Think Create - Leon Grey's Blog

As you guys know, things are going fantastically well in my life for 2010.  I’m learning new things, meeting new people, reconnecting with old friends and making opportunities and taking them.  My theory is that life is like an orange, squeeze everything out of it and make sure not to spill any juice (that’s are your wasted opportunities). 

I’m siting here in my home office looking around and noticed that whenever I look at my UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) figurines, I get motivated and excited.  I have one figurine which clicks me into gear and wants me to keep fit.  Wanderlei Silva is my all time favourite fighter and he inspires me to become the fittest toughest mofo out there.  Check out the figurine and a real life image below. This guys is a brutal fighter, he takes his hits and throws them hard too.  Not only do I admire his fighting skills and strong physique, but most importantly his mental strength and his drive to win no matter how hard his fight is. This makes me into a more focus and stronger player in the game of life. 

I had personal training on Thursday and my trainer Mark said that if I lose one more kilo then I would have shedded 10 kilos since Janurary.  Thats huge!  I am definately on my way to the second milestone of 90kg.  Myfirst milestone was to get under 100kg which I did 2 weeks ago.  Once I make 90kgs I get to reward myself with a professional photoshoot for my actors portfolio, this is a driving motivation for me as I really want to get into acting on the screen.

Life is a fantastic journey, I like to avoid the well worn paths that everybody follows and make my own tracks. See you in the big wide world and hopefully we will cross tracks one day!

I looked in my monthly calender today and realised that I was 2 days late for my next blog entry. Yikes time does fly!

Kirsty is back from Bali and I successfully survived on a healthy diet of crumbed frozen fish and frozen vegetables.  I actually enjoyed being a bachelor for 10 days it was a refreshing change to actually be able to do nothing.  I did sleep a lot earlier than usual, I did get a bit bored.

The day after Kirsty came back from Bali we went out with her cousin and husband for dinner at the Hyatt ‘Cafe’ restaurant.  It’s the best seafood buffet restaurant in Perth and the desserts are just awesome.  My mouth is watering just thinking about the chocolate cake, cheesecake, freshly baked waffles and ice cream. MMMMMMM.  It’s $65 per head from Friday to Sunday and if you need someone to go with I’m always available. 

Check out the dessert station

I’m still losing weight at a steady pace, currently at 97.8kg.  Today my pedometer counted my total steps for the day at 19,000+, if I keep this up I’ll be at 90kg in no time.

Not much to write about currently, hope to have some interesting news next week so stay tuned!

Well, what a great week.  I had my official weigh-in with my personal trainer and I have lost a huge 3kg in 2 weeks. My results are from eating well and doing a minimum of 10,000 steps a day.  I eat a lot of fish, vegetables, fruit, nuts and drink heaps of water.

I have won a competition with Nova 93.7 to have Breakfast with Donna Hay (Celebrity Chef) at the (A)Lure resturant at Burswood Resort.  Since my lovely wife Kirsty is in Bali, I invited Travis, my collegue, to come with me and share the experience.  I hope to get a photo with Nathan,Nat Shaun and Donna.

I performed my first acting scene this Tuesday with another actor, Lizzie.  We were the first performance of the night and were told that it was awesome and that we both played our characters well.  I played the creepy psychopath and I guess it comes easily for me. Hahah.

Next Tuesday I am performing a scene from a movie called Gattaca, I’ve never seen it but understand that it’s a futuristic movie.  It’s better I don’t see the movie so I can create the character from my own thoughts.

This week has been awesome and I am loving every new opportunity that comes my way.

Bring it on!

Wow January had passed by so quickly and so far so good I have stuck to my plan of taking my life to the next level for 2010.  I noticed last year I never really achieved anything great because I never set myself small goals, this year with my new plan I am achieving all over the place.  The downside of course is finding the time for everything, but as they say, “When there is a will, there is a way”.

So in January I did the following things.

• Complete a 3 day acting workshop (I am currently doing a 10 week one now, exciting times)
• Make new friends
• Reconnect with my old friends
• Apply for the Vodafone World of Difference Competition
• Resigned from Perth Zoo docent committee as well as being a docent altogether (This was to make time for my acting passion)
• Met with WWF and Free the Bears Fund to discuss ways I could help their causes
• Making a real effort to reduce my weight

Those are just the ones I can remember off the top of my head, but this list really makes me proud as I now can see that I am moving forward in life.  February will be a fantastic month as well with heaps planned but that will have to wait for my next blog entry.

