So I saw some films last year that I never got around to commenting on (apart from the ones I saw on planes, see the travel blog for more), and some of them were quite good. Some of them were also downright terrible. I'll let you guess which.
Watchmen - Based on the Alan Moore/Dave Gibbons graphic novel of the same name. Some would say the most famous Graphic Novel ever, which just goes to show the graphic novel medium is a sadly closed off industry, as I only heard about it when they announced the movie. This is a shame, because the comic is pretty damn good, and should be read by anyone interested in the comic medium. (But read some other ones first. Magnum Opuses are generally downright terrible introductions to a medium)
The film is an astonishingly faithful to the original work, at times a shot for shot, word for word translation, which from a design and a technical point of view is probably to be commended. Unfortunately, being entirely faithful is not necessarily a good thing.
If a film is to be a film, it should be designed as a film. (I'm just going to keep using the word film excessively in this film discussion. Film.) If I wanted a 100% accurate version of Watchmen, get this, I would read Watchmen. Funny that.
The film is not bad by any means, but it is about 40 minutes too long, drags in a few places, and is too violent by half. (Dear Zack Synder. Stop being violent. You're missing the point of these comics. You did it in 300 too. Amazing tragic story of the death of the Spartans, and you turned it into a random gorefest. Just stop it.) Certainly it looks fantastic, and showed off the imax screen we saw it on in fine style. But the reason a gritty violent comic can be more gruesome than a film is that it is a visual static medium. It's one frame, and then you can get on with the story, suitably affected. In a film you have movement, you have sound effects, and because this is Zack Synder, you also have awful, unnecessary slow motion. Thank you Zack, I needed to see someone's cheek being bitten off in slow motion. I understand the story so much better now.
One thing the movie does get right is the ending. Rightly realising that the ending of the graphic novel wouldn't quite fly with a 2000 modern audience who are cool and cynical, they changed one small but key point in the ending, which actually enhances things significantly. Kudos, scriptwriter (whichever one was responsible, there were several. One of them wrote X-men. Is that a good thing?)
I was getting a little excited about Watchmen before it's release (thanks to buying and reading the Graphic Novel) and even though I didn't like the film all that much, I did discover several new properties which I did. Zack Synder's previous film 300 is bad in all the same areas as Watchmen (Directorial vision isn't intrinsically good), but Frank Miller's comic that it is based on is one of the best I've ever read. Alan Moore also wrote the Graphic Novel V For Vendetta which is very good, and which was turned into a film by the Wachowski Brothers (as script writers and producers) which actually manages to be better.
From there I went to Speed Racer, and that's when things started to fall down a little.
Rating: 2.5 out of 5. Another film review coming on Sunday.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Diary of a Mad Writer #4 - Oh, so they have the internet on computers these days?
Lots has happened since last update.
The play has been and gone, and if I do say so, been and gone quite well indeed. After a first week of empty theatres and slightly nervous performances, our second week was a great success, with large audiences, solid performances, and many a laugh. (From the audience, not from us, that would be weird) Although we were unable to break even, we did come mighty close, and I take that as a win. Compliments were received for both the writing and the performance, which certainly gives me hope for the future.
We've begun talks for our next production (which is likely to be the following year), and I have eagerly leapt into my next project, of which I will remain quiet for the moment as we are only in the early stages and announcing before we're ready is never a good idea, suffice to say it is a combination of several different smaller projects. Watch your computer monitors.
Currently I'm teaching myself a lot of new skills, as there are areas I want to move into that I have little to no practicaly knowledge about, so with the help of some text books and a few dvds, I'm slowly increasing my skillset, which will help with the projects in question, but also provide some long term open doors. It's a shame the software is so expensive, but ah well, can't be helped.
The play has been and gone, and if I do say so, been and gone quite well indeed. After a first week of empty theatres and slightly nervous performances, our second week was a great success, with large audiences, solid performances, and many a laugh. (From the audience, not from us, that would be weird) Although we were unable to break even, we did come mighty close, and I take that as a win. Compliments were received for both the writing and the performance, which certainly gives me hope for the future.
We've begun talks for our next production (which is likely to be the following year), and I have eagerly leapt into my next project, of which I will remain quiet for the moment as we are only in the early stages and announcing before we're ready is never a good idea, suffice to say it is a combination of several different smaller projects. Watch your computer monitors.
Currently I'm teaching myself a lot of new skills, as there are areas I want to move into that I have little to no practicaly knowledge about, so with the help of some text books and a few dvds, I'm slowly increasing my skillset, which will help with the projects in question, but also provide some long term open doors. It's a shame the software is so expensive, but ah well, can't be helped.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
I'm afraid your leg needs to be amputated, although it could just be a mild sprain...
About a week ago they offered free health checks at work, so I signed up.
Given that a work based health check is by nature mostly non invasive, and given they can only provide basic recommendation advice (generally either "See your doctor" or "Perhaps see your doctor"), what they were basically offering was a chance to get stabbed in the finger.
Ow.
Anyhoo, they did a glucose/cholesterol test, a waistline measurement and the old "put a balloon round your arm and call it a medical examination" blood pressure tests that have intrigued me since childhood. Everything checked out for the most part, cholesterol and glucose levels were fine, waistline well within normal range, and F&V intake slightly low but easily rectified.
What was above average was my blood pressure. An anverage over three tests put me into the medium/high risk for future development of cardiovascular diseases. Which sounds fun.
Given that there were environmental factors that may have increased blood pressure over normal levels I (Firstly that I had been having a rather stressful week and not sleeping much, and secondly that you had just stabbed me in the finger) I decided to wait a week before visiting the doctor until the world was a bit calmer.
As I waited for my local medical group to answer the phone a couple of days ago I came to an unfortunate realisation.
I had forgotten my docter's name.
This on the whole was exceedingly embarrasing to me for some reason, like forgetting the name of your distant uncle. In my defence since the last time I had been to the doctor I had travelled halfway round the world (and then halfway back again to go home), explored three countries, changed jobs, written a play and a half and spent the last week memorising about twenty minutes of dialogue but none of this really accounts for being completely unable to remember the name of the person tells me to open wide and say "Ah".
