last post for a while (probably)

i think i may be newly addicted to my blog, but i'm off tomorrow to laos and thailand for a few weeks and may not get a chance to post while i'm away. i hope my many loyal readers can cope without me [nervous giggle].
i helped out my mates ben barren (www.benbarren.blogpost.com) and michael leone again this AM with a US deal they're working on for their RSS startup... all looking good. All hype aside the web 2.0/RSS/blogging opportunity is an exciting one. The real challenge for it will be making the (huge) leap from early adopter to the mainstream (or at least a chunk of it). My experience to date is that blogging is pretty easy and is mainstream-ready, and flickr is v easy to use, but other 'web 2.0' app's (eg. podcasting, RSS readers etc) are just not there yet in terms of ease-of-use for the mass market.
Was just looking at my itinerary and i seem to be booked on a flight on something called 'Tiger Air Phuket' (geez thanks marni!) - yeah i hear they're an up and coming competitor for British Airways. Other excellent carriers i'm looking forward to (not) are Bangkok Airways and AirAsia. Anyway, if i make it back from South East Asia i'll post again in a few weeks.

the first day of the rest of my life

After finishing up at the law firm yesterday (and, hopefully, saying goodbye to timesheets and life as an employee forever) i've had a really good first day of freedom. Hung out with my old mate and business partner Ben Barren (www.benbarren.blogspot.com) who's getting an RSS / Web 2.0 startup off the ground and talked business... after the dotcom boom it felt like it would be forever before there was any optimism in the tech space but it has only taken 5 years or so (i guess that could be construed as forever in some circles).
Looking forward to my new life at the Bar and to the freedom to get involved in new ventures...

Goodbye paypacket

Just over an hour 'til I finish up as an employee, hopefully for ever (wait a minute - does that mean I'm writing this on company time? - IGNORE THIS ENTRY). Very exciting; really really looking forward to entering the world of the self-employed at the Bar.

MIFF is almost finished for 2005!

Today's the last day of the Melbourne International Film Festival for 2005 :(
I'm getting a little burned out so its probably a good thing. I've only seen 24 films so far (my lowest in years), but I've been pretty busy on other things so it's still taken up most of my time for the past few weeks. Some good films, but I still haven't seen a film that's life-changing. I had very high hopes for the new Michael Haneke - Hidden - that I saw last night, and it was good but not at the level of his past films. Also saw the new Aussie horror film Wolf Creek last night. Very suspenseful and there's not actually that much violence in it but it is terrifying. It should do pretty well.
Three more days at work, then next Saturday off to Laos and Thailand for 2 1/2 weeks.......

Saturday Night

Tyson & Marni 30 July 2005
Originally uploaded by samizdat7.

After we saw the new Australian film 'Look Both Ways' at the Melbourne Film Festival and had a quick drink at the festival bar, M & I went to Mark and Tam's farewell party. They posted this photo of us at their blog and I was pretty happy with it, so I've borrowed it for my own.
Actually the night was sort of a weird experience - my ex-gf R was at the party so she met M for the first time. Somehow that didn't seem to go badly. Then R and I caught up and talked about 'what went wrong'. Perspective is much easier 18+ months later! Considering the massive potential for disaster, it all went pretty much ok.

MIFF etc

2/3 of the way thru' the 2005 Melbourne Film Festival and my enthusiasm is not even close to waning. Admittedly I've gone soft; have only seen 16 so far (way below my usual average but I have excuses - am very busy trying to get ready for holiday and for the Bar).
Have seen some really good films so far - One Night In Mongkok, 7-iron, Look Both Ways, Little Fish, Enron: the Smartest Guys in the Room, Mysterious Skin etc - but none (except possibly Mysterious Skin) could be classified as a great film. Nothing to compare with great films of festivals past - eg. Blue Gate Crossing, Oldboy, Bad Guy, ...
On secondment this week at an unnamed major Australian corporate. Funny being in a corporate environment as opposed to the 'professional services' environment I'm used to. I think it will be ok - the work is certainly easy enough.
Having a wisdom tooth removed tomorrow - so any good vibes sent in my direction will be much appreciated.