Onwards and upwards

This month is all about getting ready and braced for the rest of the year. I've got a bunch of awesome projects coming up that see me off overseas to the USA, Spain, Korea and UK amongst others. Apart from clocking up thousands of frequent flyer points, I also get a few weeks off in the middle which will be great. We've taken on a bunch of visualisation projects in the last few weeks which has lead us to invest in an awesome new computer that will be at least twice as powerful as our previous studio system. The system will be used to program a new production in the coming weeks, where Greg and I will lock ourselves in our studio to program Cats for the new Korean production. We'll also squash in programming a major event in Hawaii - all without actually setting a foot on the island! And these projects are before we even start taking into account the day to day stuff we do for our clients! It's an exciting time. Yesterday I had the privilege of attending a day with MA Lighting whizz Oliver Rump at Show Technology in Sydney. It always amazes me how much everyone can learn and explore on current and new consoles, and we had a chance to preview some very cool new toys. I'll be sure to keep the blog up to date with all the news of the coming months. And if you happen to be in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, New York, Cleveland, Orlando, Barcelona, London, Manchester, Birmingham, Seoul, Hong Kong, Macau, Paris, Rovaniemi, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth or Tokyo at any stage in the next two months - join me for a beer! Cheers rich

Freezing

So I have it on good authority that it actually snowed towards the end of our bump out in Mittagong the other night. Whilst I wasn't freezing there, I was numb with cold standing on a bigger stage at a certain racetrack in Sydney and stopped programming when I couldn't feel my fingers or face! I've spent the weekend thawing out in the office with the heater on max, designing the Cleveland Fabulous Food Show and the English Good Food Show - both places where the temperature will barely rise above freezing. Why is it that as soon as summer starts I have to leave to go to the Northern Hemisphere?! In the meantime, good luck to everyone else who's working on WYD projects :P

World Youth Day Re-Kindled

The Marist Brothers have ignited their World Youth Day celebrations at St Josephs College in Hunters Hill tonight with a prayer vigil. A very solemn and heartfelt ceremony ended todays festivities. Mandylights and Aztech Events created the perfect atmosphere.

Worlds coldest gig!

It might only be mittagong, but the Mandylights boys felt like they were far further south as it started to sleet at the first of our World Youth Day gigs. VL3500 washes look amazing and they aren't bad for keepin the ol hands warm either!

Jellicle Juggles

So this week I've Jumped into the Jellicle Jam and had a great time being involved in one of our bigger theatre projects. I am of course referring to CATS - the Really Useful Company's touring production currently playing at the Charlotte Theatre in Seoul.

I've had a blast! Great show, great crew, fun cast and all round an enjoyable week. 

Back on the Catwalk

I'm sitting in the Big Top at Luna Park in Sydney on the first day of bump in for the Grand Final of Australia's Next Top Model. We're live on Tuesday night on Foxtel - should be a cool show with a bunch of good acts, a fashion parade segment and a heap more. It's 5.30pm and we're just about to lift the trusses up with focus time ahead of us in the next few hours. It's been a peaceful week for Mike and I with Greg and Dan overseas, but the peace is short-lived with everyone returning to Australia for a number of World Youth Day projects. Going to be good to have everyone back in the office after a few months. Rich

How many languages...

Once again team Mandy is doing a bit of travelling. This week sees Greg in Beijing lighting a conference, Dan has ventured to Seoul to spend some time on Cats, and Richard was driving back from Mittagong when I spoke to him yesterday. Some people get to go to the best places.....who can decide which one was the best. The last few weeks have been busy with some challenging projects which is great. Coming up, amongst other things, Richard is lighting Models, Dan is working on World Youth Day events and I am learning how to make Korean beer bombs. This was one of the training sessions for this investment firm's conference. Something else I know about Koreans now. Very informative. Till the next update... GY