The conversation ran something like this:
Reception: Welcome to Moreland Medical Group.
Me: Hi, I need to make an appointment.
Reception: Have you been here before?
Me: Yes.
Reception: Ok, certainly. Which Doctor do you usually see.
Me: Um, which Doctors do you have?
Pause.
Reception: You're sure you've been here before?
Me: Yes.
Reception: Ok, well, we have Drs Cameron, Lynch, and Teo.
Me: Ok, could I see Dr Cameron please.
Reception: Certainly we have -
Me: (Realising I had picked the wrong Dr) No, wait! Dr Lynch please.
Reception: Are you really sure you've been here before?
Me: Honestly I am.
Reception: You don't sound sure.
Me: Dr Lynch please.
Reception: Certainly.
What compounds the matter further is over the years I had seen all three of these Doctors before, because when you feel terribly sick and work and your concious is insisiting you get a medical certificate you don't tend to be particuliarly choosy. But I'm trying to stay with a regular Doctor because it just makes things much simpler so it helps if I can remember which one is which.
Dr Cameron and Dr Lynch are (other than that they both share last names with film directors, the latter one of the worst and most hideous directors ever to grace the silver screen, the former sadly fallen from former greatness into the seething bubbling mire of mediocrity.) unremarkable in their quite competence. Dr Teo on the other hand, while also extremely competent, has the rather amusing/alarming habit of worst case scenario diagnosis. Specifically, he will start at the worst possible thing my symptons could even vaguely possibly point towards, and then work his way down to whatever minor affliction you possibly have. I have been diagnosed with 'a bit of a cough' with the opening sentence "Well, people your age don't normally have heart attacks," and then proceeding down the list of possible symptons (Including strokes, crushed lungs, and oddly enough tuberculosis) before finally concluding that I should probably take some cold and flu tablets, and leaving me far more likely to have a stress related attack than before I went to to the doctor, which on the whole can probably be considered a step backwards.
As I sat in the waiting room and idly read the posters on the wall and wondered if I should be concerned about posters saying that 1 of every 2 women in the room could suffer an osteoporosis related fracture if I was the only one in the room, I realised with a growing realisation that I had in fact, made an appointment with the wrong doctor. But nontheless, apart from his nomenclature relation to a film director who's films fill me with the fiery hate that burns with the fury of a thousand suns, he was a very polite and helpful doctor especially as I hadn't seen him in about four years.
The end result is that I've got to go off to get a few (expensive) tests done, as my blood pressure while down still creeps into the med/hi risk area. This wasn't so surprising a couple of years ago when I was overweight, not exercising, and generally making a pig's ear of this whole health thing, but given I am now in the normal weight category, do watch what I eat, and while I can't claim to be the most voracious exerciser I do at least get a lot of walking in every day, my blood pressure remains high.
This most likely means nothing at all. But because with all medical things there is always a niggling small "but on the other hand" there is an extremely minor chance that this is a symptom/could lead to development of some form of heart disease, I need to go and get tested. Hopefully it will be a collosal waste of money, but the potential of heading something off at the pass justifies the cost.
So we shall see, we shall see. But being told you're almost entirely healthy is still a good thing.
Given that a work based health check is by nature mostly non invasive, and given they can only provide basic recommendation advice (generally either "See your doctor" or "Perhaps see your doctor"), what they were basically offering was a chance to get stabbed in the finger.
Ow.
Anyhoo, they did a glucose/cholesterol test, a waistline measurement and the old "put a balloon round your arm and call it a medical examination" blood pressure tests that have intrigued me since childhood. Everything checked out for the most part, cholesterol and glucose levels were fine, waistline well within normal range, and F&V intake slightly low but easily rectified.
What was above average was my blood pressure. An anverage over three tests put me into the medium/high risk for future development of cardiovascular diseases. Which sounds fun.
Given that there were environmental factors that may have increased blood pressure over normal levels I (Firstly that I had been having a rather stressful week and not sleeping much, and secondly that you had just stabbed me in the finger) I decided to wait a week before visiting the doctor until the world was a bit calmer.
As I waited for my local medical group to answer the phone a couple of days ago I came to an unfortunate realisation.
I had forgotten my docter's name.
This on the whole was exceedingly embarrasing to me for some reason, like forgetting the name of your distant uncle. In my defence since the last time I had been to the doctor I had travelled halfway round the world (and then halfway back again to go home), explored three countries, changed jobs, written a play and a half and spent the last week memorising about twenty minutes of dialogue but none of this really accounts for being completely unable to remember the name of the person tells me to open wide and say "Ah".
The conversation ran something like this:
Reception: Welcome to Moreland Medical Group.
Me: Hi, I need to make an appointment.
Reception: Have you been here before?
Me: Yes.
Reception: Ok, certainly. Which Doctor do you usually see.
Me: Um, which Doctors do you have?
Pause.
Reception: You're sure you've been here before?
Me: Yes.
Reception: Ok, well, we have Drs Cameron, Lynch, and Teo.
Me: Ok, could I see Dr Cameron please.
Reception: Certainly we have -
Me: (Realising I had picked the wrong Dr) No, wait! Dr Lynch please.
Reception: Are you really sure you've been here before?
Me: Honestly I am.
Reception: You don't sound sure.
Me: Dr Lynch please.
Reception: Certainly.
What compounds the matter further is over the years I had seen all three of these Doctors before, because when you feel terribly sick and work and your concious is insisiting you get a medical certificate you don't tend to be particuliarly choosy. But I'm trying to stay with a regular Doctor because it just makes things much simpler so it helps if I can remember which one is which.
