Validate Your Life

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Carradine’s death and Heath’s death in early 2008 (both suicides) shows that actors are unhappy. They need and are lost and confused. I’m 100% convinced that the reaons for following film and studying acting for a bit was to eventually Coach actors in areas of fulfilment and health and performance and meaning. It’s simple. Actor’s have a lot of money and little happiness. I have a lot of happiness and little money. I can teach the happiness; they can give me the money. Both parties happy. !!

This makes you realize that Hollywood is truly just a massive Cult of Marketing and ploys nad disillusionment tied in with the media to create the illusion of the “glory of fame and stardom” etc. Well Hollywood went down the tubes. Seriously. I’ve been living 20 miles west of “Hollywood” the past year and the place is like a vacant ghost town when I visit it (seriously). Additionally, the silver screen pictures and that whole era from a sales/business point of view is completely wasted and gone. Youtube, private casts, internet “films” are now reality. So the Cultu of Hollywood is slowly dying.

Boy has my thought evolved rapidly the past years!! Only three years ago I was fascinated with and enthralled by actors. Now, after discovering some truly clear thinking rocking bodacious people (DB, Dawkins, etc). I’ve realized, sure, some actors may be genuinely cool, great people, but their profession is the biggest kind of cult disillusionment mass hypnosis possible. Tahts’ why so many off themselves because their profession is so warped and disillusioned and they’re a servant for “product placement” in the films! They likely have very little sense of self after playing characters and roles for many years of their life.

Coaching is the opposite of that. I spend YEARS of my life writing books on discovering exactly what I want to know and who I want to be and I discover that! I was interested in spirituality and when I was, it was exciting but various things (prosetylizatio in Costa Rica on multiple occasion, reading up on cults and witnessing identical similarities between cults and major religions etc) emerged and I evolved out of that. Now science and atheism are rivetting. TRULY rivetting. But the truth of the matter is. They’ve ALWAYS been rivetting! I’ve ALWAYS been this nerdy, scientific atheist. I watch home videos of me as a kid and I see that and know that. “Devout Atheism” (:D) is what’s true for me. Kiekegaard says “I must find a truth that’s true for me”. Well, soren, I did just that and it’s refreshing and incredibly MASSIVELY empowering!! Wow. So empowering to honor my genuine LOVE for science! Three kinds of symbiotic relationships, Stomata on plants, cellular respiration I love that high-tech jargon and better yet the fact that it’s linked to real things in nature. But physics is like some of the most absolute truths of all tied in with the precision of math. I’m very interested in physics especially. Sweet!!

Are they production? Are they for film or productions? Who produces tv or film? How do they handle copyrights or distribution?

Why would anyone want to know this? Or who the hell cares? I DO!! If you’re watching film and have half a brain to think about the process of “How the hell do I have this DVD or how am I able to watch this footage of actors in this theatre?” or better yet, if you’re life me and interested in the production, editing, acting, film creation process and steps, knowing who the heck who is who and and how all that production jazz adds up is not only inspiring and illuminating, but essential data! So conclusively this is very valuable information to understand for any connection with creating or to galvanize a greater appreciation of creating (or watching) great film!

I always wanted to know what the deal was with that whole seemingly messy or confusing smorgasbord of film studios that flash their little animation and brand before the feature title and credits roll. The research aimed at clarifying this obfuscation proved to be very rewarding!!

• Miramax — (Walt Disney)film production and distribution (originally in NY now purchased by Walt Disney)
• Touchstone Pictures (Walt Disney)– a film label of Walt Disney (est. 1984) it has the more mature themes of features released under walt disney; noteworthy productions: Dead Poets’ Soceity, Pirates of the Caribbean: Black Pearl.
• Walt Disney Company — one of largest media and entertainment corps on world
• Walt Disney Studios — centered around animation
• Warner Brothers (Timewarner)– film and tv production (subsidary of Timewarner! LOL cool!)
• New Line Cinema (Timewarner) — film production and distribution (subsidary of Timewarner)
• Icon Productions LLC (Mel Gibson)– film production (Mel Gibson’s film production company; founded 1989; started when mel was trying to finance hamlet); noteworthy productions: Man without a Face, Braveheart, What Women Want).
• Imagine Entertainment (Ron Howard) — film and tv production (Ron Howard and Brian Grazer; 1986; noteworthy productions: Arrested Development, Beautiful Mind)
• Dreamworks LLC (Paramount: Viacom)– film, tv, and game development, production, and distribution (started Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg, and David Geffen; 1994; 11 years later sold to Paramount Pictures, under viacom,)
• 20th Century Fox Film Corporation (News Corporation) — film production and distribution (6th largest in america; located in Century city; started 1933).
• Paramount Pictures Corporation (Viacom) — film production and distribution (oldest running movie studio in hollywood (beating Universal by 1 month only! LOL!; located on Melrose Avenue in Hollywood; subsidary of Viacom)
• Plan B Entertainment — film production (started Brad Pitt, Brad Grey, Jennifer Anistion; noteworthy titles: Jesse James, Departed, Charlie and Chocolate Factory, Troy)
• Universal Studios — (subsidary of NBC) 2nd-longest running film studio on San Fernando (Paramount being the oldest.

