wow, this is the longest i've gone without an update, so either my life has been incredibly busy or it has been incredibly boring. my last blog post was from my amazing festival day in Assisi in Italy in May. from there i traveled to Cyrus, to Rome for the Italian Open tennis tourney, then to Naples and onto Sardinia.
i flew home from Sardinia and my friend Paulo had planted a seed about leaving my quiet village and buying a boat and sailing the Med and points beyond. i'm still giving a long hard thought on that one. he may be onto something.
stanford is as lovely as it can be, but there's not a ton to do here and i don't see spending my last 30 years in this cottage at the end of the village. i haven't had an acting job since early Feb and i only teach one day a month. to be fair, even as an actor i'm lucky to work more than 6-8 days a year. so all totaled i'm busy about 20 days a year either acting or teaching acting. that leaves 345 days every year to do something else. preferably exploring this amazing planet.
i'm scared to sell it all and move on, yet again, as i don't get a do-over. once i sell and leave, that's it. no going back to life in sleepy villageville. so i want to be absolutely ready to sell when i do. and not make a bad decision. the cottage has been a good investment and as long as this "land expropriation" doesn't blow up in Western Cape and the local protests and riots simmer down, i may be able to get a decent price for it. then buy a decent sailboat with the proceeds.
so that's the bigger plan at the moment. stay in ZA for this season of production, try and book some jobs, pay some bills and the cottage loan, and then sell and sail away from here maybe next april? not sure on the specifics. this is the loose plan presently. a very fluid situation!
along with that plan is to attend a sailing school in Portugal in November and get my Competent Crew license and my Day Skipper ticket as well. plus the VHF radio course. then perhaps deliver a yacht or two out of cape town and get on the open water and see how i like it.
the trouble with paradise is often times is nothing to do. stanford is scenic and lovely, but incredibly quiet. there is not one traffic light. one main street. and the roll the sidewalks up by 7pm. friends have already warned me how alone i'll be on a boat, but i'm already alone most of my time. and "yotties" are quite a social lot.
IDK. i'm doing my research and scoping it out. it could be a great fit and tick all the boxes. there really isn't another place/country i want to live, and a boat sounds intriguing. challenging. engaging. a new adventure. i don't want to look back on my life and have any regrets. being afraid of something is not a good enough reason not to do something.
i took on Hollywood without knowing anyone, i took on Manhattan without knowing anyone, i moved to Nairobi without knowing anyone, i moved to cape town city center without knowing anyone. i'm a survivor and a people meeter. there are lots of folks on boats out there. yes i know it will be lonely and challenging but there are lots of upsides to it as well. so i'll do portugal and get my certificates, i'll spend the summer here and try to work, and then see what presents itself.
i appears i've booked a small role on DEEP STATE (Fox UK) which is shooting in cape town for the next three months, so that's a positive. been a long time since my last acting gig. it's only one day for me, but i'll be in the first three episodes for 2019 season. shoots OCT 16 in cape town.
then in November 8th i'll be in Geneva, Switzerland, train overnight to Zurich, then onto Faro, Portugal to take the Learn 2 Sail 3 week course to get my license as a day skipper. (i was able to re-book an old plane ticket from when i thought i was walking the Le Puy camino this year.)
then in january i'm taking a road trip through Botswana to Zambia for 2 weeks. very excited about that! so much to see in that beautiful part of africa.
and in February i'm off to the Grand Cayman islands to see some dear old friends and then to Montgomery, AL to visit my beloved Chancey family that moved out of stanford last month.
i just finished the Cape Town 48 hour film project, where they hand you a genre friday night at 7:00pm and sunday night 7pm you hand in a finished film! 4-7 mins maximum. hopefully we'll win the whole thing, or at least a few smaller awards this weekend. our film is called DISOWNED.
here is the link for the director's cut. project requirements:
1. use a fan as a prop (electric or hand)
2. use the character Christine Dlamini, a weather person
3. use the line "I can if you can."
https://youtu.be/ccfCSsuuQ8E
i had such a blast. really loved every minute of it. maybe we can pitch this as a pilot! NOMINATIONS COME OUT TONIGHT.
my nephew danny jim came to visit me from Phoenix for 3 weeks in june. we had a blast! wine tasting, beer drinking, and elephant watching. classic! miss him!
it's been such a long, wet, cold winter here, but spring is finally springing here. warming up a skosh and getting nice. time to swim my reservoir soon!
wow, so many photos to edit for this blog. a high-end problem i suppose. life is good. it's been slow but it's picking up some. summer is coming. let's see what happens!
now for some pics!
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| Stanford hills from my loft window. |
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| Klein river runs though the village. |
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| stanford is truly stunning. |
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| on the set of Disowned. |
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| A teachable moment with B cam, james hagen. |
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| "anybody got a better idea?" |
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| with my producer, lisa-marie clarke and james hagen. |
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| old Fiat in Spoleto. i was in italy for the month of May. |
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| not the Vatican, but stunning. |
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| Spoleto. quaint and medieval. |
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| man reading newspaper. |
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| passer-by. |
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| An old roman arch. |
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| Spoleto valley. |
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| my apt complex. |
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| yum. |
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| ciao! |
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| train station couple. |
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| a rainy May. |
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| old roman aqueduct. |
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| guard dog. |
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| man at counter. |
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| Roma train terminal. |
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| off to Cyprus. |
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| with Hatem who runs the Cyrus film school. |
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| starbucks all over in Nicosia in Cyprus. |
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| main drag / promenade in Nicosia. |
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| first world supermarket. |
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| turkish coffee in the Turkish part of Cyprus, mostly Greek otherwise. |
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| turkish part |
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| "honey, what was the name of that shop again?" |
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| a screen grab of me on The Kissing Booth, Netflix this year. |
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| Athens airport. |
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| favorite ad of all time. |
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| took this train shuttle to and fro da vinci airport into rome many times! |
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| this big screen video is huge! roma train termina. |
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| my safety valve hotel in Rome after air b'n'b was a disaster! |
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| the spanish steps. |
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| my cozy room at Panda. loo next door! |
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| Hop On Hop Off. |
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| "Win the crowd and you'll win your freedom!" |
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| the glory of Rome. |
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| so much high art. |
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| Vatican. |
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| they don't make em like they used to. |
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| selfie square at the Vatican. |
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| i skipped the tour. not enough time. |
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| Another stunning church in Rome. |
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| Smart car parking. |
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| meanwhile, back in the sleepy village! |
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| flying home. |
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| me and danny in the Bush. Addo elephant park. |
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| be careful. but we saw no lions. i guess it's the ones you don't see that are the problems. |
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| give way. |
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| whoa, big fella! |
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| birkenhead with Danny Jim. |
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| And we rented a penthouse in Cape Town for the World Cup weekend! |
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| And i petted a cheetah. "kitty..." |
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| And i taught at Film School Africa. |
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| Royal Cape Yacht Club. |
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| De Kelders, Walker Bay |
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| so many whales here presently. |
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| it's been a cold winter. |
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| with a Muslim brother in cape town. |
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| egg day every wednesday. |
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| the Zesty Lemon. beauty. |
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| this is what stanfordians do. |
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| And i taught a pop-up class at Parklands College high school. |
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| Hiking Fernkloof in Hermanus. |
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| Belgian pancake house on saturdays! |
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| secret cave! |
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| two of my besties...willem and joanine. |
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| on my way to the Deep State audition. |
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| car wash. |
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| whale watching. |
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| scoring Disowned. |
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| my composers and recording engineer. |
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| with danny jim! |
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| Disowned one sheet. |
