Wow. I just read my last entry. It's pretty feisty. The culmination of a few things that I guess have been simmering for awhile. Anyway, moving along! Can you believe I'm just three weeks away from my one year anniversary in LA? Which happens to coincide with my Mum coming to visit - really looking forward to seeing you, Mum. Maybe it's my recent birthday, maybe the impending anniversary, maybe the growing anticipation of visiting Melbourne in just a couple of months' time, but I'm suddenly homesick. Last night I watched a terrific Aussie film, made in Melbourne, which was released a couple of years ago; Noise. It was critically acclaimed but had a brief run in cinemas and I never saw it on the big screen. It's a tense, quiet, drama about a reluctant cop (played by the very talented Brendan Cowell) suffering tinnitis (a constant ringing in the ears) on the periphery of an investigation into the slaughter of seven people on a train. The Lilydale line. It was excellent; tautly written and beautifully acted. And I got such a kick out of seeing the familiar green and yellow-striped silver train, recognising scenes shot in the city loop, hearing those laconic, lilting Aussie accents.
The latest news is that I'm moving house again. Not far though, just into an apartment upstairs. Hooray! No more creaking floorboards cracking and groaning in the middle of the night as my restless upstairs neighbour walks around in circles just to torture me. Yes, I'm taking it personally. When my sleep is disturbed I'm known to become a little irrational. Even murderous (not that I've ever gone through with it, but I have passed the time, while otherwise prevented from sleeping, in fantasies of jumping repeatedly on his head). So, at the end of September I'm moving out of this dark, noisy little apartment into a lighter, brighter place upstairs sharing with two other girls.
During the week I auditioned for a Chevy commercial. From the brief notes I received about the commercial, it was all about the working people; they wanted "real, interesting faces" and the guys didn't need to shave. Generally when I go in for these auditions, I don my American accent, giving them no reason to think I might be from anywhere else. This time was different. I was ushered into the casting room with two other women, about the same age. One was Asian, the other strawberry blonde. We were lined up in a row facing the camera and then one by one asked a few questions, an on-camera "chat" with the casting director. I was third in line. It transpired that the blonde was French and the Asian was in fact Japanese, and neither had an American accent. It was surely no coincidence that we three foreigners were brought in together. I therefore decided not to hide my natural accent when it was my turn to "chat." I have no idea what any of this had to do with a Chevy Silverado.
The audition was conveniently timed late enough in the afternoon that I was able to go after work. And it was in Santa Monica which then gave me the perfect opportunity to catch up with Frankie, a former IBIS colleague who doesn't have a car and therefore has apparently not ventured far beyond the Santa Monica/Venice ghetto. We shared a drink and shot the breeze, compared dating stories (she declares having completely given up on American men) and remarked on the fact that she has just reached her one-year anniversary in the United States. My how time flies. I miss you, Melbourne.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Date rant
OK, what is it with men in LA? Is it just that most of the ones I meet are actors? I'm sick of actors: flakey, self-absorbed, iPhone-addicted, waiting-for-the-best-offer, bozos! Ugh, I'm so bored with shop-talk, so sick of this inability to commit to anything further in the future than a couple of hours - I'm not talking about marriage, let's start with coffee! Good grief. Maybe I'm being too tough on actors, maybe it's an LA state of mind. Make a date and wait for the "running late" or "sorry, something came up" text message. Traffic is usually blamed; I'm sorry, we're all aware how bad the traffic can be, make allowances for it! Yes, yes, I'm generalising. And, thankfully, I have friends who are not flakey at all (even though most of them are actors). But I need to get this off my chest.
Many people have complained to me about the crappy state of the dating scene in LA. I've been surprised to discover several very attractive, very sweet young women who have resorted to online dating. And while I've been asked out on more dates here than a year in Melbourne, they've gone nowhere (in one case, because it turned out the guy had a girlfriend - cue eye-rolling and the obvious questions) or been cancelled before they took place. Hence, I declaim: what is it with men in LA? Grow some balls, guys. Not all the women here are superficial, money-grasping, fake-tanned, fake-boobed, botoxed predators. Some of us are worth getting to know. Some of us will enrich your life, if you'll just let us in.