Dr Cameron and Dr Lynch are (other than that they both share last names with film directors, the latter one of the worst and most hideous directors ever to grace the silver screen, the former sadly fallen from former greatness into the seething bubbling mire of mediocrity.) unremarkable in their quite competence. Dr Teo on the other hand, while also extremely competent, has the rather amusing/alarming habit of worst case scenario diagnosis. Specifically, he will start at the worst possible thing my symptons could even vaguely possibly point towards, and then work his way down to whatever minor affliction you possibly have. I have been diagnosed with 'a bit of a cough' with the opening sentence "Well, people your age don't normally have heart attacks," and then proceeding down the list of possible symptons (Including strokes, crushed lungs, and oddly enough tuberculosis) before finally concluding that I should probably take some cold and flu tablets, and leaving me far more likely to have a stress related attack than before I went to to the doctor, which on the whole can probably be considered a step backwards.
As I sat in the waiting room and idly read the posters on the wall and wondered if I should be concerned about posters saying that 1 of every 2 women in the room could suffer an osteoporosis related fracture if I was the only one in the room, I realised with a growing realisation that I had in fact, made an appointment with the wrong doctor. But nontheless, apart from his nomenclature relation to a film director who's films fill me with the fiery hate that burns with the fury of a thousand suns, he was a very polite and helpful doctor especially as I hadn't seen him in about four years.
The end result is that I've got to go off to get a few (expensive) tests done, as my blood pressure while down still creeps into the med/hi risk area. This wasn't so surprising a couple of years ago when I was overweight, not exercising, and generally making a pig's ear of this whole health thing, but given I am now in the normal weight category, do watch what I eat, and while I can't claim to be the most voracious exerciser I do at least get a lot of walking in every day, my blood pressure remains high.
This most likely means nothing at all. But because with all medical things there is always a niggling small "but on the other hand" there is an extremely minor chance that this is a symptom/could lead to development of some form of heart disease, I need to go and get tested. Hopefully it will be a collosal waste of money, but the potential of heading something off at the pass justifies the cost.
So we shall see, we shall see. But being told you're almost entirely healthy is still a good thing.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Diary of a Mad Writer #3 - I'll sleep when I'm... tired?
Tiredness is becoming a big part of my day.
There has been some improvement since we changed the script, as I'm no longer losing sleep over the impending poor production, now I'm just losing sleep over the impending looking quite good production as I want it do well. Add in new work hours and a reasonably hectic schedule of late and you've got a recipe for... zzz...
Ok I'm back.
To be honest, tiredness is improving greatly, the play is moving forward ahead of schedule and lines are being learnt and blocking is being planned. Fingers crossed we'll have a good production come April 6. The cast definately have the skills, we just need to get there.
It is exciting to be working on first real project since the priorities adjustment of 2009, but the short time frame is definately taking its toll. After the play is completed I am looking to roll back to a slower paced writing schedule, and focus on some of the non performance pieces (although the TV show remains a high priority and the scripts are to be completed by June).
I think for a change of pace I will work on the Zombie survival project next, it'll give me a chance to teach myself Flash (something I've wanted to learn for awhile), which will also work for the upcoming redesign of http://www.fishinblack.com/.
It will also justify the money I spent on teach yourself Flash and ActionScript3.0 text books, but that's another story...
Once TV scripts and Zombie project are completed, work will start in ernest on one of the novels.
Good to have a plan.
There has been some improvement since we changed the script, as I'm no longer losing sleep over the impending poor production, now I'm just losing sleep over the impending looking quite good production as I want it do well. Add in new work hours and a reasonably hectic schedule of late and you've got a recipe for... zzz...
Ok I'm back.
To be honest, tiredness is improving greatly, the play is moving forward ahead of schedule and lines are being learnt and blocking is being planned. Fingers crossed we'll have a good production come April 6. The cast definately have the skills, we just need to get there.
It is exciting to be working on first real project since the priorities adjustment of 2009, but the short time frame is definately taking its toll. After the play is completed I am looking to roll back to a slower paced writing schedule, and focus on some of the non performance pieces (although the TV show remains a high priority and the scripts are to be completed by June).
I think for a change of pace I will work on the Zombie survival project next, it'll give me a chance to teach myself Flash (something I've wanted to learn for awhile), which will also work for the upcoming redesign of http://www.fishinblack.com/.
It will also justify the money I spent on teach yourself Flash and ActionScript3.0 text books, but that's another story...
Once TV scripts and Zombie project are completed, work will start in ernest on one of the novels.
Good to have a plan.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Diary of a Mad Writer #2 - Thinking of the future, thinking of now.
As I type this journal, the first thought to go through my head is my life is very different to how it was a day ago.
Actually that's not true in any capacity, I thought no such thing, and my life is much the same as yesterday, it just seemed like a good opener.
Another night that was low on sleep, largely due to the remnants of a cold that will hopefully be realising it's outstayed it's welcome any day now, but also because my brother is buying a new computer and is very excited (understandably) and is frequently seeking my advice. This is very flattering as he obviously feels I 'know stuff', at least when it comes to choice of computer hardware, but does mean I am assaulted at all hours with questions such as "But can the 5870 out perform the 4870, when direct x11 products have not even been released yet?" He's very considerate and doesn't bother me once I've gone to bed but woe betide me should I wander past the study to take some pain killers, as he'll humbly ask if I can run over the latest build for him, and I haven't the heart to say no.
Emboldened by a large cup of caffeine; I thought I would update everyone on where I stand creatively at the moment.
Current and Future projects:
1 Play (Current main project)
3 Novels (2 active, 1 archived)
3 TV Shows (2 active, 1 future development)
1 Flash Game (In Learning phase)
In reverse order:
Flash Game - The Dead Shall Walk.
Surival Horror game inspired by older games such as Sword of the Samurai and The Oregon Trail. A slow paced game about the preperation and execution of your escape from an invading zombie horde. Choosing which supplies to take and leave behind, whether to use faster but noisier transport, whether to fight or to run, whether to travel into the day and risk being spotted or lose time and supplies by waiting till nightfall. A learning project in order to teach me Adobe Flash and Action Script 3.0.
TV Shows - 2 Comedy/Dramas, 1 Review Show.
