Artistically Yours.

Another Sunrise, Nairobi Style.

Greetings readers, how have ya'll been? Hope you've all been good. How was summer? Was good for me did a lot of stuff, was super busy and happy for the most part. Met lots of amazing peeps, Actors, actresses, Directors, Producers, name them...

Kudos to the 2000 plus readers from all over the world. The US of A is upping its game,(Y'all better vote for Obama, btw) Kenya holding it down as always, The French are showing some love, as is their nature, in conjuntion with the russians, lovers of vodka. Swiss are watching, checking their watches, Australians are drinking and toasting, and Canadians are traveling, Guns on the ready, but rarely used, unlike the Americans...

Artistically. Oxford dictionaries describes this as sensitive and appreciative to art and beauty. So thats what Ive been up to for the last six weeks. Appreciating the art and beauty that lies hidden in each and every one of us. Ive acting, writing, modelling (sorta), and directing is to come pretty soon. I am currently to begin my degree course at kenyatta University, B.A Film technology and Theater arts

I have always been a student of the arts. Since the first time I ever acted. I remember it like it was yesterday. I was 12 years old, final year primary school. It was an English lesson, role playing. There was no script. I was to play a drunk irresponsible father who'd gotten home to his starving wife and children. was rather funny since I was supposedly drunk, and my wife was 4' inches taller than I. I could have been beaten up any time #nyeristyle but luckily it didn't happen. At the end, Id fallen in love with acting...

 Every professional actor needs a professional headshot and true to this, I had mine taken at Gash Studios, Bishan Plaza, Westlands. Booked by Gerald Langiri, the actor and administrator of kenyan acting information website  www.actors.co.ke , link provided. The shoot went well and yes here is the photo. Please note the stubble of hair in roughly the same region as where a beard ought to be., hehe..


If you are a Director, Producer,Writer, or Actor, looking for provision of acting and writing services and also  interested in an ally in the professional world of art, dont hesitate to contact me. Email me at   dennisvongichuki@gmail.com


I took an acting class three weeks ago, at Acting for Cinema training Workshop. Actors are the most interesting people alive. I mean, its our job to keep you interested, the same way its the DJ's job to keep you partying. So an acting class is the most interesting class ever. With desk mates like Faith Kybathy, Haroun Risa, transport by Molline 'Mololine' Dove and camera men like Erick Muriuki, what more could one ask for? It was hosted by Director Neil Schell and Actress Nini Wacera.Was a mind blowing experience. Neil has acted in movies such as A-team and watchmen and TV series like Fringe. Locally, he has Directed TV series such as Saints and higher Learning. And guess who is going to direct feature film My Life In Crime, the movie based on John Kiriamiti's book? No its not Christopher Nolan, Its Neil Schell. I am thoroughly convinced that done with Neil's level of perfection, This will be an Oscar winning Film. I am very intrested in providing acting services for My Life In Crime  Jack Zollo Is Back!!! 

L-R. Nini Wacera, Dean Gichukie, Neil Schell.

Chalk Graffiti in the Background done by Haroun Risa.

 
 Yesterday was the sixteenth anniversary of the death of Tupac Shakur, The greatest Rapper Ever. He achieved so much, at the age of 25. His music still resonates with todays generation 16 years later. And to celebrate his life and legacy, ill leave you with three photos to commemorate his life. The three are, in my consideration among his most powerful words. True, Life is a wheel of fortune, and Its my Turn to spin it. Wether were black or White, It doesn't matter. Coz were Human.

 I Attended a script writing symposium hosted by Dwayne Johnson Cochran, hollywood writer and Director, at the Kenya National theatre, Ukumbi Mdogo. Facilitators of the event were Hot sun Foundation represented by Pamela Collet and Kenya Film Commision. It was an eye opener, into this amazing industry, of telling stories. At The end of the day, after all the sweat and hard work, I'm doing one simple thing. Telling Stories.

Relaxing, on set. Lies that bind

Shooting on the set of 'lies that bind'. Was a rather interesting experience since it was my first time on set.Had a rather interesting role, that of a political goon. Okay, before you inform Mr Kibunjia that this writer is spreading hate speech, slow down, take a deep breath and let me explain. A political goon is one of those guys who storm the political meetings held by their employers opposition. In this case, it was a 'kina mama' harambee. I know, I'm not helping my case but I had a lot of fun considering its not everyday I get to storm meetings, hehe. Later I got the chance to network with my fellow actors and even took tea, provided by the above mentioned kina mama. Moral of the story, its never that serious.