Many people have complained to me about the crappy state of the dating scene in LA. I've been surprised to discover several very attractive, very sweet young women who have resorted to online dating. And while I've been asked out on more dates here than a year in Melbourne, they've gone nowhere (in one case, because it turned out the guy had a girlfriend - cue eye-rolling and the obvious questions) or been cancelled before they took place. Hence, I declaim: what is it with men in LA? Grow some balls, guys. Not all the women here are superficial, money-grasping, fake-tanned, fake-boobed, botoxed predators. Some of us are worth getting to know. Some of us will enrich your life, if you'll just let us in.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Birthdaze
I’ve been considering what the theme of the last couple of weeks has been. My impulse is to say sexual frustration but then I recall that my parents read this blog and that might be awkward. What about birthday anticipation? Yes, perhaps that’s more accurate. I believe birthdays are something to be celebrated; I mean, you either embrace it or you get hung up on numbers and time ticking ever onward (ever more speedily) and all the things you wish you’d done or wish you had, and soon enough you’re in a complete funk about the whole thing. Boo hoo! Well, how lovely that I now have some awesome friends in LA to help me celebrate, and I’ve still got awesome friends in Melbourne and Paris helping me celebrate long-distance – with the bonus of different time zones extending the warm fuzzies – congratulations from three continents!
Work has been busy the last couple of weeks and I’ve got some acting projects on the boil. For a start, we’ve begun a class project at Sport of Acting, rehearsing some short plays (all written by the same author – not me) under the guidance of some director friends of Vinny’s. The plays are very well-written, delightful little numbers with some great characters so this is shaping up as a fun project. I’ve also approached a couple of directors (including Beaten Hearts’ Cindy) about helming a short film from one of my plays. On the weekend I met with a girl who cast me in a TV project at USC earlier this year. She has since graduated and is looking to take the next step in her career as a writer/director. We had a great chat and she took away some scripts to read. Hopefully, she’ll like one of them enough to come on board.
In other news I’ve invested in some personal training sessions, to ensure an extra hard workout once a week now that, as a working woman, I’m unable to get to the gym as often as I did when unemployed. The PT sessions (three so far) have been awesome butt-kicking workouts with the added bonus of a hot, flirty trainer (well, aren’t they all!). In fact, he went so far as to ask me out but then cancelled. Twice. I mean, really, what was all that about? Just as well he’s such a good trainer. So the flirting continues, safe in the knowledge it ain’t going anywhere. I’m still getting along to a step class once a week, which is fun. Although I do miss Nada and Sophie’s classes at Genesis, Prahran, which were faster and the choreography changed more frequently. We do the same thing every week at Bally, with the same music. Every now and then she’ll throw in a new sequence, but more often than not, she’ll resurrect an old sequence that we did ad nauseum two months ago. But I think this is what the other regulars like about the class; most of them are over 50 and have been regulars for 15 years. They like doing what they’ve always done, are comforted by the familiarity. Bless them.
Enjoyed some impromptu birthday business last night (the evening of the 17th in LA) when acting class was cancelled, suddenly freeing up the whole evening. A few classmates joined me at my local bar where we had a jolly time with laughs, beer, prosecco, calamari and profiteroles. More drinks planned for this weekend – oh dear, we Aussies do equate celebrating with drinking, don’t we?
 |
| Fabulous hamper from BB, Tiff and Lee - thanks ladies! |
Work has been busy the last couple of weeks and I’ve got some acting projects on the boil. For a start, we’ve begun a class project at Sport of Acting, rehearsing some short plays (all written by the same author – not me) under the guidance of some director friends of Vinny’s. The plays are very well-written, delightful little numbers with some great characters so this is shaping up as a fun project. I’ve also approached a couple of directors (including Beaten Hearts’ Cindy) about helming a short film from one of my plays. On the weekend I met with a girl who cast me in a TV project at USC earlier this year. She has since graduated and is looking to take the next step in her career as a writer/director. We had a great chat and she took away some scripts to read. Hopefully, she’ll like one of them enough to come on board.
