“There’s No Money In That”, part 2
23 Dec2007
This probably needs a little background, doesn’t it?
With my childhood in the late 70s and early 80s, I was growing in the infancy of the phenomenon known as cable television. Pay channels like HBO were a brand new concept. Not that we had it, of course; it was far more expensive than its local competitor, Prism. But the idea of programming that was accessible beyond the antenna was as awe-inspiring as I imagine watching the Apollo 11 landing had to be for my parents’ generation. The birth of Nickelodeon and MTV, CNN and ESPN… I don’t have to “Love the 80s” on VH1 because I lived it.
My favorites were the cartoons. You know the ones — those that were based around marketing the toys. GI Joe (yes, with the kung-fu grip), the mighty Transformers and their rather stunted cousins the Go-Bots, He-Man, Voltron… I watched them all. I noticed after some time that I was getting more interested in the credits at the end than the episodes themselves. So I started making a study of who was actually supplying the voices for these heroes and robots in disguise and the gang in the Mystery Machine. Day after day, I mentally tally the names and make notes to myself in one of those legendary marbled composition books you can still get for a dollar even today. I stopped after a month of this for three reasons. Firstly, I had the data I needed for my study. Secondly, I had become concerned that my love for my favorites shows would diminish if I kept going on this path of obsessive over-analyzing. And lastly, my mother told me to, most likely out of concern that a 7-year-old would undertake such a task like a would-be conspiracy theorist.
The results fascinated me. It appeared that only about 12 people were providing the voices for about 85-90% of all the cartoon characters out there. The names of talented people like Jack Angel, Michael Bell, and Casey Kasem danced across my crayon-crafted spreadsheets like the spinning wheels of a slot machine, taunting me with the promise of some big jackpot but never delivering. And then when it seemed I had spent for-EVER trying to make sense of this, the truth hit me: I want their jobs. To be able to work on so much at once must mean that what they do is really, really easy! Low risk, high reward… that’s the life for me.
My grandmother (Grammy, as we knew her) had cooked another fabulous meal for dinner that night. We all parked ourselves in the dining room (yes, we washed our hands, Mom) awaiting the repast comprised of some new way she had discovered to serve chicken. And lo, it was good. And as I polished off a piece of her amazingly gooey chocolate cake for dessert, she turned to me with a bemused smile on her wrinkled face and asked me, “Did you find what you were looking for, Brian?”
“Yep,” I replied triumphantly, “and I even figured out what I want to be when I grow up.”
“And what is that?” Grammy prodded. My mother looked on as she sipped her coffee, curious herself at the answer.
“I’m gonna be an actor,” I declared, my face beaming.
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“There’s No Money In That”, part 1
21 Dec2007
The phone rang, causing my heart to skip a couple of beats. I had been so caught up in my obsession of when the phone would ring that I was off my guard against the loud klaxon of the phone. That sound always makes me think there is some VP of marketing at the companies that believes these phones should sound like fire alarms solely for the purpose of giving their customers heart attacks so they have to use their product to dial 911. I’d like to take that guy and put him—
The phone rang again. Okay, dude… deep breaths, I kept telling myself. It’s just business as usual, no harm no foul, another day in the walking of the park or something like that. I reached for the handset, but hesitated as many do. What if it’s bad news? Maybe somebody died or got arrested. What if it’s like The Matrix and some creepy version of Laurence Fishburne is going to tell me my life is a lie and I’m living in a computer program as a toy for killer robots who think I’m a D-size battery and they just like to use me like everyone else—
A third ring jolted me back to reality again. I nearly slapped myself and grabbed the handset, not wanting whoever was on the other end to hang up and move on. Putting it gingerly next to my ear, I mustered all my internal strength and managed to squeak out a weak “Hello?” to the mystery guest on the other side of the electronic divide. My heart pounded in my chest as I awaited the response.
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“There’s No Money In That”, prologue
18 Dec2007
The first will be the story of how I chose to became an actor. I enjoyed writing it and I think it revealed some things as well. Enjoy!
