People are sometimes just so strange and hypocritical.
I guess it is difficult to not label, stereotype or judge people. Some people actually label, stereotype and judge people who are OVERLY TRYING not to do exactly that. They think that they are saying the right things when saying things like:-
"It doesn't matter what colour you are."
"Everybody looks the same to me. I am colourblind."
"White people tend to have more fun. They are chilled."
They don't even realise it. They are hypocrites and don't even know it. These are three things that have been said to me this week.
Have you ever filled or read an application form of some sort where at the end there is always a bit to fill in that asks you what age you are, what sex, what ethnicity etc. It always says that you don't have to fill it in and that it is optional but something like it helps them monitor something? I don't know. But anyway the point is, if you don't have to fill it in, why do they ask? It shouldn't matter what age, sex, ethnicity you are as long as you are right for the job! Surely? Some forms will actually say that they "encourage equality and diversity" and will then hire a mix of females/males/black/white etc etc etc.
But that isn't right surely? The best person for the job should always be the person who gets it.
Take young children. Small toddlers. They would play with whoever was put in front of them. Any child. In other words, they aren't racist. It's only as they get older that they learn about racism, sexism etc. But they only learn because society is that fucked up. They make it an issue. "Oh don't play with him as he is"such a such" and "don't play with her as she is from" wherever.
I am currently doing a teacher training course and for one whole lesson (we have four hour lessons) we had to "discuss the importance of addressing ethnicity, equality and diversity".
What the hell?
The fact that we had to waste so much time doing this was annoying but what was worse was that people didn't seem to realise that talking about equality and diversity is COMPLETELY the opposite of what we should be doing if race ethnicity creed etc didn't and shouldn't matter! If it didn't and shouldn't matter as they were saying, then we wouldn't be having the discussion.
Trying to be moral and talking about it not mattering is the only reason why it is made to matter!
In that particular lesson, we had to discuss in small groups about this subject before we would talk about it as a whole class and I didn't say anything for ages until the tutor asked my opinion as I hadn't spoken. I then told her I thought that it was unbelievable that we were even having this lesson and that equality and diversity shouldn't be a thing. It should all be about each person. Each person and assessing what it is to make them able to be the best student and bringing out their potential. Talking about it is the one thing we shouldn't be doing as it is so hypocritical. A couple of people then agreed with me and understood what I was saying. Just a couple. But it is better than nobody at all. And today we got told that there might be some moderators coming in soon who will pick a couple of people at "random" to be asked how the course is going. Apparently, these moderators pick people with "unusual names" or in other words names which won't be English.
Again, how messed up is this?
Of course I like expressing my opinion and would like to be asked how it is going, but just because my name is different doesn't mean my opinion should be more valued than anybody else! (I can't believe that I am actually complaining about having my opinion listened to.)
I understand completely about differentiation and about individual learning needs for people and I may be coming across as hypocritical myself as now I am the one who is talking/writing about equality and diversity but I am trying to get across that every person should be treated as an individual and not categorised or labelled.
Just to clarify, the more people try to address "equality and diversity", the longer it will take to actually treat and be treated as equals.
Wednesday, 8 January 2014
Wednesday, 1 January 2014
2013
2013. The year of transition. The year of change. A lot of change.
My dad passes away. My mums' full blown crazy side comes out.
Nelson Mandela dies. Lou Reed dies. And to a lesser extent, Margret Thatcher also dies. There were a lot of deaths in fact. Too many. I feel exhausted all of a sudden for some reason? In America more people died from suicides than in car accidents.
Some sport things that happened:-
Sir Alex Ferguson retired as Manchester United manager. Sachin Tendulker retires from cricket. SO MUCH CHANGE.
Oscar Pistorius is charged for murdering his girlfriend.
Other stuff include Tesco using horse meat. It didn't stop customers from shopping there. I remember in hospital after my dad had his stroke and he said he can't wait to eat and that he would eat anything apart from horse meat.
Another load of new phones come out. More games consoles. All expensive.
I don't hear my neighbours' 27 year old daughter with her horrific whiny voice through the walls anymore as she went to New Zealand. I workes with a B-list celebrity for a while. She couldn't handle constructive criticism and was a dick.
Currently a recorded Jools Holland show is playing in the background on the countdown to "midnight". There are fireworks that I can hear from outside. There is that familiar empty feeling that passes over me when that Auld Lang Syne song comes on. My phone is going off a few times. A "Happy new year" message people send to everyone in their phonebook.
I have brandy and red wine. That is all.
A few categories I am making up moments, winners and losers of 2013. This is just my personal stuff:-
Best moment of the year - My one and only date with Jenna. Fuck knows where she is now.
Worst moment of the year - My dad passing away.
Bets sports person of the year - Andy Murray for winning Wimbledon.
Best song of the year - Afterlife by Arcade Fire.
Most grotesque person of the year - Miley Cyrus (previous winners include Katy Perry and Cheryl Cole).
Most awe-inspiring moment - When I saw The Minack Theatre.
Least awe-inspiring moment - TV.
Some quotes of the year:-
"I made a strong choice that in no way diminishes my femininity." - Angelina Jolie after her double mastectomy.
"I was never asked, did you see her in person?" - Manti T'eo after finding out his girlfriend who he had met on Twitter wasn't real.
"I'm basically the healthiest fat guy you've ever seen." - New Jersey governor Chris Christie whilst eating a doughnut on late-night TV.
"I don't want to live in a world where everything I say, everything I do, everyone I talk to, every expression of creativity of love or friendship is recorded." - Edward Snowden, on the U.S government monitoring Internet usage.
"Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, she became a butterfly." - Michelle Knight to the Cleveland police department after they rescued her. One of three captives held prisoner for ten years in Ohio.
"We seek a future when a child can walk down the street and not worry that others see him as dangerous because of the colour of his skin." - Tracy Martin after George Zimmerman was acquitted of murdering his son, Trayvon.
"One has more expenses for the hairdryer than the other." - Fifa president Sepp Blatter on comparing Ronaldo and Messi. And also "We now have three ladies on board. Say something ladies! You are always speaking at home. Say something now!" - To three ladies who were elected to the FIFA executive committee.
I guess I have nothing more to say. 2013 was a pretty shit year. I am not into the whole new year thing at all. You can change your life for the better ANY DAY of your life if you chose to. But regardless of that I am glad 2013 is over.
See what 2014 brings.
My dad passes away. My mums' full blown crazy side comes out.
Nelson Mandela dies. Lou Reed dies. And to a lesser extent, Margret Thatcher also dies. There were a lot of deaths in fact. Too many. I feel exhausted all of a sudden for some reason? In America more people died from suicides than in car accidents.
Some sport things that happened:-
Sir Alex Ferguson retired as Manchester United manager. Sachin Tendulker retires from cricket. SO MUCH CHANGE.
Oscar Pistorius is charged for murdering his girlfriend.
Other stuff include Tesco using horse meat. It didn't stop customers from shopping there. I remember in hospital after my dad had his stroke and he said he can't wait to eat and that he would eat anything apart from horse meat.
Another load of new phones come out. More games consoles. All expensive.
I don't hear my neighbours' 27 year old daughter with her horrific whiny voice through the walls anymore as she went to New Zealand. I workes with a B-list celebrity for a while. She couldn't handle constructive criticism and was a dick.
Currently a recorded Jools Holland show is playing in the background on the countdown to "midnight". There are fireworks that I can hear from outside. There is that familiar empty feeling that passes over me when that Auld Lang Syne song comes on. My phone is going off a few times. A "Happy new year" message people send to everyone in their phonebook.
