Shakespeare and Anonymous

Another film about Shakespeare is here and this one (gasp) puts forth the authorship question.  The film Anonymous, which carries the tag line "was Shakespeare a Fraud?", was summed up by the San Diego Reader's David Elliott thusly, "Here is a film for people who hated Shakespeare in school, who think that iambic pentameter was taught in geometry, and guess that the first Hamlet was, uh... Simon Cowell? The movie, to its shame, enshrines ignorance about Shakespeare."

 I'm going to see it.  I love Shakespeare and watching scenes of his, in the period setting, is what gets me going -- regardless of who wrote them.  Then there is the virtual cavalcade of Shakespearean actors to be seen: OK only Vanessa Redgrave and Derek Jacobi but they're worth the price of admission alone.

So there are the period settings, the costumes, two great actors and three or four really good ones.  Done.  Now, for the arguments...

Many Oxfordians believe that Shakespeare could not have written the plays, sonnets and poems attributed to him because he only had a grade school education, was a simple tradesman and was an actor.  Oddly, these are about the only facts extant about perhaps the greatest writer in the English language -- and the same Stratfordian arguments for his authorship as well.  I will take them in order...

Grade School
In Elizabethan England, grade school was 10-hours, six days a week of Latin and Greek and has been likened to a modern Masters degree.

Tradesman
Shakespeare's father John was a Glover and an alderman who tried most of his life to become a gentleman.  William ran off to be an actor and returned to Stratford a sharer in the best theatre troupe in London, purchased the largest house in town and got his family a coat of arms.

Actor
Actors in Shakespeare's time had to have an immense amount of words in their heads.  They performed a different play every night and many parts in each play.  Imagine TV but live, with a limited number of actors.  Oh, and they all danced and sang too.  So an actor would have an immense vocabulary, understand plots and characters, and know how to put them together.

But only a genius could create the characters who said these lines and Shakespeare, whether he was a Glover from Stratford, the Earl of Oxford or the Queen herself (oh, yes that's a theory too).  I offer  three nice sources on the authorship question:


How Shakespeare Changed Everything by Stephen Marche.
This brief and witty book shares all the things Shakespeare brought into the world and some of the funny outcomes of actions by Shakespeare fans.  States that no one has ever been granted permission to write a masters' thesis on the Oxfordian argument.

My Name is Will by Jess Winfield
You might recognize the name of one of the founders of the Reduced Shakespeare Company and 
authors of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare Abridged.  His story is simply the best look into the life and times of William Shakespeare even thought the journey is taken by a dude on mushrooms at a Renaissance fair in northern California.

The Beard of Avon by Amy Freed
Tough going as a playwright to write a play that has Shakespeare, the Earl of Oxford, the Queen and possibly a few others as authors of the Bards work.  Tough because most theatres are Stratfordian and too few have produced it.  But read this play, even if you can't see it.  It brings Shakespeare to life as well as his theatrical partners and his witty wife.

If you want to have the argument, see the film, read the above and get ready.  It will be hard to change any one's mind.  After all the huffing and puffing, though, take your opponent to see a play!

Kevin Six is an actor, playwright and a self-described actorian who believes Shakespeare wrote his plays but had help from the actors in his troupe. He can be found at www.KevinSix.com.

GoPro Camera on Flying Trapeze

This is the last of my trapeze videos from September, 2011.  In this one, I play with head-band camera shots.  I took video while flying and catching and combined them so you can see what it looks like flying to and being caught by me.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you: Catch and Return a Flying Trapeze Film by Kevin Six

Fiber Arts Festival at the Antique Gas & Steam Engine Museum

Ok, so, first: such a totaly cool property.  Where else can you see steam tractors, Model A Trucks, a blacksmith shop run by belts attached to a steeam engine and old looms with people making rugs and cloth?  The answer is nowhere else than the Antique Gas & Steam Engine Museum.

You need to go if you have any testosterone on your system.

I was there doing research for a production of A Middsummer Night's Dream.  No, really.  You see, my contention is that Nick Bottom, the weaver, wove the play from his own fantasy after selling some silk cloth to Hyppolita.  Think about it...

