http://www.yahoo.com/s/1081179
Carradine's death and Heath's death in early 2008 (both suicides) shows that actors are unhappy. They need and are lost and confused. I'm 100% convinced that the reaons for following film and studying acting for a bit was to eventually Coach actors in areas of fulfilment and health and performance and meaning. It's simple. Actor's have a lot of money and little happiness. I have a lot of happiness and little money. I can teach the happiness; they can give me the money. Both parties happy. :D!!
This makes you realize that Hollywood is truly just a massive Cult of Marketing and ploys nad disillusionment tied in with the media to create the illusion of the "glory of fame and stardom" etc. Well Hollywood went down the tubes. Seriously. I've been living 20 miles west of "Hollywood" the past year and the place is like a vacant ghost town when I visit it (seriously). Additionally, the silver screen pictures and that whole era from a sales/business point of view is completely wasted and gone. Youtube, private casts, internet "films" are now reality. So the Cultu of Hollywood is slowly dying.
Boy has my thought evolved rapidly the past years!! Only three years ago I was fascinated with and enthralled by actors. Now, after discovering some truly clear thinking rocking bodacious people (DB, Dawkins, etc). I've realized, sure, some actors may be genuinely cool, great people, but their profession is the biggest kind of cult disillusionment mass hypnosis possible. Tahts' why so many off themselves because their profession is so warped and disillusioned and they're a servant for "product placement" in the films! They likely have very little sense of self after playing characters and roles for many years of their life.
Coaching is the opposite of that. I spend YEARS of my life writing books on discovering exactly what I want to know and who I want to be and I discover that! I was interested in spirituality and when I was, it was exciting but various things (prosetylizatio in Costa Rica on multiple occasion, reading up on cults and witnessing identical similarities between cults and major religions etc) emerged and I evolved out of that. Now science and atheism are rivetting. TRULY rivetting. But the truth of the matter is. They've ALWAYS been rivetting! I've ALWAYS been this nerdy, scientific atheist. I watch home videos of me as a kid and I see that and know that. "Devout Atheism" (:D) is what's true for me. Kiekegaard says "I must find a truth that's true for me". Well, soren, I did just that and it's refreshing and incredibly MASSIVELY empowering!! Wow. So empowering to honor my genuine LOVE for science! Three kinds of symbiotic relationships, Stomata on plants, cellular respiration I love that high-tech jargon and better yet the fact that it's linked to real things in nature. But physics is like some of the most absolute truths of all tied in with the precision of math. I'm very interested in physics especially. Sweet!!
Showing posts with label Acting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Acting. Show all posts
1.03.2009
The Difference between Miramax, Universal, Touchstone Pictures, New Line and all that!
Are they production? Are they for film or productions? Who produces tv or film? How do they handle copyrights or distribution?
Why would anyone want to know this? Or who the hell cares? I DO!! If you're watching film and have half a brain to think about the process of "How the hell do I have this DVD or how am I able to watch this footage of actors in this theatre?" or better yet, if you're life me and interested in the production, editing, acting, film creation process and steps, knowing who the heck who is who and and how all that production jazz adds up is not only inspiring and illuminating, but essential data! So conclusively this is very valuable information to understand for any connection with creating or to galvanize a greater appreciation of creating (or watching) great film!
I always wanted to know what the deal was with that whole seemingly messy or confusing smorgasbord of film studios that flash their little animation and brand before the feature title and credits roll. The research aimed at clarifying this obfuscation proved to be very rewarding!!
- Miramax -- (Walt Disney)film production and distribution (originally in NY now purchased by Walt Disney)
- Touchstone Pictures (Walt Disney)-- a film label of Walt Disney (est. 1984) it has the more mature themes of features released under walt disney; noteworthy productions: Dead Poets' Soceity, Pirates of the Caribbean: Black Pearl.
- Walt Disney Company -- one of largest media and entertainment corps on world
- Walt Disney Studios -- centered around animation
- Warner Brothers (Timewarner)-- film and tv production (subsidary of Timewarner! LOL cool!)
- New Line Cinema (Timewarner) -- film production and distribution (subsidary of Timewarner)
- Icon Productions LLC (Mel Gibson)-- film production (Mel Gibson's film production company; founded 1989; started when mel was trying to finance hamlet); noteworthy productions: Man without a Face, Braveheart, What Women Want).
- Imagine Entertainment (Ron Howard) -- film and tv production (Ron Howard and Brian Grazer; 1986; noteworthy productions: Arrested Development, Beautiful Mind)
- Dreamworks LLC (Paramount: Viacom)-- film, tv, and game development, production, and distribution (started Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg, and David Geffen; 1994; 11 years later sold to Paramount Pictures, under viacom,)
- 20th Century Fox Film Corporation (News Corporation) -- film production and distribution (6th largest in america; located in Century city; started 1933).
- Paramount Pictures Corporation (Viacom) -- film production and distribution (oldest running movie studio in hollywood (beating Universal by 1 month only! LOL!; located on Melrose Avenue in Hollywood; subsidary of Viacom)
- Plan B Entertainment -- film production (started Brad Pitt, Brad Grey, Jennifer Anistion; noteworthy titles: Jesse James, Departed, Charlie and Chocolate Factory, Troy)
- Universal Studios -- (subsidary of NBC) 2nd-longest running film studio on San Fernando (Paramount being the oldest.
Conclusions: WOW!! This is so awesome and massively illuminating!! I finally understand the inter-relationship between all this "Bank Pictures" "XYZ Productions" etc that I see flash before a film title and principal role credits! Cool! I guess if you break it down, there's the invidividual film companies (Gibson's, Howard's, Pitt's) and then the labels and subsidaries of the major ones
- Viacom -- Paramount, Dreamworks
- NBC -- Universal Studios
- News Corporation -- 20th Century Fox
- Timewarner -- Warner Brothers
- Walt Disney -- Touchstone, Miramax
Cool!!! So you've got those 5 major media conglomerates each with a few film labels and subsidary companies and then a small handful of talents actors, directors, producer individuals that spun off their own successful production companies. COOL!!
