Sunday, December 19, 2010

December 19 - Christmas in Review?

As a warning this first part is kind of yucky so if you feel so inclined, I will not be offended if you skip a little bit. I don’t like nail clippers. I have never been able to use them. Apparently trying to angle those silly things to effectively clip a toenail is difficult for me. I prefer to, and I believe always will, use scissors to trim my nails. When I moved to Toronto I went to the pharmacy and the cuticle scissors were $16. Nail clippers were $3. I purchased nail clippers. I don’t consider myself a cheap man, in fact I believe I have helped keep the Cineplex Company afloat for years, but I am not foolish with my money. $16 for a pair of tiny scissors? I don’t think so. So for the last 6 weeks my nails have been poorly cut and frustrating. Tonight at the pharmacy, the scissors were on sale! OH YEA! So when I got home and took off my socks to update my feet with my new purchase, I discovered the biggest blood blister I have ever seen. How did I not feel that? How tight were my boots? Like all men with a pair of small scissors, I knew what to do. Operate.

There was only one thing holding me back. I wasn’t able to open the soft plastic case that held the scissors. I tried everything! I foolishly tried a spoon! Why? I don’t know! OKAY? I then tried a fork and that slipped under all my force and jabbed into my shoulder. This made me realize two things. 1) I really need to clean my room. I have a fork and a spoon but no plates or bowls. What was I eating? And 2) That I would need to find something sharp to open the package. What would I use? That’s right! Nail Clippers. After gently clipping down the side of the plastic I opened my sterile surgery kit. Long story short: Messy. Very messy. I am now left with a divot in my foot! Oh well. Clean it, bandage it and then charge it for my time!

So today my blog broke the 3000 views, which makes me happy. I don’t know who you are, but if you like it, please tell your friends.

So due to reasons beyond my control the cat is now out of the bag! I will be flying home for Christmas. I had planned to surprise the lady friend on Christmas Eve, but despite all of my attempts to keep it a secret, the secret is now out. I will be flying home for Christmas and hanging out for 2 weeks before I return to Toronto with the lady and move into my new place. Once she is here I think this cold and grey town will start to feel a bit like home. PLUS! I promised her I wouldn’t go and do any of the real touristy things before she got here. I have yet to be up the CN tower, haven’t gone to Casa Loma, and haven’t been to the science centre. So much stuff to do! Not only that but getting to explore a whole new neighborhood. That should be fun. My new place is a cozy one bedroom in downtown Toronto with a small deck and a fireplace. It will be a nice quiet place to call home. Im looking forward to it a lot. I don’t have a bed or one piece of furniture AND I work 11 hours a day before I move, so I suppose I will have to find a bed the day I get back! That should be fun.

Sorry that I started out with such a gross story. It was just the first thing on my mind because it just happened. Something I have thought a lot about today is trust. Trust is an interesting thing. It can be as strong as stone, but cracks are difficult to repair. One event can turn a great deal of trust into a total lack of trust in the blink of an eye. People lying, people doing something wrong, but most commonly, I think, betrayal. It’s amusing how often somebody says OK! Im going to tell you a secret, but you cant tell anybody ok? And you say sure. And chances are, you mean it, but then you talk to somebody else and you tell them! But you always say, “You can’t tell ANYBODY I told you this ok?”… And we totally believe them when they say yes even though we just did the exact same thing. Remember when you were young and would play the “telephone game”? You and your class mates would get in a circle and then one would whisper something into the others ear and that person would do the same and by the time that first sentence makes it back it has changed so much and everybody laughs when they hear how it started. It changes because we hear incorrectly and in the rules you can only hear once, but in life we could clarify, ask questions, and not just depend on our non-existent ability to create an understanding of something we know nothing about. Its interesting how as an adult, once you say something and your words and meaning get twisted around, that when it gets back to you and you hear what its become… well the game isn’t as popular as it was so many years ago.

In the middle of writing this blog I took a break to use the bathroom and stopped to chat with my roommates. The topic got onto movies and if you get me talking about movies well then we are stuck here for a good long time. I often thought because I see most movies in theatres that I should try and review them. The only thing is that I feel like I have no right to judge a movie. I can give my opinion, but as somebody who has never made a movie, I don’t know what I would say about them. Maybe I should try. Mikes Movies or something like that. Who knows? Maybe somebody will read them. If I ever do one, I will be as honest and as nice as possible.

I know a person who is a reviewer. The issue with this person for me is, sure they have an education and experience in theatre, but are they right to be a reviewer. This person had been an actor and a teacher and I would consider them more of a failed actor. While there are a lot of people who got into the business of teaching acting because they wanted to, a few of them are also failed actors who took what work they could get. I think to have a failed actor review and critique performers that they have worked with seems odd. I never enjoy the reviews mostly because they strike me as pompous and self-serving. More of a “This is what I know about theatre” and not a “This is what I think about this show”.

There is a reviewer in Victoria BC named Adrian (NOT whom I was speaking about in the last paragraph) and he is a very nice guy. He’s quiet and unassuming which is what you want a reviewer to be. I bring him up because I know him and from what I have been told, at one point in his career he was a sports writer. I first met him 7 years ago and I have never heard anything about sports from him, but I might be missing something. When he gives a good review people will put it on posters and ads, they will tell their friends, and if you are my mom you will but extra copies of the paper. When people get a bad review they tend to not believe him. They say OH FUCK HIM! WHAT DOES HE KNOW ABOUT THE ARTS!? HES A SPORTS WRITER FOR GODS SAKE! I think it’s amusing that to an artist a good review is gospel but a bad review is gibberish. I, as I have said, have had some bad reviews, but I have been fortunate enough to usually agree with the reviews. Though I was in a show once that Adrian gave 5 Stars to, and I wondered if he had seen the show I was doing. Cause I had seen the show I was doing, and I would not have agreed with him. 5 STARS? EXCELLENT? AWW FUCK HIM! WHAT DOES HE KNOW!?!?! HES A SPORTS WRITER!.... yea… doesn’t have the same feel. Oh well. Some actors don’t read reviews. I love to read them. Good or bad, I always like to see my name in a review. Sometimes I like the critique cause then I can say “You know what? I agree! That does make sense! Why DID I do it that way?” it has caused me on occasion to re think my motives on stage. I kid Adrian because he is a nice guy and has always been a great supporter of mine and I am always thankful for the helping hand, and he is a good sport about things.

Anyways, I think I have gone on long enough today. Thanks for reading and I will talk to you again soon!

Mike

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