Actor David August's blog about everything that isn't news about his work nor about acting in Los Angeles or acting in Chicago.
Monday, December 31, 2012
Friday, December 28, 2012
Tuesday, December 25, 2012
Sunday, December 23, 2012
Thursday, December 20, 2012
Sunday, December 16, 2012
Saturday, December 15, 2012
Toy Car
The toy car I'm donating to a Toys for Tots benefit in Hollywood, because kids should be able to play.
Friday, December 14, 2012
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
David August Interviewed on Red Carpet
I was interviewed on the Unofficial Google+ Film Festival Red Carpet.
Saturday, December 8, 2012
Unreal Real Location
This quote is based on a real place and I did not make up any of the places, things there or words:
"So right in the middle of a petrological argument about the cryptocrystalline nature of chert mined by the Chumash, feral pigs come over the rise in the direction of Devils Peak. We hesistate for a moment trying to decide if we start running toward Smugglers Cove or Painted Cave or simply retreat to Xaxas, when my friend suggests we hide out in the old Cold War communication station until the pigs move on to Rancho del Norte on the isthmus. I was about to suggest we head to the old prison colony but then the pigs turned toward one of the 3 airstrips on the island and we were safe again."
I kind of want to be in stories that happen in this place. Or buy it.
Thursday, December 6, 2012
Monday, December 3, 2012
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Write Something
Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing
-Benjamin Franklin
buy print at http://bit.ly/SxO5VQ
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Well Worn Web Series Topics
I know of no less than 13 web series about dating in LA and no less than 6 about anti-bullying. Even if they're great, they get lost in sea of sameness. I imagine there may be some other all-too-familiar topics beyond these 2. Why do what everyone else is doing already.
Thursday, November 22, 2012
Monday, November 19, 2012
Vengenace Location Mock Up - Previz
This location previsualization of the western film Vengence may make more sense after reading the script. If you'd like to read it, please let me know (leave a comment, or at reply me on twitter).
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Frankenmixer
Monday, November 12, 2012
Thursday, November 8, 2012
Talking Head Videos Bore Audiences Online
Boring an audience is almost the only thing that is never a good idea to do in a video. Probably not a good idea in any form of entertainment or media. But nonetheless, people continue to make talking head videos, because they are often easy and cheap.
Alas, this may never change, and perhaps shouldn't change since keeping costs down and productions fast is just about as important as not boring the audience. But it is worth knowing the realities even if you're committed to making a talking head video:
The eyetracking data clearly show that a talking head is boring, even for 24 seconds. On the Web, 24 seconds is a long time - too long for users to keep their attention on something monotonous
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Sunday, November 4, 2012
Monday, October 29, 2012
Privacy Evolves
Zach Cumer posted about Safety & Security for the now + the future and graciously invited me to comment. Here is what I wrote today:
Thank you for the invite to comment. I'm out and about right now, so here are some brief thoughts.
The Internet, social media and our digital devices have brought transparency to our lives and the organizations we interact with. That never quite existed like this before. The youngest generation's entire idea of privacy is different than older generations' tend to be.
This new transparency is a double edged sword. On the one hand information is more available and often more useful than ever before. On the other, what used to be physical things, the artifacts of our lives, have become increasingly digital. Not everyone is ready for or understands what this means, even though it has already happened in many ways.
Hurricane Sandy, the storm that is hitting the East Coast of the US right now, illustrates: the moment the Internet goes out, our lives are plunged into 1980 style existence. Anything online, "in the cloud," is suddenly unavailable. Even more, if power goes out too, much of our lives goes back to 1880. Once the batteries run out, we learn the hard way what not being ready for power outages, being "1880 compliant" as I call it, is. We aren't used to how to do things like they were done in 1880. At least not long term.
At a retail job I had just after high school, the store couldn't see what was in inventory, on its own shelves, if there was a storm. The storm made the satellite link to headquarters go down. And the store's local computers didn't have that information by themselves. Technically, this is a problem of not having business continuity in the event of natural disaster, or simple rainfall in their case. Today, millions of people and companies can't get to their own address books, music collections or email because of a storm. One hopes the data-centers that store our digital lives don't lose the data in the rain and wind. Once hopes we'll still be able to get to everything after the storm has past. We need life continuity whether our tech works or not.
But, back to the privacy issues your post brings up. We don't send postal mail in clear envelopes because everyone wants, even needs, some privacy in their lives. Privacy still matters, and many call personal privacy a basic human right. Chapter 2 article 7 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union says [e]veryone has the right to respect for his or her private and family life, home and communications.
Yet despite privacy still going into laws, we don't have great answers for how our lives and our whole society are affected when privacy erodes accidentally, or through malicious breaches. Or simply because the privacy settings can be confusing.
