开云体育

quite a collection

Alan Bean, Apollo 8 astronaut

Eugene Cernan - Apollo 8 astronaut

Billy Bob Thornton, actor & director - super nice guy too

Danny Devito, the great actor

Darrell Royal, legendary football coach

John Waters - movie director

Morley Safer - CBS reporter

Ron Howard - great director & actor

me in a PSA ()

and me as uncle sam ()

January 1, 2010

I'm always amazed at how much I've accomplished when I review the previous twelve months each year. This year numerous events felt like they'd happened LAST year. Of course, since much of my life was spent in the classroom (34 years teaching and 17 more as a student), last spring IS considered last year. So that feeling is understandable.

The most exciting event for me was a commercial. It will be broadcast, starting in late January, throughout Texas. It's a PSA for the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles (photos are at ). It was exciting just to get a callback and even more to be cast. It was filmed the week before Christmas about seventy miles northwest of Austin in Llano County near Packsaddle Mountain. I play a crazy man wearing a sandwich board. "The End is Near" is on the front and "When do you renew?" on the back. An eighteen-wheeler drives by and I spin around revealing the back. I'm the only actor in the spot, which is very cool. They filmed three other PSAs, which I expect will be aired in rotation.

The same week I had another unique experience: I was hired to be on the cover of a local band's (Anew Revolution) second album. The shoot was originally scheduled at one of the locations we used for the Just Z It trailer. When I arrived, there was no one there. I then discovered that permission to shoot there had fallen through; we shot instead at the location we had used in Z for our zombie guitar quartet. Jim Swift shot a KXAN news story on us there. I was photographed in a hospital gown, barefoot, in front of a building on Fourth Street (the temperature was in the 40s that morning by the time they got to my shot had warmed up enough). They will photoshop the album title "iamerica" onto the large piece of cardboard I'm holding. (photos at ).

Last summer I was in a short web video ad for the game Serious Sam HD.

I had a great role (as a dad) in a short film entitled Betta, which I hope to finally see in early 2010 (completion is long overdue). See it at

I play a shop owner in the local feature Altitude Falling which will get DVD distribution on completion in 2010. In "Wave to Life" I got to dress in an Uncle Sam outfit. I got to play a doctor, again in a delightful "sick" short, Lord of the Greens.

I played a small role in the Pompeii video that Liz Reeder shot for the singer Michelle Shocked. I got to play God (again) in a Doritos spec ad (for the Super Bowl competition).

It seems very unlikely I'll ever see the Nike video I was in a year ago, The 2008 Westwood College commercial I'm in is at .

When my dad died thirteen years ago, his inheritance went entirely to his widow. It was a very pleasant shock to learn that one of my uncles had left a nice sum of money to my cousins, my brother and myself after his widow's death last year. That check arrived this summer.

I had a major shock last summer: I was mugged while walking home from campus. Just after I crossed Airport at 46th, I noticed two young men standing on the sidewalk. One started walking next to me and asked for some money. I told him that I had none. He then demanded my iPod and grabbed for it, only getting the earbuds (the iPod stayed in my pocket; its battery was nearly dead and was replaced the next day,). I reached for the earbuds and he punched me two or three times, knocking me down. At his point his friend called him off and I got home safely. I had bruises on my forehead, left knee, the heel of my left palm and three fingers of my left hand. Half of the pinky's fingernail was broken off and there was a bruise on part of my upper lip. A month later the Statesman reported that a local gang had been attacking people in a similar manner downtown for several months. Several of the victims were seriously injured. I strongly suspect my attack was a training or initiation activity. The following morning I found my earbuds in the grass along with my cap.

I had two dead trees removed from my back yard. It was fun to watch the very efficient "monkeys" trim the branches. In December I had to replace all of the drainage pipes in the house. It was very expensive, but definitely needed. Just after that was finished I had a new toilet installed. After reading "The Big Necessity" I knew I wanted to get a Toto toilet. They are made in Japan and are the best in the world. Before the toilet could be installed I needed to have an electrician add a bathroom outlet (which very welcome anyway). The toilet (the washlet part) cleans my butt with water sprayed from a nozzle; the toilet seat is heated and never slams (it takes 25 seconds to close, though you can push it down quickly if necessary). There is also an energy saver mode. I'm thoroughly pleased with it and will be getting a $200 rebate from the city since it saves a lot of water. I chose not to spend more money to get the version which lifts the lid when you enter the bathroom and makes "noises" to hide any human bathroom sounds.

I was very interested in getting an HD radio, having heard promos for KUT-2 (all news 24/7, including lots of great BBC programs). I discovered they were very reasonable and bought one. All I had to do was plug it into my stereo receiver. A few days ago I also replaced my old fridge, long overdue and reducing my energy needs.

Many years ago, my thesis adviser introduced me to the BBC program, "My Word!" He sent me several dozen tapes of the program which I loved. In August I bought 30 My Word! programs (22 of which were new to me) and I also got 8 "My Music" programs (also by the My Word guys) from a company in England. I was able to get over 400 half-hour programs (as MP3s) for about $30. There were three other BBC programs: The Goon show (164 shows – Peter Sellers became famous in the UK thanks to this program), Round the Horne (71 shows), and Take It from Here (156 shows). I have finished listening to all of the Round the Horne, which I loved and am on the home stretch of the delightful Goon Shows - 9 shows left and will soon start on the Take It from Here shows. I also found 8 CDs of the wonderful Jean Shepherd (best known for the movie, The Christmas Story)

Once more I was able to attend almost all of John Pierson's wonderful master classes; highlights this year were Mike Judge, Tim McCanlies, Morgan Spurlock (who told me that he loved Z), Rick Linklater, and Harvey Weinstein (the latter via an abbreviated satellite link). At the McCanlies class, just after I asked him a question, I had to leave the room to perform a scene for a film next door. Luckily, I was able to return after and explain why I had seemed to disappear as he was answering my question.

Thanks to Evan Smith, I was able to attend almost all (except two) of his great Texas Monthly Talks public TV programs. (for the two I missed, I was filming my DMV spot during one and meeting Jon Scieska at the Texas Book Festival during the other) Highlights include Madeleine Albright, Buzz Aldrin, Morley Safer, Carl Hiassen, Mike Leach, Jeffrey Toobin, Sonny Rollins, Abraham Verghese, Billy Bob Thornton, Doug Brinkley, Jody Conradt, and Rick Linklater. I was able to get autographs and/or photos with all except Albright, who was rushed to her next event. At Rick's taping, Evan told Rick that I was usually in the front row and always had great questions and Rick (who I've known since the '80s) dubbed me Helen Thomas (the reporter who has covered every president since JFK) so I began my question to him, with her traditional "thank you Mr. President."

I screened "Z: a Zombie Musical" three more times: in Houston, Bastrop, and Austin. We had small (but very appreciative) audiences for all three. The next screening will be January 27, 2010 at 7:30 p.m. at Wake the Dead Coffee House in San Marcos.

I enjoyed some great theatrical events/lectures this year including Spamalot, Hal Holbrook (now 83, performing a fantastic Mark Twain Tonight), Iolanthe, Black Snow, Frost/Nixon, Laughter on the 23rd Floor, the Trash Project (city garbage trucks and sanitation workers performing!!), A Conversation With Edith Head (a one-woman play), Carol Burnett, Richard Garriott, the 3 Apollo 8 astronauts, astronaut Buzz Aldrin, astronaut Alan Bean, composer Stephen Sondheim, cartoonist Art Spiegelman, cartoonist R Crumb, and director John Waters' strange Christmas show.

Notable concerts include Andrew Bird, David Roth, the University of Missouri at KC wind ensemble, Gina Chavez (a former student), Shawn Phillips, Rufus Wainwright, Bela Fleck & Zakir Hussain & Edgar Meyer, the UT Symphony performing Beethoven's 9th, the American Horn Quartet, and Woody Allen & his New Orleans jazz band.

In the UMKC program notes, I saw a familiar name, Russell Patterson, my KC French horn teacher about fifty years ago. I asked the UMKC director about Russ and learned that he was still alive. I was able to get his phone number after the folks at UMKC checked with him and in May had a great chat with him. He founded the Kansas City Lyric Opera and ran it for 40 years, before retiring, and now lives in Massachusetts, where, in his 80s, he runs a summer music festival.

I attended three reunions this year. I was at the early-80s and '89 McCallum reunions, and saw a dozen or so former students. On Halloween I attended my 45th high school reunion in San Antonio. There were about 150 of the 870 in my graduating class. It was nice to see a few of the ones I remember (I was only at Jefferson one year.)

I connected with several dozen more former students, including Nancy Hamilton (one of my all-time best and favorite students, who is living in D.C.). Yvetta Hill attended the Body Art Ball where we had a great visit. I got a very interesting note from one, "you were my teacher at Lamar in 7th grade in 1987. not a good year for me, i got arrested and put in rehab at the oaks. but i do recall you as being a really good teacher. I remember you explaining pi to me. You had a poster of pi with about 1000 digits. And later in life it had relevance as i became a master carpenter house builder and use pi all the time. yah i remember ya. Ya im doin good. I'm a boat mechanic now for about 3 yrs and i'm starting my own business on the side doing custom snap-in boat carpet on the high-end yachts. 7th wasn't all bad, I finally defeated the bully I'd been running from for years right in front of everyone." The Lamar Facebook page I set up a year ago has gone from 366 a year ago to 992!! .

I only shot 3 photo sessions this year, but the one with Anna Fugate was one of the best I've ever shot
()

My health has been good, though I suspect the three days I was stuck at home in bed last summer was a brief case of swine flu. I continue to walk a lot, and finished the year with a new high of 4126 miles, averaging 11.3 miles a day and setting a new personal record of 19 miles in one day. This was 400 miles more than last year and twice that of 2002. I avoided driving my car 73% of the year.

I was able to get a photo with and/or autograph for Danny DeVito, Chris Kraft (the Apollo capcom), C J Box, Eugene Cernan (the last astronaut to walk on the moon), Darrell Royal, Stewart Stern (screenwriter for Rebel Without a Cause) Tom Skerritt, Ron Howard, Jon Scieska, Oscar Casares, Barbara Ehrenreich, Diane Keaton, John Waters, Alan Bean (astronaut), Gerald Posner (one of my all-time favorite authors - his "Case Closed" is the definitive book on the JFK assassination), Cheryl Hines, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Billy Bob Thornton, Buzz Aldrin, Barbara Kopple, Gwen Ifill, Zooey Deschanel, Kathryn Bigelow, and Jason Reitman. Bigelow and Reitman's films are likely to get Oscar nominations for best picture as well as best director.

The movies I enjoyed the most were I've Loved You So Long, Trimpin The Sound of Invention, Me & Orson Welles, The Yes Men Fix The World, The Hurt Locker, Over The Hills & Far Away (possibly renamed The Horse Boy), Harvard Defeats Yale 29-29, Ponyo, King Lear (the amazing Russian version), Earthwork, Automorphosis, Up in the Air, Adrift in Tokyo, and One Peace at a Time. Garbage Dreams, Burma VJ, and The Cove all made the short list for Oscar documentary nominations.

I read 365 books again this year; most of the best of these are non-fiction. Albion's Seed by David Hackett Fischer (the best American history book I've ever read - highly recommended - a cultural history of America), Infidel by Ayaan Hirst Ali (a Somali exile's incredible autobiography; also on my all-time best list - helps make sense of the insanity in Somalia), The Film Club by David Gilmour (a dad requires his drop-out son to watch movies), In The Footsteps of Mr. Kurtz by Michela Wrong (Mobutu & the Congo), Confessions by Kang Zhengguo (great book on life in China), Out Of Mao's Shadow by Philip Pan (21st century China), The Big Necessity by Rose George (on sanitation - not a very sexy subject, but fascinating & a great book), Bottlemania by Elizabeth Royte (how bottled water got to be so big and its consequences), Hello I Must Be Going by Charlotte Chandler (Groucho Marx), Bury Me Standing by Isabel Fonseca (about gypsies), Musicophilia by Oliver Sacks (Sacks' usual fascinating material, music this time), Our Daily Meds by Melody Petersen (superb book on the pharma industry) and two novels: Censoring An Iranian Love Story by Ahahriar Mandanipour and Doghead by Morten Ramsland. The grand total is now 7241, passing the 7000 mark this year.

My Honda hybrid contains to perform wonderfully. I did need to have the main battery replaced, a $2000 item, but it was still under warranty, so no charge. I only had to fill the tank five times this year, with all my walking and bus riding, and I averaged 54.3 mpg this year bringing the overall average to up 51.1. I actually went 100 days this fall between fill-ups.

Early in the year I recorded a Sonic ID for KUT-FM; these are little Austin stories by KUT listeners which are usually broadcast with the station ID. Mine was about the time in the late 70s when I was listening to their broadcast of the Donovan album, H M S Donovan. The station had a weaker signal back then, and when it started to fade (near the South Congress exit of I-35) I stopped to listen to the rest of the album.

I discovered two art-related websites that I really love this year. David Levine, who died this week, is probably the greatest caricaturist of the 20th century, and about 2500 of his caricatures can be found at . Most major editorial cartoonists' work can be found, updated daily, at

I'm very thankful to have enjoyed such a great year when so many were suffering from the weak economy and hope that everyone has a wonderful 2010 and that I get to see some of my friends that I've been unable to for too long.

Jon Lovitz, the great actor
Kellie Albanese, one of my fave students
Peter Schickele (PDQ Bach) created the concert series in the 60s
Sally Ride, the first female astronaut
Temple Grandin, the great authority on animal treatment & autism
me in True Grit & my my surgery x-rays

2010 newsletter

It's hard to believe another year has passed. I had the good fortune this year to be in both a Coen brothers film ("True Grit") and a Robert Rodriguez film ("Spy Kids 4", which opens summer 2011). I'm clearly visible in "True Grit" about twenty minutes into the film. When Mattie enters the courtroom, she has to shove past me. I'm hard to spot in "Spy Kids 4"; I play one of five scientists (in the background) staring at an enormous clock during a TV newscast interview with the chief scientist. (I am visible, very briefly) While working on "True Grit" I discovered that another extra attended Brackenridge H.S. (San Antonio) the year ('68/'69) I taught there, and was even in the band. I was the unofficial Assistant Band Director that year, announcing the band's halftime performances and sitting in on French horn during the early morning before-school rehearsals. I was even the substitute teacher the day of TMEA (getting to conduct the band, an enormous treat - my university band director joked that the only band I'd ever conduct would be a rubber band). It was not surprising that the guy didn't remember me at all (it WAS 41 years ago).

I was in several other films, mostly in a small capacity. I starred in a spec ad for GoDaddy.com () which competed against 200 entries. We came in sixth in the popular voting, which, sadly, was ignored in the awarding of the prize money. We also shot a sequel, () also great.

