APRIL 2016 - BIRTHDAY JUMBO BLOG
welcome to my latest blog! and to nearly perfect weather this time of year in Cape Town before the "cape of storms" takes over in winter.
i love my blog, but i must say i am duly humbled by 'the one blog to rule them all'...
the 60,000k trip from singapore to london in a landy!
http://bestlifeintheworld.com/year-in-review-driving-from-singapore-to-london/
but that's okay, having the best life adventure isn't a contest...is it? okay, maybe a little. well, either way, this COTW is mightily inspired by this blog and journey. well done Southall!
looks like i'm going to be on local TV here for a ZA morning talk show. Expresso Morning show. 6am. cape town. on my birthday! so that's kinda cool. not sure what we'll talk about but i guess if you live long enough it's possible to get on a talk show!
i've been a bit of a homebody this year. last year it was Malawi and Mozambique 2x, but this year it's been Western Cape exclusively. which is fine by me. possibly the best urban village in the world. and living at the heart of the CBD - City Bowl District is so fantastic! walk everywhere! and Uber if it's too far. i live 1 block from my office and 1 block from Raw Espresso Bar where i teach on Saturdays. perfect.
i could not be more central to everything. and The Piazza is kinda like The Plaza in NYC if you squint your eyes enough. Doorman building, 9 cameras for security, cool building Super, Shamiel, and a great staff. i think it's actually been voted the best building in Cape Town. it works for me. wouldn't want to be anywhere else.
looks like i may do a USA tour in September...Texas, Arizona, Oregon, Utah, and more Texas. it's a bear of a flight...36 hours one way in transit on Qatar airlines with an 8 hour layover in Doha. but i'd rather spend 8 hours in Doha where i've never been than 3 hours in Amsterdam or London or NYC in transit. plus the Qatar long haul is just $850 return trip from Cape Town to DFW. smoking deal!
so, the COTW will be back in the air again soon. or soon enough. i've flown plenty in my time. truth be told i mostly avoid it these days. rather go adventure seeking on the ole motorbike.
i booked and shot my first local commercial for south africa. it's funny to be shooting stuff all for Europe. one recent one is for the States...Humira. look for me on a fishing boat. i even have a speaking line. but so far this season i've done 7 spots. pretty cool. the one for Bozita Naturals dog food (youtube) as the swedish farmer with Hobbs the wonder dog was definitely a bright day!
but the best thing i do is teach. i'm offering an 8-week saturday morning acting class for TV & Film and it's the best thing i do every week. #CWFS is trending as #CantWaitForSaturday. my students seems to love the training and being on a real set and i enjoy orchestrating all the chaos.
last saturday was Shark Week. always a hoot! next genre is Soap week. then Cop Show. even i am amazed how much these guys are learning in just 8 weeks. they definitely are getting "what to do & how to do it"! good stuff!
every class is unique unto itself. my own version of navy seals training i suppose. there's underlying pressure to know your lines and be on time and just the pressure of shooting on a real set each week. and i'm tough. not for perfection in a scene or even acting wise, just teaching them how to work. asking for LINE or milking a scene at the end with some looks. lots of tricks i've learned along the way! it's lot of fun.
one of my students wrote me today...
"Hi David!
Sir can I just say that of all the funny and strange things that I have done in my life, life being as random as it is, I really feel like I can BE me when I am in your class (Almost like this is what I was meant to do with the last 12 years of my life).
I do take it very seriously and I do apologize for the laughs on Saturday. It comes so naturally to me to smile in almost any scenario when looking at the positives and I feel like I am in a dream world in your class! I would just like to reiterate that I do take this very seriously and I am going to nail my scene on Saturday morning!
The skills we've learned already I find valuable in everyday life and I thank you for the opportunity to be a part of these amazing acting classes."
-Goodie
so that's rewarding in itself! and to have relevancy in your 60s is not always so easy! yup, i turn 61 on the 20th. it does fly by.
the funny thing about life is i have no idea how i ended up here in CPT. i never planned it. it just kind of unfolded. one thing leading to the next, one chance meeting leading to another chance meeting on another continent! and doors open and others close and you go with the flow.
and now i'm talking about my life on a morning show i've never heard of that is watched by millions every day! so bizarre! again, nice to feel relevant. a year ago i worked with actor Bill Paxton on my birthday. my first proper union shoot in 5 years! i thought my acting days were behind me but i've been redeemed.
i had even given up on HAMC (Hollywood Acting Master Class) until a young local gal insisted i try again and joined in doing all the social media. without Lisa-Marie, i wouldn't be teaching now. another resurrection story. not sure if i believed in redemption before, but now in my own life i have first hand experience. it's such a great feeling to have things redeemed!