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I had not idea earthquakes were still wreaking such havoc.

It’s the latest of numerous of aftershocks from the 7.9 quake that struck Sichuan on May 12 and killed almost 70,000 people and left 5 million homeless.

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Clooney had some wisdom on fame. Basically you can still make it at an older age, and should, to carry the success, apparently. Reassuring for young burgeoning actors.

And Crowe had some wise wisdom (that’s totally true, I agree) about Hollywood. People get paid out of there but it’s not necessarily The Hub for all film. It’s certainly undeniably a major one (and has been The Hub) but the world’s much smaller and film productions can certainly traverse many regions. Filming takes place anywhere in the world (or out of the world, e.g. “Earth to the Moon”) so that’s a cool clarification; something Ira Glass would undoubtedly call a “Modern Jackass” (an assumption you always think to be true and never question, despite its ridiculousness).

Heath Ledger might win the oscar for his maniacal Joker character, making this the second posthumous “Best Actor” award in over 30 years, the most recent (hardly not recent) went to Peter Finch in Network in 1977.

Also, I noticed the ever-growing “I hate Paris club” has continued to spawn. Disdain for that woman — who, imho, is not really that bad, and in some areas, quite likeable, like her ability to handle media and magnetize press to her image (that also, of course, is the same reason why so many loathe her) — has become a “fad” a trendy thing to do. Even actresses I admire, like incredibly talented Tina Fey appear to loathe her: “She’s so unbelievably dumb and so proud of how dumb she is. She looks like a tranny up close. Her hair looks like fraggle.” What really stumps me is how she so effectively gets under the skin of so many successful people. Does she threaten? Are they confused by her success? If she was a nobody they wouldn’t bother commenting about her. Anyways, that ridicule, no doubt, satisfies Ms. Hilton’s image agenda rendering her more successful. Bad flack or Good flack still registers as some kind of attention, so if you objectively seek attention, she’s got it!

In other news, Matt LeBlanc’s former “Friends” agent, Camille Cerio (not to be confused with pregnant Camilla Alves, McConaughey’s girlfriend, of no relation) is trying to sue him for $1 million in unpaid commissions. He actually EARNED $1 million per show, though! And considering that the Friends’ series tallied NUMBER episodes, he should have no problem covering that, but gotta pay those dues!

That about raps it up for celebrity gossip, other than the usual — a lot of babies, a lot of pregnancies, a lot of marriages, and a lot of trips to the beach! One question, do they “time” these things. It just seems like babies are popping out all over the place in the summer with Pitt-Jolie’s twins and McConaughey-Alves’s expecting and more, it seems that way.

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In regards to acting.  Thanks to anyone for that encouragement.  I sincerely appreciate anyone’s feedback and fortification toward acting.  I agree, when I was pursuing it during taking acting classes, I did feel extremely fulfilled.  The biggest obstacle toward that pursuit, however has been money.  MONEY, money, money.  That’s the only thing.  I’ve diverted my attention toward web design and trying to make money via computers because I see that as the most direct way to accrue money.  I can’t foresee a way to make money via acting until LONG after many auditions and shows (of zero to low pay).  It just seems like forever until I’ll be financially independent (earning over $30k per year on my own).  This desperation has left me in quite accurately a state of panic where any profession that earns, for the time being, feels viable. 

Acting has always functioned as the “dream” profession, but if a dream job can’t pay my bills, well, of what use is it other than fulfilling that dream?  Dream fulfillment is huge, but it’s a little higher up on the maslowian scale of self-actualization.  I have these great parents who kind of bypass the lower stages of maslowian hierarchy of needs like having shelter, and getting food.

I fear that not living IN hollywood (22 miles from it and NO WHERE to park once I commute there) greatly impedes my pursuit in acting (finding an agent, namely).  If I had a set parking place in hollywood things would operate MUCH more smoothly.  I can’t describe the hours you spend looking for a parking spot that only offers 2 hours of parking in Hollywood.  This sounds trivial but actually presents a major obstacle because I don’t have the freedom of being able to get to hollywood and explore.  I’ve looked into solutions such as taking a train there, which could work, but the train station is roughly 5 miles away and then I have to factor in commute costs.

