My friends, I have been honoured. I have a six-week payout and, it seems, all the time in the world to contemplate my burgeoning future. Even better, a chance to talk to my (former) MD about the worst of RA without personal reprisal.
I'm seeing a counsellor tomorrow (I made the appointment prior to retrenchment) so will ask how to handle things without stepping on toes. After all, I'll still need a good reference.
So... I think I will spend a couple of weeks tidying myself up, updating my CV and generally sorting out all my loose ends before returning to the employment fold. I predict I'll be ready to start again in early September (I want to go to Melbourne at the end of August/beginning of September). In the meantime I'll be feeding off the payout and freelance work.
I'm free!
(Thanks firewish fairy!)
08 July, 2007
27 June, 2007
Firewish
A firewish is the employment cousin of the deathwish. The term expresses an innate desire to be fired. In enacting this desire, the firewish victim (victim?) may demonstrate behaviour that coerces others to feed their desire, either by harvesting negative thoughts about work or pushing boundaries in their employment to see how far they can go before they are reprimanded or actually fired.
Unlike its fatal counterpart, however, a firewish also has a life-affirming aspect, for 'firewish' also represents a desire for ignition, a desire to feel passionate about something. Most commonly it relates to the desire to feel passionate about what they do for a living, the very dearth of which brings on the firewish in the first place.
I have a firewish.
Which comes first, the carrot or the sack?
Unlike its fatal counterpart, however, a firewish also has a life-affirming aspect, for 'firewish' also represents a desire for ignition, a desire to feel passionate about something. Most commonly it relates to the desire to feel passionate about what they do for a living, the very dearth of which brings on the firewish in the first place.
I have a firewish.
Which comes first, the carrot or the sack?
24 June, 2007
Sydney Film Festival 2007 - Foreign-language films
Poison Friends
(18th June - State Theatre)
A brilliant but manipulative student guides and cajoles his friends into writing for a purpose. Ultimately, though, he becomes the victim of his own arrogance when their success throws his failure into sharp relief.
I disagree with the program's claim that this film is "so unrepentantly French" because I actually found it to be almost a cross between a British boys club mentality and a serious American college thinkpiece, ie not as French as I expected. Maybe History Boys meets Wonder Boys but not as good or thoughtful or funny as either of those movies.
There were a couple of interesting comments on friendship and writing but ultimately the movie was pretty boring and aimless, flitting from friend to friend without developing much pathos for any of the characters. I think the film said the most about the hero mentality in some people - how some people have a compulsion to 'help' others but ignore their own apparent problems.
Film rating: 5/10
Enjoyment rating: 5/10
The Heavenly Kings
(22nd June - Greater Union #2)
It is only at the end of the film that the audience actually understands the extent to which this mockumentary was 'mock'. Director Daniel Wu, a well-known Hong Kong actor, cobbles together some famous Hong Kong celebrities to form a pop band called Alive. The band do well despite having only one member who can sing. Hilarity ensues.
The clincher is that Daniel Wu really did cobble together some famous Hong Kong celebrities to form a pop band called Alive, for the purposes of making a film about the dying art of real music. The group says that they all wanted to make a film about a boy band but they decided to go one step further and pretend that they were a boy band. Hence all the scenes with the boys' onstage performances is actual concert footage with fans none the wiser to the ruse - until now.
Heavenly Kings is a well-paced mockumentary with a serious message about the state of music in today's culture. The blend of real doco footage and scripted moco footage gave the film a sense of authenticity without losing its humorous edge. Some parts were hilarious (cue the stylist!) and the scattered animation added an unusual touch. On the narrative side, the story arc was too contrived and too neatly resolved but some of the media stunts and offhand comments were gold.
Film rating: 7/10
Enjoyment rating: 7/10
(18th June - State Theatre)
A brilliant but manipulative student guides and cajoles his friends into writing for a purpose. Ultimately, though, he becomes the victim of his own arrogance when their success throws his failure into sharp relief.
I disagree with the program's claim that this film is "so unrepentantly French" because I actually found it to be almost a cross between a British boys club mentality and a serious American college thinkpiece, ie not as French as I expected. Maybe History Boys meets Wonder Boys but not as good or thoughtful or funny as either of those movies.
There were a couple of interesting comments on friendship and writing but ultimately the movie was pretty boring and aimless, flitting from friend to friend without developing much pathos for any of the characters. I think the film said the most about the hero mentality in some people - how some people have a compulsion to 'help' others but ignore their own apparent problems.
Film rating: 5/10
Enjoyment rating: 5/10
The Heavenly Kings
(22nd June - Greater Union #2)
It is only at the end of the film that the audience actually understands the extent to which this mockumentary was 'mock'. Director Daniel Wu, a well-known Hong Kong actor, cobbles together some famous Hong Kong celebrities to form a pop band called Alive. The band do well despite having only one member who can sing. Hilarity ensues.
The clincher is that Daniel Wu really did cobble together some famous Hong Kong celebrities to form a pop band called Alive, for the purposes of making a film about the dying art of real music. The group says that they all wanted to make a film about a boy band but they decided to go one step further and pretend that they were a boy band. Hence all the scenes with the boys' onstage performances is actual concert footage with fans none the wiser to the ruse - until now.
