That's The Way My Love Is

The Smashing Pumpkins have shocked me today. They released the new video for That's The Way (My Love Is) and ...... it rocks! Check it out below!

That's The Way (My Love Is)

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Currently listening : That’s the Way (My Love Is) By Smashing Pumpkins Release date: 17 September, 2007

Tidbits and Tiddlywinks

Jammin At Starbucks
I bought myself a tall mocha Frappaccino with an extra shot of mocha with whipped cream mixed in and whipped cream on top along with a Krispie Sqrrrr this morning on my way to work. I normally see them pimping the CDs right at the front counter, so, I check them out to see what artist they're promoting today. I noticed that almost all of the CDs are compilation CDs of greatest hits of given artists or genres. I know Starbucks has its own record label now but is the Starbucks' consuming audio audience only down with greatest hits of an artist? Will a wack-ass b-side fawk with their coffee high?

Pinche Outsourcing...I'll Kick Your Ass!
I tried calling HP today to find out some support information. I called the 800 number and got some dude in India trying to give me tech support. Just for fun I asked him where he was and he told me he was in India. Well, at least he was honest about it. Sometimes they try to pass it off as if they're in an all-American place like Louisville, KY or Austin, TX. They want an all-American town to pick, choose Joliet,IL Because all Americans down there will beat these guys down for taking their jobs away.

I then get transfered twice becuase I apparently called the wrong part of HP. I get some dude in Atlanta taking my call, and then I get transferred to some dude in Mexico. So, I got to say "Namaste", "Hi!", and "Hola piche wey!" in the span of a 15 minute call.

Why The Cubs (Fans) Always Lose
Last night while rehearsing for our upcoming show "_______!":An Improvised Musical!, the members of Recapitulation got to perform in a field off of Southport and Grace since we didn't have enough room in our rehearsal space to do the kind of choreography needed. As it was a Cubs' night game, parking and traffic were jacked, and a lot of drunk mofos were walking around celebrating their victory last night.

Theatre people are an interesting bunch as we're a bunch of dorks outside of an actual stage setting. We looked like a bunch of hippies running around and striking funny poses to set imaginary environments to play within. We had a couple of guys come up and ask us what we're doing. With a stern face and forceful attitude, our director asks, "Why?", i.e., "What the fawk do you want?!" Most of them were just curious but a couple were just jerks. We finished up and left after performing choreographed chorus numbers with make-shift basslines and beatboxing. I know if I were watching us across the street I would think, "Those dudes are incredibly dorky!" It was fun nonetheless.

Currently listening : Vulgar Display of Power By Pantera Release date: 25 February, 1992

Vick Gets Bit

Michael Vick pleaded guilty to funding the Bad Newz Kennel and the gambling associated with the operation as well as him being a part of the enterprise responsible for killing dogs that underperformed or were not fit to participate in fights.

Michael, c'mon dude. If you're a part of the "Bad Newz Kennel", what did you think was gonna be the outcome of your courtcase? You're not a part of the "Gonnsta Get Away Wit' It Kennel" or the "I Didn't Do Dat Shit Kennel". You should've known something was going to happen to you.

Then you tried to get rid of the evidence? Bad move. You must've been a part of the LAPD evidence team. Even O.J. hid more of his wrongdoing than this guy. He even wrote a book telling people how he did it and still is out of jail! Dead dogs everywhere and skeletons in the backyard? Mike, this is a backyard, Holmes, not a damn pet cemetery. What? You want the dogs to be buried come back to life to fight again?! You trying to stir up Cujo? Just put the fight in the middle of a yellow ford Pinto and have at it!

To top it off, Mike's own father snitched on him to the press. According to Pops, he was told to stop fighting or at least put the property in a friend's name. WTF?! Dad's treating dog fighting like bad credit now.

"Uh, yo man...I got's me a mean ass chihuahua that looking to take on one of DMX' dogs. I'm a little short right now...uh...could you put this $1.5 million ranch under your name? No? Oh, c'mon man... I swear I'm good for it. I take it back next week, for real!"

I'm glad you got caught for the atrocious activity you were engaging in. Hope that the dogs up in the pen get a bite of your ass...

