Herne returned

Herne the Hunter returned last night for a quick chat. I didn't hear him arrive nor did I see him leave, but I guess as a hunter (of sorts) he must be light on his feet.

He is annoyed that I haven't as yet assembled my home gym but I told him I need to do some grocery shopping for certian foods before I begin to use it. He told me a few weeks in the Mesolithic would do me the world of good. I certainly agree.

He is off to shepard's camp tonight to frighten the poor fellows. He won't steal any sheep but I think he might steal the shepard's food if he can.

Herne left me with a necklace made of shells and the small inner ear bones of an Auroch. I thanked him for his gift but unfortunately lost it somewhere today while in Big W.

Work, boredom, life

At this point in time I work three days a week, Tuesdays Wednesdays and Thursdays. Why? Because I got fed up with working five days a week and not having enough time to do my own thing. So far I seem to be getting by just fine on three days a week wage.

Anyway, I still find that the four days off I have each week go so fast. You'd think four days of free time would drag by, but I'm flat out. I write (script/ book) I travel, I explore, I plot and plan. By the time Monday evening comes around I find myself wondering why the time went so fast and wishing that I didn't have to go to work the next day.

The work I do (an upmarket furniture showroom) is not particularly hard, though it does get repetitive sometimes. At least I get an hour for lunch and spend it down by the banks of the Brisbane River. But it's not just work that is boring - lately I find myself getting, well - bored. Life seems kinda boring right now, and I'm not sure why.

It's the same thing, eat, sleep, work, drive, write, read, talk - can't life be more exciting, or is this it, is this the way life goes, just day in day out routine? Maybe I'm just not watching enough good movies.

I'm back!!Whats new.

Yes it's been a while but I'm finally back. Why was I away for a while? Simple - I forgot my password to access my weblog.

To update anyone who actually reads this, I am working for an upmarket furniture gallery in Newstead three days a week, with the rest of my time spent working on my scripts, going to auditions, watching movies...

I've been living with Mardi at her place at Taigum for about 2 months or so.

I was recently in a TV commercial for the 'Police & Nurses Credit Union' which however will only screen in WA.

Today, I went to St. Helena island in Moreton Bay. It used to be a prison but is now a national park.

Big Brother 06 comes to an end.

It's been a week now, and Big Brother 2006 is done. When I drove home after my final shift on the final day I couldn't help think what a crazy time it all was. The long hours, the cold nights, the tedium, the laughs, the friends, the amazing learning experience that it was.

I started on the show back in March, logging the interviews with the housemates before they entered the house. For a couple of weeks I was virtually the only person there, except for the team who were refurbishing the house. Bit by bit the number of crew grew and I gradually got to meet the people who would be in my department - the Story Assistants. Those first few weeks seem so long ago now.

For a long time I did night shifts and I couldn't wait to do day shifts, to have some semblence of a normal life, but I soon discovered that the day shifts were utterly monotous. The housemates got up at the same time every day, ate breakfast at the same time, had the same conversations etc. When I got back to doing nightshifts I was very happy, as night time was the time when things began to happen. The conversations became more interesting, there were nominations and evictions, there were Friday Night Games and so on. The 4:30pm to 2:30am shift was my favourite.

Whatever was going on behind the scenes, it was the Control Room where things were the most intense. At first everyone was in high spirits and happy to change shifts to accomodate others. But as the weeks and months dragged on tempers began to fray. Nothing really serious but some people did get punchy.

I remember once logging a daily show from the evening before and looking up at a piece of paper on the wall that said it was day 27.... only another 73 days to go. I groaned at the thought of how long the show was. Sometimes it all seemed so overwhelming, but somehow the days slipped by and one by one (sometimes two at a time) the housemates were evicted.

Sometimes, late at night, I would take on the roll of Control Room Producer and basically be responsible for the entire show during those quiet hours. There was only one night where things got a little exciting. Krystal was unwell one night and ended up sleeping in the bathroom. We in the Control Room were sure she would come to the Diary Room and ask for some medication. Being the Producer on hand it would have been up to me to be Big Brother and talk to her. I sent one of the Runners into the Diary Room to check what medication was there in case Krystal did ask for some. Alas, she never did. She eventually went back to bed and things remained quiet.

Because I had to drive from Brisbane to the Gold Coast (Dreamworld) everyday, sometimes in heavy traffic, I always left early in case the traffic was really bad. The result was that I was often early for work. Rather than just hanging around I would take a detour off the freeway and explore some of the areas that ordinarily I would race past at 110kph. One day I found a church and the old Pacific Highway, now a quiet back-road. I used to enjoy these little side trips and would very much like to go back and really look around the area.

