MUSICAL MONDAY: Kaze no Anthem (Eve feat. Suis of Yorushika)

FLY YOUR GEEK FLAG HIGH AS TODAY IS OUR NINETEENTH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY!!!

The only sensible way to settle domestic discussions

Not only is May the 25th (the original) Star Wars Day Towel Day (in recognition of Douglas Adams and Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy), and The Glorious 25th of May for Terry Pratchett fans, but it also happens to be our nineteenth wedding anniversary!

Rachel and I were married in a Star Wars-themed wedding... on the anniversary of the day the original film made its debut in 1977.

The commercial hubbub around May The 4th as Star Wars Day grows every year, especially since the arrival of Disney Plus, and I'm not adverse to any excuse to celebrate all things Star Wars, but, ultimately, I'm an old school, orthodox, Jedi who will always mark May 25 as his Star Wars Day.

Rachel and I tied the knot at Salomons in Southborough (between Tunbridge Wells and Tonbridge), where I made sure all the guests' tables were named after planets from the Star Wars Universe.

Rachel's arrival music was the Imperial March (still her personalised ringtone on my phone... which always makes me giggle when she calls), and Darth Vader was our ring-bearer.

It was such an amazing day.

And the adventure continues... thanks to the love of my incredibly tolerant and understanding wife.

The Force is strong in Rachel, she supports most of my geeky whims and copes incredibly with the dramatic swings of my unpredictably variable physical and mental health.

Always by my side (metaphorically), she's definitely the best co-pilot since Chewbacca.

Nineteenth anniversaries are usually associated with "bronze", so I could have, for example, asked for something to do with Bronze Age gaming miniatures (yayyyy, Ancient Greeks!) or my favourite footballer, Lucy Bronze, but, as ever, our gifts to each other were an even more eccentric mix of our own hobbies and interests.

I got Rachel a collection of miniature weights (that really have some weight to them!) for her current dolls house project (a modern property), while she got me The Legend of Zelda Encyclopaedia.

Not that I play video games, but I thought this mighty tome would be a useful reference for the Twilight Sword RPG campaign I'm thinking about.

And it's a thing of beauty: so much information, so much world building. Perfect inspiration, no matter what fantasy campaign idea I finally settle on.

It's also weird to think - not that it's important because we both love our presents - that those tiny weights (and their stand) cost around the same price as my fully-illustrated, hardback, 325-page book!

Happy Anniversary To Us

Epic Trailer For New Season of Avatar: The Last Airbender

HEALTH UPDATE: Bloody Blood, Blood, Blood!

Photo by Anna Shvets

After last week's high score on my INR (International normalised ratio) finger-prick blood test, I breezed into this week's with a smile on my face, inwardly convinced that the radical change in my medication would have put things back on track.

Turns out this week I was below my target range! Although not by anywhere near as much as last week's had been over. Anyway, this necessitated another big change in my daily blood clotting medication, and a return appointment for next week.

Let's hope things can be gotten under control as I'm still concerned about how could affect my planned steroid injections for my osteoarthritis next month. 

But that wasn't my only medical examination this week. I also had my rescheduled eye exam - the one with eye drops and bright lights.

This more powerful procedure than my previous one a couple of weeks ago is called "slit lamp biomicroscopy surveillance". It allowed the medical expert conducting the test to look inside my eyeballs and give me an instant analysis of their condition. Rather than having to wait weeks, as with the earlier test.

Turns out my eyes are okay for a person of my advancing years. I believe there was a slight trace of cataract formation, but I was assured that was normal. And I know, with modern technology, if it does become an issue it can be easily treated.

I also have very small pupils, apparently, which I guess goes with my tiny, evasive, veins that phlebotomists, nurses, and doctors always have fun with when trying to draw blood.

So, that was good. The only drawback with that test was it took me the rest of the day, and a good night's sleep, for my eyes to recover from the eye drops and the extra-bright, invasive, lights that I had to stare, unblinking, into.

