The · me · stuff

Its how many years old, and now I think about rolling a character.
That's right looks like I'm starting a character so I have something to play during those random 30min -1hour when I don't want to think about all the self-improvement stuff I feel the need to be doing.
So now I must choose a server
and a race and class... probably leaning towards a 'bloodelf paladin' or a undead rogue or priest... so many choices.
So much nerdom
so much potential backlash.

In other news I'm learning the violin and have the basics of the first fingering (but far from competent) so does that balance out the nerd or just make me a music nerd...

Oh and rehearsals for the return of felafel start soon.
so Acting-music nerd...

A bit over week ago I set up a basic little half ass'ed studio in my garage to take some photos. Mainly so I could have some reference material that was truly mine, but also in the hope that I may not suck at the whole photo thing (my obsession with having a hand in everything :P )

The studio was basicly a large white curtain backing sheet of material, a black bed sheet over the top of that for some of the photos. A 3 point light set up of a double head 1000w halogen on the high top right (primary), a small flood, mid hight left (as fill) and a small flood with a blue globe on the ground hard left (tinted backing fill).

Lenses were a mix of a 50mm 1.8 prime and a 17 - 85mm

The shoot took about 4 hours, costume and make up can take some serious time, and I learnt a lot from doing it, so many mistakes to be corrected in future to do with lighting , focus, f-stop etc. But I got some great ref out of it, and the photos themselves worked out pretty well I think. More under the cut, cant wait to do it again and a big thanks to my friend and model Miss Lauren.
( more image )

This one was just for me, not so much a learning thing, ref’ed from a photo that I loved and have wanted to do a painting from for ages.

One of my weaker points is the initial sketch. I am reasonable good at taking it form this point to ‘polished’ product, but often I am polishing something that is a bit broken, so I am currently doing 15 min sketches (from photo ref) to stop me bogging don in the detail and to try and correct some issues. So here is this evenings hour

Against the dying of the light.
So it has come to an end, but oh what a spectacular end it was, with an amazing run with solid audiences through out. The final nights we were blessed with sell out audiences and waiting lists for seats. Having done shows previously with the usual expected audiences (ie the low numbers that amateur theatre attracts in this fair city of ours) I think I have been spoiled now by the amazing turnout we had for this show. I think we performed the show to somewhere between 1500 and 2000 people which is kinda shiny.

Id like to thank the academy.
There are so many people I would like to thank.
To Natalie for being a fantastic director, for casting me in the first place thus giving me a chance to walk the boards again.
To the other actors for being such fantastic people to perform with and for making the ‘dead time’ between scenes so much fun backstage.
To the crew, who made things run well and smooth, for having things ready each night and for cleaning up at the end of each show while most of us actors where larking about outside with the audience.
And to Friends, Those who came along to the show, some more then once (or twice for that matter) Friends who despite my stance being, you don’t need to support me in my creative endeavors, did so anyway. My honest and heartfelt thanks to you all.

La petite mort
So its over, and the post show blues have descended as is expected. For three and a half months now this show has been the thing foremost in my mind. Excitement and fear, and trying to perform at my best. Now its over and till I have something to replace it, there is a bit of a hole.
I will miss the people whose pockets you live in over the course of this intense period, especially a particular person who I formed a bit of a cast crush on *little sigh and lopsided grin*
I will miss the performing to people and the immediate feedback, the applause and the bow.

Tomorrow and tomorrow creeps…
I need to do more of this stuff, so now I look to the future, I am on the hunt for more roles, so I can add to my performance resume. Should probably get some headshots done at some point and I must look into the possibility of further education in this field. A drivers license and some sort of physical buffing up may also be in order. But for now I will take a couple of days, wallow a little, shed a tear and store away the memory acorns for the lean times. Till I get to do it all over again… and again…
KHAN!!!!

Or ‘ave a banana!’