One of my favourite things was the drive home at 2:30 in the morning. Needless to say there was very little traffic and so the ride home was quick. Getting out early was always a bonus and we used to hope that the housemates would have an early night. Once they were in bed so early that I left at 11:35pm - instead of 2:30am!

The reality of reality television is that it is hard work, with long hours and tight schedules. Working behind the scenes is not glamourous by any means. Having said that, I enjoyed the experience, very much. I met some incredibly talented people; I met some of the housemates which was kind of surreal, considering I knew so much about them yet they didn't know me. I learnt when to speak up and when to keep quiet. I'm very good at saying the wrong thing at the wrong time and getting myself into trouble, but on the show I think I learnt to hold my tongue - at least sometimes.

Whether I am asked back for next year's show remains to be seen. But I am glad that I took this job. I was the first in my team to start work on the show, and I had the honour to create the last log of the show (recording what the housemates say and do). When Jamie walked out of the house that was it, I logged the event and then signed off. It felt great to finish my work there, but at the same time I knew it would be goodbye to everyone. (We had the wrap party the following day at Surfers Paradise though).

We have since learned that about a million people a night were watching the show, and despite the usual politcians saying that the show should be shut down, we know that the audience enjoyed it all.

Mardi at BB

Yesterday, Friday July 28, I was able to bring Mardi to have a quick look at the control room and eviction area of Big Brother. Visits like that are always short but it was nice to have her there and let her see where I have been couped up in for the past three and a half months.

That night was the last Friday Night Live and it was a really good one, the tower they had to jump off was a fitting end for the games. There are no more tasks now, no more games, no more farm animal chores and no more fines. The game is over, now we just wait for the finale...

Teacher for a day

On Tuesday 18th of July I was a guest teacher at Clontarf Beach State School, talking to a year 11 class about film production. I prepared quite a number of different things to talk about but once in there I realised I would have to go with the flow as getting the students attention was not always easy, especially because all they wanted to talk about was 'Big Brother'.

It's interesting that whenever people find out that I work on the show, they always ask the exact same question... "Are you Big Brother?"

The students were quite nice but often rowdy and talked amongst themselves when I was trying to talk. As I am not a teacher it was up to their own teacher, who sat there the whole time, to keep them in line. There were two blonde girls who seemed to sit at the back throughout the class and just do their own thing. How rude. Apart from them, the rest were pretty good.

It's amazing how little free time teachers actually get. When I was in the staff room eating lunch with other Art Department teachers, they were constantly interupted by students knocking on the door and wanting things, despite a very clear sign saying that teachers are not to be contacted during lunch.

The students seem to know nothing but trashy Hollywood films like 'White Chicks', 'Scary Movie' etc - junk cinema. When they asked me what I liked I said '2001', '400 Blows'. 'Grapes of Wrath', Lawrence of Arabia'... and I was met by blank stares. Okay, '400 Blows' might be a bit obscure for them, but they seem incapable of seeing anything other than idiotic racist movies from the US.

Anyway, I did have a good time though, being a teacher wasn't all that bad.

I recently saw 'Munich', Chaplain's 'The Kid', 'March of the Penguins', 'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof'.

Working on Big Brother so far...

I've been working at Big Brother for about a month now (maybe longer) and so far so good. Fpr whatever reason I've been working a lot of night shifts which often leave me pretty tired but I'm enjoying the experience.

I've been doing a lot of 4:30pm to 2:30am shifts which I dont mind so much, the drive home at 2:30am is nice, hardly anyone on the road. The other shift I have done recently is the 11:00pm to 7:00am, this shift is okay but I'm not that keen on driving on in peak hour traffic. However, during this shift I get to be the Control Room Producer which is great. I get to sit in the centre seat and basically be in charge of everything until a new Producer arrives at 7:00am. The housemates are usually asleep by 3 or 4 in the morning so there isn't a lot to do.

Most of the people at BB are nice and helpful, though one or two I can't get a handle on as yet. My life seems so odd at the moment. Essentially, I work long strange hours and sleep during even stranger hours. I come home and my flatmates have left so I am alone here. Then at 3:00pm or 10:00pm or whatever I go to work. I feel disconnected from normal everyday life - but that's the nature of live television.

On another front I have been seeing Mardi for a few weeks now and things are great. She was here tonight and I made dinner. I don't want to say to much because it would feel weird discussing such things here, but suffice it to say - I really like her a lot!