Feeling slightly down today, I seem to be rushing about doing things all day, but not making progress in any work. Just applications, talking about doing things, emails moving files about. All that admin stuff that can easily eat up a day or two without meaning to do so.

It's 10pm now, and my first chance to sit down, beyond the 4 1/2 hours I spent on the bus today. I am going to have an early night tonight and get back into work proper tomorrow. I am desperately trying to keep the house, well the bedroom and bathroom clean. As basically cleaning in the house seems to stop the moment the Christmas tree goes up, and doesn't continue until it goes down again.

Money is always an issue for Hannah and I around this time of year, it's always the month or two before and after Christmas and mid year, when things start to just *run out*. It comes from the power/water/gas bills coming in at those times, and they are the opposite end of our scholarship times. Things have been made harder this time with neither Hannah nor myself in full time work. I am doing animation work, however the pay is pitiful and we are both shooting our resumes everywhere in the hope of getting work.

You would have thought with a degree things would get somewhat easier.

CB

Would you believe I just bought 68 Dapol K9's on ebay? By accident.

I woke up today with my Sister knocking on the door. I slept in far too long and have felt fatigued all day. I really am having extreme trouble feeling enthused or interested about any of the work I am doing. So things are going very slowly as I move vertices about the place.

I know what I need to do, but am having trouble building up the enthusiasm to do it with any great gusto.

Last night we (Hannah, Alex myself) watched most of season two of "Spaced" that was good fun, and it surprises me that it's taken so long for me to get around to actually watching it. Good fun.

Tonight I am probably going around to my sister's house for dinner tonight, I am hoping getting out of the house for a little while might cheer me up somewhat. I think I am one of a handful of visual effects artists in the world who isn't keen on watching visual effects. Strange.

Blarg.

CB

Lightwave files are harder to read than you would have thought.

CB

just spend 20 minutes crafting a blog, then hit 'back' rather than 'post' and lost it.

At the moment I have friends staying over. I am constantly surprised peole want to spend time with me. I am a deeply antisocial person.

col b.

It's Friday afternoon, Hannah and I spend the day cleaning the bedroom and the bathroom. Tomorrow I hope to do the kitchen and lounge room. The in a few days redo the study. It's not really exciting, but makes you feel much better throwing away things and removing marks on the wall that seem to have been there near enough forever.

I went to a meeting yesterday to talk about Honours / Masters. And basically it boiled down to: I would have to do Honours first over a year full time. They were more than happy about the kind of project I would work on and felt confident I could do it. However, they were worried about my academic transcript as my grades vary between the extremely high, HD's, D's and the extremely low, Passes and fails.

They told me if I was constantly good, I would probably get in or consistently bad I wouldn't get in. And if I had started off badly, and gotten better I would be in with a good chance. But apparently there aren't many people who have such.. contradictory grades. The last three terms I have gotten a Fail, Credit and High Distinction. So, apparently there will be a board of people who get to decide. Sadly I don't get to put my case to them, only a single A4 sheet of paper with one line allowing my to express "Why I want to do this."

So, I am not hugely confident about getting it. Hannah put my resume into a plethora of places last week. And today she got a call from a Pet Store, offering her an interview on Tuesday. Good luck to her! I got a call about 20 minutes later from an unknown number.

I have this uneasy feeling it was something to do with a job. However, when dialling the number on my home phone it tells me the number is wrong. Very annoying. Perhaps a private number or somesuch? A one way number?

I need to tell Centrelink this week what I am doing, and I am not 100% sure what to tell them. I have applied for a position at University that I may or may not get and I have applied for work at numerous places. So I will probably be doing *something*. I don't think that's the answer they will want.

My new monitor is fairly snazzy and with a new sound system, albeit a poor one, things feel a little new and fresh. And it feels like a good environment to get stuck into some project work. I was really hoping to get stuck into work this week, but things became complicated all week, between going out, seeing people, computers blowing up, being repaired, University meetings and so on, so that all I have done is make up a great big sheet of paper expressing what I SHOULD be doing.