I had surgery this year as well as two MRIs. My right shoulder had been bothering me for several months. A steroid shot/medications didn't solve the problem, so my doctor ordered a shoulder MRI. After the shoulder specialist examined the MRI, he requested a neck x-ray, followed by a neck MRI, which confirmed his diagnosis: the problem was the neck, not the shoulder. Two vertebrae in my neck were misaligned. I had several weeks of PT and have been continuing the exercises.

In 1975 I had left-inguinal hernia surgery. I scheduled it during spring break, hoping that I'd not miss any school. I believe I was in the hospital about four or five days. I had to take off another week to recover; I was barely able to walk, moving as fast as a geriatric. In the mid-1980s I had right-inguinal hernia surgery; methods had improved so much that I was back in action much more quickly; I may have stayed in the hospital overnight. I discovered this year that the repairs had worn out on both sides. On December 16 I had both sides repaired. The surgeon used a laporascope, making the procedure much quicker and safer. I was on the operating table at 10:30 a.m. and on the way home (thanks to Fred Woody) two hours later. My walking was slowed down somewhat, but I logged 12 miles one week later. The surgery went very well and after two weeks, there was some discoloration around that area, and minimal discomfort.

Otherwise, my health was good. In 2000 I started tracking my walking and logged 2101 miles. Every year since then I've walked greater distances. I was up to 4280 miles this year, which was also the third consecutive one that I walked 300 miles every month, with a record 380 miles this June. I also am using public transport when I can. Last year I avoided driving 73% of the time. This year it's up to 82%. As a result, I only had to fill up the gas tank four times!!!

Once again I was able attend all of John Pearson's fantastic master classes. Highlights were Rob Thomas (a former teacher at Reagan H.S. and the creator of Veronica Mars - I was able to watch all three seasons after I saw him, and it was really a great show), Evan Shapiro (the president of Sundance/IFC), Elizabeth Avellan (producer of Robert Rodriguez's films and his ex-wife), and Spike Jonze (director of "Being John Malkovich").

Once again I attended most of the tapings (in the eighth and final season) of Evan Smith's great interview program, "Texas Monthly Talks" () and got to meet and get autographs and photos with most of the guests. Highlights were Tim Matheson, Sally Ride, Gwen Ifill, Morley Safer, Thomas Haden Church, and Jake Silverstein. The show had been carried by most Texas PBS stations. Evan is no longer with Texas Monthly, so a new show has been created, "Overheard with Evan Smith", () It's being marketed to a national market, not just Texas. I've been to all nine of the shows, so far. My favorites were Michael Pollan, Bill Bradley, Jonathan Alter, and Howard Dean. It's a real treat to be introduced to the guests by Evan after the taping.

The best concert I attended in 2010 was by the State Symphony Capella of Russia. This is a large choral group that performs a capella (no instruments); they were stunning, a rich full sound. The same week I saw the UT Chamber Singers also perform a capella; they were wonderful. They performed the Samuel Barber "Reincarnations", a composition I've loved since college days and was thrilled to finally hear it performed. Also exciting was the Choral Arts performance of the Passio by Arvo Part.

I hadn't seen a PDQ Bach concert since the 1980s, so it was a real treat to see Peter Schickele perform again. He's still in top form in spite of his age (75) and health problems, and his concerts are wonderfully hilarious. This was the fourth time I've seen him perform, but the first time since 1987.

I've been a fan of Tony Barrands and John Roberts for many years (since John Aielli started played their wonderful Christmas songs on KUT), and even encouraged them via email to perform here. Barrands can no longer travel much, but Roberts performed here and was wonderful.

I got to see a wonderful Jon Anderson concert at the Paramount. I attended my 37th Shawn Phillips (the subject of my Master's thesis) concert (). I saw Ed Miller perform for the fifth time ( and ), and saw the extraordinary Indian violinist L. Subramaniam for the third time. It was a rare treat to see Tuvan singing, performed by Alash, and I was able to attend their workshop teaching the basics throat singing; it was fascinating.

The best play I saw this year was "The Laramie Project: 10 Years Later", a superb and very moving follow-up to the original work. "The Understudy: Zaskok, The Unfortunate Premiere Of Cimrman's Play Vlasta" was an hilarious Czech play, which I fear may be the last Cimrman play performed in Austin. I hope that is not the case, but its director was pink-slipped as part of the budget cuts at UT. I'd never seen "The Trip to Bountiful" on stage, and it's a great work. I love Benjamin Britten, so it was a pleasure to see his "Albert Herring" again.

The Capitol Steps performed a delightful show this year. I was also able to see Sarah Silverman, Frank Deford, Sandra Day O'Connor, Spike Lee, John Lithgow, James Baker, and Bruce McGill ("Animal House").

The Body Art Ball () was much better this year, with much more body art this time. (It was also great to see Yvetta Hill again). One of the greatest highlights of the year was the performance of "Botancia" by Momix (in my opinion the best dance company in the world), part of the show is at ). It has to rank as one of the most amazing performances I've EVER seen. I'd seen Momix three times before and they are incredible.

UT celebrated the 50th Anniversary of "The Fantasticks", with several panels. You can see parts of the Harvey Schmidt/Tom Jones (the UT grads who created the show) panel at and . Seven years ago I met Harvey when he was here for his 40th reunion. If you're on Facebook, you can see his scrapbook from that year at .

I attended three McCallum reunions (9th/10th, 20th, and 21st) and got to see about twenty of my former students. I connected with about 265 former students on Facebook in 2010. (I've now re-connected with about 900). I finally located a few students I taught at Brackenridge H.S., including Laura Fierro, one of my best students that year.

I got a great note from T.C. Autry, "When I was in his class in middle school I thought that Dan Eggleston was the weirdest person I would ever meet. Now that I'm older and wiser, I realize that he is actually the coolest person I will ever know. Watch this video. He's the dude with long hair and sweat bands on his wrist. Incredible." ()

I also saw former students at Chandra Morgan's wedding, a beautiful ceremony. I saw more at the Michael Pollan Overheard taping. On a sadder occasion, I saw three of Bobby Pagan's sisters (I taught five members of his family) at a dedication ceremony at Anderson H.S. for a plaque honoring his death from the Afghan war.

Among the autographs I collected this year were Michael Pollan, Scott Westerfeld (I read twelve of his books this year; see him discussing zombies at ), Tom Jones ("The Fantasticks"), Leslie Stahl, Sally Ride, Bob Schieffer, Temple Grandin, Morley Safer, America Ferrera, and Robbie Krieger (The Doors)

I screened "Z: a Zombie Musical" twice in San Marcos (at Wake the Dead Coffee House) and once at UT. I've got a screening scheduled at UT on March 6 in the music building and am working on screenings in San Antonio, Dallas, and Houston.

We had half an inch of snow in February, the most since 1985.

Late in the year I attended my second focus group, a most unusual one. We served as a mock jury to help the lawyers decide whether or not a lawsuit should go forward dealing with a prominent Austin family. It was a fascinating case.

Three times I saw a hot air balloon flying over my neighborhood, and got some nice photos of it. Reminded me of my ballooning days back in the '70s with Derek Howard.

For the fourth consecutive year, I read 365 books. Here's some of the best of them: all four books by Malcolm Gladwell: "Tipping Point", "Blink", "Outliers", "What the Dog Saw & Other Stories" (very highest recommendation. Countless fascinating accounts of many topics, some life-improving, if applied - for example children in kindergarten should be grouped by the months they were born in - you can also hear Gladwell on some of the RadioLab programs, another wonderful discovery. Find it at RadioLab.org or through iTunes); "Confessions of a Mad Playwright" by James Kirkwood (the insane & true story of the author's play which starred Mary Martin & Carol Channing); "The Dream" and "The Golden Willow" by Harry Bernstein (books 2 & 3 of the 100-year-old author's autobiography - he's still alive); "The Promise: The President Obama Year One" by Jonathan Alter (fascinating account of how Obama runs the White House - I met Alter at "Overheard"), "Alex" by Frank Deford (a very moving account of his daughter before her death at age nine, due to cystic fibrosis), "Adventures Among Ants" by Mark Moffett; "Dangerously Funny" by David Bianculli (the Smothers Brothers); "The Last Days of Old Beijing" by Michael Meyer; "The Man in the White Sharkskin Suit" by Lucette Lagnado (a Jewish family is exiled from Egypt and end up in Brooklyn); "The Media Relations Department of Hizbollah Wishes You a Happy Birthday" by Neil MacFarquhar (a great title - great pieces on life in the mideast); "It's Our Turn to Eat" by Michela Wrong (life in Kenya - all her books are fantastic); both of Greg Mortenson's wonderful books "Stones Into Schools" and "Three Cups Of Tea" (building girls' schools in Afghanistan and Pakistan); "The Great Deluge" by Douglas Brinkley (Katrina); Aljean Harmetz's "The Making of The Wizard of Oz"; "Six Suspects" and "Q & A" (source of "Slumdog Millionare") by Vikas Swarup (the only fiction books on this list); "The Angler: the Cheney Vice Presidency" by Barton Gellman; "The Sorrows of Empire", "Blowback" and "Nemesis" by Chalmers Johnson (penetrating analyses of the American military - very highly recommended); "Country Driving" and "Oracle Bones" by Peter Hessler (modern life in China, where Hessler has lived for 20 years), "Josh" by Joshua Logan (the autobiography of the great director/writer), "Wonderful Tonight" by Pattie Boyd (autobiography by the wife of George Harrison & (after he wrote "Layla" about her) Eric Clapton); "Emergence" and "Animals Make Us Human" by Temple Grandin; and "Name Above The Title" by Frank Capra (the great film director's autobiography).

It's hard to believe that one of my favorite teachers is still alive, well and active; especially since he taught me back in 1959 or so. But last year I located my French horn teacher, Russ Patterson, and this year I was able to talk to him on the phone (when last year's newsletter fell out of the envelope).

I saw the usual large number of movies. My favorites for the year are "La Danse: The Paris Opera Ballet" (a truly wonderful doc by Frederick Wiseman), "King Lear" (the incredible 1971 Russian version - stunning), "Red Chapel" (an unbelievable and hilarious Danish documentary on North Korea), "Temple Grandin" (got to meet Grandin at a screening just before the film started playing on HBO), "The Ghost Writer", "A Thorn in the Heart" (another documentary, this one by Michel Gondry ("Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind") about his family), "Thunder Soul" (a documentary about the Houston high school director who took a troubled school's dance band to the best in the nation), "9500 Liberty" (a documentary on the anti-immigrant law in Virginia, very similar to the law passed in Arizona), "Toy Story 3", "Killing Katzner" (documentary on the Jewish Schindler), "Exporting Raymond" (a documentary on the creation of the Russian version of "Everyone Loves Raymond" - it looked to be a disaster but became the top-rated show in Russia, I'd never seen the show, but am enjoying it now, having seen about half of the shows so far), and "The King's Speech."

I had five photo shoots this year. Bethany Harbaugh's was so great and so much fun that we had a second in December and plan on more in 2011. Christina Childress's was also amazing. Right after Christmas, I shot one with my friend, Linda Lopez, who I hadn't seen in seven years. I got some fantastic photos in all five.

I attended two fantastic workshops with Will Wallace, meeting some great new friends. For the first, Joe Estevan (Martin Sheen's brother) helped teach the workshop, which was extra fun.

I had to replace a lot of items around the house this year: I've got a new washing machine, computer (an iMac with a 27" screen, about twice as big as the old one), a 42" HD TV, a new printer (enabling me, finally, to be able to print directly from my favorite graphics program, TypeStyler), a new Tivo, (which lets me record two programs simultaneously). I finally upgraded from dial-up to DSL (which was lucky, since shortly after that I got the new Tivo, which requires high-speed access). I also have a MagicJack, which allows me to finally (via VOIP) make free long distance phone calls.

It's been a good year for me. I hope that 2011 will be a good one for everyone and that the economy shows major improvements.

sandy alcala was one of my best students at dobie - worked with her husband & son on a Danish movie
Laura Juarez-Fierro was one of my best students my first year of teaching (68/69) at brackenridge h.s. in san antonio
Ben Sargent is the award-winning poltical cartoonist
Bill Moyers is the great PBS commentator & reporter
Bill Paxton is a great actor
Bob Hinkle is the author of a great autobiography - he worked on many films, most notably Giant
Harry shearer is a great actor & activist. he worked on The Simpsons & has a great podcast Le Show
Julian Bond is a great civil rights activist
Amber Calderon was Miss San Antonio Texas 2010 and Miss Austin Texas 2011. she was in a PSA with me
Morgan Spurlock was the creator of the great film Super Size Me
and i was an a SXSW bumper at

2011 newsletter

It's hard to believe another year has passed. Most noteworthy events: Slacker 2011, Medicare and Mikhael Gorbachev.

I was in a play (Conversations While Dining Alone) for the third time since I've been in Austin. This one was written and directed by Ken Johnson. We filmed a November performance; one show earned a standing ovation. We perform the show seven more times in January, 2012 (!/events/205237586229139/). Version one is at . Version 2 act 1starts at
With links to the following monologue (music rights from youtube necessitated this work-around) act 2 . And the film version is at .

I was in several other films, mostly as an extra. I was in Andrew Bujalski's "Computer Chess" and Paul Bright's "Goliad Uprising". Each year the SXSW Film Festival opens each of its dozens of screening with a humorous short film (called a "bumper"). I got to be in two of the five bumpers. In May I was part of a Drink 'n' Drive Go to Jail press conference for the Texas Department of Public Safety portraying one of eleven "drunk drivers." We each held up a sign showing our lame excuse for our DWI conviction, all of us dressed in a prisoner's orange jumpsuit. (). We had to stand with our backs to the press for twenty minutes before the event started, and, as a result, I got to visit with the young woman next to me, Amber Calderon, the current Miss Austin. I was also part of a photo shoot for "Failed Superheroes" a book by Scott Allen Perry scheduled for a 2012 release. And I was in an episode for the ABC Family show "The Lying Game", scheduled to air in early 2012.

From 1986 to 1997 I attended 128 Austin City Limits tapings, but none since then. This year ACL moved to a new studio, and, with its much larger capacity, I was able to see eight tapings; the best of these were Steve Miller, Miranda Lambert, and Randy Newman (one of the all-time best). For information on tapings and a chance to see them, go to .

