Googlefest 2009!

What is Googlefest, you ask? Is it a brand new alternative music festival? Nope. Is it a costume-based nerd convention? Getting warmer. Is it Google Sydney's first annual film festival and costume party? You bet your collagen-injected lips it is.

This past December we welcomed the first annual (maybe) Google Film Festival to the grassy green fields of Fox Studios. Sparing no expense, we had a star-studded evening filled with glitz, glamor, and...Googliness.

The evening started with a red-carpet welcome, complete with paparazzi and previously-unknown (to me) Aussie celebrities, Larry Edmur and Zoe Naylor. Later on that evening for the film judging, we were joined by YouTube celebrity Natalie Tran.

Zoe and Larry count down to game time. Or

maybe just wonder how long until they can

get the hell out of there.

The real highlight of the evening was that attendees were encouraged to dress up as their favorite film character. With a veritable smorgasbord of personalities from which to choose, I eventually settled on Bruce Willis' John McClane from the Die Hard films. So did someone else.

To save face in light of this party faux pas, I came

up with a solution, by reminding people that John

McClane still had hair in Die Hard 1&2, making

my similarly-dressed friend here Die Hard 3 &

Live Free or Die Hard. Problem solved...WITH

A VENGEANCE.

There were some spectacular costumes present during the evening. Here are just a few of my favorites:

Ed Rooney from Ferris Bueller's Day off.

"I did not achieve this position in life by

having some snot-nosed punk leave my

cheese out in the wind."

Clark Kent meets Morpheus.

Audrey Hepburn has breakfast with a

Twilight vampire.

Sister Mary Clarence from Sister Act.

"We want you to give us this day, our daily

bread. And to the republic, for which it

stands, and by the power vested in me, I

pronounce us ready to eat. Amen."

Little Miss Sunshine

"I'd like to dedicate this to my grandpa, who

showed me these moves." "Aww, that is so

sweet! Is he here? Where is your grandpa

now?" "In the trunk of our car."

(Two)mb Raiders, Lara Croft. There were

actually quite a few duplicates that evening.

Marge Simpson and Neo. She deserved first

place for covering her entire body in yellow

paint (she got it, don't worry).

Tinkerbell! Classic.

The Dude.

"That rug really tied the room together."

Snow White. Not pictured: the seven

little people she hired to follow her around

for the evening.

Mary from There's Something About Mary.

Awesome.

Helpful costume instructions.

Edward Scissorhands. Best male costume

winner.

"Kevin, you wanna play scissors, paper,

stone again?" "No!" "Why not?" "'Cause

it's boring. I always win!"

Cher from Clueless.

"Searching for a boy in high school is as

useless as searching for meaning in a Pauly

Shore movie."

'Chopper' Read (Chopper) and Raoul Duke

(Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas).

"One toke? You poor fool. Wait 'til you

see those goddamn bats."

After much mingling and drinking and eating, we were brought to the main event of the evening: the film competition. We had outdoor lawn seating, blankets, cushions, and a massive inflatable screen. Oh, and popcorn. We were ready.

Ooo - professional!

I had gotten together with a ragtag group of scoundrels to make our film, The Cloudtrix (a Matrix-themed exploration of the online-based 'cloud'). In a word, it was epic (specifically because the length of the films were meant to be 3-5 minutes and ours was 7). Will let the film below speak for itself.

Groundbreaking. We ended up winning first place.

The winning team - by the end of the evening

I totally had the Bruce Willis smirk down.

Luna Park

For the 3Q this year, we were given a rather unique company-wide objective: to have fun. Every team was given a small budget to spend as they wished, as long as they had fun doing it. My team decided to use this money to ferry across the harbor and go to Luna Park, a heritage-listed amusement park that originally opened in 1935. It has been restored and kept in immaculate condition, and is a fantastic departure from the present into a bygone era. Ok, so there are some anachronicities, but for the most part, it was a great experience. Reminded me a lot of Pleasure Island from Pinocchio.

Isa, Angelina, and Anna on the ferry ride over.

The ladies again, this time with Sara and

Ashleigh added in for good measure.

Ashleigh, Will, and Rick, rounding out most

of the team.

And of course, yours truly, with a rather

spectacular day in the background.

The entrance gate is terrifying - I'd imagine

less than half of potential parkgoers make

it through.

We decided to start our visit off with a ride

on the ferris wheel. For whatever reason, I

find them (initially) to be much more terrifying

than you'd expect. Especially the one at

California Adventure in LA.

