Update on the Insane (III)

So last week I had been to precisely zero rehearsals. Most canceled due to weather, one big one I never wrote in my calendar, so didn't know there WAS a rehearsal until the next day's email. "We missed you last night," came from the director. Consternation on my face, I check my little calendar. Nope, no rehearsal there. Then I check the emailed schedule. Hey look, there's a rehearsal I never wrote down.

And I felt horrible. I'm a pain in the ass about scheduling enough I don't want to miss the ones I DO get to go to. So to make it up I locked myself in a room for the weekend and got off book. I had about twenty pages done, but there were fifty more to go. Now that's done, all I have to worr yabout is this damn character thing.

Rehearsal this week were, in a word, awesome. It just keeps getting better, and we've added a fun new element...

We're drinking together.

Two nights this week so far a bunch of us have made it to the nearest bar, and several of us were there when the lights went off.

It's too damn scary that it's going so well.

In other news, I did a spec commercial today. Actually two at once, but it was great fun and they should be done in a week or two, so hopefully they will be someplace online for you to see them. They're very funny "Office"-ey type stuff.

A Love Song to My Town

I live in this wonderful little city called Northampton. Some of you may have heard of it. It's best known (or so I'm told) as the lesbian capital of the eastern seaboard. Check your fantasies at the door, frat boys. It might have a bit of that to it, but it's so much more.

Northampton in the 70's and early 80's was another broken mill town on the Connecticut River. No jobs, crime rampant, blah blah blah. Until a bunch of starving artists in New York couldn't afford to live ther anymore, and the rent in Noho was cheap.

Now it's a thriving haven for artists, to the ones who can afford it nowadays. (Real estate here is prohibitvely expensive.) Name your medium, it's probably living well here. (Except for community theater, but that's a much longer post.) Every day I go out onto the main drag I see something I've never seen before. Tonight it was a guy banging on a bucket and singing to it. To his defense, he sang well.

Because I'm a little bit of a lot of things, but not really great at one, I have never really 'fit into the mix'. I have good friends, great friends but I'm not the guy you turn to for a great tour of the parties of the town. I have a haunt where everybody knows my name. (Northampton Brewery, if you're in the area and miss it's amazing beer and incredible food, you should be brought up on charges.)

I could go on like this for a while, but what I really wanted to talk about was this amazing musician and friend that I had a ridculously long conversation with tonight. His name is Greg and you can check out his stuff here. I recommend 'The story of Catfish Slim'. It's what slide guitar is all about.

I bumped into him towards the end of the night, and we closed the bar and sat outside the bar and just talked about music for god knows how long. We've played together before, but he kinda breathes music the way I wish I could. I'm not a great player of music, but I think I write fairly well. Every time I listen to 'Catfish' I'm reminded of my failings. The best thing about Mr. Silvera is that he'll take your fears about music and make you realize how stupid it is. He's so inclusive about music you wish there were more musicians out there like him. the same goes to his partner, Josh Martin.

So I just wanted to give a tip of the hat to both of you bad boys, for your amazing music and your 'keepin it real'.

Give them a good listen. They deserve it. You've earned it. When I write something I hink you'll like to her, Reader, I'll post it.

You live for something, or die for...aw, hell just blow something up

So in a much needed break from reality and all its shortcomings, I went to see Rambo today.

Surprise, it didn't suck.

Okay it didn't suck when you remove the moral platitudes that just don't work, the poor direction given to really good actors (Julie Benz and Paul Schulze come to mind) and the underabundance of...uh...RAMBO-ness that you'd be expecting, it wasn't half bad. At least it didn't try to be something it wasn't. Now I have to go rent the other two bad ones. (The first was a really good movie.)

Update on the Insane (II)

First, I am continually thrilled with what the cast of Cuckoo is putting out, and we've had less than five rehearsals. Most of us barely know each other and moments are already happening, and scripts are still in hand. The terrifying thing is that it's going so well. I'm used to the early stages being such a mess that I keep looking up, waiting for the piano to fall on my head. Tomorrow night is the first post rehearsal drinks session, and I'm terribly excited to get to know these guys more. I think it'll be great to be able to talk about the show outside of rehearsal.

Next, a mild rant. I just finished watching all of Six Feet Under. Whoa. Earlier in the season I was itching to write a post about how much I had come to hate the show. They never shied away from taking an interesting choice, but how come I had grown to despise these characters so much? The final two episodes completely floored me, and I'm glad I never gave up. If you want to see great actors doing great acting, look no further.

Finally, the rewards of making friends. The director of The Hop and Cillian has invited me to be a part of a spec commercial. It shoots later this month. This is why you show up on time, ready to work, even though there's no money in it. You never know what will come back to you.