How Do We Know It's Been A Busy Week?

It's obvious that things have been busy when we're running too hard to write about how busy we are. It's the inherent dichotomy of internet 'blogging, I guess...

Hey everyone... yes, Trish and I have been running our lilly-white butts off this week. It's been a great week, without a doubt, but busy nonetheless. So, here's a quick little snapshot of what's been happening (I might just get Trish to supplement my recollections this time around... but don't quote me on that. She's not That into sitting at the computer and writing...).

And just for fun, I've put my Windows Media Player on "random" while I write this. I'll preface each paragraph with the song that's playing as I write it because... Oh, I don't know why. Because I'm a big dork, and I've got diverse musical tastes, and... no, really it's because I'm a big dork).

(One Trick Pony, Nelly Furtado)Before we begin, though, I want to ask you all to sign one of those pesky internet petitions. Yeah, yeah, I know... my inbox is full of them every week too. This one is really important, though, and if you don't sign the petition I hope you'll visit Moveon.org and/or Savetheinternet.com to find out more about the issue.

(So Many Stars, Sergio Mendes) Here's the skinny: Congress is considering a new law that would end the free and open Internet that we know today. This 'blog is a feature of that "free and open internet -" I can post anything I want to up here, and my page has the same standing as WebMD, Yahoo, or any other page on the internet. You can find me on the search engines, and you can get to me be plugging my address into your address bar. The internet, as we know it today, is a great equalizer- small businesses and individuals can compete with big business and government on a "level playing field" at a comparatively low cost (I mean, come on... sites like Blogger and MySpace are totally free, and their traffic is dictated by the content on those sites, not by the business deals that the creators of the sites put in place or the advertising they've paid for).

(Be My Number Two, Joe Jackson) Of course, there's the added benefit that the "free and open" internet gives dissenting voices a forum to speak in. Consider that when Bill Clinton was in office, the majority of the traffic to internet 'blogs was directed at conservative outlets like Drudgereport.com and Restate.org. Now that Bush is in office, the majority of the traffic is to non-conservobot 'blogs like the Daily Kos, Liberal Oasis, Democracy Now, etc... The internet, since it has been public, has always been a place where the outsider can spread his or her dissenting views, and build communities around those views.

(Every Summer Night, Pat Metheny Group) Well, Internet providers like AT&T and Verizon are lobbying Congress hard to gut this idea of "Network Neutrality," which says that little guys like me have equal standing on the internet with big guys like Yahoo, Sony.com, etc. They want to be allowed to turn the internet into a pay-per-service zone, wherein they can direct traffic to web sites that have paid for preferential treatment. This is more than Google Ads appearing at the top of the search engines - this would fundamentally change the internet as we view it today. Those who can't pay would be relegated to the back-waters, stuck in hard to find places with traffic routed to bigger, commercial sites instead.

(Kit Kat Jam, Dave Matthews Band) So, yeah, this is pretty important. If 'blogs like this one are going to survive as a vehicle for people's free speech... if most of the small businesses I construct web sites for are going to be able to offer their services inexpensively to compete with big corporations, we have to tell our legislators to stop this bill. Click here to sign Moveon.Org's petition. Click Here to visit Savetheinternet.com and find out more. This is VERY important.

(Rush, Yoko Kano) Ok, enough of that... here's what's been going on with us. I was just commenting to Trish that our lives had gotten so busy we can't keep track of each other's schedules any more.

(True, Spandau Ballet) I've definitely been cast in Sum of the Parts. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I auditioned for this locally produced film a couple of weeks ago and wasn't sure if the director, Raymond Steers liked what I did. I met up with Ray, his associate producer Hunter, and a couple of others actors on Wednesday and they confirmed that if I want to be invloved with the project they'd love to have me. I have to admit, I'm pretty pumped by this! If you've seen the clip at sumoftheparts.com, you know that the film has a pretty innovative use of split-screen, and the story is a big mish-mash of action, conspiracy and the meaning of life. I think the film's going to go far, and I'm very happy to be connected with it!

