Lauren Bacall: What Do You Love About Her Most?!

So - just wanted to put together a little piece of my favorite Lauren Bacall moments and performances, because, well, why not?! She is definitely one of my favorite actresses and, as someone who has dabbled in the performing arts and hopes to do so in the future, I kinda feel a need to provide a brief discussion of her work - not only for myself, but for my readers as well.

Charisma isn’t really a word that comes to mind when I think of Bacall, though she definitely had "it". Charisma is a word we use to describe those who hold a much more bubbly, excitable energy, and what Bacall had was a smooth, unforced presence. A presence that said she could achieve every character objective, from the most minuscule to the most elaborate, with just a blink of an eye. She never tried too hard in a performance, and this beautiful, organic nature certainly has a way of rubbing off on the viewer. When we watch Lauren work, we almost feel as cool as she is, and we just want more of it. She definitely had a generosity of presence in her performance, however subtle in its execution.

So, in this post, I intend to highlight a few aspects of her persona that made her a great performer, rather than focus distinctly on her filmography. These are just a few of my favorite things about Lauren that made her such an iconic on-screen presence...

HER VOICE

This is a clip from "The Fan" of Lauren singing "Hearts, not Diamonds". This picture is about an obsessive fan Douglas Breen, played by  Michael Biehn, who stalks Sally Ross, played by Bacall, and the extreme lengths he goes to for his favorite idol. Okay, this film did horribly at the box office and was very negatively received by critics. Seriously - everyone hated it, and I'm not a particularly huge fan either, this song even received a razzie (that's how bad it was...), but it definitely captures her innate vocal ability. In a weird way, I think she sells it as best she can with the poor material she was given. Ashamedly, I think it's a little catchy and would work so well on a broadway stage in the right context... One where she would "leave those sparkling devils if she could" - referring to the diamonds. (not hearts) (LOL - google the lyrics.)

Here's another clip, which, I think, is definitely her most vocally iconic.

Anyone who knows anything about movies has seen "To Have and Have Not." Based on the novel by Ernest Hemingway, the film is about a jaded Harry Morgan, played by  Humphrey Bogart, and his convoluted escapades in a WWII-era Martinique. Lauren plays Marie "Slim" Browning, a free-spirited, however "free-spirited" one can be in that particular era, young woman who falls in love with Morgan while aiding in his underground schemes. In this particular scene, Slim is singing "How Little We Know" and I love it. Bacall kills the scene with her mysterious energy, sultry voice, andddd did I mention her sultry voice? No one had a voice like her and it totally adds to her one-of-kind, on-screen personality.

SHE IS THE QUINTESSENTIAL FEMME FATALE

One of my favorite Lauren Bacall films, "Dark Passage" revolves around convict Vincent Parry, played by Bogart, who finds the aid of Irene Jansen, played by Bacall, right when he needs it most. In the feature, Bacall so effortlessly whips out that cool energy emblematic of any femme fatale character, and really maintains that sense of undemanding composure throughout. In one of my favorite scenes, she gets past the cops while hiding Parry in her car. Click to watch it here. I really think the scene truly embodies everything a femme fatale should be!! Actors, take notes!

Here's a clip from "Young Man With a Horn" - Lauren plays Amy North, an intriguing woman with even more personal issues to boot. Her mother committed suicide and Amy continues a doomed affair with an alcoholic, a syndrome she may have even caused. Despite the ugliness of this particular character, Bacall really draws the viewer in and creates a persona out of Amy that is eerily watchable, a femme fatale that cultivates more tragedy around her in spite of herself. She really captures that underlying toxicity of every fatal woman in a noir picture, all the while maintaining a truly magnetic presence.

Okay, so the reason I chose to share this particular scene out of all of the other ones in "Young Man With a Horn" is because, within its first moment, with that clashing of the piano keys, one can understand so much about Amy North's character. It's as though you can see the devil inside of her. And do you think she's really "sorry about the date"..? Nope. Lauren has the ability to say so much within seconds, with the smallest of movements and motions and I think it's pretty genius.

HER STYLE

Okay, so I don't know if this particular clip of "Designing Woman" truly symbolizes Lauren Bacall's own, personal style, but she definitely brings some of her swagger to it. With a lesser actress, the outfit changes may have come across as gaudy and over the top, but Bacall tones it down with her own kinda chill, which is a definite aspect of her real style. As seen in the following photos...

This is my favorite Lauren Bacall dress of all time. She sports it in "To Have and Have Not" so effortlessly. The ensemble is the epitome of such unique, graceful elegance and you know we all secretly wanna rock it one day. I love it.

Beauty!! I think I even own a version of this outfit in my own wardrobe, but these versatile pieces are so simple, yet can be used to create so many other ensembles. Yes, nothing she wore "said look at me" - it just made you look because she was so cool in whatever she wore. 

