So this is christmas, and what have we got? A book 7 title, what more could you want??

Heehee, I'm so excited! I've been on a bit of a high for 2 days now, which is saying something seeing that I've spent most of those 2 days working. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. At first, I was surprised, as it did not seem to link to the series at all, as compared to the previous ones. But after seeing all the research that has been done so far, and how it could relate to so many things, such as horcruxes, the Founders, Arthurian legend, the Veil, etc. it begins to make so much more sense!

But the really scary thing....there was only 6 months between the announcement of the title and the release date for Half-Blood Prince. Plus, from the sounds of things, she didn't spend as much time trying to decide on the title either. Who knows (other than JKR of course), we might have a book by this time next year!!

Oh, and Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, etc, etc.

Exams are over once again

Just a quick update, feel like mentioning a few things, plus I'm slightly bored once more.

Exams are over (for another 8 months, apparently) which is good. Not sure I've done as well as I would have liked, but oh well. Will just have to wait til results on the 30th (or the 29th, as the Monash SMS system goes).

A group called HP Events Australia are organising a symposium in Australia! Very, very cool. If it all works out it would be awesome. Funnily enough, I discovered this just after Pat and I had discussed that Millenion should organise one (along with a HP7 release party). The website's at www.snidget2008.com and join the yahoo! group at http://movies.groups.yahoo.com/group/hpaustralia/

In the mean time (once again) I have a list of things to do over the holidays, not least re-designing this page. Should be a bit of fun, what with the stuff I learnt this semester at uni.

YouTube

YouTube is interesting. The idea that anyone can make a video, (or capture a video for that matter) and put it on the Internet is a great idea. The talent of people out there is pretty incredible - like this video of HP clips set to 'The Sweetest Thing' - it's great. Not to mention so many of the fan-made trailers for 'Phoenix' - there are some excellent ones out there. I'd love to have a go myself, but the chance of me doing it before the teaser trailer arrives? Unlikely. As for clips-to-music, I can see people setting certain scenes from 'Half-Blood Prince' to Rihanna's 'Unfaithful'. (Confused by that? Go back, listen to the chorus and change 'he 'for 'she' - it's Harry/Ginny all over. It's a bit sad though that when I first heard the song that was the first thing I thought of.)
I have found it kind of funny that Google has bought YouTube though - they did have Google Video, but it wasn't as good, so they buy YouTube. We all do that, don't we? :)

The Adventures of Me Putting Video on my PDA (a.k.a in the US: I'm Bored)

(Just wanted to join the ranks of the authors that I know of who have had their stuff renamed (by their publishers) for the U.S.: J.K. Rowling (Philosopher's/Sorcerer's Stone), Garth Nix (Old Kingdom/Abhorsen Trilogy), Philip Pullman (Northern Lights/Golden Compass) and so many more... Mind you, as I'm publishing my own stuff, how that works, I don't know :))

Okay, I have three days off uni, to study for the exams next week. But studying all day for three days is just too boring, and Centre Com has SD cards on sale. So what do I choose to do?

Sort out the music and video on my PalmOne Tungsten E2, that's what.

First of all, I buy a 2 gig card, thinking that will fit all my music and video perfectly. Sounds good, right? Wrong. Apparently the file system on 2 gig and above is different to 1 gig and below. After searching for 10 minutes to try and figure out why my card is not being read, I find this lovely little piece of information on the Palm website. Great. Ended up going back today and buying a 1 gig one, which works. All is good.

Until I start downloading the HP trailers to put on it. I started by re-downloading the GoF trailers (as something happened to mine and they won't work - no idea what happened there) from Leaky's Video Gallery, after checking the Palm website to check which formats to use. All is good.

Until I go to upload them to the PDA. Apparently Palm is not just picky about the file type but the encoding as well. So I go and re-download them (again, which does take time for me on my all-so-sloooow dial-up) from ComingSoon.net and they work. All is good.

Until I go to play them. Using the in-built Media program, the audio and visual are un-synced. So back I go to the Palm website, where I had the sense to go to the supprot forums where someone had suggested to someone else to use an open-source media player. Download it, it works. All is good.

