Update: June 18th, 2005
Hello all! It’s been a little while since I did a full news post, so let my try to bring you up to speed on what’s happening up here.
I have a little less than three weeks left in my contract at Centrelink (which has already been extended once), an I’ve been keeping an eye on the papers and the Internet job boards for more jobs. I’m finding more jobs that I reckon I’m capable of on the Queensland Government website (they seem to need a lot of admin folks, and I’m hoping it’s not just because some middle-managers need to justify their existence) than anywhere else, but I’m also keeping a weather eye for something a little different. I’m also looking at getting some MYOB experience under my belt, as many office-related jobs in Cairns require experience with the application for book keeping and/or payroll purposes.
The Horizon: Virtual WikiProject that I set up over on RPGnet is gathering a bit of steam. I seem to be making the most contributions to it right now, but a fine gentleman who goes by the handle Lord Igtenio over the Web has done quite a hefty chunk of grunt work in formatting the rewrite lists by class section. There’ve also been some additions to the waker dictionary which, I’ll admit, I don’t think quite work, but we’ll see how we go. I still like how it’s shaping up overall.
Well, Vickie and I finally did the geek thing a couple of weeks ago and saw Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. It was very enjoyable, although it did have its down moments. I still think the characterisations were a little weak when compared to the Original Trilogy, but I think this was the movie that Star Wars fans had been hoping the previous Episodes would be.
Also, we’ll be off to see Batman Begins tomorrow, and we’re looking forward to War of the Worlds opening on the 29th. (Yes, the US Summer Blockbuster season has started.) I can certainly understand Universal putting Serenity back until the end of September (currently pegged for the 29th in Australia) so that the wake from those three heavy hitters can die down a little! I don’t think we’ll bother with Fantastic 4 until it hits DVD. I’m tempted by Sin City, but I’m not sure whether it’s Vickie’s cup of tea, even with so many Big Names in it. The Island looks very interesting, though. The Rock’s next flick (and the next big game-to-film effort), Doom, hits in early August, and Jamie Foxx’s Top Gun vs. HAL, a.k.a. Stealth, comes along in early September.
Vickie mentioned earlier on that she hopes the experience of War of the Worlds on the big screen won’t wreck the original for her. Personally, I think that both Vickie and I have read the original so many times that nothing could spoil it, and I also think that we’ve seen so many book-to-film conversions that we’ve become sort of inured to the process (we know what to expect and what not to).
And I hope you don’t mind if I end this post on something of a down note. The past few years have been hard on my family, with the death of my Mum and my Dad’s parents passing away within a year and a half of each other. Not long before we moved to Cairns, we found out that Nan – my Mum’s mum – has contracted cancer of the liver. My aunt Trish took time off work to care for her full-time, but the condition progressed to the point, a couple of months ago, that Trish just couldn’t provide the care Nan needed. She’s been moved respite care, and two weeks ago Trish was looking for a nursing home. It’s pretty certain that Nan won’t be going back home.