The Seven-Year Itch

This week I left the company I worked for after almost seven years. Aside from being paid to watch The Bold and the Beautiful, I'll miss my wonderful colleagues.

Just because I resigned doesn't mean I won't ever see them again, though. All I have to do is hang out at YouTube. Here are two of my former workmates, Gibson and Belinda, who are also actors. Gib's in the Nintendo ads, or TVCs as they're called in the biz, while Belinda is Tall Jan in the All-Bran cereal ad.


Gibson as Cowboy Jed. The TVCs were directed by Bob Dylan's son, Jesse, and filmed in New Zealand. When Gib returned from shooting the campaign, he treated us all to gigantic boxes of Krispy Kremes to celebrate. You can also see Gibson in the Nicolas Cage film Ghost Rider.


And here's lovely Belinda as Tall Jan. (She really is tall). Belinda recently starred in the Sydney production of My Name is Rachel Corrie.

Olde Brisbane Town

My sister dug up this great ('50s? '60s?) photo of Queen Street, Brisbane. On the right you can see the old Regent Entertainment Centre, which still operates as a cinema. I worked there for nine years. The best part about going to work was stepping into the magnificent foyer:


(photo from queenstreetmall.com)

Plenty of history there, like bullet holes in the ceiling from a police chase. Director Baz Luhrmann stood at the side of the staircase and signed my Romeo + Juliet poster. In the garish neon Candy Bar (thankfully not in shot), I made millions of choctop ice-creams, approximately two tonnes of popcorn, and poured an ocean's worth of Coke. Most importantly, it's where I met my real-life hero. Ah, memories!