I have brandy and red wine. That is all.
A few categories I am making up moments, winners and losers of 2013. This is just my personal stuff:-
Best moment of the year - My one and only date with Jenna. Fuck knows where she is now.
Worst moment of the year - My dad passing away.
Bets sports person of the year - Andy Murray for winning Wimbledon.
Best song of the year - Afterlife by Arcade Fire.
Most grotesque person of the year - Miley Cyrus (previous winners include Katy Perry and Cheryl Cole).
Most awe-inspiring moment - When I saw The Minack Theatre.
Least awe-inspiring moment - TV.
Some quotes of the year:-
"I made a strong choice that in no way diminishes my femininity." - Angelina Jolie after her double mastectomy.
"I was never asked, did you see her in person?" - Manti T'eo after finding out his girlfriend who he had met on Twitter wasn't real.
"I'm basically the healthiest fat guy you've ever seen." - New Jersey governor Chris Christie whilst eating a doughnut on late-night TV.
"I don't want to live in a world where everything I say, everything I do, everyone I talk to, every expression of creativity of love or friendship is recorded." - Edward Snowden, on the U.S government monitoring Internet usage.
"Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, she became a butterfly." - Michelle Knight to the Cleveland police department after they rescued her. One of three captives held prisoner for ten years in Ohio.
"We seek a future when a child can walk down the street and not worry that others see him as dangerous because of the colour of his skin." - Tracy Martin after George Zimmerman was acquitted of murdering his son, Trayvon.
"One has more expenses for the hairdryer than the other." - Fifa president Sepp Blatter on comparing Ronaldo and Messi. And also "We now have three ladies on board. Say something ladies! You are always speaking at home. Say something now!" - To three ladies who were elected to the FIFA executive committee.
I guess I have nothing more to say. 2013 was a pretty shit year. I am not into the whole new year thing at all. You can change your life for the better ANY DAY of your life if you chose to. But regardless of that I am glad 2013 is over.
See what 2014 brings.
Thursday, 19 December 2013
Thou shalt do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
No, I am not turning into a religious freak. No offence to any religious freaks that may read this.
I'm not selfish. At least I don't think I am. Or maybe I am?
Is it wrong to believe or to think if you would do things for people, you should expect things back? No.
I don't think it's wrong although you SHOULDN'T EXPECT things back, it would take a saint (again, I am not turning into a religious freak) to not think that maybe a little karma does exist. Surely it is OK to have a bit of hope?? Or not even that. Just out of respect. Things to happen to you from people that are good OUT OF RESPECT. That is NOT too much to ask for.
But the question I want to put out there is that if someone upset or even hurt a friend or someone you care about, should you automatically dislike that person?
For example, if somebody beat up one of your friends, is it wrong for you to hate the person who beat your friend up? Well if it was me and somebody beat my friend up, upset him/her, pissed them off or hurt them in any way at all then yes, I WOULD hate them or really dislike them. For me, it would just be a natural thing. Maybe it is a moral thing too. But I have said on this blog a few times, being moral really gets you nowhere in life.
So how would I feel if it was the other way around? Say if it was ME who was the one who got beat up or tortured or stabbed. Should I automatically expect my friends to hate or really dislike the person/people who did that to me? Is it right for me to expect that? Just because I would feel like that? Is it IMMORAL if my friend(s) DON'T hate or at least dislike the person/people who did that to me?
No. No. No. And...No.
It is their minds, their lives and they can do and feel whatever they want. Who am I to decide who they should and shouldn't like? Who they should and shouldn't dislike? Who they should and shouldn't hate? It is not for me to say.
But at the same time, if the same thing happened to them and they were the ones who got beat up/tortured/stabbed and had their lives a living hell for years, they may feel different. Just that question. That question that has to be asked:-
How would they feel?
I'm not selfish. At least I don't think I am. Or maybe I am?
Is it wrong to believe or to think if you would do things for people, you should expect things back? No.
I don't think it's wrong although you SHOULDN'T EXPECT things back, it would take a saint (again, I am not turning into a religious freak) to not think that maybe a little karma does exist. Surely it is OK to have a bit of hope?? Or not even that. Just out of respect. Things to happen to you from people that are good OUT OF RESPECT. That is NOT too much to ask for.
But the question I want to put out there is that if someone upset or even hurt a friend or someone you care about, should you automatically dislike that person?
For example, if somebody beat up one of your friends, is it wrong for you to hate the person who beat your friend up? Well if it was me and somebody beat my friend up, upset him/her, pissed them off or hurt them in any way at all then yes, I WOULD hate them or really dislike them. For me, it would just be a natural thing. Maybe it is a moral thing too. But I have said on this blog a few times, being moral really gets you nowhere in life.
So how would I feel if it was the other way around? Say if it was ME who was the one who got beat up or tortured or stabbed. Should I automatically expect my friends to hate or really dislike the person/people who did that to me? Is it right for me to expect that? Just because I would feel like that? Is it IMMORAL if my friend(s) DON'T hate or at least dislike the person/people who did that to me?
No. No. No. And...No.
It is their minds, their lives and they can do and feel whatever they want. Who am I to decide who they should and shouldn't like? Who they should and shouldn't dislike? Who they should and shouldn't hate? It is not for me to say.
But at the same time, if the same thing happened to them and they were the ones who got beat up/tortured/stabbed and had their lives a living hell for years, they may feel different. Just that question. That question that has to be asked:-
How would they feel?
Thursday, 12 December 2013
Yuvraj Singh-Six sixes.
An amazing video that I found on You Tube and I remember watching this on TV live. Video near the bottom!
0:16 - Fat Freddie Flintoff says something to Yuvraj Singh to try and provoke him/lose his concentration.
0:22 - The umpire is telling Yuvraj to calm down and is slightly holding him back.
0.25 - Commentator David Lloyd says "I wouldn't bother Yuvraj if I were you."
0:30 - Yuvraj hits a six. He is angry.
1:05 - Commentator Ravi Shastri says "I think those few words from Flintoff just charged him up a bit."
A bit?
1:41 - Yuvraj hit a second six.
2:11 - Freddie Flintoff stands with his hands on his hips thinking "Shit. Why did I open my fat mouth?"
2:43 - Yuvraj hit a THIRD six. The guy is still pissed off.
3:19 - Stuart Broad (who was supposed to be Englands' 'new hope' at the time) looks very nervous
.
3:20 - Ravi Shastri: "Absolute Carnage." (Yuvraj isn't finished yet Ravi).
3:30 - Broad being Englands' new hope and all, decides to take evasive action and bowls around the wicket.
3:34 - It makes no difference. Yuvraj hits a FOURTH six. I remember standing up at this point.
3:57 - David Lloyd: "England are having a conference meeting."
4:07 - England have their conference meeting. Paul Collingwood and Broad have piss rolling down their legs
.
4:12 - Collingwood tells Broad "Anything. ANYTHING but a six."
4:15 - Broad looks genuinely bewildered. He is thinking "I don't know what the hell I should do."
4:18 - Broad realises piss rolling down his legs isn't going to help this situation.
4:28 - Broad rallies his troops. "I am going to ball an amazing delivery here! Piss or no piss!"
4:47 - Yuvraj hits a FIFTH six.
4:51 - Ravi Shashtri doesn't bother being professional or neutral. "YES!"
5:16 - Broad with a classic "Oh shit" pose. Right arm across chest and left arm up, hand to the mouth.
5:24 - Collingwood with the EXACT same pose!
5:50 - SIX SIXES. Yuvraj put it away. Never done before in T20 cricket.
