Hello again, it’s been a while since updated this blog because of travel but I am back so here we go. Saw a great film last evening, Wadjda, as part of the Kansas City film festival. If you get a chance I believe it is worth seeing. Enjoy!

On to my latest gripe –  it’s with an airline. I won’t mention the name here but they will hear from me personally.  I decided to check my carry-on bag for my own comfort and ease of boarding. The charge was $25. Add that to my ticket price with accompanying taxes, fees, etc., and the cost of the trip goes up. I checked the same bag on my return. $25 again. Both times while waiting in the boarding area the desk agent invited passengers to check any roller or carry-on bags because the plane was full. That was the initial announcement. On my return flight the announcement continued with the words: AT NO CHARGE TO YOU.

Granted, I checked bags for my own comfort. However, I watched as many others chose the free bag check. I would have done so as well had I known it would be available. As this happened twice, my travel cost an unnecessary extra $50. The unspoken message I got from the airline was “don’t plan ahead”.

I suppose the final straw was watching passengers board with 1) more than the allotted number of carry-on packages and bags and 2) bags so large they had to be shoved into the overhead space with force. The diagram and the ‘Your bag must fit in here’ device were at the doorway but no one enforced the “rules”.

So, X Airline – get your act together if you expect to get my travel dollars again. If you are going to offer free bag check at the gate, offer it at the curb and the inside ticket counter as well. If you persist in a charge for all checked baggage then enforce the rules about what constitutes carry-on size.

Wow, glad I got that out. Sounds a bit like sour grapes but I’ll take that.  By the way, I was in warm weather and had a great trip. Happy to be back home with the spring trees and flowers blooming, good plays and good films. There’s no place like home.

Bonita

You see them on almost everything – some say “Best By:” and some simply list an expiration date.  The thing that’s confusing is that some “Best By” dates are so wrong because the product is never even good, much less the best. And, some expirations really have little or no meaning, you can use the product for an indeterminate length of time after that date.

Then you have BEER.  I guess their expiration date really explains that the product will expire on that date. As I was enjoying a bottle of a well known brew with my burrito recently, I found this to be true. I poured the second helping into my glass and saw some thick brown thing enter the glass and sink to the bottom.  YUK. Didn’t drink any more of that – I guess I will discard the few bottles I have left that have expired.

This was in the wake of the newest type of a famous brand of peanut butter which boasts on the label that it ‘NEVER NEEDS STIRRING’. They were right. I don’t stir it. I simply pour the accumulated oil off the top whenever I want some peanut butter.

And, the Fresh Red Strawberries. Looking great in the container. Only when you get it home and empty it to wash them do you see that all the hidden areas are WHITE – in other words – NOT RIPE.

May become a hermit and grown my own potatoes.

Another talented professional lost to drugs. The tragedy is not only in the acting community, it is also one for the country. These addictions are frightening. The role models for many an aspiring actor or sports figure are often a celebrity user. The ramifications can be deadly.

Philip Seymour Hoffman was a favorite of many. His body of work was filled with real characters. When I saw one of his movies or television appearances, I was not watching Hoffman but instead I was seeing the character he was portraying. That is a great achievement for any actor, being seen as the character you play and not as your other life roles as parent, friend, sibling, etc. .

The tragedy goes beyond Hoffman. There are many deaths from this insidious drug culture every day. They may not receive the national attention of this one but they devastate friends and families in the same way.

I have no answers, just a deep concern for all who are fighting these addictions and those who have lost the battle. I grieve with their families and friends.  To Philip Seymore Hoffman and the others,  R.I.P.

2014 – Can you believe it?

Soon auditions will begin again for theatres all over. My attempt to go to UPTA was thwarted because I didn’t get my application submitted in time. My place on the waiting list does not warrant any hope for a spot. Maybe next year.

Sounds a little like this blog – a little late.

General auditions are a fractured fun time. Performers can be confident, anxious, outstanding in their auditions, and never get a callback from the theaters they would love to hear from.

Usually not told what a reason might be, an actor may be tempted to invent one. Of course, some of the reasons are obvious – there wasn’t a suitable part e.g., actor was too tall, too short, too old, too young, too thin, too hefty, etc. etc. etc.

So, the performer must just keep plugging away. Caveat – if you can’t take rejection – either outright or concocted internally – find a different job.

Good luck to all you who are about to audition and to all the auditors and to me as I join the masses.

Bonita

January 14, 2014

Actors, let’s remind the clients, advertisers, producers, etc. know that we ARE “Real People” and if those “real people” in your ads are paid anything at all they are actors (though let’s face it, not very good actors most of the time). Sorry, car dealers and other business owners but most of you would do well to hire real people, aka professional actors to tout your cars, windows, groceries, medications, clothing, etc.

Why the distinction between celebrities and actors. If a non-famous actor appears in a commercial it often carries a disclaimer:  “actor portrayal”.  If a recognizable celebrity is selling, nothing is said about them being less than a “real person”. Some advertisers don’t think it is necessary to remind the viewer that the celebrity is an actor, being paid large sums to appear, and may or may not even be acquainted with the product. Just my humble opinion but I don’t think that Shaq drives a Buick. Yes, I have seen him inside one and now I would like to see him get in and out of the same car.

It’s true we actors would expect to be paid a living wage because we too shop for groceries, medicines, cars, clothes, etc., etc., etc.  It is often quite easy to determine who wrote the ad, who cast the ad, who bought the ad space. Did you ever ask your client or customer if it was the cute shot of your son/daughter/grandchild/dog that encouraged them to buy your product?

Wow, I’ve been wanting to say all that for a long time. Thanks for letting me vent. Now I just want my agent to call with some work.