Reflections: It's interesting to note the quality and type of movie that emerges from each kind of production company. Plan B's Jesse James was highly artistic and had that independent feel, as did the Departed and Beautiful Mind, appropriate from being produced under independent production company. Then more mainstream maybe more "common themed" films might be more typically produced by one of those 5 mainstream conglomerates.
COOL!!! Awesome!! Now I can now who produced what, which of the 5 main media conglomerate companies or three independents backed and helped distribute a film! So awesome simplifying that so it's not some confusing brand flash of a production company, actually understanding the structure of the film production makes understanding the composition of films much more tangible because you can udnerstand that "oh yeah, they shot the filmm, editted it and then handed it off to Gibson's Icon for production, or shot it over to Disney's Miramax for distribution". Cool clarity! The research aimed at clarifying this obfuscation proved to be very rewarding!!
12.29.2008
The Lesson of Knowing When to Actively Observe amidst Acting: A Sub-Lesson of "The Best Commitments Never Bind and Allow Advantageous Flexibility"
The Lesson of Knowing When to Actively Observe amidst Acting: A Sub-Lesson of "The Best Commitments Never Bind and Allow Advantageous Flexibility"
One thing I realized I NEVER do in life is watch the movie of life. I'm OBSESSED With acting in it; engaging, moving, being active in life. All very good things. After all many a great wise man can espouse the value of being active and interacting with life instead of being a passive observer. However, what I recently realized is that constact acting, nonstop Yang, all the time is out of balance. While activity engagement, and initiative and just "doing stuff" is fantastic and a valuable energetic quality (and no doubt a necessity for success), knowing when to remain just as alert and focused as you are in acting mode, but to sit back and observe on select occasions is of equal importance.. I was at this club in Hollywood earlier this weekend. It was a massive dance club with multiple bars, hundreds of square feet of space. Massive ceilings in a former theatre hall and a huge stage and dance floors cluttered with hundreds and hundreds of dancing partying people. Amongst all that there were a few people there that, amidst all this blaring techno music, gleaming lights, hundreds of people moving and dancing, they weren't moving an extra muscle even trying to dance. Now this wasn't laziness. These people were alert. Sure, there were people that were half-asleep slouched in a chair sitting or spacing out. But these 2 people I saw were always in the middle of this huge dance floor, smack dab in the center of all these dancing partying people, and they were alert and observant and not lazy. It wasn't as if they didn't make an effort to dance; it was as though the thought didn't even consider to them or it wasn't in their interest. They weren't acting haughty or "above" the party or group; none of that. I couldn't figure out what was going on, but later I realized they were "watching the movie" of the club. Watching the movie of that small slice of life. Most interestingly to me was that they appeared to fully have validated their simply standing there fully observing.
Those two people had validated their active observation -- the choice to merely watch amongst crowds that were moving and dancing. The funny thing is what made me realize that. When I entered the club the cover fee was at a booth at which you normally by movie tickets! Wow! haha. I think we've got to ensure that we realize that any commitment mustn't be a "bind". The taoist beliefs emphasize the necessity of the balance between activity and stillness. You grow the best out of utilizing both those. Our very essential bio-rhythms function at such pattern - wakefulness (active engagement) and then sleep (stillness). Committing to being active shouldn't bind you from ocassionally observing, when observing actively could be more valuable at a certain time. Committing to eat certain types of food, mustn't "bind you" to occasionally eating some different type of food that at the time could be more valuable. So in a way the lesson of "allowing yourself to actively observe in the instances where observing would be the most valuable thing to do -- more valuable than acting", is a sub-lesson of the grander idea of remembering to maintain flexibility in your commitments and knowing that the best commitments are those that never bind or lock you into something but enable the flexibility to do something slightly different if that adjustment has more present value. The best commitments allow advantageous flexibility. You have to give yourself permission to do the most valuable thing at a given time within the construct of a commitment -- that's advantageous flexibility. It doesn't mean abandoning your original commitment or goal; just allowing it to expand through a different medium on select occassions.
Knowing When to Actively Observe or Actively Engage.
See, I had felt guilty out of simply actively observing around people. But actively observing doesn't violate that commitment to stay active. So I'm going to focus on being active and constantly doing things but give myself the permission to engage "active observation" when that's best at a certain time or place. How do you identify in which places or events are best to actively engage or actively observe? Excellent question. The best way to know is to ask yourself "is this place or event set up so that I could be the apex center performer? Or is there ropes, boundaries, an inaccessible stage or some kind of hierarchy? If there's a stage you can't get up on and a main event that other people have paid to see then such a situation is best to actively observe because actively engaging will eventually cause problems in such a scenario. If there's already a main event and you excel through exceptionally talented active engagement at that event eventually you'll hit a the ceiling where you aren't permitted to go on stage or use the mic or lead the seminar or whatever the main event is. In this situations simply accept that the maximal utilization of such a scenario is to actively observe. Feel guilty about actively engaging in such a situation because trust me from many many experiences of getting kicked out of places, running into security, hitting that ceiling where someone else is the center, the star because actively engaging is the best use of your time. Then where there's more of an open field in a different scenario you can actively engage.
One thing I realized I NEVER do in life is watch the movie of life. I'm OBSESSED With acting in it; engaging, moving, being active in life. All very good things. After all many a great wise man can espouse the value of being active and interacting with life instead of being a passive observer. However, what I recently realized is that constact acting, nonstop Yang, all the time is out of balance. While activity engagement, and initiative and just "doing stuff" is fantastic and a valuable energetic quality (and no doubt a necessity for success), knowing when to remain just as alert and focused as you are in acting mode, but to sit back and observe on select occasions is of equal importance.. I was at this club in Hollywood earlier this weekend. It was a massive dance club with multiple bars, hundreds of square feet of space. Massive ceilings in a former theatre hall and a huge stage and dance floors cluttered with hundreds and hundreds of dancing partying people. Amongst all that there were a few people there that, amidst all this blaring techno music, gleaming lights, hundreds of people moving and dancing, they weren't moving an extra muscle even trying to dance. Now this wasn't laziness. These people were alert. Sure, there were people that were half-asleep slouched in a chair sitting or spacing out. But these 2 people I saw were always in the middle of this huge dance floor, smack dab in the center of all these dancing partying people, and they were alert and observant and not lazy. It wasn't as if they didn't make an effort to dance; it was as though the thought didn't even consider to them or it wasn't in their interest. They weren't acting haughty or "above" the party or group; none of that. I couldn't figure out what was going on, but later I realized they were "watching the movie" of the club. Watching the movie of that small slice of life. Most interestingly to me was that they appeared to fully have validated their simply standing there fully observing.