At this point we are 7 shows down out of 20 and almost through the 3rd week of the run (which is half way in time, if not in number of shows) and I have been lax in my crap’in on so in no particular order and jumping around topics all over the shop I bring you the magic of the theatre.

Bump in and Tech week.
Wow it is rare I have been so tired in my life, what you have to remember is that I work full time (getting up at about 6:30 each morning) so a week starting with a bump in on
Sunday was the beginning of the weary. For this week my life was sleep - work - rehearse - sleep

But bump in we did and a stage was built. The best stage I have ever got to act in I might add (there will be pics after the show but for now I don’t want to spoil) But there are doors a sink and a fridge, shelving a sea of junk and of course the brown couch (which broke on Friday when the giant green iguana leapt onto it during the show).
The next 3 days are a blur of costume and tech rehearsals finishing late in the nights, all I did those three days was go to work and rehearse, my work mates were getting pissed with my chain tagging yawns each morning as I tried not to drown in my coffee.On Thursday we had our final dress rehearsal / preview night. The audience were a group of journalism students, the fiend, and unbeknownst to the cast, the writer of the play.

Insight the first: When preparing a comedy play a preview night like this is gold, friendly audience to remind you that yes the show is funny even though you have been doing the jokes for 2 months now and no longer feel 100% sure. That Preview audience defiantly gave us our steam back… and then it was upon us…

Opening night.
I could of shat kittens.
Don’t get me wrong, I thought the show would be great, I felt we were ready to roll. But I suffer from a generalized anxiety disorder so opening night make said disorder much less generalized. But dealing with this shit is part of the challenge of doing theatre so… on we did roll and a show we did perform.
It was great, and we did rock, and JB was in the front row giving us all the willies but his words to each of us after the show combined with Nat’s (the directors) exuberant compliments slammed it all home. The show was good, we did not suck. I proceeded to get drunk bask in the ego of it all then fall over into bed at the end of one of the longest weeks of my life.

Since then the shows have rolled on fantastically, some audiences quieter, others raucously loud. But all apparently enjoying the show. We have had solid audience numbers and repeat patronage which fill me with glee. (and a quick thanks to Kath for comming up from Melb for the show, and coming armed with friends to not 1 but two nights and and for being the merch buying machine that she is)

So with 3 weeks to go I can honestly say I am loving it, even the anxiety a little :). The cast make me laugh all the time esp during the other half of the show, ie the stuff the audience never sees, all the crap that goes on backstage between scenes, and acts, the warm ups and the cover ups and the warning of pending ad-libs and newly broken bits of set. It’s the other half of a show for the performers and it only works if the cast get on well, as I believe they all do… that or they are pulling some giant con on me :). Oh and Jenna you better not be on the stage tomorrow… you have been banned.

List of my injuries
Heavy busing on my knees due to screwing up my falls on a few occasions, from the top of a couch to the ground makes more of an impact then you might think.
Heavy bruising and cut down one forearm due again to a bad fall and a mystery sharp (prob glass sliver)
Completely screwed my nose by head-butting an actor. (Sorry Mel)
Then getting kicked in said nose the next night by Tom (he was helping me at the time)
Which then led to a mother of a nose bleed between acts.
Oh and I bruised my arse by falling on my lighter, that really did smart.

Emotions are still running high with it all, and I will be most definitely looking for other shows and training to do once this run has ended. I don’t think I could walk away from the acting thing again now it is back in my life… plus I would miss all the pretty acting girls, hi guys :)

And remember “ave a banana!” the show you wouldn't take your wife to.

Watch it at your leisure, taste the hidden pleasures of share house food, clutch your belly in mirth at the junkie slut, and fall off your couch stoned to the eyeballs, I know I did.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zdw12Rrz1oA

I’ve decided I might blog about this a bit. The process ect, obviously I am going to limit that things I say, I’m not going to go into any of the details of the performance





So we are about 2 weeks into rehearsal, and the experience is fantastic, there have been a lot of laughs and constructing scenes to squeeze every last drop of comedic value out of them. There has been a little bit of corpsing and some of that’s my fault, I get the giggles a bit and its amped by nerves.

