Voodoo Jive

Song of the Day: Beastie Boys - Song for Junior

Beastie Boys - Song for Junior
from the album Hello Nasty

One great thing about the Beastie Boys is their ability to keep trying new things with their music. Starting out with punk rock, they ended up tapping into just about every genre out there on all of their albums, in one way or another.
This song, Song for Junior, is an example of a really enjoyable latin jazz groove where they just play and have fun.
I think that Hello Nasty is one of their best albums, because you can't put a finger on the genre; it's as if they just decided to try a little bit of everything on the entire album. They freed their minds, their asses followed, and we all got to enjoy it.

All Hail The Wireless Mighty Mouse

Nice. Of course, I just bought the wired Mighty Mouse when the new Apple Store opened on 5th Avenue, so I'm going a wee bit batshit because this always happens and I knew they were going to come out with this, but that's okay.

I'm having a problem getting my wired version to right-button click on my iBook. I thought that was part of the reason I spent $49 on a mouse, and part of the reason why this sweet little sexy piece of machinery costs $69...that I'd be able to take my PC desires with me on the Road to Jobs.

Hm...requires further investigation...

Jah, so the new one is out, you can drool at the Apple site...

Song of the Day: John Hiatt - I'm Satisfied

Photo: ©2006 David Manning

John Hiatt - I'm Satisfied
One great album it's on is Songs of the South: Farther Along

My friend David took this picture last Thursday in upstate New York at a groovy festival where Hiatt was playing.

The Little Acting Teacher That Could

This last week (and the weekend) was such a whirlwind that I didn't get to write about how the class turned out; the kids (that sounds so patronizing, but they are teenagers after all) had to perform a scene at the end of the week that I would be directing, and we would film it and play it back for them and I would go over their performance. It all turned out great.

In short, the kids loved the class - and they loved me. Well, at least 99%. They handed in their teacher reviews, and I was allowed to look at them later: all but one circled "inspirational" as the description for me (the other one I got was "good") and most left comments like "I learned so much in Dianna's class" or stated that scene study was their favorite of their classes.

At the graduation ceremony (of which I was suddenly informed that I would have to make a speech at later on that evening) I got emotional and stated, as I wiped away a few tears, that I was very proud to have been their teacher because of the level of growth and commitment they had shown in a week's time.

As I walked away from the stage my class stood up and applauded, screaming "we love you, Dianna!!!"

This was an amazing experience, and I'm proud of myself and of the kids. They totally rocked. I just hope that the folks over at New York Film Academy hire me to teach the adults now; because I think I could really shine there. I love teaching the kids, but I feel that I still work with one hand tied behind my back because I can't maybe express myself completely the way I'd like to or use scenes I want because of their age.

One thing that I found eerie and groovy at the same time was that as I really got into it with the students, I found myself becoming more and more like my father; I think at one point I even sounded like him, minus some of the colorful swearing.

I think I have found my calling.

Song of the Day: Praxis - Crash Victim/Black Science Navigator

Praxis - Crash Victim/Black Science Navigator
From the album Transmutation (Mutatis Mutandis)

A fabulous cyberfunk Bill Laswell production featuring Bootsy Collins, Buckethead, Bernie Worrell and Brain.

First Day of Class

It was rockin'. I just hope the kids got something out of it...I think they did. I was really flying by the seat of my pants because everything I thought up took a shorter period of time than I thought it would, and their attention span is really short, and I wanted to keep the class moving.

We ended up doing a whole bunch of stuff...from opening exercises for warm up to creative visualization to repetition exercises to improvs to scene readings.

They seemed to dig it. They got involved and applauded each other when they would get up and work. At first they thought the warmup exercises I did were strange...but after a while they got into it. There was a method to my madness, though, and I really wanted to get them cooking. By the end of class they were listening to everything I said.

I'm so tired...

There was one kid who has like ADD or something, and he looked totally bored and out of it the whole time - like he would have preferred to be somewhere juggling midgets in a circus than in my class...oh well. I guess you can't please them all.

Teaching at the New York Film Academy

Sorry to be MIA for a few days, but some exciting things have happened (and some good old fashioned family obligations, etc):

Mainly, I just got hired by the New York Film Academy to teach a one-week scene study class to high school students next week. I was going to take a few days off anyway for vacation, but now I'm also going to get to teach, make some bread, and possibly start a new career path that I've wanted to do for a while.

Anyhoo, this week was a jumble of suddenly getting asked to come in and audition/teach a mock 20 minute class; trying to get my act together for said mock class; and actually doing it and getting hired. I was so nervous, I thought I was going to have a heart attack. The teaching I've done is when I've taken over for the Ernie Martin Studio classes when Pop has been out of town or unavailable...or critiquing scenes in my theatre company and some other workshops. Teaching strangers, and kids to boot, is new unchartered territory...but I know I can do it.

Acting is one thing in my life I know a lot about - I've been around it all my life, it's in my blood. And it's something I'm passionate about. Now, to transfer that passion to teenagers...

