… stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled ’till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store?

What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more?“

- Dr Suess

So, with a week and bit a left to go – Christmas is decidedly here, whether we like it or not.

Earlier in the year my parents decided they were going to separate. It’s been a fairly bumpy conclusion to come to, and everyone is still all sensitive about things. And deciding what Sibling and I are doing come Christmas day hasn’t been easy. Christmas has taken a less than cheerful turn this year.

And I’d had enough. I hung up a Christmas Wreath on the front door, and set up Christmas Tree, complete with lights and colour co-ordinated decorations. I wrapped all the presents I had and placed them under the tree. Because dammit, Christmas CHEER was needed!

And since then all sorts of festive cheer has blindsided me – the boy is this very moment wearing a Santa hat while he games. I’ve received two Christmas cards in the post, wishing me a Merry Christmas. I even dutifully attended Christmas in the Park to watch The Third Quarter sing in the choir.

Christmas, it appears, DOES mean something more than fighting it out alongside strangers in crowded malls. Perhaps I just needed to be reminded.

The Boy and I have been watching the first couple episodes of JJ Abram’s new show Fringe. It’s a fairly decent scifi/thriller with an interesting (although possibly far-fetched) premise. It’s got a few sequences which are a bit gory for me (which is why I haven’t watched the entire first season yet) but I’m slowly getting into it – a bit like slowly wading into cold beach water at the start of summer.

Anyway, as usual JJ Abrams’ has sucked me in – not with his characters or his plot (although both are fairly nice. Quirky, but you have to expect that from a JJA show) – what I’m loving is the typography used in his cut scenes (which I think is Helvetica Bold?) and how they were merged with the action shots.

It’s clean, well integrated and just looks damn cool! And the attention to detail – hurrah! They didn’t just put the text graphics in – they interact with their environment! There are shadows, the puddles and buildings have reflections, and clever directional light returns clever directional reflections. It’s all very clever, fantastically well designed.

They do remind me a bit of the intro shots to Panic Room, but with the characters offering witty one liners and the plot throwing unexpected twists I’ll appreciate the well designed and well executed typography without a fuss. :)

I am a HUGE pixar fan, and have watched most their movies several times over, including the commentary. I guess it helps that I have animation friends who encourage this behaviour, but really, with the way Pixar develops and refines their characters and stories it’s no wonder they have such a large following.

Their latest Project, Up, looks fantastic. I know, I use that adjective alot, but this film REALLY DOES look fantastic! Check it:

Even from the small promo, I love the characterisation of Carl Fredricksen. He’s incredibly grumpy, and appears to be quite bitter, and yet I’m sure (as this is a Pixar movie after all) he has a heart of gold. He lets Boy Scout Russell in!

From the Sneak Peak:
“Carl Fredricksen spent his entire life dreaming of exploring the globe and experiencing life to its fullest. But at age 78, life seems to have passed him by, until a twist of fate (and a persistent 8-year old Wilderness Explorer named Russell) gives him a new lease on life. Up takes audiences on a thrilling journey where the unlikely pair encounter wild terrain, unexpected villains and jungle creatures”

Up comes out in May 2009 – I can’t wait! :)

— Dr. Seuss (Oh, the Places You’ll Go!)

I am loving New Zealand right now. On the weekend a couple friends and I went out to the Waitakere Ranges and walked one of the tracks. We ended up near Piha, and did the short walk up to the Ketekete falls. The walk was pretty easy (only an hour or so return) and we were treated to some pretty fantastic views.

When your at work all week, living as we do, its pretty easy to forget that there is alot of fantastic experiences to be had in our own backyard. And after visiting the beach on the Saturday, and the bush walk the day after I’m blown away by how little I appreciated what was around.

It was pretty fantastic to get out there and spend the afternoon in good company, at a fantastic place, doing things you don’t normally do. Hopefully there will be more of this kinda stuff this summer. :) Fingers crossed, anyway.

I should like to be indifferent about this now, but instead I shall go on and on and on about it. It has come to my attention that apparently I am “full of it” for openly sharing (in my excitement) what I earn in this fantastic new role. I possibly shouldn’t have mentioned anything, but the cats out of the bag and there’s nothing I can do about that, other than to post here.

Now, I accept that these people do their current roles better than I ever could. They did my OLD role better than I could, even. This new role, though? All that information I stored away about what different email clients do to the style sheets hidden in headers, understanding how to optimise code for search engines, and rocking out clever W3C compatible hacks for old browsers – all of that qualifies me for the new role. Those with the opinion that I’m full of it, unfortunately, not so much.

And by their unqualified opinion, I couldn’t possibly be earning what I am, certainly not as a starting salary, and certainly not as a web developer. Apparently their opinions are confirmed by an unqualified boy working in retail (not, you know, in the industry) who knows a guy who knows alot of programming languages. Okay, that’s cool. They are all welcome to their opinions.

But just as a quick fuck you to all that think I am full of it, let’s have a look at the starting rates of my qualified peers, shall we?

Let’s say you have a BSC, zero experience, and you start in software development role. Starting rate is 40k. BSC (1st Class with Honours), two years experience in a business analyst role – 55k. Masters, 2 years of experience, software development for web applications – 60k. BSC, years and YEARS of experience in a 3d animation role – 80k.

All real life examples, taken from real life people. Knowing that my new role is awesome and that I’m not full of it? Priceless.

Surprisingly, as much of a cam whore that I am, I was never a fan of webcams. They seemed kinda tacky for doing anything other than services like skype, and if I was willing to comprimise on quality I had a point-and-click cybershot to use.

But then while The Boy was napping I discovered his webcam. And oh, the novelty that ensued!

And then the novelty passed, and I was done. :)

- William Carlos Williams

Summer has most definitely returned – I spent today on a beach with The Fourth Quarter. A glorious glorious beach, with warm sun and swimming and treats from the bakery.

I returned home happy, slightly more pink than yesterday, and content. No doubt this will not be the first beach trip, and I can’t think of a better way to pass the summer holidays. :)

I’ve been friends with Bunny* since I crashed his 21st about 5 years ago, and since I’ve known him he’s always been doing crazy fun things (creating an arcade booth in his kitchen, hosting VERY crazy parties, organising cross country scavenger hunts, a whole bunch of things!) And now, with his (small time but still fabulous) band Rick Dangerous, he’s going on yet another random, crazy adventure; the Rickshaw Run of Rick Dangerous.

From the site:
“OK – This about the stupidest thing we have ever done. Or considered doing.

We are driving at least 1500 miles through India in a rickshaw. Starting at Pondicherry in the south and finishing in Shillong in the north of India we will follow no route with no plans and no backup vehicles, no doctors, no translators, no fixers, and no help. None of us have driven a motorised rickshaw before and none of us have any mechanical knowledge whatsover; but we are all brave and/or foolish. Ewan McGregor and Charlie Boorman got nothing!”

As part of their adventure, they are raising funds for both the Mercy Corps and the Frank Water Projects. You can donate here. Your money will help change the lives of people with dire health and economic needs and help some of the world’s poorest families.

I’m proud of Bunny, off doing his own random thing. I worry, that yes, going with no safety nets is a bit extreme but it’s Bunny. He’ll make it work, I think. And the richshaw part? Really? Just in case you didn’t know what a richshaw was:

It’s a little motorised bike, basically. And its going to be filled with four boys. Across India. I don’t really understand it exactly (Bunny would no doubt say that ‘its just a bit of fun’ or something), but this is how he rolls. Quirky, random, fun. Right on, I say!

* Yes, I actually call him that. No names have been changed to protect the innocence Bunny doesn’t have.