Apr
30
2009
If the movie studios of this world made DVDs of movies available to buy at the same time as the movie is released, I’d buy every single thing I take Will to see immediately, as I’m sure millions of parents would. We’d already own Bolt and Monsters vs Aliens, instead of having to wait however many months until the DVD release.
This is a golden opportunity if they just wake up and realise that people must be downloading pirated versions because they can, and because their child wants to see the movie again already. I mean, they’ll say “pay again to see it”, but most won’t. The DVD is a better solution for repeat viewing, and believe me, kids want to see what they love again and again. And just pretending the pirated versions aren’t out there and making us wait months won’t cut it in the long run. There’s not much reason to wait anymore.
I mean, why not be innovative… make the purchase conditional on seeing it at the theatre first: ie, you can only buy the DVD if you just watched the movie on the big screen. That won’t harm box office at all, and if you’re worried about piracy, it’s already here, so why care? The kids will love you again for it.
That concludes my public service announcement.
Apr
29
2009
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Weird little PR news story about game developer in Canberra leaving to go indie, making his happy resignation a little online game. Shows good way of getting PR!
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Weird South American assassination plot that is shady on all sides … good stuff to note for fiction ideas.
Apr
29
2009
On the train this morning I got my first laptop conversation. Every day on the train the laptop appears for me to write, and the passenger next to me says nothing. But today, an older guy asked me some questions about the laptop. He was suitably impressed, and asked me about the battery life, and other features… sounded like he wanted one 
(I wonder if there’s an offline Wordpress function or even program… it would be great if I could tap this out offline, and have it all setup to upload automatically to the blog. Look for blog management software, since I think some desktop apps do actually do this.)
(Also, look for a desktop to-do list, maybe one that integrates online, but is mainly for offline, since my laptop is everywhere and I have got to have one to-do list unified. That would be best solution, since I don’t want the laptop *always* online!)
Apr
28
2009
Took Alex to the hospital for a flu shot in the morning, which is always an interesting trip, but totally uneventful. It did keep me working at home for the rest of the day, and I’ve got the outside room set up as a good office now. The kids have their lounge and table out there as well, and they spent much of the day with me out there, which worked mostly…
Will got a bit crazy, hysterical actually, which didn’t work out so well for productivity for a brief period. You’d swear he was drunk the way he was, laughing hysterically, falling over, giggling on the floor. Funny but crazy.
And naturally I went until 2am… powering through gallery creation for the new website at work. Got a lot done, but plenty more to do.
Apr
27
2009
Went to the parent’s today for another little celebration for Will’s birthday. A great day, with more presents for Will, and cake and birthday candles and all that wonderful stuff, and a football game too. Wests played Newcastle in the main TV game this afternoon, and damn it was a good game. Seizure inducing, but great.
Wests won 26-24 after storming home in the last 20 minutes when they seemed certain to lose. Benji Marshall ran the show, personal brilliance on display in a commanding role where he set up three tries in that 20 minute period then kicked the winning goal from the sidelines. He’s a freak and a legend, and I’m glad he’s on my team!
The funniest thing of course came when I just got too involved… I spent much of the game very non-committal in my obsessiveness, as Wests looked certain to lose for much of the game , and I was watching happily but trying not to invest too much into it.
But after the ref disallowed a try to us I just lost it… I scream at the TV with the best of them…! I kept the language clean, but when it gets that exciting… at least Will understood now. He laughed at everyone for the whole game, but naturally Alex got a bit upset. He’s at a simillar age Will was back in 2005 when we all screamed Wests to the Grand Final win.
Alex was fine in moments, and it all got more and more exciting until somehow Wests took out the victory. It made for a happier day certainly, and we all let Will know how happy his birthday party was with an extra win. We’re all a bit nuts, but that’s what being a sports fan is
Apr
26
2009
Anzac Day… and I’m always slightly in two minds about the event. You can’t go past the importance of remembering the past horrors of Aussies in war, they’re heroism mixed with a healthy dose of “let’s never do that again”, but I’ve wondered about the direction of the day in recent years. I think the Howard years brought us too much “isn’t it wonderful” and not enough “let’s remember it to never do it again”. But maybe I’m reading too much into it…
Seen some new ads at the moment… ostensibly they’re for Legacy and Anzac Remembrance, but oddly enough, they’re for VB beer as well. But they’re extremely good ads… I would say brilliant even. They focus on an old war veteran, or widow, remembering they’re mate, or their husband, or their comrade, that didn’t come home. Emotional as hell, and a perfect first-hand reminder of the horrors of war. They extoll you to “have a beer” to remember their mates, which is a good Aussie allusion as well, but also where the beer ad comes in.
So I guess what I’m saying is, is it okay to have a beer ad and an Anzac ad in the same package? They are such perfect ads I don’t think you can fault them, but I wonder about the beer content being so to the fore as well (the fact it’s beer doesn’t matter, I’d wonder the same thing if it was a Coke ad for instance).
An interesting one…
Apr
24
2009
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Need this for work
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Good comic strip about creating comics, must read!
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Big Joss Whedon interview about Dollhouse that I really have to read.
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News on ABC3 starting quite soon.
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Useful to note these guys… there should be new youth TV funding chances with ABC3 coming.
Apr
24
2009
Happy birthday to Will! Happy birthday to Will, happy birthday to Will! William James Robert Turner turns the big five today, and man, was it a good morning for all of us. He was awake early as usual, and as soon as I was ready, we had the present opening.
There were many cries of “wowee!” and “thank you very much!” as will got into his various presents from us. He was especially impressed with the Monsters vs Aliens story book, and the expected Kung Fu Panda and Yo Gabba Gabba DVDs. Other presents included some more Cars, various Gabba and Pixar story books, some clothes and a Monsters vs Aliens stencil book, which I’m hoping will encourage his drawing.
Still, I left him watching The Incredibles — I thought he’d rip into a new one, but birthday boy gets what he wants, of course Alex on the other hand wasn’t so impressed; I don’t think he understood why Will was suddenly getting all these new toys and books, and he kept wanting to “borrow” various things, then he was getting tough with Will, which didn’t help. Eventually, Will and I worked out that we could bribe him with letting him look at the new mini Mac truck Cars toy, and he was happy.
I had to go to work then, but a very fun morning, and we’ll keep the fun going tonight! Definitely some Monsters vs Aliens reading to be done!
Apr
22
2009
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Another agents site, this time a blog.
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Interesting sounding new graphic novel where each page is hand painted and inspired by film noir movies.
Apr
21
2009
The cutest thing tonight… Sallie made a whole lot of cupcakes for Will to take to kindy tomorrow… it’s his birthday the next day so he’ll have a little birthday thing at kindy before.
You bring your own cakes of course, and Will’s were nearly ready. I thought he might want to grab one now, but instead he had a look at them, then started to go through each one… he knew what they were for:
“This one’s for Hanan, this one’s for Elisabeth, this one’s for Ashley, this one’s for Darlington … (eventually) this one’s for Will, this one’s for Alex…”
So cute… he set aside one’s for the teachers, then his friends, then eventually himself and his brother. He knew it was all about sharing, and what was for who. Too cute for words…