Those two people had validated their active observation -- the choice to merely watch amongst crowds that were moving and dancing. The funny thing is what made me realize that. When I entered the club the cover fee was at a booth at which you normally by movie tickets! Wow! haha. I think we've got to ensure that we realize that any commitment mustn't be a "bind". The taoist beliefs emphasize the necessity of the balance between activity and stillness. You grow the best out of utilizing both those. Our very essential bio-rhythms function at such pattern - wakefulness (active engagement) and then sleep (stillness). Committing to being active shouldn't bind you from ocassionally observing, when observing actively could be more valuable at a certain time. Committing to eat certain types of food, mustn't "bind you" to occasionally eating some different type of food that at the time could be more valuable. So in a way the lesson of "allowing yourself to actively observe in the instances where observing would be the most valuable thing to do -- more valuable than acting", is a sub-lesson of the grander idea of remembering to maintain flexibility in your commitments and knowing that the best commitments are those that never bind or lock you into something but enable the flexibility to do something slightly different if that adjustment has more present value. The best commitments allow advantageous flexibility. You have to give yourself permission to do the most valuable thing at a given time within the construct of a commitment -- that's advantageous flexibility. It doesn't mean abandoning your original commitment or goal; just allowing it to expand through a different medium on select occassions.
Knowing When to Actively Observe or Actively Engage.
See, I had felt guilty out of simply actively observing around people. But actively observing doesn't violate that commitment to stay active. So I'm going to focus on being active and constantly doing things but give myself the permission to engage "active observation" when that's best at a certain time or place. How do you identify in which places or events are best to actively engage or actively observe? Excellent question. The best way to know is to ask yourself "is this place or event set up so that I could be the apex center performer? Or is there ropes, boundaries, an inaccessible stage or some kind of hierarchy? If there's a stage you can't get up on and a main event that other people have paid to see then such a situation is best to actively observe because actively engaging will eventually cause problems in such a scenario. If there's already a main event and you excel through exceptionally talented active engagement at that event eventually you'll hit a the ceiling where you aren't permitted to go on stage or use the mic or lead the seminar or whatever the main event is. In this situations simply accept that the maximal utilization of such a scenario is to actively observe. Feel guilty about actively engaging in such a situation because trust me from many many experiences of getting kicked out of places, running into security, hitting that ceiling where someone else is the center, the star because actively engaging is the best use of your time. Then where there's more of an open field in a different scenario you can actively engage.
8.05.2008
Tuesday News Blip
Weather: Man what is up with seismology on Tuesdays?! Last tuesday California experienced a deep seismic shake and today China gets hit with a 6.0! The Sichuan province of China got hit with an after shock from a quake that occurred almost 3 months ago.
I had not idea earthquakes were still wreaking such havoc.
It's the latest of numerous of aftershocks from the 7.9 quake that struck Sichuan on May 12 and killed almost 70,000 people and left 5 million homeless.
What?! We're over here freaking out about Katrina when China's quake killed 70,000 people?! That's not to belittle Katrina, but there certainly seems some global shudders are afoot.
I thought some of the most unique and idiosyncratic (but noteworthy) news regarding these China quakes was that the school building architecture, frankly, sucked!
During the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, a disproportionately high number of school structures collapsed, especially in rural areas of Sichuan, leading to allegations of corruption and promises by the government for an Inquiry. However, it remains unclear whether the allegedly shoddy construction was unique to Sichuan, as opposed to a nation-wide practice that only became visible in Sichuan due to the earthquake.
Acting:
We had WGA strikes. Only makes sense that now SAG is making a racket to ensure proper contracts get endorsed for actors. Seems like there's some miscommunication about the existence of informal meetings. Dough Allen, the exec behind SAG, broadcasted via email that informal meetings to negotiate were occurring, but there apparently are still a lot of expired contracts between SAG and the AMPTP. Basically, the gist of this strike is highly legitimate. It covers the payment of royalties from new forms of media sales, like iTunes and DVDs. iTunes and DVDs didn't even exist when some of those contracts were made, so it seems absolutely essential to update them!
Law: Countrywide data hacking is entering pleas. God what has the world come to. There's so much news about pleas, sentences, and imprisonment. Could you imagine devoting your life to punishing people as the legal profession does? A lawyer has a profession of "grounding" people for a living. Oh you stole that, well I'm grounding you for 5 years. It still astonishes me that 1)such a profession exists and 2)such a profession is so prevalent in the United States.
7.27.2008
Wise Words on Fame from Some Masters
Clooney had some wisdom on fame. Basically you can still make it at an older age, and should, to carry the success, apparently. Reassuring for young burgeoning actors.
And Crowe had some wise wisdom (that's totally true, I agree) about Hollywood. People get paid out of there but it's not necessarily The Hub for all film. It's certainly undeniably a major one (and has been The Hub) but the world's much smaller and film productions can certainly traverse many regions. Filming takes place anywhere in the world (or out of the world, e.g. "Earth to the Moon") so that's a cool clarification; something Ira Glass would undoubtedly call a "Modern Jackass" (an assumption you always think to be true and never question, despite its ridiculousness).
And Crowe had some wise wisdom (that's totally true, I agree) about Hollywood. People get paid out of there but it's not necessarily The Hub for all film. It's certainly undeniably a major one (and has been The Hub) but the world's much smaller and film productions can certainly traverse many regions. Filming takes place anywhere in the world (or out of the world, e.g. "Earth to the Moon") so that's a cool clarification; something Ira Glass would undoubtedly call a "Modern Jackass" (an assumption you always think to be true and never question, despite its ridiculousness).
7.13.2008
Recent Celeb Scene and Global Positioning
Heath Ledger might win the oscar for his maniacal Joker character, making this the second posthumous "Best Actor" award in over 30 years, the most recent (hardly not recent) went to Peter Finch in Network in 1977.