So here are a few photos and comments...
There were Alpacas giving wool. These cute little crestures hafe very soft wool.  They also have soft teeth and feet (for climbing mountains) so they're softer on the land on which they tread and feed.

Spinners spinning.  This noce woman was working on a wheel made by her husband in the 70s.  She told me all I wanted to know about spinning, weaving and community organizing around teaching kids to spin and weave.  Lots of great ideas about The Dream...

And weavers weaving.  It was cool!  Of course you know that Nick Bottom was a weaver and it is my assertion that Hyppolita came to him for cloth for a wedding dress and started the whole fantasy upon which the dream is based. You see, he tells his friend PEter Quince to write him a ballad based on this strange dream he had in which Hyppolita was also Queen of the Fairies and he got tro hang with her (and all his friends were Fairies).  More on that later.
So my idea is to use human-powered items (like spinning wheels) to provide light and sound for the only Midsummer Night's Dream that the audience has to sun to keep up with.

So I was there to get some process going with regards to The Dream -- weavers weaving, tinkers tinking and joiners joining.  There are w few Weavers' Guilds here in San Diego county and I expect to get a hold of them and find out how they help, educate and share with us. More soon -- espeially on all the other cool stuff at the museum!  More soon...

The Wake Surfing Film of the Century

I don't need to say more.

But I will.

This film was an honor and a triumph to make. it took blood, swet, tears and a whole lotta love to produce.  Many thanks to my beloved wife, Jennie, the crew and the people of Scandia Minnesota who had a festival just for me, which they call Taco Days -- and which I call Kevin Six Presents Taco Days but that's a film to be released at a later date.
Tonight, we bring you the wake surfing film of the century.  A little film I like to call:

The Wake Surfing Film of the Century


Cast:
Kevin Six..........................Kevin Six
Jennie Olson Six................Jennie Olson Six
Sherri Mann......................Sherri Mann
Shawn Klancke..................Shawn Klancke
Katrina Nord......................Katrina Nord
Kiki Mann..........................A midget who looks just like her (no child labor laws broken)
Rusty and Tinkerbell..........Themselves

Crew
Director, producer, writer and all around cool guy.........Kevin Six
Camera.......................Kevin Six, Jennie Olson Six, Katrina Nord
Boat Drivers....................................Shawn Klancke, Sherri Mann
Water Safety..............................Shawn Klnacke and Sherri Mann
Stunt coordinator...........................................................Kevin Six
Executive Producer...................................................Chuck Mann

Special Thanks to: The lovely people of Scandia Minnesota, the Embrace Adrenaline Trapeze Club, the Marine on St. Croix water patrol who totally pulled us over, MasterCraft Boats, GoPro cameras, Shane Foss who surfs very well but not on video and Kali Mann who... Kali, where were you?

Why I Love Kym Pappas

There are so many reasons to love Kym Pappas.  I started well before I met her -- almost a year before, actually.  Probably the fact that it wasn't creepy for anyone should be credited to her also but she's just so full of love!  So here is my top ten...

1. She is beautiful

I know this is not supposed to be the number one reason that people love one another but let's face it is.  Besides, the beauty of which I speak is more than skin-deep.  Her beauty starts in her soul and radiates out to the Universe.  Who wouldn't love that?

2. She is just so ful of love

You know with some people.  They are just loving.  Kym's a hugger but, more than that, she means it.  Some people give you the a-frame-ladder hug but Kym hugs you with all the beauty mentioned above.

3. She makes people better

This is not just idleness.  I have seen and been the beneficiary of this.  While working with her on two separate productions I saw her selflessness, caring and love-ability make situations better.  She also made me a better actor, professional and person and, to those who know me, this was a miracle.

4. She loves children

She teaches kds on a high school drill team.  This would be enough because high school is horrible to most people and you just know these children are being made better through Kym's liberal application of love and beauty.  I know this is true because I've met a nuber of her former students and they are genuine, generous, lovely poeople.  I also was able to witness a workshop with some kids she taught acting to and they were, to a one, uniquely talented and capable of all the things I've mentioned about Kym above.  See?  She gives it away!

