Took June and JY shopping for 'blades at the place where I bought mine. But to our disappointment, the shop was closed for the public holiday. Looks like 'blade buying will be delayed till Saturday, then.

To make up for their disappointment, I introduced them to Island Creamery. Ice cream is always good for a pick-me-up.

Dropped JY off at J8 where she wanted to do some shoe shopping... while June and I headed for Great World City to look at the pet store there and to catch the afternoon screening of Doom.

I have been salivating over the prospect of catching one of my fave videogames on the big screen for the last couple of weeks, though I knew enough not to expect too much from it. The game never had much of a storyline, anyway, relying more on dim atmospherics; the suspense of what's-behind-door-number-five; and sudden nasty surprises springing out of the darkness to keep things interesting.

The movie did have something of a storyline, at least more than, "if it breathes, kill it." The monsters (not that there were a whole lot of them, though) have a reason for being, the protagonist (Reaper) carries around a tragedy that haunts his past, and there's a very simplistic parallel between Sarge's approach to containing the infection problem and the hawkish US approach to containing terrorism. If you can't tell who's been infected, kill everyone; if you can't tell who's a terrorist, invade Afghanistan, Iraq, etc. Like I said, simplistic.

Most of the atmospherics have their origins in "Doom 3." The scenes and locations are dim and what can be seen is mostly only illuminated in the beams of the characters' unreliable flashlights. There's even a short segment of movie-time shot as a first-person-shooter with the same frenetic action of gunning down of whatever ugly thing pops into view. Thankfully, it's short.

Bit disappointed that the BFG9000 Sarge tots around doesn't seem as useful as it is in the game. For its firepower, its body count seems to be a Big, Fat, Geero, unless we count the accidental charring of Portman's body which happens to be in the line of fire the first time Sarge takes a pot shot with it.

Doom is ultimately a fan-boy's movie, unlikely to encourage any non-player to pick up the game. It's success will depend on the box-office. If takings are good, then maybe we'll see if Reaper and Sam return home to find "Hell on Earth."

After the movie, Chewie, who was supposed to join us 'blade shopping this morning, called me with info that Gallen Sports in Parkway Parade is offering Salomon 'blades in JY's and June's sizes for cheaper than usual. So that was how we rejoined JY in the evening, in search of that perfect pair of 'blades for the 2 girls. Unfortunately, the model Chewie got us excited about had already been sold out, so that was another fruitless shopping trip.

Amy joined us 3 for dinner at PastaMania, following which we got dessert from The Strudel House. There was a bit of a misunderstanding of our order and so the 4 of us got a slice of apple and a slice of strawberry strudel each, though we had intended to share only half that quantity amongst ourselves. Ate till bursting point, Amy and JY taking the leftovers home with them.

Took JY home after that. Long day.