I attended two more great Will Wallace workshops this year. Will was in town preparing a feature film that Terrence Malick's producer, Edward Pressman, is producing. Its shoot is planned for 2012. I hope I'll be part of it and may have persuaded Will to cast Bob Hinkle, a new friend. I met Hinkle the same evening as Jeff Bridges' ACL taping. I passed up the taping to see Hinkle speak. I had recently read and loved his book ("Call Me Lucky"), one of the best books I read this year. Bob was hired to teach James Dean and Rock Hudson to "talk Texan" for the film "Giant" and was hired by Paul Newman to do the same in Hud. Bob also knew LBJ and told of his encounters with him. Bob now lives in the Austin area and I was able to arrange for him to introduce a screening of Hud in San Antonio shortly after I met him. I videotaped most of his talk (until my camera's memory card filled up) and you can view it at

In January I noticed what seemed to be another hernia (after hernia repair surgery the month before) and my surgeon agreed that it needed tending to. It turned out to be some fatty tissue sticking out; the surgeon operated again and pushed it back in, adding another net to prevent recurrence. My health has been good; my doctor was very pleased with my physical exam, telling me that my EKG was "perfect" and the lab results were great. I continue to walk a lot and for the first time ever walked 19 miles in one day, following it up by walking 20 miles two days later. In May I logged 400 miles for the first time and ended the year with six 400-mile months. Last year I logged 4282 miles and this year raised that to 4696 (an average of 12.8 miles a day). I was able to avoid driving 92% of the time, up from 82% last year and 73% the year before. As a result I only needed to fill the tank twice.

In April I screened Z: a Zombie Musical in San Antonio. I got to visit Bob Maxham, a good friend since 1972. When I drove by Brackenridge H.S., where I first taught (in 1968) I discovered a new campus. The screening went great with about a dozen folks showing up including Laura Juarez-Fierro, one of my best students that first year.

I saw some great concerts. One of the best was the St John's College Choir from Cambridge, England. They reminded me of when I was in the boys choir at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Kansas City. I saw Vicki Carr perform, but the highlight of the evening were the musicians who opened and then accompanied her: the Mariachi Sol de Mexico de Jose Hernandez, who were fantastic. Two of my favorite folk singers, Ken Gaines and Buddy Mondlock, performed great house concerts. Atash, a local world music band, was a real discovery and I got to see them perform twice.

Some notable people I saw (and in a few cases talked to) were Mikhael Gorbachev, Eric Holder (Attorney General), Bob Edwards (original host of All Things Considered), Andy Borowitz (hilarious - saw him at the Book Fest ( and ) as well as on Overheard), Stephen Breyers (Supreme Court) Anne Archer (with her husband, Terry Jastrow, whose credentials were amazing - TV producer of golf tournaments, the Olympics, the Kentucky Derby and much more), Nora Ephron, Robert Redford (along with Woodward & Bernstein for a great panel on All the President's Men), Donald Petrie (who directed Miss Congeniality in which I was an extra), Johnny Depp, Paul Giamatti, Jodie Foster, and Ben Sargent (the master cartoonist).

The Body Art Ball was great this year, with much more body art this time; it was at ACL Live, allowing the artists less restrictions. This year Austin hosted a "cow parade" and I had great fun taking photos of about seventy "art cows" which were auctioned off by Jay Leno for the Dell Children's Hospital. (photos start at )


Once again I was able to attend every taping of Overheard with Evan Smith. Of the thirty-three programs taped this year the most memorable were Bill Moyers, Jim Lehrer, Garrison Keillor (got a photo with him, but it's badly out of focus), Andy Borowitz, Juan Williams, Julian Bond, Robert Kennedy Jr., Harry Shearer (This is Spinal Tap, The Simpsons - a real thrill to meet him), Calvin Trillin (he went to the same H.S. as I did, in K.C.), Cenac Wyatt (The Daily Show), Chely Wright (who greeted me by name, a real surprise - she'd been told about me before the taping) and Bill Paxton. The shows are invariably interesting and some were brilliant. They are all available online at www.klru.org/overheard/ and the Q&As after are also at that URL (I'm in some of those). If you're in Austin and interested in knowing about upcoming tapings, let me know (/g/UpcomingOverheards). The program is now carried in numerous markets around the nation on PBS stations.

Once again I was able attend most of John Pearson's fantastic master classes. Highlights were Jay Duplass (who I met on one of his films a few years ago and discovered during filming of "Slacker 2011", that I had met his wife ten years ago on a film - Jay cast me for his segment in that film (), which was the 20th anniversary remake of Rick Linklater's first film "Slacker"); Rick Linklater, whose session was made even better with the screening of his wonderful next feature film, "Bernie"; Morgan Spurlock ("Supersize Me") and Art Linson (producer of Car Wash, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Melvin & Howard, Fight Club - both of his books are great)

I added a few autographs to my collection: Fannie Flagg, Chely Wright, Bill Paxton, Anne Archer, Calvin Trillin, Harry Shearer, Donald Petrie, Bob Hinkle, Juan Williams, Bob Edwards, and Andy Borowitz.

We had some unusual weather this year: one inch of snow in February and the hottest summer ever with ninety 100-degree days (the old record was sixty-nine) and an all-time record high for Austin of 112! I found that I was able to get along just fine without using my AC at home; my fans kept me sufficiently cool. The average temperature for the year was one degree above the previous record (2006).

I saw thirty-four plays this year. The Miracle Worker was a real delight, moving me to tears. Laughter on the 23rd Floor (Neil Simon) was great fun. FDR wasn't strong as a play, but it was great to see Ed Asner on stage. Ann was a wonderful play about Ann Richards. A second delightful play about an Austin legend was Red Hot Patriot: The Kick-ass Wit of Molly Ivins. The Servant of Two Masters was hilarious and reminded me of the time I saw it in college in the late '60s; the lady seated behind me back then told me that she enjoyed the play more due to my pleasure (and she was the university president's mom). I'd seen Hair three times before, but this was one of the best productions. The Shakespeare Improv Company (from Chicago) created Hamlet Gets a New Lease on Life; it was fascinating to watch and enjoy because they were creating the play as we watched.

I only had three photo sessions this year, but two of them were great: Kimber Reed's was one of the best ever (). Jennifer Ekeh was in the play (Conversations While Dining Alone) with me and her session was also fantastic (). Hope to have another session with both in 2012.

For the fifth consecutive year I read 365 books. Some of the best: Call Me Lucky by Bob Hinkle; Winner Take All Politics by Jacob Hacker & Paul Pierson (excellent book explaining how our political systems have deteriorated - highly recommended by Bill Moyers); Strange Piece Of Paradise by Terri Jentz (the victim of a brutal attack returns years later to investigate the truth about the crime and find the man who attacked her); To Live and Perish Forever by Nicholas Schmidle (great book on Pakistan); In the Place of Justice by Wilbert Rideau (a black man, sentenced to death three times due to his race, spent decades in Louisiana prisons before being released); The Elephant to Hollywood by Michael Caine (a second volume of his autobiography); The Last Boy by Jane Leavy (Mickey Mantle - my hero when I was a kid); Zeitoun by Dave Eggers (a man goes thru hell during Katrina); The Mascot by Mark Kurzem (a Jewish boy becomes the mascot of Nazi troops in WW II); Deadly Spin by Wendell Potter (health care); Cyber War by Richard A. Clarke (the new face of 21st century war); A Class Divided by William Peters (if you teach, this is required reading - an Iowa teacher's life-changing lesson on tolerance - great DVD is also worthwhile); Nothing to Fear by Adam Cohen (FDR's 1st 100 days); Charlatan by Pope Brock (a fake doctor in the early 20th century whose "work" killed dozens); Mentor by Tom Grimes (autobiography); An Unreasonable Woman by Diane Wilson (an east Texas woman fights the polluters); Agent Zigzag by Ben Macintyre (an English thief becomes a double agent and earns awards from both Brits and the Germans); Operation Mincemeat by Ben Macintrye (the true story of The Man Who Never Was); The Prize by Daniel Yergin (history of the oil biz - his sequel (on all forms of energy) "The Quest" is also great); The Fear by Peter Godwin (life in Zimbabwe - yet another great Godwin book on his homeland); The Magicians by Lev Grossman (wonderful book - if you liked Harry Potter, read this - I pick up its sequel this week); Journey from the Land of No (autobiography of a Jewish girl who grew up in Iran in the 1970s - her Assassins of the Turquoise Palace is a compelling book on killers sent to Germany by Tehran); At Home: A Short History Of Private Life by Bill Bryson (fascinating book on origins - I read nine more books by Bryson and all are great), and Then Everything Changed by Jeff Greenfield (alternate presidential history).

I saw many movies, as always. My favorites for the year: Blood Relation (an Israeli doc), The Descendants, Certified Copy (Kiarastomi), Sarah's Key (the book is also great), Being Elmo: A Puppeteer (Elmo (Kevin Clash) was present at the screening), The Concert, Bernie, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (The Swedish version is also great), Moneyball (great book too) and Building Hope (Turk Pipkin's inspirational doc on building a school in Kenya).

I made two especially notable purchases this year. When my iPod's battery died, I upgraded to a new iPod Nano, which is even smaller and extremely convenient. In January I bought 20 CDs of old radio shows with four hundred hours of material: the Spike Jones show, the Stan Freberg show, Bob & Ray, the Danny Kaye Show, Benny Goodman concerts, Beyond Our Ken (Kenneth Horne - BBC), Groucho Marx's You Bet Your Life, and My Word! I've ALMOST finished listening to all 400 hours of these shows and should finish this week. A BBC program, "My Word!" ran from 1956 to 1990; I was introduced to it about twenty years ago by my thesis adviser who sent me three dozen tapes of the program. Each program ended with Dennis Norden's and Frank Muir's very funny stories, beginning with a quote and ending with a pun on that quote. I now have about 200 of the shows and have found additional ones this year that I've been able to record from several NPR stations and ABC R in Australia all of which still broadcast the show weekly! I can provide a link to anyone interested in downloading any of the My Words.

I re-connected with over 400 former students on Facebook this year and have now connected with over 1400 of the 6000+ I taught. Got some very nice comments from some of them this year: "Hi Mr. Eggleston I passed my math and English test. I was so happy that I cried this is the first time I'm actually using my head I'm happy", "I wanted to say hello and thank you for being one of the few teachers who was able to get any math through to me. I still remember you saying if you remember nothing else, remember how to do proportions. It has served me well." "Oh my gosh you were like my favorite teacher ever lol" "Mr. Eggleston! It is truly a pleasure to hear from you. My entire life I have wanted to find you and just say 'I am VERY sorry for all the hell we kids gave you!' We were not fair to you. Yet, I bet you're the one teacher always remembered the fondest. I'll never forget our experiences on those old Apple computers. You made things fun. Just wish I had been a better student and taken full advantage of your teachings. Hope you are doing well. You're looking great! "Dan Eggleston I was excited that someone would have some kind of music playing in the classroom it got me relax and doing my work. Ur awesome teacher to have and also help keep us motivated to stay on task and rethink stuff thought.....Thanks :)" "Oh my goodness! What a blast from the past!! Some of my favorite memories of middle school were in your class! How on earth did you remember me? Thanks for all you've done to help so many children. You were an inspiration to me and now I teach kindergarten. Thank you! You are such a genius with the tech stuff. Your class was the only happiness I remember in middle school. Playing Oregon Trail and learning how computers didn't have feelings still makes me laugh. I hope you are doing well and that you've hopefully retired by now. I'm about to throw in the towel and I've only been at this 9 years. Then again, it is August and I say that every year at this time. lol!"

I got about TWO HUNDRED birthday wishes on my Facebook wall this year, the most ever. It was a real pleasure.

It's really strange to realize that I've reached 65; it's great to be on Medicare, which allowed me to lower my health care premiums somewhat. It also allowed to qualify for a half price bus pass, which I use often.

It's been a good year for me. I hope that 2011 will be a good one for everyone and that the economy shows major improvements and the politicians who are blocking progress will be retired at the polls.

Sandy Alcala - sandy was one of my best students at dobie

Gloria Steinem - the founder of Ms Magazine & feminist icon
Seymour Hersh - great reporter, first covered the My Lai massacre in Viet Nam. i've read 8 of his books now
Paul Williams - wonderful singer
Helen Prejean - leading American advocate for the abolition of the death penalty, author of Dead Man Walking - made into a powerful movie
Ashlynne Balusek - dear friend - subject of a great photo shoot
and me in my authentic Afghan costume i used in the play at FronteraFest - 9/11- the Al Qaeda press conference

It's always fascinating to review the previous year's activities. This was, mostly, a great year, though being hit by an SUV did put a major damper on things for several weeks.

For the third time since I've been in Austin I was in a play (Conversations While Dining Alone - written and directed by Ken Johnson). We had six performances in January (Act 1 starts at with links to the 12 monologues that follow. act 2 ) and filmed a version of it this summer (). It screens at Windsor Park Library on January 22, 2013 at 6:30. For the stage version I also served as the stage manager, which initially was a challenge since I was given little preparation. I did very well once I had time to prepare properly. The finale from the play, "The N Word" can be viewed at .

In January 2013 I will be in another play, 9/11- the Al Qaeda press conference, which will be performed January 16 as part of Fronterafest. () I was in a play for that festival in 2005, Dear Mr. President. Its playwright, Dave Miller, has been planning since then to write the new play with me in mind and, once he writes the second half of the script, it'll happen. I will be portraying a press spokesman for Al Qaeda, delivering their viewpoint on that fatal day. It's a very provocative piece and it'll be interesting to see what kind of reaction it evokes.

It was a very good year for me as an actor in films. I got my first voiceover role (paid, no less) in Speed Levitch's (produced by Rick Linklater) web series for Hulu, Up to Speed (which you can see at ,p0,d0). I'm the voice of the bridge. It was over two months after the audition before I learned I had gotten the part; I had completely forgotten that I had auditioned for the project until I got the script.

I acted in seventeen films, three of which can be viewed on Youtube. Guardian Angel (I'm a patient) (); The Last Carnival (); and After ()

In Greenbelt I was cast as Leslie (the infamous cross-dressing character who was an Austin icon for years; he died this year and his obit appeared in the New York Times).

I attended two more great Will Wallace workshops and Will cast me in his feature film, Red Wing. I had to travel to Whitewing (40 miles north of Dallas) driving 535 miles the day of the shoot. Thanks to this role, I became SAG eligible. I got a great role in a third feature, Sacrifice, thanks to a video audition.

Marilyn Rucker cast me in a music video, Rude Jogger (). The song was based on a John Kelso column and Kelso appears in the video. Among the other films were Heelers () and Misanthropos. In both a part was written just for me. The latter also led to a role in The Dead Thing (shot by the same crew).

I discovered I could get into almost any Austin City Limits taping, but only went to three this year (most didn't interest me). Bonnie Raitt was a wonderful taping and it was a real treat to finally get to see her perform. An added treat for that taping was the presence of Michael Morton, sitting two rows behind me. I was able to tell him after the taping that his interview (two days earlier) on Overheard was very moving. For information on tapings and a chance to see them, go to . For upcoming ACL tapings, go to

I was able to attend every taping of Overheard with Evan Smith (18 of them) until my accident. Highlights were Deepak Chopra, Meat Loaf, Elie Wiesel (courtesy of Ballet Austin - they had the first three rows reserved for their members, but my usual front row seat was reserved for me. I chatted with their choreographer and executive director, both of whom remembered a former student of mine, Marta Bechtol, who'd been with the Ballet in the early 1990s), Seymour Hersh, Robert Caro (who remembered me), Michael Morton (released in 2011 after 25 years in prison after being railroaded for a murder he didn't commit), and Gloria Steinem. If you're interested in attending Overheard tapings, I post info on tapings /g/UpcomingOverheards.