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Love it, but hate it a little too
18 Dec2007
It was three days of fun with people I know and a lot of pain and (probably unnecessary) stress. My arms haven’t hurt this much in a long time. Everything was stiff this morning from my elbows down to my fingertips. But I got to reacquaint myself with old friends and catch up on what people have been doing. Most of the news was good, but the choir is losing a few people for various reasons good and bad. That is sad to hear. Almost makes me want to rejoin the choir… almost.
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And the holidays just keep on coming…
11 Dec2007
Anyway, finals have come and gone for another semester. That excites me, because I should just have one more semester to go before I finally graduate.
I just finished a production of Twelfth Night last week. It was weird, because I was battling the flu during the whole run, but everyone tells me it was the best work I’ve ever done to date. Should I be happy about that? I should, but I don’t know that I did anything different. I think I was just more “in the moment” because it was taking everything I had just to stay upright… or as upright as I had to be playing the drunken Sir Toby Belch.
Now, I’m moving on to designing. I’m working sound design for a production of “Proof”, which will be going up next month. Looks like it should be fun.
And in case I don’t live up to my wasted promise and I don’t post again soon, Happy Holidays!
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Time and Time Again…
21 Oct2007
I just wanted to update this blog with a link for a fun-time game:
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501 Dart Challenge – Reach zero exactly in as few throws as possible |
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Gone, gone, gone…
5 Sep2007
Oh, my… where did the time go?
Okay, I’m a schmuck yet again for letting this blog go so long without a post. I’d like to say I was too busy, but I was just lazy.
Why do we neglect things? Things, people… our growing disconnect is quite apparent. Especially from me. I think I tend to get… I don’t want to say “bored”. I think I just lose focus far too quickly. Not enough where it would be ADHD-level, but enough to concern me
For example, my room is in desperate need of a cleaning. When I’m not home, I know what I need to do and I am determined to get it done the instant I get home. But, sur enough, when I get home I lose all focus on that task.
Like this blog…
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A message for the family…
25 Dec2006
Hey, my wish list for Christmas is over here:
That list will probably change a little here and there if I add stuff to it. If none of those appeal to you or your wallet, any (or all) of the t-shirts from here would be most appreciated, if not drooled over.
And as always, gift cards and cash awards never hurt either. :-p
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Neglect, et al.
4 Dec2006
Okay, I admit it… I’m a bad person for not writing in this more.
I always worry that what I put up here will be uninteresting or dull. But I have no idea why that is. Fear of failure doesn’t seem to stop othere folks who have really cheesy blogs. (And I have seen many.) So, I guess I will join the ranks of the mediocre in this case and just keep trying.
On the burgeoning acting front, I just finished my third straight show for the MCC theater dept. I have to say I think I liked this one the least — not for anything particular element, though; I just didn’t feel connected to the piece as I have to the others in the past. The play was a French farce that just felt awkward to do the whole time we ran through it. It was still a job well done, though… and we did have a great cast party (which I feel obligated to speak no more of). Maybe I’ll through a few pictures of the show up in my Flickr account when I get them in. I should also post the photos from my previous shows. More auditions coming up tomorrow as well. I really should take a break, but I feel like if I stop I will jinx this streak I’m on of continuously being cast in shows. Maybe that’s superstitious of me, but I don’t care. In addition, I will be working on shows at ASU next semester and preparing for a few class-related projects that I cannot officially speak of for a couple of weeks.
Okay, that was an awkward segue into talking about school, I admit. I’ll get better, honest. Anyway, finals start this week and I can certainly say that I am sooooo not ready for this semester to end. I think I was a little more focused on the shows I was in than I should have been and it might reflect in my grades. Yikes. I’m definitely going to do my best to get ahead on my studies for next semester so that I am ready. I’m going to be busier than ever, splitting a total of 19 credit hours between two schools, shows and the aforementioned extracurricular activity. I also need to find a new job. I left my former employer to work on these shows and I probably should not have done that. They paid pretty well for the work I did and the benefits were great. I’m not sure if I should mention the company (hint: rhymes with “bells cargo”) but I would certainly be willing to work for them again if I could find a position that fit my crazy schedule. But I digress. Maybe I overload myself sometimes with things, but some of this is important to me, both professionally (as an actor) and personally. I hope something comes of all this college because I don’t know yet how I will handle all this psychotic debt I’ve had to accrue to finish my degree.