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The tragic loss of Heath. This is shocking; it’s unbelievable. I feel partially mourning, partially stunned. He was an incredibly composed and immensely talented actor. My favorite role of his was in “Lords of Dogtown” as the Venice Beach “skate-boarding king”. But this, according to his father, “tragic, untimely, and accidental” incident brings with it a huge host of concerns. Did Heath become too consumed by his work? His dark projects as a heroin addict or a suicidal character? Did he ever do an emotional “check-up” after his break up with Michelle Williams? Reports say he couldn’t sleep and couldn’t “stop thinking”. Acting takes more then resilience and perseverance. It demands tremendous clarity and profound determination of the will. I’m not saying Heath didn’t possess that, at all. But what I am conveying is you have to build your foundation first.

You have to focus on your spirituality, your emotional management, you have to understand your intrapersonal knowledge, and focus years on your dreams, goals, authentic likes and dislikes before committing to a profession as tidal and tortuous as acting. We must NEVER let our work and career or relationships with other people (regardless of how intimate) ever stand before or eclipse our emotional freedom and peace, spiritual identity, and mental clarity. If you commence a full-time acting career without an infinite awareness of the your own spirit, and a tried-true-and-tested system for keeping your life organized and your core values aligned, the profession will feel like a dangerous Tsunami. Any profession to which we commit must always come secondary or tertiary to understanding our spiritual place and identity, your emotional capacity and sensitivity, and your ground-level life management skills.

We should mourn Heath’s death, but use this as an opportunity to re-evaluate our life and ensure that we perpetually meet an enormously high requirement of staying inspired and emotionally, mentally, and most importantly, physically healthy. We can learn to look at death differently by appreciating life. We must also be reminded that life always has the winning hand to death. Additionally, we must demand that our social, peer, and close friend group is intuitive, nurturing, and inspiring, but all while deeply understanding that only we can create peace for ourself. Great poet and essayist, Ralph Waldo Emerson writes, “Only you can create peace for yourself. You can only create peace through the triumph of principles.”

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Money is just an illusion. A trick. A carrot that always leads the donkey back to work. Therefore, anyone who lives to earn money is not very smart. The best thing to do, therefore, is to devote your life to passions and success with friendships and philanthropy.

Now, personally, computers and acting are very strong interests. Computers could be my progress and acting my passion. But here’s the thing. I have a VERY VERY reactionary and postive and galvanizing reaction to actors. I seem them doing the gimmicks, quirks, and mannerisms of the “roles” they play, the characters they play. So I ask what is going one? Are these actors

1)Simply being themselves in the roles so they are themselves (the real life selves) just cast in different movies?
2)Nervous so they resort back to the “shell” of a character that brought them success.

Whatever the reason (I believe it is more 1, than 2) I recognize their incredible vulnerability and it makes me want to chime in and support them and their work and do what they do.

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In other words, the best actors dont’ “act” or put on emotional masks at all. They remove those masks and simply put themselves in situations that would cause any person not concealing their emotiosn to react with a display.

If there’s machine gun fire in the background or buildings are exploding or loved ones die or victories are own, the greatest actors just react the way a normal, non-facade-wearing human would react. Because actors are actually “real” and not acting, they remind the many of us who get caught up in politics — deceit of guises, gimmicks, and tricks — and forget what it’s like to be human, of our right and capacity to be human. Acting recollects the human spirit, in that sense.

The impassive process of decision-making generates the illusion of choice. Meaning that you can’t make decisions. No one ever makes decisions; people just take action. Action is the only way things ever get accomplished, initiated, and done. You finish things and start things by taking action not be deciding or making a decision. You generate initiative from commitment, not choice. Decisions are illusory. Action is reality.

Just as no one is ever doing “nothing” (i.e. you’re always breathing, cells are reproducing, heart is pumping, even if you’re dead, you’re laying horizontally, which is, technically, something). People never make decisions; you are always taking action.

One hindrance in furthering success for people is that they believe they have accomplished enough already. Donald Trump, Julia Roberts, and Michael Phelps could easily say that. Those three could wake up and say I’ve made enough money, I’ve acted in enough movies, or I’ve won enough swimming medals, respectively. But they don’t. Despite their tremendously gigantic accomplishments and achievemtns, there success continues to prosper. Trump, Roberts, and Phelps, like all successful people don’t let their accomplishments sever there future aspirations.

Past accomplishments never legitimate retirement. Many people look at what they’ve done and say, “Well, that’s enough for ten lifetiems. I’m done.” No, success isn’t made that way. So how could people continue to keep going despite all their achievements? They split the past and present achievements.

Believe in the present that you have not accomplished anything, and that — in that specific, finite, present moment — is true. Never forget your triumphs; never fail to herald your feats. But archive those successes in the past!

Forget your accomplishments in the present, but archive them in your history. That way you wake up and feel like there’s so much you need to still do; you rejuvenate your youthful ambition, while maintaing your wisdom and experience.