After just over three weeks in Europe, there is only four more days before I get back home. What a crazy three weeks it has been. I’m not talking about what I’ve been doing, I’m talking about the winds of change that have blown through while I’ve been away. Joe quit his job, which is a long time coming as I’ve told him many a time, and I assume he will be moving out pretty soon too. Arlen up and leaves to LA to show them what funny is all about. And I have officially booked my tickets to New Zealand for the 19th of February. The two weeks I have when I get back will be used to ready myself for the total uncertainty that awaits in the NZ, work off the European food, as well as making sure I get to say goodbye to as many people as I can. This officially means I don’t have many RFT shows left, and no more full Young Guns shows. My last show, the 17th of Feb, will be just Joe and me. It’s fitting I guess, seeing as how he is the person I’ve been doing improv with the longest. All 8 years at RFT and the many improv jams in the drama room at Picard, Joe and I have been side by side. Although it sucks Arlen and Steve won’t be there, there is no one I would rather be on stage with for my last show for a long while.

Things have a funny way of working out like that.

I’ll try and write more later, and add pictures to that Euro Blog thing that should have a link down the page, if anyone’s still interested. But for now, sleep. Cause those Paris hotel beds are a lot smaller than someone who’s 6’3”.

Bye for now friends.

j.

Hello!

I just got back from workshopping a play in Banff which was a week of awesomeness. I saw a deer! He was all up in my face. Also, last night was my last Theatresports for a little while. I am taking a trip down to L.A. for a brief period of time. I leave Tuesday at 4pm! Crazy! I will keep you all posted on how it is going down there!

Wish me luck!

Arlen

So much going on. So much that is new. So much that is unexpected.

First, you know that job that I hate, and you've listened to me complain about since last March. The one with the asshole boss who wrote me a shitty reference letter and said that he would only write me a better one if I agreed to stay there longer and sign a contract. Yeah, well I quit that. As of Tuesday at 8:00PM I was free. And that immediate freedom came hand in hand with uncertainty. I have no idea where next months rent will come from. Or the month after that. It's kind of scarifying (my new word for scary and terrifying) but it is also kind of exciteresting (exciting + interesting). Exciting because quitting there was the next step towards getting a teaching position (I couldn't do both because of time constraints) and interesting because until that happens I am going to have to find a new way to make it by. I am hoping that substitute work will come my way, but if not, improv will have to cut it. And for those of you who didn't know before, improv doesn't pay much. Most times it pays nothing at all. So we'll see how this pans out.

Joe

So I asked what I should blog about and this is what I got:
- Violence on TV and how I think it influences the youth of today
- personal hygiene and how it relates to attracting the ladies
- Dreams and
- Arlen and Steve's relationship

I must say, I'm not IN LOVE with any of them. But I suppose they are better than Physics and Chemistry 30 which is pretty much all that fills my brain right now. So here we go...

I'm no expert as far as sociology goes (that's Jules' domain, so he could probably shed more insight here), but I was asked my opinion so I'll give it. I think the media, including but not especially TV, has a great influence on everyone, including but not especially children. And when TV is put in a position where it is a major part of someone's life it will become a major influence in that person's life, in the same way a parent, sibling, friend or mentor could be. I had those in my life, they influenced me and in turn, I emulate them. So if TV were placed in a similar position, as is the case in many homes around the world, why wouldn't it do the same? Of course, I think I would be the last person to say "kill your TV", I love TV, but I love it in moderation and in balance and should the day ever come when I have children they will watch TV, but I will watch it with them, or at least know what they are watching. But my children will also be involved in physical social activities such as sports and clubs where they will meet friends who will remind them that there is more to life than TV.

Personal hygiene and it's relationship with meeting the ladies... I don't think I can offer much to this that isn't public knowledge already, except for an anecdote of an exception to the rule. I had a friend who's lady LOVED dirty sex and it ended up being one of the major factors in the end of the relationship. I should clarify "dirty sex", she LOVED first thing in the morning, no teeth brush sex, and after a long workout, sweaty sex, and after a 3 day hiking/camping excursion, no showers sex. And she pretty much only loved this kind of sex. So... P. Diddy, there is hope for you yet.

Dreams. Again, not an expert, so I will leave the analysis up to you. I don't remember my dreams very often, maybe one a month if I'm lucky, but there are two recurring dreams that I have and remember quite often.

First is me, at night, on a hockey rink. In real life, I can't skate very well, or actually I can't stop very well. Anyway in the dream I am on one end of the rink on the goal line, and I have to get to the other side, so I begin to skate. But as I skate small cracks begin to appear in the ice and I have to jump them to avoid tripping, and as I continue the cracks become larger and larger so my jumps have to get longer and longer until I am barely making them anymore, and I never get closer to the other end of the rink, and not after too long the cracks are now huge canyons on the rink and I have to keep skating and jumping. I never reach the other side, but I never miss a jump, rather I wake up before the dream "ends". I don't like this one.

The other is much more pleasant. Again it is set at night, actually it is around 3:00am or 4:00am I am guessing, why I guess this is because the sky isn't nighttime black anymore, but instead it is starting to turn a slight shade of blue. The stars are still out, and they can all be seen. And I am driving, in a convertible car with the top down, alone. I'm guessing I'm in the United States because one, it's kind of deserty, and two occasionally I'll see a highway marker and it's one of those "I90" kinds of highways, the kinds you see in movies set in America. One lane each way and there are no other vehicles on the road. It's very calm, very quiet and very soothing. I always wake up relaxed. I like this dream.

As for Steve and Arlen, I think I should leave that one up to them. Perhaps Arlen can shed some light. All I can say is "I dunno, they're actors."

Thanks to Samantha for the picture!

Arlen

Keep up to date with Steve and I at our Euro Blog!

It's like a regular blog, but it doesn't wear socks!

Love,

j.