So I go back to get the trailers for PoA, CoS, and PS/SS (hopefully). Sounds easy, doesn't it? Well it's not - Apple hosted the ones for the US PoA and CoS ones, and so don't let you download it. But after a quick Google search, found that Rotten Tomatoes had a link straight to the clips on the WB server. I haven't even tried looking for PS/SS ones - I'm not liking my chances.

The lesson from this? Great, simple sounding ideas can get very complicated, open-source software is better, Google can be very useful, and double-check before buying SD (or any) Memory Cards.

Why am I telling you all this? Because I'm very bored and really should be getting back to study. Good luck to everyone on their exams.

Release of first 'Phoenix' pictures

I went away with my family for 3 days. It's not very often I go without Internet for that long.
So what does Warner Bros. do?

RELEASE 8 'PHOENIX' PICTURES THAT'S WHAT!

(Actually, 2 were out Monday night before I left, but they weren't high-res, so I'm ignoring that fact :P)
I guess it could have been worse - JKR could have released the Grade 2 WOMBATs, or the title, or something...It's quite exciting really, I'm sure there wasn't nearly this many released this early for 'Goblet', and with a trailer due in November, it's getting kind of exciting - except the movie isn't released til July! Oh well. As for the pics, they look fantastic, the lighting appears to be much more natural, which I like, both Evanna Lynch and Imelda Staunton look just like their actors, and I can't wait to see them act. Also is it just the lighting or do Dan's eyes look green (or less blue, anyway)? Sure, they're not emerald green, but they look greener all the same (not that I don't like Dan's blue eyes...). Check the pics out at www.leakynews.com.

BTW, the holiday was great! Got some really good pictures of the Great Ocean Road, Warrnambool and the Grampians, may post some on Flickr if I feel like sharing :)

Good News All Round! (well, pretty much)

The Good News
1. The release date for 'Phoenix' may have changed! It is now most likely July 12th, 2007 (making it a day before the U.S./U.K., or as Leigh pointed out, over a day because of the time difference!) Hopefully it's true. Will mean that the screenings will be full of kids, seeing that it will be school holidays, and now there's no hope of an Australian Premiere, but I'll get over it. Actually, I think I already am...
2. I have uploaded the photos I took Sunday at the Millenion Extreme 40-Hour Famine. So far they're just in my Flickr account, so check them out here. Feel free to use them, but both Millenion and I are not responsible for any retribution that occurs when used in evil ways :)
3. I'm allowed to do the Millenion website for an assignment! That means I can kill two birds with one stone, and go to meetings and stuff with the excuse that it is homework.
4. Ash can get advanced screening tickets for 'Phoenix'
The Bad News:
1. At the moment I'm fighting Pat for the advanced ticket.
2. We tried again for broadband. Still can't get it.
3. Get the Website Authoring assignment back Friday :(
I think the good news well and truly makes up for the bad stuff, doesn't it??

Uploading photos on a dial-up connection

It has taken me 11 days to upload 98 (out of the 500-or-something) photos I took from LPC's Combined Training Day. And now I have to start uploading the photos from the August Rally and opening of the new arena. At least Coppermine makes it easy once they're uploaded. Why then, have I decided to open a Flickr account? I don't know! Anyway, while there are no pics in there at the moment, here's the link to it here. I'll try and upload some into there within the next couple of months :P

The holidays are over...

...and in some ways I'm glad to be back, and in other ways I'm not. Today wasn't much fun, but that would be due to the fact that a tute that wasn't supposed to be running today did, and I did not receive the email last night because my internet was not working. Therefore, I turned up thinking I was finishing at 1, when in fact I finished at 5 and did not bring anything to fill in a 2 hour break. Oh well.

The LPC is up and running. There are a couple of bits missing, but the majority is there. Had to re-upload it all after discovering a nifty piece of code to align the stuff in my tables vertically. (valign - took me close to an hour to find that in the Dreamweaver help, Google might have been easier, but with no internet, you have to make do.)

