CK Mc Farland and Chale's Notes

Had my second class with CK and am so impressed with her teaching style.  She is very intelligent, gives good insight and techniques for developing a character, acknowledges her student's strengths and has oodles of good experience to share.  (Did I say "oodles?")  Oy vey!  Got a chance to work with a talented and energetic classmate at home and in class.  I'm becoming less intimidated by my classmates' talent and experience (never mind their youth and good looks).

In the evening we went to AFS Essential Cinema and saw WANDERERS OF THE DESERT a Tunisian film that was beautiful to look at but had me perplexed throughout.  Abe's advice is to just watch a film like this, experience it and not try to understand the story.  I then came home and read Chale Nafus' 4 pages of notes and it all made perfect sense.  It's like teaching your brain to WAIT, experience first and understand after. Nevertheless this is a beautifully photographed film by Nacer Khemir who brings us a joyous and mystical view of Islam rather than a fundamentalist view of death and punishment.  Thank goodness for the creative arts in the Middle East.

And to top it all off, the AFS interns presented me with my own AFS staff t-shirt.  What a great gift.

Unheard of in Brooklyn #2

So I get on a bus early this morning to take it 41 stops (that's right) to a Holiday Inn for a student's film shoot.  The bus driver announces "would a young person give this lady a seat please?"  Can you imagine?  First I thought I must look so old but I won't go there and ruin my day.    Then the driver asks me where I'm going and tells me he'll tell me where to get off.  I notice 50 minutes later that he passes my bus stop but instead stops by a parking lot  which is much closer to the Holiday Inn.  I'm not reporting  the bus # because I don't want him to get in trouble.  What a helpful person!  What a good way to start a day with a LONG bus ride.  And what a good shoot.  Smart, collaborative MFA UT students.  And my co-actor was a delight to work with.  Another good day in Austin.  Now to the garden.

A SEPARATION/UNDEFEATED/MERYL/HUGO

So happy the above films and Meryl were honored at the 84th Academy Awards.  

And always when I am reminded of who we lost this year I cry.

Mason at Elizabeth

After seeing the Blanton exhibit and tours of GO WEST and AMERICAN STYLES  we headed on over to Elizabeth a new Vietnamese restaurant on Elizabeth and S 1st Street with Reed.  Food and outside atmosphere terrific.  A break from Mexican and delicious.  While we were there we sat across from a young couple holding a tiny 6 week old chihuahua in a blanket.  They rescued Mason 5 weeks ago from under a dumpster, filthy and yelping.  What a sweety.  They brought him home to their 2 huge dogs and now they're a happy family.  Another typical meet up in Austin that leaves us smiling and happy.

KUT Volunteer Fund Raiser

Every year KUT has a fund raising drive which I  volunteered at once before.  It's great fun, a real supportive atmosphere, delicious food and I get to sit and chat with Rudi Lee a regular at this drive.  This year Abe and I became sustaining members ($10/month) because I will always remember that when we first moved to this town listening to John Aielli each morning was a great way to learn more about Austin and what was going on.  We began to build our world here by listening to his report on Eklektikos telling us about everything Austin.  We love KUT!  Plus it's on campus in the Communications B building where the film students audition and have class.  A nice place to be.

UT MFA Directors Workshop Class

This afternoon I headed up to Ed Ratke's Graduate Directors Class.  Three women performed a scene from CHARADE directed by Kelly Ota who  had the creative ingenious to make this an all women's cast.  I learned so much from Kelly, the other actors, Ed Ratke and her classmates.  Another great experience and day in Austin.

Classes with CK Mc Farland

Started acting classes with CK Mc Farland yesterday at the Alleywood Studios.  A fine teacher and a fine beginning.  Looking forward to this series of classes.  The other classmates were extremely talented and supportive of each other.  How fortunate am I to be able to study a new craft.