LEARNING TO FALL, SLAP, PUNCH AND MORE

Kudos to THE RAT PACK for an entertaining and educational workshop on the basic skills of unarmed combat! We had a dozen men and women who learned to fall with grace, throw a punch, take a slap and more!  A great Saturday morning at the Studio!

The prize isn't " out there"...

Kevin Spacey on success.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Cwnic_bZT4&feature=player_embedded#at=39

TASA ACTING CAMPS

TASA ACTING CAMPS 2011

TASA Studio JUMP START ACTING CAMPS offer a chance to get a jump-start on breaking into the film business right here at home!   Students leave our ACTING CAMP with the information and tools necessary to get a JUMP START into the business: web-proofs and a printed headshot/ photographer release, resume, a DVD copy of your performance, acting and audition classes and much more!

ACTING CAMP will be taught by TASA STUDIO director and SAG Actress Mary Thoma and TASA STUDIO staff.  Joining Ms. Thoma will be headshot photographer, Michael Boyd and BAM Casting Director, Tara Duncil.   A Parent ”Q and A"about the business and a review of student work will be held on the final day of camp for the student camps.

Registration is limited to the first 18 students who register with a 25% down payment to hold your spot.   

CAMP 1   STUDENT           June 13-17                          Ages 7- 17 years         10-5 pm

CAMP 2   STUDENT           June 20 -24                         Ages 7- 17 years         10-5 pm

CAMP 3   ADULT               July 25-29                         Ages 18 + years        10- 5 pm

Fee for the one week ACTING CAMP is $ 499. REGISTRATION DEADLINE:  TWO WEEKS prior to camp. For more information or to register, contact TASA Studio Director, Mary Thoma at 318.465.5374 or email Mary@marythoma.com  

True Greatness

"Greatness occurs when your children love you, when your critics respect you and when you have peace of mind." ~ Quincy Jones

Music producer Quincy Delight Jones, Jr. (1933-), called "Q" by his friends, was born poor on this day in Chicago's South Side. Growing up, the music he heard on the radio stimulated his vision and creativity.

"Everything starts with a song or a story," he declared. "That drives everything."

When he was 41, Q survived a brain aneurysm and two brain operations. The experience inspired him to celebrate life daily: "God has given each one of us approximately 25,000 days on this earth. I truly believe He (or She) has something very specific in mind: 8,300 days to sleep, 8,300 to work, 8,300 to give, live, play, pray, and love one another."

Over the past five decades he has creatively fused music with his own style. Injecting soul and jazz, experimenting with synthesizers, innovating the mainstream pop world.

Q produced the historic We Are The World: U.S.A For Africa in 1991 to raise money for famine relief. He advised the multi-million dollar chorus of superstars to "check your egos at the door." They did.

"The only two people Quincy doesn't know in the music business are Beethoven and Bach," observed singer Lionel Richie.

Highly-respected and multi-awarded, Quincy Jones knows what makes greatness, true greatness: love, respect, and peace of mind.

~~True greatness is having love, respect, and peace of mind.

Source: DailyCelebrations@yahoogroups.com

Wholeness and Balance

Health is wholeness and balance, an inner resilience that allows you to meet the demands of living without being overwhelmed."  - Andrew Weil, MD

A New Beginning

I found this blog yesterday and thought it had some great things to say about life-crafting.

A Tragedy

My wife and I graduated from Keuka College, a beautiful college on Keuka Lake in New York.  Graduation weekend is always held on Memorial Day, so my family and my wife’s family decided to rent a house on the lake for the weekend.  Ever since then, we’ve made it an annual family tradition.  Every Memorial Day weekend we rent a house on the lake together as a family.

In 2009 during our annual stay at the lake, through a long series of events that I feel were truly meant to be, our dog Athena ended up getting hit by a car and died.  Looking back it seems as if my whole life’s purpose flashed before my eyes in this one solitary moment.  The events and occurrences of my life up to that point seemed to fit together like an unsolved jigsaw puzzle – everything fit, but the message of the puzzle was still unclear.  But in that moment of tragedy, the different pieces came together in a more enlightening way than they ever had before.

Needless to say it was a pretty sudden and unexpected death that affected my wife and me greatly.  I could not shake the feeling it was somehow meant to be and immediately tried to decipher why that was.  What I learned, summed up in one sentence is, “Life is too short not to follow your heart.”

