April 2012
23 posts
The Apple Cider Trip
Reading my last blog, I realised that I had not written about my friend Vinnie’s funniest moment at the lake called Wedington. This moment will always be burned into my memory as the apple cider trip. The town we lived in was called Lincoln. Obviously named after Abe. In fact my grandfather on my mother’s side played Abe Lincoln in a Fourth of July town parade. As you drive into...
Lake Wedington or The Tale of the Dead Fish
When I was old enough to drive on my own, summers were spent with various friends at Lake Wedington. I cannot remember ever laughing so hard at any other spot. So many memories and so much laughter. Once, a friend and I rented a canoe. I’ll call this friend Vinnie, as I do not know his whereabouts to ask permission to use his real name. Vinnie was one of the funniest guys I have ever...
Of Just Being...
I remember watching the last film that Peter Sellers starred in. It was called Being There, I don’t really rate the last film he did which was The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu. No, in my mind at least, the last really good thing he did was to portray Chance the gardener in Being There. The plot of the film was fairly simple and straight forward. Chance has been in an isolated life...
The Ice Factory
I had a sort of word association moment when I saw this image. I had a flash of memory that had to do with a red wagon, my Mom, a magic slate, and getting a block of ice from the ice factory. When I was about four years old, we lived in Springdale, Arkansas. I am not sure, but I think it was on Cedar Street. It was a small bungalow style house with a chain link fence around the back yard and a...
Portents and Signs...
There is a lot of strange things going on at the moment. I had “googled” a few things for my last blog, mostly to do with UFO’s and the loud “humming” noises reported around the world. While doing that I then remembered the phenomenon of birds falling out of the sky…dead. This led me to articles about dead fish. Of course if you look at both of these...
The Big Bang Theory...or is it The Big Noise
As long ago as last August there have been reports of strange loud noises. These reports have come from all over the world. The USA, Norway, China, Puerto Rico, well the list is pretty widespread and for lack of another word worldly. If you don’t think this is a world-wide phenomenon just go on YouTube and type noises in the search bar. Scroll down on the suggestions that appear. Just...
YouTube...The new TV?
I am a huge fan of YouTube. My daughter got me hooked on it, years ago. Channels like Failblog.org and others have become necessary viewing for me. So much so that I don’treally watch television any more. But I am of the belief that YouTube is the new television. Let me explain. There may be some folks out there who have never heard of or even experienced YouTube. But the basic...
Name dropping pt 6 Stanley Kubrick
My biggest break came after we moved back to the UK. I had been fronting videos and was trying to find work as a VO artist. I also was doing the odd supporting artist gig. From Lovejoy to ITV’S The Chief I did a few. Then I changed my agent, or rather agents. While I was doing extra work I had two agents, both from Norwich. I then had a chat with actor and vocal coach John. Sorry,...
Tower Heist...Ocean's Five?
As I am a huge Ben Stiller fan I was really looking forward to his latest effort, Tower Heist. I will say up front I liked the film. I could have loved it, but the ending let it down a bit. Stiller who is the son of the comedy duo Stiller and Meara has never failed to deliver in the comedy field. Must be something in his genes. Now unlike Tropic Thunder and Zoolander, Stiller is not at the...
Name dropping Pt 5 or Van der Valk pt 2
After my huge disappointment at not having Peter Snow write a part for me in that episode of the New Van der Valk, life went on as normal. I kept doing adverts for the AFN guys and presented (for a very short time) a program called Why and How. But I was no longer having to rely on the chaps at AFN for acting work. I had done a commercial for Tonka Turbo Tricksters with the production...
Scream 4...Sidney's last stand
I fell in love with the original Scream after watching the first five minutes. When Wes (we are not worthy) Craven killed off the “name” star in the first reel. With this one action he showed us, the audience, that he knew and loved horror films and thrillers. The little nod to Hitchcock’s killing of Janet Leigh at the beginning of Phsyco told me immediately that this was a...