Last night I started my Tuesday night acting classes which go for 10 weeks.  As usual I was nervous, but all the actors there seemed nice and they were very supportive, I can foresee great friendships being formed.  I turned up to class after a 10 hour working day and was handed a script to learn.  The script was essentially a author interviewing a inmate on death row, I was the author.  My first performance was absolutely crap, I just wasn’t able to portray my character in the right light.  My second shot was much better, as I played more of a sadistic, perverted psychopath, not much of a stretch for me. Hahaha.

Some of the class approached me after my performance and said I did well in my second shot because I really transformed myself into the character.  I think that by watching my first crappy attempt anything would look better in comparison.

After a few wise words from my teacher, Loren, I was able to dig deep and pull out a good performance.  I took inspiration from Heath Ledgers, Joker character in Batman.

So this week I will need to know my script completely, have a costume and 3 props for the scene. Mentally I need to be prepared for some tough criticism on my performance because its no holding back from Loren in his critique.  He wants to make us better and needs to point out the small things we could improve.

Looking forward to it all!

So I’ve been playing Guitar Hero on my Playstation 3 off and on for the last 5 months. Dabbling in World Tour and Greatest hits, even playing the Beatles game.  Kirsty and I have been rocking it out on the weekends and having a great time, our fans go nuts!  So I’m thinking to myself, hey I’m pretty good at this Guitar Hero,  I think I should go in some competition or tournament.  After a bit of research I find that there are a few in Perth and after some more research I stumble upon a forum chatting about a you tube video of a world record attempt.

After watching this, I think I’ll just stay and play in my loungeroom.

Check it out

I’m really excited tonight!  I’m entering a competition run by Vodaphone called, “World of Difference“.  The competition allows 5 lucky people to work for an Australian charity of their choice for 1 year.  I have chosen Free the Bears Fund, as my charity of choice and tonight I had a Skype conversation with the CEO of Free the Bears Fund.

We discussed a lot of options and I am supremely confident that my application will be a winner.  Exciting times!  If I do win, I’ll be working in Cambodia and travelling between Vietnam and Laos for 1 year.

Wow this year has started off with a Bang!  Instead of writing down resolutions or goals, what I have done is written down what 2010 means to me.  So, for example 2010 is ….

• Being a do’er
• No Fear….ever
• Building new friendships

You get what I mean.

So in the spirit of having no fear for 2010 I finally signed up for a 3 day acting workshop, this was back in Dec 2009.  I have been procrastinating for over 2 years!

Last weekend I had my workshop and WOW! was it an experience.

The I enrolled in a 3 day workshop run by Worldwide Screen Actors Online, it is a class developed for beginners to learn, gain experience and undertsand the business of acting.  I highly reccomend it to anyone  considering enrolling in an acting workshop.

Friday 8th Jan 2010 | 6:30pm

I turned up early, registered myself at the front desk and chatted with a few people and sat down nervously.  In the next fifteen minutes, six girls aged between 13 and 15 wander in.  Now you can guess what I’m thinking…… uh oh, I signed on a beginner class but I didn’t think it was young beginner.  20 minutes pass by with me sweating bullets trying to figure out how to get out of this situation.  Luckily a nice stream of adults turned up making me feel a whole lot better.

The first class was really good, with two students, Jessica and Aaron getting into character and improvising a scene where Jessica and Aaron are siblings and Jessica is handing over their mothers ashes to Aaron.  Aaron does not want them and so the scene begins.  Both were awesome, real emotion laid bare in front of a new class.  I was impressed by their commitment to the character and also not being embarrassed.

Later on that night we got our scripts andwere assigned our characters.

I play Charlie, a guy who gambles away $42,000 on a poker game and now needs to fess’ up to his wife.  I kept thinking how scarey this was and if I could pull off such a great performance like Jessica and Aaron did.

I rehearsed my lines to 1:00am in the morning, and still couldn’t remember my lines.  Damn I was buggered.

