Freelancer Fridee

Holy Freelancer! Episode five rocked the house. The Dogs Bar is somewhat of an institute in St Kilda and there was never any doubt this one would be a hit. I rolled in before four, giving myself the well deserved early minute that Freelancer Fridee is designed to encourage. Barely had I the chance to sit down before actor Don Bridges joined me for a glass of red, quickly followed by local film maker JP O’Brien. Game On. Graphic designer Ken Taylor, whose work graces the covers of CD’s by Tim Rogers, Skybombers, Liz Stringer and the Shout! Australian Music Sampler managed to find us for his inauguration along with web designer Jay Dillon from Subgroup, who I’ve discovered since has an impressive portfolio worth checking out. And the delightful Dogs Bar staff were very hospitable for a rowdy bunch of Freelancers.

Performer, musician and entrepreneur Nina Nicols (hereafter affectionately known as Kate Ritchie - the only original cast member besides myself - it’s a Home and Away reference) and actor Trent Baker were soon in the door and within an hour episode five was well under way. It was good to see Nina’s buddy Margaret who popped in after missing the last few episodes. Paul Gildae from Monkeesee and actor/voice artist/yoga teacher Tamblyn Lord soon arrived to inject some humour, which they did with style along with actor/voice artist and all round goog guy Adrian Mulraney.

Tim Gaspar from Hatch Financial Services, who shares office space with Ken Taylor and Jay, made himself known and gave me aheads up on Tim Ferriss and the Four Hour Work Week which I have been enjoying since. Local music manager Theo Nicola is now officially a regular and photographer Paul Wesley-Smith was welcomed to his first Freelancer Fridee as was Shelley Panton. Actors Elena Pellone and Scott Gooding were in the house for the first time as was film editor Ben Eriksen. Tony from Big Ears Audio came along with his colleague Laz, as did singer Atlanta Frith, actor/voice artist Abbe Holmes, actors Drew Tingwell and Robert Lobosco.

Meanwhile Amy Felman and Don Bridges were having way too much fun.

By this time I was starting to lose track of who was where, who knew who and which conversation I was in the middle of. The lovely Mel Parente appeared as did actor Ezra Bix, Mel Coffey Amy Felman’s buddies Marty and Tim.

Then I lost count and forgot how to use my phone. There were many conversations overheard starting with “What do you do?”, “How do you know him/her?” and even one that started with “Hi, I’m (insert name here), want to come back to my place for a spa? I don’t have a spa but do you want to come back to my place and pretend?”

Thank god for Drew Tingwell who bought his camera so we ended up with some half decent shots for this episode. So we thought it would be fun to take photos of each other pulling faces. Yep. High brow, I know.

And so on and so on into the wee hours and the back of a taxi with something that resembled food to home, bed, sleep, headache.

Another one bites the dust!