The 21st Century, The age when stalking our friends became a good thing.....but should it have?

So today I left for my first holiday in two years.  In fact I’m typing this post up on my laptop as I fly 33,000 feet over southern Russia……….or maybe its some small country formerly of the USSR. It is hard to tell from the small screen with a blurry map that British Airways have supplied me with. I will be posting this as soon as I get to Singapore. 


However, moving onto something more relevant, I am reminded this week of the amazing wonder that is Social Net-Stalking. I am finding that although I will be 10,000 miles away, I am not so far removed from my friends, girlfriend, family and other loved ones. The wonders that are Facebook, Twitter, Skype and, the ultimate companion for anyone of the Gen-Z vintage, the SMS, all leave me with the ability to speak to those I am closest to when I am, in fact, as far away as possible without leaving orbit.


It is clear that technology has in fact brought us (the human race) closer together in many ways and, at the moment, I am extremely grateful for that. Unfortunately, sitting here in my partially reclined seat with extra legroom, I am drawn to the thought of how much Social Networking has taken away from us.


Keeping in touch through technology has not always been the case, as I am sure you are all aware. There was a time when flying to other side of the world meant that when you left behind those special people in your life, you truly left them behind and the only way to have a conversation even resembling “instant” was to actually go back and talk to them face to face.


So the big question is how did we cope? What did people have ten or twenty years ago that allowed them to keep relationships, catch up with friends from a far off country and feed the illusion in their minds that they are still close to somebody they haven’t physically spoken to in five years? The answer is a fairly simple one. We talked to each other using actual words.


Social Networking has been around for thousands of years; it’s just been called different things. Until recently it was called having a social life. It involved this strange and bizarre thing called talking to people. Actually having a conversation with someone, telling him or her about your self and listening to what they have to say. We had an inherent ability to “pick up where we left off” and bridge gaps of time, age and geography regardless of the effort involved. There was no technology involved, not an email to be read, no thumbs were harmed due to the constant pressing of buttons to text somebody and no screens flashed giving us that light happy feeling that jumps into our hearts telling us “yes, somebody does love me”. No we survived on seeing the beautiful smile on the face of that person we love so much, hearing the laugh of our best friend when we’ve actually told them a joke and seeing the look of sadness in someone’s eyes that tells you there is something more to the situation than what they’re actually telling you. We got to know the people in our lives, rather than just being acquainted with them and it made our relationships stronger.

What the Social Networking age has given us is a wonderful new way to be lazy. Why go and visit someone you haven’t seen in a while when you can learn about their entire life by reading their profile page or just instant messaging them? Don’t get me wrong, I am so grateful for inventions like Facebook. Having moved around so much in my life it has made keeping in contact with people easy, but sometimes I wish it hadn’t. I think I might appreciate people who were once a major part of my life or currently are now if I actually had to work to keep it that way. If asked I would get rid of text messaging. It is the bane of my existence. I use it more than most but if I were given the choice I would speak to people face to face all the time. When you’re texting or instant messaging you have time to practice. You can think about what you’re going to say instead of truly expressing yourself. So much of a conversation, especially the important ones, is shown through our expressions and what we don’t say rather than what we do. It is like the difference between a film and live theatre. Films are great, but you know that each scene took half a dozen takes and was edited afterwards, whereas theatre is one take, every time. If you screw up then it is a part of the performance and at least the expression was pure and unedited.


So I think in summary, I am grateful to live in an age that gives us this closeness through the LCD screen, but at the same time I weep, metaphorically, for the social skills of future generations. Yes we can live our lives from a computer, but that doesn’t mean we should. It is not as though the Social Network age took away the old ways of talking to and meeting people, we’re just too lazy to use them anymore. So today, tonight or yesterday depending on your relative time zone, I implore you all to go out of your house, find that person who is truly special in your life or once was and talk to them for an hour or six. Or even better, go out and meet someone knew. Don’t add them on Facebook, don’t exchange Blackberry pins, just talk and get to know them. Make a friend the right way. Trust me, it’s a good feeling.


Till next time…

There is a difference between belief and religion..............believe me.