I am currently working on an animation of TP4 (if you don't know what that is, you won't care) and have managed to get a pile of very hush hush reference material for it. From a few different sources, and the original 1997/8 Who3D sets of the project that I used to have on my wall when I was in Primary School.

However, they are proving to be something of a problem, as the files are in such an ancient format I have had to find not only software to read the files, but software to convert the files into something I can read! Then I get the fun task of upgrading the sets and retexturing them. Hurrah.

I am going to ask my friend Damien Rochow to do some additional modelling work for me on the project. He has a real knack for making creases in clothes that I honestly fail at doing. So I will send my lovely 'clean' costumes for him to do. He will probably complain about doing them, not be happy with them, but I would love him to do something on this project.

In 6 minutes we have some friends coming over to watch some exceedingly dull science fiction.

Colonel Barker.

Blagh. Life. Don't talk to me about life.

Tomorrow I am cleaning the house.

Today is the day of editing. So no real work, but compiling and combing through work to see if I can put it together in an interesting order.

It's all very exiting. I have been asked by so many people to put my old reel online, so I went through and removed all the material I am not currently allowed to put online and have made a much tamer version.

So this is me back in Janurary.



Currently cooking up a much bigger, more exciting one with all this year's material in it. But again, I am not allowed to put it online.

Colonel Barker.

Time seems to be slipping away from me. I have gotten up and replied to me emails and had a shower and it's 11:30am. I was really hoping to get right into working on some projects today, there is plenty of time left. But I need to have some breakfast and go to the post office. By the time I do that it will probably be around 2pm before I actually start work. Very frustrating.

I have been venting a bit of anger at my Who3D friends, about the lack of any progress on... anything in the last two years or so. In late 2006, I animated a Dr Who comic "Dreadnought", over the next five months after just picking up animation I did my first missing episode "The Tenth Planet: Episode Four", then I set my sights bigger, went to the forum and said "Let's do Power of the Daleks", I brought other people on board and some of the test material looked really fantastic. And three years later, and the project is at a complete standstill.

I am not going to blame everyone else at all, because I know it's at least partially my fault, I am working on much more material these days, at a much higher quality so things take, much, much longer. It's a pity, I was hoping to be on to bigger and better things. I estimated at five months an episode I should be finished "Power of the Daleks" by early 2010. And it's almost now, and we have some character models and MOST OF some sets. It's really frustrating.

So I have written dozens of private messages, lot of posts on the forum and really questioned our working methodology. Because, you see everyone working at Who3D is doing it for free in their spare time. They are all working animators and modellers with their own careers, and spending weeks and months working on this project for the love of it just isn't enough to keep a project running. Coordinating such a project is the job of 2-3 people, rather than just one person.

Weirdly, the only episodes to be reanimated by fan are...

Marco Polo: 1 (2000) was done by one guy working every night after work for a year. In photoshop, in 2D.

Tenth Planet: 4 (2006) was done by me, in five months over a Christmas break in 3D.

Dalek's Master Plan: 1 (2009) was done by two guys, one guy gave him the audio and called himself the producer, the other guy animated it in a few months in his spare time. In 2D. Quite poorly.

Moonbase: 1 (2009) This is a 2D animation using some very basic animation in the same style as Cosgrove Hall, it took the guy over a year to do, and really still has a LONG way to go before it could be called "done".

So, all the completed projects have been done by single people working as hard as they can over 6 months to a year. Somehow I managed to get my project done in half the time as everyone else, but then I work very fast. You can argue it's because mine doesn't look as good. But I would argue mine is the first (and only) episode to be completed in 3D. Ever.

Well until Dreamland, and even that has gotten some very, very harsh feedback.

I am going in for a meetings about my Honours / Masters at University later this week. Possibly today, no one ever tells me these things, and they are going to ask me about a project I want to work on. And I think this is it, I think it's something I am very passionate about, and something I really want to see completed, and something I have spend the last three years being frustrated by.

Now it's time to walk to the post office!