Some notable people I saw (and in a few cases talked to) were Martin Short, Helen Prejean (Dead Man Walking), Steve Inskeep (NPR's Morning Edition), Frank Deford, David Maraniss, Jack Abramoff, Paul Williams, Sissy Spacek and Stephen Tobolowsky (I highly recommend his podcast, the Tobolowsky Files).

I saw several former students this year. DeeDee Smith was at an art exhibit by Karen Oliphint. Cynthia Lucio and her daughter, Alison Stout-Marquez (one of the rare child-parent duos I taught) were at the corner gas station. I met Stephanie Fletcher at Stiles where she works. Manuel Pacheco and Maria Vasquez (married to each other) were at Cheko's, where both work. I also saw A J Curl, at the Honda dealer across from Cheko's. I was shopping at Sprouts when an employee there, Ian Mitchell, saw me. I saw Robyn Greer at a couple of art exhibits that she organized, including ones featuring the art of Mike Zornes. Stacy Bondurant comped me to a screening of Lawless (based on her husband's novel). Oliver Glenn had an exhibit of his art where I saw both him and his creations. Giovanna Rodriguez attended "Conversations While Dining Alone". I discovered that Stephanie Acosta lives two blocks from me and our paths crossed several times; I got her a small role in Greenbelt. Jose Lopez was part of a crew that put a new roof on my home. Gabriel Wisniewski was downtown during SXSW. Adam Medrano saw me as I was walking in his east Austin neighborhood. Demetre Milligan saw me as I was finishing a photo session at UT. I saw several more at Claudia Cordova's and Quinta Gonzales' weddings. At the latter were Sarah, Celia, and Julian, her sibs. I'd let Sarah know I'd be taking photos at her sister's wedding and I became the official photographer for the wedding.

Once again I was able attend most of John Pearson's fantastic master classes. Highlights were Terry Lickona (Austin City Limits producer), Justin Lin (Fast & Furious franchise), David Gordon Green, and Peter Hedges (one of the best classes ever - his first answer ran about 20 minutes). I just learned that the next classes will be in the fall instead of the usual spring semester.

I saw twenty-three plays this year. The standouts were Young Frankenstein, The Man Who Planted Trees, and Fuddy Meers. I've seen Pilobolus nine times before and it was a real treat to see them yet again. They are one of the most amazing dance companies in the world.

I only had four photo sessions this year, and all resulted in lots of fun and some great photos: thanks to Laura Hernandez, Christal Cureington, Ashlyne Balusek, and Nicole Franco. I hope to do another shoot with all of them. I got roles in Greenbelt for Laura and Ashlyne.

For the sixth consecutive year I read 365 books (the grand total is up to 8375 books). Some of the best nonfiction books: The Shadow Factory (James Bamford – on the NSA); Sacco & Vanzetti (Bruce Watson); The Big Rich (Bryan Burrough - Texas Oil); Empire Of The Summer Moon (S C Gwynne - Quanah Parker & his mother); El Sicario (Molly Mollow - an assassin for the drug cartels in Mexico); Dragon Fighter (Rebiya Kadeer - Uyghar Woman Persecuted By China); Rawhide Down (Del Wilber - the Reagan Assassination Attempt); Reckless Endangerment (Gretchen Morgenson - Fannie/Freddie & the economy); Stories I Only Tell My Friends (Rob Lowe); Nothing To Envy (Barbara Demick - life in North Korea); Steve Jobs (Walter Isaacson); Horns Of A Dilemma (Kenneth Ashworth - Frank Erwin & UT); The Wrong War (Bing West - the Afghan War); Wonder Girl (Don Van Natta - Babe Didrikson Zaharias); Bottom Of The 33rd (Dan Barry - longest baseball game ever); Wicked Bugs (Amy Stewart); Conversations with the Great Moviemakers of Hollywood's Golden Age at the American Film Institute: Next Generation and Conversations with the Great Moviemakers of Hollywood's at the American Film Institute: Golden Age (both by George Stevens Jr); Front Of The Class (Brad Cohen - a master teacher with Tourette's) The Passage of Power (Robert Caro - LBJ); Barack Obama (David Maranis); Enemies (Tim Weiner - the FBI); Do Not Ask What Good We Do (Robert Draper - why the current Congress is such a colossal failure); Dropped Names (Frank Langella); Bill Veeck (Paul Dickson - the unique baseball owner); and The Oath (Jeffrey Toobin - the Roberts Court).

Some of the best fiction (more than usual this year): Where'd You Go Bernadette (Maria Semple); the WWW trilogy and Triggers (Robert J Sawyer); the Graceling Realm books (Kristin Cashore); Every Day (David Levithan); Cinder (Marissa Meyer - 1st in a series, next book out in 2013); The Schwa Was Here, The Shadow Club, the Unwind trilogy, and the Skinjacker trilogy (all by Neal Shusterman - I read nineteen of his books this year).

As always, I saw many movies. My favorites for the year: Silver Linings Playbook, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, Unreal Dream (documentary on Michael Morton - should be out in 2013), The Other Son, Lincoln, Gregory Crewdson, Paul Williams Still Alive, A Separation, Headhunters, 2 Filhos De Francisco, Her Master's Voice, Margaret, and Argo.

I was able to finally complete and listen to my expanded My Word collection (the great BBC show) (downloadable at ); in the process of gathering My Word shows I discovered another BBC show, Just a Minute. Through a contact in the UK who wanted my My Word shows, I have 4 DVDs of about 800 Just a Minute shows. I've now listened to about 350 of the shows (of 840). The show will be broadcasting a new series in February 2013 and is in its 46th year with Nicholas Parson, the host, still going strong at age 89; he's never missed a broadcast (). A third major find late this year was about 270 of the Burns and Allen show from the '30s through 1950 (George Burns and Gracie Allen) ().

In March my doctor learned that I had small blockage in one neck artery and for several weeks I had physical therapy to deal with the problem.

I attended an amazing surprise party for my friend Cherry for her birthday party, which was exceptionally elaborate and, for a change, a total surprise.

In September I discovered that my friend Shana Norton was filming the Urban Bloom Dance Project and wanted friends to shoot photos and videos for it. The work was filmed in East Bouldin Creek with a dance company from Houston. My two cameras added a lot of great footage. () The music is by one of my favorite composers, Alan Hovhaness, and the dancers were amazing.

My health has been mostly good; I continue to walk a lot; in fact I didn't even drive 'till July. For the first time ever I walked 22 miles in one day. In ten months this year I walked 400 miles. Last year I logged 4696 miles, but due to the accident this year that dropped to 4614 miles (an average of 12.6 miles a day - until the accident I was averaging 14 miles a day). Every year since I started using a pedometer in 1999 the total distance had gone up until this year. I was able to avoid driving 97.5% of the time; up from 92% last year, 82% in 2010 and 73% in 2009. As a result I only needed to fill the tank twice (and the second time was the last day of the year).

On Saturday, October 13th I left my car at the Round Rock Honda dealer for a minor recall issue. I had planned to see a movie at the discount theater while they were taking care of the car. I crossed Mays Street and (with a pedestrian light) started to cross Old Settlers when I was hit by that infamous "car outta nowhere". I was knocked about ten feet. I never lost consciousness and remained fully alert. Three folks got out of their cars, helped gather my belongings, and called 911. One (a pre-med) gave me the standard consciousness tests (follow my finger, what's your name, date, etc). The driver remained in her car (the witnesses and I WERE blocking her path) and received a ticket. The fire department medics soon arrived followed by the police and an ambulance. I landed on my knees, forehead (a deep cut which required glue, but no stitches); the back of my right hand, right ankle, right elbow (this was a long bruise, and I had to warn nurses to fasten the BP cuff above it when they took vitals). The policeman took my ID and wrote up a report, which he later delivered to me at the hospital. A couple of weeks later I was pleased to learn that I was actually covered by my wonderful auto insurance company (USAA).

The ambulance took me to the Seton ER. This was the second time in my life I'd been in an ambulance. The other time I was about ten years old; that time, like an idiot, I decided to ride my bike in the face of a rare New Jersey hurricane (one much less destructive than Sandy). The wind knocked me off the bike and I regained consciousness when I felt the brick pavement under the ambulance's wheels.

At Seton, after performing a CT scan and x-rays, the nurse got me up three times to see if I could walk. I could barely do so, becoming light-headed right away. After two hours, I was able to phone the Honda dealer who sent someone to leave my car at the hospital and deliver the keys directly to me.

A new shift doctor came on duty and told me "This is the ER, we need to get you OUT, stat." (I'd already signed the discharge papers.) He made me get up and walk; immediately my BP dropped to about 60/30. This convinced him that I wasn't ready. They ran another CT scan. After another four hours in the ER they moved me upstairs to a hospital room. My left lower leg was swollen where the car hit me and a portable x-ray unit was brought to the room; luckily, it was just swollen with no breakage (it was still discolored a month later, but has since cleared up.)

An orthopedist came by on Sunday and told me the CT scan showed that I had a fractured pelvis but that it was a clean fracture. One month later I had to drive to Georgetown to see him (at the time not an easy drive since it was very uncomfortable to sit down, especially for a long drive) and he gave me a clean bill of health.

The first two or three days I experienced something I later heard about in an interview with Oliver Sacks and which I suspect is covered in his latest, no doubt, great book, Hallucinations. I thought I saw people in the room when I knew there wasn't anyone else in the room and knew that I was fully awake. It was a very strange and rather scary experience.

There was an alarm in case I got out of bed (which I had no intention of doing) and I was wearing a "fall risk" bracelet. On Monday they gave me a stool softener to help with a BM; nothing. That evening I requested an enema or suppository from the 7 pm nurse (they're on 12 hour shifts). She had to phone the doctor for authorization, which delayed the procedure until 9:30. She thought it might take 10-15 minutes to kick in, but it took 5 hours. Luckily the nurse had left a bedpan. When I buzzed for help, the other nurse scolded me for not calling him when I had the need. As if he would have been there on time!!

The first day or two in the hospital my still-working iPod helped pass the time, but I knew that the battery would only last so long. I especially enjoyed listening to some of the early broadcasts of Just a Minute. Then I discovered that the hospital had internet, though their keyboard wasn't very good. The TV screen was hard to read (it was across the room and I couldn't use my glasses, since the frames were battered in the accident). Thus it was impossible to check Facebook or email. So I mainly used it to listen to WBUR (a great Boston NPR station - fascinating to hear coverage of hurricane Sandy), ABC R (in Australia) and some of BBC radio's great programs. My neighbor Mikki posted an update on my Facebook page notifying my friends that I was in the hospital & it was very sweet of Tammy Watkins to phone after seeing the update.

A physical therapist came by once a day Sunday through Thursday for very brief visits; on the third visit I had her write down a list of exercises that I could work on; some were in-bed and some sitting. My hospital doctor noted that I could either go to a rehab facility or stay in the hospital; she recommended against the rehab since I was relatively healthy. Since the rehab required a minimum stay of five days, I decided against it. By Wednesday I was able, with a walker, to get out of the room and on a small loop around some rooms. That wore me out. Thursday I was very tired, but was ready to be discharged. My next-door neighbors, Jennings and Mikki, picked me up so one of them could drive my car back.

We stopped by the HEB on the way home to get my meds, which sadly, prolonged the BM story. They were for the pain, but also caused incontinence. The next day my other next-door neighbor took me to pick up replacement frames for my glasses. (The optician later let me know that he was authorized to replace the lenses for free, since they had a scratch-free warranty.)

By Monday, I had not only not had another BM, but three or four meals wouldn't stay down; spitting the food up immediately, reflecting a blocked system. I phoned my doctor to see about getting a suppository, which Jennings picked up, along with an enema. I inserted the suppository about 2 pm and four hours later discovered it had fallen out. I had no better luck with the enema, with most of it ending up on the bedsheets.

I phoned a friend who is a nurse, but didn't hear back from her for several days and posted a desperate plea for a doctor or nurse on my neighborhood's listserve. Luckily I got a phone call from Ruth, a former nurse (now an APL librarian), who read my post and volunteered to come by. It turned out that she recognized my name from the listserve and had seen me at her branch when they screened some Polish films. When the suppository she gave me that night didn't help, she came by the next morning and gave me a second, which also failed.

My doctor's office told me I'd need to go to an ER since I was most likely impacted. My friend Elle gave me a ride to St. David's ER. I arrived at 1:00; after waiting an hour I was finally seen by a pre-ER nurse. I then had to wait 'till about 5:00 before a room became open. When Elle had picked me up I thought I had brought a book to read, suspecting that there might be a wait, but discovered that I'd left it at home when I'd grabbed my walker. Luckily I had my iPod with me and enjoyed listening to some of the 1940 Burns & Allen shows (the first fourteen that year had a Gracie for President campaign, a candidate for the Surprise party).

Finally, after the ER doctor examined and confirmed the impaction, the nurse gave me a double enema that broke the blockage right away. I still had to wait another 90 minutes for the doctor to officially discharge me. Ruth's arrival may have helped get him to act. Ruth told me that the long times are not unusual for an ER. (She used to work at St. David's)

I was completely homebound for a month, recovering very slowly, but also very consistently. The week before the election, I got a ride in order to vote early. Luckily, I was able to bypass a very long line, sign in, then bypass a second shorter line (of about ten) waiting for a voting booth to open up. The wait time most likely would've been about two hours. For the first time ever I missed attending the Austin Film Festival (for which I had already bought a film pass), the Texas Book Festival, and a few tapings of Overheard with Evan Smith (I learned that Evan, who usually acknowledged my presence at most tapings, announced the reason for my absence.) I almost got to one taping when Dr. Bob promised to give me a ride, but he tried to pick me up on the wrong block.

For the first time ever, I missed one of Will Wallace's wonderful workshops. I also lost a rare paid acting gig; I think its director may be able to cast me in a future project.

Since I moved to my home in the 1980s I have maintained a block list, and thus was able to call upon eight neighbors to pick up groceries for me, pick up/return library books, help with the trash barrels, and repair my iPod's earbuds.

On November 17 my scene in Misanthropos was filmed; the director came by a few days before the shoot and chose my wardrobe; and I got a ride to the set from one of the actors. A few days later I was able to start getting out of the house for movies, plays, concerts, though I was moving very slowly for some time.

I am about 99% healed, with minor pelvic pain and occasional pain in the lower legs. Scars remain on my right knuckles, right knee, and right elbow and I'm wondering if those will ever clear up. As painful as the experience once I fully realize that it could have been much worse.

Hoping that 2013 is a great year for all.

