just a little overwhelmed

A very lovely boy gave me an Ipod Nano today, as a parting gift and a thank you for working on his film, as he's heading back to Canada in two days. It was the biggest shock i've had in AGES!

I didn't open the present right away in front of him, only after we parted ways. And when I did, I called him up immediately and yelled at him for five minutes about how unneccessary it was, whilst thanking him over and over again!

It kicks ass in comparison to my gift to him (a mix tape and a box of chocolates).

Eric & Don, hope to see you guys again in this lifetime, and i'm sure you'll be working as excellent DOPs :)

bloody sick of that ad

The spoofed 'Where the Bloody Hell Are You?' ad by Dan Ilic.

Tourism Australia isn't impressed, but hey, I think it's hilarious.

And here's a Chaser version for your enjoyment.

u-turn

Looking back, it's so hilarious. I said my parting goodbyes, saying something about my inexperience in driving by myself (i.e.: how am I gonna get out of Ky's street?!) So, when I completed the u-turn, Ky and Bon were on the side of the road clapping and cheering for me!

Gosh, I wish I had a cheer squad everytime I went driving. It sure beats the constant yelling!

MaddBritts taking over the world!

Finally! Photographic evidence that pop/r&b sensations the MaddBritts are indeed a global phenomenon. Snapped in front of Cold Rock ice-creamery, these thrilled fans were only too happy to pose in their stylish MaddBritts tees.

The MaddBritts are coming to Sydney on April 3. Are you ready to compromise your size?

apparently, I can't have music

My parents won't let me install a new sound system in my car! They said that I could, and now they say that I can't! Their reasoning is that it'll mess up the already messed-up electrics. Hmph. And I had dreams of listening to MP3 CDs in my car!

three cheers for Telstra

It's weird cause everyone complains about them all the time, but I always have great service from Telstra. They never keep me waiting in a phone queue, and their response to faults is always speedy.

So, my phone line died on Friday. The operator informed me that it would either be fixed on Friday or Monday. So, I was a little pissed off, seeing as though I wouldn't be able to use the internet or phone for the weekend whilst doing my assignments. They did divert all incoming calls to my mobile from the home phone, with no extra charge to the person calling, which was good.

However, I get a call on Saturday morning from the Telstra guy, telling me that the line is fixed now. Hooray! I never expected that the service guys would work on the weekend, but I hope that they get paid that extra bit more to do so :)

Meet Ella

Ella is a Honda Legend 1989, and going to be my ride for the next 2-3 years. She used to be a luxury car, now she's a little decadent, but still very cool. And she's not brown coloured, she's chocolate :)

Here's a list of Ella's quirks (My mum calls them defects)

Steering wheel is a lot looser than what i'm used to.

When we got home, the electric windows didn't work, so for the longest time we couldn't get the windows back up again! Now we've worked that one out, it's all good.

Glove box hangs out at an angle when you open it and it's almost impossible to close again, so we're going to be leaving that one alone.

Tears in the leather seats. Nothing a bit of gaffer tape won't fix.The owner before us left the skankiest seat covers, but the leather is actually quite good.

The back window is insanely dirty, we're working on it so I can actually see the back properly when I'm driving and not have to guess what the fuzzy things (cars) are.

Brakes make hissing sounds sometimes.

Sunroof has cracks in it. It's ok though, when it rains there are no leaks.

There's a big hole in the steering wheel where the Honda logo used to be.

She's a bit slow through second gear, and the old girl really doesn't like hills.

AND THE BIG ONE ...

The radio/cassette player doesn't work! I'm hoping to get a radio/CD player put in there though, cause I really don't know what i'd do without music!

I love Ella. She's so 80's luxe kitschy with the leather seats, like you're in an episode of Dynasty.

I also want to say hello to Bonnie (Ky's sister, not Bonza, though Bonza is very special too) who was very sweet and rang me up today to wish me well in my driving test, although i'd already done it. Hi Bonnie! I might be coming over to your place soon-ish cause I need to drop off some books to Kylie.

idiot box

TAFE dragggggged on for ages last night. I was almost bored to death.