In an interview done much later, he was asked what Fat Freddie Flintoff had actually said to him and according to Yuvraj, he had said "those were fucking ridiculous shots you played" (Yuvraj had hit Fat Fred for a couple of boundaries in the previous over). Yuvraj replied to him "Fuck you." Fat Fred then says "Excuse me?" to which Yuvraj replies "You heard what I said." Then Fat Fred says " I will cut your throat off."
Then Yuvraj says to him "Do you see this bat in my hand? I'm going to hit you with this bat."
India went on to win the match and the trophy.
0:16 - Fat Freddie Flintoff says something to Yuvraj Singh to try and provoke him/lose his concentration.
0:22 - The umpire is telling Yuvraj to calm down and is slightly holding him back.
0.25 - Commentator David Lloyd says "I wouldn't bother Yuvraj if I were you."
0:30 - Yuvraj hits a six. He is angry.
1:05 - Commentator Ravi Shastri says "I think those few words from Flintoff just charged him up a bit."
A bit?
1:41 - Yuvraj hit a second six.
2:11 - Freddie Flintoff stands with his hands on his hips thinking "Shit. Why did I open my fat mouth?"
2:43 - Yuvraj hit a THIRD six. The guy is still pissed off.
3:19 - Stuart Broad (who was supposed to be Englands' 'new hope' at the time) looks very nervous
.
3:20 - Ravi Shastri: "Absolute Carnage." (Yuvraj isn't finished yet Ravi).
3:30 - Broad being Englands' new hope and all, decides to take evasive action and bowls around the wicket.
3:34 - It makes no difference. Yuvraj hits a FOURTH six. I remember standing up at this point.
3:57 - David Lloyd: "England are having a conference meeting."
4:07 - England have their conference meeting. Paul Collingwood and Broad have piss rolling down their legs
.
4:12 - Collingwood tells Broad "Anything. ANYTHING but a six."
4:15 - Broad looks genuinely bewildered. He is thinking "I don't know what the hell I should do."
4:18 - Broad realises piss rolling down his legs isn't going to help this situation.
4:28 - Broad rallies his troops. "I am going to ball an amazing delivery here! Piss or no piss!"
4:47 - Yuvraj hits a FIFTH six.
4:51 - Ravi Shashtri doesn't bother being professional or neutral. "YES!"
5:16 - Broad with a classic "Oh shit" pose. Right arm across chest and left arm up, hand to the mouth.
5:24 - Collingwood with the EXACT same pose!
5:50 - SIX SIXES. Yuvraj put it away. Never done before in T20 cricket.
In an interview done much later, he was asked what Fat Freddie Flintoff had actually said to him and according to Yuvraj, he had said "those were fucking ridiculous shots you played" (Yuvraj had hit Fat Fred for a couple of boundaries in the previous over). Yuvraj replied to him "Fuck you." Fat Fred then says "Excuse me?" to which Yuvraj replies "You heard what I said." Then Fat Fred says " I will cut your throat off."
Then Yuvraj says to him "Do you see this bat in my hand? I'm going to hit you with this bat."
India went on to win the match and the trophy.
Tuesday, 10 December 2013
Getting to know a celebrity, working with them and then pissing them off in the space of a few weeks.
I guess this would be a great follow up to my last post. This is another thing that I hate about Drama/Acting.
Money.
People have to earn a living - Yes.
People want to be able to live in the best way possible - Yes.
People would want to easily be able to provide for their loved ones - Yes.
And the last one. People like money - Yes. Yes of course they do.
But do people really have to be total twats for money? No. But they are. Unfortunately they really are. And here is one example:-
Up until recently, I was voluntarily "teaching Drama" to 6-8 year olds voluntarily. I had to gain experience in Drama teaching for my college course and was struggling to find somewhere where I could do this. The two ladies whose "Drama" group it was were both idiots. One a primary school teacher who was about to have a baby, so I would be taking her place in teaching the children and the other a celebrity. At best, a B-list celebrity.
Neither knew anything about teaching Drama.
Neither knew anything about teaching Drama.
Oh of course, the school teacher knew about teaching and the one occasion she was in during the time I did this (about 7 weeks), the children were very well behaved. She knew how to control the class but the B-list celebrity didn't. She also knew NOTHING about teaching and even though she is an ex-TV star, she knew NOTHING about Drama. It was painfully obvious from my first observation on the class.
The price for the lessons to the children were ridiculous. It was in a beautiful building which had only just opened to the public and for the price of one hours' "lesson", it would be the price of just two of the kids and there were about 16 children in the class so they were making profit from 14 of the childrens' parents' money not including my travel fare which they paid for me. The ladies were coming out with A LOT of money for just one hours' "work". But why were the parents paying so much money for their kids to "learn" Drama in this particular class?
Because of the B-list celebrity. No other reason. Put a B-lists celebrities' name on something and it is bound to attract people. The B-list celebrity was struggling to find work. She is a bad actress. Why not make money from just her name?
Because of the B-list celebrity. No other reason. Put a B-lists celebrities' name on something and it is bound to attract people. The B-list celebrity was struggling to find work. She is a bad actress. Why not make money from just her name?
So apart from not knowing anything about Drama, what was the problem? Surely, they could LEARN and teach whatever it is they learnt?
Well, there were a lot of problems. The B-list celebrity couldn't control the class. She wouldn't/couldn't do anything if they would run about/shout/scream/cause havoc and chaos, which they would do for about fifteen minutes of every "lesson". She would have the bright idea of indulging them with biscuits and sugary drinks halfway through the class which would make them even more hyper. They would start behaving five minutes before their parents came to pick them up right at the end. I understand that they are children and will want to have fun which I am all up for. But just don't call it a Drama class.
But the main problem was that they weren't learning anything about Drama. And that really got to me. The B-list celebrity kept saying how Drama was helping them develop their confidence, but they were already insanely over confident. They had no discipline. When I tried to explain how important having discipline is i.e if they went for an audition or just a normal job interview, if they went in screaming and shouting they wouldn't get the part/job, the B-list celebrity didn't seem to understand. She also didn't seem to understand that it isn't a good idea to give a script to a child who can't read yet. She also said certain children in the group "could make it big because they had the look."
She also knew nothing about Drama-did I mention that?
The whole thing was very strange as I wasn't learning how to teach any Drama students. I was learning how to control a playgroup. And even with that I had to learn myself as the B-list celebrity was rubbish doing that too.
The worst part was at the end of every "lesson" where the parents would pay. The B-list celebrity would tell their parents how well their child was "developing their acting and Drama skills". She would feed the parents already delusional minds more of what they wanted to hear. All these parents, all these kids and the B-list celebrity ALL had VERY different lives to what I live. They were all VERY privileged and money was clearly no issue for the middle class lot who I am guessing probably earned more in three months than I do in a year. Money was no object for them to feel their delusional desires of developing their kids into famous stars. The children themselves probably growing up having their college tuition fees paid for, cars, houses and all the rest of it. Money was no issue. The money being unfairly earned by the B-list celebrity was an absolute sick joke.
She wasn't teaching them Drama. She was babysitting. This wasn't a Drama class. This was a play group.
I wrote an evaluation. She took it home and read it. She hated it. She said she didn't want me there anymore.
Now, for anyone who thinks my evaluation and reviews on the class were really cut-throat like this post is-it wasn't. She just couldn't handle the fact that she already knew that she couldn't teach and that she was totally pathetic and that she and her co-worker were only doing this for money and nothing else and it was almost as if I had to accept that or not be a part of it. I was so disappointed when she said I couldn't come there anymore but after thinking about it and after observing the classes, I am SO GLAD that I am not there anymore. To be a part of something that is so sick, delusional, fake and money grabbing as it was is pretty disturbing. I just wish that my evaluation and reviews WERE more cut-throat.
