Don't We All Want To Make It Big...?

Hey there readers! Here's your 2nd step to the "make it or fake it" biz that you've all been waiting for. :D

2. Audition- (ô-dĭshˈən) n. A trial performance, as by an actor, dancer, or musician, to demonstrate suitability or skill.
     The next step to breaking it into the business is to attend audtions. In order for you to be going any further with your acting, modeling, entertainment career, audtions will be crucial in that department. Sadly, agents and casting directors won't be dropping out of the sky to just come see and hire you on the spot. It just doesn't work out like that. So get your faces out there now and attend, Attend, ATTEND! At auditions, you are given a script, commercial or lines to read in front of the director. Meanwhile, the actor is thinking about how to make it their own and be original with the lines. My own experiences with auditions have had their ups and downs, where I've gotten callbacks or have otherwise been passed by. I can honestly say my worst audition was for this music video for a no-named band where I was to be featured playing the violin. Already, I was doomed because I hadn't picked up the instrument for 6 years! However, I figured that I could "wing it" and gave it a try on the day of the audition. When I was called into the room, I not only found myself to be auditioning for the director but the BAND as well. Realizing that I was going to be making an a** out of myself with them as my audience, I went for it and played it safe with baby open-string scales. I left the audition laughing (as well as the director and band) that I made a fool of myself and had the guts to. I know better than to waste my time on an audition, I expect to flop in.
  With auditions, I know nerves are bound to get the best of you but you've got to extinguish that feeling and go for it. Just be yourself and show great affinity (attitude) with the director by making small talk with them to show that you're a genuine person who's not just there to get the job. Be sure to take your time and pace yourself since those few minutes are YOURS with the director.
 What the "big wigs" are looking for is a new, fresh face with the talent of acting. However, there's so many skilled actors amongst us in the world today. So the question is how do we stand out as that one IN millions, and not as one OUT OF millions? Find out in the 3rd step: TRAINING.
                                  

Here's a link to reaching Disney Channel auditions...
http://www.disney-channel-auditions.com/

Hell-ywood and TRAFFIC.

For those who were in Hollywood tonight, you know what I'm talking about! Tonight, an event celebrating "Dias de los Muertos" took place at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery where masses of people dressed their part as skeletons, ghouls, and more to honor the dead. Not only did they contribute in visiting numbers, but also as a hindrance: road blocks, traffic-buildups, you name it. Sadly, I was stuck in this muck for a good 45 minutes just getting from one block to another. Traffic was so thick that I could pull out my cellphone and take a picture of it and on top of that, send it to my parents complaining about it. Did I really? YOU BET!

Please excuse the horrible picture quality; for it was taken by a non-smart phone. It's hard to tell, but in the picture, the car in front of me was unable to go at a GREEN light because the Joe Schmoe in the other car, who lacked common sense and road manners, chose to block traffic, by going through a RED light. Apparently, this DDLM festivity really was the must-see, rapido, screw-traffic-rules event! Once I finally broke through "Mullholland LOCO" corner, my unfortunate road trip wasn't over yet! I went through the crosswalk to get on the freeway during MY light, but there were people beginning to cross it. As flustered as I was, I was already through and said silent apologies within the car to the crosswalkers. However, one of them didn't take to kindly to my action and beat my rear window with his full 2-liter soda bottle. Then the next hour and a half continued with crazy road-rage people lane-jumping on the 101 freeway. Ahh, that's the hustle and bustle of Tinseltown for ya!

P.S. I had just looked up the cultural event on the cemetery's website and this tidbit of info would've helped A LOT this evening.

 http://www.ladayofthedead.com/

The Struggles to becoming a Model/Actress

  Some of you may think that achieving stardom, fame, and all that jazz is but a step away if you really pursued it. WRONG. I used to be one of those wishful thinkers who had her head in the clouds of such a dream. Let's face it, it's unrealistic to be thinking that opportunity will fall into your lap on its own. In order to make it in the entertainment business, immense effort and determination is required and sometimes even giving it all your best isn't enough.  This dream, fairy tale, career ambition is a journey that takes place on a road of nearly infinite miles...For those of you who are interested in going forth on this "dream", well take a seat as I pull up some key pointers to aid you in coming closer to it. Good luck!
  1. Head shot- (hĕd'shŏt') n. A portrait of someone's face and upper body.
     I cannot stress on how important and VITAL it is to have one of these babies. There's not a professional actor/actress, model, or anyone involved in the entertainment business who doesn't have one. Not only is a head shot considered as your resume, but it also acts as an i.d. of YOU. As soon as you walk into an audition with your head shot, the casting director can immediately decide within 2 seconds on whether they'd cast you or not BASED on the head shot only. So when you're investing in your head shots, make sure that they're not done at portrait places i.e. Sears, JcPenny's, etc. because casting directors can tell if you have, and that's not the sort of picture they're looking for from you. The best way to get it all done once and started is to pay a professional photographer, who has their own studio, for your shots. Head shots can range thousands of pretty pennies to a more bargaining price, but you'll need to do your homework on researching for the reasonably-priced photographer. Other than the head shot letting the director know that you mean business, it also gives him/her an insight of the different roles you can be cast in.So get this first step done, and stay tuned for the next piece on "AUDITIONS".

Where I Stand...