Also, I noticed the ever-growing "I hate Paris club" has continued to spawn. Disdain for that woman -- who, imho, is not really that bad, and in some areas, quite likeable, like her ability to handle media and magnetize press to her image (that also, of course, is the same reason why so many loathe her) -- has become a "fad" a trendy thing to do. Even actresses I admire, like incredibly talented Tina Fey appear to loathe her: "She's so unbelievably dumb and so proud of how dumb she is. She looks like a tranny up close. Her hair looks like fraggle." What really stumps me is how she so effectively gets under the skin of so many successful people. Does she threaten? Are they confused by her success? If she was a nobody they wouldn't bother commenting about her. Anyways, that ridicule, no doubt, satisfies Ms. Hilton's image agenda rendering her more successful. Bad flack or Good flack still registers as some kind of attention, so if you objectively seek attention, she's got it!
In other news, Matt LeBlanc's former "Friends" agent, Camille Cerio (not to be confused with pregnant Camilla Alves, McConaughey's girlfriend, of no relation) is trying to sue him for $1 million in unpaid commissions. He actually EARNED $1 million per show, though! And considering that the Friends' series tallied NUMBER episodes, he should have no problem covering that, but gotta pay those dues!
That about raps it up for celebrity gossip, other than the usual -- a lot of babies, a lot of pregnancies, a lot of marriages, and a lot of trips to the beach! One question, do they "time" these things. It just seems like babies are popping out all over the place in the summer with Pitt-Jolie's twins and McConaughey-Alves's expecting and more, it seems that way.
I also just noticed Gyllenhal's been practicing swordsmanship for "Prince of Persia". I've played almsot every video game in that series, so that video-game-to-movie conversation definitely pops onto the "Must-see" list.
I don't like to focus to much on these people because they already get so much flak, but oh, one more thing I noticed is Jolie has some longitude and latitude coordinates tatooed on her left shoulder.
Navigation (along with precision and freedom) stands as one of my three core values, so anything with coordinates and nautical precision gets an A+ for cool in my book, but as a tattoo? That's a pretty intellectual ink-skin maneuveur, especially when compared to a lot of the 2am drunken-stupor tattoos people get permanently emblazened onto their epidermal layer. 4 sets of nautical global coordinates -- you can tell a lot of thought went into that -- very cool. It turns out the represent the long. and lat. of the birthplace of her kids.
Cambodia (N11 33' 0" E104 51' 00")
Addis Abeba, Ethiopia (N09 02' 00" E038 45' 00")
Swakopmund, Namibia (S22 40' 26" E014 31' 40")
Vietnam (N10 40' 00" E106 41' 40").
This dude wrote an entry on finding these out.
Very impressed, Angelina. Awesome work with the nautical alignment. Sure, the ink might have been a bit much, but solid precision.
On the note of awesome navigational nerdiness, is this amazing hack for google maps. Maps doesn't allow you to see Longitude and Latitude, but if you copy this bit of text into the URL field an instant detailed longitude and latitude will pop up detailing the corresponding longitude and latitude of the center of the map! Here's the hack code:
Try that hack out! And if you want to brush up in meridians and parrallels, I think if you understand everything in this page, you've got a great foundation of the fundamentals.
Along the lines of global positioning, here's an awesome nifty site, too, that calibrates using Geotagged points any spot on the our Earth that you click with corresponding longitude and latitude I calibrated the link to a "starting base of sorts". Greenwich is 51° 28' 38". With that sequence of getgags. Negative (-) = S latitudes or W longitudes, respectively and positive (+) = N latitudes or E longitudes, so for examplle, Los Angeles is lat:34, long:-118. It's awesome to flip the symbols. Turns out the west coast of Australia is exactly on the complete flipside of the globe at lat:-34, long:118. Sure, you could go crazy with Google Earth, but I found the above tricks, the nifty-geotagged site and the google maps .getCenter() hack very fast and accessible.
After some tweaking, I discovered some cool navigational facts.
The closest spot to Greenwich's 51° N latitude from Los Angeles's -118W latitude is close to Calgary, Canada, so Greenwich (and London) is a bit further north than frequently, thought. I've been into Jules Verne, recently, so to have contingency with said author's pin-point pecision-wisdom, here's some other "longitudinal and latitudinal matchups):
Exactly one half-globe's worth of latitude (-34 or 34°S) still at -118 (or 118W) longitude is smack dab in the center of the South Pacific, about half way between New Zealand and the South American coast of Chile.
The southern tip of Algeria is located along the same parrallel as Los Angeles, but at the Prime Meridian. That sparked fascination.
And, finally, as a tribute to Philleas Fogg, it's interesting to note that the furthest south he went (which holds quite a distance) ended up at at Singapore after passing by Malaysia and before curling up the east coast of Malaysia and Vietnam before Reaching Hong Kong (22,114). His latitude at Singapore was about 1°N or slightly above the equator, a huge variation from London's coordinates at (51°N) nearly 50 degrees difference in latitude, so maybe he did travel a bit further than simply "around the world", well he stayed close enough to the equator in any case.
Just to provide some scope of how far Hawaii is from the US's west coast, it's coordinates are 20, -158, making it, 14 degrees of longitude and 30 degrees of latitude away, and slightly south from southwest US coast. New Guinea is 9,-82, or only 11° latitude and 70° of longitude away, which means that although Hawaii is part of the 50 states, in terms of latitude and longitude, it's closer to New Guinea's parrallel and if you add up the differences it's 44° versus 81° from New Guinea. Just interesting views of proximity.
Head west (or east, you'll end up in the same spot each way) one half globe from Los Angeles along the same 34°N line and you'll find yourself in Nanjing, China, which is slightly Northeast of Shanghai. I can instantly see
If I commented on the number of births, marriages, and baby-gossip, this post would be about 20 times as long, so that's it for now!
Also, I noticed the ever-growing "I hate Paris club" has continued to spawn. Disdain for that woman -- who, imho, is not really that bad, and in some areas, quite likeable, like her ability to handle media and magnetize press to her image (that also, of course, is the same reason why so many loathe her) -- has become a "fad" a trendy thing to do. Even actresses I admire, like incredibly talented Tina Fey appear to loathe her: "She's so unbelievably dumb and so proud of how dumb she is. She looks like a tranny up close. Her hair looks like fraggle." What really stumps me is how she so effectively gets under the skin of so many successful people. Does she threaten? Are they confused by her success? If she was a nobody they wouldn't bother commenting about her. Anyways, that ridicule, no doubt, satisfies Ms. Hilton's image agenda rendering her more successful. Bad flack or Good flack still registers as some kind of attention, so if you objectively seek attention, she's got it!