There were a few people who were really excited about me working with a celebrity (even though she is a B-list one) and as was I. But at the same time, I am more excited about doing my course and having the opportunity to teach REAL DRAMA to people in the future as my career not pretend I know things about acting when I really don't just to try and make money. Or as The B-list celebrity said "a business".
Unlike the B-list celebrity bitch, I am not fake. I am fucking real.
But the main problem was that they weren't learning anything about Drama. And that really got to me. The B-list celebrity kept saying how Drama was helping them develop their confidence, but they were already insanely over confident. They had no discipline. When I tried to explain how important having discipline is i.e if they went for an audition or just a normal job interview, if they went in screaming and shouting they wouldn't get the part/job, the B-list celebrity didn't seem to understand. She also didn't seem to understand that it isn't a good idea to give a script to a child who can't read yet. She also said certain children in the group "could make it big because they had the look."
She also knew nothing about Drama-did I mention that?
The whole thing was very strange as I wasn't learning how to teach any Drama students. I was learning how to control a playgroup. And even with that I had to learn myself as the B-list celebrity was rubbish doing that too.
The worst part was at the end of every "lesson" where the parents would pay. The B-list celebrity would tell their parents how well their child was "developing their acting and Drama skills". She would feed the parents already delusional minds more of what they wanted to hear. All these parents, all these kids and the B-list celebrity ALL had VERY different lives to what I live. They were all VERY privileged and money was clearly no issue for the middle class lot who I am guessing probably earned more in three months than I do in a year. Money was no object for them to feel their delusional desires of developing their kids into famous stars. The children themselves probably growing up having their college tuition fees paid for, cars, houses and all the rest of it. Money was no issue. The money being unfairly earned by the B-list celebrity was an absolute sick joke.
She wasn't teaching them Drama. She was babysitting. This wasn't a Drama class. This was a play group.
I wrote an evaluation. She took it home and read it. She hated it. She said she didn't want me there anymore.
Now, for anyone who thinks my evaluation and reviews on the class were really cut-throat like this post is-it wasn't. She just couldn't handle the fact that she already knew that she couldn't teach and that she was totally pathetic and that she and her co-worker were only doing this for money and nothing else and it was almost as if I had to accept that or not be a part of it. I was so disappointed when she said I couldn't come there anymore but after thinking about it and after observing the classes, I am SO GLAD that I am not there anymore. To be a part of something that is so sick, delusional, fake and money grabbing as it was is pretty disturbing. I just wish that my evaluation and reviews WERE more cut-throat.
There were a few people who were really excited about me working with a celebrity (even though she is a B-list one) and as was I. But at the same time, I am more excited about doing my course and having the opportunity to teach REAL DRAMA to people in the future as my career not pretend I know things about acting when I really don't just to try and make money. Or as The B-list celebrity said "a business".
Unlike the B-list celebrity bitch, I am not fake. I am fucking real.
Wednesday, 13 November 2013
Acting and Drama
I wanted to write a post about the whole subject and my own personal experiences as I am rediscovering what it is.
I am training to become a Drama teacher/tutor.
First of all, Drama is EVERYTHING. Everything is Drama. That is the beauty of it. Everywhere you go and everything a person does is Drama. Sometimes people can fail to realise this. From going to the shop and buying a newspaper to watching a football game to taking a bus to work. Everything that happens in life can be a scene.
Life is a play and you are the actor. Only it isn't scripted. You make your own script.
Everything you learn in life can be put in Drama. Everything you learn from Drama can be put in life. That is why I love it.
http://muksblogaboutstuff.blogspot.co.uk/2011/01/music-acting-performance-and-people.html
I studied Drama for five years in college. And sometimes I well and truly hated it.
I hated the fact that every time I saw someone in a play or a scene, I always used to think I could do it better. Why would I get so big headed like that? Maybe I just needed to mature a bit.
I hated how a lot of actors, not just me but a lot I knew were just up their own backsides in general.
But most of all, I hated how a lot of the times it was never about acting the part but more like looking like you fit the part.
I'm not saying that happened at college because it didn't. I'm saying that in the real world especially for TV, it was more about how you looked and not about your actual acting skills that got you the part. You could have years of acting training and experience but if you didn't "look" the part, you wouldn't get the part. There are a ton of actors who have "made it" purely because of how they look. That is something that will never leave the TV world. It's just the way it is. But I want to change all that. It is the only profession (not including modelling) where it is more or less guaranteed that it is the way you look which affects whether or not you get the job. Imagine if a Doctor or a Scientist who didn't get a job because of the way they looked. It just doesn't happen. I really couldn't stand that thought. I didn't want to become or be a part of that.
There was an open audition for a certain TV show whilst I was at college. I didn't go to the audition myself but a lot of the Drama students did. Most of them returned without even saying a single word at the audition. The casting people were literally just looking at who was pretty. Even though it was and still is a popular TV show, it isn't about the acting and never has been. To me that is pretty disgraceful. It's one of the reasons why I don't watch too much TV. But I also don't go to the theatre anymore. No actual real reason why. Sometimes I just don't feel like I actually belong there. But sometimes that goes for everywhere I go anyway.
So what do I actually LIKE about Drama? This post isn't just going to be about me moaning about something again. I obviously MUST like something about Drama for me to want to train to be able to teach it.
Well what does it do? It helps you to get emotions out and flipping heck, I am one insanely emotional person. It helps you with confidence, it helps you to connect with things in your life and in your memories in different ways. It gives you a different perspective on things and on people. It can help you understand the psychology of people (how many times have I wrote on this blog and questioned why people do/say what they do etc!).
Nearly half a life time ago when I was 16, I opted to do Performing Arts in college. I originally wanted to do just Music but at the time, I was awful on the guitar so had to do a course where I would have to to Music, Drama and Dance (they called Dance "Movement" to make it sound cool) and I would have to pass two from these three subjects to go onto the next year where I could specialise in one subject and at the time I was hoping it would be Music but within the course of that year, I slowly changed my mind.
I remember everyone in the Drama class had to learn and perform a monologue. And I remember thinking "Wait a minute, a monologue?? Getting up in front of everyone by myself and performing whilst everybody stares and judges only me?? I can't do that!"
So I have no idea and still to this day have no idea what possessed me to ask my tutor this:-
"Can I write my own monologue?"
Long story short, I wrote it about bullying. I performed it countless of times as people wanted to see it so much. And then see it again. It became a big deal. Someone who saw it cried. People who I didn't know/hadn't met were hugging me. Strangely at the time the HND students were doing a bullying project too. The tutor saw it and wanted me to do it at the end of one of their performances and when that day came I was so nervous I must have gone to the toilet about 16,000 times. They did their performance and then everybody included the tutor started to get up and leave until the tutor remembered about me and bought everyone back into the theatre. I performed it again. It went well. Everyone talked about it more than what the HND students did. Some guy said he wanted me to perform it at The Edinburgh Festival which he could organise. Eventually telling me I would have to change it and take the word "Paki" out of it which I say in it three times. I refused to do that. Changing the monologue would take away what it actually was. The power of it. I couldn't do that.
I was only 16 years old and still going through the stages if you like. I didn't know much about Drama or much about life or anything. At the time 16 was young. Unlike now. It seems like kids/teenagers are much more older now at 16 then when they were back then.
