Filed by Bil at 6:38 pm under Fightin' Words, Love, The Arts
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I’ll say this for having a day job: it provides a lot of food for an actor. And I don’t just mean people food. I mean artistic food. As both an actor and a human being, I would like to be able to step into any job and kick ass at it. I know that’s not really possible with just any job as a human being – I would never trust myself with open heart surgery – but as an actor I should be able to pull it off. And with a day job, I actually get to execute this challenge.
(Keep reading…)

Filed by Bil at 8:12 am under Shameless Plugs, The Arts
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That’s right, world, Dream Theatre’s “Theatre of Women 5″ is this Saturday, and I will once again be writing. Lance will once again be directing. Excitement abounds.

This particular annual festival is unique in that it contains only female actors. The whole point is to offer roles to strong actresses who don’t get to perform the type of role they really, really want, because of things like unfortunate typecasting or a simple lack of juicy available roles for women in this town. And let’s face it, really good, really interesting roles for women are comparatively rare. It’s the sad state of the world.

So this festival attempts to correct that, getting some intense and quirky playwrights to come up with something specifically for these actresses. This year, we even asked them what kind of role they’d really like, and the playwrights will cater to that.

I can’t wait to get started. All the actresses that have been assigned to me have all asked for roles using the adjectives “crazy,” “sexy,” and “ugly.”

This is gonna be gnarly.

Even awesomer than usual: the director assigned to my play will be Right Brain Project Artistic Director Nathan Robbel, and the playwright to which Lance will be assigned is Dream Theatre member/perennial favorite John Enright. This is like pairing the finest wine with gourmet meals Coca-Cola with In-N-Out burgers.

Tickets please.

Filed by Bil at 9:29 pm under Shameless Plugs
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I’d been putting it off for some time now because I thought it would be a big pain in the ass, but (as you may or may not have noticed) tipyourwaiter.org now has those handy-dandy little buttons to share on all your favorite time-wasters.

Apparently, this is just about the easiest thing you can do for your blog. Thanks, ShareThis!

This is also comes with analytics, so we can see exactly how ineffective we truly are. Analytics are something that I have a very, very keen interest in. It’s a scientific curiosity, and has a lot to do with how to make your business succeed using the internet. That’s the coolest part about my current day job - I get to learn about these things all the time. SEO, social media marketing, etc. I’m hoping this knowledge will help me out later on when I do NOT have a day job, because when that happens, I’m gonna need to work all the advantages I have. (Hint: business savvy and personal finance management are NOT some of my advantages.) Of course, if I check those analytics later and find that this post has more shares than any before or after it, I’m going to throw a fit.

In the meantime, though, here’s a music video.

Filed by Bil at 5:49 pm under The Arts
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Sometimes I want to be a professional photographer. I think it would suit my rock & roll lifestyle…at least, it would suit the rock & roll lifestyle I would create around being a professional photographer. I wouldn’t mind the paperwork or the fact that I’d probably be doing mainly weddings and family portraits to make ends meet. The occasional rock show would be SO worth it.

Also, I think I know enough now about internet marketing (as well as actual social interaction) that I think I could move somewhere and take over the scene. But I wouldn’t want to try it in Chicago, because I’m already established as this guy with one little camera who’ll gladly photograph anything for anyone for free.

The photo above is from a show I had the honor and pleasure to shoot - the CD release party for Diana & the Dishes. This was back in August. I’m not sure how their CD sales are doing, but their CD is amazing, so if you haven’t bought it yet, please buy it now. Right now. The album is called “Take A Picture” and you can purchase it on iTunes or CDbaby or Amazon, or if you’re old school like me, you can get an actual physical CD from her website.