5. She is an actress of unmistakable talent

I have worked with Kym on projects and seen her on stage.  You know when actors rely on those little tricks?  You know, Renee Zelwiger's forehead? Tom Cruise's smile..?  Well Kym has the love and beauty and the whole making people better to rely on.  And it works!  In her current play, Pride and Predudice, she loves Darcy, so I love Darcy.  She found in him more to love than I did.  As an actor, I kept thinking how I'd have done it so that her love was more believable and more understandable.  But none of it mattered.  When the time came for her to love him -- there it was.  True and real.

6. She tells the truth

As an actor, lying only works if you do it well.  Truthfully.  Does that make sense?  Doesn't matter.  What maters here is that we all have a truth meter and a bilshit meter and we know (sometimes not until years later) when they are ringing.  I will just say that Kym rings the truth bell and the bulshit bell is rusted clean through.  You will just have to trust me on that or, better yet, trust Kym -- she's worthy.

7. She rarely wears shoes

This is the coolest thing in the world to me for many reasons.  But the reason I wish to put forward here is that Kym puts her peersonal comfort before most things.  This is important especially when you understand that she's so loving and such a good character-builder.  You see, the main thing is to put on your oxygen mask before assisting the child in the seast next to you.  Or as Jesus said -- remove the log from your eye before you help get the splinter out of your friend's.  Yes, people!  Take care of yourself first and then it's easy to take care of others.  And it's genuine.  And she usually always has polish on...

8. She looks like a younger, prettier Meryl Streep

I never liked Meryl Streep until I saw her do comedy.  Then she grew on me.  Kym just happens to have the same bone structure as one of the best actresses of our generstion.  She should use this to her advantage and become the next greatest acter of our generation.

9. She works many jobs

If you're going to act, and direct and produce theatre, you need a bunch of jobs.  Kym works enough for three people BEFORE she puts those other hats on and then works enough for four more.  You would do well to learn from her example of not complaining about this.

10. She accepts me

I don't know how or why.  I have this mechanism where I keep people just close enough to see what I'll do next but far enough away so as not to get any of it on them.  Kym has it all over her.  She's seen the worst; I'd like to believe she's seen the best but I keep strivng to be better than I was last time I saw her.  But, really, all of it doesn't matter because in this vortex of acceptance she runs about in, she allows me to be me and to be the person she can love and trust.  This is the person I like best and hope to remember to be more often -- if only I had a pocket Kym Pappas to remind me to keep up with my gentleman practice...

Two Swings

I was honored to be the guest of Embrace Adrenaline Trapeze Club in Scandia, MN.  While there, I got to try out my new wearable GoPro camera.  Various people wore the head-band-cam and we came up with some great shots.  In the two shots captured in the video below, I learned a lot about head placement because, while flying with two experienced and graceful flyers frrom Embrace Adrenaline, the head-band-cam was first worn by the flyer on my left and then by me.  That explains the two views but I have a theory that explains it.  WAtch this video and read on for my take on what you saw...

OK.  So the tall and graceful Katrina wore the camera for the first swing and, as you can see, she got a pretty good shot of our legs and feet.  Swinging with another flyer is a good way to learn more about timing and placement by matching the swing.  Usually people come away from this exercise with a better understanding of where to put their hips, legs and feet, and when to do it.  Katrina certainly did!
Poor Sherri Mann was the second flyer and, while I can attest to her skill and strength, you never get to see her legs and feet.  The reason?  First let's look at the similarities:
Both swings were double swings with me on the right and and experienced flyer on the left (Katrina on the first one and Sherri on the second).  The other fact is that Katrina wore the camera on the first swing and I wore it on the second.
The reason you can't see Sherri's feet on the second swing has nothing to do with where she put them but, rather, where I put my head (and the camera attached to it) durring the swing.  By looking up while bringing my legs forward, I was able to bring my hips up higher and achieve a better force out.  You just can't see it from that angle because my head is leading my hips, legs and feet.
So, a bad video exercise but a great way to understand how head placement determines where our feet end up in a swing...

Surfing Don'ts

Just a quick video reminder to all your surf instructors out there on what NOT to do when teaching a kid to surf.  We did this little video on the GoPro at La Jolla Shores beach.  Watch and learn!