That year I went onto be Eddie in a play called "Blood Brothers". The play was done in a Brechtian style and several characters were supposed to be played by different actors but I did the whole of Eddie apart from one scene. I passed my BTEC 1st with flying colours and opted to do Drama in the BTEC National which was a two year course. The first of those years being less than stellar. Most of the class in the main end of year show were props including me with a four line part. I learnt monologues but I wasn't good at performing them at all. For some reason, I was more insecure this year than the last.
But the second of those years, I learnt so many different techniques/styles from Stanislavski, Peter Brook and the Alexander technique-the latter I couldn't stand doing and eventually had to tell the tutors this.
I had to dress up as a woman for Commedia Del Arte. I think this was the tutors' way of punishing me as I was always late. I actually did it well. I had long hair at the time and people actually said I looked better as a woman than as a man. D'oh.
That year we were doing two plays. The first was The Crucible which we performed at Christmas time. Again I wasn't having a great year and had a part with about 6 lines. But the tutor told me to be an understudy for someone who at the time was ill and if he couldn't make it to rehearsals then I could have the part. It was a big part. The part of Reverend Hale.
By no means did I want the person who had this part be ill. Of course I didn't. But I had to think how well I could do this part. Obviously learn the lines and the character etc. I couldn't help but get a bot excited and there was one day when the tutor said that if the guy who had the part doesn't come in today, then I can have the part. And on that rehearsal I was stood behind the curtain and it was coming up to my first line and the guy hadn't turned up yet. I was just about to start my scene and my first line when...he comes in! It was the craziest timing ever. As unprofessional as it was, I gave him the script and just went home. I was so glad he was better. It was just the timing which wasn't the best! We talked about it for ages afterwards with the tutor and actually had a laugh about it. He played the part probably a lot better than I would have done anyway.
So for all of that year as well, I failed to deliver until the very last play. The tutor said that everyone would have to audition for the last play and based on how our auditions went, she would pick parts for us accordingly. The play was Cabaret. Now I HATED musicals. But at the same time I had to do something worthwhile this year. I wasn't a good singer and everyone had to do a song and a monologue for the audition. I think we had a month to prepare. I learnt a monologue and a song on guitar. When it came to the audition, I did the song first, messed up like crazy. I could have got a backing track and played that but I chose to play my guitar and played wrong, sang wrong and everything about the song was wrong. Then just as I was about to start my monologue, in the middle of the audition, I decided to not do the monologue I had learnt. I had to pull the big gun out. I had to use the ace in my sleeve. I did the bullying monologue.
The next day, the class sat in a circle whilst the tutor read the parts out. I was given the massive part of Herr Schultz. The rest of the class didn't seem happy. I could almost hear their thoughts saying, "why him?" "what has he done to deserve that?" etc etc etc. But this was my chance to really go for it. And go for it I did.
Like I said, I couldn't sing. I had to sing! But I couldn't. What do I do? They say practice makes perfect but I just couldn't imagine the thought of me SINGING in front of up to 200 people! I couldn't sing in front of one person. But I would have to otherwise I couldn't do the part. There was only one thing I could do to practice in front of an audience without them really judging me...karaoke.
So the three months or so leading up to the play, I would go to a karaoke place every week and sing as much as I could. Obviously this would be along with learning lines, getting to know the character. I learnt, practiced, rehearsed, over and over and over. I had done nothing worthwhile for two whole years and this play was going to be for three nights just like every other end of year show. I had three nights to not just prove to everyone but to also prove to myself that I could do this. Strangely and I am not sure why I used to do this, but in rehearsals, I would NEVER give 100%. In any rehearsal ever. I wanted to give that bit extra on actual performance nights. I had a few ideas of what I was going to do. I always saved that bit extra just to really try and blow peoples' minds!
So did I blow peoples' minds?
Not to sound as arrogant as hell but I sure did.
It was one of those times in life where I could look back and say, it was one of the best things I did. I felt like the whole audience was actually in the palm of my hand. On the last night there being 200 people!
I got asked for my autograph and again, people were again hugging me after the show. There was a massive sense of overwhelming achievement. I had proved to everyone that I COULD do it. I proved to MYSELF that I could do it.
After that academic year was over, I stayed another 2 years to do a HND course which was basically a university course. The idea was the people that were on that course could then go to university for just a year to top up their HND and get their degrees.
Again, this was like the BTEC national. The first year went to awful that I ended up leaving.
The tutor said that at the end of the year, we could do whatever we wanted for our last project. I had an idea of dressing up as Death and walking around the town centre. Just to see what reactions I got. One of the tutors loved my idea but the main tutor didn't. I came up with a lot of other ideas but they all seemed to get pushed to the side and so our end of year show was to dress up as women and walk around the college. This wasn't what I wanted to do but somehow ended up having to do this. This wasn't challenging, this wasn't anything. It was just about goofing around and getting a reaction. It was ridiculous. We weren't learning anything.
After leaving I realised it was a bit of a silly thing to do to just not have a qualification. I went back to the college and said that I wanted to complete the course and wanted back in. The tutor said it wasn't possible but I KNEW how much the tutor wanted me back on the course as much as he would not admit it. So we ended up having a chat that was almost two hours long. I said I wanted to be challenged. I wanted to do something that was ground breaking. Dressing up as women wasn't ground breaking to me. It was nothing. He took me back on the course.
The second year was a lot better. We were able to do a project individually on whatever it was that we wanted. About ANYTHING. I did a "performance" pointing out how people get caught up more with celebrity shit rather than what is important in life. People choose to miss the important things and choose to live a life gossiping and basically intentionally missing out on making the world a better place. It was epic.
Our end of year show was Marat/Sade. We didn't want to do just the play. We wanted to do something (as I said before) groundbreaking. So we came up with the idea of being a character within a character. For example, we were in character of someone who had some form of illness/disability who would THEN be a character from Marat/Sade. We were being 2 characters and everybody was on stage throughout the whole play. Of course, anyone that knew us like the people in college would know were weren't disabled but when we took the performance out, people didn't know this until after the end when we broke character. We got standing ovations and people were amazed. It was pretty fulfilling I must say.
During the whole second year, it was pretty good. When I did go to university, they said that I was too qualified. But they also said I would have to do the whole course. So it would be another three years of doing what we basically had done in the whole HND course only we would be with people who had never done Drama before. They wouldn't let me or any of the other HND students go onto the third year which they originally said that we could so all the students that had the HND didn't bother going through university.
These are just some of my personal experiences. Just some. I have written this because I am JUST getting back into Drama and I guess I wanted to remind myself of what I am doing. Why I am doing this and what I hope to achieve.
Today I did a 15 minute micro-teach session with my classmates. Each of us are training to be tutors and are all learning different subject. My micro-teaching session happened to go absolutely amazing. Almost perfect. I had it all planned out and had a lot of notes but when I started doing it, I felt natural and hardly looked at my notes.
It feels like I am slowly getting back to my roots. It's going to be hard work but I think it could be great.
I am training to become a Drama teacher/tutor.
First of all, Drama is EVERYTHING. Everything is Drama. That is the beauty of it. Everywhere you go and everything a person does is Drama. Sometimes people can fail to realise this. From going to the shop and buying a newspaper to watching a football game to taking a bus to work. Everything that happens in life can be a scene.
Life is a play and you are the actor. Only it isn't scripted. You make your own script.
Everything you learn in life can be put in Drama. Everything you learn from Drama can be put in life. That is why I love it.
http://muksblogaboutstuff.blogspot.co.uk/2011/01/music-acting-performance-and-people.html
I studied Drama for five years in college. And sometimes I well and truly hated it.