In other news, Matt LeBlanc's former "Friends" agent, Camille Cerio (not to be confused with pregnant Camilla Alves, McConaughey's girlfriend, of no relation) is trying to sue him for $1 million in unpaid commissions. He actually EARNED $1 million per show, though! And considering that the Friends' series tallied NUMBER episodes, he should have no problem covering that, but gotta pay those dues!
That about raps it up for celebrity gossip, other than the usual -- a lot of babies, a lot of pregnancies, a lot of marriages, and a lot of trips to the beach! One question, do they "time" these things. It just seems like babies are popping out all over the place in the summer with Pitt-Jolie's twins and McConaughey-Alves's expecting and more, it seems that way.
I also just noticed Gyllenhal's been practicing swordsmanship for "Prince of Persia". I've played almsot every video game in that series, so that video-game-to-movie conversation definitely pops onto the "Must-see" list.
I don't like to focus to much on these people because they already get so much flak, but oh, one more thing I noticed is Jolie has some longitude and latitude coordinates tatooed on her left shoulder.
Navigation (along with precision and freedom) stands as one of my three core values, so anything with coordinates and nautical precision gets an A+ for cool in my book, but as a tattoo? That's a pretty intellectual ink-skin maneuveur, especially when compared to a lot of the 2am drunken-stupor tattoos people get permanently emblazened onto their epidermal layer. 4 sets of nautical global coordinates -- you can tell a lot of thought went into that -- very cool. It turns out the represent the long. and lat. of the birthplace of her kids.
Cambodia (N11 33' 0" E104 51' 00")
Addis Abeba, Ethiopia (N09 02' 00" E038 45' 00")
Swakopmund, Namibia (S22 40' 26" E014 31' 40")
Vietnam (N10 40' 00" E106 41' 40").
This dude wrote an entry on finding these out.
Very impressed, Angelina. Awesome work with the nautical alignment. Sure, the ink might have been a bit much, but solid precision.
On the note of awesome navigational nerdiness, is this amazing hack for google maps. Maps doesn't allow you to see Longitude and Latitude, but if you copy this bit of text into the URL field an instant detailed longitude and latitude will pop up detailing the corresponding longitude and latitude of the center of the map! Here's the hack code:
javascript:void(prompt('',gApplication.getMap().getCenter()));
Try that hack out! And if you want to brush up in meridians and parrallels, I think if you understand everything in this page, you've got a great foundation of the fundamentals.
Along the lines of global positioning, here's an awesome nifty site, too, that calibrates using Geotagged points any spot on the our Earth that you click with corresponding longitude and latitude I calibrated the link to a "starting base of sorts". Greenwich is 51° 28' 38". With that sequence of getgags. Negative (-) = S latitudes or W longitudes, respectively and positive (+) = N latitudes or E longitudes, so for examplle, Los Angeles is lat:34, long:-118. It's awesome to flip the symbols. Turns out the west coast of Australia is exactly on the complete flipside of the globe at lat:-34, long:118. Sure, you could go crazy with Google Earth, but I found the above tricks, the nifty-geotagged site and the google maps .getCenter() hack very fast and accessible.
After some tweaking, I discovered some cool navigational facts.
The closest spot to Greenwich's 51° N latitude from Los Angeles's -118W latitude is close to Calgary, Canada, so Greenwich (and London) is a bit further north than frequently, thought. I've been into Jules Verne, recently, so to have contingency with said author's pin-point pecision-wisdom, here's some other "longitudinal and latitudinal matchups):
Exactly one half-globe's worth of latitude (-34 or 34°S) still at -118 (or 118W) longitude is smack dab in the center of the South Pacific, about half way between New Zealand and the South American coast of Chile.
The southern tip of Algeria is located along the same parrallel as Los Angeles, but at the Prime Meridian. That sparked fascination.
And, finally, as a tribute to Philleas Fogg, it's interesting to note that the furthest south he went (which holds quite a distance) ended up at at Singapore after passing by Malaysia and before curling up the east coast of Malaysia and Vietnam before Reaching Hong Kong (22,114). His latitude at Singapore was about 1°N or slightly above the equator, a huge variation from London's coordinates at (51°N) nearly 50 degrees difference in latitude, so maybe he did travel a bit further than simply "around the world", well he stayed close enough to the equator in any case.
Just to provide some scope of how far Hawaii is from the US's west coast, it's coordinates are 20, -158, making it, 14 degrees of longitude and 30 degrees of latitude away, and slightly south from southwest US coast. New Guinea is 9,-82, or only 11° latitude and 70° of longitude away, which means that although Hawaii is part of the 50 states, in terms of latitude and longitude, it's closer to New Guinea's parrallel and if you add up the differences it's 44° versus 81° from New Guinea. Just interesting views of proximity.
Head west (or east, you'll end up in the same spot each way) one half globe from Los Angeles along the same 34°N line and you'll find yourself in Nanjing, China, which is slightly Northeast of Shanghai. I can instantly see
If I commented on the number of births, marriages, and baby-gossip, this post would be about 20 times as long, so that's it for now!
7.09.2008
What Constitutes "Not Acting"? Not Much!!!
grocery store "directors" (on receipt)
Nancy kerr "acting is everything" response
non-acting =
math, some writing, chess
lots of thinking with lots of decisions
7.06.2008
Update on The Dream of Acting and the Some-what Conflicting Necessity of Financial Independence
In regards to acting. Thanks to anyone for that encouragement. I sincerely appreciate anyone's feedback and fortification toward acting. I agree, when I was pursuing it during taking acting classes, I did feel extremely fulfilled. The biggest obstacle toward that pursuit, however has been money. MONEY, money, money. That's the only thing. I've diverted my attention toward web design and trying to make money via computers because I see that as the most direct way to accrue money. I can't foresee a way to make money via acting until LONG after many auditions and shows (of zero to low pay). It just seems like forever until I'll be financially independent (earning over $30k per year on my own). This desperation has left me in quite accurately a state of panic where any profession that earns, for the time being, feels viable.
