Let’s dance!

My good friend and hyper-happy gal Valerie (she’s just fabulous!) is organizing a flash mob for National Dance Day. I am definitely ready to “Shake It.” The video above is the selected routine for the event on July 30 at 1:00. You can find all the details including rehearsal time for tomorrow by clicking HERE. You can also click that you WILL be attending the fun!! C’mon. 50 seconds of your life isn’t going to kill you is it? Maybe the rehearsing will, but not the performance.

I would like to invite all of you wonderful people to please join us for some fun and to celebrate dancing regardless of what “level” you are. Do it to have fun. Do it because you know you love to dance.

I am doing it because of those reasons and because I’ve gotta put my money where my mouth is, right? You don’t wanna dance? Fine. Get outside and cheer us on!

Even if it’s only me and Val, we are gonna tear it UP!!!

If you are nervous about jumping into a NappyTabs routine, there are other choices that I have down below. Val chose the routine because the ballroom was a little too easy and the “intermediate” one was too girly. Personally, I don’t think many people are into ballroom, and the other one is just some recycled Pussycat Dolls moves. It’s pretty boring. So I would have chosen the same routine.

Let’s say you can’t make it to our little shin dig because you live on the East Coast, send me a link to your dance, I would LOVE to see it. I’ll even share it if you’d like. It doesn’t even have to be a big group. If you wanna do a number in your living room, more power to ya! I’ll share that too. Just dance!

Gotta comment, don’t be shy! Let me know what you think and if you are going to dance at all on July 30!

It’s Time to Ante Up…

“I will not die an unlived life. I will not live in fear of falling or catching fire. I choose to inhabit my days, to allow my living to open me, to make me less afraid, more accessible, to loosen my heart until it becomes a wing, a torch, a promise. I choose to risk my significance; to live so that which comes to me as seed goes to the next as blossom and that which comes to me as blossom, goes on as fruit.” – Dawna Markova

A friend of mine once told me, even after I’ve read it in other places, “If you want it bad enough, just give it to the universe. It will help you.” I wish it was that easy. But it’s not. Shucks! You have to help move the process along.

I’ve finally dug my heels into the ground and have signed up for my first acting seminar up in San Francisco! It’s quite exciting. A lot of useful information can be learned but here’s the catch, it’s a one hour introductory seminar. Still, I will be moving in the right direction and I have to walk before I can run, right? And what might I be running to? Well, dear reader, my goal is to have some sort of representation by July of 2012.

So I’m “giving it to the Universe.”

In addition to the seminar tonight (7/21), I am hopefully going to score some tickets to the City Lights “Nine” preview that will have some opportunities for networking. I am a horrible schmoozer, so I can’t quite say I am excited for the show, but *cheerleader kick to the front and raise hand overhead* “Goooo…get’em!!” Aww man, the jittery hands are already starting. I hate it when I freak myself out!

Okay, Mr. Universe, you and me are gonna make it happen! Not the bodybuilder guy. blech!!

Here goes everything.

✸✸ Jedi Mind Trick ✸✸

“This IS the show that you want to see this weekend.”

Last night we went to go and see the One Man Star Wars Trilogy at the San Jose Rep. I am not sure why, but I told Perry we should leave much earlier than normal so we find parking. He thought that we should be fine because it was a Thursday and nothing really happens on a Thursday in downtown San Jose. So we hop in the car around 7:20 and head over to the theatre. When we get off the freeway, I notice that there are a very large number of high school age students out and about. I mean a lot! I mention this and say maybe there’s something going on. Turn the corner on San Carlos and we can hear Music in the Park is happening. On top of that, the next performers were the Neon Trees. I love the Neon Trees. Bummer! Then we get to the parking garage and it’s full. So we have to park over near the freeway exit and power walk to the Rep. I don’t do that so well.

We had 13 minutes before the show started.

We get into the building with 2 minutes to spare, and as we walk down the isle the cell phone reminder is playing overhead. We squeeze past the people we are sitting next to just as the house goes pitch black, so I keep trying to go farther than I need to stepping on Perry before realizing I am right in front of my seat.

Then a single spotlight begins to light up the stage as Charles Ross vocalizes the opening music of the Star Wars movie. He is a tall fellow in a black jump suit that only makes him look taller. There is nothing else on the stage, and as he get more and more into the movie, you find there doesn’t need to be. Your imagination begins plugging in the movie images he creates with his body. At times, I remember thinking that it felt like I was watching a kid playing on that stage trying to explain to his friends a movie they had never seen. You could see that he genuinely enjoyed being a fan of the franchise and performing this show.