I hated the fact that every time I saw someone in a play or a scene, I always used to think I could do it better. Why would I get so big headed like that? Maybe I just needed to mature a bit.
I hated how a lot of actors, not just me but a lot I knew were just up their own backsides in general.
But most of all, I hated how a lot of the times it was never about acting the part but more like looking like you fit the part.
I'm not saying that happened at college because it didn't. I'm saying that in the real world especially for TV, it was more about how you looked and not about your actual acting skills that got you the part. You could have years of acting training and experience but if you didn't "look" the part, you wouldn't get the part. There are a ton of actors who have "made it" purely because of how they look. That is something that will never leave the TV world. It's just the way it is. But I want to change all that. It is the only profession (not including modelling) where it is more or less guaranteed that it is the way you look which affects whether or not you get the job. Imagine if a Doctor or a Scientist who didn't get a job because of the way they looked. It just doesn't happen. I really couldn't stand that thought. I didn't want to become or be a part of that.
There was an open audition for a certain TV show whilst I was at college. I didn't go to the audition myself but a lot of the Drama students did. Most of them returned without even saying a single word at the audition. The casting people were literally just looking at who was pretty. Even though it was and still is a popular TV show, it isn't about the acting and never has been. To me that is pretty disgraceful. It's one of the reasons why I don't watch too much TV. But I also don't go to the theatre anymore. No actual real reason why. Sometimes I just don't feel like I actually belong there. But sometimes that goes for everywhere I go anyway.
So what do I actually LIKE about Drama? This post isn't just going to be about me moaning about something again. I obviously MUST like something about Drama for me to want to train to be able to teach it.
Well what does it do? It helps you to get emotions out and flipping heck, I am one insanely emotional person. It helps you with confidence, it helps you to connect with things in your life and in your memories in different ways. It gives you a different perspective on things and on people. It can help you understand the psychology of people (how many times have I wrote on this blog and questioned why people do/say what they do etc!).
Nearly half a life time ago when I was 16, I opted to do Performing Arts in college. I originally wanted to do just Music but at the time, I was awful on the guitar so had to do a course where I would have to to Music, Drama and Dance (they called Dance "Movement" to make it sound cool) and I would have to pass two from these three subjects to go onto the next year where I could specialise in one subject and at the time I was hoping it would be Music but within the course of that year, I slowly changed my mind.
I remember everyone in the Drama class had to learn and perform a monologue. And I remember thinking "Wait a minute, a monologue?? Getting up in front of everyone by myself and performing whilst everybody stares and judges only me?? I can't do that!"
So I have no idea and still to this day have no idea what possessed me to ask my tutor this:-
"Can I write my own monologue?"
Long story short, I wrote it about bullying. I performed it countless of times as people wanted to see it so much. And then see it again. It became a big deal. Someone who saw it cried. People who I didn't know/hadn't met were hugging me. Strangely at the time the HND students were doing a bullying project too. The tutor saw it and wanted me to do it at the end of one of their performances and when that day came I was so nervous I must have gone to the toilet about 16,000 times. They did their performance and then everybody included the tutor started to get up and leave until the tutor remembered about me and bought everyone back into the theatre. I performed it again. It went well. Everyone talked about it more than what the HND students did. Some guy said he wanted me to perform it at The Edinburgh Festival which he could organise. Eventually telling me I would have to change it and take the word "Paki" out of it which I say in it three times. I refused to do that. Changing the monologue would take away what it actually was. The power of it. I couldn't do that.
I was only 16 years old and still going through the stages if you like. I didn't know much about Drama or much about life or anything. At the time 16 was young. Unlike now. It seems like kids/teenagers are much more older now at 16 then when they were back then.
That year I went onto be Eddie in a play called "Blood Brothers". The play was done in a Brechtian style and several characters were supposed to be played by different actors but I did the whole of Eddie apart from one scene. I passed my BTEC 1st with flying colours and opted to do Drama in the BTEC National which was a two year course. The first of those years being less than stellar. Most of the class in the main end of year show were props including me with a four line part. I learnt monologues but I wasn't good at performing them at all. For some reason, I was more insecure this year than the last.
But the second of those years, I learnt so many different techniques/styles from Stanislavski, Peter Brook and the Alexander technique-the latter I couldn't stand doing and eventually had to tell the tutors this.
I had to dress up as a woman for Commedia Del Arte. I think this was the tutors' way of punishing me as I was always late. I actually did it well. I had long hair at the time and people actually said I looked better as a woman than as a man. D'oh.
That year we were doing two plays. The first was The Crucible which we performed at Christmas time. Again I wasn't having a great year and had a part with about 6 lines. But the tutor told me to be an understudy for someone who at the time was ill and if he couldn't make it to rehearsals then I could have the part. It was a big part. The part of Reverend Hale.
By no means did I want the person who had this part be ill. Of course I didn't. But I had to think how well I could do this part. Obviously learn the lines and the character etc. I couldn't help but get a bot excited and there was one day when the tutor said that if the guy who had the part doesn't come in today, then I can have the part. And on that rehearsal I was stood behind the curtain and it was coming up to my first line and the guy hadn't turned up yet. I was just about to start my scene and my first line when...he comes in! It was the craziest timing ever. As unprofessional as it was, I gave him the script and just went home. I was so glad he was better. It was just the timing which wasn't the best! We talked about it for ages afterwards with the tutor and actually had a laugh about it. He played the part probably a lot better than I would have done anyway.
So for all of that year as well, I failed to deliver until the very last play. The tutor said that everyone would have to audition for the last play and based on how our auditions went, she would pick parts for us accordingly. The play was Cabaret. Now I HATED musicals. But at the same time I had to do something worthwhile this year. I wasn't a good singer and everyone had to do a song and a monologue for the audition. I think we had a month to prepare. I learnt a monologue and a song on guitar. When it came to the audition, I did the song first, messed up like crazy. I could have got a backing track and played that but I chose to play my guitar and played wrong, sang wrong and everything about the song was wrong. Then just as I was about to start my monologue, in the middle of the audition, I decided to not do the monologue I had learnt. I had to pull the big gun out. I had to use the ace in my sleeve. I did the bullying monologue.
The next day, the class sat in a circle whilst the tutor read the parts out. I was given the massive part of Herr Schultz. The rest of the class didn't seem happy. I could almost hear their thoughts saying, "why him?" "what has he done to deserve that?" etc etc etc. But this was my chance to really go for it. And go for it I did.
Like I said, I couldn't sing. I had to sing! But I couldn't. What do I do? They say practice makes perfect but I just couldn't imagine the thought of me SINGING in front of up to 200 people! I couldn't sing in front of one person. But I would have to otherwise I couldn't do the part. There was only one thing I could do to practice in front of an audience without them really judging me...karaoke.
So the three months or so leading up to the play, I would go to a karaoke place every week and sing as much as I could. Obviously this would be along with learning lines, getting to know the character. I learnt, practiced, rehearsed, over and over and over. I had done nothing worthwhile for two whole years and this play was going to be for three nights just like every other end of year show. I had three nights to not just prove to everyone but to also prove to myself that I could do this. Strangely and I am not sure why I used to do this, but in rehearsals, I would NEVER give 100%. In any rehearsal ever. I wanted to give that bit extra on actual performance nights. I had a few ideas of what I was going to do. I always saved that bit extra just to really try and blow peoples' minds!
So did I blow peoples' minds?
Not to sound as arrogant as hell but I sure did.
It was one of those times in life where I could look back and say, it was one of the best things I did. I felt like the whole audience was actually in the palm of my hand. On the last night there being 200 people!
