RobotBlogger

Kirk, Kathryn, Kai, Brie and I went to the Australian Zoo this weekend. It's the home of Steve Irwin - who died somewhat recently by the barb of a stingray.

Pictures of the trip here

It was a little weird, since they had so many photos of him up all over - basically unchanged apparently from when Steve was still alive. Mostly respectful, i guess, to not make a big deal of it, they just had one wall with some of the letters and wishes people sent in. Quite nice actually.

Something that was certainly strange, was the shows that they put on, in regards to sexism and gender stereotypes. During one croc and wildlife show, they mentioned beer well over 5 times, along with gender role stuff like 'wives in the kitchen' and 'bad driving' and at least a few others. I couldn't count them all. Perhaps they were just trying to connect with the audience, but it instead came off as very behind the times.

"What would you do if someone came in your house and stole your wife?" the crowd was asked... the answer was something about being annoyed.

"What would you do if someone came in your house and stole your beer?" - well, that certainly is a cause for major concern! And this was the example given for why crocs get mad when you're in their territory. Yikes.


Crocs only really want to eat you. They're the most frightening creatures i've ever seen. The one in the show basically chased the handler around, wishing violent death upon any human within range. It was deeply scary, actually.

Here's another photo of a Cassowary, only because they're mad creatures.







Pictures of the trip here

So i quit the band i was in. They are really talented guys, but i was running into time conflicts and i just think we were on different paths. They are going places, and want to tour, and i just won't be able to take days off work, etc. It's for the best.

Last weekend they shot a pretty big video for one of their main tracks, and i filled in as the 'guitarist' role. This song was top 3 on the radio station here.

Pictures of the video shoot here

Funny thing: Crispin - old friend from Vancouver - just signed on at Pandemic as their Audio Director (i know, half of Vancouver works there now). He was barely a few days off the plane before i suggested he be a 'dancer' in the video. If you look near the end, you can see him in Siberian tiger fur and aviator glasses, rocking on himself. Totally hilarious.

Not long ago, i left for Vancouver on a whirlwind trip. It was the start of a somewhat ridiculous tour. Brisbane -> Sydney -> Los Angeles -> Vancouver -> Los Angeles -> New York -> San Francisco -> Los Angeles -> Brisbane. Don't ever do anything like that! It's literally flying half way around the world, in a couple of weeks.

Seeing my dad, who recently had some major surgery, was great. As was the brief but grand visit with my Mom and Evie, and Joan. I didn't get to see many friends - would have loved to - but time didn't allow.

I was in LA to take some photos and meet some business partners, as was NYC - which was incredible as always. Can't say what this is all about just yet, as it's for a movie / game which hasn't been announced. The roof of the Rockefeller building -69 stories high!- was incredible. Incredibly cold! but clear, overwhelming you with the scale that is New York. What a mind-bendingly large city.

San Francisco was holding GDC - Game Developers Conference - which is an annual computer nerd pilgrimage for anyone who has anything to do with the videogame industry. It's HUUGE. Not as inspiring as SiGGraph, but more applicable. If you're not into computer graphics, forget this entire paragraph, if you are, then you know about GDC and SiGGraph because they're f-ing great places to get yourself inspired. GDC was 2/3 reassuring and 1/3 inspiring, which means that i have either a large ego, or am on the right track.

Going home, to have rain most of the time and be cold, was strange indeed. How did i put up with that... for weeks on end? Brisbane gets like, 3 grey days a MONTH. Actually, here's a real stat for you: The average amount of sunshine in Brisbane in a year is... 8 hours, per DAY. Think about that. 8 hours a day average sunshine per year.

Ok, so must run. We just got a Wii and there's a tennis contest about to begin.