Marissa Meyer, author of the Lunar Chronicles books
Catherine Keener, great actor, i've now seen 43 of her films
Edward James Olmos, another great actors, i've seen 28 of his films
Susan Sarandon, another great actor. i've seen 78 of her films
Jordan Strassner, a dear friend i met on set. did a great photo shoot with her
and me as i was costumed in the play 9/11- the Al Qaeda Press Conference

Back in the 1980s, in the early days of the Austin Film Society, its founder Rick Linklater (before he became a filmmaker) noticed me at AFS screenings and once told me, "You're the guy who goes to all the foreign films." One of the highlights of 2013 for me was the opportunity to get to be IN a foreign film, a Danish one, no less. The film, "The Idealist", is scheduled to open in Copenhagen next fall. I was in two scenes: one shot in Bastrop and another at the UT library in Battle Hall (representing the National Archives). The film had the most relaxed set I've ever seen for a paid film (and the pay was double the normal local rate). The 1st Assistant Director was the husband of Sandy Segura Alcala, a wonderful former student. Their son was one of the PA's for the film.

Back in 2006 Deb Abbott wrote a short film ("Mommyhood" ) with a role written for me. She finally wrote another, "Dawn", with another role for me (I get to die in this one -). She has some additional filming of my scenes that will be shot in 2014.

"Greenbelt" was completed (and it's great) with one final scene (as the Austin icon, Leslie) for me. () I was an extra in Jon Favreau's "Chef". And I had a small role in "Time Will Pass" (an excellent ACC film: ).

I rarely do live theater, because of the enormous time required for rehearsals. But when a play is written for me, that changes the equation. In 2005 I was in a Dave Miller play ("Dear Mr. President"). In the years that followed he occasionally told me that he planned to write a play in which I would portray Osama bin Laden's spokesman. Late in 2012, he finally started writing it. He had planned to complete it during Christmas, but didn't finish until early January, a week before the performance. The play, "9/11- the Al Qaeda Press Conference" was part of Fronterafest. I was able, barely, to memorize the final half of the play in the final week. The play ran twenty-two minutes and I have 99% of the dialogue!! Two friends, Lisa del Dotto and Nicole Franco, joined the cast as reporters, with one line each, and Nicole's friend Veronika Riha, dressed in full burqa, was my "assistant". The performance went well and a member of the audience shot a video of it for me. (.)

I attended all thirty tapings of "Overheard with Evan Smith". Highlights were Reza Aslan, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Tony Hale, Tony Kushner, John Sayles, Nancy Pelosi, Sonia Sotomayor (wonderful), Amy Tan, Neil deGrasse Tyson (one of the best ever). If you're interested in attending future tapings, subscribe at /g/UpcomingOverheards.

Notable people I saw this year: Lalo Alcaraz (cartoonist), Dave Zirin (sports writer), Condeleeza Rice, Joaquin and Julian Castro, Jessica Alba, Junot Diaz, Klaled Hosseini ("The Kite Runner"), Karl Rove, Susan Sarandon, and Edward James Olmos.

I got some great autographs this year: Christopher Durang (I've seen 20 productions of his plays. "Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All for You" is his best-known work.), Chloe Sevigny, Catherine Keener (for years one of my favorite actors), Marissa Meyer, P.J. Hoover, Doris Kearns Goodwin, and Elaine May.

I had four photo sessions this year, and all resulted in lots of fun and great photos: Jordan Strassner, Bethany Harbaugh (our third session), Caitlin Mack, and Stephanie Acosta. Stephanie's was unique because her young son was present and wanted to get in as many pictures as possible (ironic, since Stephanie noted that he often hides when she tries to take pictures of him).

Once again, for the seventh consecutive year, I read 365 books (the grand total is 8749. I should reach 9K in 2014). The best nonfiction books: "The Death & Life Of The American School System" by Diane Ravitch, "Voluntary Madness" by Norah Vincent (her time in three loony bins), "Paul On Mazursky" by Sam Wasson, "Tomatoland " by Barry Estabrook, "Hello Goodbye Hello" by Craig Brown (unusual anecdotes on various celebrities), "Parting The Waters" by Taylor Branch (civil rights), "Learning To Live Out Loud" by Piper Laurie, "Garbology" by Edward Humes, "Wrecking Crew" by Kent Hartman (the backup musicians for tons of hit songs in the '60s & '70s), "Joe DiMaggio A Hero's Life" and "What It Takes" (the latter is on the '88 presidential campaign. Both by Richard Ben Cramer), "Free Lunch", "Perfectly Legal", and "The Fine Print" (all three by David Cay Johnston - his books are very highly recommended), "Man Without A Face: The Unlikely Rise Of Vladimir Putin" by Masha Gessen, "The American Way of Eating" by Tracie McMillan, "My First Movie" by Stephen Lowenstein (interviews with 20 great filmmakers), "Round Ireland With A Fridge" (Tony made a drunken bet that he could hitchhike around Ireland with a fridge in a month. Then he tried to actually achieve it), "One Hit Wonderland", and "Playing The Moldovans At Tennis" (all three by Tony Hawks - who I discovered via Just a Minute), "The Dangerous Animals Club" by Stephen Tobolowsky, "TheAnti-Romantic Child" by Priscilla Gilman (about her autistic son), "Marilyn: The Passion & The Paradox" by Lois Banner, "Going Clear" by Lawrence Wright (superb work on scientology), "Gulp" by Mary Roach, "One Summer: America 1927" by Bill Bryson, "Triple Agent" by Joby Warrick (about the Lebanese who killed several CIA agents in Afghanistan by means of suicide bomb), "Kill Anything That Moves" by Nick Turse (the truth about the Vietnam War) , "Heads in Beds" by Jacob Tomsky (the hotel industry).

And the best fiction: "Cinder", Marissa Meyer's sequel to "Scarlet"; all of Alex Berenson's books, which feature his character, John Wells. And all of P.J. Hoover's YA books.

I saw lots of movies, as always. The best feature films: "Captain Phillips", "For My Father" (an Israeli film), "Fruitvale Station", "Enough Said", "Instructions Not Included", "Wadjda", "Dallas Buyers Club", "Philomena", "Short Term 12", "After Midnight" and "Twelve Years A Slave"

The best documentary films: "The Network" (about an Afghan radio/TV network), "Before You Know It" (about 3 gay senior citizen - directed by my friend PJ Ravel), "Chasing Ice" (climate change is made real by means of still photographs recording glacier changes over extended time), "Bert Stern: Original Madman" (ad man, photographer (including Marilyn's final photo sessions)), "Blackfish" (the truth about the SeaWorld parks), "To Be and To Have" (a French teacher in a one room school), "Inequality For All" (Robert Reich), "Sole Survivor" (four who were the only survivor of a plane crash), "At Berkeley" (the latest documentary from the legendary Frederick Wiseman - it airs on PBS in January. Wiseman is 84 and working on his next film!! I discovered that the public library had about two dozen of his films that I hadn't seen. I've really been enjoying seeing more of his work. So far, the favorite of these new ones is "Blind" (about a Blind School in Alabama). Sadly, before I was able to watch all of them, five were withdrawn from the collection).

I was finally able to complete listening to all of my BBC "Just a Minute" shows (about 850, counting the TV shows). The show broadcasts a new series in February 2014 (listen to it at
). The program is in its 47th year; Nicholas Parson, the host, is still going strong at age 90 (he just made the Queen's list); he's never missed a broadcast (). I also finished listening to 254 Burns and Allen shows from the '30s through 1950 (George Burns and Gracie Allen) (). A recent addition, which I'm really enjoying are BBC versions of stories of Roald Dahl and most of the works of Charles Dickens. And thoroughly have been enjoying "Dead Ringers." The "Just a Minute" shows are so great that I've started listening to them a second time, as well as "You Bet Your Life" and "My Word." I suspect it'll take many months to finish this, since my source keeps adding new shows to my collection.

By the beginning of 2013 I had almost completely recovered from the October 2012 accident, but was still feeling pain in my right leg's hamstring and lower calf. My doctor authorized PT and with the help of a great physical therapist, the problem was solved after a few weeks. In December I received a settlement offer of $30,000 for the accident, but then discovered that the payment could not proceed until a $69,000 hospital bill was settled. Apparently, first the auto insurance is tapped for costs, then the health insurance company, and last of all, Medicare. Hopefully all this can be sorted out early in 2014, but the process seems to move at a glacial pace.

I had a colonoscopy and got a positive report. Late in the year I discovered that I had developed a case of tinnitus (ringing in the ears), which I suspect will be an intermittent problem for the rest of my life.

For the first time I walked at least 400 miles every month and never less than 10.6 miles on a day (always a challenge during SXSW and the Austin Film Festival). For the first time I walked over 5000 miles: final total 5202 miles. I was able to avoid driving 96% of the time. As a result I only needed to fill the tank once.

I attended two of the wonderful Will Wallace Workshops this year, always both helpful and great fun.

I saw thirty-two plays this year. Standouts were "Noises Off", "Spoiler Alert This Is How My Life Ends", and "Single Black Female".

I had major renovations done to my house. The contractor I hired, Jeff Durawa, was someone I taught thirty-three years ago. He replaced my kitchen floor, replaced my clothesline, repaired my back fence, installed a new shower and bathroom ceiling, found me a new stove, and painted the bathroom and kitchen. He should finish the job early in 2014.

The subject of my master's thesis, Shawn Phillips, returned to Austin for the first time in three years, still going strong at age 70. His wife's parents recently passed on, so he plans to move back to the U.S. from South Africa in 2014.

I saw over forty former students this year. I met Kristen Carrillo while she was on campus for a workshop. Kristan Rivers was visiting from Shanghai. Ian McDowell was selling his art while we were filming a scene for "Greenbelt". Ada Scarborough was in "Chef" with me. Erica Hendrix was at a UT screening of a film her son was in. Joshua Robertson was on the crew picking up my trash. Tiffanie Alexander had a going away party; Shawn Bode, Rick Alexander, and Jason Nobles were there. I attended the 20th McCallum reunion and saw Chris Garrett, John Bradford, Angie Rojas, Josh Adkinson, Alexia Raven, and Lori Scott. I crossed paths by chance with Austin Lane, Justin Sadowski, Yvonne Kimmons, Johnny Plair, Arthur Graves, Clarence Wilson, and Alan Leifeste. I helped Allison Daniel Hay make a copy of a video of her offspring. Stephanie Acosta joined me for the 10th reunion screening of School of Rock (which included a Q&A with Jack Black and all but one of the "class" members). I lunched with Jessica Briseno and Teua Ramirez. I met Mike Hartman to advise him on acting. Mary Voorhees Meehan and Jennifer Nash had an art exhibit where I saw them, their art and Tricia Voorhees Burnight, Sara Facundo, Amy Hyman, and Genevieve Guinn. Adrienne Overton used her DJing skills at her sister's store; her brother Volma was there. I saw Albert McGee at the bookstore where he works (curiously, across the street from Lamar Middle School). And at the McCallum 10th reunion I saw Rachel Richey, Mynor Alvarado, Jared Mink, Tiffanie Alexander, and Tasha Siebenaler.

I hope all of you have a great 2014

Bob Woodward, the great reporter, part of the team that covered Watergate
Shawn Phillips - great singer, subject of my master's thesis
Ricky Williams - winner of the Heisman when he played at UT
Nicolas Cage - the great actor
Michael Morton - an innocent man who spent 25 years in prison
Hal Hartley - the great film director
Blair Bomar - a dear friend i met 9 years earlier & is now doing great work as an actor in LA
and me in a film

It was an especially good year for me as an actor with several paid gigs and some excellent roles. I had four paid gigs in January; an extra in a Verizon spot, a diner in the reality show "Mystery Diners", and as an extra in Jason Reitman's film "Men, Women & Children". (The "bad waitress" on "Mystery Diners" turned out to be Ali Meier, a friend who I hadn't recognized. She was my doctor on the Reitman film.) I also had a great lead role in the "Ticket Out of the Game" episode of "Street Stories". Seven episodes of that series are complete and I am also in the seventh, "Intersection," shot later in the year. Episode eight will be filmed early in 2015 with more planned. I discovered that Brian Burns, the director, is the father of Angela Burns, whose film "Betta" I was in several years ago. ()

I was an optometrist in "Not Right Eye" filmed in a real eye doctor's office (view it at ). I played Schmuyle in an episode of "Pictures at an Exhibition" (based on the Mussorgsky composition) and a motel clerk for the indie Hollywood feature "Hot Air." I was an extra in a Bob Byington project and was delighted to see a dear friend, Blair Bomar, who has moved to LA.

I was in a Longhorn Network spot featuring UT's Heisman winner Ricky Williams which can be seen at .

I reprised my role of Leslie in "CriminAL"; played a 90-year-old member of the Board of a stock broker's firm in "The Sauce" (), and played the future version of the lead in "On Time" (by use of a magic time-travelling watch). I also had my second voice-over, recording about 170 thermostat commands.

In July, we finished shooting my role in "Dawn" (my second Deb Abbott film, which was started in 2013). I received the DVD at the end of the year and it's great. She plans to enter it in film festivals, so it won't be online for a while. (). My final film of the year was a short film by Ken Johnson, "The Waiting Room," in which I'm God. After several hours of rehearsal and two cast changes, three days before shooting one actor was pulled out by her parents (too much time rehearsing and not enough time doing her home-school homework). My part was mostly voice-over until I'm revealed at the end (like the man behind the curtain in "The Wizard of Oz"). We filmed my scene but, sadly, Ken told me the film will not be completed.

I attended all twenty-four tapings of "Overheard with Evan Smith". Highlights include Rick Linklater (whose "Boyhood" is racking up awards and rave reviews), Lawrence Wright (a friend and always wonderful), Bob Woodward, James Ellroy (one of the all-time best), Nicholas Kristof (whose books are highly recommended - see my list below) Katha Politt, Jeffrey Tambor (another gem). You can view any of these at . If you're interested in attending future tapings, subscribe to /g/UpcomingOverheards.

I had three photo sessions this year, and all resulted in lots of fun and great photos: Julie Cude Eaton, Patricia Eakin, and Karen Jager.