From the scary sounding scenario of showing up online in the background of a stranger's photo auto-tagged by facial recognition, to the more likely possibility that you forget your smartphone at a bar, with your identity and financial data on it, we as a society are forced to rethink things. Beyond extremes like home break-ins because the people check in publicly online, or identity theft, there are other ways our privacy is dynamic. Web search histories and online profiles together are used to market things to us based on what we share with the world. What we share is both things we know about, like a restaurant review we know we wrote and share in public, and stuff we don't know about, like data from Google on flu searches getting used by the Centers for Disease Control to predict outbreaks more accurately. What do we want to have private and what can never be private again not matter how much we want it to be? As a civilization we lack great answers.
I have some ideas how to prepare ourselves. Computers are not just laptops and desktops, they are phones and tablets and gaming consoles and more. Computers and networks are designed to store and transmit information. From the rubber feet on the bottom, to the casing, to every line of code, everything about them is for keeping and sharing information; it is their fundamental purpose. Anything done to contain or remove information from computers and networks works against their foundation, their purpose. And that is why all ways to try to keep information private is going against the grain of computers. In a perfect world, a secret we want to have stay secret should never be digital. Once it is, the uphill battle of keeping it private begins.
There is almost no way to remember that things tend toward being stored and shared digitally. Even harder to live knowing this moment to moment. Our devices get so tangled up in our day to day lives, it's easy to be lulled into comfort. It is easy to ignore that our devices easily share anything and everything we put on them, and reveal everything we interact with. So try to brace yourself, if such a thing is possible. Brace yourself for having something of yours shared when you don't want it to be. This very possibly can happen to you and to me. We may want to prepare for what we do when our privacy goes away. This isn't actually a new thing. Secrets have become not secret for eons. Not always, but often.
Forever, bad things have sometimes happened to good people. Having your private stuff go public is just one way it can happen. Panic and fear are never a good answer. Be aware of what your devices and digital life might reveal of your life, thoughts and such. Be aware no one can be perfect in securing stuff. And beyond matters of life and death, like national security, try to be open. When you are open you get to be involved in how the world gets your private stuff. And for god's sake, don't use "password" or your name or someone's birth-date as your access code/pin/password.
Like having locks on doors, if you don't use the security things you have, then you don't get the security they can give. Put a passcode on your smartphone. That way if your phone is lost or stolen, your email, profiles and the information about all your contacts is less likely to be in the open. If you're worried dirty pictures or video you would take might end up on tv or something, don't take them. And breathe. Whether we like technology or not, it is not our enemy. And whether we want technology to be part of our lives or not, it isn't going away anytime soon.
Society can't really ever move beyond itself. As our sense of privacy evolves, there will be growing pains. And there's nothing horribly wrong with still using cash, or still getting a paper statement like it's 1880.
Saturday, October 27, 2012
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Summited the Mountain
Starting top left: me at the summit, from the base, a view from the trail (you can get a print of the picture of the trail):
And I shot video at the summit.
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Election Year Bigotry
So many online seem to genuinely not understand how any decent person could not be on their side of politics, no matter which side they themselves are on. This is bigotry, make no mistake, bigotry. It is as destructive as all other forms of bigotry. It is the biggest obstacle we as a nation face.
We are all Americans, and smart, good people disagree with you. You may be smart and good intentioned, they may be smart and good intentioned, and you may disagree fundamentally just the same. That is exactly how it should be so please open your mind to the reality of living with people who don't share your exact beliefs.
Or admit your bigotry by starting all comments on politics like "I can't believe the race is this close" or "how can he believe what he just said" with the phrase "I'm an ignorant bigot who would rather bicker than do anything good for anyone on earth ever, but..." and then continue your meaningless diatribe.
Then I could at least respect your candor, honesty and self-awareness while I cringe at your closed-minded destructive us-them thinking while I'm feeling utterly alone in thinking that our federated republic, the Great American Experiment, may not be perfect, but it is so far the best way for humans to organize together for advancement of our individual and collective goals.
And what ever the case, while I may find such bigotry wasteful, senseless, short sighted and not even in anyone's self interest, I fervently defend your right to say it, and cherish that my countrymen and women have such varied beliefs and ideas. E pluribus unum, out of many one.
Thursday, October 11, 2012
Our Hero Hurtles...
Our hero hurtles toward his destination at an alarming speed. The question in his mind: will the trajectory be too sharp for reentry, incinerating him in moments, or too shallow, bouncing him back into space, without enough fuel to return...
...now, the perils of reentry behind him, his heat shield intact, our hero faces the final challenge of landing. Like they told him in flight school: taking off is optional, landing is required. As the buildings turn from dots, to specs, to structures rushing towards him, his reflexes deftly maneuver the craft though passing air traffic and toward the landing site. The final moment is out of his hands: will the retro-rockets fire, or will he smash into the ground. He says a silent prayer remembering the rocket was built by the lowest bidder. The air rushes past him, and then...
...with a satisfying punch, the rockets fire, the ship slows and our hero's journey comes to its gentle end.
In other words: on my way to dinner!
Fun Garage Doors
German company makes posters for your garage door. Could be really cool - especially if you have a homeowners association ;-)