These are projects created by a collegue of mine that I have been recruited for to assist in a writing/acting capacity. More will be revealed once they have moved further into production.
Novel - MI8
Not in active production, but an old project I intend to return to. Crime Thriller with a supernatural twist, this story deals with the fictional MI8 division of British security, that handles magical crimes. The story of a Witch Finder and his companion Witch Smeller, and their attempts to uncover an alchemy crime ring. Delves into the Witch Smellers and their origins. The first twelve chapters can be read at http://thefibber.deviantart.com/
Novel - The Great Red
Murder Mystery set on the Indian Pacific, a train that runs from Sydney to Perth through the Nullabor Plain. Theft and eventual murder breaksout on the train, and everyone assumes it must be an inside job as the crimes occur during the middle of the desert. But all is not as it seems...
Novel - Midas
Fantasy Adventure set in the dream world of Midas, a girl who disappears into her dreams when her boyfriend is turned into a tree due to magic leaking through from the dream, and attempts to wake the princess before reality collapses. All in day's work.
Play - A Guy, A Girl, Two Fruitcakes.
Situation Comedy about 2-3 nights in the lives of three people, each 7 years apart. Extremely silly and farcical, full of rapid fire dialogue and humour. An extended version of a previous short play that was performed in 2003. The play is scheduled to be performed in April at the Mechanic's Institute in Brunswick.
The big change is less than 24 hours ago, this was not the play we wre going to be perfomring.
Since the end of January I and my two collegues have been working on a script entitled "Scarred For Life" which we had developed after a previous production had fallen through due a lack of suitable actors. The basic premise was a girl, oppressed by her controlling father, retreated into her own little fantasy world, inspired by the fairy tales of old.
After 4 drafts and back and forthing we eventually sat down to a meeting yesterday and had to admit the harsh and unfortunate truth that the script simply wasn't working. Faced with the option of either performing a lacklustre script or cancelling production, we instead turned to our backlog of old works, and discovered, in one of those "why didn't we think of this earlier, no, really, WHY didn't we think of this earlier?" moments a script I had previously written, which was performed in 2003 as part of a short lived living room theatre group, which sort of fell of the wagon when real productions became a possibility, and a lack of availability from a university based acting community.
It was short, it was funnier than our existing script, and it called for the bare minimum of props and only three actors (which is how many actors we had). In short, it suited our needs perfectly. Plans were made to extend it to a full length 40-60 minute play, and we were back on track.
The fairy tale script has promise in premise (or premise in promise?) and after extensive rewrites, replanning and a complete change of track, may still see the life of day in the future. but certainly not in it's current form.
So there is plenty to keep me busy over the next 12-24 months while I pursue this writing thing.
I am starting to feel the drag from lack of sleep so I'm off to make another cup of I-really-can-believe-it's-not-coffee.
Actually that's not true in any capacity, I thought no such thing, and my life is much the same as yesterday, it just seemed like a good opener.
Another night that was low on sleep, largely due to the remnants of a cold that will hopefully be realising it's outstayed it's welcome any day now, but also because my brother is buying a new computer and is very excited (understandably) and is frequently seeking my advice. This is very flattering as he obviously feels I 'know stuff', at least when it comes to choice of computer hardware, but does mean I am assaulted at all hours with questions such as "But can the 5870 out perform the 4870, when direct x11 products have not even been released yet?" He's very considerate and doesn't bother me once I've gone to bed but woe betide me should I wander past the study to take some pain killers, as he'll humbly ask if I can run over the latest build for him, and I haven't the heart to say no.
Emboldened by a large cup of caffeine; I thought I would update everyone on where I stand creatively at the moment.
Current and Future projects:
1 Play (Current main project)
3 Novels (2 active, 1 archived)
3 TV Shows (2 active, 1 future development)
1 Flash Game (In Learning phase)
In reverse order:
Flash Game - The Dead Shall Walk.
Surival Horror game inspired by older games such as Sword of the Samurai and The Oregon Trail. A slow paced game about the preperation and execution of your escape from an invading zombie horde. Choosing which supplies to take and leave behind, whether to use faster but noisier transport, whether to fight or to run, whether to travel into the day and risk being spotted or lose time and supplies by waiting till nightfall. A learning project in order to teach me Adobe Flash and Action Script 3.0.
TV Shows - 2 Comedy/Dramas, 1 Review Show.
These are projects created by a collegue of mine that I have been recruited for to assist in a writing/acting capacity. More will be revealed once they have moved further into production.
Novel - MI8
Not in active production, but an old project I intend to return to. Crime Thriller with a supernatural twist, this story deals with the fictional MI8 division of British security, that handles magical crimes. The story of a Witch Finder and his companion Witch Smeller, and their attempts to uncover an alchemy crime ring. Delves into the Witch Smellers and their origins. The first twelve chapters can be read at http://thefibber.deviantart.com/
Novel - The Great Red
Murder Mystery set on the Indian Pacific, a train that runs from Sydney to Perth through the Nullabor Plain. Theft and eventual murder breaksout on the train, and everyone assumes it must be an inside job as the crimes occur during the middle of the desert. But all is not as it seems...
Novel - Midas
Fantasy Adventure set in the dream world of Midas, a girl who disappears into her dreams when her boyfriend is turned into a tree due to magic leaking through from the dream, and attempts to wake the princess before reality collapses. All in day's work.
Play - A Guy, A Girl, Two Fruitcakes.
Situation Comedy about 2-3 nights in the lives of three people, each 7 years apart. Extremely silly and farcical, full of rapid fire dialogue and humour. An extended version of a previous short play that was performed in 2003. The play is scheduled to be performed in April at the Mechanic's Institute in Brunswick.
The big change is less than 24 hours ago, this was not the play we wre going to be perfomring.
Since the end of January I and my two collegues have been working on a script entitled "Scarred For Life" which we had developed after a previous production had fallen through due a lack of suitable actors. The basic premise was a girl, oppressed by her controlling father, retreated into her own little fantasy world, inspired by the fairy tales of old.