The tana massacre has shocked each and every one of us. Tana river is gushing with blood. Over 100 killed in the most macarbe circumstances in three bouts of madness in one month. Children are among those killed, and their only crime' that took them to an early grave is being seen to be tomorrow's warriors. Also killed are hapless women and old men, entrapped in their homes by gun wielding raiders whose mission is to ring them in their homes  so that the hatchet mencan strike those fleeing their bursts of gunfire at the doorstep. Lets say a prayer, a silent one, that the bloodshed may cease.




Nairobi Half Life. The one Film that is changing the Kenyan Movie scene. The story of  Mwas (Joseph Wairimu) of A young aspiring actor from upcountry Kenya dreams of becoming a sucess in the big city. In pursuit of this and to the chagrin of his brother and parents, he makes his way to Nairobi, the city of opportunity. Veteran actors such as Nini Wacera, Mugambi Nthiga and Eddy Kimani rub shoulders with the new and equally talented Nancy Wanjiku and Wilfred Olwenya who plays Oti. Sadly, I have not (yet) watched the movie. But I have watched the trailer and bugged enough of my friends about it to consider myself a worthy fan.It won best actor award, for Joseph Wairimu's portrayal of Mwas, at the Dublin International Film Festival. Kudos to David 'Tosh' Gitonga, the director, and

TOOT THY OWN HORN

To all artists, to all achievers, and everyone who wants to build him/herself in this new age. You will get Fans, acquaintances, Worshipers, Admirers, stalkers, critics, haters, and all sort of personalities in this industry, some good, some bad. Some loyal, some evil. But you are not allowed to EVER, EVER   



                                                                 
                                                                  Have a lovely day. 

A film-able day.

Yours,
Dean Gichukie.

You Only Live Once

Child: Dad, when do I start getting an allowance...?
Grandpa: You want a what??? I ALLOW you to live under MY house, Eat my food, Breathe my air, I allow you to live!!! What more do you want... Ungrateful n*****
Son:.........

Only on boondocks, season 3...

Good morning readers. How you doing? Am good, hope you are too. No food poisoning, hangovers or beaten up faces? Good...

New readers from New Zealand, Canada, Philippines, Australia, Switzerland and Pakistan. And a very high Increase in Swiss, Latvia and USA views. Welcome one, welcome all. P.S Look for your country's flag among the below....

Last Weekend, but several... Had an amazing Friday. No classes at all so went with a couple of chics and dudes to Tric, hitting them X Box 360's all morning (the only way to play mortal kombat) took a quick lunch and sheeshad the afternoon away at zaytoons. To crown it all off, deejay-ed at a friends graduation party. Congrats Wahu! Proud of yew... Had an unforgettable time, which brings me to today topic...

                                                                

We only live once. That's easy to understand. Question is, was there any danger of people thinking otherwise? Life is short. Too short. Just a couple of years ago you were sucking on your thumb,the same size as a mature chicken and your whole vocabulary was "mama". I ain't kidding. 70 years, average lifespan, is not that long. Okay, so maybe it not that short either but you get my point. And so should Jay Z, rapping bout "forever young". I hope you're wiser now since you've got a 6 month old baby.


Like Drake rapped,

 "You only live once: that’s the motto nigga YOLO

We bout it every day, every day, every day

Like we sittin’ on the bench, nigga we don’t really play

Every day, every day, f-ck what anybody say

Can’t seem em cause the money in the way,

Real nigga wassup"

 Live a little. All men are alive, not all of them live. Why was man made? Not to procreate silly, but to enjoy Gods creations. X Box 360 may not be 100% "Made in heaven" but am sure at some point after toiling all day, The lord would have wanted us to relax, blow of steam (not really sheesha smoke but am diversifying). Cos life is tough, and if it wasn't, it wouldn't be worth living. Put in a different way...

Smart peeps recognize fellow smart peeps. The only ones ignored or irrelevant are those standing still their entire life. Life's too short...thinking and planning and thinking and planning, and thinking of planning, and planning on thinking, and thinking of doing something?...Just do it dammit! You'd rather live a life of "oh well's", "at least i know that cant work" ,than a life of "what if's". "Maybe" and the parents/teachers/lecturers favorite, "I WISH I KNEW."

