Blog of the Little Bonsai

Personal Blog of Steve Baumber

Five days at the Academy, and it's a leaky boat with a confused captain, an incohesive crew and passengers that oscillate between grumpy, disinterested and excited. Ah well, it's free. Today the Ox passed away, and Boris the Spider rang in my head all day. As Ian put it to me once, "Bass is something you don't miss until it's not there." Entwistle will be missed. Pete's safe from the G8 without pepper spray in his hair or a criminal record. And the powers that be will point to their oppressive security measures and claim responsibility for the peaceful demonstrations and lack of disruption. Will it occur to them that that's all the people wanted to do in the first place? Will the resolutions be kept? Will aid reach Africa? Will weapons of mass destruction in Russia be dismantled? Their track record ain't great, but perhaps each time the people are heard a little more... posted by Steve @ 4:35 PM	6.28.2002
Three days at the Actor's Working Academy and... showed up this morning to a confused receptionist they hired at the beginning of the week (but haven't bothered to train yet) and no instructors, no staff, just us students (all four of us). From what I've seen so far, it's a rudderless, leaky boat, with no discernable captain or crew, and if I were a paying passenger on said ship I would demand to be let off at the nearest port and get my money back. I realize they have just been through some disorganziation in terms of their students, but the academy itself has some serious organizational and professional issues. So, the instructor for the day didn't show up this morning. It happens. Even if he left a message (which was his wife went into labour), I doubt anyone would have gotten it (I've recently left messages that mysteriously don't get forwarded). Worse, they don't seem to have any sort of contingency for this happening (an instructor being delayed/unable to come in). If I've paid for instruction, there better be something going on that day! The guy's wife has been preganant for what I assume has been nine months, you'd think that they'd at least have considered the possibility it might interrupt his teaching schedule. There's more, but this brought things to a head, and I'm hoping to talk with the director this afternoon. On the lighter side, it's a nice walk to Gastown every morning. Worked my shift serving at the big banquet for the Shriners at Canada Place last night. Will I call back for additional shifts? Hmmmmm... posted by Steve @ 12:04 PM	6.26.2002
On the positive side, on Friday my acting instructor Alex Bruhanski phoned up and offered me a scholarship position in the Actor's Working Academy (www.filmact.com) here in Vancouver for the next two months. It seems that one of the students on a scholarship in the program had to withdraw, and Alex has recommended me to the Director of the Academy to finish out the year in their absence. I'm meeting with the Director tomorrow morning, but it seems pretty solid. It's a big decision. The Academy is not extremely well-know or established, but has been around for a few years. The instructors are all acredited professionals with expereince, and the program has some credibility. The fact that I can receive instruction for free is especially attractive. However, it's a full-time comitment of four hours a day, five days a week, which makes a job a bit harder to fit in. On the other hand, my luck thus far at finding a full-time job has been dismal. For that reason, I've decided to take the scholarship position, and continue looking for work. If anything changes, I'll reassess my priorities then. The Academy also fully expects their students to continue to audition and do paid acting work (should that ever happen) regardless if it interferes with course work, so that's still going on. The Gallagher is back and looks great, so I had to show it off. This afternoon I played and sang at the Jericho Arts Community Theatre Open House (the same place I'll be doing the play in September). They asked me to come in to provide some "live entertainment". Apparently, they're now considering making "A Doll's House" a musical... Rosemary's off tonight to see some Jazz (the Vancouver Jazz Festival is in full swing), while I'm getting oriented on serving at the Pan Pacific. Through a friend I have a one-night stand as a waiter/server at the Pan Pacific banquet hall while the Shriners are in town on Tuesday. And that's the latest... posted by Steve @ 4:43 PM	6.23.2002
Our building has been the vicitm of mail theft recently, and a few tenants in our building have already experienced credit fraud and identity fraud. Our mail box was one of the ones gone through. Rosemary and I are getting fraud alert's put on our credit ratings through the three major credit rating companies - Equifax, Experian and Trans Union, and we'll have to contact our banks tomorrow to protect our accounts. We've been told to shred any personal information prior to throwing it away, i.e. don't put your bank statement in the recycling bin. We are both careful about that stuff anyway, but it's scary to know that someone may be trying to use our identity to obtain credit and access our bank accounts. We're not the only building that's been targeted by a ring of criminals, which the police believe to be around 30 people. These people have created post office keys, and are entering the building and our mailboxes that way. The building is scrambling to figure out a better way to secure our mailboxes, but they have suggested we may want to get a post office box for our mail. posted by Steve @ 1:00 PM
