Freelancing Gods 2010

At a recent Melbourne Ruby meet, I was asked to speak about my travelling freelancer lifestyle, and the talk was recorded. I feel a little self-conscious about the topic, but perhaps you’ll find it interesting.

Massive thanks to James Healy for not only recording the talks that night, but producing the neat slides-and-video output. I’m looking forward to the Melbourne Ruby channel building up a good collection of sessions.

Also: I’ll be posting a review of my month working on Thinking Sphinx soon.

Born out of a discussion about BarCamps, Rails Camps and the value they could bring to those not so technically minded, Melbourne will be hosting the first Trampoline on Saturday, the 28th of March.

This is something Mel, Steve, Bei and I have been discussing for a few months now – bringing one hundred inquisitive people together to discuss interesting and amazing ideas covering various disciplines. In true unconference style, the schedule will be determined on the day by those who are there – you don’t need to be an expert in your field to share what you think is awesome.

We’ve got some fantastic space at DonkeyWheel in the CBD lined up, and already half the tickets are taken (so if this sounds like fun, I recommend registering sooner rather than later). People are already sharing the topics they want to share and hear about, and that discussion will ramp up as we get closer to the event.

I’ve been stewing on a few blog posts about Cambodia, but this is a higher priority.

In case you’d missed the news, the state of Victoria (in Australia) has been suffering from some devastating fires over the weekend. Over a hundred people have died, and that number’s certain to rise as the fires are put out and areas can be accessed by emergency crews. Towns, such as Marysville, have been razed.

If you’d like to donate, the Red Cross’ website seems to be the best place, from what I’ve read.

To get a good idea of how bad things are, it’s worth browsing the latest Boston Big Picture post, which features photos of the fires and destruction.

Photo taken by Warren, on Flickr, with a Creative Commons licence.

Yes, I know it’s been quiet here – there’s several decent blog posts on the way though. I just wanted to post a quick reminder for any Discworld fans in or near Australia that Nullus Anxietas 2 is happening at the end of February, and will be awesome fun. There’s also a discount of $15 off attendee prices (a Hogswatch special) if you get in before the end of the year (going by AEDT/Melbourne time, of course).

The above little clip was done by the fantastically talented Snowgum Films (also responsible for Run Rincewind Run).

A quick post for any Discworld fans that may peruse this blog.

Nullus Anxietas 2, the second Australian Discworld Convention, will be happening from the 27th of February to 1st of March 2009, in Melbourne, Australia. The first (in February 2007) was a fantastic success, which is why we’re doing it again.

While Terry Pratchett sadly can’t make it over this time around – he’s cutting down on travel because of his Alzheimer’s – we’ve still got some exciting events happening (including the follow-up to Snowgum Films’ Run Rincewind Run – watch it if you haven’t already).

Details are a bit thin on the ground at the moment, as we work on fleshing out programme ideas, but if you’d like to come along, registering in the next few days scores you $15 off the already-low early-bird rate of $120 ($100 for concession holders).

If this sounds like your kind of thing, but you’re not close to Australia and can’t justify the journey, you may want to check out the UK version – which has been going for over a decade now (although this year’s is already sold out), and the upcoming American edition.

Another quick Comedy Festival show review – The Hound of the Baskervilles’ Every Film Ever Made. A chaotic hour of film references and banter, which is extremely entertaining, if a bit scattered.

The same three local comedians (Tegan Higginbotham, Adam McKenzie, and Rob Lloyd) performed an adaption of the film version of The Hound of the Baskervilles in a similar style at last year’s festival, and they’re just as delightful this time around. Probably useful knowing a decent portion of well known films though (like The Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, The Godfather, Casablanca, Titanic, Back to the Future, and, err, 8 Mile).

Definitely worth seeing if you can spare the time – and it’s always good to support some local up-and-coming acts. I wouldn’t say it’s brilliant, but it’s a massive amount of fun.

The Comedy Festival is running again here in Melbourne – which is one of my favourite times of the year. Just saw my first show this afternoon – Daniel Kitson and Gavin Osborn’s The Ballad of Rodger & Grace. In short, it was amazing, funny, heartwarming and beautiful.

Kitson is a fantastic wordsmith, sometimes using words that don’t get used enough, and using otherwise common words in clever and different ways. Osborn provided a touching and emotive soundtrack to the story Kitson wove, filling in a different perspective.

I know I’ve raved about Kitson before – and I’ve got a different show of his for this festival that I’m yet to see, so I likely will rave again soon – but do yourself a favour and go catch one of his shows (this one is only running for a few more days, but his solo festival show runs until mid April). He is one of the finest comedic talents out there – and a masterful storyteller to boot. Osborn’s music just adds to the brilliance.

RailsCamp 2.0 finished earlier today – and I think it’s safe to declare it a fantastic success (even given my bias).

Massive thanks to Ben and Karen for their hard work getting everyone fed and co-ordinating people in the kitchen (and the RailsCamp bus from Melbourne to Sunnystones). Thanks too to everyone who helped at various points – both in the organising and over the weekend.

Finally, thank you to everyone who came along – these camps are so much fun because of the calibre of people who attend, and their willingness to share ideas, code and laughs.

Will be posting a version of my talk at some point soon… once I’ve recovered from the weekend.

In case the few readers of this blog are not aware, there’s a RailsCamp happening just outside of Melbourne, from the 23rd-26th November (not far away at all). It will be a weekend of hacking, chatting, food & drink, and very likely some gaming (along the lines of GuitarHero and WiiSports), taking a similar approach to barcamps. The first one, back in June near Sydney, was a fantastic success, and judging by the current list of attendees, I’m expecting it to be much the same.

We’re edging closer and closer to being sold out, so if you’re considering coming along, I recommend signing up as soon as possible. Day passes for the Saturday and Sunday are also available.

I went to see Daniel Kitson’s C-90 tonight. Absolutely amazing storytelling – and a lovely counterpoint to his regularly brilliant stand-up shows. There’s only one day left of the show here in Melbourne (and I’m guessing it’s sold out), but if you ever get the chance to go see him, do so. He’s pure genius.