But when I got out, I went to the Loft to meet Joel, cause we were gonna go see 'The Idiot Box' at Newtown Theatre with Anna. And when I got there, lo and behold, what do I see? Chad in a very fetching wig, tank top, skirt and with those bellydancer belt things! I missed the OUTS drag show!

I'd never been to the Loft at night, and it was cool ... lots of pretty lights. Joel received a very dirrrrty lap dance from Chad. Berit & Jemma were the only girls on the dancefloor, receiving looks of 'ew, a girl!' from the guys who were there.

After we caught a cab, and this was the most patient cab driver in the world, who let me ring up a friend to find out where the theatre was. Usually I don't like cab drivers, but this one, bless his cotton socks.

The play, 'The Idiot Box', was a series of comedic skits about the decline of TV. It was directed and written by the same guy who did 'The Subtle Art of Flirting', Wayne Tunks, and we saw a few cast members from that play in this one. I liked 'The Idiot Box', but 'Subtle Art' was better, maybe perhaps it had an overall storyline. Although you could argue that the skit format suited the 'five-second' attention span of TV audiences nowadays!

So, Anna was incredibly nice to give me a lift home. Bless her cotton socks times three! The Ministry of Sound CD she plays gives her bonus points as well.

Anna dropped me off, and I'm walking down my street, and what do I see? FIVE police cars parked on the other side of the street at a house across the road, and random police people wandering around. So i'm standing at my house, I don't have a key, I'm pressing the doorbell repeatedly, and no-one answers! I then have to ring my mum's mobile, and only THEN she comes down and answers the door. She was too busy spying on the neighbours, and was freaking out cause she had seen a policeman pull out a gun and head towards that house.

Bizarre night, aye?

Donna can drive!

don't make fun of my disability

There is a reason why I can never DOP.

It's not a medical condition, but the muscles of my face won't let one eye wink. It's either both eyes open, or both eyes shut baby.

So while I was squinting into the 16mm camera today, my face was doing a weird spasm, whilst Mary, Keya, Luci and Indako were laughing at me!

Well, I've never given much thought to winking. I've never needed to wink at someone, so I guess its an unpractised artform for me, one in which I will never attempt to master!

Or else I can wear a patch and be a pirate DOP. Arrrrrhhhh, me hearties!

What I will never do:

i'm going for my Ps next next wednesday.

10:50am. Rockdale.

... and i've only done 30hrs so far.

AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

i need money

One of the things that has been bothering me of late is that I have no income right now. The tutoring place, which, if you read a few posts back, has not been giving me shifts! So back to square one.

Except, this time, I literally have no time for a 'normal' retail job. Uni, Tafe, and the TV show Couch, is really taking it out of me. I would like a job, but there's almost no time during the week for me to take one on - even if I did a full day on Saturday, I would be stretching it!

I have NO money! It's SO sad. I remember Keya telling me how awful she felt when her parents gave her money. The other day, Mum handed me $50, out of pity!

Mum has also talked me out of renting myself out to Sydney Uni's Science Faculty for clinical drug tests. So ... where do I go from here?

journalism

You may or may not know already that i'm producing a 12 minute segment for a TVS show (old Channel 31) Couch called 'News Review', which is basically a bunch of people sitting around talking about a current affairs topic.

So .. one of the things that has been plaguing me of late is how to maintain objective journalism. I REALLY don't want it turning into a pro-left propaganda machine, especially because a lot of the people on the show will be uni students (who are usually left). I don't want to be accused of unfair bias as well. I don't want Media Watch-like scathing criticism to come pouring down my back from viewers! I don't want it turning into a joke, or to air conspiracy theory!

ARGGHHHHHHHHHHH! This is Frontline all over again, yeah?

By the way, if any of you want to be on the show, please let me know, and I can probably squeeze you in somewhere. We're always looking for fresh meat :)