I got asked for my autograph and again, people were again hugging me after the show. There was a massive sense of overwhelming achievement. I had proved to everyone that I COULD do it. I proved to MYSELF that I could do it.
After that academic year was over, I stayed another 2 years to do a HND course which was basically a university course. The idea was the people that were on that course could then go to university for just a year to top up their HND and get their degrees.
Again, this was like the BTEC national. The first year went to awful that I ended up leaving.
The tutor said that at the end of the year, we could do whatever we wanted for our last project. I had an idea of dressing up as Death and walking around the town centre. Just to see what reactions I got. One of the tutors loved my idea but the main tutor didn't. I came up with a lot of other ideas but they all seemed to get pushed to the side and so our end of year show was to dress up as women and walk around the college. This wasn't what I wanted to do but somehow ended up having to do this. This wasn't challenging, this wasn't anything. It was just about goofing around and getting a reaction. It was ridiculous. We weren't learning anything.
After leaving I realised it was a bit of a silly thing to do to just not have a qualification. I went back to the college and said that I wanted to complete the course and wanted back in. The tutor said it wasn't possible but I KNEW how much the tutor wanted me back on the course as much as he would not admit it. So we ended up having a chat that was almost two hours long. I said I wanted to be challenged. I wanted to do something that was ground breaking. Dressing up as women wasn't ground breaking to me. It was nothing. He took me back on the course.
The second year was a lot better. We were able to do a project individually on whatever it was that we wanted. About ANYTHING. I did a "performance" pointing out how people get caught up more with celebrity shit rather than what is important in life. People choose to miss the important things and choose to live a life gossiping and basically intentionally missing out on making the world a better place. It was epic.
Our end of year show was Marat/Sade. We didn't want to do just the play. We wanted to do something (as I said before) groundbreaking. So we came up with the idea of being a character within a character. For example, we were in character of someone who had some form of illness/disability who would THEN be a character from Marat/Sade. We were being 2 characters and everybody was on stage throughout the whole play. Of course, anyone that knew us like the people in college would know were weren't disabled but when we took the performance out, people didn't know this until after the end when we broke character. We got standing ovations and people were amazed. It was pretty fulfilling I must say.
During the whole second year, it was pretty good. When I did go to university, they said that I was too qualified. But they also said I would have to do the whole course. So it would be another three years of doing what we basically had done in the whole HND course only we would be with people who had never done Drama before. They wouldn't let me or any of the other HND students go onto the third year which they originally said that we could so all the students that had the HND didn't bother going through university.
These are just some of my personal experiences. Just some. I have written this because I am JUST getting back into Drama and I guess I wanted to remind myself of what I am doing. Why I am doing this and what I hope to achieve.
Today I did a 15 minute micro-teach session with my classmates. Each of us are training to be tutors and are all learning different subject. My micro-teaching session happened to go absolutely amazing. Almost perfect. I had it all planned out and had a lot of notes but when I started doing it, I felt natural and hardly looked at my notes.
It feels like I am slowly getting back to my roots. It's going to be hard work but I think it could be great.
Thursday, 24 October 2013
Best TV moment ever
I heard a couple of people talking about their favourite TV shows and their best moments. I decided to write a post and think about what mine was.
I don't actually watch too much TV. Anything I do watch is more in spurts. I love The Simpsons, it has to be the funniest show EVER and is loaded with so much subtext in it's writing it is unreal. I used to watch The Big Bang Theory now and again but it has gone awful with the cute blonde being so frigging annoying, the geeks are all studs now and the Indian guy comes out with jokes which the writers have written for him that I was saying in real life about ten years ago.
I used to like Heroes but it went absolutely crazy towards the latter stages as they had too many characters and they didn't know what to do with them. Homeland is pretty awesome as is Game Of Thrones. As I am writing this, I have just finished to where it is up to.
I just watch things online at 2am when I can't sleep.
There are that many TV shows. TOO MANY. With all the cable channels and things. Thousands. It is insane to think there are actors out there who are out of work when surely they could get a part somewhere. It is almost as if there are more TV shows than there are actors. Than there are people! I'm going too far I know.
I really don't think acting exists in movies anymore. Too many special effects, editing etc. That is not acting to me.
I did however watch and have watched two more times the whole series of Lost. Regular readers of my blog (if there are any regular readers) would know how much I loved/love this series. And I just wanted to do a lighthearted post again and I thought of coming up with the best TV moment. I didn't choose from any animation, or any films, I just wanted to pick one from a TV show where something I watched just made me go "woah, that was amazing." So I ended up picking the following two scenes from Lost. I couldn't pick one:-
This is from season 3 episode 10 and is titled "Tricia Tanaka is dead."
Hugo Reyes (Hurley) is shown in a flashback with his dad when he is younger. They are both working together to fix a car however it won't start. Hurelys' father tells him that good things will happen when you believe they will. Also that in this world, you have to make your own luck. His father leaves for Las Vegas and just before he leaves, he gives his son a chocolate bar. At first Hurley doesn't want it but his father insists and promises to return from Las Vegas soon. You hear the song "Shambala" by Three dog night being played.
The flashbacks continue throughout the episode. Hurleys' father never returned until after Hurley wins the lottery seventeen years later which pleased his mother but not Hurley himself. A lot of unfortunate things happen in Hurleys' life after he wins the lottery. People die and one of his chicken restaurants get hit by a meteorite are just a couple of unfortunate circumstances that happen. He believes winning the money was a curse and plans to rid the curse by going to Australia. Hurleys' father takes him to a tarot reader who says she can rid the curse however she is caught out by Hurley and then admits that his father paid her to say that. Hurley then begins packing to go to Australia and his father admits he did come back because he heard his son had won the lottery but also says that he will wait for Hurley until he comes back from Australia.
Charlie has been told that he is going to die soon. It seems that every time Desmond (who isn't in this scene) foresees Charlie about to die, he saves him but figures that Charlie is meant to die and nothing can change that no matter how much they try to change it. Hurley believes this and tells Charlie that he thinks that he brings bad luck. The dog Vincent then comes with a human arm in his mouth and leads Hurley to the camper van you are about to watch. Hurley then wants to fix the van and goes back to the beach searching for someone who might help him do it. Everybody ignores him apart from Jin who doesn't really speak English and gets roped into helping. Hurley finds a skeleton and beer in the van. He then bumps into Sawyer who agrees to help after finding out beer is available and also gets Charlie to help after telling him he can either mope around and wait for death or that they should make their own luck and face whatever is coming. Charlie gets a slap in the face from Hurley and then agrees to help. The car gets fixed, but needs a jump start.
The song "Shambala" is heard again with a beautiful composition from Michael Giacchino from 3:11.
"Victory or death." Can you change destiny? Are people cursed? If so, can you change that? Is everything you do in your own hands?
Absolute magic:-
Apologies in advance as this could get as confusing as my time travel post:-
http://muksblogaboutstuff.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/time-travel.html
Apparently, the writers for this episode took twice the time they would normally do to write it to avoid the time travel paradox.
This is from season 4 episode 5 and is titled "The Constant." Many saying that it was the best episode of the whole series.
Desmond, Sayid and Lapidus are in a helicopter on the way to a freighter when they encounter some turbulence and then Desmond starts experiencing some strange sensations. His consciousness flashes back 8 years where he is serving with The British Armies' Royal Scots Regiment. After a few moments, his consciousness returns to the present day and he doesn't recognise anyone or even where he is. He has no memory of what has happened the past 8 years. The helicopter lands on the freighter and Desmond gets taken to the sick bay where they meet Minkowski who is strapped to a bed because the same thing is happening to him. Minkowski soon dies of a brain aneurysm
Sayid uses a radio to call the island where Daniel who is a physicist from the freighter asks Desmond what year he thinks it is. Desmond thinks it is 8 years from the present day and is panicking. Daniel understands and explains to Desmond that the next time his consciousness goes back 8 years he must go to Oxford university and find him and tell him what is going on.