Heavenly Kings is a well-paced mockumentary with a serious message about the state of music in today's culture. The blend of real doco footage and scripted moco footage gave the film a sense of authenticity without losing its humorous edge. Some parts were hilarious (cue the stylist!) and the scattered animation added an unusual touch. On the narrative side, the story arc was too contrived and too neatly resolved but some of the media stunts and offhand comments were gold.
Film rating: 7/10
Enjoyment rating: 7/10
Sydney Film Festival 2007 - English-language films
Death at a Funeral
(15th June - State Theatre)
What happens when a patriarch dies and the funeral goes to pieces? Daniel is the deceased's eldest son trying to conduct a dignified funeral for his late father. He is overshadowed, however, by his younger brother Robert, a successful writer who has just flown in from New York. As he rehearses his father's eulogy to idle chatter about his brother being a better writer, he finds that he has far greater things to contend with including his cousin's hallucinating fiance and a mysterious midget who wants a cut of the will.
Death at a Funeral is a very British film with very British humour involving a blend of physical humour with wry one-liners. I say 'very British' to mean that the whole script is outlandish but somehow understated. Well-cast characters make this a worthwhile indie film and a definite affection for the characters was the film's overall strength.
As with most British comedies, it all goes to hell before it comes back again. The film is well-played by all with an excellent sense of timing. The slapstick threatens to go a bit far, but director Frank Oz reins it in with a deft hand and the story arcs finish with satisfactory, though far from neat, closure.
Film rating: 8/10
Enjoyment rating: 8/10
Teeth
(17th June - State Theatre)
Dawn is an attractive teenage girl who has pledged to abstain from sex until marriage. When a new boy, Tobey, captures her heart, resistance becomes more and more difficult until Dawn discovers a secret weapon. Teeth. But not in her mouth. When sex meets nuclear mutation, the results can be bloody for some.
Teeth is exceptionally well-made and well-edited. Every moment serves an ultimate purpose and no thread is wasted in the tight 87-minute frame. The most admirable part is writer/director Mitchell Lichtenstein's perfect balance between the comedy and horror genres - difficult to achieve but he makes it look easy in this film.
The horror initially comes from Dawn's gruesome discovery of her secret weapon, which involves a fair amount of blood and a lot of screaming. Thereafter, however, the audience develops that uncomfortable foreknowledge of what could happen scene by scene in each subsequent encounter. This impending discomfort is exactly the kind of feeling for which this genre should aim.
The comedy is pitch black. Lichtenstein has a go at the cultish abstinence group, the inadequate sex education at school, oversexed teenagers and Dawn's weird stepbrother Brad. It's absolutely awesome that you can have a hearty laugh at the expense of all these groups when there's blood everywhere else and a lot of squirming men. I highly recommend this film if you want to see a well-balanced horror/comedy.
Film rating: 9/10
Enjoyment rating: 9/10
(15th June - State Theatre)
What happens when a patriarch dies and the funeral goes to pieces? Daniel is the deceased's eldest son trying to conduct a dignified funeral for his late father. He is overshadowed, however, by his younger brother Robert, a successful writer who has just flown in from New York. As he rehearses his father's eulogy to idle chatter about his brother being a better writer, he finds that he has far greater things to contend with including his cousin's hallucinating fiance and a mysterious midget who wants a cut of the will.
Death at a Funeral is a very British film with very British humour involving a blend of physical humour with wry one-liners. I say 'very British' to mean that the whole script is outlandish but somehow understated. Well-cast characters make this a worthwhile indie film and a definite affection for the characters was the film's overall strength.
As with most British comedies, it all goes to hell before it comes back again. The film is well-played by all with an excellent sense of timing. The slapstick threatens to go a bit far, but director Frank Oz reins it in with a deft hand and the story arcs finish with satisfactory, though far from neat, closure.
Film rating: 8/10
Enjoyment rating: 8/10
Teeth
(17th June - State Theatre)
Dawn is an attractive teenage girl who has pledged to abstain from sex until marriage. When a new boy, Tobey, captures her heart, resistance becomes more and more difficult until Dawn discovers a secret weapon. Teeth. But not in her mouth. When sex meets nuclear mutation, the results can be bloody for some.
Teeth is exceptionally well-made and well-edited. Every moment serves an ultimate purpose and no thread is wasted in the tight 87-minute frame. The most admirable part is writer/director Mitchell Lichtenstein's perfect balance between the comedy and horror genres - difficult to achieve but he makes it look easy in this film.
The horror initially comes from Dawn's gruesome discovery of her secret weapon, which involves a fair amount of blood and a lot of screaming. Thereafter, however, the audience develops that uncomfortable foreknowledge of what could happen scene by scene in each subsequent encounter. This impending discomfort is exactly the kind of feeling for which this genre should aim.
The comedy is pitch black. Lichtenstein has a go at the cultish abstinence group, the inadequate sex education at school, oversexed teenagers and Dawn's weird stepbrother Brad. It's absolutely awesome that you can have a hearty laugh at the expense of all these groups when there's blood everywhere else and a lot of squirming men. I highly recommend this film if you want to see a well-balanced horror/comedy.
Film rating: 9/10
Enjoyment rating: 9/10
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