Colonel Barker

Well, I am finally in the world of having a monitor again. It cost me rather too much money, but I now own a 23" Widescreen HD LCD Monitor, the cheapest one I could find in the city. The only trouble with it, is it sits on a 30 degree angle downwards, so I need to place it above me looking down. Not really an ideal set of conditions to work under, but it will do.

Shortly after getting it home and setting it up, I came to the dawning realisation that my old monitor had speakers, and my new computer was rather silent. Not so fantastic for animation all things considered. So I went out and bought the CHEAPEST 5.1 system in the world. I just wanted speakers really, but managed to find a set of speakers for $28. I have no idea how, but somehow they even work.

They aren't very loud, they sound like crap, but they are sound and will do for now. Turning them down from maximum renders them impossible to hear, and taking the bass off maximum makes audio sound like it's coming from a tin.

But the short and the long of it is, I am now back in the world of having a working computer, and have a pile of projects that need to have a significant amount of work thrown in to them this week.

But enough of dull things of the everyday, because today is Doctor Who's 46th Birthday. So far today I have managed to watch the Krotons Episode Four. Not the most auspicious birthday present. And I have just over an hour before time's up. Normally I watch the TVM, however Brendon seems to have it. I wonder why he has never pulled me up for spelling his name wrong before this point.

This week is full of meetings and visits, mails and work. I have never been so tied up in projects I enjoy working on or poor.

Colonel Barker

still no monitor.

Can't get one until 1030am tomorrow. So today I have been watching a lot of claaic who on VHS. So far I have knocked down:

Happiness Patrol, Paradise Towers, Death to the Daleks, Curse of Fatal Death, Planet of Fire and am considering watching Dragonfire.

I have a headache from reading bits and bobs, watching TV and otherwise not being creative or constructive in anyway.

I am not sure how people cope with this numbness of consuming all day. Blah.

I was going to do a lot of cleaning today, however Hannah wants me to wait until tuesday or wednesday. So I am sitting down thinkibg about a lot of cleaning I will do.

Last night Hannah and I went to the cinema for the first time since Star Trek was released and saw 'New Moon' Nothing very new about it, but good exciting fun.

The only thing to complain about are the characters aren't keen on moving themselves and enjoy angsting a lot. But hell, that's what being a teenager is all about.

My phone is my only way to the net at the moment, and this afternoon it cleverly disconnected from my home wireless and connected to the expensive telstra phone network and ate my credit. what a lovely thing for it to do.

Colonel Barker

well, I am posting from my phone. My monitor died. So although I have three working computers I have no working monitors.

I have one old spare one that is so low resolution it won't display my desktop on minimum resolution. So I am at a stage where I need to spend 250 on an exciting screen. Unfortunatly that's that's the money for Hannahs christnas present.

And after a day choosing with Hannah whag I want to get her I feel like shit getting a piece of nessisary hardware for myself. The monitor has an extended three year warrenty on it. and after three years, and three months it dies in the arse.

So, here I am on my mobile tapping away trying not to think about that work I could be doing. kind of frustrating really.

I spent the day with Anthony, that was fun, but I can help but geel guilty about the work I can't do.

Tonight I am going to... watch some TV and sulk.

Colonel Barker.

So many people msn-ing me.

Tomorrow Anthony is coming over, today I saw Alex and yesterday I did some 3D lighting. It's all very exciting, and I was woken this morning by someone asking to consolidate my loans.

I don't have any loans.

Also, the complete X-Files set is down from $350 to $120. I am sooooooo tempted to grab it. But being so close of Christmas, I don't have that much money to my name.

I am going to try and rapidly exit all these windows and read the new DWM.

Colonel Barker.

Did Lovett Bickford & Paul Joyce ruin Dr Who for the rest of us for the next few years?

I don't know. I just watched Leisure Hive Ep1. Despite everything going on throughout the episode, all the effects, music, model shot, fantastic make up and costumes it all feels so flat and lifeless.

CB

Well, it's very hot today. And it looks like I have finally gotten to the end of "Error's Escape" lighting and rendering. The film is looking really fantastic. I can't wait to see it all put together.

I went out to lunch with my Mum, Sister and her partner today. That was nice, and I have spend this afternoon playing around with some lighting issues.