Mr. Ross takes only the essential parts of the script that move the movie along and uses those in his show. So some things like the iconic Jedi Mind Trick “These are not the droids your looking for” and the Han Solo vs. Greedo scene aren’t in the show and Leia’s “Scruffy looking, nerf hearder” line is also omitted. Although, I am very interested to hear his take on the Han v. Greedo scene.

The transitions from scene to scene are fluid and dissolve into one another with ease. The lighting tech and the actor have this show down the a science.

My favorite parts, aside from the little talk session he had at the end of the show, were the Death Star blowing up (Twice), the Luke attack by the Wompa, and his dead on impression of an AT-AT Walker. Oh yeah, and his Chewbacca reaction at the end of A New Hope. Oh, oh and his dead on impression of the Emperor at the end of Return of the Jedi. HILARIOUS!!!

You really do want to see this amazing show. It’s only an hour long, but I feel like the tickets are totally worth it. He has crafted a truly funny love letter to the original Star Wars Trilogy that every fan boy/girl can love and appreciate. For more information on show times, click HERE.

You can read an interview with Mr. Ross in the Metro.

Check out what I mean.

The Harry Potter finale…FINALLY!! (updated)

I remember the time many years ago when I sat in the movie theatre and waited for the lights to dim. I was giddy for the movie to start after standing in line for nearly an hour and a half. (Not like the die hards that were there for 5+ hours) The movie was “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.”

I remember thinking how remarkably close to the book and my imagination that it was. Yeah, the quidditch graphics were pretty corny, but it was new ideas, so I didn’t care. I could not get my head around how well the story translated to the screen. I mean right off the page, it felt like.

Granted, Harry, Ron and some of the other kids, weren’t stellar actors in that first movie, but they seemed to get the hang of it after the second movie. Emma Watson was an exception though. She’s a very talented gal. They still took me to a land far away filled with magic and mischief and a little danger. And I loved every minute of it.

Tonight, I am going to see how it all ends. Aside from the first two or three books, I haven’t read the series, so I have no idea what to expect. Since they (the books) came out with so much time in between, I basically forgot about them. I will tell you though that I’ll be pretty disappointed if there aren’t any surprises.

So here’s to you Ms. Rowling for a fabulous ride!! Cheers!

UPDATE: “I want to see it again!!” Those were my exact words when we stepped out into the night air after the early viewing of “Deathly Hallows Part 2.” Once again the world of J.K. Rowling made me long to be a wizard. As I saw nearly everyone from the past movies, I secretly (well I guess not so much now) wished that this wasn’t the last. There were unexpected moments so I wasn’t let down. Although I did wish the final battle with Voldemort was a little more intense. If you haven’t read the last book, you are still going to enjoy the film. If you have, I think you’re gonna love it.

I still want to see it again!!

♩♩♫ What’s Love Got To Do, Got To Do With It? ♪♬♩♩

Only EVERYTHING!!!

If you aren’t doing something that you love, you need to step back and reassess some stuff. Having celebrated yet another birthday at the beginning of the month, I contemplated my reality vs. my wishes and I know that something has to give somewhere or I am going to lose my ever-loving mind.

I have since done such a thing. Hence my absence from Facebook and this site. I have to admit that at first I was scared and the mere thought of looking at my life with a magnifying glass made me sweat like I was running for my life. In some senses, I guess one could say that I was, er…am. I’ve even gone so far as to reassemble my Dayrunner and actually have appointments written in it. Not like the time I bought it and left it completely blank. I think the most exciting part of buying it was that first time I got to put everything together.

I’ve refocused my energies back into the things that I love the most. Of course, I’m sure you all know that it’s the Arts. Dance classes are going really well. The drive is kind of a pain because of the amount of gas it takes. Don’t get me wrong, I love being in the car. I think I am part dog when it comes to that respect. It’s just so fun! I still feel out of sync with some stuff because they are in the middle of learning routines. Having to jump in and learn on the fly has been challenging, but I am finding that the more that I figure out the steps and get them right the more excited I feel about trying to figure out the rest of the dance. I appreciate the positive feedback that I am getting, but part of me sometimes feels like it’s only because I am one of the few guys in the studio. I am giddy for the corrections that I know I need.

I’m trying to find the best course of action to take for a vocal coach and an acting studio to work with on a consistent basis. Here’s the problem, they are always SO expensive!! Finding a teacher that I can afford with some sort of steady training would be wonderful, but when the ends are just barely meeting, it’s kinda tough to find a way to stretch the funds. It’s gonna take some creative budgeting, and I’ve never really done well with sticking to a budget, so I smell trouble.

But because I love this stuff, I’ve decided that it must be done.