Newport Beach Film Festivel and Deaf West Theatre Acting Program

Here is my latest Vlog, which I haven't been posting a lot of these. I like doing blogs because I love to write. But with my experience with Vlogs, I am still a newbie and I am trying my best to make these Vlogs understandable and edited just right. Roughly put together, but immersed with The Chronicles of Gilberto will do this post justice. A lot has happened this past week and it was filled with Movies, Stage acting, Improv, and the likes. It was a fun time at our first Deaf West Theatre Acting Program last Thursday. Gary Austin, who is considered a great teacher in improvisation for the stage has given us great experiences and lessons in how to put on a scene. We are going to be working with him again this Thursday at Deaf West Theatre for our second class of the acting program. I am looking forward to it!



As for the movie, "See What I Am Saying" with CJ Jones, TL, and many others who documented on the Deaf entertainment field and how hard it is to actually find acts. With the noticeable community of Deaf people we tend to know all these people; but the struggles to make it out in the bigger Hearing World is a challenge. This is what this film was all about and it was well done and marvelously directed by Hillary Scarli. I enjoyed this film so much, that I hope it wins for the best film at the Newport Beach Film Festivel. I heard it won at the Philadelphia Film Festival and received great acclaim for its work.



Watch my Vlog for more information on the "happenings" of my life in The Chronicles of Gilberto!

Until Next Time. . . ! Thanks for watching.

Deaf West Acting Program - My Visit

Out of the blue, I decided to go ahead and take a ride down to North Hollywood and find the location of Deaf West Theatre. We took the 5 North all the way till we got to the Hollywood freeways. Passing the Dodgers Stadium and getting on the 134 freeway passing the Walt Disney Studios was neat. A bunch of other movie studios were on the way as well. I was excited to be back in the area of Hollywood after going to see Wicked at the Pantages Theatre awhile back.

As I took the drive into the Noho District, and getting on Lankershim Boulevard and searching for a place to park next to the Deaf West Theatre. Monica was my navigator with her trusty Thomas Guide showing me where to go. I had to memorize the way to come to Deaf West for I will be traveling alone along the 5 till getting to Hollywood freeways and getting on Lankershim Blvd. for the acting program starting Thursday. As I drove along the street and seeking Deaf West Theatre, we found a small place to park along the side of the Theatre. Since we were here and figuring out where I would be able to park, we decided to get down and look around. Monica wanted to find a bathroom; so we went ahead and went inside Deaf West Theatre. There's the office manager asked if we were lost. I explained the situation about finding parking and so forth. She gave me ideas for Thursday of where to park. Meanwhile we needed to beckon to nature's call and the office manager led us to the restroom. Passing the Theatre's huge library and into the facilities, I began to take in awe the space of this theatre. We didn't get to see the main stage (but soon I will, soon) and as I came out of the restroom, in the main office there was the Director of Deaf West, Ed Waterstreet. I met him once before at the Deaf Expo in Ontario. It was a pleasure to see him again.

Ed Waterstreet, Artist Director

I talked with him about the Deaf West Theatre Acting Program. He helped answered some of my questions and comments. It was wonderful experience to talk with him. I was happy to talk to the "main man" behind the Deaf West Theatre Experience. Running into him was a wonderful experience and he let me know what the program would be like, what will be expected, and various other comments as we talked briefly. He was very nice person to talk to. So my visit down to North Hollywood on Lankershim Blvd was pretty neat, and now I am comfortable to know where exactly to go. As we were in the area, Monica's nephew and Candice's cousin, Eddie lived not far from Deaf West Theatre, so we went to visit him.

Overall, the drive from Costa Mesa, California to North Hollywood, Lankershim Blvd was not too bad. I know I will encounter some traffic. But it is all worth it yesterday as I ran into Ed Waterstreet, the Director and creator of Deaf West Theatre. It was such a blessing to have talked with him.

As you follow my Chronicles of Gilberto, I will blog more about my acting experiences with Deaf West Theatre. Look forward to a fun filled day for it's going to be the start of the program and the start of my dreams to be involved with Deaf West Theatre!

Soreson Video Phone - Technology Benefits the Deaf

Hello, I would like to talk about technology and how it has helped the Deaf in so many ways. With technology rapidly improving and becoming more mobile, the access to information and being in contact with others has greatly improved for all people, especially the Deaf. Back then, Deaf people have used what we called Telephone Devices for the Deaf (TDD) and it was a phone that connects to regular phone lines to talk to someone else who had a similar device. Then the usage of phone calls with TDDs has spread throughout the Deaf people's homes to that of nowadays Relay Operator. This service was to call businesses or other people who's households do not have the TDDs. In a three way converstations the Deaf would rely on a relay operator to relay conversation from person A to person C, while B was the relay operator. This service has greatly improved communication from households who had TDDs and others who didn't. Still, the TDDs were sometimes so slow, and the typing was so long. The conversations would be so slow and we had to type "GA" (Go Ahead) and "SK" (Stop Keying) to continue a conversation or end it. Now the recent expansion of Internet and communication via Instant Messsaging, ex: AIM, Yahoo IM, or MSN IM; the usage of TDDs haver greatly declined since the late 90's.

