Across the ditcH

Well, as you might has seen from my facebook, or maybe you have been hiding under a rock! Because the latest news for the MikeyB Channel is.... and might I say it is a huge piece of juicy news!! Karyn and I are officially ENGAGED!!! I know I have taken a while to get a post up here, but here is how it all played out for those who are not in the know!

So we left Wellington at 8am in the morning, with me being a little more nervous than normal around Karyn... thankfully I was able to disguise my freaking out on the journey to Greytown... and hour is a long time when you know what is to come!! We arrive to meet Logan and Sonya at the Deli Cafe, and we all make small talk, with Logan and Sonn in on the days events it made for an interesting brunch with Logan acting up more than his usual (not good at hiding his excitement in being in on the secret, others would agree) Karyn exits for a brief minute, and we line up the latest on the plans for the day. I casually say "hey babe we should head out to Castlepoint and get those pics we never got" (another large story of its own...) at which she agrees and we begin our ride out to Castlepoint, acting stupid the whole way and often exclaiming that I didn't realise how long it took to get out here, in the vein hope of covering my elaborate plans!



Finally we arrive in Castlepoint and make our way out across across the sand, I am at this stage intently keen to make our way up the mountain as I have this planned to the minute! As we get across about half way I notice 2 of my flatmates and their girlfriends are on the beach, whom I had found out the night before were going to be up there on the same day!! I mean what were the chances!! of course Kaz being her usual chatty self, wanted to make her way over to chat! aaaaaarrrrgh!! I am sure they could sense my sense of urgency to get up the mountain! After a brief chat and praying that they wouldn't decide that they too would love to climb the mountain!! we left and began hiking!! now I had allowed 40 min to walk up! but as Kaz had said to me earlier it will only take 10-15 min! she was right, to the damage of my male ego!

We finally got to the top and sat down and chatted! and I knew I had 20 min to keep her over at this side of the mountain! after some stuffing around and Kaz making poses as something remeniscient of a moment from Titanic, we moved to head back down! I began reaching for my 'bag to put my camera away' but in actual fact trying to pry the engagement ring from the an inconvienient pocket! in hine sight probably wasn't the most subtle of moments! As we final make it across to see the beach we had come from I see the letters etched into the sand! MARRY ME! with one R slightly faint (Logan's weak arms) I immediately say 'hey babe check the sand!' she looks and what does she see..... the dirt tracks left in the sand by cars and dirt bikes! which she kindly repeats back to me! I am thinkin how did she not see the 10x5 metre sign in the sand! I say it again!! upon which she looks again and says "NO WAY!!!!" a little confused I think... is that your answer!!?! but realise she is only shocked!! and runs over to tell me to put the ring on her finger! Relief!! it fits!! after 2 months of designing and hoping that she will love it!... she LOVES IT!! AND ME!!!

After a few words and hugs and kisses and a crazy quick prayer! we make our way back down the hill, to the congratulations of other would be climbers who also have seen my sign! we make it back to the beach and next to the sign is a silver box wrapped in a ribbon... she runs over to unwrap the box and inside is a bottle of champagne and 2 glasses! Also inside is an Ipod video, at which a clip begins playing a montage of pics from the last 4 and a half years of our friendship/relationship to the tune of "me and you song" by the wannadies (Romeo and Juliet soundtrack) after a few laughs and a couple of tears... Karyn quickly puts two and two together realising that if there is a huge sign in the sand then there must be someone videoing!! Upon which she begin scouring the dunes for a video camera! N8 trying to be somewhat sniper-ish in his camera tactics is spotted by Karyn! Congratulations a expressed and hugs all around!

At this point in time I am acutely aware that this is not the end! we make our way back to the box and finish some more champagne, but faintly in the distance I hear the next part of this days journey! A chopper flies in over head and swings tightly over the water, at this point I think Kaz is thinkin "what the!!!" NO WAY!!! It lands right on the beach in front of us and others on the beach are watchin this unfold! quite a huge buzz seeing this chopper coming in for us!! we get on board and N8 hands the video camera to us to record the ride! taking off was a trippy feeling as there was no door on the pilots side and we are banking hard at points! passing over the beach once more we see the sign again before we leave! and head down the coastline! The pilot Tim is a classic and had some hilarious calls as we pass over some amazing country side, saying things like if we ever want to do some pig hunting he could arrange a day for us! taking glances at Karyn I catch her look at the ring over and over again! And I find myself thinking man this is my wife to be!! we swing in over Martinborough and land in the Christina Estate paddock, next to the Ata Rangi Winery!