I should probably start by saying that I am not a religious person and for this purpose of this blog I want you to understand that when I speak about "belief" it does not automatically pertain to religion. I follow no particular religion. I was raised as a Roman Catholic but have since decided that this is not what I believe. Through what I am about to write I intend no offense and wish only to convey my personal beliefs and opinions. I do not expect anyone to agree with, like or even understand my beliefs but that is not my aim. 

Having said that, lets move on.

A slightly amazing thing happened yesterday. For the first time in my life I voluntarily and without obligation went to church. I did it for several reasons but all of them boil down to the same thing: understanding. If you didn't know already, I am fascinated by everything, especially things that I don't understand or agree with. Religion is no different. I'd never been to a church in England before and I wanted to know what it was like. I tend to embrace religions as a way to learn more about people and their culture. As a result of that I also learn more about what I believe as an individual. A combination of intellectual and spiritual curiosity would be a good way to explain why I went.

I don't believe in a god, but at the same time I don't completely disregard the idea of there being one or many. If somebody comes up to me and tells me they believe in God or Allah or Yahweh, fair enough. I don't have to agree with them but I don't have a problem them believing it either. They may even prove me wrong one day. What I do believe in is that, regardless of which religion you do or don't follow or even if you completely deny the existence of a god/creator, we all have the the same inherent aim in life: to be good people.

The core beliefs of all religions promote exactly that, being good people. The ways in which people go about that tend to differ but the aim is pretty much the same. Believing in a god and going to some form of afterlife is just an incentive to be a good person but you don't need to follow a religion to realise that its a good idea anyway. Praying, sacrements and going to church don't make you a good person, you just need to accept people for who they are. Don't let differences in beliefs, culture or language turn you into an ignorant, negative and hateful person. 

This is one of the reasons I dislike most organised religion. Many have a habit of focusing on the consequences for those who believe anything different rather than the positive reasons for which they should conform. This just creates a negative effect on people outside of their religion rather than giving painting it in a positive light to those of us who don't believe. So many religions were started simply because somebody had a different interpretation of a religious text or didn't agree with what somebody else believed. Yet most of these religions seem to have forgotten that and as such refuse to accept other people's difference in lifestyle, opinion and, especially, beliefs. 

To give you an example, the service that I went to last night opened with the welcoming of newcomers, giving the appearance of what was, for the most part, a very nice place. However the atmosphere, for me at least, changed quite a bit when it came to the sermon. Whether or not the gentleman speaking intended to make his point in this way I am not sure. However, while speaking about keeping the strength of your faith he said that "Christians can not enter into relationships with non-Christians" without being drawn away from the church. It was point that he had drawn from the study of the story of Lot and his daughters taken from the book of Genesis and I understand how, to him and many others, it would seem a valid point. Unfortunately, I found this offensive and, to a large extent, ironic. One of the reasons that I went to this service was that I have recently entered into a relationship with someone who is a Christian and I wanted to have a better understanding of her beliefs and why that is a part of her life. 

The last thing I would ever want to do is turn someone I care about away from something that they believe in. Beliefs make a person who they are and to ridicule them for it or to try and change that would change them as a person. Yet in my attempt to gain a greater understanding I was told by this religious organisation, one which not thirty minutes earlier had welcomed me, that without changing my beliefs, and therefore who I am, I should not be with this person as I would ultimately make them unhappy. In a sense this person was encouraging the faithful to discriminate against someone like me simply on the small chance that I would take them away from their beliefs. Regardless of whether or not it is a nice way to preach your religion, it definitely makes for a terrible sales pitch. What made the whole situation even more ironic is that the particular branch of Christianity that this church follows originated from one man being drawn away from his faith because he wanted to start a relationship with a woman. 

I am not trying to paint this church in a bad light. The opposite, in fact, is true. I actually enjoyed the evening and had some very interesting discussions with some very open minded people. I just use it as an example of why I don't agree with any single religion, but at the same time I'm comfortable with my beliefs and that if I continue to spend my life being a good person, regardless of whether there is someone out their to reward me for doing it, I'll have done the right thing and made the right choice. 

My beliefs are very hard to explain simply because they cannot be categorized into a single religion or even into simple Atheism and to be honest I prefer it that way. Belief in a particular religion isn't something that you just choose to have and if it is then you've chosen for all the wrong reasons. It is something that comes to you personally. I may not be able to label my beliefs, but that doesn't make them any less legitimate than anyone else's. 