Acting has always functioned as the "dream" profession, but if a dream job can't pay my bills, well, of what use is it other than fulfilling that dream? Dream fulfillment is huge, but it's a little higher up on the maslowian scale of self-actualization. I have these great parents who kind of bypass the lower stages of maslowian hierarchy of needs like having shelter, and getting food.
I fear that not living IN hollywood (22 miles from it and NO WHERE to park once I commute there) greatly impedes my pursuit in acting (finding an agent, namely). If I had a set parking place in hollywood things would operate MUCH more smoothly. I can't describe the hours you spend looking for a parking spot that only offers 2 hours of parking in Hollywood. This sounds trivial but actually presents a major obstacle because I don't have the freedom of being able to get to hollywood and explore. I've looked into solutions such as taking a train there, which could work, but the train station is roughly 5 miles away and then I have to factor in commute costs.
The past 2 months (after acting class) have been none other than panic-stricken attack on trying to earn money -- from investigating credit, to calling banks, to researching resume protocol and attempting to apply to various jobs.
My strong drive to have total financial independence is a barrier I did not foresee.
At times I looked back on the acting class and think what was I doing wasting time on those "energy" classes? That won't help me earn! But during the class I remember enjoying it greatly. My desperation to earn money has reached an unbearable extreme. I feel greatly "left behind" in comparison to many of my peers who now have full financial independence (not to mention my brother).
I think it goes without saying that my drive and desire and "Need" to earn money for myself presents somewhat of a schism with pursuing my passion of acting, of which it's difficult to foresee how/when I will make that $30k/year minimum.
Just a piece of my mind in regards to pursuing the dream of acting with currently conflicting necessity of financial independence.
Another thing is Jen from the acting corps said somethings that triggered pain and dislike, like : "You still need to focus". I can't begin to describe how infuriating it is when people say that because I put so much attention to trying to focus. My art history teach said those very same words and then accused me of having a learning disorder. telling someone "you need to focus" is
1. Insulting -- it implies they aren't focus. But I've run 2 marathons and written 4 books, have they? I consider that the epitome of focus.
2. Ambiguous -- focus on what? Focus for how long?
3. Useless -- the lack of specifying WHAT precisely to focus on makes their "suggestion" or "evaluation" of my attentiveness utterly pointless.
I think it's understandable why I have an aversion to an insulting, ambiguous, and useless "evaluation" by people.
Anger in receiving comments like that, presents a barrier in taking the classes. And the fact that the classes don't guarantee me earning money is another barrier.
There are just so many hoops to jump through to earn anything over $100 dollars, it's outrageous to the point of feeling abusive.
On one hand I've got "dream" on the other hand I've got the "boring" (but highly necessary) demands I put on myself to earn and financially provide for myself. Those don't have to be mutually exclusive, but for now, unfortunately, they appear to be that way. I hope I will find a way to make money via acting or a side source of income proividing the financial self-sufficiency I demand of myslef so that I can pursue acting whole-heartedly.
Conclusively, I don't want to be misinterpretted: I still value acting and the dream of that profession. I don't want that dream to be eclipsed by my other self-sufficiency need of providing for myself financially. I hadn't realized it, because it sounds so lame, but that latter (financial self-sufficiency) goal almost is dream-worthy as well. almost.
I think the most paramount emotion I currently feel in regards to career is fear. That sums up my state nicely. I find the overwhelming demand I place on myself to earn income so overwhelming that I find it difficult to focus.
I've begun to look at "acting-like" work as something I should and need to get paid for. Meaning all of "acting corps" was "for free".
I have no destructive relationships, I'm in good health, I'm incredibly organized. Everything in my life seems and should be aligned except for that one smidgen: earning money. Without that, my life feels like a mess, even though it really isn't. Letting not earning money blemish the good landscape of my life wouldn't be good, but there's two HUGE financial things marring the forward progression of my life: Past lack of earnings and Present lack of earnings.
Past: I feel that I "Should have" earned money by now. I feel like I should have gotten paid for a LOT of things that I did and considered work (programs, talks, life-coaching, acting-related events, etc.). So I have some rancor towards not earning in the past that must be resolved
Present: Not being able to currently earn money is one of the most harrowing and frightening experiences. So that must be remedied, just like my not earning of the past, must be resolved and relinquished, unless of course I could go back in time and earn for that work.
The profession Of "entertainment" is strange because where do you draw the line between" Was that entertaining? Great. Pay me" and just being like-able. This is a huge and confusing issue.
If I got a restaurant job. I'd have to work 40 hours a week (8 hours a day, 5 a week) something I have no interest in doing to earn $2000/per month, translating into $24,000 a year (assuming a 10/per hour pay).
This discourse will evolve to a more enlightening plateau soon enough, no doubt!
Acting has always functioned as the "dream" profession, but if a dream job can't pay my bills, well, of what use is it other than fulfilling that dream? Dream fulfillment is huge, but it's a little higher up on the maslowian scale of self-actualization. I have these great parents who kind of bypass the lower stages of maslowian hierarchy of needs like having shelter, and getting food.
I fear that not living IN hollywood (22 miles from it and NO WHERE to park once I commute there) greatly impedes my pursuit in acting (finding an agent, namely). If I had a set parking place in hollywood things would operate MUCH more smoothly. I can't describe the hours you spend looking for a parking spot that only offers 2 hours of parking in Hollywood. This sounds trivial but actually presents a major obstacle because I don't have the freedom of being able to get to hollywood and explore. I've looked into solutions such as taking a train there, which could work, but the train station is roughly 5 miles away and then I have to factor in commute costs.
The past 2 months (after acting class) have been none other than panic-stricken attack on trying to earn money -- from investigating credit, to calling banks, to researching resume protocol and attempting to apply to various jobs.
My strong drive to have total financial independence is a barrier I did not foresee.
At times I looked back on the acting class and think what was I doing wasting time on those "energy" classes? That won't help me earn! But during the class I remember enjoying it greatly. My desperation to earn money has reached an unbearable extreme. I feel greatly "left behind" in comparison to many of my peers who now have full financial independence (not to mention my brother).