Once again, for the eighth consecutive year, I read 365 books (the grand total is 9105. The best nonfiction books: A Path Appears (inspirational - Nicholas Kristof / Sheryl WuDunn), Half The Sky (about the mistreatment of women – just started an earlier book by these two which is going to be on next year's list - Nicholas Kristof & Sheryl WuDunn), The Real North Korea (amazing account of what life is like there - Andrei Lankov), Manson (met the author, who also used to be a middle school teacher in Austin - Jeff Guinn), More Harm Than Good (Alan Zelicoff), Ninety Percent Of Everything (that we buy is sent by ship - Rose George), No Ordinary Time (FDR & Eleanor - Doris Kearns Goodwin), Drama High (should be required reading by all drama teachers - Michael Sokolove), The Good Nurse (ironic title – about a nurse who killed - Charles Graeber), People Who Eat Darkness (another murderer, this one in Japan - Richard Parry), Red Market: On the Trail of the World's Organ Brokers, Bone Thieves, Blood Farmers, and Child Traffickers (Scott Carney), Musical Stages (Richard Rodgers), Cronkite (Douglas Brinkley), Short Strange Life Of Herschel Grynszpan (Grynszpan's action was the Nazi's excuse for Kristallnacht - Jonathan Kirsch), Harlot By The Side Of The Road (tales censored from the Bible - Jonathan Kirsch), Johnny Cash (Robert Hilburn), Song Of Spiderman (Glen Berger), The Death Of Santini (Pat Conroy), The Longest Trip Home (John Grogan), On Saudi Arabia (Karen House), No Good Men Among The Living (the war in Afghanistan from an Afghan viewpoint - Anand Gopal)

The best fiction books: Cress (the third in her wonderful series, to be completed early 2015 - Marissa Meyer), Tesla's Attic (Neal Shusterman), Slammed (Colleen Hoover), Matched (Ally Condie), Prodigy (Marie Lu), Afterworlds (Scott Westerfeld), Inkdeath (Cornelia Funke), Wise Men (Stuart Nadler). I also discovered nineteen Stuart Woods books I hadn't read, bringing the total for him up to fifty-nine.

Art/photography books: Beatles Now & Then (Harry Benson), The Beatles: In The Beginning (Harry Benson), Pens & Needles (David Levine), The World Of Charles Addams (Charles Addams) and 3 books by Tomi Ungerer: Schnipp Schnapp, Otto: the Autobiography of a Teddy Bear, and Tomi A Childhood Under The Nazis (his autobiography; he grew up in Alsace and tells of life there after the Nazis took over.) There's a great Fresh Air interview at .

I saw some amazing films. The Return (Russian), The Past (Iran), Nono the Zigzag Kid (Dutch), The Lunchbox (India), Peace Officer, Sweet Dreams (Rwanda), Mood Indigo, Omar, Austeria (Polish), Abuse Of Weakness (French), The Coffin Maker, (Filipino)

The best of the documentaries Finding Vivian Maier (an amazing account of the tens of thousands of her photos, unknown during her lifetime, now in art galleries), Supermensch, All America High Revisited, Ukraine Is Not A Brothel, The Square (Egypt), Tim's Vermeer (showing how Vermeer achieved his highly detailed work), Overnighters, CitizenFour (Snowden), Fed Up, and Mentor (great film on bullying – several students in Mentor, Ohio were driven to suicide by the bullies without any consequence).

I saw some wonderful concerts. The best were Buddy Mondlock (for the 6th time), Ken Gaines (5th time), Los Texmaniacs, Shawn Phillips (39th time), Stribrnanka (from the Czech Republic), and Conspirare's performance of Gnostic Passion.

Just before the end of the year I received a ton of BBC podcasts which I'm sure will take more than a year to listen to: 78 hours of P G Wodehouse, 76 hours of Terry Pratchett, 92 hours of the Goon Show (a major influence on Monty Python), and 87 hours of shows by individual members of the Goons. Peter Sellers got his start in show biz as a Goon. There are also 26 episodes of the Telegoons (video excerpts from the Goon Show using puppets to illustrate the voices). I discovered transcripts of some of the Goon Shows at PCL as well as other books by Goon Spike Milligan (his best-titled book: Adolf Hitler: My Part in His Downfall). I'm working my way again through the "Just a Minute" shows (406 hours), as well as "You Bet Your Life" (98 hours) and "My Word." (190 hours) They're great fun and there were 22 new broadcasts of Just a Minute in 2014 with the next series being taped now – the chairman is now 91 years old.

In December 2013 I was informed the proposed settlement for my 2012 accident (I was hit by an SUV while I was crossing the street) was blocked by a hospital bill. I turned the matter over to USAA and recently got a check. After paying Medicare about $600, the settlement was still about five times greater than the offer. Ironically, after USAA had sent Medicare that amount, I was billed for a $40 late payment (which they refunded).

My health was good with only one minor problem this year. I somehow banged up one large toenail, which turned black and eventually fell off. At my physical my doctor said it was healing well and she wasn't concerned.

For the second straight time I walked at least 400 miles every month, never less than 10.8 miles on a day (always a challenge during SXSW and the Austin Film Festival). For the second time I walked over 5000 miles: final total, a record 5312 miles. I avoided driving 95% of the time. As a result I only needed to fill the tank once.

Will Wallace had another one of his wonderful workshops, which are always a treat.

I saw twenty-five plays. Standouts were "Venus In Fur", "Brudermord or Hamlet, Prince of Denmark." (which included puppets) and Henry IV Part 2 (performed live by the Royal Shakespeare Company and shown at a movie theater).

I had more renovations on my house: new bathroom lights and new fencing on the side of the house.

I saw twenty-one former students this year, including two from Davis Middle School (San Antonio) where I taught for seven years in the early '70s. For several years I'd been on the lookout for photos I took during a hot air balloon flight that started at Davis. I was never able to find any prints of the flight, but by chance I came across several hundred slides and realized that this was what I'd been looking for. I scanned the two yearbooks from when I taught at Dobie Middle School and the twenty-four from Lamar Middle School and added them to the Facebook pages I created for those schools. At Davis we didn't have a yearbook until after I left, so the forty photos I found are a great addition to the Davis page and enabled me to connect with several students I taught back then. Initially I scanned some slides at UT, (with help from my friend Arie Guerra, a lead in "On Time" as well as "Street Stories"). However, I had to borrow a slide projector and screen from Derek Howard to process the rest. Derek was the balloon pilot for that flight as well as several more, including one at the National Balloon Races in Indianola, Iowa in 1974. Enroute I rode in a motor home belonging to another balloonist, David Evans, and remember listening to the Watergate hearings during the trip. In addition to slides of several of Derek's balloon flights (I became his chase car driver after arriving before his driver on some of his flights), I found dozens of family photos, including some from 1948 and many in the '60s and '70s. I'm slowly adding these to my Facebook page. I was surprised to realize that I had 173 adds on Facebook from former students. I also realized that I now have 400 followers on Facebook, most likely due to the many editorial cartoons and pictures I post daily.

My old iMac died and I love my new, very fast 27" iMac. I also replaced my little iPod. Sadly, I was informed by Apple that this would be the final time they would replace it.

I was lucky enough to attend one session of the Civil Rights Summit held at the LBJ Library this year. My session featured David Robinson (Spurs) and Maria Shriver and followed President Obama's keynote speech (while waiting in line we could see I-35 traffic stopped until the Obama motorcade arrived.) Three former presidents also spoke at the Summit.

I saw ZM, a new zombie musical (by the team that created "Urinetown") performed at UT. It's likely headed for Broadway. The plot was ridiculous. The music was OK, but I honestly believe that the plot and music from "Z: a Zombie Musical" that I co-produced seven years ago were better.

I didn't get many autographs this year, but two that I got were notable: Bob Woodward and Nicolas Cage. Other notables I saw were Neal Shusterman (I've read 29 of his books), Alicia Silverstone, Mary Roach (another amazing author), Doug Brinkley (a friend and author of several best ofs), Michael Morton (the innocent man who spent 25 years in prison), three of the Little Rock nine (the students who integrated Little Rock's High School in 1957), Marion Winik (author and friend; delighted to discover 3 new e-books of hers I hadn't read) and Bob Hinkle (his book "Call Me Lucky" is great; you can see his talk at and )

In October I attended my 50th reunion. Our band president, Jack Johnson, arranged three tables for us band folk. There was a turnout of about 170 class members (of the 831 who graduated and 1000 in the class).

I hope all of you have a great 2015.

Penelope Spheeris, great director. Wayne’s World, and the 3 Decline Of Western Civilization films are her best-known works. her brother Jimmie, was one of my fave singers
Myriam Perales was one of my fave students
Catherine Perales is Myriam's sister
Dawn Mann was also a great student
Kerry Wallin another great student
and me as god in filming of The Waiting Room

2015 newsletter

Once again, time for the annual newsletter. I got to see some notable people this year: In January, Hall of Famer Hank Aaron spoke at the LBJ Library emphasizing his civil rights work over his baseball achievements. Robert Reich delivered of the best speeches I heard all year (his film "Inequality for All" was one of the best docs in 2013). I'd seen Penelope Spheeris in 1998, but this time I got a photo with her. She was in town screening all three of her The Decline Of Western Civilization documentaries. (Her best-known film is probably Wayne's World).

It was a thrill to see Judy Blume (in June); I've read twenty-two of her books. Her latest ("In the Unlikely Event") is set in her childhood town of Elizabeth New Jersey (where three planes crashed in an eighty-day period in 1951-52). At that time my family lived in Roselle Park (one block from Elizabeth). Five months later Judy replied to an email I sent. I'd seen John Irving ten years ago and he was just as amazing this year (I've read all but his latest book).

I saw several additional authors whose books I've enjoyed including Dave Zirin, Taylor Branch, H. W. Brands, John Burnett, Colleen Hoover, Lemony Snicket, Amy Stewart (one of the best in-store appearances), David Levithan, Lawrence Wright, and Bill Crider (I've been Facebook friends with Bill for eight years and have now read forty-eight of his books (eight this year). It was nice to finally meet him, though I discovered I'd gotten his autograph back in '98).

As usual, I saw all of the Overheard with Evan Smith tapings (21) and they continue to be a great delight. Two of the democratic presidential candidates (Bernie Sanders and Martin O'Malley) were on the program (both were great). Other highlights were Salman Kahn, Barney Franks, Cokie Roberts, Taylor Branch, and Robert Reich.

I found about five hundred old family photos (mostly taken by my dad) in two file cabinets. In addition, cousin Jim Wiegley found about two hundred and fifty. We digitized them and I've been posting them on Facebook. One album is at and there's a link at each album to the adjacent albums. So far, I've added over eight hundred family photos, with less than one hundred to go.

I saw fifty-nine former students this year. From 1969-1976 I taught at Jeff Davis Middle School in San Antonio. In July I attended a Sam Houston High School reunion in San Antonio. Ten of the students I taught at Davis had indicated they'd attend (via Facebook), so I thought I might see five or six. I saw TWENTY & got photos with all of them. I saw eighteen more at three McCallum reunions in the summer. I met two more at their workplace & had lunch with four. I got to see two of my favorites this year: sisters Myriam and Catherine Perales

I helped another favorite Dawn Mann set up an interview with KLRU which aired a news story about her Dance Another World program, which she pioneered in AISD. The Statesman published an article about it on Christmas (). The program, which has expanded this year to five elementary schools, teaches English through dance to students with limited English-language skills.

Another favorite, Kerry Wallin, treated me to lunch. After I'd found her on Facebook she sent me a wonderful note: "I've always remembered when you taught us how to make moving characters on those old school computers by using math! Mine was the apple falling out of the tree and the squirrel taking it away! Can't remember much from that long ago, but I remember you and that assignment! That was the first time I really enjoyed math, and it was all because of you being the teacher. You really impacted my life and made me feel I could learn and do it! I have never really been that good at math, but you and my 9th grade math teacher really impacted my life and one English teacher in 9th grade also. I struggled a lot in school; later in 11th grade found out I was dyslexic - numbers, letters and comprehension! Just kind of learned to overcome it in some areas and having great teachers helped!" Shortly after we met, Kerry was assigned (in her capacity as a caregiver) to take care of one of those 9th grade teachers.

I hadn't seen my dear friend Sutton for ten years, so we chatted for over two hours at lunch while she was in town for a few weeks this fall, catching up on things, such as her German husband and her daughter.

The best concerts I attended were by Alash (the Tuvan throat singing group), Sangat (an ensemble of UT music school students and students from the National Academy of Performing Arts in Karachi – (earlier this year I got to see Zia Moyehuddin, who founded the school in 2005 at the invitation of President Musharref)), Shawn Phillips (the 40th time I've seen him – he was the subject of my thesis), Michal Korzistka (a brilliant pianist from Poland), and the Book of Goddesses (a dance performance by Chaski & Psophonia).

As usual I read 365 books this year (the grand total is now 9503 – there are now one hundred and seventy-one authors of whom I've read ten or more books). The best novels were "The One Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out The Window and Disappeared" (also a delightful movie) and "The Girl Who Saved The King of Sweden" (both by Jonas Jonasson), "Afterworlds" (Scott Westerfeld), "Six Years" (Harlan Coben), "The Eye Of Zoltar" (Jasper Fforde), "The Martian Child" (a moving account of the adoption of a troubled child by a single gay man - which actually happened to the author, Dave Gerrold), "Chomp" (Carl Hiaasen), "Me & Earl & The Dying Girl" (also a delightful movie - Jesse Andrews), "The Highway" (one of four books I read by C J Box), "Zeroes" (Scott Westerfeld), "The English Spy" (Daniel Silva), "Sold" (based on the real girls sold into sexual slavery in India - Patricia McCormick) and "Memory" (Donald Westlake – I've now read thirty-nine of his books – I discovered twenty-nine Westlake books I hadn't read, and have read half of those so far)

As usual, the non-fiction list is longer. "The World of Charles Addams" (Charles Addams), "Being Miss America" (Kate Shindle), "China Wakes" (Kristof Nicholas & Sheryl WuDunn), "The Everything Store" (excellent and very disturbing book on Amazon - Brad Stone), "Act Of Congress" (how Dodd Frank was passed - Robert Kaiser), "True American" (post 9/11 shooting spree - Anand Giridharadas), "So Anyway" (John Cleese), "Harpo Speaks" (brilliant autobiography - Harpo Marx), "The Real All Americans" (the great all-Indian football team at Carlisle one hundred years ago - Sally Jenkins), "Raised Eyebrows: My Years Inside Groucho's House" (Steve Stoliar), "Groucho & Me" (Groucho Marx), "Becoming Richard Pryor" (Scott Saul), "Buddy: The Biography" (Philip Norman), "The Barefoot Lawyer" (a blind human rights protester in China who escaped in spite of impossible conditions - Chen Guangcheng), "By George" (George S. Kaufman - includes his adaptation of HMS Pinafore; excerpts of which are at ), "George S. Kaufman" (Howard Teichmann), "P S Jack Paar" (Jack Paar – the second Tonight show host, before Johnny Carson - I enjoyed all four of his books), "Hi-Ho Steverino" (Steve Allen - the first Tonight show host; I discovered eighteen more of his books this year, which are now on my list), "Without You There Is No Us" (a year teaching children of the North Korean elite - Suki Kim), "A Kim Jong-Il Production" (bio of the megalomanic North Korean leader - Paul Fischer), "North Korea Confidential" (Daniel Tudor & James Pearson), "A Backpack, a Bear, and Eight Crates of Vodka" (great autobiography - from Ukraine to the U.S., escaping anti-semitism - Lev Golinkin). Two books dealing with the treatment of pigs in the food chain: "The Chain" (Ted Genoways) and "Pig Tales" (Barry Estabrook). "Underground Girls of Kabul" (the need for some Afghan girls to pretend to be boys in that sexist society - Jenny Nordberg), "Dead Wake" (the Lusitania - Erik Larson), "Thieves of State" (Sarah Chayes), "Bad Paper" (debt collectors - Jake Halpern), "Wonder of Wonders" (Fiddler on the Roof - Alisa Solomon), "The Last Train to Crystal City" (WW II internment camp - Jan Jarboe Russell – met her & H.W. Brands took a photo of us), "America's Bitter Pill" (our health care system - Steven Brill), and "Mine Enemy Grows Older" (Alexander King)

I've been listening to the P. G. Wodehouse BBC broadcasts I got in 2014 and have only seventeen hours left (out of about twenty-five days). At the end of the year I downloaded seven hundred and forty-six Jean Shepherd files (best known for the wonderful movie "Christmas Story"); it took ten days to download and another week to process. At twenty-one days, twenty-two hours, I'm sure it'll take well into 2017 to listen to all of them. Late in the year I also started downloading Quote Unquote, which will also take months to listen to (about nine days of programs); the show started in 1976 and is still running. Another program I've been enjoying is I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue (described as the antidote to panel games) eight days, twenty hours of programs to listen to) the show started in 1972 and is still running. I've listened to most of the ten days I got of Jack Benny's radio shows. I finished listening to My Word for the second time & am still working my way through Just a Minute for the second time (plus the new broadcasts - the show is still going strong & its chairman, Nicholas Parsons, now 92, has still never missed a broadcast & the show is in its forty-eighth year.)