My film script is nearly finished! It only needs the last scene, which I am a little stuck on, but seeing as the LPC site is basically done, hopefully that will be soon too. As for the Millenion site, it's still suffering from lack-of-domain-and-hosting (hint, hint Millenion people), but the framework is there. The home videos, in the end, had no hope :(

Anyway, hope everyone has fun this semester at uni or tafe, and all those people who don't go to uni or tafe, have fun anyway :)

Only one week to go...

Only one week of holidays to go.
And toy sale starts on the 20th.
And I haven't started the script.
I will start it tomorrow.
I will start it tomorrow.
I will start it tomorrow.

(P.S. Want to see something funny? Click here to watch a funny video, though I'm guessing most of the visitors to this site will have already seen it.)

Update on list of things to do over the break...

I am now 1/2 way through my mid-year break, and I thought you may be interested to hear how I am going with my list of tasks (or you may not be interested, I don't know do I?) Anyway, currently all I have done is purchased a PDA, and I have designed, to the point that it only needs content and a gallery, the Langwarrin Pony Club website. (The site will be at http://www.langwarrinpc.org.au, but is not there YET.) As for the film script, I'm hoping to do that this week, but the DVDs, I'm afraid, may have to be relegated to summer. That's life, I'm afraid. Blame stocktake.

Exams are over!

Had the last one yesterday, so they're over for another semester. Not quite for the year, I know I'll have some more in a couple of months. Oh well. Seeing as I don't have to go back to uni until the 19th of July, I'll just enjoy the freedom 'til then (and try and finish some of the items on my list that was part of a previous post).

Eurobeat - Almost Eurovision

I went along with my family and friends to Eurobeat last night - it was fantastic!! It is so much fun, and it is hilarious! Our table had to support France (which finished with no points, oh well) and we voted for Ireland, who won (yay! and it was their first win too). You could meet the cast afterwards as well, I got a couple of autographs, including Julia Zemiro's - she was great to talk to, incredibly nice. (She mentioned that after the World Cup that there was 10 episodes of RocKwiz left, and then they had to wait to see if SBS commissioned another series. They better!) I also purchased the CD, and it is already on my notebook :)

So, if you get a chance, go see it! It finishes this week in Melbourne, and is moving to Adelaide, Perth, Sydney and Canberra. You can visit the website at www.eurobeat.com.au. I'm hoping it comes back to Melbourne at some point - I'd love to see it again!!

My plans for after exams

I always make plans for during the breaks from school and now uni. Rarely, however, do I actually follow them through. So I though, for once, that I'd post them up for the world to see, and perhaps that might make a difference (or not...). Anyway I want to try to:-

- Finish and upload Millenion Inc.'s website
- Design, finish and upload Langwarrin Pony Club's website
- Design, finish and upload MondaysDayroom.com (a planned Keys to the Kingdom/Garth Nix fansite)
- Write the script for the short film idea thats been floating around in my head for a few weeks now
- Convert the family home videos to DVD
- Work enough to pay for the digital camera, uni fees, uni books and a PDA

How many weeks is the midyear break again? I did originally have learning JavaScript and AJAX on the list, but I took it off, seeing as I get to learn it next semester in Website Authoring, a unit I'm really looking forward to :)

Exams

...are not fun. I had Business Statistics today, and I must admit that I wasn't nearly as nervous as I was going into the VCE exams. I'm guessing thats because there isn't as great a pressure, but also could be due to the fact I'm getting used to it(? Is it possible to get used to exams? I don't know). Must admit the train trip to Caulfield and back was not too bad, re-read lecture slides on the way up and the Herald Sun on the way home with a White Hot Chocolate from Gloria Jeans - yummy! As for my other exams, I have Business Law (gasp!) on Wednesday, Accounting Thursday (at Clayton, what a pain...) and I.T. in Organizations the Thursday after that. I like the fact I have a week to study for that.