Saturday 9th Jan 2010 | 10:00am

I woke up early in the morning so nervous I couldn’t eat breakfast, but as I was on my way to class, driving on High Road, I heard the Golden Arches call me, so after a Hash Brown, Bacon and Egg McMuffin and OJ I felt ready to go…

Class started with a meditation session to get us relaxed and clear our minds.  This was good cause my mind was like racing around as if a Lion escaped from the zoo.

We were split into our groups and I was lucky enough to be able to act with two fantastic girls, Jessica and Robyn.  I feel I was lucky because while everyone had one acting scene to do, I hadthe opportunity to do mine twice, I gained more experience out of it.  Both girls had fire so I knew i had to step up my game.  Jessica already showed me her talent on Friday night so I was literally shitting my pants hoping I wouldn’t let her down.  Robyn on the other hand I didn’t know much about, but was soon to learn she had a fire burning within her, actually you can call it an inferno from the depths of hell…… hahaha

We rehearsed our lines outside and to my surprise the girls knew their lines and I was bumbling like an idiot trying to, ‘fill in the blanks’.  Trust me, there were a lot of blanks.

My lines were quite easy, lines like, “I’m sorry” and “I know” and also the tough line of “$42,000″.  So you can see why I was a little embarrassed about the whole situation.

Loren, our teacher, called us in and we had to do our scene in front of the class, the word terrified is an understatment to how I felt at the point of time..  What was good was that my screen tests were last so I got to watch everyone else do theirs.  There were four sets of couples who were Amy and Charlie so it was good to see how each pair interpreted their scene.  I was most impressed by Blair and Natasha, holy smokes were they good, I sat there thinking, is this the beginners class?

I was comforted to see that lots of groups had not memorised their lines correctly, what Loren was looking for was for us to become our character, bascially not to, ‘Play’ the character but to, ‘Be’ the character.

So far all the Charlies had been quite the tough guy, not really caring about the loss of the money, even though his wife Amy was losing the plot.  I interpreted it differently and basically thought about a real addict and a guy who is scared to lose his wife but just cant fight off the lure of the poker game.

Both Jessica and Robyn played Amy, and they rocked it.   I was really lucky to get two girls who could act, it made me step up my game, if i had any that is.

We were informed that the next day that they would be filming our scenes and to know our lines. I practised all night…..

Sunday 10th Jan 2010 | 10:00am

Met the girls at 8:30am to practise our scenes, I was still having trouble remembering a few of my lines, but was about 98% there.  Filming got started straight after we meditated, it was amazing to see how everyone had stepped up their intensity when the cameras were rolling.

Most of the day had went by and at around 3pm I was called up to do my scene with Jessica.  Wow it was scary.  I managed to remember my lines and Jessica really embodied Amy as a character, I thought she was crying, must have been my acting that made her crack like that. hahaha 

My second scene was with Robyn, and Loren asked if it was ok for her to hit me.  He slapped my shoulder to show the intensity and location.  I agreed, excited to have a second shot on the camera.  I assumed my hit would come when I leant in for a kiss to say hello, but it didnt happen.  I figured that Robyn decided against it, so I just kept going.  When I said my line, ” $42,000″, out of nowhere her right hand flashed and went whack right across my face!  I heard the class gasp! My head was spinning and my left ear was ringing, I managed to stay in character and meeking say my next line of, “I’m Sorry”.

Everyone was clapping and laughing once we ended our scene.  I hope they liked our perfomance and not just the ass whooping I recieved.

I am have requested the footage and hopefully get it in the next few weeks.

Overall I enjoyed the experience and really kick myself for not doing it earlier, but I look at it this way, if I was any earlier I wouldnt have met some great actors in this class.  I can see some great friendships being formed.

Till next time!

Ciao

Last week I was tinkering with the idea to start writing this blog again.  I had lost my motivation and focus as to where I wanted this blog to go.  Interestingly two people on the same day had asked me what was going on with my blog and with a big shug and a sigh I said…..”I dunno”.

With a little pep talk from my primary school friend Jo-ann, I have decided to start again and in a new direction.  This blog will be less about teaching and more about my life, experiences and learnings.  So I hope you like the new format and I would be happy to hear any feed back of yours.  My next entry is not far away so stay tuned!

