Been a weird day.

Been a weird day. Works been weird, been working on tech - shaders etc. Coming home I found a big chuffin’ monster truck outside the house, and I mean OUTSIDE the house - right underneath our bedroom window - with a security guard on his mobile.

Spoke to said Guard, turns out its not a truck but a very large Electricity generator.
The Generator that sits normally silent to the side of the house is to be replaced and upgraded, meanwhile we have a chugging diesel spitting monster which is supplying power to the whole block. it’s a monster truck. CHUGGGGGGGGGGGGG….Did a say LOUD…HUH?

And its not going to stop for the next 3 days apparently.

Oh - Audrey looks like a pirate at the moment too - she some how managed to get something in here eye from the aircon in the car on the way down the motorway to the Gold Coast for a meeting. She thought little of it, but the pain got worse until she couldn’t see and had to drive BACK form the Gold coast with one eye and the other taped shut. Poor girl.

The other thing is, I’ve started singing again. I’ve been having vocal lessons to build up my voice and extend my range. It’s early days and the lessons are fun but just a bit short. I was asked immediately however to perform at a club, so I had a band rehearsal on the weekend - but somehow it left me feeling miffed. I don’t feel rehearsed at all. I have the song down pat for a performance in a club in town and now, having just had a very short rehearsal with them, which they all said sounded great - I felt - like, I really didn’t WANT to do it. Probably to do with the fact that this is a backing band and I’m just a number. However this should be fun right?

I’ve sang with a mates band in the UK once or twice - hullo to crush (available for weddings etc) - and it always felt good, a privilege. But not on this occasion. I’m wrestling with pulling out or staying in of the Christmas gig. I’m unsure why its bothering me.

On a plus side - Jack seems to have learned to swim Doggy Paddle in the pool at school. I haven't seen evidence of this yet and he's not always the most reliable when it comes to facts. But I think its cool if he has. Nice one laddie.

Why chewing gum should be banned

Or what Aud is willing to do in her new job!

Hullo - Aud here! I have been working in my new job for over six weeks now and it is going really well – I am valued, I am busy but not stretched, it is interesting and it pays the bills.

The company undertakes executive coaching to help align people with their company, and also with themselves and as part of my job training I am actually getting free coaching done too! It's amazing how we finish school and then that’s it – no one (or hardly anyone) asks the question - what do you like, what are you interested in, where are you going and what’s stopping you from getting there and what would you really like to do with your life (all with business objectives in mind but your personal life is such a part of it, it all links together in the process).

Now, as much as I respect my new boss – Gerry and am enjoying the job (in a lovely office but alas with no windows WTF!!) the oddest new request today was to try to get chewing gum off the bum of his trousers, while he was still wearing them.

Poor bloke had sat down on chewing gum on the train, and having a series of meetings today, just couldn’t do it himself.

So picture me picking gum off my Bosses bottom.

I am sure everyone walking past was wondering about the nature of our relationship but I can assure you it was all very strange and very much not the norm.

So please, a special request - could we get a special tazer gun to shoot all those idiots who not only chew gum but put it on train seats for us to deal with……

Fishy lifeforms

A few additional fishy lifeforms have been added to the Ellis household.

We now have:

Cartman - Big fat orange fish that bullys the others
George - the Catfish
Brian - the snail
Spotty and Surfer

Jacks pretty chuffed with them. He really wants a dog: a Dalmation called Lucky. He has the specs all to hand. I told him I'll think about it in a year if the fish dont die first. Firstly he needs to remember to feed the buggers...

Additionally - Jacks singing lead in the school play. He's got a dance troupe behind him and is singing a Jacksons 5 number - Rock'n Robin. Ha ha - should be fun!!

Way to go Jack.

ps - not to be outdone - Dad's performing a number too - Four seasons in one day - by crowded house and Swallowed in the Sea by Coldplay at The Troubadour club in Fortitude Valley, Brisbane. Wish me luck. Wish me LOTS of luck.

Homeward bound and other adventures in travel agencies by Audrey Age 35 and 1/4

Post one - start an avalanche -

Beware everyone - Audrey is taking a shine to blogging. ....

Being the super organized person that I am (Audrey that is, not Jim) we have gone to a travel expo to get some "excellent" cool discounts on our flights back to the UK next year and now with a nights accommodation in Soeul to boot. So details will be worked out but we will be around between

12 July – 4 August 2008 and will be visiting as many people as possible in this time.

So hide people - hide.

But having not spent enough already, we then proceeded to accept our friends invitation to go to Melbourne for Christmas – cheers Sharon, Warren and Cormack.