I bought my Honda Civic Hybrid in 2002 and was starting to have problems with the hybrid battery, so in June I traded it in on a 2015 model. The new one has a video monitor for both backing up and right turns. I've only had to fill up the tank once so far and it's getting 53 mpg so far. Since I got it in 2011 my iPod nano had been replaced four times when the battery wore out. Apple said they would no longer replace it, so I now have a new nano. It's a little bit larger (sadly, it lacks a clip to attach it to my shirt) and is personalized with my name on the back.

My health was, for the most part, good. I walked 5142 miles (14.09 daily average) not driving 90.1% of the year. I strained my Achilles tendon in May and that slowed me down for a while. I was able to get some physical therapy to solve the problem.

The best of the many films I saw (as usual) were documentaries. It was a true delight to see TWO new ones by Frederick Wiseman (still going strong at age 86 - his 41st documentary is in progress in New York City). Both "National Gallery" (the art gallery in London) and "In Jackson Heights" (a diverse neighborhood in Queens NYC) were superb. "Go Grandriders" (a group of men, mostly in their 80s, who rode around the Philippines on motor bikes), "A Fuller Life" (film director Sam Fuller), "Life Itself" (Roger Ebert), "A Path Appears" (based on the book which was on my best of list last year ), "Going Clear" (based on Lawrence Wright's brilliant expose of Scientology), "Limited Partnership" (a fascinating doc on a gay couple who were married in the '70s), "Salt of The Earth" (Wim Wenders' take on Sebastiao Salgado's wonderful photos), "Twinsters" (identical Korean twins, separated at birth, unaware of each other's existence, adopted in France and the U.S., finally meet), and "Invasion" (on the Panama invasion to capture Noriega)

The feature films I enjoyed the most were Shaun the Sheep Movie, Quaker Oaths (a local indie), Donkey Skin (a 1972 Jacques Demy), Paddington, Ned Rifle (Hal Hartley completing his Henry Fool trilogy which started in 1998), Wild Tales (Argentina) The Burglars (France 1972), Run Boy Run (a very moving true story about Polish Jewish boy who survived several years during World War II pretending to be Catholic), Once In A Lifetime (another moving true story about a teacher who took a class of dropouts to win a national competition).

Ken Johnson tried again to film The Waiting Room, but sadly, the problems proved insurmountable. My scenes were filmed (I played God), but just before we were ready to shoot an actor dropped out. I attended two great acting workshops (Jamie Gallagher and Will Wallace). I believed I would have had a role in Will's feature film, Traffic; however, Austin had rain during most of May and June (it's been one of the wettest years in Austin history, almost twice the normal amount) and the Austin scenes were shot and cast in California instead. I had good roles in American Zombie, Emeryville, Street Stories (which now has eight episodes), and The Amazing Martin Landawer. Greenbelt is now online, so you can see me as Leslie & the whole film at
. My casting list (), which I started in 2000, now has over 10,000 subscribers.

I was cast in Professor Isle's Laboratory (Lawrence Wright helped record my scene to help me learn my lines) in the summer () and Girls Drinking in Inappropriate Places in April. The former starts shooting in January and the latter, hopefully sometime in 2016.

Because of all the rain, the flat part of my roof at the back of my home was weakened and Jeff Durawa added a section of tin roofing to protect it. Unfortunately, just before he was finished, we had a heavy rain, which caused a leak and a hole in the ceiling.

Of the twenty-eight plays I saw, more than usual were great ones: The Mountaintop, The Graduate (great to see a staged version of the film), The Philadelphia Story (ditto), The Importance of Being Earnest, When The Rain Stops Falling, Love Valour Compassion, The Norwegians, and I'm Not Rappaport (the third time I've seen it with the same two lead actors, previously in 1989 and 1998; this time they were much closer to the age of their characters).

In 2014 I scanned the twenty-four yearbooks from my years teaching at Lamar Middle School. After the Lamar librarian contacted me by email (after she joined my casting list) I was able to borrow and scan the thirty-two yearbooks from the school library. This year I was able to track down copies of the four missing books: in Denver, Brenham, Houston, and near Thorndale (which I was able to borrow at the 55th McCallum reunion. Of the two dozen attending, thirteen were at Lamar that year: 1956/57). There will be a special event at Lamar this year to celebrate its 60th year. All the albums are on Facebook ()

Jane Alexander great actor, at the texas book fest
Lauren Oliver great author
Stuart Woods one of my fave authors, i've now read 84 of his books. at this time he was writing 4 books a year
Woody Harrelson wonderful actor
Rachel Dolman one of my fave students, at the time in the hospital
Linda Taylor one of my students from san antonio's jeff davis in 70/71, my 3rd year of teaching
me in prof isle's lab, a fun scene shot at mccallum -
me honored at lamar during its 60th anniversary celebration - Mayor of Scottietown
and the Austin Chronicle's honoring of me

2016 newsletter

Another year has passed; it's been a good one for me, (other than the disastrous election results). Perhaps the most notable event was playing a small role in a pilot episode for a Comedy Central show, "Power Couple", which stars former Saturday Night Life comedian Noel Wells. The network has not scheduled an air date for the show yet. The project was the best-paid acting gig I've ever done.

Other acting work included a local TV series, "Professor Isle's Laboratory", in which I play a cafeteria worker (my scene is at ; the copy on Facebook got 700 views in 2 days). In "Fashionista" I played a postman (). I completed my work for "American Zombie" (green screen work) after a year's delay. And I had a fun bit in the RoosterTeeth Series "Million Dollars But" ()

I attended three great acting workshops, two by Will Wallace and one by his wife Sara.

The feature film "Greenbelt", in which I played Leslie is now on Youtube at

Sixteen years ago (while working on Miss Congeniality), I started a yahoo group to post casting calls. This year I was surprised and honored when the Austin Chronicle named me and the group as part of their Best of Austin issue. ()

I saw some notable people this year. Bob Schieffer (CBS) was fantastic. Doug Brinkley spoke on our National Parks (his book on FDR & the parks is fantastic). The LBJ Library had an excellent two-day summit on the Vietnam War in April. Participants included Country Joe McDonald, Peter Yarrow, Peter Arnett, Dan Rather, Tom Hayden, David Maraniss, and Robert Schenkkan. Bryan Stevenson's lecture was one of the highlights of the year as well as the decade. He's an amazing man and I finally read his book, "Just Mercy", which is a must-read.

For many years I've loved Story Corps, (which NPR's Morning Edition carries Friday mornings). So it was a treat to see its creator, Davis Isay. The documentary "Jump Shot" (see below) was actually inspired by a Story Corps broadcast (). Lawrence Wright spoke on "The Terror Years", his latest, and was brilliant and fascinating as always.

I saw some great authors at the Texas Book Festival: Carl Hiassen was very funny, as usual. I've loved five of David Cay Johnston's books; he spoke on his new book, "The Making of Donald Trump" (which likely will be on next year's best of list). Jane Alexander is best-known as an actor, but she spoke on her new book. Clint Hill was an unexpected treat. He was a secret service agent under five presidents and is the agent who leapt onto the back of JFK's limousine in Dallas after the president was shot. I loved Maria Semple's first two books ("Where'd You Go Bernadette" is her best-known title) and am looking forward to reading her latest.

Skip Hollandsworth gave a talk about his book, "Midnight Assassin," which is about the world's first serial killer (in 1885 Austin). Press coverage in 1888 London (while Jack the Ripper terrorized that city) mentioned the Austin killer.

The speaker at the annual Frank Deford (the sports writer) lecture this year was Andrew Zimbalist, an economist. He gave a fascinating lecture on the economics of the Olympic games. In the past fifty years, due to IOC restrictions, only two times has there NOT been massive losses for the host cities.

I saw three of my favorite authors: Lauren Oliver (YA author, I've read 12 of her books), Stuart Woods (I've read 66 of his), and Erik Larson (three of his books have been on my best of list, including "Lethal Passage" this year and "Devil in the White City" and "Dead Wake" in earlier years. I've read seven of his books).

Forty years ago I wrote my master's thesis on Shawn Phillips. Steve Wixon is preparing a documentary on Shawn and in July he sent his son & daughter-in-law to film an interview with me. Digging through my files I found many letters, documents and audiotapes to help them. They converted a tape of Shawn's 1990 concert at the Cactus Cafe () They have interviewed Donovan and it is still a work in progress.

At a screening of "LBJ" (Rob Reiner's new film), I got a photo with Woody Harrelson, who plays the title character. Its director, Rob Reiner, disappeared before I could get one with him.

My health is good. I turned 70 this year and walked 5563 miles, averaging 15.2 miles a day, and walking at least twelve miles every day. That was about 300 miles more than the previous annual high. The first year (2000) in which I used a pedometer, the total was 1653 miles. It went up to 1997 in 2001. I walked more in 2016 than those two years combined.

Jeff Durawa replaced the supports for my carport, repaired my clothesline (after a dead tree fell on top of it), did some roof work, and more work on the bathroom.

Over a period of about two years I was able to track down, scan, and post all sixty of the Lamar yearbooks on Facebook and in April the Lamar PTA had a celebration to honor this. There was a plaque showing me as the "Mayor of Scottietown." The counselor from 1959 to 1971 was present as were several students from the early years. The school gave me a copy of this year's yearbook, which I've added.

I saw about twenty-three former students, three of whom treated me to lunch: Linda Taylor (who I taught in San Antonio 1970/71), Fabi Salas (Lamar), Dianne Patterson (Dobie). I saw one former student, Rachel Dolman, while she was in the hospital and we had a delightful long visit.

I've known Michael Guess for thirty years and taught his step-son at Lamar, so it was great to catch up with him over lunch. Sutton Mooney has been friends for twenty years and was in town for a few weeks (she's a professor at Washington State University); we were able to catch up over lunch; she also was able to join me for the Gloria Steinem taping and the Lawrence Wright book talk.

I had one photo shoot this year, with Loren Ellison, a great one. And I was the subject of a photo shoot, by Kathy Whittaker, allowing me to update my acting headshots. She does great work.

As always, I attended all of the "Overheard with Evan Smith" tapings, well worth seeing. (If you're interested subscribe at /g/UpcomingOverheards). There were twenty-six this year. The best were Gloria Steinem, R L Stine (Goosebumps), Mike Love (Beach Boys), Wendy Davis, Bryan Cranston, Rick Linklater, Ken Burns, Ethan Hawke, Henry Louis Gates, Jefferey Goldberg, and David Farenthold (the reporter who revealed much of the Trump Foundation's unethical practices). You can watch any of these episodes at (these include the post-taping Q&A's, which are not part of the broadcast.)

The best concerts I attended this year were by Atash, Buddy Mondlock (7th time I've seen him – 7th venue), Chaski, Con Moto (a unique concert of a brass quintet using choreographed movement as they performed), Chorus Austin (wonderful concert of highlights from works performed previously) and Conspirare (2 concerts, both magical, and their "Considering Matthew Shepard", composed by Craig Hella Johnson, (their conductor) was one of the best works I've EVER seen performed. It's out on CD and I also have a recording on the concert, (which was broadcast by KMFA.)

As usual, I read 366 books and the grand total is 9815. I hope to pass the 10,000 mark in 2017. The best nonfiction starts with several by Edward Humes. I read his great "Garbology" in 2013 (on my best of list that year) and read ten of his books this year. The best of those are "Monkey Girl", "No Matter How Loud I Shout", "Mississippi Mud", "School Of Dreams", and "Door to Door".

The rest of the nonfiction: "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" (crematory worker - Caitlin Doughty), "Billion Dollar Ball" (College Football & Money – Gilbert Gaul), "Walt Disney" (Neal Gabler), "All Who Go Do Not Return" (Shulem Deen), "Washington's Crossing", (David Hackett Fischer), "Werner Herzog: A Guide For The Perplexed" (Werner Herzog), "Katrina" (Gary Rivlin), "Kill Chain" (Andrew Cockburn), "Of Thee I Sing" (George Kaufman), "A Life of Barbara Stanwyck Steel-True 1907-1940" (Victoria Wilson), "The Verdict" (Nick Stone), "Nicholas Ray" (Patrick McGilligan), "The Last of the President's Men" (Bob Woodward), "Putin Country" (Anne Garrels), "The Girl With Seven Names" (Hyeonseo Lee), "Strength In What Remains" (Tracy Kidder), "Lady Bird" (Jan Jarboe Russell), "Lethal Passage" (Erik Larson), "Even This I Get to Experience" (Norman Lear), "Burning Down The House - The End of Juvenile Prison" (Nell Bernstein), "City of Thorns" (enormous refugee camp in Kenya - Ben Rawlence), "United States of Jihad" (Peter Bergen), "Oregon Trail" (Rinker Buck), "Fear on Trial" (John Henry Faulk), "Dark Side: The Inside Story of How the War on Terror Turned Into a War on American Ideals" (Jane Mayer), "Mission High" (Kristina Rizga), "Original Story By" (Arthur Laurents), "Rosa Parks" (Douglas Brinkley), "Just Mercy" (Bryan Stevenson), "Finding Winnie" (Lindsay Mattick), "Meat Racket" (Tyson Foods - Christopher Leonard), "Indentured" (NCAA - Joe Nocera), "Art Made from Books" (Laura Heyenga), and "American Heiress" (Jeffrey Toobin).