Till next time....

Well...........its October

Hello my people/family/friends/minions/creepy internet stalkers!

Wow so much stuff has happened since I last wrote on here. Yes I know it's been far too long but if any of you know me then you must have realised how lazy I can be at times. Well, I guess I should fill you in.

I got my grades at the end of August. Not fantastic but I don't feel that I underprepared. Besides, they were still good enough to get me accepted into a couple of good universities. Offers that I quickly declined so that I could move onto the celebratory drinking.

September was brilliant. Most of my friends left for university and sadly I didn't get to say goodbye to as many as I wanted to. Why is it that you are always busy at the most inconvenient times?? But anyway, I got on with my life and by my life I mean Les Miserable. The performance in the last week of September was fantastic and definitely worth all the effort and illness that had come from months of rehearsal. It was easily one of the best experiences of my life. I've always enjoyed acting and performing but this was probably the first time in my life that I've realised that I actually love it. For the first time ever I was booed during my bow on stage by someone who had clearly seen too many Pantomimes. As I was playing the bad guy I'd say that meant I did alright. Although, I personally like to think of Javert as more misunderstood than bad.

I suppose this leads me onto the other significant thing that has happened in the last month or so. In the last three weeks my plans for my acting future have changed dramatically (no pun intended.......oh screw it I meant to say it now laugh!). I am no longer moving back to Australia to attend NIDA or WAAPA. I know it is shocking (this is the part where you all gasp dramatically.......I've also been working on my stage direction). You'd think after all the complaining that I've done about this country, its society, its politics and its downright dreadful food that I would be first to get out of here, but apparently not. Instead, I've decided it would be much more dramatic and spectacular to gamble against the odds for my future and stay in England. Getting into Drama school is hard enough anywhere in the world but I have so many reasons to be staying here. From a career perspective London is the place to be. In terms of applicants per places, London actually holds better odds for me getting into a course than anywhere else and looking further ahead the West End, the BBC and more Shakespeare companies than you can imagine means more hope for my career. There are more jobs here than in Australia and more chance of actually landing them than in LA. So it would appear that, for once in my life, I have made a logical decision.

I'm sure there a million reasons not to do this of course and I have thought of all of them, but I see no reason to concentrate on them. One of the main reasons I'm staying is the emotional aspect of it all. My family live in England, my friends live in England and my life is, subsequently, in England. I'm happy here so why should I give it up? I think too often people sacrifice happiness for success. These days I see people constantly being put in a position where they have to choose between the happiness of having a family or success in their profession. Given that decision I would take happiness any day. I deliberately chose a career path that would make me happy rather than a desk job I know I would regret. Why should I sacrifice happiness in order to ultimately achieve it? It would just seem like going backwards to me.

I know I'm quite literally jeopardising my education and subsequently my future by staying in England but at the same time I am willing and perfectly able to work hard to achieve both and I think it will be worth it in the end. When you opt for a career in acting or performance of any kind, no matter where you are, you have to be prepared for the fact that it won't be easy. Even if I did move back to Australia and take the safer course, I would still be faced with a huge uphill struggle to gain success. I'd just rather be around the people who love and support me while I do it.

Regardless of what the future brings, I am happy at the moment and I don't see that changing soon. I will be off on a holiday back home in Australia in a couple of weeks and I look forward to seeing family and friends. This gap year is going to be hectic but awesome. I just hope I have time to write on here about it more often.

Till next time.....

No fatigue.........but getting close to insomnia.

I have a problem that is keeping me awake so you all get to hear about it! Yay!

So as you may know over a month ago I came down with Glandular Fever. At the time it really sucked. I had the throat infection, the swollen glands, the headaches and the fatigue but the thing that worried me the most was the horror stories. I know quite a few people who have had the old kissing disease and on top of stories I'd read on the internet I thought I would feel horrible for months and, more devastatingly, lose my part in Les Miserable. There were tales of fatigue lasting for weeks, months, years and horror stories of complications and debilitating bouts of recurring throat infections................but none of these things happened to me.