I love this particular ensemble. Not only is she so beautiful, but only she could make such a statement wearing a simple, chic, understated white piece. It's perfect!!!

Just showing off her mad swagger... Her best accessories in the photo? Her legs and jacket. The definition of stuff we all get and how she makes it cooler.

Didn't I say that icons love their accessories? Her necklace certainly packs a punch, so she knows to tone it down with a simple, understated yet complementary top.

Even she knew that if you're gonna wear lots of jewelry, under all circumstances, please wear very understated clothes. Here, she's playing it up with her accessories, yet balances it out with an-all-black-ensemble consisting of the simplest detailing.

Okay, so there you have it!! These are just a few of my own favorite things about Lauren Bacall that made her iconic. Please, share some of your own ideas of her and what made her great with me! We can all learn from her!

And, as always, thanks for reading x

Playing Dress Up: What Is Your Character Wearing?

Me and my big sis playing dress up...

I am certainly not a qualified authority when it comes to teaching the craft of acting or the performing arts, but, for some reason, many of my readers have great trust in my voice. And I couldn’t be more grateful. That said, I’ve learned that acting is probably one of the hardest subjects to teach - how can I teach it to the world when the talent of acting, of embodying someone else’s soul, the character’s movements, the character’s being - is an ability that, many would argue, can’t be taught?

Well, to a certain degree, I believe that we all act, or have acted at one point or another in our lives. It’s almost like drawing. We can all “draw” but can everyone create a pictorial masterpiece with pencil and paper or paint and canvas? I don’t think so. So, as I sit here in this Italian restaurant that I frequent very often to write, I’m quite puzzled about where to start with this little acting demo. Really. How can I teach this acting lesson?? 

So I think I’ll start with sharing one of my very first acting lessons with all of you, and hopefully you learn a bit, too!

Okay, so - my first acting lesson wasn’t in some hip-over-the-top-expensive-studio, on set in a big-budget movie, or even in the good graces of some major mega-movie-star, but, and I truly hate to burst your bubble, it was in the backyard of my grandparents’ house......playing dress-up. Yes, I loved to play dress up and would so look forward to visiting them every summer so I could drape myself in pearls, costume jewelry, and all of my Nana’s fabulous clothes. Unfortunately, nothing’s really changed, and I still love to dress-up and embody any character thrown my way!! (I would eventually become a personal shopper for high end women’s retail and a certified personal stylist...) ;-)

Yes, I love to play dress-up, and figuring out the perfect ensemble for my mood, my energy, and aura is so much fun - this little skill-set, though seemingly frivolous, has served me greatly in the realm of acting. One can tell so much about a person, or character, by their clothing choices, ways of dressing, or, for that matter, undressing. What would that character wear in a good mood? A bad mood? A sexy one? You can get really specific with these questions - for example, what is your character’s daily style after growing up in a house full of incredibly strict conservative diplomats? Or what would your character’s style consist of if she, or he, grew up in an incredibly liberal house full of prostitutes? Or women who weren’t afraid to bare all? You see, the sky is the limit with this particular process and you can get exceptionally creative!

Like I said, acting is an incredibly hard subject to teach, and everyone has their own techniques but, for me, I teach by example. When you watch my creative process, I can teach you everything I know. So, in that case, watch me work...

Say I’m portraying a character with the following little backstory:

*Female

*Youthful - early 20’s

*Grew up in a family of wealth - With one parent super stingy/cheap and the other a little more lenient and generous with the abundance of finances

At this point, and the character is in her early 20’s right now, what would she wear? How would you see those particular parental issues in her style? She’s certainly not new money, but maybe she feels like she doesn’t deserve the wealth she has. So what would she wear??

I say she has an abundance of colorful choices, detailed accessories, and beautiful pieces in her wardrobe, as well as ones that are super bland, meek, and boring. Sometimes she mixes and matches these colors with the more muted tones, while still making a statement. You see, the clothes she wears, even if drab in color, always make a statement. It’s impossible not to make one with the type of early influences she’s had, teaching the world that muted tones are not a bad thing to enjoy, and you can still make them fun!

So for a daily style - she probably likes a dark wash jean with a bright top and statement necklace. Even though as she’s getting older, she’s losing that interest in the over the top jewelry, yet still loves it!, and opting for colors in her clothing choices to pack a punch rather than relying on jewelry to make a statement.

I could keep going and going and going, but wouldn’t wanna bore anyone - SO, I challenge all of my fellow actors or performing artists to come up with three different ensembles for any character of your choosing. Ask yourself, what would this character wear? Why would this character wear this? And what is the character’s daily style?

Let me know, and please don’t be shy - hopefully this taught you a little something!!

And I kinda want to elaborate in another post, actually...

AND THANKS FOR READING I LOVE YOU x

Climate Change: What's Going On?!