Currently listening : Who Let the Dogs Out By Baha Men Release date: 25 July, 2000

*Boom Chi Boom Chi Boom Chi Boom Chi...*

I checked out the SCTC Conservatory Level 4 shows tonight along with a couple of friends/colleagues. I ran into the director for some shows I'm doing later on in the year, and he asked if we could use Courageous Rue/Nelson V music in the show! He also happened to mention that he would add a little blurb in the program as to where the music is coming from. I played it off really cool and thanked him for the opportunity and the honor of being a part of the show while my insides were jumping up and down with delight!

Currently listening : 1984 By Van Halen Release date: By 19 September, 2000

Note: This was originally posted on MySpace with comments at:
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Certified Funny!

After 3 long years, I have finished my formal improvisational acting training at Second City by graduating from the Conservatory! I received my red shirt last from the directors of last night's shows (don't the guys who wear the redshirts in the original Star Trek series always get killed on away missions? ) and a congratulatory handshake/hug while being fed pizza and soda the entire time (they had beer there but I'd unfortunately started a vow of soberness 30 years ago). It was a good time!

The show for L&D was off the rusty, tetanus-laced fence! We opened the show and brought it. In this run, I had 3.5 scenes in a running order of about 13 scenes. There were 2 blackouts, 1 full length, self accompanied song, and played a wacky-ass, beat-boxing DJ in the finale rap battle (I didn't come up with the idea of the rap battle but came up with idea of using some crazy, high-energy characters along with the formal host, thus, I claim a part of the scene for myself ) From the get-go, I felt that we were going to have a killer show just because of how well the opening blackout went. The words flowed out of me with very little thought to impede them unlike previous performances. As the show went on, we put even more energy into our scenes and even managed to have a few minor callbacks that were completely unplanned till they happened. It was really awesome to watch and be a part of .

It's interesting how sentimentality creeps in when you're at the end of a long journey with other people . For the most part, most people seemed to be happy to be at the end of the road, and begin looking forward to bigger and better things down the line. There were a few who were bummed that all the fun had come to an end. I personally am happy this journey has come to an end for me (*cue* End of The Road). I became a better person and better improviser as a result of all the interactions, people, staff, and material given to me, and it opened a bunch of new opportunities and experiences my way that I'll be taking advantage of. I definitely look forward to having my Monday and Wednesday nights back, and taking a long break from October to December (creative burnout ).

One of the nicest compliments I received from the ensemble was from this one guy who said, "You know what? You're really a powerful member of the group. the best thing you did on stage was support. You support when you're on stage and you do that really well." I told him I was "just doing my job". He seemed genuinely saddened that he and I never really got the chance to work together on equal footing. I truly was touched by his comment since I've felt slighted in my abilities for such a long time. The respect I was longing for came in at the end .

Currently listening : Monkeys for Nothin’ and the Chimps for Free By Reel Big Fish Release date: 10 July, 2007

We’re No Longer In Cincinatti

It looks like HBO, in an unprecedented move, has cancelled an excellent series entitled "John From Cincinatti". My in-laws turned me onto the show as it involved Nelson-type elements such as surfing, aliens, and great acting form almost every single character. I had been slowly caching up with the series as I no longer have HBO, and was enjoying the series thus far . It looks like I'll need to rely on my reruns of Judge Mathis to get me by .

Currently watching : John from Cincinnati

Note: This was originally posted on MySpace with comments at:
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Too Many Cooks...

I'm in situations where I've got groups of talented people where everybody (included myself) is strong-minded, independent, and incredibly vocal. It's a bloody free-for-all trying to make decisions and move forward. I turn into mega-bitch when I perceive that we're wasting time by talking about the same stuff over and over again in 8 different ways. I've resorted to shutting up and allowing them to continue talk (with a pouty face no doubt).

I can't hide my feelings anymore like I used to (and even then, I couldn't really even do it then). I wish I can keep a smile on my face when I'm unhappy with things. I ostracize myself from the groups by staying away from the situations that make me unhappy. However, I am then unhappy with the outcome because it has none of my input in it . It's an interesting paradox I get myself into. I take responsibility for my role in all of the dramas.

With that said, the phrase uttered (or more like barked by) Second City legend Michael Gellman holds true:

"Too many cooks spoil the soup, *explicative*!"

I've now witnessed funny-by-committee, direction-by-committee, production-by-committee. All that's the left is sexual-gratification-by-committee .

Alright. I'm gonna go home and meditate on this.