Now with the newfound technology of Internet and phonelines disappearing, the usage of wireless networks and cable lines has brought about faster technology communications. I believe with the wireless networks and the ever-changing computer technology we are only going to get faster and better. Sorenson has provided a faster and efficient way to communicate with others by a phone. A Video Phone (VP) and this technology replaces that of the TDD. Instead of text conversation which mainly we had to depend on literal transitions of communication by typing. While Deaf Culture relies on the communication of a visual language known as ASL (American Sign Language) we have relied on this medium of Internet and Video conferences. Thus, the web cams and the fast speed internet was a must for all Deaf people to have. But we needed a realiable phone system in case we had to call certain places that rely on phone contacts. So with this technology of video phones, Sorenson has provided the Sorenson VP -200 which I have in my living room. This amazing technology is similar to that of relay on TDDs or Internet through IP-Relay or any other services.

With Sorenson VP -200 I have enjoyed the amazing results of this video phone which is hooked up to my TV and current Internet provider through the cable lines. When someone calls me, the phone flashes and change the input channel to pick up the video image of a relay operator saying someone is calling me, and we connect and thus continue our conversation through ASL. There is not "GA" or "SK," and this feels more relaxing and a more casual converstation comes about. I enjoy my Sorenson VP and I know there are so many improvements being made out there. Especially with a company called "Purple Communications," which is now making a mobile video phone (MVP) and this will come out pretty soon for us Deaf people to actually have our own "cell phone" system that is like the Video Phone. I can't wait for this technology to come out. With the phone that I have now, I am able to stay in contact with Deaf friends, family, and businesses. The best part of a VP for Deaf people is that you can contact directly to another who has the same VP and just chat through video without a third party (relay operators), because after all with ASL being a visual language, we are all able to connect to the Deaf-World through a medium that was made for us. Through video phones we are able to stay in touch with the world.

Deaf West Theatre Acting Program

Hello you all, I am sorry for not posting anything lately. I have been busy at work, been working alot of hours at Disneyland -- recent places I worked at at Disneyland include Adventureland Bazaar, Main Street's China Closet, and Penny Arcade which is the Candy Place on Main Street. Mainly I have been working alot of hours at the Main Street Emporium and have been having fun there. I am enjoying the job at Disneyland and it shows that people still want to have fun with their money and they show up at the "Happiest Place on Earth." So thank God for a stable job and swarms of people from all over who just want to have a good family time. Soon there will be graduations coming up and this will mean late hours for those grads who want to celebrate a milestone in their lives. I remember mine back then in 1995 graduating from California School for the Deaf, Riverside (CSDR) high school. Man, what a blast I had at Disney's Grad Night, and now it's my turn to be on the other side serving our guests with the joys of their celebrations that they will soon graduate and enter the world with hopes and dreams like I did back then.

Speaking of hopes and dreams, I would love to Blog about my Big Dream coming into reality soon. On Easter Sunday, when we were getting ready to enter silence of respect and read our Bibles at home on a quiet Easter Day, I checked my email as usual and got some big news to share. One of my dreams is to join Deaf West Theatre as an actor. I got something close to that: I sent in an application to try for the Deaf West Theatre Acting program this spring and I got the email saying I am in! I am so excited for this opportunity. I noticed that the program will start NEXT WEEK! I am excited to begin this adventure on April 23rd which lasts till June 25, and it's a 10 -week course of learning about acting from the biggest and most popular Deaf Theatre in the country. I can't wait to drive down to North Hollywood and begin this wonderful experience. I will, of course, keep up with my blogs and as well as my Twitters to see what has been going on. Check out the website link to see what the whole program is about:

http://www.deafwest.org/outreach/training09.htm

The joys of acting is my passion, and it's one of my many dreams to be part of the Deaf West Theatre tradition, and being selected to be part of this program has been a wonderful surprise. Talk about discovering the biggest Easter Egg and discovering what was inside. This was my Easter Egg on this Easter holiday and I was glad to share the news with everyone that follows my blogs. The Chronicles of Gilberto has taken a wonderful surprising turn into an exciting opportunity that will unfold in weeks to come.