Vin Vasive #4

Here's another Vin Vasive video for the USDA.

This was one of the toughest to shoot because of technical issues having to do with the 'helmet' and the pneumatic tubes running into it from the back.  Before I put the helmet on, the director walked me through everything he wanted.  And then I went to the designer, who put me into the helmet, and then carefully walked me (now blind) over to my spot, helped me kneel down, and literally moved my hands to where they needed to be for the shot.  When we filmed it, I had to turn towards where I thought the camera was and hope I was right.

The costume designer said he was very happy I wasn't claustrophobic.  So was I.

Vin Vasive #3

Here's another video from the Vin Vasive series I did for the USDA.  My outfit consisted of shoes, pants, shirt, jacket, a neck cover with (plastic) bugs on it, gloves with bugs on them, a balaclava with a bug mouth that I could move, and a sort of helmet that covered my head above the mouth.  With the helmet on, I couldn't see and sound was muffled, though I could hear okay as long as I focused.

The helmet also had tubes running in from the back so that the designer could make the 'eyebrows,' feelers, and 'nose' move using pumped air.  But whenever he would make them move, all I could hear was pssshhhh pshhh pssshhhhh.

There were a couple of times when the director would give me instructions while the designer was testing the moving parts.  So I couldn't hear a word the director was saying or see what he was indicating, but I could tell he was telling me something important.  I would have to wait for the psshhhing sounds to stop, so that I could say to the director, "Sorry, could you repeat that for me?"

Vin Vasive #2

Another video from the Vin Vasive series for the USDA.

When I was in the outfit, I couldn't see anything at all except a little bit of light coming through the 'eyes.'  One time the director said to me, "You're not looking at the camera, I need you to look at the camera!"  I replied, "Sure.  Where is it?"  The costume designer, who understood how completely blind I was, shouted out, "Two o'clock!"  I turned a little bit to my right, and we were good to go.

Vin Vasive #1

Here's a video from a series I shot a few months ago for the US Dept. of Agriculture.  The character is called Vin Vasive.  Not my voice, but I am the man behind the mask.  It was one of the most unusual shoots I've ever been involved on.

Life Goes On

Recent casting: I'll be in Sylvia at Bay Theatre, which'll run from October 2 - November 7. I'll be playing the characters Tom / Phyllis / Leslie. That'll be: a man / a woman / a hmmm?

I'll also be teaching an acting course at Howard Community College this fall.

Jenny and I recently took a trip to New York City (roughly $40 in various tolls, maybe next time we'll take a bus!) to make a quick visit to a stage combat workshop, where we visited some fightin' friends, took care of a little fightin' biz, and got certified in CPR. Isn't that romantic?

And comets just might really really have brought the building blocks of life to Earth. Muy interesante . . . .

If I'd Had a Pet Like This as a Kid, the Bullies Woulda Been His Lunch

Have you seen this?


The tyrannosaurus rex wishes it were this guy. Teeth a foot long. A skull double the size of T.R.'s. A bite with 4 times the force. Coming in at about 50 feet long, 45 tons. It's a new species of pliosaur that the paleontologists have dubbed "Predator X" -- which sounds like a great name for a bad Sci-Fi movie. How long ya think it'll take 'em to make that one?

Wrong, Wrong, Wrong

Cute picture, yeah? That's Ndeze, an orphaned mountain gorilla, drinking from a bottle being held by park ranger Andres Bauma.

However, the picture would be more adorable if it were of Ndeze being held by her own mother: "Four or more gorillas had been shot in the DRC [Democratic Republic of Congo], inside the Parc Nationaux de Virungas, and there was at least one new orphan clinging to a young male gorilla. The baby's mother and the group's silverback had been killed, along with several others. Equally disturbing, these deaths were the result of an ongoing feud between a number of individuals vying for control of the resources around the park, like charcoal production and mining." Click on the quote, you'll see some rough stuff, including a pic of some gorillas that had been shot.

By the way, this comes from Dr. Lucy Spelman's excellent blog. It'll make you smile and cry and stomp your feet in anger. She works with the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project.

Cave Squirrelum

Nuts. Yesterday, August 13th, was National Left-handers Day, and I missed it. I hope I'm the only one. I think we'd be recognized as an oppressed minority (via scissors, notebooks, 3-ring binders, chainsaws, school desks, pens, erasable pens, some spatulas and butter knives, writing in general, always stuck at the end of the table, shorter life spans, the occasional schoolmarm with ruler though not so much anymore, analog watches) if we could just take ourselves seriously. Belatedly, here's to us.

Actor News: The dreadfully long list of unrequited auditions continues to grow. Sometimes I'm surprised. Sometimes not (a big theatre with the moolah to get pretty much whatever they want recently called me in to audition to understudy Gremio and Vincentio in Taming of the Shrew. I'm not remotely the right age. There were 4 of us auditioning at the time, 2 who were the right age, plus me, plus a guy who is close in age to me. He said, "Yeah, I don't know why they called me in, either."). Today I had an audition for a PSA. It went well, I thought, but, who knows?

Cool Stuff In Art: I recently happened upon this sculptor, Beth Cavener Stichter. You must check her out! Her mission statement is rather heavy, but where it takes her -- well, the quality of her work is stellar. A lot of it is like a bad trip through Wonderland. I'm also amazed at her patience -- because her work is large clay pieces, she spends the bulk of her time hollowing them out before firing them. I just missed seeing her stuff at the Smithsonian, but I noted that she seems to come through Baltimore on occasion. Hmm. Anyhoo, wander around her site, won't you?

Cool Stuff In Nature: Squirrels heat up their tails for defense. True! It'll make sense if you read the article.

Sadie: Is 8 months old and over 60 lbs. And she's not fat. Woof.