You should know that I am a very healthy person. Granted, I don't live on celery and run 10 miles every morning, but as far as avoiding sickness goes I am an absolute master. I live in a house with two very young siblings who contract everything under the sun and nine times out of ten I manage to not catch it from them. I make sure I get enough sleep and, contrary to popular belief, I have probably drunk less since turning 18 than I used to.........I can't afford it anymore. Until I came down with the Glandular Fever I hadn't been to a doctor in three years and hadn't had so much as a cold in 4 months.

You're probably thinking "what the hell are you complaining about man?" Well that's it. I don't have a problem with being healthy, I have a problem with people presuming I am sick without any knowledge of my medical condition. Basically my director for Les Miserable refuses to let me return to rehearsals until I am 100% fit to do so.

I have been 100% fit for nearly two weeks now.

In fact two weeks ago my doctor declared me fit to return to rehearsals barring any major recurrence of symptoms. I, personally, took it upon myself to take an extra week off to avoid any further risk of contaminating my fellow cast members but since then have been refused permission to return to the production. Now I have about six weeks to learn the blocking for an entire two Act show and make sure I can sing all of my solos and my director won't let me back into rehearsals. I can work hard, but at this point, for the sake of the production, I think it needs to be a case of either return or retire.

So my dilema is this: do I confront my director with the knowledge that I am healthy, have always quickly recovered from illness and am more eager to get back to this musical than humanly possible but in doing so risk offending her and possibly losing my part OR do I keep my mouth shut in the hope that she will eventually come to the conclusion that not everybody suffers for months from Glandular Fever?

Ironically thinking about Glandular Fever has been keeping we awake the last couple of days and there has been no sign of fatigue.

I am consulting my doctor again in the morning to get her opinion in writing. Maybe it will help and maybe it won't.

Till next time...

PROP8

A story that caught my attention in the news this week was PROP8. Basically it turns out that homosexuals in California CAN, in fact, get married without the world ending. This week, in California, Judge Vaughn Walker ruled that Proposition 8, the voter-approved bill to put a stop to gay marriage, was "unconstitutional."

The immediate reaction from the gay community was a highly fashionable, broadway style victory dance. But the rest of us (by us I mean California and a few people with above average intelligence in the rest of the world) were all thinking "Oh cmon the Republicans aren't gonna give up that easily........are they?" Republicans hate the idea of gay marriage. Even mentioning homosexuality in a Republican household is like saying Voldemort too loudly in Diagon Alley and would probably result in someone being shipped off to military school.

But it nothing happened. The Republicans did bugger all. (Excuse the pun.) Of course an appeal was lodged against the ruling but that was pretty much a given. There was no major complaints from political leaders and what was even more amazing was that Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has asked the judge who made the ruling to legalise gay marriage again.

Deep down you'd like to think that the lack of complaining from the Republicans was just them being decent human beings and a certain amount of humility in what appears to be defeat, but I think its something else. "Unconstitutional". It is a sacred word to the Americans. As soon as you say something is "unconstitutional" in the United States it becomes the most deplorable thing you could possible do like mooning the Queen on St. George's Day while dancing on Churchill's grave.

Unfortunately, for all those gay couples looking to get married in California in the near future, Judge Walker, to prevent what he thought would be a flurry of marriages, put a stay on his same sex marriages ruling until the appeal process could be completed. I understand the whole respecting the course of justice angle he's going with here but that is so hypocritical. Its like inviting your neighbour over for a beer and then drinking them all in front of him. Its practically insulting.

I honestly think that PROP8 is fighting a losing battle. A hundred years ago a black man marrying a white woman was seen to be just a morally wrong by ignorant people as homosexuality is today. Some people just need to get over it. Gay marriage doesn't affect anyone except the two people who are getting marriage. If you think its against your religion then fine, in your view they'll go to hell, in theirs they won't. Either way it has nothing to do with you. If you don't like it then fine don't go over for dinner parties.

Eventually, at least I hope, gay marriage won't even be a point of discussion. It will just be called marriage..........or misery depending on how you look at it. The only reason these sort of propositions even go into effect is because people enjoy creating misery and hating other people. You can stop gay couples from marrying each other legally but I'm pretty sure there is no way in hell you'll be able to stop them from loving each other. Face it this Proposition 8 has already lost, its just presents the illusion of winning for a bunch of 70 year old men with their heads up their asses.