The fiction list this year is much longer than usual, great to say, starting with several by Thomas Perry: "The Runner", "Poison Flower", "String Of Beads", "The Informant", "The Boyfriend", "Silence", and "Forty Thieves".

The rest of the fiction: "The Highway" and "Off The Grid" (both by C J Box), "Zeroes" (Scott Westerfeld), "The English Spy" (Daniel Silva), "Girl Waits with Gun" (Amy Stewart), "Confess" and "November 9" (both by Colleen Hoover), "A Bottle in the Gaza Sea" (Valerie Zenatti), "The Wolves" and "Twelve Days" (both by Alex Berenson), "Make Me" (Lee Child), "The Promise" (Robert Crais), "Sword Of Summer" (Rick Riordan), "One Mississippi" and "Crazy In Alabama" (both by Mark Childress), "Lust & Wonder" (Augusten Burroughs), "The First Order" (Jeff Abbott), "Worst Class Trip Ever" (Dave Barry), "Smoke" (Donald Westlake), "The Lock Artist" (Steve Hamilton) , "The Crossing" (Michael Connelly), "The Girl in the Spider's Web" (David Lagercrantz), and "The Accidental Apprentice" (Vikas Swarup),

The best films I saw were documentaries, as is often the case. The ones I liked the most are "Where To Invade Next" (Michael Moore), "Beaver Trilogy Part 4", "Alive & Kicking" (swing dancing - featuring Evita Arce, a friend), "Richard Linklater: Dream & Destiny", "Learning To See", "Babushkas of Chernobyl", "Armour of Light", "Handicapable" (UT), "Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You" (PBS - Lear was present for the screening) , "Holy Hell", "Life Animated", "Tower" (on the UT Tower shooting of 1966), "Author The J T Leroy Story", "The Pearl Button" (Chile), "My Scientology Movie", "Santoalla", "Original Cast Album Company" (D A Pennebaker), "Into the Inferno", "What Tomorrow Brings" (PBS), "Jump Shot" (a work in progress on the man who created the jump shot in basketball)

My favorite feature films: "All the Way" (Bryan Cranston as LBJ), "Paris Texas", "Hunt for the Wilderpeople" (New Zealand), "Miss Stevens", "Facing Mirrors" (Iran), "Eye in the Sky", "Everybody Wants Some" (Rick Linklater), "Miracle", "The Idol" (Gaza), "Midnight Special", "Two Birds One Stone" (French), "The Innocents" (Polish), "Kubo & The 2 Strings", "Evil" (Sweden), "Our Little Sister" (Japan), "A Bottle in the Gaza Sea" (Israel), "Dekologue" (Poland), "The Handmaiden" (Korean), "Germinal", "The D In David" (animated short - ), "Race" (1936 Olympics), and "Sing".

I added some new BBC shows to my collection (courtesy of my friend back east) with Men from the Ministry, Whacko, Week Ending, Mark Steel, and Garrison Keillor (Prairie Home Companion is carried on the BBC). I've greatly enjoyed listening to these shows and have many more hours of them to listen to. I continued listening to Quote Unquote, I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue, Just a Minute, and Jean Shepherd. Maybe I'll complete those series this year.

After reading Jack Viertel's great book "The Secret Life of the American Musical" I discovered several Broadway musicals I was unaware of and some newer recordings of shows I already had. I also found new albums by the amazing Stephan Micus and 5 symphonies by the wonderful composer David Maslanka.

I only had to fill the tank on my Honda hybrid once, late in December, and averaged 56.3 miles for that tankful. I'm averaging 53.4 overall, so far.

I saw twenty-three plays; three were exceptional: Silent Sky, The Explorer's Club, and Arden of Faversham.

Hope that 2017 is a good year for all who read this and for me.

Katy Tur - NBC news
Jeff Nichols - director of Mud, Loving, Take Shelter
Joaquin Castro - Congressman
Amado Pena - artist. his mural for ACC Highland just completed (in 2020). went to college with him
Danny Greenup - dear friend - met her on Betta in 2009
me as a crab in

Terrence McNally, the legendary playwright
Jake Tapper - the CNN news reporter
Julian Castro Secretary of Housing and Urban Development from 2014 to 2017
Ashley Doyle Darnell - one of my all-time fave students
Natali Jones - very dear friend in the acting community
Zira Amunet - another very dear friend, who i met on set
and me as a rabbi in Fear Of The Walking Dead

2018 Newsletter

Another year in the book. More memorable events. This year I was the initial speaker for a new group, the Austin Entertainment Business Mixer, which meets monthly. I was also the featured guest on a local cable access show, Da Big Daddy G Show (my segment is at ).

I've been sending out annual newsletters since 1992, continuing a family tradition my parents started which they ended in 1988.

I got to see twenty-one of my former students, ten at a McCallum reunion. It was a delight that some were my favorite students Alice Rodriguez, Ashley Doyle Darnell, Heather Murphy, Kristina Acuna, and Kimmy Robinson.

My health is still good. I walked 5864 miles, the most ever. One day I walked 22 miles and never walked less than 12 miles. I only needed to fill the tank on my Honda hybrid twice this year and am averaging 53.6 mpg so far. I avoided driving 96% of the time, either walking or taking the bus (I drove on twenty-six days.)

In 2017 I tracked down five Dobie Middle School (where I taught for two years) yearbooks Sadly, the yearbook sponsor at Dobie refused to help, which makes it more of a challenge. I found ten more in 2018 and there are now fifteen posted on Facebook. I was quite active on Facebook and now have 1989 friends there.

I added some new BBC shows to my collection (courtesy of a friend back east) with works of literature now the focus of the additions. And there is an enormous collection of Shakespeare (with multiple versions of some plays). I've greatly enjoyed listening to these shows and have many more hours of them to listen to. Among the new ones is a collection of many of the wonderful Terry Pratchett Discworld books, the James Herriot books, Robert Sawyer's great "Rollback" and Peter O'Toole's "Loitering with Intent." I continued listening to "Quote Unquote", "I'm Sorry I haven't a Clue", "Just a Minute", "The Navy Lark," Alistair Cooke's Letters from America" and "Jean Shepherd". Maybe I'll complete some of these series in 2019. I also discovered a great podcast on BBC, "Composer of the week" ().

As always, I saw tons of movies. The best feature films were "The Green Book", "A Hard Day's Night", "Mary & The Witch's Flower" (Japanese animated film), "The Hate U Give", "Wolf Children", (another animated Japanese film), "The Favourite," "Eight Hours Don't Make A Day" (Fassbinder's mini-series), "Underground" (Yugoslavian), "Closeup" (Kiarastami), "The Insult" (Lebanon).

The documentaries, as always, were some of the best. They included "My Journey Through French Cinema," "Fierce Love Parents," (a local documentary, in progress, on autism, ), "Brimstone & Glory", "Three Identical Strangers", "Operation Odessa," "Bisbee '17," "Garry Winogrand: All Things Are Photographable", "Science Fair", "Served Like A Girl", "RBG", "Leaning into the Wind: Andy Goldsworthy", "Brimstone & Glory"

AFS Cinema continued to screen the best movies in town and I saw 154 films there this year.

My best acting role during the year was for an ACC film: "Life's Student" (). When I auditioned, I was recognized from a film I was in ("Tovarich Ulyanova") from the previous year that had been shown in class (). I had a great role in a UT production, "Mall Walking Olympics" but sadly my big scene (being propelled faster by flatulence) had to be cut due to time constraints. I was filmed in an episode for the end of season 4 of "Fear the Walking Dead." I played a rabbi in an abandoned temple. There were four other bits with extras filmed that day and mine was the only one filmed inside and not in the heat outdoors. (And I was in a dark suit). Maybe they'll use it in season 5.

I did extra work for a few projects. The Alamo Drafthouse had a theater full of folks for bits that they use in their party screenings. Deanna Wheeler shot a video for her song "Wasted Space" and my dear friend Natali Jones (down from Dallas) helped her make it. I was in a bit for the Waller Creek Conservancy and another for "Some Kind of Peace."

I got to see two films I was in, "Allowable Dreams" and "Fetish." Small roles in both, but too many times I've never gotten to see films I was in.

I added some films I'm in to my YouTube channel. One of the weirdest one was my scene from Fourplay:Tampa. (). A feature film I was in, "The Sauce", was finally released & my scene was enormous fun (). I also posted "Blackpool & Parish", the play I starred in several years ago. .

Austin was lucky enough to have a Stickworks exhibit, which I got to visit.

Early in the year Fred & Callie contacted me about a documentary on the making of the zombie musical (Z: a Zombie Musical) that I helped John McLean produce in 2006-07. We've had a couple of meetings, but the project is still in preliminary stages.

I had two photo shoots this year: a quick one with Caitlin Mack and a longer one with Zira Amunet. Zira was in Austin as a featured extra in "Mall Walking Olympics", and due to time constraints in shooting, turned out to have about as much screen time as I did. She also joined me for the Sean Penn Overheard taping.

The best concerts I attended this year were by Ken Gaines (6th time I've seen him), Chorus Austin, Chaski, and 3 concerts of the Bach Christmas Cantata at UT

I saw 21 plays, three of which were extraordinary: "Doubt", "The Immigrant", and "All My Sons".

As always, I attended all of the "Overheard with Evan Smith" tapings (28 this year – I've now attended 249). The best ones were with Yamiche Alcindor, Bill De Blasio, Sean Penn (his intro is at ) , Cecile Richards (her story about her mom (Ann Richards) is at ), John Kerry, Lawrence O'Donnell, Mary Chapin Carpenter (preshow Q&A ), Jake Tapper, Michael Schmidt, Michael Beschloss, and Jason Reitman. Upcoming tapings will be at .

I survived Austin's "water crisis" which lasted about a week in October. Due to heavy rain, one of the water treatment plant's filtration system was overwhelmed and we had to boil our water before drinking or cooking with it.

I got to see playwright Terrence McNally (I've seen ten of his plays), John Brennan (CIA), Jerry Brown, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Joe Lansdale, and Bob Costas (). I'd read three of Lansdale's books when I re-discovered him and read 30 more this year. I found that his great Hap & Leonard books are now a mini-series on the Sundance channel. I met Julian Castro, who is running for president in 2020.

My friend Ken Johnson died in January and there was a wonderful memorial service for him. I added a few more of his films on YouTube. You can see his plays and films on my playlist (as well as my films) ()

As usual, I read 365 books. Here's a fairly long list of the best of them, starting with non-fiction. First the biographical books: "My Life With Groucho" (Arthur Marx), "The Secret Life Of Bob Hope" (Arthur Marx), "Red Skelton" (Arthur Marx), "A Gift of Laughter" (Allan Sherman), "The Monk Of Mokha" (Dave Eggers), "Fritz Pollard" (John Carroll), "Oriana Fallaci: The Journalist, the Agitator, the Legend" (Christian De Stefano), "John Wayne: The Life and Legend" (Scott Eyman), "Inseparable: The Original Siamese Twins and Their Rendezvous with American History" (Yunte Huang), "Will Rogers His Life & Times" (Richard Ketchum), "Hank & Jim: The Fifty-Year Friendship of Henry Fonda and James Stewart" (Scott Eyman), "Logical Family" (Armistead Maupin), "The Wind in My Hair: My Fight for Freedom in Modern Iran" (Masih Alinejad), "I Was Looking for a Street" (Charles Willeford), "Life Animated" (Ron Suskind), "The Execution of Willie Francis" (Gilbert King), "The Gorilla and the Bird: A Memoir of Madness and a Mother's Love" (Zack McDermott), "Something Wonderful: Rodgers and Hammerstein's Broadway Revolution" (Todd Purdum), "Robin" (Dave Itzkoff), "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" (Sherman Alexie), "Reporter: A Memoir" (Seymour Hersh), and "King Leopold's Ghost" (Adam Hochschild)

The rest of the nonfiction books: "A Fine Mess: A Global Quest for a Simpler, Fairer, and More Efficient Tax System" (T.R. Reid), "A Very Expensive Poison: The Definitive Story of the Murder of Litvinenko and Russia's War with the West" (Luke Harding), "Collusion: Secret Meetings, Dirty Money, and How Russia Helped Donald Trump Win" (Luke Harding), "Long Haul: A Trucker's Tales of Life on the Road" (Finn Murphy), "Present at The Creation" (the NFL - Upton Bell), "I Was Told to Come Alone: My Journey Behind the Lines of Jihad" (Souad Mekhennet), "See You Again in Pyongyang: A Journey into Kim Jong Un's North Korea" (Travis Jeppesen), "It's Even Worse Than You Think: What the Trump Administration is Doing to America" (David Cay Johnston), "Warriors Don't Cry: A Searing Memoir of the Battle to Integrate Little Rock's Central High" (Melba Beals), "Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right" (Jane Mayer), "Deadly Force: The True Story of How a Badge Can Become a License to Kill" and "Playing with Fire" (the craziness during 1968) (both by Lawrence O'Donnell), "Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America " (Gilbert King), "I Can't Breathe" (Matt Taibbi), "Beneath A Ruthless Sun" (Gilbert King), "Big Chicken: The Incredible Story of How Antibiotics Created Modern Agriculture and Changed the Way the World Eats" (Maryn McKenna), "Arc of Justice" (Kevin Boyle), "American Fire: Love, Arson, and Life in a Vanishing Land" (Monica Hesse), "Insane: America's Criminal Treatment of Mental Illness" (Alisa Roth), "Strange Justice: The Selling of Clarence Thomas" (Jane Mayer), "The Newcomers: Finding Refuge, Friendship, and Hope in an American Classroom " (Helen Thorpe), "All the Truth Is Out: The Week Politics Went Tabloid" (Matt Bai).

The fiction books: "Front Desk" (Kelly Yang), "Crashed" (Timothy Hallinan), "Barely Legal" (Stuart Woods), "Column of Fire" and "World Without End" (both by Ken Follett), "Tibetan Peach Pie" (Tom Robbins), "How Green Was my Valley" (Richard Llewellyn), "The Late Show" (Michael Connelly), "Last Flag Flying" (Darryl Ponicsan), "Vanderbeekers of 141st Street" (Karina Glaser), "So You Want to be a Wizard" (Diane Duane), "The Taliban Cricket Club" (Timeri Murari), "Nyxia Unleashed" (Scott Reintgen), "Redshirts" (John Scalzi), "Everything Everything" (Nicola Yoon), "Britt-Marie Was Here" (Fredrik Backman), "Us Against You" (Fredrik Backman), and "Far From The Tree" (Robin Benway).

I discovered several albums by musicians whose music I love, but was unaware of their more recent music: Mary Chapin Carpenter (as a result of seeing her on Overheard), the Austin Lounge Lizards, Steve Tilston, Theodore Bikel, and the U.S. Marine band

Hope that 2019 is a good year for all who read this and for me.