After six years or so this will be the last entry on Quit Your Day Job.

That’s right this blog will no longer be updated.

However, this is nowhere near the end.  I’m simply moving to a new blog and starting a fresh beginning.

My new blog is called Too Short To Be A Storm Trooper (although I’m clearly not).

QYDJ has served me well over the last six years and you guys have all been really amazing but for reasons that I slightly touch on in this post I feel that I need to close up this shop and start off somewhere new.

I will be keeping the site on though for at least a couple of years (you never know I may need to come running back to its familiar embrace after failing miserably with the new blog) in archive only mode.

I really do hope that you come over to the new site, not for more of the same but a new start and a new energy.  I’m not making any promises with the new site but I do want to forge ahead into the unfamiliar for a while and I’m really looking forward to it.

This wasn’t an easy decision, but it’s the right one.

As a friend quipped when we discussed this new world:

“The blog is dead, long live the blog.”

Head on over to the new site and make sure you update your feed reader!!

Thanks for everything!

Just give me a minute.

I think I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that all of these posts were written months ago so this moment has already happened quite some time ago for me.  I guess when I’m reading this along with everyone else I expect to feel similar to how I felt those months ago as I typed these words.

Firstly I would like to thank each and every person who took the time to comment on these little slices of silliness that were only ever meant to entertain myself.  To everyone who sent me emails or messages lending their encouragement.  I really appreciate it.  It’s weird that Thoughts of a Storm Trooper has been a part of my life for over two years now and that we’ve finally come to its natural end.  It looked like it would not make it several times but I’m more than happy that it did.

A special thanks to Arjan who on more than one occasion picked up a spelling mistake, the irony being that English is not his first language.

So where to from here?  Well I’m going to take a break from the “Thoughts of” series for a while.  I may come back to do Empire Strikes Back or even go to a whole other franchise but that’ll probably be a while off.  In the meantime I will bundle these up to make it easier to read them, no doubt in a pdf and I’ll let you know how you can get that and share it down the road.

Thanks again everyone it’s been fun.

I feel bad for the Storm Troopers on the Death Star during the end fight, they can’t really do anything except run around.  Who needs that when there are sirens and explosions and all you can do is go for a mad jog??

This is technically the very last scenes that you get to see Storm Troopers in the film.

Next week be here for the huge two-part finale!

An opportunity I was not going to miss out on despite having to get up very very early to see the guys before work.

When we got there the guys hadn’t set up yet and I was a little worried that some other area of Brisbane had latched on to them and that I was going to have to start wandering the CBD.  Several tense texts to a friend who had come along to be in the presence of Boba Fett soon gave way to two 30+ year olds gleefully texting THEY’RE HERE and IT’S THE FETT!!!

As we milled around not wanted to rush Steve (Boba Fett) like screaming fanboys I was accosted by a filthy Sand Person who brilliantly had completely committed themselves to the role.  Scaring a couple of people enjoying their breakfast in the park was pretty hilarious.

Then we got to meet Steve who was taking his Boba Fett costume out for the first time:

It wasn’t until I met Steve and some of the others that I completely get why they do this.  Apart from the great opportunity to draw attention to a charity of course, when these guys and gals put these costumes on they become absolute rockstars.  The smiles on everyone walking past has got to be worth the value of building one of these really accurate costumes.  Adults with looks of pure joy on their faces as Imperial forces marched towards them, it was really inspiring to watch.

I’m really happy that I made the trip in and was also excited to discover that there is a Ghostbusters equivalent here in Brisbane!!

These guys do a great job, thanks Steve for inviting me along!!!

If you want to find out more about the Redback Garrison check out their website and to find your won local garrison check out the 501st Legion.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXbBA1DRE84

So after it all charged up I couldn’t wait to try it out so I read what minimalistic instructions there were and quickly scribbled down a pivotal moment in Hulk / Thor relations:

 So the notepad I used (and it can be absolutely any) is about A5 size but it handles standard A4. Unfortunately I must have missed something in the instructions because the pen didn’t start transmitting until an entire Hulk in.