Currently listening : What’s Going on By Marvin Gaye Release date: 14 January, 2003

Note:This was originally posted on MySpace with comments at:
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Going Postal

Tonight Liquor and Dreams had a killer show at the Second City e.t.c Theatre along with A$$holes on a Train. Everybody brought it tonight and genuinely had a good time being on stage and off.

In the show I get to play and sing a little ditty about our wonderfully pathetic US Postal Service. It's inspired after years of abysmal service, the clerks that work there and have absolutely no sense of customer services, and the overall inefficiency of the entire system where you pay for overnight and the package gets to its destination in two weeks. It's so bad that I've stopped reading my own mail (so don't send me checks in the mail if you're trying to pay me. PayPal is accepted here! ). So, I seized the opportunity in this show to highlight the USPS' better features in song and dance.

The coolest part tonight was the amount of props I was getting about that song. In other instances, I was getting accolades from ensemble members and other actors. It's all appreciated. Believe me. However, a part of me also knows that we support each other regardless of whether or not the scene/bit/song was actually good. It's nice to hear from complete strangers about how a song affects them and totally drives the point home. At Corcoran's, people all night were hitting me up on "that Postal service song" , and telling me on how they loved it. Yes, my ego went on a big high tonight!

If you haven't seen/heard the track, you get one more opportunity next week!

Currently watching : Battlestar Galactica - Season One Release date: 20 September, 2005

Note:This was originally posted on MySpace with comments at:
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First Time For Everything

Today I spent about an hour in Lake Michigan at the Montrose Dog Beach. It's the first time I ever really got into water above my waist in almost 9 years af being here in Chicago . It was really nice. My dawg and wifey played with me in the water. I'll probably do it again!

Currently listening : Roll with It By Steve Winwood Release date: 29 June, 1992

Note: This was originally posted on MySpace with comments at:
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Please Don’t Stop. It’s Lonely At The Top.

Luckily things have been winding a bit down (no more classes for example) and the Conservatory shows run for just a couple more weeks. The understudy work has been rather nonexistent for now (totally not complaining on that ) and Salsation stuff has been pretty quiet (though I may be going on my first out-of-town gig for them soon ). Work has been "work" and actually for once not the thing that's overpowering me right now with expectations.

For the last few weeks, the whole "theatre burn out feeling" has been pretty foremost on my mind. Last night I got a rejuvenated feeling in my mind and body. Recapitulation got together to begin rehearsals for a couple of upcoming shows and to prep ourselves for a potential new longer-form run at Donny's Skybox. It was the best rehearsal in a long while for me! It was a self-directed rehearsal format-wise but we threw down on the longer-form stuff. It to me was back-to-form for the group as I feel we're ultra talented and can pull off the more difficult/intricate musical forms. I like short form every once and a while but it's more rewarding to me to do full blown 45-minute improvised musicals with key elements of regular, scripted musical thrown in.

It's nice to play with a group of individuals who I respect both personally and professionally. In this line of work, it's rare to work and like everyone in the ensemble. I'm glad I've got this one .

Currently listening : Zeitgeist By Smashing Pumpkins Release date: 10 July, 2007

Don’t Try, Just Be

When you look into the reality a mirror gives
What do you see?
Is it all everything you wanted to be?
Or everything that you are?
Spend a lifetime comparing your life to others
And you're subject to their whim, their insecurities,their goals
To make you into something you're not.
Spend time knowing yourself first.
Be confident in that knowledge and belief
And all comparisons to others become irrelevant.
"Good _____ is good _____ is good _______"
No matter how its reflected.

Currently listening : Zeitgeist By Smashing Pumpkins Release date: 10 July, 2007

My Latest Acquisition

I finally am playing on a drumset that kicks my arse It sounds great and makes me sound a lot better. I have to get used to it a bit as I also got an additional floor tom, new throne (nice and cushy for my bony arse), and a set of new hardware for the cymbals (which totally kill what I was playing on before). I had a member of the band donate a double-bass drum pedal to suit. Listen to the next few MWR and CR recordings for yours truly to be playing his drums on them!

Currently listening : TV Land Presents: Favorite TV Theme Songs By Eliot Daniel Release date: 20 August, 2002

Nelson V-Log Number 5

Also, as I forgot to mention in the dang video, please feel free to download my EP!




Take care,
Nelson V

Currently listening : The Best Of SugarHill Gang: Rapper's Delight By The Sugarhill Gang Release date: 16 July, 1996