I've had the gift of studying most of my life, in one way or another, with a man who has taught acting to greats like Sean Penn, Harvey Keitel, Calvin Levels, Ann Wedgeworth and Lorraine Bracco. The same way that many gifted teachers have learned the Craft from their teachers (the way Dad learned from Lee Strasberg) I have apprenticed with a great teacher. I'm not saying that I'm great yet - but I know what the hell I'm talking about. More so, I bet, than a lot of the folks you see with ads in Backstage.

How's THAT for tootin' my own horn?

I must say, formally, that this might not be possible if it wasn't for my friend David Robinette who is a teacher for NYFA. He's an amazing actor that I've had the privilege of working with on projects, and whom I look forward to collaborating with on others. Also a fellow student of my father's, he is a great actor, great teacher, and great friend.

In other news, I also have to go to my niece's one-year birthday party tomorrow, and I must leave tonight to go to their house in Westchester, so I'll be MIA until Sunday.

Song of the Day: Paul McCartney - Vanilla Sky

Photo: Steve Pyke

Paul McCartney - Vanilla Sky
from the soundtrack of the film, Vanilla Sky

I always get a kick out of going off on Tom Cruise because he's such a freak, but this movie was actually good, I thought, is spite (or because, in part) of him. The soundtrack is just awesome, though.

RIP Syd Barrett

Photo: www.pinkfloydsound.it

The death of Syd Barrett, co-founder of Pink Floyd, was announced today.

Some of the most brilliant minds that have walked this earth, in arts or science or any medium, are sometimes the most troubled. That was the case for Barrett.

Shine On, You Crazy Diamond. You will be missed.

Song of the Day: Stealers Wheel - Stuck in the Middle With You

Stealers Wheel - Stuck in the Middle With You
from the album Stuck in the Middle With You

Cute Overload: "Breakfast of Champions 2"

I love Cute Overload. Bottom line. Their most recent photo, above, is possibly one of the cutest pics I've seen in a while.

It's also very relevant to how my holiday week has been going...I mean, I gave up some food for dieting purposes, but I'm still a lush, dammit.

That little female Pug has good taste in beer...

Throwing Some Weight Around: What Is A Healthy Weight?

Well, it's that time again in my life when things seem to have slipped out of my control and I've started to creep up the scale again. I swear to God, this pisses me off. My whole life I've had a weight problem, and I remember actually thinking in February that I had licked this issue; that I had my weight under control and didn't need to focus or worry about it as much.

Christ, that was the beginning of the end. After my birthday party, where I really thought I looked good, I started to get more stressed out about certain things...and I started to eat. I also wasn't going to the gym, due to having blown out my knees a couple of month prior, and had been in physical therapy. But the knees were much better by that point, and I should have carted my ass to the gym. A day here or there not going turned into a week. Then a month.

Suddenly I was paying for a gym membership that I hadn't used in a while.

So, now, I'm back on the proverbial anti-fat-ass wagon, and I'm going to try to get back down to a healthy weight. I haven't really gained that much, I guess; it's more that what I've gained just looks bad on me - and is not good for my health. Heart disease runs rampant on my Dad's side of the family; osteoperosis on my Mother's. I figure either way I'm fucked, but at least I can try to do something about it. If I go back to lifting weights again it will help with increasing bone mass and density, so that will help one potential issue; and losing the extra sack of potatoes around my midsection will help the other.

I've been hitting the gym again (thanks in part to motivation from my sexy new iPod) and I already notice the difference in my energy. I'm sore as hell and feel like I got hit by a cement truck, but in a good way. I'm also really cutting back right now; one friend was like "um, that's all you ate today?" but truth be told, I have to jumpstart things a bit, and just need to go healthy but harsh for about five days and then I can gradually eat a wee bit more.

Listen, I'm not starving myself (I'd have to be doing a Shackleton number before I burned enough fat off of me to starve), but I have a closet full of summer clothes that I can't fit into (or I can fit into but I look like Shamu done up like a summer sausage) and I'm sweating my ass off running around in clothes that I should wear in the fall or spring. I refuse (and cannot afford) to buy new clothes just to make room for my excess weight; so I have to be firm with myself.

THIS article annoyed the hell out of me, though; a piece about What Is a Healthy Weight?

According to the "healthy" weight chart in there, the weight I'm supposed to be for my height would have me looking like a deathcamp survivor. For fuck's sake. Okay, maybe not that bad, but I've been at that weight before, and I distinctly remember people telling me "Hey - you're getting a little too thin...eat a damn sandwich, for Chrissake."
Sure, I felt good - I'm a product of marketing just like most of us, and I was stoked to have someone tell me I was too thin for a change.

But I know that a few months ago, when I was at a weight that was 15 pounds heavier than their "healthy" weight listed for my height, I looked good, felt good, and wasn't horrified if someone took my picture.

Oh well. I guess I just have to figure it out...