Princess Dinah memorabilia, so I would say it was 90/10, and would definitely go again. Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.75
02.02.15 : The Theory of Everything - movie
Biography | Drama | Romance : The relationship between the famous physicist Stephen Hawking and his wife. This story redefines the term "It's Complicated", relating to relationships. The movie is heavily biased toward the disease and relation side, which is understandable because it's a much bigger part to the story than the public side we all see. 3.75
27.01.15 : Story Club - I Come From A Land Down Under : The Giant Dwarf Theatre
David Cunningham made me moist, The inclusion of Dave - he's always good value - was the only reason that I braved getting soaked in today's monsoon rain. Most of the stories are ones I've heard before, but tonight there were two new ones that made it better for me.
Ben Jenkins (The Checkout, Story Club) Ben failed miserably at sport, but excelled at his new found skill of Impro, Unfortunately his first appearance on the stage, turned into a bigger failure than all of his sporting ineptitudes combined.
Amanda Brotchie (Award Winning Director, Writer & Linguist) Amanda's grandfather was ahead of his time when he recognised in the mid 1900's what we know today, that every poison is a potential medicine, and every medicine is a potential poison. And the thing that differentiates the two, was the dosage - even water can kill you if you drink too much -. Unfortunately when a patient died with arsenic in his system, which his very effective eczema cream had but in such low a doses that it couldn't have caused the death, the authorities weren't interested in solving the mystery, but instead persecuting her grandfather.
Annabel Crabb (Kitchen Cabinet, V. Good Journo, Legend) Told of her transformation from serious journalist to tabloid journalist, who had to artificially sensationalise everything for readership, while doing her stint as a foreign journalist .
David Cunningham (History Enjoyer, Count Snackula Plus Funny) Again the star of the show, Dave told the hilarious tale of his fluctuating weight.
Adam Zwar (Award Winning Actor, Writer, Creator of Agony Aunts and Agony Uncles (ABC) Plus More) Rupert Murdoch visited Adam's house when he was very young, so that his father could write Rupert biography. When he got older he stared working for Rupert's BS newspapers, and that's when he realised what a BS paper it was.
Zoe Norton Lodge worked to annul her marriage when she used her hysterically funny acidic/sarcastic tongue to attack her husband's lack of handyman skills during his search for the WD50 - it's what he calls WD40, and was in big letters on the actual can he was holding - to fix a broken lock.
Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 4
22.01.15 : The Wedding Ringer - movie
Comedy : Two weeks shy of his wedding, a socially awkward guy enters into a charade by hiring a best man. It was a surprisingly good film. I thought it was going to be crap based on the trailer, because there wasn't any appealing elements in it, but it turned out to be fast paced, clever, and quite full of stuff. Get a coffee prior so you can keep up with the fast talking Kevin Hart. Good 3.75
21.01.15 : Comedy(ish) : The Giant Dwarf Theatre
Tom Ballard (MC), Scott Dooley, Daniel Townes, Michael Workman, Katie Burch, Sam Campbell, David Smiedt, Ray Badran, Becky Lucas, plus more...
I was annoyed that I missed Campfire Collective at the Sydney Festival - no event was posted -, so I intended on going to Late Night Library. But when I saw the lineup for Comedyish, it looked like a better proposition. Even though this is a new material night, the first half was very good because of all the pro comics. The second half was newer comics, so it waned a touch in the middle, but Sam brought it back spectacularly with his semi-drunk character delivery. Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.5
13.01.15 : Taken 3 - movie
Action | Crime | Thriller : Bryan Mills is accused of a ruthless murder he never committed. The only reason you go and see these movies is for the exceptional Luc Besson action. Unfortunately this is a step backward because there wasn't that much action, and it was pretty run-of-the-mill at that. 2.5
09.01.15 : Dumb and Dumber To - movie
Comedy : I don't think you could make a more unfunny film. Jokes so old there not funny any more, and no dumbness to make it semi funny. Avoid 0.5
05.01.15 : The Imitation Game - movie
Biography | Drama | Thriller : During World War II, mathematician Alan Turing tries to crack the enigma code with help from fellow mathematicians. Knowing most of the story diminished it for me somewhat, but overall it was still good. I sensed some fidgeting in the audience, so maybe they thought it was a touch long, but it wasn't that much of a problem for me. If I didn't know the story I would have given it a 3.75
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