In other news I'm finally recovered from my Glandular Fever. Yay.

Also I will be writing a blog tomorrow about my opinion on the Australian Federal Election.

Till next time...

Reluctant Goodbyes

Forgive me for not posting for quite a while. I had exams, then relatives and now almost a month of illness. This is the longest I have ever been sick in my entire life, but that is a depressing and frustrating story for another day.

I will start by saying I do not refer to people I know personally by name. This is to avoid humiliation, frustration, law suits or all of the above.

What I have been doing for the last month or two is an awful lot of saying goodbye. School finished, exams finished, there was prom (which I was ill for) and friends have all been jet setting off to holidays. I have said goodbye to many and I most likely won't see many of these people for years to come or ever again and this week was no different. On Wednesday I, along with several friends, said farewell to someone very special.

This person, whom I have known for no more than nine months, has had a greater and more positive effect on my life than people I have know for 10+ years. In the short time that I have know her she has brought out a side of me that I had never knew was there. She has directly influenced my choice in career and how I intend to spend the rest of my life. Being under her guidance has taught me so much and, more than that, it has made me happy. I enjoyed every one of her lessons and appreciate everything she has done for me.

The meal among friends was a great and a brilliant way to say farewell. Everyone had a brilliant time and it was fantastic to be able to see off a good friend. Hugs, tears, presents and goodbyes were exchanged and, although it was sad, the night ended on a positive note.

However, I, personally, did not and will not say goodbye to this person. I am a firm believer in the idea that it is worth the effort of bridging gaps of geography and lifestyle to keep those who have a positive effect on you in your life. No matter how hard it may seem at times, there is always a way to keep these people with you. So instead of saying goodbye to this person I intend to say something else: Thank you.

Thank you for everything you have done for me, thank you for accepting me into your class when you had no obligation to do so, thank you for teaching me so much and thank you for making my final year of school one of the most enjoyable.

The End.......is The Beginning?

Wow has it really been that long? Anyone would think I've been busy lately. In which case, first of all I'd like to apologize for my lack of posting lately and hopefully from now on I will be able to consistently to subject you all to my words of pure ignorance.

Right then. Moving on.

The End. Well this could apply to a lot of things in my life at the moment, whether it be the end of school, the end of the Lost series or the end of one more Act of my life (I would have said "chapter" but I thought a theatre reference was much cooler). For today we'll stick with one ending: school.

As of 11am BST on 26th of June, 2010 I am, officially, no longer at school. Yes that's right I am free of the classrooms, the early morning registrations, the whiteboards, the assemblies and the lectures from a certain nameless Head of Sixth. All of these mundane daily things will be gone from my life, however, as is always the case, there is always a downside to leaving anything behind. As much as people like myself complain about school, the rules, the time, the effort and the exams that are forever haunting the nightmares of students across the globe, we will miss it. Or at least I will. I'm going to miss lounging around in the Common Room, the brutal yet entertaining card games, the games of rounders, the musicals, the parties, the English lessons, the bricks that were thrown, the music played, the costumes made, the soccer games etc.

I could go on forever without a doubt so I'll concentrate on the two things I am going to miss most. Firstly, the friendship. Yes I know friends don't just disappear into thin air once school is over, but it's something I've been through before. I've been to so many different schools and left so many friends behind but it never get easier. Regardless of how hard we try, this is the point where life will take us in different directions. Some friends with stay close, others will send cards and others will become distant memories. The second is the security. There's something comfortable about having a routine like school life. Most of us have had it for thirteen years and losing that, to me, seems significant. It signifies the point in life where I finally have to accept that I'm an adult. I actually have to make choices, live my life and take responsibility.

Bugger.

Yet while all this responsibility seems daunting at first, the end of my schooling life, as far as I see it, is just the beginning of my life. I haven't even finished exams yet and already there is so much to look forward to in my life. I'm starting a production of Les Miserable soon, I'll be recording an album over summer, there's Reading Festival, going back to Australia and seeing all of my old friends and family and of course university............eventually.

Regardless of the emotion that I feel about leaving school and eventually finishing my time in England, I can't ignore how many positive things are yet to come in my life and really can't wait for them to start.

Also if you haven't read Nick Hornby's High Fidelity then do. I am reading now and it's brilliant.

Till next time....