Lana Del Rey, one of the most talented artists of our time, has overcomes ups and downs, by taking time to work on herself, focus on the good, and take massive action. Lana appears October 10th at the Hollywood Bowl for a special performance of her new material.
One of the biggest reasons I have seen actors, models, bands or singers FAIL to succeed in Hollywood, is because they are flaky. Conversely, a KEY to success, is to DO WHAT YOU SAY YOU ARE GOING TO DO, and DO IT QUICKLY.
We ignore, avoid, and put off things that we know we should do, largely because of one thing–fear. Fear of failure, fear of not being good enough, fear of rejection, fear of not knowing, fear of competition, fear of getting our feelings hurt, fear of hurting in general, fear of being uncomfortable, fear of getting stressed, and countless other reasons that make us procrastinate.
All reasons for procrastination are based on laziness, apathy, or fear, and all such reasons; such EXCUSES, are self-sabotaging. When we put off what we know we should do, we trade long term happiness and success for the short term gratification of trying to feel comfortable.
Having seen over 10,000 aspiring actors, models, bands and singers in my offices over the years, I have learned that the majority of artists’ failures is due to this dreaded problem; procrastination, caused generally by FEAR.
There are two known cures to defeating fear;
1, Knowledge, and
2, Action.
The more you know about an area, the less fearful you will be in that area. A trained singer who can hit every note and has trained in front of crowds is not as afraid to perform as the person who has not trained vocally, and has not trained in front of an audience. The trained actor who has memorized their lines and preformed on stage will not be as nervous or fearful as the actor who has never had real training, and barely memorized their lines.
Training is competency, and competency beats fear which beats procrastination. The trained artist, knowledgeable in their craft, has no reason to be afraid, and therefore has no reason to put off doing what they know they should do to reach their next goal for their career.
The second way to defeat fear, is simply to take ACTION. Just do it anyway. There is a certain mountain I hike up at least once or twice a month, that is several thousand feet tall. At one point, when I first started hiking up it, there was a certain spot up around 500 feet that I found just terrifying, that I would panic and freeze when I got to, and would not go past. After working on some things with myself, I went back one day, and went right past that point, clear to the top. It was invigorating and thrilling. Since then, I hike it regularly, and at times jog down it. It still has my respect and takes caution, but now I have trust in myself, because I have done it over 100 times.
Break through your fear. Just take action. Don’t endanger your life, but face it–most of your fears are not over things that could kill you. An audition will not kill you. Calling an agent or manager ON TIME and FOLOWING UP with them FIRST will not kill you. Just DO IT.
Get out of your bubble and break out of your fear. I dare you to FIND ONE THING EVERY WEEK THAT YOU HAVE BEEN PUTTING OFF DOING, OR ARE AFRAID TO DO, AND DO IT ANWAY.
Let ACTION be your guide. Get a friend and make a game of it. The more fears you conquer, the more successful you will become. And the more trained and educated you are, the more fearless you will be.
Get trained, get educated, become an expert in your field, break through your fear, take action NOW, and become KNOWN as the person whose word is your bond. Be known as someone who–when you say it, people will KNOW that it will get done and happen, and that it will happen immediately.
Trust me, when you get THAT reputation in town, as a TRAINED talent who DOES what they say, then Hollywood WILL be calling YOU–first.
Textual content, (c) 2019, Bruce Edwin. Music and video (c)2019, Universal Music, Universal Music UK, Polydor, Lana Del Ray, all rights reserved, used with kind courtesy of Universal.
One of the most brilliant artists on the planet today, the stunning GRIMES is back again with a bit of ultra VIOLENCE. Don’t make mother nature and the women mad guys, unless you want some more hurricanes tearing down your doors.
satan on the Outside Looking In
POPPY is back with more MK ultra style brainwashing, death-worshipping, and Barbie meets satan, discussing things not fit to print here. She has truly run off into dangerous territory and now there seems to be no turning back for the lost blonde-lamb gradually being led to the slaughter before her cult-programmed fans. We won’t show you that downward spiral here; but instead, some TRUTH.
$atan has found his-her way into the grocery business this month. We will never be a good android, and you will NOT see us swiping our butts, foreheads, wrists, or hands at Whole Foods / Amazon for a 666 purchases in this or any other lifetime.
We interviewed Jack Grisham (TSOL) and Lydia Lunch back in the day …old school baby. Re-prints maybe?
LA-based singer and songwriter Annika Rose has shared the music video for her debut single “In The End” (TaP Records), directed by Danica Kleinknecht. Annika states, “Filming this video was a really special experience as it’s something that I’ve wanted to do since I was a kid, It was amazing to have it finally come to fruition and help tell the story of my first single.”