A graph depicting the current level of carbon dioxide emissions - and you don't think any of it's human-caused?
Read more about climate change and the human community's role in this global atmospheric shift here.

The current reality of climate change does not just stem from natural variations in the Earth’s relationship with the sun, inner temperature shifts caused by our planet’s makeup, or from any mythological, fictitious source of fancy, but largely from our own human community’s footprint on this spherical body that takes 24 hours to fully rotate on its axis and 8,760 to get back to where it started. The majority of the world’s geologists, ecologists, and natural scientists agree that the climate is warming, and will only continue to warm, because of human activity. Yes, this global temperature shift is real, and is proven through the unprecedented levels of carbon dioxide emissions in the air, the rising sea levels, the depletion of sea ice, catastrophic natural disasters, and the acidification of our beautiful oceans, to name a few. The signs of this climate change are innumerable, and will only continue to increase in a very harmful way if we fail to act now. 

I believe that education is key when sparking any social, cultural, or political movement. So, I would like to start this mini-discussion by stressing the importance of informing the people of, for example, the difference between climate change and global warming, the greenhouse effect, the crucial warning signs of climate change and what we, as a people, can do to help stop it. There is so much we need to know and even more we need to do to save our planet, and hopefully this little post is a step in the right direction. 

So, what is the difference between climate change and global warming??

Well, global warming is used to describe the heating of our planet over a long period of time. Historically, the temperature of the Earth’s surface has gone up by about 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit since the late 1800’s and is continuing to increase. Climate change, however, refers to the  specific alterations in our planet due to global warming, like rising sea levels, melting ice, etc. Global warming and climate change, though both revolve around the same predicament, are not the same.

Now, onto the next topic of discussion, what is the greenhouse effect??

The greenhouse effect refers to the trapping of heat near the earth’s surface because of greenhouse gases. These gases include carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxides. Though these gases are a natural, inherent part of our Earth’s DNA, humans are contributing heavily to the growth of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere to a toxic level - especially through carbon dioxide emissions and the continuous burning of fossil fuels. So, basically, the greenhouse effect is making our world warmer, and if this pattern continues, the planet will become a very dangerous place to live. Scary.

Okay, and finally, what can we do to help prevent this climate change??

A common goal among scientists is to stabilize the emission of greenhouse gases in the Earth’s atmosphere to approximately 450-550 parts per million. Currently, the average concentration of greenhouse gases is at approximately 380 parts per million. Meaning, we need to start the stabilization process now to save our planet because, after all, we’re almost about to hit that 450 ppm point, and, if it goes up after that, we will really start to see the consequences of global warming/climate change in a very negative way.  As a human community, to help, we can do little things like recycle or even planting trees in our backyard (trees absorb carbon dioxide). Or even by energizing our homes with solar power and purchasing cars or other pieces of technology energized by the sun. 

These are just a few mini-suggestions of the small steps we can take that will help make a big impact on the future welfare of our planet and, if you have any of your own, please share them with me! Don’t be shy. Again, research, information, and knowledge are essential in preventing climate change. I still have much more to learn about regarding this entire topic, as you can see, but I hope this little blurb helped get the message across to my peers, friends, family and the like that we must starting acting now to make Earth a healthier, safer, and non-toxic place to live.

I love our planet!!

And thanks for reading x

"Directions"

He asked me to take a direction,

One that could save my life.

So he removed my inflection,

Of heartache and petty strife.

So he told me to turn left,

Down on Berry Street,

To get to the movies,

Where man and God meet!

Next he told me to listen,

To the angelic voices who critique -

So my soul will glisten,

When I’m in the movies they seek!

Then he said my words will flow,

Like the river down by the dock -

Because when I sit and write there -

I will never hear the clock!!

He keeps telling me to write more,

With my honest instrument -

He keeps telling me he wants more,

Of my honest innocence!

The sweetness so engrained,

In my Universal soul -

Is a part of all of us,

And I’d find it at Holly Knoll!

So I took a stroll there,

To find what I was missing-

Then I forgot where to go,

While I was reminiscing!

So he left me a subtle hint,

Of where to go next - 

He told me to pay attention!

As I was quite vexed!

I was encouraged to turn the corner,

On North Sixth and Bedford,

And to study the work-

Of our dear Rob Redford!

He said I will access more though,

No matter where I am -

In a magical borough -

Found in a wondrous land!

I asked him where,

Several times mind you!

This place is located -

For I haven’t a clue!!

He said I could find it,

Because it’s where our souls meet!

He said I could get there,

It’s passed Second and Ball Street!

He knows the directions are hard,

But assured with my diligence - 

That when my brain is turned on,

Nothing will rock my intelligence!

So he told me where to venture,

Despite the confusion on my face!!

