Adventures in Australia

Sad Day

Truly a sad day today. Rest in Peace Mr. Irwin.

Filming

Incase you were wondering what exactly I've been doing with my time since I disappeared and now, the answer is simple. I've been filming!

Yeah, I've been in Uni and taking the full course load, but what really is filling my time is that I have been working on several film projects. I was the Director of Photography (my expertise) on a 30 minute short film that finished production in mid July. Tomorrow we are doing re-shoots for one seen that just didn't come out the way we planned.

I've also agreed to be the first assistant camera on a short film that shoots in the beginning of September. Technically, this is below what I normally do. As a standard, I normally don't do this as you really can't advance in the industry when you take positions lower than what you have done and currently work as. However, I know several people on the film and it should be fun, so I decided that it was only for 5 days, and it should be fun.

I'm also shooting a music video in the first weekend of September for a Kiwi singer living in Oz trying to make it.

And the last thing on my calendar is the Toowoomba Film Shootout in October, where a team is given specific things that have to be in a film, and you then have 24 hours to shoot, edit in camera, and hand in. Should be a fun little exercise.

I'm a busy boy!

Car

So, a week ago I bought a car. I've been here in Brisbane since February, and while I was able to get around fine on public transport, it was just driving me crazy. So I wanted to buy a car.

I wanted something cheap, but when I really started looking, anything cheap was going to require a decent amount of money invested into getting it road worthy and keeping it that way. So instead, I decided to go ahead and spend a little more on the car.

I also needed to think about what type of car I wanted to purchase. I wanted something that was road-trip worthy, and that would take me to places that I just couldn't get to. And, as a typical American, what do I buy? You guessed it boys and girls, I bought an SUV!

In fact, I bought a 1992 Holden Jackaroo. The thing holds 7 people including myself, its a 4x4, and is in great condition. Yeah, I'll be paying a little more on petrol at the pump, but its worth it to me.

I'll try to post some pictures once I get around to taking some.

Tagged..

I have been tagged by Sarah to come up with 5 weird or interesting things abut myself! So, lets get it on, heres some odd factoids about me.

1. I can play solitaire for hours, I just don't get bored. However, I cheat. I have it set for the one card a time game. Makes it easier to win.

2. I am always tired, and if you know me, when I say that I'm tired, its normally cause I can't really think of anything else to say at that moment.

3. I chew things. I can't stop chewing. Wether its a piece of grass or a pen cap, it ends up becoming destroyed.

4. My first concert I ever went to was when I was 7, my parents took me and my sister, cause my Aunt couldn't use her tickets, to go see Michael Bolton! Thats right, Michael Bolton... good times, good times.

5. I slept with my blanket until I was 11. Yep, thats right, 11. The reason I had to stop? It was torn to shreds! However, my mom has it kept safely away for the memories!

Alive

First, yes, I'm still alive. Second, why have I not been blogging? I have no clue.

Its not like I've been incredibly busy or anything, but for some reason blogging has just not been on my mind of lately. After getting poked by Sarah a couple times to start blogging, I figure I might as well start it up again. I know I've promised in the past, but my blogging activities will commence again shortly. Double promise!

Welcome back!

Well, you might be wondering where the hell I've been? The answer, everywhere! I have been so busy that I literally have just not been able to post. Now, I haven't been that busy, I do have a lot of free time, but I've been working on my assessments for uni, as well as preparing to shoot a short film in July. A lot has happened in the month since I've last posted.

Just posting to say hi, I'm alive, and over the next week I'll do some posts explaining just what exactly I've been doing.

Rainy Days

I think god's paint brush has been stuck on grey for the past few days. The weather in Brisbane has been kinda crappy over the past few days, with lots of rain and not a lot of sunshine. Every now and then you need a rainy day, a day when you can just watch a little television, read a book, etc. But 4 days! Sunshine, you can return, please?

Obviously as you can tell I have absolutely nothing constructive to post about. Maybe next time..

First Week of Uni

This week is my first week of Uni at Griffith. So far, it has been pretty good. I can only say so far, because I only have two courses, one on Monday, and one on Friday. The Monday course is a specific graduate level only course, with only 5 students including myself. The course doesn't seem like it is going to be quite difficult for me, its mostly writing and I really have all semester to get the one major assignment done.

The course on Friday is a cross-listed course with a 3rd year uni course, so there should be more students enrolled in it. The course doesn't seem too difficult, but obviously I won't know until I attend the first lecture on Friday.

I'm just taking it easy this week between my classes, do some laundry, a little bit of reading, and relax.

I feel....

I feel ... old. For the past two weeks since I've been in Australia, I've been hitting the pubs and clubs. At some locations I feel young, dancing to the music. At other locations, like last night when a bunch of us went to the Griffith Club, I felt OLD! Everywhere I looked was young women, dressed in scantily clothing, dancing and drinking. I then looked at their faces and realized that many of them had just turned 18, the legal drinking age here in Australia. I just couldn't get myself into the idea of flirting with a girl who back in the states would get me bent over the barrel!

Tonight I've been told that I should expect the same thing for the club that we are going to. I honestly don't think I'm ever going to get used to dancing with these young girls, cause lets face it, the maturity levels of someone who is 18 and the other of 23 is vastly different. I know its only 5 years, but at this point in our lives, those 5 years are a massive hill of difference.

Coins

So on my first day in Australia I had a "god I'm an idiot" moment. This moment came to me when I tried to give someone exact change for something I was purchasing. I must admit that coming from the states, I really had to get used to the coins here. First, in Australia, I've noticed that you get a lot of coins back from the teller. They're really starting to pile up. So, I thought I'd stay on top of the game, and try to give as much exact change as I could.

Well, in the states, we have a 1, 5, 10, 25 cent coins. In Australia, there's the 5, 10, 20, 50 cent coins. They also have a $1 and $2 dollar coin. So, the total was something like $20.60. Do I give him 60 cents? Of course not, I give him 25 cents. At this moment, I'm very proud, thinking I'm picking up these new coins fairly fast. The teller just stares at me like I'm a dumb-ass and cheerfully says: "it's 60 cents mate". At that moment, I was extremely embarrassed, and the manager of the complex who was with me just laughed and told the teller that I was fresh off the boat! I had a really good laugh. The 20 cent piece here is larger than the 25 cent piece in the states, so I assumed it was the 50 cent piece. The five cent piece looks a lot like the dime back in the states. I've now know the coins perfectly, but dear god, I think I must have turned pretty red..