Another podcast share but the episode with Nick Cummins this week on Grade Cricketer was excellent. He's clearly a very smart man. I just hope they use the privatization money well and grow the game. There's clearly pros and cons on both sides but at the end of the day the money will win out.

Another good Sports Bizarre this time on the history of Bathurst. I remember watching some classic Bathurst races with my brother and it was always something we looked forward to. Just a shame Holden isn't a thing anymore. Mum had a Holden Commodore station wagon so we were always going for Mark Skaife in this car.

About a week ago I picked up Nine Sols. It had good reviews and wanted to give it a go. The game is flawed in many ways but damn the combat is fantastic as the reviews stated. It really feels amazing to do some nice parrying on a powerful enemy. The bosses so far (I've only done 2) are brilliant as well. The music is solid and the art is beautiful.

The down side is that it doesn't run great on the Switch 1. It's getting to the point now where games aren't coming out on the Switch and performance is an issue. I feel like I'll need to upgrade soon. I'm also not a huge fan of the amount of dialogue. The story is okay but I just don't really care about it as yet.

I had a really solid round this week with an 81 in stroke play. I played really controlled golf with my hybrid off the tee and putted well.

Good simple solid golf.

Break 80 will happen!

This is one of those websites that brought a smile to my face.

Has to go down as one of the best grand finals of all time. That last 4 minutes will haunt Fremantle forever. I feel genuinely gutted for the fans.

This week I've learnt (accepted?) something about my golf game.

My 4-hybrid is a weapon off the tee. Even if I lose 30 metres of distance I find I can hit 90% of fairways throughout a good round.

It tends to put me in a decent spot to at least make my par score on every hole on the course.

My current technique really doesn't suit hitting woods. I really need lessons and constant practice to get better. I'm just too streaky and don't have the confidence I need.

I enjoy the freedom the hybrid off the tee gives me and I can constantly play stress-free golf.

I know I can break 80 with my hybrid off the tee technique.

I usually hit my irons good enough.

Where I can still be a bit poor is with the putter. If I can practice my putting and chipping and gain a few strokes there I'm in really good shape.

Maybe this is getting some gear like the Why Golf Putter Thing and hitting a bunch of putts on the practice green at the club. There is a practice chipping area as well and using it more often would probably be a smart thing to do.

I just don't really love practice. I way prefer being out there and having at least a 9-hole round.

Hope Man City get what's coming from them. It's been an interesting year with this and LIV golf blowing up.

I took some great photos of the pups over the last few weeks. It's the longest amount of time Tilly has ever stayed at our house so we went for some fun adventures.

This is really shaping up to be an exciting final day of singles matches. This format of golf is so awesome to watch.

The paintings with dogs by Briton Rivière are awesome. I'd love to go to an exhibition and view some of his work.

Finished off Mina the Hollower tonight. Awesome game and would highly recommend. Beautiful pixel art, music and game play. Happy I played though to the end.

It was a difficult game. There were times where it felt a bit too hard and I needed to read guides on how to get better. Once you levelled up the game felt much more fair for the last few bosses.

Thinking about trying out Nine Sols next now that I've almost finished Mina the Hollower. It seems right up my alley. The combat looks awesome.

Another fantastic sports bizarre this week with the story of the Burns Johnson fight. The fact the fight took place in Sydney and had such an impact on world sport is pretty amazing. Johnson was an amazing man and clearly was one of the best boxers of all time.

I also love the history of Sydney Stadium. What an atmosphere it would have been like to see a band or any boxing match here. Shame it wasn't kept in that location.

My two favorite post reaction shows. Upgrade for an Apple keynote and Arlo for a Nintendo Direct.

Well I got exactly what I wanted.

1. The iPhone Duo looks great, hoping it's a success, I really like the look of it in like a laptop mode, there could be quite a few use cases there
2. Zelda remake looks awesome, I'll 100% play it when I have a Switch 2, I quite like the art style, the full reveal trailer is fantastic
3. Metroid Ravenous looks perfect, exited for end of January to play it, again only Switch 2 so maybe this will need to be a Christmas present

It's a bit of a shame almost everything leaks before these events now though. There's no surprise anymore.

Hoping for the iPhone Duo. Excited for this weeks events both for Nintendo and Apple.

Some hopes for games: a new Metroid 2D and Ocarina of Time is a full remake with new content.

This is what I'm thinking for this spring in terms of the garden. I'm going all in on herbs.

Claude also gave me some good quotes on price.

Chives: 1–2 pots, $5–8 each
Mint: 1 pot, $5–8
Dill: seed packet, $3–5 (seedlings don't transplant well)
Basil (Nov): punnet of seedlings, $5–7
Rosemary: 1 pot, $8–15 depending on size
Thyme: 1–2 pots, $5–8 each
Oregano: 1 pot, $5–8
Sage: 1 pot, $6–10
Tomatoes (Nov): 4 seedlings, punnet $5–7 or $6–10 each if you buy named varieties in individual pots

All up somewhere around $60–90 for the herbs, a bit more if you go for larger rosemary/sage plants for a head start. Prices vary a fair bit between Bunnings and independent nurseries. 

My golf buggy sadly broke last week so I need a new one.

Not ideal given we never really have much expendable income.

What I like the look of are the Stinger carts. The Stinger SG-2 Compact seems really nice and is likely the one I'll get. It will be nice to have a proper phone holder and a sand bucket hook which I didn't have with the old cart.

I nice little hack I learnt for watching Top Gear last night. If you set your VPN to the UK and sign in to BBC iPlayer you get all the seasons.