Winter is dealing out some of its great array of delights as I write this, lashings of rain, outburst of gusting wind, and plunging temperatures. All part and parcel of the menu for this time of year. A fresh load of wood was got in the other day and the evening fires are so looked forward to as each day journeys into night. A glass of red wine, as dinner is cooking (well ok, maybe 3 glasses of red wine!!!) , a fire belting out its flame grilled heat, and some sounds cranking from the sound system, make for the perfect winter eve as far as I'm concerned.

Partly due to a wonderfully diverse range of activities over the last couple of months, I have experienced this part of the year as being even more of a pleasure than usual. Of course some of you may be aware that I got to work with Andy Serkis recently, creaing dramatic CGI footage for the massively anticipated PS3 game "Heavenly Sword". What a bloody wonderful time that was. Truely Andy is one of the most onto it people I have ever met. A bold statement maybe, but I think many who have met the young fella would agree! The gig was such a pleasure all round. The folks from Ninja Theory, the company who created "Heavenly Sword", were also a great bunch of folk to hang with. The fans and critics, who have already been voting "Heavenly Sword" as the most anticipated PS3 game, are not the only ones in a state of anticipation. I think all of us who worked on the game are hanging out big time to see what the end result delivers. My feeling is that it is going to be bloody brilliant (and who knows, hopefully my work will contribute to that outcome !!!) There will no doubt be a lot of hype surrounding the actual release...my feeling is this will be justified. I cannot say anything in detail here, but the cast, crew and all concerned were genuinely the creme of the crop. Having finished my work on the gig at the end of June, on the 26th of July I got fly back down to Wellington to go to the wrap party for the shoot. Not only do these folk know how to create games, they also know how to have a bloody good time. Thanks Tameem, Andy, Karla, Stewart, Euan, Ana, Lydia, Jed et al.

A week after finishing that shoot in Wellytown, I was winging on one of them thar silver birds, accompanied by my daughter, bearing down on LA, for a 5 day pit stop, then heading to "The Gathering" a Tolkien Convention, in the beautiful environs of downtown Toronto. It was brilliant to visit Japango again, the best damn Japanese dining experience this side of Tokyo! And guess what!, the owner/chef and I have the same name...Bruce. Check out the photo in the photos page, he is a cool dude.

Upon touching down back in the land of the long white cloud (NZ for those not familiar with the indiginous name of ...Aotearoa ) I got to work and have started a blog. I am finally beginning to spend some time trying to teach myself how to get active in the global online community. It's fun, bloody frustrating at times but exciting and stimulating. If you have some time, feel free to check it out here.

Having had various spells of time away decided it was time to do some catching up with my family, so a quick trip up to the beautiful far north of NZ was had, to say gidday to my folks, and the following weekend after my Sunday morning radio show, I headed to the ski town where my eldest son is working, Ohakune. This town is tucked in the southern base of Mt Ruapehu. Those of you who are into LOTR will be well aware that this is the mountain that was used in the films for Mt Doom. I am happy to inform you, now that peace reigns in Middle Earth, thanks to those hairy footed hobbits and those damned fine looking Rohirrim, plus a few other more questionable races of Middle Earth folk (you know!..elves and that lot) , Mt. Doom has been able to recover and now operates as a booming ski destination. It boasts 3 ski fields as well a bundle of other outdoor activities. So with the forces of darkness gone, commercial enterprise has flourished!!!

Back here in Auckland I am continuing to work alongside a great organization called 'The Moving Image Centre'. On the last Thursday evening of each month I host a showing of short films that they put together called "Short Fuse". I also hosted the screenings of New Zealand short films they compiled, for the recent 2006 Telecom New Zealand International Film festival. There were some fantastic short films, highlighting that the NZ film industry has a host of fresh talent coming through. I am working on a project to promote independent film here in NZ, and will keep you informed as and when I have news about what it is happening.

I better get going, I have to get to bed and catch a couple of hours sleep before getting up at 12:30am to go and host the talk back radio show I do from 1am-6am (NZ time) every Sunday morning. Tune in and stream it if you have time, at www.radionlive.co.nz. Till next time, do what you can to be the cause of peace in the world, we human beings are living so far below our potential on the positive side of the ledger. Bloody hell, imagine if 10% of the energy, time and resources that are spent on devising ways to kill and conquer, were spent on creating peace and understanding, we would have a chance to create world worth boasting about.
I'm gone,

Bruce