Music- The New/Old Food of Love

This week I gave the audiobooks a quick rest because (holy shmoly!) I went out and purchased two darn good albums: By Raphael Saadiq and James Morrison....in my opinion, examples of two men saving music.

I'm obsessed. Jim and Raph's tracks repeat on my laptop and I'm delighted that I can actually hear instruments on their tracks. If I didn't know any better I would have guessed these guys were from a few decades ago. But their album covers are clearly copyrighted to 2008 & 2009. Yeah- there's hope for music yet!

My personal favorites- well, with James Morrison, it's the commonly airplayed "Nothing Ever Hurt Like You" and with Raphael Saadiq it's "Never Ever Gonna Give You Up" which has a great harmonica solo by Stevie Wonder two-thirds of the way through. Hey, if it was good enough for Stevie to join in, it's goood enough for me.

It would be interesting to see how high the sales of these albums or singles were? As a music fan these days, you always hope people are "doing the right thing" and buying the artistic work they like. But who knows?! I have a younger brother who's an avid downloader, although I believe even he buys a percentage of his downloads. the ones he's really passionate about.

Why does the music industry think that the young generation aren't into basic good voices & instrumentals? If a song's good, it's good. Full stop. We'll buy it. I like electronic craziness as much as the next 20s white chick, but the songs on the radio have gotten so bad that on top of the descending talent in hip-hop I feel like an "old woman" craving the sounds of the past- Motown, Classic Rock, Soul, Jazz.

Take me back, baby!

Audiobooks & Ed

There are only so many crappy radio stations you can listen to while cruising the streets of L.A. I set myself a late 2009 resolution last week and decided that since I spend so much time in the car, I should spend it usefully.

Okay, so writing concertos or the great American novel with one hand on the steering wheel and the other clutching an ink pen might be dicey. I tried learning scene lines but I had a close call with a "Starving Students" moving truck while I was "down on the page." So if I plan on living to make it big, I have to substitute "doing" for listening...at least, in the car. What a great skill to sharpen for my ADD-ed Facebook/MySpace/Cellphone personality.

The first audiobook I pulled out was a Christmas gift from my mother- Rupert Everett's autobiography- what a ride. Rupert came from an upper class English family and spent his life rebelling against it. His chaotic attempts at fox-hunting are enough to produce school girl giggles from anyone, as are his antidotes on running away from boarding school, drinking his life away in London and getting thrown out of a pretentious English acting school. His fascination with Madonna makes him seem more obsessed with her than a true friend and his bittersweet stories about Miami's homosexual community are nostalgically descriptive and entertaining. This one's a keeper.

My second audiobook of choice (and I can't wait to get Series 2) is "Ed Reardon's Week." Thank you BBC Radio 4 for producing this masterpiece!! It's just what the doctor ordered. Each episode follows a writer, Ed, and his flawed attempts to escape poverty and gain the literary success he strongly feels is due. It's a must for any writer, or artist, who wants to laugh at the wonderful world of showbiz during gruesome, city traffic. As of now, I think the only way to get the series is order it on Amazon.co.uk. I was surprised that iTunes did not have it (or the regular U.S. Amazon) but even with additional shipping fees, it will be well worth it: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ed-Reardons-Week-BBC-Audio/dp/1408401193/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_b

If anyone has great recommendations for audiobooks please let me know. I am particularly interested in comedy and any "hidden gems." I've been told the average American spends 4 years of his/her life in the car. I bet mine will be 8 and I plan on spending them laughing.

Midnight Madness

Okay it's Thursday, approaching midnight, and I'm feeling kind of crazzzy. I just went out with a friend, dined, drank, gossiped and people-watched the CW stars at the table opposite and now...now I feel like talking. This is a strange year for me because it feels very make or break. I've now been here for a good few years, the post college era has worn off and I'm ready, ready for some acceleration.

I think the hardest thing to decipher amongst the Blvds and Aves of this fair city is what to FOCUS on. Everyone's a writer, everyone's an actor but what KIND are they? And I'm not just talking comedy/drama, what's their real focus, their REAL dream. I'd venture to say that 90% or more don't "make it" out here cause it's not their real dream. They may deny this but then when it's practice what you preach time, you'll see them resort back to their cave. Be mean to Britney Spears all you want but if she started acting and singing when she was 6, good for her that she made it at 16. That's 10 years people!!! Why would you expect anything less in your adult life? Beautiful Charlize Theron came over at 15 with her mother (who murdered her father) and the leggy South African wasn't known to the popular eye till 10 years later either. Jennnnnnifer Lopez- out here at 17, celebrity at 28. Are we seeing a pattern here?

Yup and now it's 2009, and competition is even more vehement. A statistics guy would probably estimate that whatever took 10 years, 10 years ago, now takes at least 12. He may be right, but that won't prevent me from believing this will be a truly GREAT YEAR!! (I feel it in my soul...and in my non existent sleeping patterns).

Love you.

The Class

In one of my favorite books "True and False," David Mamet titles a chapter- THE GENERATION THAT WOULD LIKE TO STAY IN SCHOOL. He disparages acting school, calling it a disillusioned safety haven, divided from the real world of acting. I have to admit some "safety" guilt.

When it's slow and you're not going out much- no agent, no manager- it's tempting to walk into a classroom, pay money for school and seek approval from teachers and classmates because you can't get it anywhere else. You're unable to test your entertainment value in front of REAL audiences and when you do, it's mostly in front of "middle management" casting directors and agents, who see people ALL DAY and often look tired and bored. We're disconnected from showing our stuff to the majority- the non-Hollywood-stained crowd, wandering out on a Friday or Saturday night, ready to have a freakin' good time, that is, ready to see A GOOD STORY WELL TOLD. Yes, it's THAT simple and I sometimes feel intricate classes over-complicate that objective.

I'm in hypocritical limbo right now- at a great school that teaches basics of good acting, which is a joy to get back to, AND I'm doing an ultra-famous Hollywood class that gears it's students to auditions and "the industry." Yup, I'm DOUBLE "classing" and reading T&F again reminded me that in NO WAY can all that stuff substitute for the real deal. Sure, it might prep you, it'll make you feel good some days, test you other days, but it can not, not, NOT replace earning an income from a ticket-buying member of society that expects you to...well...be there...and be interesting. To THEM.

So I've made a promise to myself, after my class immersion ends, I'll risk school-nakedness in the great wide open. Hours of study will be replaced by writing self-made material, doing every comedy show I can, going to every audition I can, paid or unpaid, and kicking ass!!

Mamet, thanks for the reminder. Let the audiences of the real world be my judge.





where the audience is your final judge. I felt I had to dip back into this great piece of literature ass-kicking because I've been heavily in school environments.