I am really looking forward to when I have my lines fully down so that I can get more into the physicality of the characters and the movements without holding and reading from a slab of paper, two more weeks for lines down. Currently I can remember chunks but not most of the larger blocks yet. The cues I think will be trickier then the lines which you kind of learn in isolation.

The cast is amazing, some stunning performances, I just seriously hope I am not letting the team down. It is impossible for me to judge my own performance in the context of everyone else. I hope I am holding my own.

Well time for me to run some lines before bed and think about costuming and the like… there is also a viral surprise on its way…. But more of that later.

And remember its better to have corpsed on stage then to have never been on stage at all… :)

Tags: felafel

Holy crap, I’m going to be acting again for the first time in 6 years. I felt that there was something missing in my life, and I really wanted to get back on to the stage so I took the dive and auditioned for the Arts Theaters production of ‘He died with a Felafel in his hand’ and I have been cast…. Weee! Rehearsals, lines, stage fright, ‘The Fear’ (tm) all of it, its going to be a fun few months… the only down side is that it kills my swing dance classes as rehearsals and classes clash, so they will have to go on hold for a little bit but…. Ohmygodohmygodohmygod I am so keen!

I have completely fallen into nerdom at the moment with my love of Doctor Who being so great that it almost manifests as a physical entity. So I did that thing. You know that thing that forever signifies you a specific show loving geek who has gone a little to far... you know the thing... thats right I bought some of the new Doctor Who books, the ones that are additional adventures, not adaptations of the episodes. In fact I bout 10 but thats because they came in a brick of 10 for $55. 10 books for 55, I love pulp I love Doctor Who so I am sure these will be great, see you on the other side.

Here come the drums......

Ahh a new year, too many things to go into that I would like to achieve this year, but for to say, I want to live stronger, love harder and fly in the face of my fears as much as possible.
Part of that will involve me updating my journal with some kind of regularity again, getting back in to the art in a meaningful way and finally getting at least 1 of those 3 tats that I want, if only I could find someone to hold my hand.
Anyway, a happy new year to all of you and my you achieve what you set out to achieve and all you new years resolution nay sayers, get some ambition and realize that today is as good a day as any.

A reminder because the more of my friends that do this the better :) and yes I will be there to support shy friends.

That's right the end of the year is not that far away and already we are up to the final beginner block for 2008. If you have been thinking about joining in the fun then delay no longer!

INTRODUCTION TO SWING - 6 WEEK BLOCK

When: Wednesday 15th October

Where: Holy Trinity Church Hall
Church Street, Fortitude Valley

Time: 7:00pm to 8:00pm
Please arrive a little earlier on the first night to register.

Cost: $12 Adult / $10 Concession or $60 Adult / $50 Concession for upfront payment of a six week block.

Do you need a partner? No!

What should you wear? Cool, comfortable and casual clothes with nice flat shoes that don't fly off your feet when you kick!

Like I didn’t have enough stuff to do between work, my own arting, my desire to learn music (I say desire, because I am too busy to practice anymore) But East coast swing, Charleston and Lindy Hop have become my new crack. At the moment I am doing 2 classes a week with social dancing every 2nd week I can manage it.

I love it to bits even if I’m not improving at the speed I would like to (I keep worrying that the follows are dreading dancing with me due to ineptitude, but I will get better, at gun point if need be) I don’t think I have the free time to add a Balboa class to the mix, so I’ll have to wait for that one.

But even though it has cost me some of my free time, it has been a healthy replacement for and bulwark against smoking. 3.5 months now, no cigarettes. Proving once again the crapness of my psyche. I wont give up for my health, I wont give up due to the expense, but I will give up rather then subject ‘follows’ to ordeal of having to dance with someone who smells of tobacco smoke.
And the winner of the style of substance award goes to, drum roll…

and rock step.