Sunday, March 28, 2010

The Miyazaki Temple

I don't feel like writing entires about me being fed up, so I am not going to, still looking forward to leaving to London, might overstay my welcome there. Here is a fantastic hour long documentary from one of my heroes in life, Hayao Miyazaki and his Studio Ghibli.

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Philosophy Is Great

I'm warming up to it a lot lately, and it ties together great with acting and theater as well. You most not forget that just living the life of a person who studies acting solely will greatly hinder the actor, he should strive to explore and learn of life in general as much as acting. More actually since life is infinitely wider field then specifically acting. 

I am reading Sophie's World which is a popular philosophy book for the beginners. And the author Jostein Gaarder writes down a bit about how Shakespeare contemplated life a lot (as we of course know), a little excerpt from said book;

"In As You Like It, he says:

All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players,
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts."

Again proving and showing the fact that acting should be exactly what everyday life is, no theatrical bollocks. Act the way human act.

Jostein then gives another quote, and it shows a bit how Shakespeare later in life might have become more dark towards the idea of life and stuff like that.

"And in Macbeth, he says:

Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his our upon the stage
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing."

Great isn't it? Great insight into an author perhaps. A final quote that struck with me though was from a ancient chinese philosopher Chuang-tzu who famously said/wrote 

"Once I dreamed I was a butterfly, and now I no longer know whether I am Chuang-tzu who dreamed I was a butterfly, 
or whether I am a butterfly dreaming that I am Chuang-tzu"

Food for thought.

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Documentary on Nietzsche

For those who are interested in philosophy. I am trying to get my teeth into philosophy and meditation more and more, quite interesting.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

The Issue With Working Out

A year ago today I stopped my five year practice of going to the gym five times a week (Monday to Friday). I kept this up for more or less five years with a week break here and there (mostly to let the body rest) and perhaps a month vacation once or twice. 

I started at a nice weight of 120 pounds at 5'10" or 5'11" whatever I am, and stopped at 175ish pounds, not bad I'd say. 

I stopped working out for two reasons, the first being I got a lot more involved with acting (mentally, which is what counts) and I quickly figured out that you can't be ripped and be a proper actor, it just doesn't work. Imagine playing RIchard III or whatever with bulging muscles, come on. And I got a bit tired of working out. I had reached m goal (and then some) and it felt like that this challenge was done and dusted, on to the next big challenge, which is now acting, i.e I have to be very very good and successful then I can dump it and move a long too. Maybe start a charity next or do some philanthropic adventures. 

Having said all this though, I might start working out a bit again, it's quite enjoyable and i have nothing fun to do between now and RADA and I want to keep myself busy. I still absolutely love reading my books and I do it quite a lot but you can't sit and read for hours on end, it's mostly a thing I do in the late hours when my room is full of lit candles etc. I love candle light by the way, totally dumped electric lights these last few days and just used candle lights, it really sets to mood for a nice film or book I tell ya. I really should get to buying a pipe or a few cigars soon again.

The other night after watching Runaway Train I was emotional the whole night until I finally slept. I still can't listen to the end tune that you hear in the film that I linked to in a earlier post, it just brings backs the memories of the situation, the film and all that. THAT what films/acting is about isn't it? When it touches someone like that. Not going to lie though, acting isn't end-all be-all of my life, by no means at all. It's mostly a JOB that I love to do. Don't get me wrong I love the art of acting and I (sometimes) can't get enough of it but at the end of the day there are a million other things I want to spend my time doing too. I would literally give up my life to walk on the moon or mars.

This post is quickly spinning out of hand, a lot happening in this little brain. My point was when I started writing was that I used to work out, I quit, might start again, 2-3 times a week to keep busy, that is all. Jesus christ... 

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Beuatiful Death + Poem


[Source: kottke.org]

I thought this pic was really beautiful and doesn't make you believe what it really is, a beautiful death. It kind of is an iconic picture automatically for me... a bit odd.

I'll copy and paste what kottke.org wrote I hope they don't mind but I can't be paraphrasing :)

"On May 1, 1947, Evelyn McHale leapt to her death from the observation deck of the Empire State Building. Photographer Robert Wiles took a photo of McHale a few minutes after her death.

The photo ran a couple of weeks later in Life magazine accompanied by the following caption:

On May Day, just after leaving her fiancé, 23-year-old Evelyn McHale wrote a note. 'He is much better off without me ... I wouldn't make a good wife for anybody,' ... Then she crossed it out. She went to the observation platform of the Empire State Building. Through the mist she gazed at the street, 86 floors below. Then she jumped. In her desperate determination she leaped clear of the setbacks and hit a United Nations limousine parked at the curb. Across the street photography student Robert Wiles heard an explosive crash. Just four minutes after Evelyn McHale's death Wiles got this picture of death's violence and its composure.

From McHale's NY Times obituary, Empire State Ends Life of Girl, 20:

At 10:40 A. M., Patrolman John Morrissey of Traffic C, directing traffic at Thirty-fourth Street and Fifth Avenue, noticed a swirling white scarf floating down from the upper floors of the Empire State. A moment later he heard a crash that sounded like an explosion. He saw a crowd converge in Thirty-third Street.

Two hundred feet west of Fifth Avenue, Miss McHale's body landed atop the car. The impact stove in the metal roof and shattered the car's windows. The driver was in a near-by drug store, thereby escaping death or serious injury.

On the observation deck, Detective Frank Murray of the West Thirtieth Street station, found Miss McHale's gray cloth coat, her pocketbook with several dollars and the note, and a make-up kit filled with family pictures.

The serenity of McHale's body amidst the crumpled wreckage it caused is astounding. Years later, Andy Warhol appropriated Wiles' photography for a print called Suicide (Fallen Body), but I can't find a copy of it anywhere online.Anyone?"

Fitting poem by Joyce Kilmer called "To A Young Poet Who Killed Himself"

"

To a Young Poet who Killed Himself

BY JOYCE KILMER

When you had played with life a space
And made it drink and lust and sing,
You flung it back into God's face
And thought you did a noble thing.
"Lo, I have lived and loved," you said,
"And sung to fools too dull to hear me.
Now for a cool and grassy bed
With violets in blossom near me."

Well, rest is good for weary feet,
Although they ran for no great prize;
And violets are very sweet,
Although their roots are in your eyes.
But hark to what the earthworms say
Who share with you your muddy haven:
"The fight was on — you ran away.
You are a coward and a craven."

"The rug is ruined where you bled;
It was a dirty way to die!
To put a bullet through your head
And make a silly woman cry!
You could not vex the merry stars
Nor make them heed you, dead or living.
Not all your puny anger mars
God's irresistible forgiving.

"Yes, God forgives and men forget,
And you're forgiven and forgotten.
You may be gaily sinning yet
And quick and fresh instead of rotten.
And when you think of love and fame
And all that might have come to pass,
Then don't you feel a little shame?
And don't you think you were an ass?""