As we now have no holidays left except at Christmas for the whole of next year, we were feeling adventurous and decided to take the train to Melbourne. Straightforward plan, see some of the countryside, have a mini holiday in itself, however in the planners wisdom, the train company has decided to only allow 20 minutes between arriving in Sydney and the connection to Melbourne, with no guaranteed connection. So here we are sitting with lovely relaxing trip in our heads and now the thought of 12 hours on a bus instead of a train if we miss the connection is not sounding quite as romantic so its now back on the plane both ways.

We did try…… as for carbon off-setting, we have already planted several trees and will be doing our best to not ruin the planet further but hey ho sometimes it just has to be done. So - If the planet burns – we do have the C02 Fire extinguisher.... hang on a mo?!

Nearly Christmas.....

So - It's coming up to Christmas and I just don't have any enthusiasm. None at all. Totally laconic. Whilst its black as night in the UK - its blazing hot here. Though - being sub tropical - its dark at 5.30. So no nice lazy evenings here then. Damn it.

Jacks all excited and for him its not about anything other than that magic that kids feel and the excitement of new toys etc. He's missing snow or at least the prospect of it. He's being a pest and I keep telling him to behave, else its a lump of coal for Crimbo.

But, how do you get excited about Christmas when its bang smack in the middle of summer? It sounds Idyllic doesn't it. Sitting on the balcony - a vodka in hand and bare feet. But its wrong!

Sort of like Chips and ice cream all mixed up. Both nice but plain wrong together.

Hmm....

The Aussie neighbours seem equally confused. Houses are beginning to be decked out in LCD icicles and fake snow. Oh - not to mention that the mental Christmas Bugs are out too. They fly at sunset blindly whizzing and flying about in clouds of buzzy insects, welly-ing themselves of the windows of the house with alarming impact. Sounds like people taking pot shots at the house.... Happens every year. Crack - ping - BZzzzzzzz.. Crack!!

Surreal.

We went to Toys R Us the other day and walked about watching people madly stack trolleys full of boxes. Interactive this and that. An Exercise bike that connects to the telly - where you control a character on the screen. Peddle harder kids.

Fuck this...said I and we went and got coffees. I sat musing for a while and determined that I'm missing home. I mean really really missing home. Its nice here and shit back home. Isn't it. Isn't it?? Or at least that's what I'm telling myself - but its just not true. It's just...different. Good things all around. We have to give it one more year - we need to get citizenship before we can leave. It's for Jack and his future. I like the idea he can be here or in Europe... so I'm prepared to stick this out. He can do University here - what a blast - Uni on the Gold coast - wow.

We bought flights the other week. Jacks basically 70% of an adult fare. I thought about stuffing him in a bag but that's not going to sit well with his mother. 70% fare....though realistically he's only 50% of my height so that's a load of Cr@p. $6000!!! But it does include one day in Korea - Seoul. Time for a Starbucks there then and maybe a look at a building from a taxi window.

Audrey and I are attending a wedding in August in Liverpool. My cousin was quite insistent that we attend and it will be a good excuse to come over. Naturally peak season so the flights were a bit pricey - but we booked via a travel fair and saved about $2K on tax! Crikey.

I'm hoping to pop over and say a quick hello to people and good mates who are not forgotten, despite that fact that no-one ever communicates as much as they should. I was hoping to come and say a quick hullo to people at Rare too - assuming, that is if people will let me as far as the front gate. I suppose I'm a traitor to the cause. But I defend myself - I'm holding up the company from this end. LOL. FYI - Every time there's been an issue down here - I've got the flak from the Pinata Lead. All in jest of course, or was it... hmmm. Apparently I'm solely responsible for Rare's output....*BIG LOL* Oh and according to the Journo's - Rare did all the VP:PA graphics for the game too. so the best aspect of that assumption is, apparently, I got to sit here for 9 months on my arse getting paid. LOL. Nice if you can get it eh....? ;-)

But hey - VP:PA - not as good as it could have been, but certainly not bad either - but shit - a good 9 solid months with a lot to show for it. All helped of course by solid design specs and tried and trusted formulaic gaming - but what else can happen in a deadline like that!! The team down here had to rework and re rig and totally re-interpret the engine, remake models, characters etc to get it to work. They worked from the Four Kids models in the end - and its been interesting seeing Four kids take our models in return, to use in the show!! It's also been a complement to hear reviewers say the graphics have been great, even if the game wasn't quite what they (adult reviewers) wanted. I still say "Its for Kids - 6 year old KIDS!!!!" *sigh

Ps - VP:PA just won 2 awards in in AUS. GDAA awards for Graphics and also Audio. Yay.

Pps - my 5 year old is in love with Horstacio or what ever the saccharine stuffed equine is called....

Best to all and if I don't get around to posting before Crimbo - Happy X-mas. Fall over in an alco-haze everyone.

Would love to hear from you all - give us a mail....

Jim, Aud and Jack