Xmas 2005
In mid-January 2005 I auditioned for Eye for an Eye (UPN). The show has been described as "Judge Judy on acid" and is hosted by O.J.’s old "buddy" Kato Kaelin. Two weeks later I drove to Dallas and was the star in the Mail Order Bride of Frankenstein episode which first aired in November and no doubt will be repeated (its second showing actually was an hour after I typed this; two days later, while shopping, I was asked by someone (who'd just seen the show) if I'd been on TV - she especially remembered the noise I'd made describing overheard conversational noises). Two months later I drove up for the Revenge segment, but the location (a sports bar) was too noisy (due to a "Sweet 16" basketball crowd) and I had to make another trip in May. Call time was 6:00 p.m., but no one from the crew had arrived (a previous taping ran late) and we didn’t finish 'till 2:30 a.m. The show was a blast and I did a great job. It was very exciting to play a starring role in a nationally broadcast TV show. Sadly it took many months for them to pay me (they are notorious for dragging their feet when it comes to paying both talent and crew.) ()
In January I had a few new headshots done (gratis) by Suze Lanier, a fabulous Hollywood photographer (Mena Suvari is a client). At the end of that month I signed with K Hall; I stayed with that agency for about six months, but only got one audition and we parted company. This week I signed with Acclaim.
In late January I performed in the showcase at Casting Works LA. This is a videotaped performance before an audience of agents and casting directors which is mailed to all the casting directors in Texas. My scene (with Rana Haddad) went extremely well. ()
In February I was in my first play since college. "Dear Mr. President" (actual war letters to LBJ) won Best of Week at Fronterafest, and was repeated on the weekend.
That month was also the world premiere of John Corigliano's Circus Maximus (his 3rd symphony - commissioned by the wonderful UT Wind Ensemble - which was chosen by the composer over the NY Philharmonic). Six trumpets were in the aisles; two french horns in the first balcony and a saxophone quintet in the second balcony. A seven-piece band marched in the aisles, swinging their horns as they played. It was a thrilling composition and performance. I’d met the composer in '96 and '01 (and, many years earlier, his dad - concertmaster of the NY Philharmonic and later of the San Antonio Symphony) and chatted with him after.
My all-time favorite dance company, Pilobolus, performed at the Paramount (the seventh time I’ve seen them).
At SXSW, the subject of an inspiring documentary, "Emmanuel's Gift" invited me to see his film. He (now about 22) was one of the 10% of Ghanaians born deformed - only a stump of a leg. Most beg on the streets, but his mom vetoed that. He shined shoes ($1 a day). When his mom died he moved to the capital where he could earn $2. A handicapped athletes foundation granted him a mountain bike on which he rode (one-legged) 650 km across Ghana. He rode in a race in the U.S. and was fitted with a prosthesis which enabled him to knock three hours off his time the following year. He used a $50,000 grant to help the handicapped in Ghana.
I took great acting workshops from Cindy Wood, Pato Hoffman, M J Vandivier and Will Wallace (through whom I was able to get his father-in-law’s autograph (Terrence Malick)).
I saw a great radio play ("The Living Room") at HRC (by the LA Theatre Co.), later broadcast on NPR. Before the movie opened, I got to see the live version of "The Producers" at Bass, which was wonderful. Another fantastic play was "American Fiesta", (yet another magical work by Steven Tomlinson). In May I saw the annual hilarious Cimrman play (in Czech with subtitles) "Africa: The Czechs Among the Cannibals"
AMOA had a wonderful Andy Goldsworthy exhibit (one of the greatest I’ve ever seen). Another thrilling exhibit was the Ansel Adams at HRC (supplemented by a wonderful lecture by his biographer).
In the summer I was interviewed for an article in the August 2005 issue of "LifeTimes," a Blue Cross Blue Shield Publication. I also got to see my friend Sutton, visiting from Indiana.
My old Imac died in August and I replaced it with a new G5 iMac which is fantastic. Last week I got a wonderful Kenesis ergonomic keyboard. My iPod also bit the dust and I love my new tiny Nano iPod.
In December a leak in the bathroom pipes led to arranging to replace all of the 50-year-old water pipes. It'll be expensive, but it's definitely needed.
I got to see some very interesting people this year: John Irving, Norman Mailer, Isabel Allende, the Dalai Lama, Jordan Vernon, Grace Slick, and Salmon Rushdie (who refused to sign his autograph, since I didn't have one of his books). In addition to seeing the following, I also got their autographs: Volker Schlondorff, Todd Solondz, Rosanna Arquette, Brian Wilson, John Dean, Robert MacNeil, Jim Lehrer (cool to see both in the same year), Jasper Fforde, Jerry Lewis, Philip Glass, Harold Ramis, Ernie Hudson, Simon Winchester, Lemony Snicket, and Sarah Weddington (the lawyer for Roe v. Wade).