I don't have a vast amount of words to speak today.

Colonel Barker.

It's hot.

My Mum went into the Hospital for an operation today, she's okay, but it took up most of the day.

Colonel Barker.

It's Tuesday evening, I have surprise surprise spend the day lighting and rendering shots. Exciting. I have been extremely tired all day.

I went to Carclew, a Youth Arts Funding body today to talk about my career. It seemed to go down well, and on the whole I am doing basically the right thing. Although I managed to get lost there and ended up walking around the Adelaide Cricket Oval.

My Mum has come up today and tomorrow, and we are having a BBQ at my sisters house tonight while we see her. My parents have given Hannah and I an air-conditioner system. So, for the first summer in my life I should be able to work in relative peace. Although if it will mean I just sit about thinking "I am nice and cool" rather than working, I don't know yet.

Anyway, it's all rather exciting and I am hoping to get to bed tonight as early as possible.

Colonel Barker.

I am feeling really exhausted today. I didn’t sleep well at all last night. Partially the heat, our house has become some kind of heat-box, and also the excitement of new Dr Who today. I am going to avoid talking about it, as I know a lot of people won’t see it until after school/ University etc. But I got up, watched it, it’s about 1pm now. My computer is still rendering away shots, I rewrote my resume and am now feeling a little at a loss.

I am feeling very tired, and am really looking forward to getting some sleep today. Today is the respite day, where we have a lovely 26 degrees, any other day of the year and it would be very nice. However it’s much more like a cooling off period, a pause before another week of 41 degree days. I am desperately trying to bring the temperature down I have fans going, doors and windows open, just trying to get some airflow. Because today is completely still, nothing is moving an inch.

There is a bunch of stuff I need to be working on, however largely using my computer, that as I said; is currently rendering away. It’s little more than an electric typewriter.

Today is also the day that the Sir Ians version of “The Prisoner” premieres, I have spend all morning looking for a copy, until I realised that as its’ airing in the US, it won’t have been broadcast for another hour or so.

The ability to sleep in the middle of the day is something Hannah, her Mum, my sister and my Mum both seem to be able to do easily. I can stay up for three or four days, feeling completely knackered lay down in bed and not be able to sleep until a stupid hour. I mean yes, I can pull blinds and close eyes, and count backwards from 1000. But what happens when you reach 0? You feel frustrated, go get a drink and check your email. I am going to blame society for having a culture where everything is in a constant state of GO.

I am always working on one project or another, at the moment I have two animation project (not mine) I am working on, and seem to be having trouble keeping up with them, despite spending all day every day working on them. I know people constantly tell me it’s very much a lifestyle choice. It’s not one I really should have made, knowing who I am and the kind of things I love and hate. I should have gone for something relaxing, with few responsibly.

You could argue you would get less pay for such a position, but from where I am sitting, all these free animation gigs don’t seem to be paying anything at all. I hope they pay off in the future. Although I am not a financially greedy man at all. I don’t want a swimming pool or a huge house, with servants and things. I just want a space where I can collect Dr Who, and work on my Art. Art with a capital A. I seem to have been paid to make Art, I have lectured in it and shortly I will be a paid tutor in it. So I suppose I am not only a practising Artist but also a professional one. To be professional in something quite literarily means to be paid for it.

This afternoon I am going to take a few hours to watch Dr Who Confidential, listen to the commentary (after it airs soon) watch the new episode of “The Prisoner” and probably rewatch them again when Alex comes over. I could have waited, but Dr Who is one thing I am greedy for.

Colonel Barker.

I am feeling really exhausted today. I didn’t sleep well at all last night. Partially the heat, our house has become some kind of heat-box, and also the excitement of new Dr Who today. I am going to avoid talking about it, as I know a lot of people won’t see it until after school/ University etc. But I got up, watched it, it’s about 1pm now. My computer is still rendering away shots, I rewrote my resume and am now feeling a little at a loss.