I think it goes without saying that my drive and desire and "Need" to earn money for myself presents somewhat of a schism with pursuing my passion of acting, of which it's difficult to foresee how/when I will make that $30k/year minimum.
Just a piece of my mind in regards to pursuing the dream of acting with currently conflicting necessity of financial independence.
Another thing is Jen from the acting corps said somethings that triggered pain and dislike, like : "You still need to focus". I can't begin to describe how infuriating it is when people say that because I put so much attention to trying to focus. My art history teach said those very same words and then accused me of having a learning disorder. telling someone "you need to focus" is
1. Insulting -- it implies they aren't focus. But I've run 2 marathons and written 4 books, have they? I consider that the epitome of focus.
2. Ambiguous -- focus on what? Focus for how long?
3. Useless -- the lack of specifying WHAT precisely to focus on makes their "suggestion" or "evaluation" of my attentiveness utterly pointless.
I think it's understandable why I have an aversion to an insulting, ambiguous, and useless "evaluation" by people.
Anger in receiving comments like that, presents a barrier in taking the classes. And the fact that the classes don't guarantee me earning money is another barrier.
There are just so many hoops to jump through to earn anything over $100 dollars, it's outrageous to the point of feeling abusive.
On one hand I've got "dream" on the other hand I've got the "boring" (but highly necessary) demands I put on myself to earn and financially provide for myself. Those don't have to be mutually exclusive, but for now, unfortunately, they appear to be that way. I hope I will find a way to make money via acting or a side source of income proividing the financial self-sufficiency I demand of myslef so that I can pursue acting whole-heartedly.
Conclusively, I don't want to be misinterpretted: I still value acting and the dream of that profession. I don't want that dream to be eclipsed by my other self-sufficiency need of providing for myself financially. I hadn't realized it, because it sounds so lame, but that latter (financial self-sufficiency) goal almost is dream-worthy as well. almost.
I think the most paramount emotion I currently feel in regards to career is fear. That sums up my state nicely. I find the overwhelming demand I place on myself to earn income so overwhelming that I find it difficult to focus.
I've begun to look at "acting-like" work as something I should and need to get paid for. Meaning all of "acting corps" was "for free".
I have no destructive relationships, I'm in good health, I'm incredibly organized. Everything in my life seems and should be aligned except for that one smidgen: earning money. Without that, my life feels like a mess, even though it really isn't. Letting not earning money blemish the good landscape of my life wouldn't be good, but there's two HUGE financial things marring the forward progression of my life: Past lack of earnings and Present lack of earnings.
Past: I feel that I "Should have" earned money by now. I feel like I should have gotten paid for a LOT of things that I did and considered work (programs, talks, life-coaching, acting-related events, etc.). So I have some rancor towards not earning in the past that must be resolved
Present: Not being able to currently earn money is one of the most harrowing and frightening experiences. So that must be remedied, just like my not earning of the past, must be resolved and relinquished, unless of course I could go back in time and earn for that work.
The profession Of "entertainment" is strange because where do you draw the line between" Was that entertaining? Great. Pay me" and just being like-able. This is a huge and confusing issue.
If I got a restaurant job. I'd have to work 40 hours a week (8 hours a day, 5 a week) something I have no interest in doing to earn $2000/per month, translating into $24,000 a year (assuming a 10/per hour pay).
This discourse will evolve to a more enlightening plateau soon enough, no doubt!
1.23.2008
The Tragic Loss of Heath -- A Profound and Deep Actor
The tragic loss of Heath. This is shocking; it’s unbelievable. I feel partially mourning, partially stunned. He was an incredibly composed and immensely talented actor. My favorite role of his was in “Lords of Dogtown” as the Venice Beach “skate-boarding king”. But this, according to his father, “tragic, untimely, and accidental” incident brings with it a huge host of concerns. Did Heath become too consumed by his work? His dark projects as a heroin addict or a suicidal character? Did he ever do an emotional “check-up” after his break up with Michelle Williams? Reports say he couldn’t sleep and couldn’t “stop thinking”. Acting takes more then resilience and perseverance. It demands tremendous clarity and profound determination of the will. I’m not saying Heath didn’t possess that, at all. But what I am conveying is you have to build your foundation first.
You have to focus on your spirituality, your emotional management, you have to understand your intrapersonal knowledge, and focus years on your dreams, goals, authentic likes and dislikes before committing to a profession as tidal and tortuous as acting. We must NEVER let our work and career or relationships with other people (regardless of how intimate) ever stand before or eclipse our emotional freedom and peace, spiritual identity, and mental clarity. If you commence a full-time acting career without an infinite awareness of the your own spirit, and a tried-true-and-tested system for keeping your life organized and your core values aligned, the profession will feel like a dangerous Tsunami. Any profession to which we commit must always come secondary or tertiary to understanding our spiritual place and identity, your emotional capacity and sensitivity, and your ground-level life management skills.
We should mourn Heath’s death, but use this as an opportunity to re-evaluate our life and ensure that we perpetually meet an enormously high requirement of staying inspired and emotionally, mentally, and most importantly, physically healthy. We can learn to look at death differently by appreciating life. We must also be reminded that life always has the winning hand to death. Additionally, we must demand that our social, peer, and close friend group is intuitive, nurturing, and inspiring, but all while deeply understanding that only we can create peace for ourself. Great poet and essayist, Ralph Waldo Emerson writes, “Only you can create peace for yourself. You can only create peace through the triumph of principles.”
So after so many captivating and incredible, but bleak, dark, and emotionally-testing roles, let’s hope that Heathy Boy is now exploring his “lighter and more blithe” characters in the Heavenly Theatre of an Aussie Paradisio.
You have to focus on your spirituality, your emotional management, you have to understand your intrapersonal knowledge, and focus years on your dreams, goals, authentic likes and dislikes before committing to a profession as tidal and tortuous as acting. We must NEVER let our work and career or relationships with other people (regardless of how intimate) ever stand before or eclipse our emotional freedom and peace, spiritual identity, and mental clarity. If you commence a full-time acting career without an infinite awareness of the your own spirit, and a tried-true-and-tested system for keeping your life organized and your core values aligned, the profession will feel like a dangerous Tsunami. Any profession to which we commit must always come secondary or tertiary to understanding our spiritual place and identity, your emotional capacity and sensitivity, and your ground-level life management skills.