Ciao

Yesterday I brought my mum to watch the spectacular Cirque Du Soleil – Dralion.  This is the second time I have been to watch this particular show and it still amazes me how each and every performer could perform such artistic beauty.  In a matter of moments I was spellbound, and for a second time my heart soared with admiration at wondrous beauty before my eyes.

My favourite part of Dralion was the Aerial Pas de Deux, when two of the most beautiful people came on stage and danced ballet utilising long bands of blue cloth to lauch into an arial romantic dance.  The passion was undeniable and it was a love story told through the beauty of dance and acrobatics.

It is hard to explain and as they say a picture speaks a thousand words but a movie speaks a million more. (I added the last bit, thought it sounded good)

To see such a beautiful dance with your own eyes is something that you must do in your lifetime and I recommend watching Cirque Du Soleil – Dralion.

As I was driving home I realised that when watching the show I was at peace and the happiest I have been in a long time.  It made me ask myself why I was so happy and what state of mind was i in to achieve this happiness.  I quickly came to the conclusion that it was my mind and heart escaping the realities of this world and surrounding itself with beautiful imagination.

Everybody’s escape is different, some people get lost in music and others become lost in dance.  Mine was a combination of both and it made me feel incredible.  I never wanted this serene feeling within me to leave, and now that I know where it springs from I will never lose it again.

I remember when I was 10 years old I vowed to myself never to lose my imagination.  Strange to think that I was so young and made such a firm pact with myself.  I think this was probably a time when I realised how boring and monotonous adults and adult life could be.

Interestingly I never let go of this vow but slowly as my life became more complicated with, ’important things’, like my career, bills, mortgage payments and so on, time for imagination and dreaming had shrunk.  You never really notice losing something when it is gradual, thank god I found out that my imagination was waning before it was too late. 

Knowing where to find your pure happiness is something important to me.  As a male who tends to keep his soul and emotions closed, it is fantastic to find something that can disarm me in a matter of seconds.  Knowing how to open my soul will help me release all my tensions and enable me drift into the world of imagination and make believe.

Live the dream

Leon

The year of 2008 and is coming to an end and the festivities to celebrate are just beginning.  Christmas is right around the corner and during our holidays I think it worthwhile to reflect on the accomplishments that you have made.

Here are my accomplishments for 2008

• I got married to my wonderful wife Kirsty
• I graduated and became a fully fledged volunteer docent at Perth Zoo
• I made a few career moves and have landed in a great position at Fairfax Digital
• I lost weight then gained it back with a huge number of reinforcements (a new battle will be waged in 2009 with success)
• I bought a massive 60″ Plasma TV (a present for my wife. hehe)
• I joined an indoor cricket team
• I have made some great new friends and reconnected with old ones
• I started this blog and hopefully have made some differences in peoples lives

This is just a small sample of my reflections for the year 2008 and will be celebrated with lots of joy. Reflecting on the year has shown me that I have grown throughout this year and as they say, ‘If you’re not growing, you’re dying’.  There is no middle ground of limbo here, its either one or the other.

An important part of my Christmas holidays is to dedicate one whole day to goal setting for 2009. This gives me the chance to really think of what I would like to achieve for the year to come.  I really encourage you to take some time out and set some goals for yourself.  Don’t call them new years resolutions because society has linked the term to failure and made it completely okay and funny not to meet your resolutions.

A key to setting your goals is by getting massive leverage on yourself.  This means that you need to know the consequences of not reaching your goal.

E.g

My goal: Lose 30kg by 1st December 2009.

My Leverage:

If I don’t meet this goal:

• I will feel lethargic and fat for another year
• I won’t perform to my peak ability when playing sport and let down my team
• I will need to buy new clothes if I get bigger which will cost me money
• My confidence will shrink because I would feel self conscious about my size
• I will feel depressed because I am fat

You need to really think to yourself how it would make you feel to be fat for another year.  You must feel the feelings with intensity.  If you do this right then you can be certain that you have strong leverage to reach your goals.

On the other hand you can also think of the great things you will recieve from recieving your goal, thats the easy bit so Ill leave that with you to figure out.

I wish all my readers a wonderful Christmas and a propserous new year.

Have a Safe and Happy Holidays

Leon