Anyway, I'm going to see Eurobeat on Saturday! It was co-written by a friend-of-a-friend (Craig Christie) and is a send up of the Eurovision Song Contest. It is also co-hosted by Julia Zemiro a.k.a the host of Rockwiz, the-girl-from-the-Melbourne-ads (not the ones with John So, I know thats Livinia Nixon) and she has been on 'Thank God You're Here' - an awesome show, hope they make another series! I'm so excited, I can't wait! Work was very nice and gave me leave at a weeks notice :)

Well, I'm going to go now, 'Enough Rope' is on, another show I love, not sure who is on it tonight though, guess I'll find out soon enough...

Update on Camera dilemma...

Just thought everyone would like to know that I have brought a camera (well Dad has anyway, he's not home from work yet)! Anyway, I have ended up with the Fujifilm. At $449 with a battery charger from Ted's in the city, I think it was a pretty good deal. The reviews I was reading tended to be generally in favour of it. I just need to work out the memory card, but there's a place on the net, Mr Gadget that has 1gig xD cards for $59(!)+ $14 p&h. Looks like I'm going to be getting out of this much much cheaper than I thought :)

Digital Cameras....

My digital camera broke Saturday (at the deb!). With Teds charging $80 just for a quote (it's 3 years old, welllll out of warranty), I'm now in the market. Apart from messing up my plans to get an DSLR in a few years time when the price has fallen, it is so hard looking now as compared to my old one. Far too much variety! I have however, have it narrowed down to 2 (at the moment!) Problem is, neither has all the features that I want - they seem to be either on one or the other. Hmmmm. Why do people have to make life so hard? Anyway, for those that are interested, I'm looking at the Fujifilm FinePix S5600 (which has less shutter lag, is cheaper and the lens doesn't have to zoom in and out, and therefore should have faster start up time) and the Canon Powershot s2 is (which has 12x zoom, image stabilisation and a flip out LCD). What a dilemma!

Hehe, Widgets are so cool!

I'm having a ton of fun at the moment - TLC created a desktop 'Phoenix' countdown, which was cool, but I didn't want to be stuck with one that finished two months early, so I left a comment, and their widget guy has made up an Australian one! Course, I then had to sit for an hour to download Yahoo! Widgets, but it was worth it. The weather one, which I expected to be US only, not only has Melbourne, but Frankston! Awesome...

Update on Aust. 'Phoenix' release date...

It's been confirmed by WB! It's not fair! Anyone know of cheap accomodation in London? Am now planning on flying there for their release. Mind you, it would be an amazing experience if the book was released around the same time...the seventh book, 'Phoenix' world premiere, and seeing the movie before everyone back home....what a wonderful dream, but must get back to Bus. Law assignment. I am, however, thinking of starting a petition, you never know...

UPDATE: There's now a petition! Sign it!

Rumour: Phoenix being released Sep. 6th here?

I saw this mentioned on Harry Potter Fan Zone, (which is run by an Australian). It's not fair! The sad thing is, its just as likely to be true. The U.S. release date of July 13th is after (I think) our school holidays, while September 6th is just before. It's rather like what they did with 'Charlie and the the Chocolate Fatory'. Please change it WB!

Wow - cool work by Aussies!

Didn't realise until I was reading a scanned article posted by The Leaky Cauldron that Rising Sun Pictures did the visual effects regarding the Goblet in Goblet of Fire! I always assumed (from their position and smaller amount of people in the credits) that they just helped out the other companies like ILM. So cool - I wanna work for them!

Update: Still reading - Animal Logic worked on the egg. Not as big as the Goblet, but still pretty cool. Wouldn't mind working for them either. Interesting side note - Animal Logic did the opening and credits for 'Spicks n Specks' - an awesome show :)

Hello Everybody!

Hello everyone! Welcome to my blog. Not sure how often I'll update, will just be when I have something to say. I'm guessing some of you may be wondering why I'm using blogger and not myspace - I think blogger gives me more control, not to mention that blogger and I go way back :) Anyway, this design will most likely not be temporary, I shall change it when I have a chance (though I should probably finish Millenion's site first). Happy Easter everyone!

P.S. - Check out www.thefitnessattic.com.au - designed by me for my cousin's boyfriend Damien - rather simple for now, but hey, I don't do Web Site Design 'til next semester. Any probs with it, please email me :)