But it did capture the Thor half and I thought it might be cool to show you a video capture of what it actually records:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XipEk-Em2Mc

So a couple of lines are off but that’s because I moved the page around a lot, by a lot I really mean a lot as well I thought for sure at one point I’d been too rough but it’s quite robust.

Should prove a lot of fun when I work all the bits out.

I had really wanted today to be the final issue of Thoughts of a Storm Trooper as it would have been cool to finish this up on my birthday.  These were all written months ago in a surge of inspiration and organisation and I admit to considering running a couple of double features just to line it up.

But birthdays aside I thought I owed it to the series which has been running for over two years now to see it out properly.

It’s so odd to think that it’ll all be over in two weeks time.

This was the piece I submitted to Covered a week or so ago. I can’t say that I’m all that disappointed with not making the cut because the act of doing is always so much more fun and it’s cool that they don’t just let any old scribble in.

I still like this though, it felt fun to do and whilst I wasn’t 100% happy with the paper and how it reacted to the thicker pen it captured the feel I wanted. The scanner which always seems to disappoint didn’t really help either.  I’ve really got to do some research and find a really shit hot scanner!!!

It’s back to the drawing board to find another cover and to spend a bit more time experimenting to make sure I am happy 100% with the end result.

Thanks to everyone who made suggestions too!

I completely agree with everything that is said however I’m actually more than okay with my self imposed distance with the world.

A while back there was another article written here in Brisbane which supports Turkle and wrote about how no one talks to each other on the train any more and what a sad state of affairs this is. To which I completely disagreed, the worst way to start or finish my day is realising that I’ve left my headphones at home or in the office and may be forced to listen to the inane garbage that people need to go on with (even on the quiet carriage).

See I like the control that my iPhone gives me over my interaction with the world.  I pop my headphones on and a sphere of privacy and self surrounds me.  There have been train trips where I’ve sat right in front of someone I work with and not noticed them until I get up to get off.  Sometimes I don’t even listen to anything, I have noise cancelling headphones and they are great. I use my journey to prepare myself for dealing with work or shifting out of work mode back into the home version.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9g49nJQYrKE

I love the fact that if it’s one o’clock at night and I feel like a chat I can jump on Twitter and find someone to talk movies with.  But with that situation I’m not asking someone to put aside what they are doing or how they are feeling to interact with me.  We’re both choosing independently to be online and that is great and most importantly for me it’s comfortable, it is disconnected, but I don’t see that as a totally bad thing.

I know people do, I’m sure parents worry about their kids.  I know there are those who can’t imagine what it’s like to want to be completely arm’s length with the world. I’m sure it’s a mental condition or concern but for me it’s a preferred state.

It does actually make me wonder and consider how much I share online, I’m generally fairly open online but my online personality is vastly different from who I am offline.  We all present different personalities depending on the environment and audience, online is no different. I’m not living a lie I’m just reacting to my environment but then maybe I should keep my private and personal stuff to myself to minimise connectivity and avoid confusion.

Look, I don’t think there’s a right or wrong in this discussion, there’s just personal preference and it’s interesting to consider is all I’m saying. It is also a great excuse to share that video

I’m certainly not recommending the digital hermit way of life for everyone and sure maybe society is damaged by this but I tell you what you can have my iPhone headphones when you pry them from my cold dead hands.

I had to use it sometime.  I’ve only got a couple of parts left so it’s time to start wrapping things up and making sure I get every line in that I was hoping to.

I like how in almost any science fiction there is a lot of running around in a dramatic scene like the Death Star being attacked but in actual reality there shouldn’t be that many people running around unless they are repair crews which judging by their blasters instead of spanners I would say these guys are not.

Thankfully as I understand it there are sequels so even if I tear through this first one there will be follow up.

I also managed to evoke a little April Zen as instead of buying the book like I usually would have I popped into the Brisbane library and was rewarded with a single brand new copy of the book to read.

The more I read of the book the more I can’t wait for the film too though I can see why long time fans may be concerned.

I would also be remiss if I did not mention the launch of a new blog by Dan Hughes, you can now read about his wacky misadventures in the garden over on Cabbage Dan.