A world state where words like "terror", "dissidence", "activist" and "freedom" are used to extend governement control, abuse civil rights, justify military actions, support exclusionary economic policies, and ignore human rights violations. I overheard on the news this morning, a female "activist" writer was denied entry into Calgary by the RCMP as a "security risk" despite not having a criminal record, any history of being involved in violent protest, etc. I don't agree with what desparate people have done to create spectacle and platforms for extreme actions out of peaceful protest situations. But without the "other side" being represented, where are we? Why didn't Speilberg make a movie on what life was like for a German or Japanese foot soldier in WWII? Is the IRA equivalent to the Hamas? Our own propaganda machines pick and choose our enemies for us, filtering and colouring information, no less effectively or ominpresent than any other country. Let's retain our right to choose what we're fed. Good luck in K-Country Pete! posted by Steve @ 9:36 AM	6.21.2002
The filming fell through this weekend, but I ended up at a call-back audition all day Saturday, and... I have a part! I will be playing Krogstadt in the Henrik Ibsen play "A Doll's House", a production by United Players of Vancouver (http://www.unitedplayers.com). It's being directed by Don S. Williams (for those X-Files junkies he had a recurring role as one of the "Elders"), and he seems to have a pretty clear vision for the play. Performance runs September 6 to 29. It's a big commitment, and will affect my free time this summer as rehearsals are going to fall on weekends. I'll still be able to do the Death Run, but Rosemary and I were hoping to take a couple of weeks to travel around BC a bit, including the Run. But I'm afraid I can't pass up a chance to do this, so I hope that the experience will be a quality one. It also remains to be seen how invasive the rehearsal schedule will be, so it's a bit early to think I won't have any time in the next few months. I don't expect to hear from the job applications until after next week, so how the play will affect those possibilities will remain to be seen. Did a nice hilly run through Stanley Park today (who knew there were hills in Stanley Park?) I hope that the rest of the team is also training hard for the Death Run. posted by Steve @ 3:07 PM	6.16.2002
Watched the news today and the American government feels that it is being misrepresented in the world's eyes (read: the Middle East) and so the President (read: George Dubbya) has challenged Congress to find a solution, like gasp a satellite radio or TV station that broadcasts the true essence of American culture to the rest of the world. They even suggested broadcasting snippets of college life. I don't know where to begin with this one. It's quite possibly the biggest piñata the Bush government has hung up yet. In a positive light, India and Pakistan may jointly agree to shake hands, do the hokey-pokey, and point their weapons of mass destruction in a similar direction. Nasty thought, I know. I don't really wish the Americans any malice, but if they think they're misunderstood, maybe for once they should peek over their white picket fence to see what their neighbours are doing prior to tossing their garbage over it. And that's my little rant. Three auditions, one call back, no ducks. Lovely weather. Two more resumes heading out the door to Duncan and Sechelt. I've always wanted to log the big wood... Another audition tomorrow. Portraying Buster Keaton at acting class tomorrow after a month of research. An absolutely phenomenal man, and an incredibly gifted film maker, in addition to his physical skills. He spanned and entertained from medicine shows, to vaudeville, to silent films, to talkies, to radio, to television. And now he's on video. Must have something going for him. I begin shooting this weekend for the amateur film I'm in, and it's a night shoot at a restaurant - hence it's 2 AM to 8 AM for two nights, which is when the restaurant is available. Yikes. Rosemary is getting out of Dodge and heading to the Okanagan to take an Australian coworker on a wine tour. I think I have lousy priorities. Tonight, she's baking yet another of her famous loaves of bread. Mmmmm, warm bread. Still training for the Death Run. And that's Tuesday. posted by Steve @ 6:47 PM	6.11.2002
As a final note to the day, it's the day my humble branch of the Baumber's began. Happy 65th Dad! posted by Steve @ 8:25 PM	6.04.2002
Ah, success. In their infinite wisdom, TELUS has redesigned their webspace service. My official webspace is now "www3.telus.net/public/a4a61866", although the original url's (www3.telus.net/LittleBonsai/) still seem to work, so I'm not changing anything, or asking anyone else to change their bookmarks or links. However, I had to make minor changes to my settings in Blogger in order to get my Blog and archives ftp'd to the right spot on the TELUS server. If anything changes as to accessing my website, I'll let you all know, but for now, everything is working as it should. If anyone else is having trouble with their Blog and TELUS let me know and I'll explain what I did. posted by Steve @ 9:15 AM
Telus has screwed around with their ftp path. Does this work now? posted by Steve @ 8:59 AM
Interfor's advertising an Assistant Forester position in Sechelt, which I'm qualified for. One of the requirements is "physically fit". Mmmmm, heli-logging layout, mmmmm, 80% rocky, slippery slopes. I should probably apply, but do I want to head into the industry and career-track myself? Give up acting, move out of Vancouver, do the 12 hour days for two weeks of holiday a year in a job I grow to resent, buy a house, a truck, and a dog? I hate decisions like this. It's money and security, but would I be happy working the job? Ah well, it's Monday. I have a couple of weeks to fret over it. From Death of a Salesman, "You can't eat the orange and throw the peel away - a man is not a piece of fruit!" "As a man thinks, so is he." - Anonymous To fruit or not to fruit... The past weekend was good - hiked on Saturday, and then a BBQ at Ryan's place, followed by St. Paddy's Stock revisited - good thing Ryan still had songbooks for the masses. Sunday Rosemary and I went for a run in Pacific Spirit Park, then I had movie rehearsal. They start shooting next weekend, and my first shooting day is the weekend following. Cool. I know that it's two guys and a camera, but it's experience. posted by Steve @ 12:12 PM	6.03.2002