Songs My Mother Taught Me

Truly one of the best books I've read. More then a biography, which it is, it's also a very good book in general, full of great anecdotes that made me at times laugh and loud and made me (with a nice song to accompany) shed a little tear as well, especially at the end.

If you like a good read, you know what to do. You will enjoy it. More great tips from the blog that keeps on giving!

Cruise Control + Marlon Brando's Book

Not up to much these day not gonna lie. Parents coming back in a week and I do miss them dearly, especially my excentric wonderful mother, I wish I had a picture of her that I could show everybody but she is a little bit shy when it comes to these sort of things, hopefully later, when they get back home safely.

Life is on cruise control until August when school starts... that pesky pesky school. I say so because it's a crutch for me at this point, where I have to study and get points in order to be able to get into NYFA.

I am sometimes wondering if I should just be more realistic and start at something I can study in Sweden but then I take a good look around and say... fuck it. Do or die as they say. Acting classes starting in September though. They are going to teach us acting for beginners with Stanislavki's "System" which I've been reading, so it's amazing and I hope that will weed out the good from the bad. Let's face it, if you're a 19 year old twat who knows fuck all about acting you are not going to take an acting class with a strange name like Stanislavski... "Staniwhat?" Get some serious people in here, nice.

I got my damn book. And I had to go through hell and high water to get it as well. Since the book was printed in 1994 there was a very low chance of bookstores actually having them in, and I couldn't find it wherever I looked so I was starting to loose hope. Then I sent a little email to the wonderful people at Adlibris though and a kind woman actually sent me a link to an antique book site where I was able to find it finally. Was it the charm that did it who knows (probably not, but fuck it, if you can take free pats on the back do it).

I find the book indeed more interesting then I thought I would. I seem to identify with a lot of stuff he is talking about especially in the beginning where he is around my age. I am not sure If i like that or not actually, kinda creeps me out.

He says that he was always fond of watching people, and I find myself doing it a lot of times as well. I was once in a Starbucks in San Diego a few years back, having a bit of a break, taking a breather, when I saw this creapy looking boarderline hobo sitting maybe 2 meters away from this young beautiful asian girl. There were no words exchanged but his body language said it all for the next... half an hour, perhaps. I sat there watching him, watching her, for the longest time. The music that was playing in the backround, some sort of jazzy brazilian tune, was the perfect backround "music" for this "scene. I imidiately went back to the hostel to write this curious scene down in my little book I had back then. I love watching people. They say a picture says more then a thousand words but silence can say a million words.

What do you think he is thinking of?

Thinking Big pt.1

You know, there is a reason for the slow updates, mostly because the weather is so nice. When you sit outside on the knoll of our little garden, soaking up the sun, getting a little bit of color and reading "An Actor Prepares" by Stanislavski himself, having the most amazing barbeque, the last thing you think of really is blogging, but then all of a sudden in the middle of the night you get this urge of writing, it might be the coffee which you can see on the picture right next to my trusty pen and pad which let's me write whatever I wish from soul to paper.

I love and appreciate much more the old things, perhaps they have more soul unto them. 1950's vintage cars, love them. LP Players adore them, my trusty Yashica Mat, love it. I'm going to try to get some 120 size film for it very soon and start shooting some pictures, I've only heard great things about it. Does classic "old" things like that automatically get soul? Who knows but I love the energy and the feel from them.

For my, everything starts in the mind first. Now that I have firmly chosen my profession, I try not to do things that doesn't elevate my in one way or another as a better actor, it's all in the psychology of my mind. Not interested in going to clubs at all, never been though, or do some meaningless stuff that doesn't feed my soul, as Stella Adler put it. I did finish her book by the way (The Art of Acting) thought me a lot of things, things that Stanislavski goes deeper into obviously in his three books.

Books books books. Done reading one, got three more to go. Also trying to find Marlon Brando's own book "Songs my mother taught me", it seems to be out of stock everywhere I look though... what to do? I pray that they get some in stock very soon, dying to read it. Marlon Brando... which leads me to my next point, Last Tango In Paris, just watched it, in fact if you look at the picture on top you can see a still shot from it. When people ask me "Who is your favorite actor?" there isn't a surprise when I don't even hesitate to answer "Marlon Brando". It's not like I got a few people up high on the list, there is only one at the top, and everyone else falls behind accordingly.

Had a nice little session with our local cat, Mr Cat, outside the other day. It's not our cat, we don't own it, it's a wild cat I believe, it doesn't have a collar so it just goes around and does it's own thing and comes around to our place every once and again to get pats and a bit of fish. Some people have it bloody good... and I am definitely one of them. I'm counting my blessings don't worry about that. Look at the picture, isn't he the kings of his domain? Not gonna lie though, it did accidently scratch my hand (as if my hands weren't ravaged enough) and it immediately got infected from it's, what I assume to be since it's a wild cat, very infected claws, it's alright Mr Cat, you're forgiven for now.

GOOD NEWS EVERYBODY!. We all know that I plan on taking acting classes, 6pm'ish for 2-3h in Kulturama, just had a little look at their website the other day, looks like they put in acting classes for beginners that focuses on Stanislavskies method, if that isn't bloody good luck and a sign from the skies as if the heavens parted and a beam of light struck on my then I don't know what, I'm going to be there come hell or highwater.

Got more to blog but, this is getting a bit TOO long, even for the casual reader, if you made it this far, fucking congrats, now take a coffee break or something. it's quarter to 3am, I got a few more things that I wrote down on my trusty pad but, take that next time, better breaking up this into few parts rather then going on all night.

Love you darlings, bye bye!

Marlon Brando

Marlon Brando... As I am trying to get deeper and deeper into the mind of an actor I am quickly realizing that this guy is my favorite above all the others, for obvious reasons.

I've been watching documentaries and it pictures greatly how great he is, how intuitively he works, how everything seems to be so natural. If some people are born to act, then this guy is it. Some people just "got it" don't they? Where they just execute something just as they should and sometimes even better then imagined.

Turns out he was in Stella Adler's workshop, so I looked her up as well and fucking hell... I am realizing as I am listening to her and watching Brando in films such as "A Streetcar named Desire" and "On The Waterfront" how SHIT today's cinema is. I mean it's fucking appalling. My friend urged me for months to watch Lost, because I hadn't watched a single episode and since it seems to be the bees fucking knees I thought I'd give it a go.

I turned it off after two and a half episodes. (I didn't watch two and half eps in one run, keep your panties on)

I tell you what, if THAT is what I have to go up against when perhaps making films and being an actor and all that, even though I have absolutely zero experience in actual acting I feel like I have nothing to worry about at all. I am really patting the shit out of my back here but come on eh?

Great people make things look easy though, I know.

A lot to learn to. Long way to go. And what a lovely journey it shall be :)

Stella Adler then. STEEEELLAAAAAAAAAA. I am going to get her book and read it through and through. Going to keep it next to me like the fucking bible (fuck the bible), (play on words, woooo). Wherever I go, that book goes, if I take a shit, i'll have it in my left hand as I am wiping with the right one (aren't I poetic?). If I get robbed I'll give them the clothes off my back and my left nut before I give it up.

What if it turns out the book is outdated and shit? lol.

I feel like I need to do something great. Why as this feeling come all over me all of a sudden?

"The right man in the wrong place can make all the difference in the world"

Marlon Brando, you are #1.