Imaginary Worlds

Recently, I've found myself reengaged with the fantastical, imaginary worlds I enjoyed entering as a youth. I remember being 9 or 10 and getting through the first Redwall novel, I then went out and got as many of the books as I could, there were quite a few of them, and began plowing through them as fast as I could. When I was older, it was Raymond E. Feist. I was never quite able to get into Tolkein to the extent that I maybe should have. I never did finish The Hobbit. I did make it through The Fellowship of the Ring and the Two Towers, this was mind you right when the movies were coming out, so there you go. I had just gotten into the mines or Moria when the first movie got to theatres. I procrastinated on finishing the written words and saw the movie, and then they got into the mines and then... whoa. "Fly you fools!" etc. In my opinion, I think the first LOTR movie was the most successful. The Two Towers the weakest. Which was really disappointing for me, because the Two Towers was actually my favorite of the series. Oh and I never finished The Return of the King. The whole trilogy is on my list of "things I may have started but never really finished" along with Ulysses and further down maybe Moby Dick but I don't know about that one.

Another fictional universe I spent part of a summer utterly engulfed in? Was the original Manga version (the japanese equivalent to a comic book) of Akira, which you've maybe seen as an animated feature either because you are, like me, a geek or have some geeky friends or took a class or something. The movie is pretty great. I think the epic, thousands of pages long comic book is even better. I read it on my computer. It was pretty incredible. I don't really pay attention to these things, but I'm glad it's not being made as a live action movie. It or Neon Genesis Evangelion another anime favorite from my youth.

While I'm on an anime tangent, you know what the last anime series to really grip me was? Gurren Lagann a sort of post apocalyptic more lighthearted riff on the giant robot genre, with some serious emotional punch from the same production company, Gainax, as Neon Genesis. I don't know, it's really really good. I've gone through phases of being into anime. My much older brother (like nine years older) got me into it when I was real little like 6 or 7, then I rediscovered it more or less as a teenager. It's been on and off since.

Anyway, the thing that most recently got me back into fantasy was A Game of Thrones this past summer. As you probably know, those books are fantastic. I still haven't seen the TV show. I sort of tried watching the first episode but couldn't get past the first five minutes of cheesy effects and characters being similar to how they are in the books in terms of dynamics but events and actions changing slightly... I don't know. Basically Arya picking up the bow. Arya doesn't pick up a bow in the first book. I'll watch it someday...

...Probably after I've consumed all of the SPARTACUS franchise. This is my most recent fixation, with a stop over in the Hunger Games those took me like a week to devour. I got all the episodes of Spartacus: Blood and Sand with the understanding that OK the first few episodes might be kinda terrible but then it gets really good. To which I say, HOLY SHIT, YES. Definitely if you can make it to episode five when the bad guy starts acting really bad but in a way that you can sympathize and identify with, you will be hooked. I'm now on episode 3 of Gods of the Arena. I'm trying to limit myself as much as possible, something like an installment an evening which is something for me, since normal I would chew through them at a hand full. Partly, this is because the new season of Spartacus has started and I'd prefer having as large as possible a buffer of existing episodes before I then have to wait for Fridays for new ones to come out.

Also though... I do have lines to learn. Quite a few of them, actually, for Swimming in the Shallows. We go off book this Tuesday. So, there is work to do! Can't just watch pulpy shows all day.

In other acting related things, I had a few auditions last week which I'm waiting to hear back on, and another today for a few walk on roles (ex. waiter, bellman, greeter, etc) on an ABC pilot which is pretty exciting. These kinds of roles are sort of tough but also easy, because it's less about your acting and more about your "look", that is "do you look like a waiter/bellman/valet in a hotel in 1895". Maybe I do! And one of the sides has a bit of humor that I can and will pay with. Everything else is out of my hands, as usual.