Desmonds' flashbacks start happening more and 8 years ago he tracks down Daniel as it is in his subconsciousness to do so and after convincing Daniel that it was he who has told him to come here, Desmond gets shown how Daniel is working on a time machine whilst Desmond gives Daniel some co-ordinates and then Daniel uses those co-ordinates in a maze where a rat is comatose as like Desmond, he was exposed to electromagnetic energy. The rat awakes and then runs through maze which Daniel had just built and the rat hadn't been shown. Desmond then gets explained to him that like the rat, he is caught in a time warp. The rat has a brain aneurysm and dies as it's consciousness cannot take what is happening and Daniel tells Desmond this will happen to him UNLESS he finds a "constant"-someone or something who is present in both time periods who can be an anchor in Desmonds' mental stability. Desmond decides that Penny can be the constant but he has to track her down, find her and tell her everything. They had split up as Desmond believed that he had nothing to offer Penny and Penny is upset and doesn't want to see him but Desmond has to explain to her that eight years from now he will call her and she HAS to answer. He asks for her number-she clearly thinks it is absolutely ridiculous-imagine if someone told you they wouldn't call you until eight years later-but she ends up giving him her number. Cheesy towards the end but so unique and an absolute classic:-
I don't actually watch too much TV. Anything I do watch is more in spurts. I love The Simpsons, it has to be the funniest show EVER and is loaded with so much subtext in it's writing it is unreal. I used to watch The Big Bang Theory now and again but it has gone awful with the cute blonde being so frigging annoying, the geeks are all studs now and the Indian guy comes out with jokes which the writers have written for him that I was saying in real life about ten years ago.
I used to like Heroes but it went absolutely crazy towards the latter stages as they had too many characters and they didn't know what to do with them. Homeland is pretty awesome as is Game Of Thrones. As I am writing this, I have just finished to where it is up to.
I just watch things online at 2am when I can't sleep.
There are that many TV shows. TOO MANY. With all the cable channels and things. Thousands. It is insane to think there are actors out there who are out of work when surely they could get a part somewhere. It is almost as if there are more TV shows than there are actors. Than there are people! I'm going too far I know.
I really don't think acting exists in movies anymore. Too many special effects, editing etc. That is not acting to me.
I did however watch and have watched two more times the whole series of Lost. Regular readers of my blog (if there are any regular readers) would know how much I loved/love this series. And I just wanted to do a lighthearted post again and I thought of coming up with the best TV moment. I didn't choose from any animation, or any films, I just wanted to pick one from a TV show where something I watched just made me go "woah, that was amazing." So I ended up picking the following two scenes from Lost. I couldn't pick one:-
This is from season 3 episode 10 and is titled "Tricia Tanaka is dead."
Hugo Reyes (Hurley) is shown in a flashback with his dad when he is younger. They are both working together to fix a car however it won't start. Hurelys' father tells him that good things will happen when you believe they will. Also that in this world, you have to make your own luck. His father leaves for Las Vegas and just before he leaves, he gives his son a chocolate bar. At first Hurley doesn't want it but his father insists and promises to return from Las Vegas soon. You hear the song "Shambala" by Three dog night being played.
The flashbacks continue throughout the episode. Hurleys' father never returned until after Hurley wins the lottery seventeen years later which pleased his mother but not Hurley himself. A lot of unfortunate things happen in Hurleys' life after he wins the lottery. People die and one of his chicken restaurants get hit by a meteorite are just a couple of unfortunate circumstances that happen. He believes winning the money was a curse and plans to rid the curse by going to Australia. Hurleys' father takes him to a tarot reader who says she can rid the curse however she is caught out by Hurley and then admits that his father paid her to say that. Hurley then begins packing to go to Australia and his father admits he did come back because he heard his son had won the lottery but also says that he will wait for Hurley until he comes back from Australia.
Charlie has been told that he is going to die soon. It seems that every time Desmond (who isn't in this scene) foresees Charlie about to die, he saves him but figures that Charlie is meant to die and nothing can change that no matter how much they try to change it. Hurley believes this and tells Charlie that he thinks that he brings bad luck. The dog Vincent then comes with a human arm in his mouth and leads Hurley to the camper van you are about to watch. Hurley then wants to fix the van and goes back to the beach searching for someone who might help him do it. Everybody ignores him apart from Jin who doesn't really speak English and gets roped into helping. Hurley finds a skeleton and beer in the van. He then bumps into Sawyer who agrees to help after finding out beer is available and also gets Charlie to help after telling him he can either mope around and wait for death or that they should make their own luck and face whatever is coming. Charlie gets a slap in the face from Hurley and then agrees to help. The car gets fixed, but needs a jump start.
The song "Shambala" is heard again with a beautiful composition from Michael Giacchino from 3:11.
"Victory or death." Can you change destiny? Are people cursed? If so, can you change that? Is everything you do in your own hands?
Absolute magic:-
Apologies in advance as this could get as confusing as my time travel post:-
http://muksblogaboutstuff.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/time-travel.html
Apparently, the writers for this episode took twice the time they would normally do to write it to avoid the time travel paradox.
This is from season 4 episode 5 and is titled "The Constant." Many saying that it was the best episode of the whole series.
Desmond, Sayid and Lapidus are in a helicopter on the way to a freighter when they encounter some turbulence and then Desmond starts experiencing some strange sensations. His consciousness flashes back 8 years where he is serving with The British Armies' Royal Scots Regiment. After a few moments, his consciousness returns to the present day and he doesn't recognise anyone or even where he is. He has no memory of what has happened the past 8 years. The helicopter lands on the freighter and Desmond gets taken to the sick bay where they meet Minkowski who is strapped to a bed because the same thing is happening to him. Minkowski soon dies of a brain aneurysm
Sayid uses a radio to call the island where Daniel who is a physicist from the freighter asks Desmond what year he thinks it is. Desmond thinks it is 8 years from the present day and is panicking. Daniel understands and explains to Desmond that the next time his consciousness goes back 8 years he must go to Oxford university and find him and tell him what is going on.
Desmonds' flashbacks start happening more and 8 years ago he tracks down Daniel as it is in his subconsciousness to do so and after convincing Daniel that it was he who has told him to come here, Desmond gets shown how Daniel is working on a time machine whilst Desmond gives Daniel some co-ordinates and then Daniel uses those co-ordinates in a maze where a rat is comatose as like Desmond, he was exposed to electromagnetic energy. The rat awakes and then runs through maze which Daniel had just built and the rat hadn't been shown. Desmond then gets explained to him that like the rat, he is caught in a time warp. The rat has a brain aneurysm and dies as it's consciousness cannot take what is happening and Daniel tells Desmond this will happen to him UNLESS he finds a "constant"-someone or something who is present in both time periods who can be an anchor in Desmonds' mental stability. Desmond decides that Penny can be the constant but he has to track her down, find her and tell her everything. They had split up as Desmond believed that he had nothing to offer Penny and Penny is upset and doesn't want to see him but Desmond has to explain to her that eight years from now he will call her and she HAS to answer. He asks for her number-she clearly thinks it is absolutely ridiculous-imagine if someone told you they wouldn't call you until eight years later-but she ends up giving him her number. Cheesy towards the end but so unique and an absolute classic:-
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)