Released last month, Annika’s debut single has been featured on Apple Music’s “A List Pop,” “Breaking Pop” and “Pop Chill” playlists as well as Spotify’s “Fresh Pop” and “On Point” playlists.
Subnormal states, “Annika reminds us a bit of early Alanis Morissette. With a beautiful look, a beautiful voice, and an outstanding vocal range, and at just 17 years old, she is definitely one to watch out for. ”
Another young new LA artist; Delacey has released a moody new single. With a mature, rich voice, Delacey has a strong career ahead of her.
While Delacey has continued to release new music this summer including “The Subway Song” and “Emily,” her debut single, “My Man” has continued to climb the charts and is currently #33 at Top 40 Radio in the US.
Originally from Orange County, Delacey started writing songs and playing piano at age seven while idolizing artists including Stevie Nicks and Billie Holiday. She has co-written songs including Halsey’s “Without Me,” which topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart, as well as songs for Demi Lovato, Zara Larsson, and The Chainsmokers, among more.
After debuting her MAGDALENE show in May – twigs’ first live shows in nearly three years – FKA twigs announces nine additional North American dates on her headlining MAGDALENE tour. The North American leg of the tour begins November 3rd in Vancouver, making stops in major cities across the U.S. and Canada including LA, Denver, Chicago, Boston, and Brooklyn (see a full list of tour dates below).
MAGDALENE weaves a tapestry of sound, performance, costume, pole dancing, Wushu, set design and lighting. Inspired by the revolutionary 19th century concept of ‘Gesamtkunstwerk,’ or ‘total work of art,’ it is a complete experience. FKA twigs summons all that she has – technical mastery, creative brilliance and physical endurance – to transport her audience into a stunning artistic realm.
FKA twigs launched her MAGDALENE world tour with two sold-out nights each at LA’s Palace Theatre and NYC’s Park Avenue Armory, continuing on to play headlining shows in Berlin, London, and Sydney, and performing at Primavera Sound, We Love Green Festival, and Afropunk.
Subnormal magazine states “FKA twigs legendary video for her new song “Cellophane” below, subverts the ‘male-gaze’ and the degrading / predictable role of the female recording artist as ‘stripper-sex object-whore,’ to that of ‘elevated angel-woman-mother of all creation-and goddess incarnate.’ A true filmic masterpiece of visual work, and a stunning near a cappella delivery by Tahliah (FKA twigs) here, whose ethereal voice harkens to Julie Cruise’s work with David Lynch. Reportedly citing “Germfree Adolescents” by X-Ray Spex as her favourite album of all time, and reportedly mentioning Siouxsie Sioux as an inspiration, FKA twigs is truly outstanding.”
In the news: Some pop star got married. Like we care. Politicians are being idiots. What’s new?
Fake Climate Change
If you are reading this and don’t believe in global warming or climate change, you need to stop reading this NOW and go back to kindergarten.
Political Piggies
The Center for Biological Diversity and allies sued the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service this week for failing to protect endangered species from coal mining in Appalachia in violation of the Endangered Species Act.
Pollution, razing forests and blasting is pushing aquatic animals to the brink of extinction due to heavy political interference from the Trump administration, the organization states.
“Trump appointees have enabled a rubber-stamp system allowing mountains to be blown up and streams to be polluted without protection for endangered species or the human communities of Appalachia,” said Tierra Curry, a senior scientist at the Center. “It’s illegal and immoral and it needs to stop.”
Scientific studies have linked coal mining to declines in birds, fish, salamanders, crayfish, insects and freshwater mussels. More than 1 million acres of hardwood forest and more than 2,000 miles of streams have already been destroyed by surface coal mining in Appalachia.
Mining also threatens nearby communities with air and water pollution and risk of flooding. More than 20 peer-reviewed scientific studies have now linked mining pollution in Appalachia to health problems, including increased risk of disease and birth defects.
Hollywood Hot Spot; 2019
September
13, Full Moon, 9:32pm
14, 12-7pm 17th Annual TARFEST at the tar pits
There’s a few people we can think of we’d like to throw in here, but of course, we will not as we don’t litter. We do love the SMELL of the tar here, reminds us of that broken glass, grit, dirt and hot tar burning under I-90 and LSD (Lake Shore Drive) in those hot summer days in Chicago on the way cruising to see Ministry and more.
“Always FREE the 17th Annual TARFEST Celebrates the Art & Music of LA w/ KCRW DJs, Natural History Museum, Second Home & Local Artists. On September 14, LA hipsters are invited to dance the day away with a lineup of KCRW DJs, while artists including Johnny KMNDZ Rodriguez and Mr. B Baby paint live murals around the park. In addition to the expanded programming for installation art, the Serpentine Pavilion at Second Home can be experienced for free by everyone who attends the festival. TARFEST’s longtime partner, the Natural History Museum of LA County, will also be open for FREE all day, allowing attendees to flow freely from art and music to immersion in geological history.”