We get out after a 25 min ride and say farewell to the pilot! and head on over to the winery! I was stoked to see that when we arrived that the hamper I had arranged turned up bang on time! We finally sit down and chill out and soak in what is an amazing day to get engaged!! and finally talk about beginning our lives together!!

So there you have it a bit of a capsule to the engagement day! A day that I will never forget and one that has begun a new turning point in our lives!!

here are the pics that accompany the story! The Proposal

Hey all, well this is what you have all been waiting for, dont say you weren't because you all love to see the boys in short, shorts and dancing up a storm!! I do think it is fair to day that Scotty.. I dont think anyone will look at you the same with that hot mesh top, and Doddsie with that lunges in short short were nasty!! haha!! but without further adue here is the youtube clip (c/o Karl Eagle).

For all you Halo nuts out there, and I know there is plenty of you out there here is a Live Action Halo Short film that was created by Weta Workshop, just recently and was shown at E3 which is a huge gaming conference... check it out & let me know what you think!?!

Hey all,

Well what can I say, it was a crazy party and you all looked incredible, poker hands were played, the dance floor was rocked (thanks J!! big ups to you), cigars enjoyed... but at most of all it was 'O' for awesome to see everyone in theme and Party'd hard!!! It was definitely the welcome for the new flatties and also a cool arrival for my Sis... Thanks to all who made her feel welcome, as she cruises out of NZ today :( ... Looks like it will be another year before we have another party come along, start postin theme suggestions and comments, but also post up some photo links if you have any!! if not here is Melrose Mafia for you to check out in the meantime!!

Dizzle Godfather

OK guys, thought it would be cool to post your favorite youtube or google video clips up here....

I have got a one I thought was quite cool here lochness commercial which is quite clever,
I know I always go for things with affects in them but at least its funny! well I thought it was funny... get a hunting out there for some youTube funky clips.... DO IT!!

Ok peeps...

just thought i would throw out a question to you all... the question is what word...just makes you cringe, or your blood boil everytime you hear it... for me it is the word "MOIST"...not really sure why it is but all I know is that it is a hideous word in the english language.

what word is it for you? let me know

schmick

Well as most of my Kiwi mates know, I have finally moved into another department after 5 years in Camera/Matchmoving at Photon then at Weta Digital. After 3 weeks of training with my fellow Aussie Simo (who is now back in Australia working on a short film as an animator)... I have been working on a couple of new projects, and have recently started working on Avatar! which is being directed by James Cameron, and if the name doesnt ring a bell... he directed the first 2 Terminators and Titanic... It has quite a long production time, similar to that of King Kong. Anyways I just thought I should get something out there, as Elliot has made comment that I am taking forever to write on this thing... I'm a busy man elliot! haha NOT!!

for all of you Wellingtonians the Mafia Party is rolling around on the 19th of May and you need to come dressed to nines!! this party is commemorate the arrival of new flat mates DK, Doddsey and Andy (yes we replaced one Andy with another!!...the other one decided Africa was a better place than Melrose Place!)

also I am now officially on MySpace aswell!! check out my profile

well after seeing Andy's Blog go up (see blog links) I thought it was high time I got myself back into this bloggin thing...whilst I may not have the same writing prowess as the mighty Feltoe, after years of learning to write properly...so on that note I have begun my blogging experience again with the hope of maintaining some momentum on keeping this blog actually interesting...maybe it is because my life isnt interesting enough to be blogging about. So I have added a few new links to the site and changed the format, so to give this venture new life...as you can probably see I have added 2 new sections one for friends blogs and also one for Photography...in there you will find my Flickr Photos, which I will be updating a lot more often...and I hope to coincide my blogs with the images...

what do you guys think? should I give this bloggin thing away? or what could add to spice this space up?

SPEAK TO ME OH WISE FRIENDS!

Mike AKA Schmicko