From the top of the rotation, you could see the

entire midway.

Ashleigh, initially enthusiastic, remembered she

was scared of heights only after we had reached

the top.

I don't know what this ride is, but I was really

wishing it hadn't been closed.

I love funhouse mirrors!

We decided to go on the carousel next -

Anna poses on her horse. I was on a chicken.

Named 'im Fluffy II.

Ashleigh and Angelina enjoying themselves on

the carousel. Angelina wanted me to make note

that her horse also had a tiger on its chest.

Stylin'.

Scandal.

I don't care if it's called fairy floss over here. I'm

calling it cotton candy. Also, delicious. I had one

bag and one stick of it.

Angelina's day would not be complete until

she got her princess tiara.

We also did bumper cars, which, over here, are

called dodge 'ems. Regardless of what it's called,

it combines two of my favorite things: driving

and competitiveness.

Maybe it's just me, but the portrayal of the guy

in the green car seems slightly racist.

Ashleigh - slightly confused where to sit, since

she was unsure if the wheel was meant to be

on the left or the right. It was in the middle.

This was spectacular - sometimes it's the

simplest things in life that are the best.

Joe, our new boss, and Angelina. We sat and

soaked up the sun for a little while. What a

great way to spend a Friday afternoon.

They had giant slides. Freaking awesome.

The round thing in the back right corner was a

giant spinning platform. Everyone sat in the

middle and tried to be the last one on. I won.

I told you I was competitive. I also may or may

not have bent the rules a little.

House of mirrors. It was amusing listening to

the thud of people walking into walls. What was

not amusing was that it was me.

Warning: ride may appear more terrifying

than it actually is.

This ride was so spectacular we went on it twice.

It spins around and then becomes vertical. You

are in a cage. With nothing holding you down

except centrifugal force. Didn't always work.

Against my better judgement, the last ride we went on was one of those pirate ship rides that goes back and forth, and eventually upside down. Ok, fair enough. Anna and I got on and there was a small kid in the row behind us. He seemed calm enough. The second the ride started, he began screaming. No, screaming is not an appropriate word. He began screeching like a Nazgûl. I spent most of the ride turned around trying to talk him down. He eventually went quiet. Or into shock. I'm not sure which. Either way, I felt ridiculously ill afterward.

All in all, aside from the woozy ending, it was a wonderful way to spend an afternoon. I'm just thankful I didn't end up spewing pink all over the place.

Start the reactor. Free Mars...

I woke up this morning and through my blinds, it looked like the sky was on fire. I opened them and this is what I saw:

You blabbed, Quaid! You blabbed about Mars!

It was the strangest and most surreal sight - and it was right outside my bedroom window. A bit of brief digging, and I found out it was not just me.

Yep - that's not fog, it's dust (which I discovered when I opened my window and took a breath, resulting in several minutes of frenetic coughing). This city always has a surprise up its sleeve...

The view from the office - which is normally

a rather spectacular skyline.

The Boys Are Back In Town

This trip back from the states was a bit unique, in the sense that I had a couple of extra passengers with me on the flight - my dad and my brother. My brother is actually going to stay with me in Sydney for a couple of months before making his way to Indonesia for another 6 months, and my dad was taking advantage of cheap flights to SYD and making a mileage run, only staying for a couple of days. My dad showed Brady around a little bit while I was working and helped him get settled a bit. Had a pretty good time with both of them here.

Brunch at Cafe XXII (naturally).

We took a walk around the CBD the first day.

Dad and Brady standing in front of Archibald

Fountain at Hyde Park.

If lore is to be believed, there is a pot of gold

and a drowning leprechaun on the left side

of the fountain.

Wandering through the Botanical Gardens, we

came across a couple of rainbow lorikeets in the

trees.

Thousands upon thousands of bats hang out in

the gardens during the day - chittering, sleeping,

flying occasionally. The trees are full of them.

A flock of cockatoos (flockatoo?).

They were pretty tame - this one let me get

close enough to put a tiny saddle on it.

Couldn't have asked for nicer weather.

Brady in search of sea critters in the rocks along

the park.

Dang - I thought we just had really good parking

karma. I guess there's a reason no one else

parked there.

Enjoying pints and pies at the Lord Nelson.

They brew their own beer, which is delicious.

Cockle Bay doesn't normally look like this -

apparently it was some annual boating expo

that week. Sucks to be the guy moored in the

back.