After 4 drafts and back and forthing we eventually sat down to a meeting yesterday and had to admit the harsh and unfortunate truth that the script simply wasn't working. Faced with the option of either performing a lacklustre script or cancelling production, we instead turned to our backlog of old works, and discovered, in one of those "why didn't we think of this earlier, no, really, WHY didn't we think of this earlier?" moments a script I had previously written, which was performed in 2003 as part of a short lived living room theatre group, which sort of fell of the wagon when real productions became a possibility, and a lack of availability from a university based acting community.
It was short, it was funnier than our existing script, and it called for the bare minimum of props and only three actors (which is how many actors we had). In short, it suited our needs perfectly. Plans were made to extend it to a full length 40-60 minute play, and we were back on track.
The fairy tale script has promise in premise (or premise in promise?) and after extensive rewrites, replanning and a complete change of track, may still see the life of day in the future. but certainly not in it's current form.
So there is plenty to keep me busy over the next 12-24 months while I pursue this writing thing.
I am starting to feel the drag from lack of sleep so I'm off to make another cup of I-really-can-believe-it's-not-coffee.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Diary of a Mad Writer #1 - It was early and I was tired
As I type this journal, the first thought to go through my head is my life is very different to how it was a year ago.
Actually that's not entirely true. In fact almost none of it is entirely true, so allow me to clarify. While my life is indeed very different to a year ago, it is also different to three months ago, and since I only got 4 and a half hours sleep last nigtht, in fact the first thought to go through my head is bluuururughgh buh... huh... what? Only after fighting past that initial incoherence do I arrive at anything approaching the philosoophical.
Still, as I count down the minutes until I click "Log in" and begin my day job work (at which point my behaviour will not change very much) and sip idly at my boiling hot cup of international roast (I am my mother's son and could never bring myself to refer to it as coffee), I can't help but agree with myself. My life is very different to how it was a year ago. On the whole this is for the better.
A year ago, I was a Team Leader in a call centre working for a company that worked for a leading telecommunications company (or "telco" if you're in the biz, apparently). On the whole I enjoyed being a supervisor. I got to work with people more than I worked with customers - the key difference being I could see my employees - and my pragmatism, compined with a loyalty to my staff unto death and a depressingly encyclopedic knowledge of systems and product information meant that my staff and fellow employees seemed to hold me in a flattering but bafflingly devoted light. I was earning more money than I knew entirely what to do with, and life, for all outward appearances, appeared to be good.
Except, I began to realise, it wasn't. While being a Team Leader was in many ways satisfying work, I would be lying if I said it was what I hoped to achieve in life. Everyone expected me to progress further into the company, up to a Project Manager and beyond, and I didn't have the heart to tell them that I had absolutely no interest in this kind of work. The higher up the chain you go, the less people you work with, and the more the work becomes finance and contracts focussed, topics of which I will say nothing for fear of causing offence.
At the risk of sounding artistic and whiney, it has always been my dream to write, act, and direct, otherwise be involved in the creative arts. It's something I hold a great passion for, and something I (at the risk of sounding immodest, which is thoroughly unlike me) feel I have a talent for.
The earliest thing I remember writing is a story about my soft toy Spot dog, and one of the thrilling plot twists contained within was I once went to bed and cuddle my soft toy all night! (since then we've sadly fallen out of touch) This was followed by the hilarious "Sam's joke book" of which I can sadly (or fortunately) only remember one joke which follows:
Q: Why did the buildings roll all the vehicles flat?
A: Because they wanted to play cars!
Do you see? Do you see what I did there? It's like, cards, as in playing cards, only I've left out the d, you see, so now it's cars! Cars!
This only goes to show that you're never to young to pun, and badly at that. Some would argue since then my punning skills have only decreased.
The earliest thing I remember acting in was a play of the fairy tale "The Worn Out Shoes" (and therefore it is somewhat fitting that my current project is putting the finishing edits to a play that featurs a retelling of this story) which was put on by my grade 4 class. Our art/drama teacher in primary school was a delightful old soul who believed that the old tales were at their best when they were at their bloodiest. Spurred into a bloodlust by the recently released Beauty and the Beast by disney, he embarked our class on a serious of fairy tale projects, some art, some drama, spurring us on with the uplifting mantra: "Don't forget the blood!"
After grade 4 this teacher sadly departed for better prospects and was replaced by a new teacher who while no less skilled, was far less bloody and therefore far more boring. We did however put on two excellently entertaining (from the perspective of people who were in them, the audience's perspective may differ somewhat) productions in grade 5 and 6, "The Sign of The Seahorse", based on the book by Graeme Base, and "The Pagemaster", based on the book by someone or other, and several years before the lacklustre film. Seahorse was a wonderful meld of puppetry and costumes, and in Pagemaster I was lucky enough to play the lead, forcing me to wear glasses for the part and hinting at my future optical impairment (and nerdom).
It was during this production of Pagemaster that I did my first ever directing (if you can call it that) when, at the humble age of 11, I began to coach the other actors on performance and staging. I didn't really notice I was doing this at first, it just sort of happened, and I first realised I had taken on this role after this memorable exchange:
Me: How about we both be a little angrier?
Other Kid: How about you shut up?
I was, of course, a little more subdued after this particuliar conversation, no matter that they quite clearly took my advice to heart.
So, even when i was a child, this is what I wanted to do. And so it was with a bit of a shock that I suddenly found myself working full time as a supervisor in a call centre 14 years later. My creative exploits (short films, stories and an online comic) had dried up as the exertion of managing full time had begun to take it's toll. My holidays were no longer to go and do a project or go travel somewhere, they were to sit at home and do nothing until I got my energy back. The evenings when I had so confidently claimed I would be doing all my creative work, were spent tiredly procrastinating before retiring to bed and oversleeping. What's more, having a large disposal income was proving to be thoroughly too tempting, and I was not only spending most of my funds on random purchases, thanks to a credit card I was spending more than my income on them. Combined with the late hours, I wasn't eating properly, and my health was suffering as a result.