What am I doing here? Can it get any better than this? Hopefully, but for now this is my life. All it took for me to engage in these thoughts was me being dressed like a damn clown, literally. I just got released from my 15 minute break from my shift at Hot Topic, and sat alone on a lounge in the mall. Here I am making a morsel of a paycheck and for what? Oh nothing, but to just promote the store's most worshipped holiday of the year, Halloween, where I'm sporting the Joker look. More thoughts flooded my head as I caught the gazes of many mall consumers who pointed and laughed or hurriedly passed me but not without distributing disgusted looks towards me. Chuckling, I thought: Yeah people? Well you should see me on my good days, I dress quite the opposite! These feelings of being solitary, separated, and lonely, come every now and then where it makes me wonder: where do I stand in this big world of society? As I contemplated, I just sat back and took a recap trip down memory lane.
 The issue that kept nibbling me at hand was how my social world of friends has diminished. Two causes for that are either my friends have moved away to different universities and simply, we became involved in our own lives and moved on. I mean, when it comes down to it education is the important thing to achieve at the moment and the "friend-making" is the bonus part (from what my dad tells me). However, I don't want to end up as a recluse who keeps to herself and eventually, doesn't know how to communicate with others by spending her days alone in her house with a bunch of her pet dogs. I'm totally exaggerating now (laughs), but in the end, I know it's me who has to get off my duff and make the effort to start new friendships here at CSULB. Is there anyone else out there who's toyed with these thoughts?

Graffiti Art: Spectacle or Nuisance?

One of the biggest controversial topics of today is  whether or not "graffiti art" is an act of vandalism to property or beautifully displayed public murals. Well after watching this "Bomb" graffiti-documentary video for the last two days in my art class, I understood that graffiti art can be more than just defacing public property and territorial tagging. Beautiful murals and masterpieces have been created along the outdoors and decorate street walls at the hands of urban artists. All around the world, graffiti art has been thriving and expressing the artists' messages all over city buildings. The video actually inspired me when it came to a spray-painting project. It taught me that whatever I created didn't need to have expectations because it was my own art where I could let my imagination piece together whatever I wanted. At Venice Beach, it was awesome being surrounded with detailed murals around me. Most of the art work had come from artists who've been "bombing" for around 20 years and they left their trademark of beautiful intricate designs that covered the walls there in Venice Beach.

                                  

However, the immature public restroom taggers can stop their idiotic act of being territorial with the toilet seats already... 

Knott's Scary Farm! 8D

 This fall Halloween comes early this year! At Knott's Scary Farm, all ghoulish fiends, monsters, and demons come out and go bump in the night. These scary nights are here for a limited time only, so hurry now and get your tickets to experience an awesome hangout with pals! *Ahem* Okay now that I'm done promoting Knott's Scary Farm...(laughs), I'd like to give you a preview of the fun you're missing out on! This last weekend, I had gone to the infamous scare event where it began with terrible traffic to just arrive there along with waiting in hideously long lines to purchase the tickets, but ending with a satisfying feeling of getting our pants scared off us! In between, we had gone to 9 out of the hair-prickling mazes where we screamed at the lurging creatures in the dark and laughed at ourselves for being caught off guard. A lot of the times, I was the one screaming my head off. Well call me a scaredy cat, but it's something about being in those mazes (where we had to single file) and not knowing when those monsters are going to pop out at you, that really gets your goat!
  
However, there was a great number of people that night, so yes the mazes were crammed with everyone to the point where you had a few centimeters of moving space around you. Another problem was, of course, the excitement level of not-knowing-what-to-expect had dropped and that's where it becomes a repetitive occurence. The monsters make a lame attempt to frighten you at the next corner, but you already predict the move since you had seen them alarming another group of teens who had passed by that same spot. I suggest you take a break from the "maze-after-maze" routine and watch one of Knott's comical horrow stage shows or head for the rides to keep the agenda mixed up and fun! Overall, you'll have a screaming good time at Knott's Scary Farm. :]

Sleep Deprivation Strikes Again!

 Your eyelids feel like they're twenty-pound weighted curtains that your struggling to keep from coming down on your vision of surroundings. Even the oldest tricks in the book, such as drinking coffee or chewing gum, are failing to awaken your senses and engage your attention. Have all these symptoms been happening to you lately? Then you are one of thousands of people who’ve caught the widely-know epidemic of “SLEEP DEPRIVATION”!! Even though the simple solution to overcome it is to gain more sleep, sleep deprivation is not something to take lightly. Sleep is absolutely imperative for us to be able to live and function in our everyday lives. It‘s just as important as the oxygen we breath to keep us alive . So yeah folks, it’s a BIG DEAL! With out it, we wouldn’t be able to function and eventually die from the lack of rest which our bodies rely on in order to replenish ourselves. Believe it or not, but when you miss out on sleep, it adds years of age onto your body by wearing you out immensely where you could look 30 at 18 years old (hence the term "beauty sleep", people). 
 For us, college students, sleep is especially important. It comes down to deciding how we’re going to arrive to class as either intelligent human beings or us just being mere zombies who hit the desk with Zzz’s every five minutes. I, myself am a victim of the epidemic . In some classes, my grades are suffering meanwhile the bags beneath my eyes become more distinguished due to me being nocturnal nightly. The stakes are higher for me at this point of my life since I‘m attending college classes that my parents are paying for, and for every minute that I doze off or lose my concentration I‘m missing crucial information from the lectures. I now realize it’s  utterly necessary for me to achieve this goal of getting my good night’s sleep every night. I’ve received my reality check, and I hope all of you have too. So if you’re hoping in acing your classes, avoiding road accidents, and living a healthier life, then you best be hitting the hay at night.