28, Super New Moon, 11:26am
October
ANNA UDDENBERG: PRIVÉ
Through December 1 at Marciano Art Foundation: Privé, the first solo show in Los Angeles and first institutional show in the United States by the Berlin-based Swedish artist Anna Uddenberg, is currently on view in MAF’s Lounge Gallery. Through the lens of the feedback loop that is social media, Uddenberg analyzes systems of representation, the performativity of femme expressions and its cross-connection to consumer culture and gender studies. Her interest in femme as figuration is geared towards exploring power dynamics in the service domain, and disputes the idea of femininity by revealing what happens when these roles are amplified and over-performed to a degree of uncanny absurdity.
1, Banks, Palladium
6, 1334 with GD Quartet, echoplex
13, Full Moon, 2:07pm
14, Columbus–did NOT discover America–Day
19, The Broad will debut a new survey of internationally renowned artist Shirin Neshat’s approximately 30-year career. Shirin Neshat: I Will Greet the Sun Again presents over 230 photographs and eight immersive video installations, offering a rare glimpse into the evolution of Neshat’s artistic journey as she explores topics of exile, displacement, and identity with beauty, dynamic formal invention, and poetic grace. The exhibition features the global debut of Land of Dreams, an ambitious new project encompassing a body of photographs and two videos, and includes her early photograph series, Women of Allah (1993-97), iconic video works such as Rapture (1999), Turbulent (1998), and Passage (2001), and monumental photography installations including The Book of Kings (2012) and The Home of My Eyes (2015).
23, Downtown LA Film Festival
24, Subhumans, Crisis Point West, Glass House
26, Ra Ra Riot, Glass House
27, Marc Almond, The Palace
Theatre of Hate, Jay Aston (acoustic) Echoplex
31, Halloween, MIR (Mercury in Retrograde)
All videos are owned and copyrighted by their respective artists and labels, used with kind courtesy of the artists, labels, or publicists. This pages textual content ONLY is anti-copyright 2019, if re-printing, must provide link back to this site or you will be taken blindfolded to Area 51 to never return.
Art and literature editor of Hollywood Sentinel, Moira Cue is reviewing, in no particular order, every Pulitzer Prize Winning Novel ever written. An award winning artist, Moira was an undergraduate and graduate student at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
PAVN forces. US Army, US Army, Command and General Staff College, Combined Arms Research Library, Center for Military History: Vietnam Studies, (DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY, WASHINGTON, D. C., 1989) Public Domain: courtesy of Wikicommons.
The Sympathizer
By Viet Thanh Nguyen
It took me two days to read “The Sympathizer,” the debut novel of Viet Thanh Nguyen, recipient of the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. If there was a film noir set in Vietnam and Los Angeles during the liberation of Saigon and the aftermath of the Vietnam War, it would be based on this book. Like in film noir, this story is chock full of seedy characters, double-crossing lovers, homicides, and moral ambiguity. The protagonist is a Communist sympathizer who serves the Revolution as a mole to a Vietnamese general. He learns, from a CIA agent named Claude, how to torture suspected Communist agents.
The book is written as a long flashback confessional (a technique which lends itself to cinematic expression). We know that the nameless author has been caught and exposed. All that remains to be seen is how things went wrong, and if he will escape his captors. He is not a good guy, but, like a tough talking, quick-tempered Humphry Bogart character, he emanates cool. You root for him, but at the same time, you keep thinking “he’s gone too far this time,” a little like Walter White in “Breaking Bad.”
The narrator was the love child of a teenaged maid and a French priest. Vietnamese society never let him forget he was second class. His two best friends from childhood were the only people who mattered to him because they stood up for him when a childhood bully taunted him about his mother and father. Later on Bon, an American émigré’ who volunteers to assassinate suspected Viet Cong, and Man, who mentors the author in revolutionary ideology, take opposite sides (although Bon doesn’t know it, because Man, like the author, is undercover).
The plot becomes increasingly surreal as the author struggles with being two different people—an Occidental and an Oriental, expressing far-right ideology, while in actuality, a closet Communist.
While I won’t indulge in any spoilers, I will say that the book also reminds me of two my other favorite Pulitzer Prize winners, “A Good Scent From a Strange Mountain,” which also covers the post-war Vietnamese diaspora, and “The Orphanmaster’s Son,” set in North Korea, which illustrates the traumatic effect of state-sponsored, systemic human rights violations. Very dark, rapid paced, super smart, and sometimes, unexpectedly funny, this is a book you won’t want to put down once you pick it up.