This, coupled with the fact that my work had recently doubled in size and were about to change it's archaic but functional computer system to a new, swish, pretty but entirely less functional one, and the fact that I was shouldering most of the weight myself until the new supervisor got up to speed, left me convinced that a bit of a change was in order.
I made plans. Given that this is me and I'm not particularly spontaneous in many respects, there were fairly long term ones.
First, I would slog through the recruitment and system changes at work, because say what else you like about me, but I will not abandon my workplace in it's hour of need. But once the project had found its feet, I would quietly withdraw.
Second, I started planning a holiday. A proper holiday. One of my oldest friends was coming to the end of their 18 month stint overseas, and I had been vaguely planning for most of that 18 months to go and see them at some point. So we made plans for me to visit them over Christmas. (you can read about this in my earlier blog entries)
Third, I refinanced my personal loan, paid off a lot of my other debt, bought my plane tickets, and began to save in ernest. (I also borrowed a little more and also bought a tv, but nobody's perfect)
Four, I changed my diet, replacing one of my meals each day with a meal substitute, cutting down on the amount of take away I was consuming, and ensuring what I was eating was healthy and covered the basic vitamin requirements.
Five, I started a blog. I decided one of the best ways of getting writing again was to, well, start writing. I decided it didn't entirely matter what I wrote about so long as I was actually writing, and nothing says "doesn't entirely matter" better than a blog does. Once I had changed jobs to part time, I intended to begin writing again properly.
Now, life is a fluid and flexible thing, and almost none of the above plans went entirely to, well, plan.
Work did indeed eventually find its feet, but only after doubling in size and completely changing its method of business, and then downsizing because it became too efficient to employ all the people it had recently hired. I was honest and upfront with work about my plans to eventually depart (something that surprised them, but they appreciated), and accepted an on phones position rather than kicking out another team leader, and then leaving anyway. They very kindly kept me on as a casual but with full time hours (something that cost them a great deal of money in wages and something they were under no obligation to do), which enabled me to increase my savings for my holiday. After my return (literally, right after my return) I was recommended by a friend to another position in part time accounts for another call centre, and was successful. Work was sorry to see me go after nearly five years with them, and gave me a suitable fairwell of which I am still eternally grateful.
My finances were for a time greatly improved, and I successfully saved enough funds to be able to have a affordable but largely unhindered holiday around the UK. However an error on the part of the scottish youth hostel association left me out of pocket approximately seven hundred and fifty dollars, and due to the nature of the travel card I had stored my money on, I was unable to use it to pay off the resultant credit card debt this created, which unfortunately increased the amount owing on the credit card. (This was also increased by what can only be referred to as an incoherent spending spree brought on by holiday euphoria). The new part time work is a mixed blessing, offering far less funds per week, but as an upshot my budgeting is vastly improved, and brining my lunch from home has dropped my daily expenditure to effectively zero.
My diet has now improved, but did not straight away, as one of the offshoots of working casual with full time hours is I had to do the 11:30 finishes at work until my holiday. These paid well and I didn't mind work late hours, but it is very very hard to eat well when the meal you need to eat at work is your dinner. The options are either to eat sandwiches for dinner or get takeaway, and I will be honest and say the latter happened the majority of the time. It is only now with part time shifts and finishing mid afternoon that diet has finally settled down to a fixed and healthy pattern.
The blog has been hit and miss, I updated consistently for the first month, then fell off a little til my holiday, during which time I blogged regularly (because there is so much more to talk about when you're on a new continent), then fell back while I organised changes of positions and new plans for the year.
The holiday, however was a complete success. Amazing and restful.
I ruminated on all these plans as I walked to work from the station this morning, while walking past the breakfast places, smelling the freshly fried bacon, and cursing my new healthy diet and the budget that makes it so easy to adhere to.
With a new job, a new budget, and copious new amounts of free time, I feel finally able to pursue some of the things I've always wanted to pursue.
Near work someone had spray printed a single snowflake onto the ground, which seems bizarre in itself, but they'd also printed below that the optimistic sentence "It's snowing!"
On the whole I found that oddly uplifting.
Actually that's not entirely true. In fact almost none of it is entirely true, so allow me to clarify. While my life is indeed very different to a year ago, it is also different to three months ago, and since I only got 4 and a half hours sleep last nigtht, in fact the first thought to go through my head is bluuururughgh buh... huh... what? Only after fighting past that initial incoherence do I arrive at anything approaching the philosoophical.
Still, as I count down the minutes until I click "Log in" and begin my day job work (at which point my behaviour will not change very much) and sip idly at my boiling hot cup of international roast (I am my mother's son and could never bring myself to refer to it as coffee), I can't help but agree with myself. My life is very different to how it was a year ago. On the whole this is for the better.
A year ago, I was a Team Leader in a call centre working for a company that worked for a leading telecommunications company (or "telco" if you're in the biz, apparently). On the whole I enjoyed being a supervisor. I got to work with people more than I worked with customers - the key difference being I could see my employees - and my pragmatism, compined with a loyalty to my staff unto death and a depressingly encyclopedic knowledge of systems and product information meant that my staff and fellow employees seemed to hold me in a flattering but bafflingly devoted light. I was earning more money than I knew entirely what to do with, and life, for all outward appearances, appeared to be good.
Except, I began to realise, it wasn't. While being a Team Leader was in many ways satisfying work, I would be lying if I said it was what I hoped to achieve in life. Everyone expected me to progress further into the company, up to a Project Manager and beyond, and I didn't have the heart to tell them that I had absolutely no interest in this kind of work. The higher up the chain you go, the less people you work with, and the more the work becomes finance and contracts focussed, topics of which I will say nothing for fear of causing offence.
At the risk of sounding artistic and whiney, it has always been my dream to write, act, and direct, otherwise be involved in the creative arts. It's something I hold a great passion for, and something I (at the risk of sounding immodest, which is thoroughly unlike me) feel I have a talent for.