In other news I’ve invested in some personal training sessions, to ensure an extra hard workout once a week now that, as a working woman, I’m unable to get to the gym as often as I did when unemployed. The PT sessions (three so far) have been awesome butt-kicking workouts with the added bonus of a hot, flirty trainer (well, aren’t they all!). In fact, he went so far as to ask me out but then cancelled. Twice. I mean, really, what was all that about? Just as well he’s such a good trainer. So the flirting continues, safe in the knowledge it ain’t going anywhere. I’m still getting along to a step class once a week, which is fun. Although I do miss Nada and Sophie’s classes at Genesis, Prahran, which were faster and the choreography changed more frequently. We do the same thing every week at Bally, with the same music. Every now and then she’ll throw in a new sequence, but more often than not, she’ll resurrect an old sequence that we did ad nauseum two months ago. But I think this is what the other regulars like about the class; most of them are over 50 and have been regulars for 15 years. They like doing what they’ve always done, are comforted by the familiarity. Bless them.
Enjoyed some impromptu birthday business last night (the evening of the 17th in LA) when acting class was cancelled, suddenly freeing up the whole evening. A few classmates joined me at my local bar where we had a jolly time with laughs, beer, prosecco, calamari and profiteroles. More drinks planned for this weekend – oh dear, we Aussies do equate celebrating with drinking, don’t we?
 |
| L to R: Alex, Summer, CC |
 |
| Flanked by James and Mark |
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Write On!
I’ve been writing! Sketches mostly. I know I’ve been irregular with the blogging, mea culpa.
The little sketch comedy show I was in finished up last week to an appreciative audience of two plus a homeless man who wandered in about halfway through to take a nap in between random muttering. Perhaps we were disturbing him. Or perhaps he had just shown up early for the AA meeting which took place after the show. Suzanne, dear friend that she is, came along to the final performance, laughed loudly and dragged me off to a bar afterwards where a friend of hers was having a party. There we got chatted up by a couple of middle-aged lawyers: Roy and Randy (“He’s the rest and I’m the relaxation”), I kid you not. They were nice enough fellows, but no thanks. Sometimes I wish I had it in me to be rude enough to say at a certain point “I have to talk to someone else now, bye!” They both gave me their card. I guess I know who to call if I ever need legal advice… especially with regards to real estate dealings… ace.
Everyone is talking about Inception. I’m over it. What a heap of hyperbolic hoo-ha. Hey, I enjoyed it, it’s very entertaining, but it is NOT the greatest film ever made. Basically, it’s little more than a heist film with arresting visuals, but it seems to have a lot of people hoodwinked into thinking it’s deep and philosophical and complicated. It’s not really. As far as films that play with ideas of memory and dreams (and the manipulation of both), then Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind goes a lot further, has richer characters and ultimately a point to make about the importance of memories in shaping who we are and how we learn from our experiences. Come to think of it, so does Hitchcock’s Spellbound (which comes complete with Salvador Dali dream sequence). That being said, I applaud the making of a film that is not based on a TV show or video game and that does not rely on the star power of its actors for success. I’m glad it is doing so well and hope that the Hollywood power-brokers recognize the value of investing in original scripts.
The little sketch comedy show I was in finished up last week to an appreciative audience of two plus a homeless man who wandered in about halfway through to take a nap in between random muttering. Perhaps we were disturbing him. Or perhaps he had just shown up early for the AA meeting which took place after the show. Suzanne, dear friend that she is, came along to the final performance, laughed loudly and dragged me off to a bar afterwards where a friend of hers was having a party. There we got chatted up by a couple of middle-aged lawyers: Roy and Randy (“He’s the rest and I’m the relaxation”), I kid you not. They were nice enough fellows, but no thanks. Sometimes I wish I had it in me to be rude enough to say at a certain point “I have to talk to someone else now, bye!” They both gave me their card. I guess I know who to call if I ever need legal advice… especially with regards to real estate dealings… ace.
Everyone is talking about Inception. I’m over it. What a heap of hyperbolic hoo-ha. Hey, I enjoyed it, it’s very entertaining, but it is NOT the greatest film ever made. Basically, it’s little more than a heist film with arresting visuals, but it seems to have a lot of people hoodwinked into thinking it’s deep and philosophical and complicated. It’s not really. As far as films that play with ideas of memory and dreams (and the manipulation of both), then Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind goes a lot further, has richer characters and ultimately a point to make about the importance of memories in shaping who we are and how we learn from our experiences. Come to think of it, so does Hitchcock’s Spellbound (which comes complete with Salvador Dali dream sequence). That being said, I applaud the making of a film that is not based on a TV show or video game and that does not rely on the star power of its actors for success. I’m glad it is doing so well and hope that the Hollywood power-brokers recognize the value of investing in original scripts.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