I continue to get great mileage from my Honda hybrid; overall I'm up to almost 50 mpg.
I read 270 books this year (my personal high - my grand total is over 5900). Some of the best: "Jane Fonda My Life So Far", "The Seuss the Whole Seuss & Nothing But the Seuss" (Charles Cohen), "The Double" (Jose Saramago), "Saudi Arabia Exposed" (John Bradley), "Kiss Me Like A Stranger", (Gene Wilder), "The Fall of Baghdad" (Jon Lee Anderson), "The Fourth Bear" (Jasper Fforde) and "The Bird Man & The Lap Dancer" (Eric Hansen).
I saw tons of movies; my favorites include "Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit", "Mysterious Castle in Carpathia", "Reel Paradise" (I know the subjects: John Pierson's family - they now live a mile from here), "Pulse" (an exceptionally exciting IMAX film), "Munich", "The Squid & The Whale", and "Painted Fire".
Early in the year I had a nice role in "Real" and met the future DP and AD for Z: a Zombie Musical (Fred and Calley). I starred in a delightful student short, "Cislunar" . I was a guest again on the Austin Movie Show and "K Is for Kidnap" () got its TV premiere. In "The Land of No Return" I got to play God. . I was Beowulf’s girlfriend’s father in "Blade of the Sword". At the last minute I was added to "Pointy Pointy" getting a fun part with a dramatic entrance on a wheelchair, swinging a baseball bat as part of the film’s climax. I spend two days as a paid extra on "How to Eat Fried Worms." I got to play a melting scientist in "Zero Hour" with fantastic makeup which made me look like a zombie.
"Love Math" (2004) was part of a Hollywood Showcase in LA and also was included on a DVD in the current issue of Paste Magazine. I got to see "Chalk", a mockumentary feature I was in a year ago. It’s a great film and my spelling bee segment was a delight. Three years after it was shot, I finally saw "No Pain No Gain" (three dear friends from that film: Kim, Bri, and Sana all are in Z: a Zombie Musical). The film also got a limited national release (shown once on 270 screens nationwide on a Saturday afternoon).
The big news this year is the film "Z: A Zombie Musical". A year ago I had started work as its music supervisor. At that time I was looking for a composer for all the songs. I ended up with several composers, including Joe King Carrasco. I have worked on it all year long. In 2004 when John McLean said he wanted me to be very involved, I had no idea to what extent. On his previous feature ("Perfect Man Contest" - which (thanks to a column John has on Kevin Smith's website, comes out on DVD in June - I’d been Jesus's disciple #5, still photographer, and extras wrangler.) After I found all the composers I then found the musicians to perform the music. The score sounds amazing and I'm very proud of what we have created (Ben Blank, our great studio engineer, has made everything sound fantastic). I became the casting director, finding most of the talent and crew. I have met some great new friends on the production. Once shooting started I got the job of production co-ordinator (scheduling all the shoots). By chance I was able to get us an Executive Producer, Cheryl Adendorff, whose investment allowed us to shoot high def. I once again am the still photographer (3000 photos so far) and have found our extras. I've also found several great locations for the film. On most of my early films (starting in 1997), I was never more than an extra. Now I’ve been in almost 100 films. I never imagined that I’d become a co-producer of a feature film, but indeed that came to pass this year on Z. I’ve been able to get some amazing talent on the project, including some who are nationally known. Dale Watson filmed a segment in October. Kinky Friedman and Joe Ely have both agreed to film once we can schedule it. (Joe's in the film, but not Kinky) The Tosca String Quartet has recorded a song and will be filmed soon. The Austin Lounge Lizards have agreed to compose and record a song (once the lyrics meet their approval - didn't work out). The part of the Zombie Philosopher was written with me in mind. We filmed my first scene in December and my second this week. I got to do a lot of dancing which went surprisingly well, thanks to the gracious help of our fantastic choreographer. Back in April '04, when John originally conceived the idea of a zombie musical (as a short at that time), the first person I contacted about it was my friend Amy Jordan who I wanted to be our choreographer. Luckily for us, we didn't start shooting until this summer, since she was not available before then. Amy has not only done an amazing job as choreographer, but also is our lead singer, plays a ZBI agent, and is an associate producer. She also has become my dearest friend.
My Austin casting list has grown to about 5900; there are 12,000 on the five Texas lists, with a grand total of 16,000 on all my casting lists. I only worked on eleven films this year, my duties on Z limiting my time on other projects.
I continue to walk a great deal for my health, and set a personal record of over 3100 miles for the year, including 303 miles in one month and almost 15 miles one day in October. I averaged 8.5 miles for the year (up from 7.5 last year).