The earliest thing I remember writing is a story about my soft toy Spot dog, and one of the thrilling plot twists contained within was I once went to bed and cuddle my soft toy all night! (since then we've sadly fallen out of touch) This was followed by the hilarious "Sam's joke book" of which I can sadly (or fortunately) only remember one joke which follows:
Q: Why did the buildings roll all the vehicles flat?
A: Because they wanted to play cars!
Do you see? Do you see what I did there? It's like, cards, as in playing cards, only I've left out the d, you see, so now it's cars! Cars!
This only goes to show that you're never to young to pun, and badly at that. Some would argue since then my punning skills have only decreased.
The earliest thing I remember acting in was a play of the fairy tale "The Worn Out Shoes" (and therefore it is somewhat fitting that my current project is putting the finishing edits to a play that featurs a retelling of this story) which was put on by my grade 4 class. Our art/drama teacher in primary school was a delightful old soul who believed that the old tales were at their best when they were at their bloodiest. Spurred into a bloodlust by the recently released Beauty and the Beast by disney, he embarked our class on a serious of fairy tale projects, some art, some drama, spurring us on with the uplifting mantra: "Don't forget the blood!"
After grade 4 this teacher sadly departed for better prospects and was replaced by a new teacher who while no less skilled, was far less bloody and therefore far more boring. We did however put on two excellently entertaining (from the perspective of people who were in them, the audience's perspective may differ somewhat) productions in grade 5 and 6, "The Sign of The Seahorse", based on the book by Graeme Base, and "The Pagemaster", based on the book by someone or other, and several years before the lacklustre film. Seahorse was a wonderful meld of puppetry and costumes, and in Pagemaster I was lucky enough to play the lead, forcing me to wear glasses for the part and hinting at my future optical impairment (and nerdom).
It was during this production of Pagemaster that I did my first ever directing (if you can call it that) when, at the humble age of 11, I began to coach the other actors on performance and staging. I didn't really notice I was doing this at first, it just sort of happened, and I first realised I had taken on this role after this memorable exchange:
Me: How about we both be a little angrier?
Other Kid: How about you shut up?
I was, of course, a little more subdued after this particuliar conversation, no matter that they quite clearly took my advice to heart.
So, even when i was a child, this is what I wanted to do. And so it was with a bit of a shock that I suddenly found myself working full time as a supervisor in a call centre 14 years later. My creative exploits (short films, stories and an online comic) had dried up as the exertion of managing full time had begun to take it's toll. My holidays were no longer to go and do a project or go travel somewhere, they were to sit at home and do nothing until I got my energy back. The evenings when I had so confidently claimed I would be doing all my creative work, were spent tiredly procrastinating before retiring to bed and oversleeping. What's more, having a large disposal income was proving to be thoroughly too tempting, and I was not only spending most of my funds on random purchases, thanks to a credit card I was spending more than my income on them. Combined with the late hours, I wasn't eating properly, and my health was suffering as a result.
This, coupled with the fact that my work had recently doubled in size and were about to change it's archaic but functional computer system to a new, swish, pretty but entirely less functional one, and the fact that I was shouldering most of the weight myself until the new supervisor got up to speed, left me convinced that a bit of a change was in order.
I made plans. Given that this is me and I'm not particularly spontaneous in many respects, there were fairly long term ones.
First, I would slog through the recruitment and system changes at work, because say what else you like about me, but I will not abandon my workplace in it's hour of need. But once the project had found its feet, I would quietly withdraw.
Second, I started planning a holiday. A proper holiday. One of my oldest friends was coming to the end of their 18 month stint overseas, and I had been vaguely planning for most of that 18 months to go and see them at some point. So we made plans for me to visit them over Christmas. (you can read about this in my earlier blog entries)
Third, I refinanced my personal loan, paid off a lot of my other debt, bought my plane tickets, and began to save in ernest. (I also borrowed a little more and also bought a tv, but nobody's perfect)
Four, I changed my diet, replacing one of my meals each day with a meal substitute, cutting down on the amount of take away I was consuming, and ensuring what I was eating was healthy and covered the basic vitamin requirements.
Five, I started a blog. I decided one of the best ways of getting writing again was to, well, start writing. I decided it didn't entirely matter what I wrote about so long as I was actually writing, and nothing says "doesn't entirely matter" better than a blog does. Once I had changed jobs to part time, I intended to begin writing again properly.
Now, life is a fluid and flexible thing, and almost none of the above plans went entirely to, well, plan.
Work did indeed eventually find its feet, but only after doubling in size and completely changing its method of business, and then downsizing because it became too efficient to employ all the people it had recently hired. I was honest and upfront with work about my plans to eventually depart (something that surprised them, but they appreciated), and accepted an on phones position rather than kicking out another team leader, and then leaving anyway. They very kindly kept me on as a casual but with full time hours (something that cost them a great deal of money in wages and something they were under no obligation to do), which enabled me to increase my savings for my holiday. After my return (literally, right after my return) I was recommended by a friend to another position in part time accounts for another call centre, and was successful. Work was sorry to see me go after nearly five years with them, and gave me a suitable fairwell of which I am still eternally grateful.
My finances were for a time greatly improved, and I successfully saved enough funds to be able to have a affordable but largely unhindered holiday around the UK. However an error on the part of the scottish youth hostel association left me out of pocket approximately seven hundred and fifty dollars, and due to the nature of the travel card I had stored my money on, I was unable to use it to pay off the resultant credit card debt this created, which unfortunately increased the amount owing on the credit card. (This was also increased by what can only be referred to as an incoherent spending spree brought on by holiday euphoria). The new part time work is a mixed blessing, offering far less funds per week, but as an upshot my budgeting is vastly improved, and brining my lunch from home has dropped my daily expenditure to effectively zero.