A New Beginning

And this is what my blog is all about.  I decided that I wanted to spend more time with my wife and kids.  I wanted to work for myself and stop making other people rich from my efforts.  I came up with a plan to do this and I have now implemented it.

This is not an easy thing to do.  Athena died almost two years ago.  This plan was supposed to be implemented within one year and I am just beginning to make significant progress now.  I feel a bit guilty I did not get it done sooner.  Unfortunately, life is like that.  We all have the best intentions, but ultimately life gets the best of us and we find ourselves 15 years later asking, “How did this happen?  Where did the time go?”

In the end, happiness is different for everyone.  It could mean any number of things.  I am a firm believer that happiness is a choice we can make.  Whether it is being happy with our self, our spouse, our job or something else.  To find true happiness you have to follow your heart and intuition.  You have to be who you are and follow a lifestyle and career that fulfills you; no matter what that entails or what people say about it.  And it is never too late to do so.

After Athena’s death, and in my search to help it all make sense, I put together a personal action plan that followed six simple steps.  It helped me take a snapshot of my life and analyze where I am now and where I want to go.  So I want to leave you with this 6 step process to getting what you want out of life.

1. Create a mission statement. – Mine was simply “To translate what gives me joy, fulfillment and makes me genuinely happy into a career that will allow me to work for myself and spend more time with my family.”  This meant starting my own business as a coach to help individuals and small business owners get what they want out of their life and business.  Formulating this sentence allows us to create a short mission statement that summarizes exactly what we want from life, which will help to keep it in the forefront of our minds when we’re making important decisions.
2. Make a list of your primary priorities. – This list will make your decisions easier as you will know what’s most important to you.  Anytime there is a conflict consult this list and make the decision based on your priorities.  Here is an example of my list: Family, Church, Health, Work / Money, Service to Others, Hobbies.
3. Take an inventory. – List every single major entity in your life – the people, organizations, career, hobbies, and anything else you spend time on in your life.  Write a short summary of each.  Explain what each one means to you, what you get from it, and if you are neglecting other areas of your life because of it.
4. Make decisions. – Take this list and make a decision on every aspect of your life.  Decide whether time you spend on certain activities could be spent helping you achieve goals in other areas of your life.  Decide if you will continue some activities, change others, or start a new one.  Time is the most precious commodity we have; do not waste it.
5. Develop a plan. – Develop a game plan of what has to take place to reach your dreams and make things happen.  Setup measurable goals for your life.  Break it all down into time frames of a week, a month, a year and then longer - 5, 10, 20, 30 years out.  These will constantly change and evolve so check them and update them frequently.
6. Schedule it, tell everyone and take action. – The most important step.  By scheduling your goals and your action items it allows you to set definite deadlines.  That gives you a better chance of sticking to it.  If you tell everyone what you are doing you are now creating ownership of your goals.  And of course nothing can stand in your way as long as you’re taking decisive action.  If you find yourself making excuses, stop!

I know it may seem crazy that some dog changed my life, but it was the lessons I learned from Athena’s accident that changed my life.  We all learn differently.  And despite my loss, I’m grateful for the lessons and the opportunities that have risen from it.

If you liked what you read here please feel free to visit Chris Gaddis’ website at chrisjgaddis.com 

A Little Better All the Time

Healthy Actor Meet-Up Well..do we all feel a little healthier? I should say so!  Dr. Jason Maggio really delivered on his presentation at the first Healthy Actor Meet-up.  Dr. Jason had us at hello when he started doling out his obvious knowledge about general health, diet, stress and ways to make it all better. Not another "guy giving a talk so that you'll hopefully patronize his business", Dr. Jason was passionate, engaging and very knowledgeable; and, not to mention, very easy to listen to.  A good turn out of actors posited questions about the average troubles we all suffer from. The difference - the answers weren't average at all. He had the patience to be technical to a point without losing any of us in the audience. Simple things too, like explaining the role of water and the importance of being adequately hydrated. Did you know the number one cause of headaches is slight dehydration and that most people are a little dehydrated? Neither did we.  He explained the dangers of sugars (not merely in weight gain, but in blood chemistry issues that could pose long term problems). And my favorite were his discussions on stress. He offered really easy solutions that affected a number of the body's systems all with the aim to regain balance. And guess what, they are things you can do that cost you nothing. What a gift his seminar was. We look forward to seeing him again. Encore! http://allthewayhealth.com/ All the Way Chiropractic Dr. Jason Maggio 8575 Fern Avenue Suite 101 Shreveport, LA  71105