And on other fronts, I have to get
I suppose the isolation never really hit me until a couple of weeks ago. I blame my sister!! Okay, I don’t really. She met this guy recently and we all went out to lunch a few weeks back after I sat in on playing a handbell gig. (For more on that… use a search engine.) He’s a good guy and she (and has) done far worse. I think the impact that it has had on me is to really start to feel my age. I am 32 years old and I am alone. And it sucks. So what is stopping me from simply going on a date? I could come up with any number of snappy excuses, but the truth is that I may be too afraid.
For example, there is a girl I know — I refuse to say where for now. I’ve known her for a while now, ever since we first had a class together. She is intelligent, witty, attractive… and lord knows I have had endless opportunities over the past couple of years to ask her. So what stops me? I’m guessing a combination of perfectionism, cowardice and just plain fear of rejection. Last night, for instance, I had the perfect opportunity to ask her. We were walking out to the parking lot and I kept telling myself, Just ask her, man. You have nothing to lose, really. If she says “no”, just shrug it off and move on, okay soldier? And we got to our cars and I turned and said… “good night”?!!! She returned the words and got in her car. When I turned to my own car I actually heard myself mutter, “Fucking coward”.
Truthfully, I think I’m afraid to let anyone else in. I feel like I have been alone for so long and to expose myself in that way may just be too much. I put myself out there every time I audition or have to speak in voice class. I make myself vulnerable for the work, so why can’t I do that for other areas of my life? Hell, why am I doing it here?
At least here, I know there’s a pretty good chance that no one will read it. And I can always erase it if I wish.
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WG’06 – Day 1
Well, the first day of the World Gathering has come and gone. Fairly good start in my estimation. After waking up early and getting a workout in the resort’s gym (located between my room and the convention center), I walked all the way over to the convention center begin the day’s fun. On the way, I did see an odd sight. One of the Disney cast members was mowing the lawn with a self-propelled push mower. That isn’t usually weird, but he was riding on a little platform trailer thing. It made the whole contraption look like a a really practical version of a Segway. Very funny.
My first event was attending the GenX meet & greet. It was kind of cool to put some faces to names that I only knew from the Yahoo! group that we all populate. It was a pretty straightforward meeting plugging GenX events going on during the WG (especially the Pub Crawl, which I am looking forward to, hosted by my friend Reno Ron). I suppose it’s not that odd that most of the GenX events involve alcohol in some fashion. Much to the surprise of the organizers of the Meet & Greet, the room we had wasn’t big enough. We had about 120 people show up… they were out the door. Awesome.
After that, I hung out in Hospitality for a bit to soak up the atmosphere. It was neat to hang out in a different setting with Gary & Gail, two longtime Mensans who are my friends and cool pseudo-parental figureheads for a lot of us younger folk in the Greater Phoenix Mensa group. Anyone in Mensa who doesn’t know them should get to know them. Anyone not in Mensa should get to know them too, as they are two of the coolest people on earth. (Seriously, I’m not just saying that).
I then attended a piano recital by fellow GenX-er Aaron Dai. I admit, I didn’t for the whole thing, but that was not Aaron’s fault. He is a phenomenal player and I enjoyed his work. I just was running low on energy and started developing a bit of a headache. So I went back to Hospitality to recharge.
When Tony, friend and GPM LocSec (Local secretary– the guy in charge, for all the non-Mensans out there), and I couldn’t get into the Sudoku tournament (seriously… a 40-player limit? That’s cold), I had a couple extra hours to myself, so I got my car and drove off-site to a local grocery store to get a few things and take advantage of my hotel room’s sizable mini-fridge. May whatever deities exist bless the existence of the mini-fridge. It’ll cut way down on my use on the abundance of unhealthy snacks in Hospitality (and there are a lot).
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