Just got word that ActNow has picked up the “Best New Site” award from NetGuide.

Congrats to all involved!

This ZeFrank episode is killer. LOL!

Ang and I decided to duck out for dinner at a local restaurant in Newtown tonight. While we were waiting to order, the two people we were sitting next too offered us a beer. I was a bit taken aback, and asked why and they said “we just want to chat”.

The couple were from Kansas, Missouri, USA. The gent was a military pilot who is training to fly B2 bombers. The lass was a journo working for a magazine covering social trends, particularly in rural areas.

We had a lovely conversation that ranged from touristy things to politics to the environment (of course) and many stops in between. It was a lovely, unexpected, evening.

And we had one of those moments where you realise that tourists sometimes get to know your local area better than you do. The beer they offered was a James Squire Pilsner. It was a nice drop, and we asked why they chose it: “it’s a local beer apparently”. Then we realised it was brewed in Camperdown - just down the road from where we live.

Neither Ang nor I are beer drinkers, but we’ve taken a shine to Amstel. This presents an ethical dilemma. Amstel is an imported beer, and we were concerned about the eco-footprint of the product. Yes, we’re that eco-geeky.

Given we’re so far enjoying the James Squire - and you can’t get a much smaller footprint than “imported from just down the road” - we might have just found our new beer.

So thanks to two yanks who are in Newtown for one night we’ve been introduced to our new favourite beer from just down the road…

Tonight has been full of unexpected moments - I mean how often does that sort of thing happen? Makes you realise it’s fun to be alive. Thanks to J and B, our friends for this evening. Hope you have a great time on the Great Barrier Reef!

Kottke: Folding under pressure (that’s an old origami joke). Amazing…

I usually don’t dig sites like this - but this one’s so nice…

Yep. Just another typical sight in Sydney….

A small part of me laughed at the photo for this: Green.tv shopping channel launching ‘March 07′. Reminds me of the ‘Pajero’ naming issue - ‘Pajero’ apparently means ‘wanker’ in Spanish.

But then I thought: at least it’s dirty - maybe they actually used it off-road.

Which reminded me of a little jibe I’ve been using when I see a pristine clean 4WD in an urban setting: “Get it dirty or get rid of it…”. I don’t have an issue with 4WDs per se - if they’re used appropriately, I’m less opposed. But I find it hard to believe they are appropriate in urban settings most of the time.

Maybe I’m just getting cranky in my old age?

Another really powerful film I saw a little while back was Downfall - a German film about the last days of Hitler’s reign leading up to his suicide.

The film has received many accolades, so I was looking forward to seeing it. It’s a pretty impressive film, if only through it’s restraint. Hitler is often portrayed as this larger than life, devil-incarnate character. This film portrays a man who is deeply troubled, and deeply flawed - but without the over-the-top dramatisation.

The film is set in Hitler’s bunker. One of the strange things I found is how everyone was going to great lengths to make the bunker feel normal. The decor was very much modeled after a house - not the concrete bunker I would expect.

But the other thing that I found amazing is that no-one topped him in those final days. As it’s portrayed in the film, it’s clear he’s completely lost the plot, and that even his closest allies realise it’s all coming to an end.

It’s a very good theme - I definitely recommend it.

I love this shot from Ander.

Ben posted this over here. He’s not sure why. Having seen it, I’m posting it here. Not sure why.

All I know is I really needed it today after a tough day at work to remind me why social media and the net are personal and important.

And I feel strangely compelled to post a video to YouTube all of a sudden taken with the iSight built into my iMac. (For some strange reason, I’ve never thought of it for doing that kind of thing.)

P.S. I saw Ben’s post testing the new website design I did for them. Check it out.