And that I could go anywhere,

When I get my head in the Right Place!

Stick to What You're Good At: What Would You Do In The Name Of American Pride??

I was just called into work and I have to be there at 5, so I can't quite finish this piece in its intended manner, but I will raise another question (varying from the one in the title of this post) and further discuss my response tomorrow. 

Here's the question:

After reading a piece by Frank Rich in the New York Magazine (click here to read yourself!!) discussing the dubious title of the anchorman, what is your definition of someone who, aside from possessing a definite, innate skill or talent, is, as they say, "the real deal" ?? Or someone who is the true definition of the title he or she may claim???

Just some little inquiries to get everyone's mind working before I elaborate in detail tomorrow, so, 

What do you think??!

Thanks for reading x

The Nuclear Deal With Iran: What Are Your Thoughts?

Read about the International Atomic Energy Agency here!!!

A reality of nuclear warfare is still a growing concern among the world’s diplomats, and a step was taken on Thursday in Lausanne, Switzerland to diminish this threat from the Iranian government by P5+1 (China, Russia, UK, France) and Germany. Specifically, an agreement was made to prevent Tehran’s, the Iranian capital’s, use of nuclear weaponry, requiring the country to deplete their reserve of centrifuges and uranium by 98% and, in turn, these global superpowers will help improve the Iranian economy. The actual deal is due on June 30, and so much is left to work out in regard to the overall plan, but there was definitely progress made with this initial agreement. 

Uranium enrichment involves processing uranium found underground and transforming it into nuclear energy and, ultimately, a nuclear bomb. In the deal, Tehran is required to reduce the enrichment of uranium to 3.67%. In order to build a nuclear weapon, uranium is enriched to a staggering 90%. This part of the deal allows Tehran to use nuclear energy to power other items, rather than nuclear bombs. A nuclear bomb or weapon is virtually impossible to create with uranium enriched by 3.67%.

To debilitate this enrichment process, the deal also required Iran to cut down its number of centrifuges from 19,000 to 6,104, and only 5,060 are allowed to remain in use for enrichment. Centrifuges are the actual machines used to extract nuclear energy from uranium, so their extinction is vital in reducing the likelihood of Iran’s creation of nuclear weaponry. In addition to cutting down their population of centrifuges, Iran is also required to cut down its supply of uranium from 10,000 kg to 300 kg, further reducing the possibility of creating a nuclear weapon. Tehran’s nuclear program is also required to allow inspections from the International Atomic Energy Agency, which encourages the peaceful and fair use of nuclear energy, to prevent any type of nuclear threat. Basically, the IAEA will monitor every aspect of the nuclear program, and the world will know if Iran is not upholding its end of the deal. 

IF Iran keeps up its end of the bargain, the U.S., European Union, and other global superpowers, will lift their restrictions on its economy, implemented in 2006 because of Iran’s refusal to stop enriching uranium. These sanctions have seriously crippled the country’s economy, and their removal would mean access to goods, products, finances, and resources the country needs from their global counterparts.

My thoughts??

Though there is still a very long way to go in regard to decreasing the threat of the use, creation, and implementation of nuclear weaponry from other governments in the global community, this agreement is definitely a step in the right direction. For decades, the world has remained vocal about thwarting Iran’s uranium enrichment process, and this particular deal is a leap in protecting the world from the potential horrors unleashed by the power of nuclear energy. Also, this deal is giving exposure to the International Atomic Energy Agency, a group advocating the positive use of nuclear energy, and one worthy or more understanding from our human community. Yes, this deal is definitely promoting the peace, welfare, and safety of the people and the world. I cannot wait for the final deal to come out on June 30. My verdict? Two thumbs up. ;-)

Little Ms. Mercutia: Where Ya Been?

The character of Mercutia is wise, witty, and exceptionally talented. She is also there for her friends in need, especially when Romeo is in a state of “melancholia” after his break-up with Rosaline, showing Mercutia’s extreme level of empathy and understanding, (even though Mercutia is still unafraid to tease the humor back into him, cracking a few, clever dirty jokes here and there!!) 

Mercutia, though an extreme goddess, is more of a guy’s girl than a girl’s one, which is perfectly fine, yet likely stems from the Shakespearean culture’s inability to encourage girls to stick together and support one another - aka she had a horrible mean girls experience one too many times, may have even displayed mean girls behavior herself, and didn’t have the strength to open her eyes and discover that girls are actually much stronger when they work together.

Nevertheless, she gets through life with her great humor, even during her bleakest moments (and even when she’s dying). Mercutia hates self-seriousness at all costs, and will mock the shit out of anyone who displays it, but this serves as great comedic relief in such a tragic piece of work. And she’s certainly not one you mess with, calling any and all people out who even dare to try!! 

Yes, lovely Mercutia, where have you been?! 

We need more of you!!