We should mourn Heath’s death, but use this as an opportunity to re-evaluate our life and ensure that we perpetually meet an enormously high requirement of staying inspired and emotionally, mentally, and most importantly, physically healthy. We can learn to look at death differently by appreciating life. We must also be reminded that life always has the winning hand to death. Additionally, we must demand that our social, peer, and close friend group is intuitive, nurturing, and inspiring, but all while deeply understanding that only we can create peace for ourself. Great poet and essayist, Ralph Waldo Emerson writes, “Only you can create peace for yourself. You can only create peace through the triumph of principles.”
So after so many captivating and incredible, but bleak, dark, and emotionally-testing roles, let’s hope that Heathy Boy is now exploring his “lighter and more blithe” characters in the Heavenly Theatre of an Aussie Paradisio.
10.17.2006
Actors, Money, and Vulnerability
Money is just an illusion. A trick. A carrot that always leads the donkey back to work. Therefore, anyone who lives to earn money is not very smart. The best thing to do, therefore, is to devote your life to passions and success with friendships and philanthropy.
Now, personally, computers and acting are very strong interests. Computers could be my progress and acting my passion. But here's the thing. I have a VERY VERY reactionary and postive and galvanizing reaction to actors. I seem them doing the gimmicks, quirks, and mannerisms of the "roles" they play, the characters they play. So I ask what is going one? Are these actors
1)Simply being themselves in the roles so they are themselves (the real life selves) just cast in different movies?
2)Nervous so they resort back to the "shell" of a character that brought them success.
Whatever the reason (I believe it is more 1, than 2) I recognize their incredible vulnerability and it makes me want to chime in and support them and their work and do what they do.
Think about it, if it's 1, they are purely vulnerable and just putting themselves in a variety of roles, and if it's 2, they are so vulnerable, they resort back to the comfort of a character shell. However, I think the main thing is that they put themselves out there and show that they are totally human.
They put their emotions on the butcher block table, of sorts, totally open for people to criticize or examine. Therefore, some actors are like the modern day saints; the people who actualy DO be the change they want to be in the world.
Now, personally, computers and acting are very strong interests. Computers could be my progress and acting my passion. But here's the thing. I have a VERY VERY reactionary and postive and galvanizing reaction to actors. I seem them doing the gimmicks, quirks, and mannerisms of the "roles" they play, the characters they play. So I ask what is going one? Are these actors
1)Simply being themselves in the roles so they are themselves (the real life selves) just cast in different movies?
2)Nervous so they resort back to the "shell" of a character that brought them success.
Whatever the reason (I believe it is more 1, than 2) I recognize their incredible vulnerability and it makes me want to chime in and support them and their work and do what they do.
Think about it, if it's 1, they are purely vulnerable and just putting themselves in a variety of roles, and if it's 2, they are so vulnerable, they resort back to the comfort of a character shell. However, I think the main thing is that they put themselves out there and show that they are totally human.
They put their emotions on the butcher block table, of sorts, totally open for people to criticize or examine. Therefore, some actors are like the modern day saints; the people who actualy DO be the change they want to be in the world.
9.12.2006
The Best Actors
In other words, the best actors dont' "act" or put on emotional masks at all. They remove those masks and simply put themselves in situations that would cause any person not concealing their emotiosn to react with a display.
If there's machine gun fire in the background or buildings are exploding or loved ones die or victories are own, the greatest actors just react the way a normal, non-facade-wearing human would react. Because actors are actually "real" and not acting, they remind the many of us who get caught up in politics -- deceit of guises, gimmicks, and tricks -- and forget what it's like to be human, of our right and capacity to be human. Acting recollects the human spirit, in that sense.
2.15.2006
Action not Decision
The impassive process of decision-making generates the illusion of choice. Meaning that you can't make decisions. No one ever makes decisions; people just take action. Action is the only way things ever get accomplished, initiated, and done. You finish things and start things by taking action not be deciding or making a decision. You generate initiative from commitment, not choice. Decisions are illusory. Action is reality.
Just as no one is ever doing "nothing" (i.e. you're always breathing, cells are reproducing, heart is pumping, even if you're dead, you're laying horizontally, which is, technically, something). People never make decisions; you are always taking action.
Just as no one is ever doing "nothing" (i.e. you're always breathing, cells are reproducing, heart is pumping, even if you're dead, you're laying horizontally, which is, technically, something). People never make decisions; you are always taking action.
2.03.2006
Archive Success and Delete the Accomplishment
One hindrance in furthering success for people is that they believe they have accomplished enough already. Donald Trump, Julia Roberts, and Michael Phelps could easily say that. Those three could wake up and say I've made enough money, I've acted in enough movies, or I've won enough swimming medals, respectively. But they don't. Despite their tremendously gigantic accomplishments and achievemtns, there success continues to prosper. Trump, Roberts, and Phelps, like all successful people don't let their accomplishments sever there future aspirations.
Past accomplishments never legitimate retirement. Many people look at what they've done and say, "Well, that's enough for ten lifetiems. I'm done." No, success isn't made that way. So how could people continue to keep going despite all their achievements? They split the past and present achievements.
Believe in the present that you have not accomplished anything, and that -- in that specific, finite, present moment -- is true. Never forget your triumphs; never fail to herald your feats. But archive those successes in the past!
Forget your accomplishments in the present, but archive them in your history. That way you wake up and feel like there's so much you need to still do; you rejuvenate your youthful ambition, while maintaing your wisdom and experience.
Past accomplishments never legitimate retirement. Many people look at what they've done and say, "Well, that's enough for ten lifetiems. I'm done." No, success isn't made that way. So how could people continue to keep going despite all their achievements? They split the past and present achievements.
Believe in the present that you have not accomplished anything, and that -- in that specific, finite, present moment -- is true. Never forget your triumphs; never fail to herald your feats. But archive those successes in the past!
Forget your accomplishments in the present, but archive them in your history. That way you wake up and feel like there's so much you need to still do; you rejuvenate your youthful ambition, while maintaing your wisdom and experience.
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