Horror Movies and The Mandela Effect

Wrath Of The Titans (2012)

The first thing that needs to be said about Wrath Of The Titans is that, even though far from perfect, it is leagues ahead of the ill-considered Clash Of The Titans remake that spawned it.

There's even a far more respectful cameo from Bubo The Mechanical owl (from the Harryhausen original Clash Of The Titans) that I took as a discrete apology for the horrors of the first movie.

A decade after the events of Clash reluctant hero, single-parent and demigod Perseus (Sam Worthington) is called out of retirement for one last job - his father Zeus (Liam Neeson) - has been captured by an alliance of Hades (Ralph Fiennes) and Ares (Edgar Ramirez).

They have struck a deal with  Kronos (mightiest of the imprisoned Titans and father of Zeus and Hades) to hold onto their power during the twilight of the gods.

Perseus teams up with Queen Andromeda (Rosamund Pike) and the rogue Agenor (Toby Kebbel), who happens to be the son of Poseidon, and embarks on a quest to free his imprisoned father.

This involves our heroes tracking down Hephaestus (Bill Nighy) - even though Andromeda, a Grecian Queen has no idea who Hephaestus is (!) - on a mysterious island overrun by Cyclops.

Bill Nighy turns in a totally bonkers performance as the weaponsmith of the gods, seemingly channelling Monty Python, but he directs the party of adventurers to the entrance to the labyrinth that leads to Tartarus, where Zeus is being held.

Yes, our heroes are going on a dungeon crawl!

Even though, ultimately, the labyrinth is a bit of a red herring (as everyone makes it through by luck and chance in the end anyway), it's still very impressive visually and certainly inspirational for those gamers who like their underworlds' mythic.

The gods of Wrath Of The Titans are treated like comic book superheroes (with some of the fight sequences reminiscent of big screen Marvel or DC outings), and there's a solid message buried in there that mankind can get on just as well without "gods", the labyrinth (as I've said) looks incredible and some of the monsters are very well realised (the Cyclops are particularly strong, even if the random four-armed, two-headed, demon-things that precede Kronos in the final battle are a bit blah).

There's a bizarre romance that's pretty much on a par with Faramir and Eowyn in Peter Jackson's Lord Of The Rings and a mild case of cheese involving Perseus' son Helius (John Bell) - but the main thing we come to a film like this for is monsters and fighting and there it delivers.

As eye-candy, Wrath Of The Titans is a treat - and it won't make your brain ache like Clash Of The Titans.

While the story may have very little basis in mythology (it's basically generic fantasy fare, but there's nothing wrong with that) this is a decent rainy afternoon movie for those who like this kind of B-movie.

Spider-Noir Swings Into Action This (Aunt) May

More Twilight Sword Material Delivered To Backers

Sasapurr, the Sulcat of Sagratta, is one of many NPCs you will meet in Lands of Radia

In Twilight Sword news, this week has seen the release to backers of the beta PDF of the "starter set".

This introductory package contains four ready-to-play quests on the mysterious, flying Twilight Island, complete with an basic rules set, character sheets for six pre-generated characters, and cards for monsters, equipment, NPCs, locations, feats and spells.

This week's update from publishers' Two Little Mice also added that an updated edition of the core rulebook PDF was also available, which includes new art, rules clarifications and additions, and more balanced monsters.

The next delivery winging its way to the 5,189 backers of the crowdfunding campaign for the anime/video game-inspired tabletop roleplaying game is due to be a beta release of the pdf of Lands of Radia, the example setting for the game.

This is due to arrive by the end of May.

"Ultimate Victory is Non-Negotiable"

Season Two was the fuel. Season Three is the fire. Go behind-the-scenes of the new season with co-creator and showrunner Ryan Condal, Emma D'Arcy (Rhaenyra Targaryen), Olivia Cooke (Alicent Hightower), Matt Smith (Daemon Targaryen) and more. Season Three of House of the Dragon premieres June 21 on HBOMax.