some good news on the Home Affairs front, potentially. there is a thing called the Extended Visitor Visa. it's a long shot but it works on occasion for folks in the film industry and it's good for 3 years! that would be so huge! if i could stay another 3 years! my Permanent Residence Permit is on appeal, but it's not likely "Hollywood Nice Guy" will qualify under Scare Skills Permits. i'll know in 7 months if i get the PR permit, otherwise, the EVV may be the play.
i try to remain neutral about how things unfold. if i'm meant to be here, things will sort themselves out. but maybe another adventure/country is in store for me. have to be open to God's plans for my journey even if it's uncomfortable. sure, i am settled here now, absolutely. 100%.
but maybe by Aug 2017 i'll be ready for a new chapter. Cape Town is a fabulous Euro city and has such a great vibe. but it is small. fine for now, maybe fine forever, and there lots to do, but like a cat i've sprayed every tree already to mark my territory. another forced move in a year's time may work. but i'd prefer to get my PR permit and perhaps buy a place and put down some roots. the Western Cape province is stunning!
i can't believe how much my life has changed in a year! last year i was living in a cold high rise at Strand. now i'm ground zero CPT. in the last year i've made a documentary with a soundtrack, shot 7 commercials, have taught 38 students, did some traveling, found a killer flat in The Piazza, made so many new friends, have had so many great experiences, and i get to do what i love..make art and teach art.
it's been 4.5 years since i left LAX for NBO and started the new life journey in Africa. it's been such an amazing trip. nothing i could have ever scripted or imagined. all from a willingness to move out of my comfort zone. i'd like to think it gets easier but inevitably you instantly want to put roots down wherever you are planted. i did it in Kenya. and now i have done so in Western Cape.
but as the next year unfolds with immigration i may have to uproot again. move to a new land. and how much drama is attached to that upheaval is entirely up to me. go with the flow or hold on tightly? be bitter or better for it? be closed or open?
i'm only in Cape Town because i, quite by random chance, met 2 couples in 2013 on a Holy Land tour in Israel in the back of the bus from south africa. we misfits commandeered the back of the bus with our own rear door entrance to hop on and off. the FAB FOUR (Flippie, Paula "Pola", Ria and Andre) have become life long dear friends. my homies.
i surely wouldn't be here if we all hadn't been on that bus that week. another chance meeting...or the Divine plan kicking in when it's supposed to. the Fab Four are still my favourite hang on a sunday in Raithby Heights. chill out and drink some of Flippie's amazing wine collection!
it all started by running into Abe Martinez on the set of Dexter 7 years ago in Hollywood. i hadn't seen Abe for 8 years before that day. then Abe moves to kenya, emails me about a part in a film, and i go to kenya.
then move there full stop in 2011. and visit Betty's Bay in ZA for new years 2012 with the Hofmyers. i had met paul in nairobi. that's when and where the COTW (citizen of the world) concept hit me. i had to give up all i had in california to inherit the world. and what a trade it's been.
i really do love cape town. first world enough, european enough, african enough, sweet people, polite culture, insanely cheap. sometimes i find myself pinching myself. how did i get here anyway????? but you follow the path and make the call when you have to...like leaving LA then leaving Kenya.
your gut tells you it's time to move on. luckily i had Flippie who invited me down on a reconnaissance to check out Western Cape. it was confirmed with many signs and even signage by day one. Cape Town was to be the next place. then other things folded into place. lodging, transpo, visas, an agent, and finally The Piazza. and then Raw Espresso Bar where i teach.
all so cool. am definitely so blessed by it all. then add the unlimited wine farms (vineyards) all around the cape, the roads on the southern peninsula where i ride my motorbike are so stunning. it's idyllic. i will enjoy it while i can. and stay if i can. but let go of it if i must. and welcome the next new life chapter to the journey.
meanwhile, this guy who left his loft in DTLA in 2011 who was "over" is going to be on national television here tomorrow to talk about his journey. wow, you just never know what life will bring, do you? i'm lucky i had no wife, no kids, and no pets when i left home in 2011, otherwise it's much harder to do obviously.
part of me surely would like a house and wife and pets and all the trappings but that wasn't in the cards for me. but maybe it still is. i'm open. and in the meantime i'm trying to learn to be content with little or a lot. in a house or a flat. married or single.
a nostalgic blog this time, but time to reflect. birthdays are good for that. one more trip around the sun and time to take inventory. my biggest loose end at the moment is trying to sell my doco Finding Messiah. it needs to find a buyer. that would be very fulfilling to place that film as an artist with a track record of flops. waiting on news from the Durban Int'l Film Festival. geesh, we better get into that one!!!!!!!!
well, time to write some captions. i invite you to scroll through my HAMC Facebook page. lots of showreels and pics of my students. the kids i never had.
https://www.facebook.com/hollywoodactingmasterclass/
thanks for following my blog. it's been a pleasure to chronicle these last 4+ years. sorry it's so hard to leave a comment here. drop me an email or a Facebook message. would love to hear what you're up to!
COTdub out!