I am feeling very tired, and am really looking forward to getting some sleep today. Today is the respite day, where we have a lovely 26 degrees, any other day of the year and it would be very nice. However it’s much more like a cooling off period, a pause before another week of 41 degree days. I am desperately trying to bring the temperature down I have fans going, doors and windows open, just trying to get some airflow. Because today is completely still, nothing is moving an inch.

There is a bunch of stuff I need to be working on, however largely using my computer, that as I said; is currently rendering away. It’s little more than an electric typewriter.

Today is also the day that the Sir Ians version of “The Prisoner” premieres, I have spend all morning looking for a copy, until I realised that as its’ airing in the US, it won’t have been broadcast for another hour or so.

The ability to sleep in the middle of the day is something Hannah, her Mum, my sister and my Mum both seem to be able to do easily. I can stay up for three or four days, feeling completely knackered lay down in bed and not be able to sleep until a stupid hour. I mean yes, I can pull blinds and close eyes, and count backwards from 1000. But what happens when you reach 0? You feel frustrated, go get a drink and check your email. I am going to blame society for having a culture where everything is in a constant state of GO.

I am always working on one project or another, at the moment I have two animation project (not mine) I am working on, and seem to be having trouble keeping up with them, despite spending all day every day working on them. I know people constantly tell me it’s very much a lifestyle choice. It’s not one I really should have made, knowing who I am and the kind of things I love and hate. I should have gone for something relaxing, with few responsibly.

You could argue you would get less pay for such a position, but from where I am sitting, all these free animation gigs don’t seem to be paying anything at all. I hope they pay off in the future. Although I am not a financially greedy man at all. I don’t want a swimming pool or a huge house, with servants and things. I just want a space where I can collect Dr Who, and work on my Art. Art with a capital A. I seem to have been paid to make Art, I have lectured in it and shortly I will be a paid tutor in it. So I suppose I am not only a practising Artist but also a professional one. To be professional in something quite literarily means to be paid for it.

This afternoon I am going to take a few hours to watch Dr Who Confidential, listen to the commentary (after it airs soon) watch the new episode of “The Prisoner” and probably rewatch them again when Alex comes over. I could have waited, but Dr Who is one thing I am greedy for.

Colonel Barker.

THE RULES: PLEASE AT LEAST READ THIS!!

Once you have been tagged, you are supposed to wipe out my answers and supply your own. After, choose some people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If you were tagged, it's because I want to know more about you. To do this, go to "notes" under tabs on your profile page, paste these instructions in the body of the note along with your answers, Publish it, go back in and edit your Note and then tag a bunch of people.

Let others know a little more about yourself, re-post this as your name followed by "ology".


***********FOODOLOGY***************

1. What is your salad dressing of choice?
~ Ceaser

2. What is your favorite sit-down restaurant?
~ KFC at the moment. I have a hankering for a Chicken Burger.

3. What food could you eat every day for two weeks and not get sick of?
~ Chicken Burger.

4. What are your pizza toppings of choice?
~ Meats and cheese. Like a cheese-o-meat.

5.What do you like to put on your toast?
~ butter & vegemite.

***********TECHNOLOGY***************

1. How many televisions are in your house?
~ Three at the moment, only one connected.

2. What color mobile phone do you have?
~ Silver/ Black

3. How many computers are in your house?
~ Too many, four or five.

4. Have any idea how many Megahertz your computer has?
~ I do.

***************BIOLOGY******************

1. Are you right-handed or left-handed?
~Lefty.

2. Have you ever had anything removed from your body?
~ Not as far as I really.

3. What is the last heavy item you lifted?
~ Shelf of CD's to get to a power plug.

4. Have you ever been knocked unconscious?
~ Afraid not, would like to have been.

************BULLCRAPOLOGY**************

1. If it were possible, would you want to know the day you were going to die?
~ Of course I would.

2. If you could change your name, what would you change it to?
~ Anthony J Masters

3. Would you drink an entire bottle of hot sauce for $1000?
~ Om nom. Of course I would.

************DUMBOLOGY******************

1. How many pairs of flip flops do you own?
~ 0 at the moment.

2. Last time you had a run-in with the cops?
~ Never, not even talked to one before.

3. Last person you talked to?
~ Hannah a few minutes ago, made her a cup of tea.

4. Last person you hugged?
~ Hannah, yesterday. There is a heat wave on.

**************FAVORITOLOGY****************

1. Season?
~ Winter. Brrr.

2. Holiday?
~ Labour day.

3. Day of the week?
~ Saturday night, the home of Dr Who.

4. Month?
~ I like April, just after the heat wave. When you have sorted out what you are going to do for the rest of the year. Things seem really stable and set.