My diet has now improved, but did not straight away, as one of the offshoots of working casual with full time hours is I had to do the 11:30 finishes at work until my holiday. These paid well and I didn't mind work late hours, but it is very very hard to eat well when the meal you need to eat at work is your dinner. The options are either to eat sandwiches for dinner or get takeaway, and I will be honest and say the latter happened the majority of the time. It is only now with part time shifts and finishing mid afternoon that diet has finally settled down to a fixed and healthy pattern.
The blog has been hit and miss, I updated consistently for the first month, then fell off a little til my holiday, during which time I blogged regularly (because there is so much more to talk about when you're on a new continent), then fell back while I organised changes of positions and new plans for the year.
The holiday, however was a complete success. Amazing and restful.
I ruminated on all these plans as I walked to work from the station this morning, while walking past the breakfast places, smelling the freshly fried bacon, and cursing my new healthy diet and the budget that makes it so easy to adhere to.
With a new job, a new budget, and copious new amounts of free time, I feel finally able to pursue some of the things I've always wanted to pursue.
Near work someone had spray printed a single snowflake onto the ground, which seems bizarre in itself, but they'd also printed below that the optimistic sentence "It's snowing!"
On the whole I found that oddly uplifting.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Travels in London - Day 25: Now With Bonus Extra Day!
Of course, it was not that simple.
Getting to the airport a couple of hours before my flight, I wandered the shops for awhile, was tempted by some blu-ray and PS3 games, but decided if I were flying out I would behave and not purchase anything. The minutes ticked closer and I eagerly awaited the announcement that the plane would begin boarding.
8:35 came and went. After a few minutes the board was updated. "Delayed until 22:30. Gate will open at 21:30".
So I waited. Again I was tempted to go blu-ray shopping, but again I resisted.
21:30 came and went. 22:00 came and went. Eventually the board updated again.
"Delayed until 22:30. Gate will open at 17:00."
This struck me as a little odd.
I decided someone was playing silly buggers and went to the information desk to see if they had any information, and found a very large group of people demanding to know what was going on, so I decided I was probably in the right place, though feeling a little too well behaved for the situation at hand. We were advised to head down to baggage collection (not to collect our bags, which were locked in the plane). What they neglected to mention is that between us and baggage collection was passport control. Me and a few other non british or europeans looked despondantly at the "All Other Passports" line which stretched most of the warehouse sized room.
The British/EU people had a single small straight line to walk. They responded to this by yelling, grumbling how they weren't going to stand for this, and eventually, storming customs. In response to this they especially set up a special line for our cancelled flight, which I took advantage of. Down in baggage hall they loaded us to on buses and took us to various hotels around London. I ended up at the Thistle Hotel, which was quite flash indeed. After feeding us breakfast and lunch, and after Lexi very kindly coming to visit and bringing me a toothbrush and some deodorant, they bundled us back on a bus and took us to the aiport. This was about 4:30, and our flight was at 9:35 that evening.
This time I decided I darn well was going to buy myself something and got a couple of blu-rays in a 2 for 1 deal.
The flight was an hour late to take off but actually took off so I counted that as a win. Bangkok flight was on time to depart and was actually early to land. Customs was, much like my arrival into the UK, bafflingly easy. "Anything to declare?"
"Um, some tea."
"Is there fruit in it?"
"Um, maybe?"
"Ok, off you go!"
This strikes me as a slightly lax approach to customs, but perhaps I'm missing some of the hidden steps and anyway it got me out of the airport quickly so I'm not complaining.
Just outside customs was MY DAD!!!!! whom I hadn't seen in a while, and would have been more visibly excited if I wasn't nearly asleep from jet lag.
I had successfully made it out of the UK.
I was in Australia again.
But holiday wasn't over yet!
Getting to the airport a couple of hours before my flight, I wandered the shops for awhile, was tempted by some blu-ray and PS3 games, but decided if I were flying out I would behave and not purchase anything. The minutes ticked closer and I eagerly awaited the announcement that the plane would begin boarding.
8:35 came and went. After a few minutes the board was updated. "Delayed until 22:30. Gate will open at 21:30".
So I waited. Again I was tempted to go blu-ray shopping, but again I resisted.
21:30 came and went. 22:00 came and went. Eventually the board updated again.
"Delayed until 22:30. Gate will open at 17:00."
This struck me as a little odd.
I decided someone was playing silly buggers and went to the information desk to see if they had any information, and found a very large group of people demanding to know what was going on, so I decided I was probably in the right place, though feeling a little too well behaved for the situation at hand. We were advised to head down to baggage collection (not to collect our bags, which were locked in the plane). What they neglected to mention is that between us and baggage collection was passport control. Me and a few other non british or europeans looked despondantly at the "All Other Passports" line which stretched most of the warehouse sized room.
The British/EU people had a single small straight line to walk. They responded to this by yelling, grumbling how they weren't going to stand for this, and eventually, storming customs. In response to this they especially set up a special line for our cancelled flight, which I took advantage of. Down in baggage hall they loaded us to on buses and took us to various hotels around London. I ended up at the Thistle Hotel, which was quite flash indeed. After feeding us breakfast and lunch, and after Lexi very kindly coming to visit and bringing me a toothbrush and some deodorant, they bundled us back on a bus and took us to the aiport. This was about 4:30, and our flight was at 9:35 that evening.
This time I decided I darn well was going to buy myself something and got a couple of blu-rays in a 2 for 1 deal.
The flight was an hour late to take off but actually took off so I counted that as a win. Bangkok flight was on time to depart and was actually early to land. Customs was, much like my arrival into the UK, bafflingly easy. "Anything to declare?"
"Um, some tea."
"Is there fruit in it?"
"Um, maybe?"
"Ok, off you go!"
This strikes me as a slightly lax approach to customs, but perhaps I'm missing some of the hidden steps and anyway it got me out of the airport quickly so I'm not complaining.
Just outside customs was MY DAD!!!!! whom I hadn't seen in a while, and would have been more visibly excited if I wasn't nearly asleep from jet lag.
I had successfully made it out of the UK.
I was in Australia again.
But holiday wasn't over yet!
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