The Help...Mississippi's Burning in a skirt
Actress Emma Stone is certainly very busy these days. It seems like only yesterday she played the love interest in the nerd-rom-com that was Super Bad. Now, when she is not being wooed by Jim Carrie via YouTube, she seems to be in everything. My daughter Meg pointed out this film to me. She then rented it from iTunes and pretty much insisted that I watch it. I am glad I did. Set in...
Name dropping, pt 4
I got another call from my friend at AFN to tell me that they were casting for the new Van der Valk series that was so popular in England. The crime series followed the Dutch police detective Van der Valk as he solved various crimes. He was played by the late actor Barry Foster. You might know him as the killer in Alfred Hitchcock’s Frenzy. A brilliant actor he had helped make Van der...
Final Destination 5...Don't bother
I have been a huge fan of the Final Destination films since the first one. The mix of gory deaths and cheeky humour was able to make me laugh and groan at the same time. I will readily admit that I own all the films on DVD. But I have got to say the quality of the films has depreciated with each new sequel. Yes I know that is going to happen whenever any film gets turned into a franchise....
Name dropping, pt 3
I had been on leave back in England visiting with my in-laws. When I returned to work, a friend from AFN had been by the office looking for me. I called him to find out what he wanted. “While you were gone they were auditioning for another film. Give em a call, you might still get an audition.” I thanked him and immediately rang the number. The number was to a production company...
Name dropping, pt 2
While I was stationed in Holland with the USAF I got to work quite a lot. Mostly I did adverts for the Armed Forces Network aka AFN guys downstairs. I have always done “voices” different accents and impressions. My then boss mentioned this to the AFN guys who ran upstairs and begged me to do some spots for them on the radio. It seems that they were all tired of hearing themselves...
Name dropping, really?
Looking over my last blog post I saw that I had stated I had not met anyone of consequence apart from Jonathan Demme. I realised immediately that was not really the case. I have met and interacted with a number of folks some of whom were nice. Others were not so nice and others just plain terrifying. I met and talked with very briefly a much younger Alfred Molina , aka Doc Ock, on the set of...
Actors
When I was a boy I had a list of actors about as long as my arm that I wanted to meet. There was also a shorter list of actors I actually would have done anything to work with. I have had a long love affair with Theatre, Film and to a slightly lesser degree television. Ever since I came to the momentous conclusion that I wanted to be an actor, I have been in awe and enamoured of any actor whose...
We Need to Talk About Kevin should be called We...
I really enjoyed this film. I had waited eagerly for it to come out in the cinema after watching the teasers and trailers. From the glimpses given us, we the potential audience saw what looked like the making of a mass murderer. The small snippets also gave the impression that Kevin was born damaged. In other words, born bad or evil. First of all I have to take my hat off to the three...
Weather
I can get really frustrated at the weather in this country. I have lived in quite a few places in the world. I have also visited a lot more. I have experienced weather in them all. I can say, with very little reservation, that the weather is the most frustrating here. It is a topic that everyone talks about. When bumping into friends and acquaintances the first or second subject that will crop up...
Take notice of the film Take Shelter
After my abysmal experience watching the 2011 version of The Thing, I was going to give films a rest for a while. But like a cowboy who’s been thrown off his horse, I decided to get right back in the saddle. I’m glad I did. Because if I had not, I would have missed the brilliance that is Take Shelter. This brilliant “little” film was noticed by my daughter Meg. She...
The Thing - A Prequel? Only at the End.
After putting it off far too long, I finally watched the “prequel re-make” of John Carpenter’s The Thing. At the end of the film I found myself asking only one question. Why? Now I will be the first to admit that Carpenter’s The Thing is itself a re-make. Christian Nyby and Howard Hawks first brought the film to the big screen in 1951. It featured James Arness (who...
Exit
I did not know him that well. I am not even sure how long I have known him. What I do know is he was one of those people that we meet and interact with all too infrequently in life. He was one of the rare breed.
He was a nice chap.
During the time I have worked with him I have never heard him say one ill word against another person. He was one of those folks who always seemed so pleased to...
