Well, obviously it has been a while since I approached this magnificent web site. "Why?" you ask. Well, it's like this. I have been sort of disilusioned by the multitudinous array of "experts" who have climbed out of the woodwork to take advantage of the influx of movie making in the state of New Mexico to reap huge monetary rewards through "tutoring" aspiring actors from the Land of Enchantment. Interestingly enough, damned few of those of us who have trusted our dollars to their industry "expertise" have moved ahead in the world of acting. Perhaps a few have been assigned to minor acting roles - one or two lines - but not one that I know of has become successful in gaining meaningful employment in the field of acting.
So, I have decided to let the chips fall as they may, and rely heavily upon my agent and my own ingenuity to get myself moving in this terrific business.
Meanwhile, I have been spending a lot of my time traveling around these great United States, observing how my fellow Americans are living and enjoying their lives. I have learned that New York City and Chicago in particular are two magnificent cities. I love going to both places, and can hardly wait to return to either of them. I have visited Branson, Missouri, and have found that town to be somewhat "tinseltown"-like. It is an entertainment giant, with performers and wannabees at just about every restaurant in town. Unfortunately for them, just like the lack of fortune for us here in New Mexico who aspire to excel in the entertainment industry, the performers in Branson perform mostly for tips. But I guess even that is better than not performing at all.
Anyway, I have just returned from Virginia where I visited an old and dear friend of mine whom I served with in the US Navy back in the sixties. He and his wife have become family to me and my wife. We so much enjoy being with them. It is always a laugh a minute when we are around them.
While we visited Roanoke, Virginia, I found an old friend or mine, actually she was a student of mine when I was student teaching at Andrew Lewis High School in Salem, Virginia, back in the early seventies. It was a real thrill speaking with her on the phone and making contact again after so long a separation. When she was a student at ALHS, she was a funny, funny young lady. Turns out she still is. She really makes me laugh.
I also enjoy taking photos of just about everything I see, but particularly people, when I am traveling. The problem with that is that I use a digital camera, and I always take far too many photos, and my collection is already almost unmanageable. But I love doing it, and I shall continue.
Recently I landed at La Guardia Airport in New York City, and was walking down one of the passageways thinking to myself what a wonderful place New York City is. I saw a sign that read, "Welcome to La Guardia", so I stopped and took a picture. A security guard was walking along the passageway toward me, and I just knew he was going to say something to me about taking the photo. He was walking along with a delightful young lady and I knew he was going to impress her by exerting his authority. So, after walking past me with the lady at his side, he turned around, approached me boldly and asked the following brilliant questioin, since I was pointing the camera, and the flash was firing, "Are you taking pictures?"
"Yes." I responded.
"What are you taking pictures of?" he demanded.
"I was taking a picture of the 'Welcome to Laguardia" sign." I lied.
"Well, you had better not be taking photos of the Logos!" he demanded.
Not fully understanding to what he was referring, I assured him I wouldn't. So, I now have a photo of this turd and his prey and he doesn't even know. Or maybe he does. Perhaps he was merely flexing his muscles to impress the young lady. He did not impress me.
Later I met my son in downtown New York, and we had a couple of beers together. He is quite a character, my son. He is retired from the Albuquerque Police Department, and is now free to travel as he chooses. This time he chose to travel with me.
We were in New York because he had won two tickets to go see the live broadcasting of Saturday Night Live. It was a real gem of an experience. We spent Saturday walking around the Times Square area, generally having a great time. We even went to the top of the Rock. What a view from there. Photos are included in the photo section of this site. Later we went to the broadcast, and as we waited in line, we saw Kiki Barber walk past our group. When we got inside the theater, we got fairly good seats and immensely enjoyed the broadcast hosted by Bon Jovi. At the end of the broadcast, Jack Nicholson came to the stage. What a thrill that was.
The next day we returned to Albuquerque with lots of warm fuzzy memories of our trip to New York. We also had a few souvenirs for those who did not get to participate in the experience.
Day ta day Funny thing is, though, since the movie business is expanding here in New Mexico, "Acting Teachers, Coaches, Mentors, Trainers, Guides, etcetera, have been oozing out of the wookwork. One "Trainer" started off a program by annuncing that they had a degree in engineering from MIT. As time passed, and she began getting more and more students, the degree became a degree in acting from Harvard or some such backwoods school. So, I suspect that those of us aspiring to "make-it" as actors here in New Mexico are going to have to be far more cautious with whom we place our dollar bills. As for me, I have attended a training class in Los Angeles taught by Bob Fraser which I felt was a most valuable experience. His course is entitled, You Must Act. And you can contact him through You Must Act.com. If that is not correct, contact me, and I'll get the correct address for you. Another really good trainer here in Albuquerque is Steve Willmon. He has a studio on Morningside NE, and his classes are very actor centered. In lieu of sitting, listening to some alleged Instructor go on and on about the same stuff you can easily read in just about any book on acting, Steve brings his students together in front of a camera during each class. Later we get a chance to observe the film and hear valuable advice from both him and students about the performances. I find that style far more valuable to me than sitting listening to an instructor tell how great they are, or listening to an instructor giving pin-point instructions to another student. So, from this point forward, by training will be from Steve Willmon. Check him out if you are interested. On Monday, I had an audition that I completely blew because of the stressful experience I had over the weekend. So, I just hope that I can contnue to get more chances to audition, because, I AM NOT DONE YET! Aside from those minor problems, my life is going quite nicely. My "Real" friends are keeping in touch and are very supportive, and that is very important to me. I appreciate all of you. Oh, did I mention that I have a new cat? Yeah, my daughter and her family moved in with us for a while, and when she left, she conveniently forgot her cat Well, as they say, bye, bye. Email me. Call me. Love me. But don't abandon me. Gary |