***********CURRENTOLOGY*****************

1. Missing someone?
~ Not at the moment.

2. Mood?
~ Hot from the heatwave. Tried of working. Sick of not being paid.

3. What are you listening to?
~ Futurama DVD

4. Watching?
~ Just finished rewatching "Planet of the Dead" in preparation for tomorrow.

***************RANDOMOLOGY*****************

1. First place you went this morning?
~ Computer to check renders.

2. What's the last movie you saw?
~ brrr... Die Hard 2, although I didn't see much of it, Die Hard about a month or so ago.

3. Do you smile often?
~ Only when I see people.

***************OTHER-OLOGY*****************

1. Do you always answer your phone?
~ I only answer it when I HAVE to. I hate it more than anything. Including Beatles.

2. Its four in the morning and you get a text message, who is it?
~ Could be anyone really.

3. If you could change your eye color what would it be?
~ Blue.

4. What flavor do you add to your drink at Sonic?
~ SONIC X!! No idea what that is.

5. Do you own a digital camera?
~ Yes, in the store being fixed. Bah.

6. Have you ever had a pet fish?
~ Not personally, my family had a few. They were eaten.

7. Favorite Christmas song?
~ bah humbug.

8. What's on your wish list for your birthday?
~ I would like a copy of the Lazerdisc "Revenge of the Cybermen"

9. Can you do push ups?
~ I doubt it.

10. Can you do a chin up?
~ I can barely do a stand up.

11. Does the future make you more nervous or excited?
~ nervous.

12. Do you have any saved texts?
~ Thousands, I don't delete them.

13. Ever been in a car wreck?
~ Afraid not, I avoid cars when I can.

14. Do you have an accent?
~ Depends who you ask, a lot of people think I sound like I am from the UK.

15. What is the last song to make you cry?
~ Songs don't make me cry.

16.Plans tonight?
~ 12:30am.. sleepy time.

17. Have you ever felt like you hit rock bottom?
~ Just once or twice, but like tends to bounce back with alarming regularity.

18. Name 3 things you bought yesterday?
~ Hungry Jacks burger, x3 Dr Who VHS on ebay... that's four things.

19. Have you ever been given roses?
~ My previous girlfriend gave me a Rose.

20. Current worry?
~ Job, life, Career.

21. Current hate right now?
~ Not knowing the future.

22. Met someone who changed your life?
~ People tend to do that, Hannah, Carissa, Joel, those kinds of people.

23. How will you bring in the New Year?
~ With an episode of Doctor Who, possibly the TVM.

24. What song represents you?
~ No Future.

25. Name three people who might complete this?
~ Hannah, Alex (he won't), Jacqui

26. Would you go back in time if you were given the chance?
~ To collect missing Dr Who episodes, certainly.

27. Have you ever dated someone longer than a year?
~ Five infact. Years, not people. That's two.

28. Does anyone love you?
~ A handful of people, sometimes I wish they wouldn't.

29. Ever had someone sing to you?
~ To me or at me?

30. When did you last cry?
~ I mentioned it on my blog, it was a while ago, I think my 18th?

31. Do you like to cuddle?
~ Yes, but not in this weather.

32. Have you held hands with anyone today
~ Not in this weather. I would slip out.

33. Are most of the friends in your life new or old?
~ New at the moment Alex, Brendan, Courtney lots of new new people.

34. Do you like pulpy orange juice ?
~ No..

35. Where do you see yourself in 20 years?
~ I will be 43, older than my Mum, and almost as old as my Dad. I hope I will have a better idea where I am going.