(Fireball, Deep Purple) I'm also going to appear in a new play on Monday, or at least a reading of a new play. It's called In Love With Mrs. R, and it's about Eleanor Roosevelt and the times she lived in. We had a rehearsal on Monday with the playwright, Dorothy Anton, and dramaturg Joan Holden. After reading over the script, Joan asked a lot of very good questions that prompted discussion about the play and how it could be made better. We were scheduled to have another rehearsal on Wednesday, but I received a call from Dorothy that day saying that we were rescheduling the rehearsal to today because she'd completely re-written the script. So... I can't really tell you if the play is going to be any good or not, because I won't see the script for another two hours (I don't even know if it's still a musical) :) I can tell you that Dorothy has meticulously researched the Roosevelt family and the times they lived in. It should be an interesting night of theatre. If those of you in Portland would like to come out and see the reading, it'll be at The Coho Theatre at 2257 NW Raleigh Ave. (Click here for a map). The reading starts at 7pm.

(Cruising Down The River, Russ Morgan) We Spent Our Weekend With Lanford Wilson! Well, we spent last Sunday seeing Redwood Curtain and Sympathetic Magic at Profile Theatre, and Lanford Wilson did a talk-back after the matinee performance of Redwood Curtain. We also got drafted to drive Marshall Mason and Tanya Berezin back and forth to their hotel (it was a masters class just listening to them talk in the back seat). Trish, you want to fill in the details on this?

**NOTE: Trish actually wrote for quite a bit about her week with Lanford Wilson, but for some reason the Blogger system lost her work. So... you'll just have to take my word for it that it was a magical week. And lets keep our fingers crossed that she won't let this experience keep her from 'blogging ever again (she's pretty disheartened).

(All I Need, Michael Franks) We had new headshots taken on Monday by Owen Carey. Owen's not cheap, but he is the best in town when it comes to theatrical headshots. We were a little anxious about the session, and met with our agent Kaili last Friday to discuss the right "looks" for the photos, what kind of clothes to wear, etc. Her answer? "Just wear what you feel good in." The clothes, she explained, weren't the important part. It was more important to wear anything we were comfortable in, and have a good photo of us come out of the session.

(Casual Conversations, Supertramp) Even so, we ended up packing half our closets into suitcases and driving down to the Interstate Industrial District where Owen's studio is. He shot photos of me in three outfits, and Trish in four. We paid to have a stylist there (again, not cheap but worth it), and that made a huge difference. She spent a lot of time evening out our skin, getting our hair done right for the camera, and consulting on wardrobe (if you're looking for a stylist on a film project, I'd highly recommend Kathleen Chetlain. She's got a great eye, she's really nice, and great to work with. I can't sing that girl's praises enough!).

(Best of My Love, The Eagles) Unlike the last shots we had taken by Owen (sometime around 2000), this time he shot entirely digital photos. This means, of course, that we were able to see some previews of what the shots turned out like... and let me tell you, we're going to have a hard time picking just ONE to be the headshot we print up and hand out at auditions. Owen is incredible... for one thing, he's very comfortable in directing you ("Move your chin down, look over here, lets have a little bit of a smile...") to get the right shot. He's also a great believer in natural light - several of my shots were taken inside a wooden storage shed that I would have thought would be too dark to get a good shot from. Not so - Owen's a master. Those were actually some of the best shots of the session.

(Never Let Them See You Sweat, Go West) We should be getting a CD from Owen sometime early next week. We hand that off to our agent to get her picks, then we have the hard choice of figuring out which one we're going to send down to LA to get printed. I'll post a couple of the low-rez "preview" images from the CD when we get them on my MySpace profile... let me know what you think!

(People's Parties, Joni Mitchell) Incidentally, MySpace Rocks! Of course, I don't have to tell you MySpace users that... but I've been having a great time getting re-connected to old friends and staying in touch with current acquaintances. If you haven't checked it out for yourself, drop on by. Setting up an account is free (yeah, they have banner ads all over the site to pay for running it), and you'll be amazed by all the people with diverse interests who are on there. It's a great networking tool, too... I've gotten in touch with a lot of filmmakers via MySpace, and it's a handy way to keep yourself in their minds.

(Organza, Bob James) Work has been VERY busy this past week... I've been running from office to office all over town, plus launching a new website for a local naturopath: Meridian Natural Medicine. Want an alternative to the "traditional" healthcare system? Check Dr. Thomas out.

Well, I think that's the nutshell of what's been going on this week... Trish, did I forget anything?

Hope you're all doing well...

-Harold