So live your life, right now, cos tomorrow might , NO!, tomorrow WILL be too late...  





YOLO should be a motto, inscribed on everyone's forehead at birth, naturally of course. Imagine the agony of a baby being tattooed. And like every coin, (Even those huge Kibaki ones), YOLO has two sides...

• Side A. You have one life, so don't waste it living a life so boring It makes monks look like rave kings. Have fun, do dangerous stuff,  like bungee jumping or skydiving. Flirt, drink, if you want to smoke be my guest I aint telling you to, sleep around(am also not advising any one on that). Get a tattoo, of angel wings on tour back or a grasshopper on your arm, hehe. Do crazy stuff  for one reason and one reason only, that you want to. Rebel against normalcy every so often.Pump up your adrenaline, believe me, you'll know when your pumped...

• Side B.(This is the part where I sound like an old-fashioned parent). In the process of having fun, do not kill yourself. You do not stop living as a Nun on Thursday and on Friday you're jumping (read parachuting)off planes at 8000 feet, you will probably not make it to the ground. (Warning: If you shit yourself or mess up in the process of doing any of the above, do not refer to this blog as your advisor. I will deny to my last breath!)

May you do stuff with your life that you will be proud of when you're on your death bed and your family is around you (If youll have one) crying and you smile as you remember both the good and not so good times...
 
So here's a toast, to Life! To life,*clinking of glasses* , to Life. May we all never regret any decisions we make and live life to the fullest.YOLO! YOLO!! YOLO!!! YOLO!!! OK, you can stop saying YOLO now!

YOLO!YOLO! yolo!  yolo! YOLO! YOLO! yolo, yolo! STOP IT!!! YOLO! YOLO! yolo! yolo! YOLO!YOLO!

*Angel voice* Please dont say YOLO again, PLEASE DONT!!!
*Devil voice* Say it! Just one more time! Cmon!

“You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.”
― Mae West        


Have An amazing week.

 Live life.

Yours,

Dean.

SPAIN V ITALY :THE AFTERMATH

Last night, Spain vs Italy. Final score, 4-0 to Spain. Was a good game. Spain played very well, perfectly. Every shot was calculated. Every pass counted, clinical precision. Defense was amazing. Balloteli couldn't get space to bendover and pull up his socks, let alone score a goal. Man of the match should have been Cassilas, (the only reason Italy dint win). Hes one of the best keepers in the world, and he proved it last night, though we really would have appreciated if you'd let one slip by....Anyway,as we all know, every good team has a but...

The Spain part of the game was boring!!! No hating, just the truth. So yeah, their game was picture perfect, big deal. And yes, the first goal was awesome, no competition. But it was one of the most uninteresting teams Ive ever watched. The passes were great, good for them. Thats just about it. There were no risks taken, no spectacular shots, no amazing on the ball moves(except when Fabregas made some defender dance back and forth like a puppet. Beautiful), no great tackles But for Italy, it was a different story...

The shots were amazing, breathtaking. The kind of shots that make your leg jump as if ur the one kicking(hitting yourself in the process, of course). And again cassilas stops it, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again(I could go on all day and night)... But to Italy's credit, Cassilas has not had those many shots on target in a single game for the whole tournament. I'm feeling sorry for those readers who aren't soccer fans, just bear with me. The way Italy played against Britain was amazing, but Its understandable if it doesn't happen twice... I have always believed that the only time a man should cry is 1.At his mothers funeral ,but I can add a number 2.When he loses an international final and isnt feeling very "manly"... Balloteli, this time your excused...

PREDICTION TIME: This is probably the last time that Spain are winning an international tournament. Unless they come to the African Cup of nations(where they'll win for 15 years straight), this is it. When Barcelona (The team, not the city, soccer haters) started winning, Spain followed suit very soon after. After barca lost the champions league, their reign ended and very soon, so will Spain. Looking at how Portugal rattled them in the semi finals, (I can just picture ronaldo rattling their hair off)this is the beginning of their end. Everyone will figure their passing... And I am not to be quoted in case I am wrong. Where I come from they don't teach "fortune teller" in the local polytechnic(though I doubt Id have studied it.) Superstition aint my thang...

 Barcelona was stopped when Chelsea discovered how to stop Messi,hehe...

Balloteli has come of age.When he scored those two goals against Germany cos his mother was in the crowd was a very big sign. A big loss like last nights will teach humility and the pressure of such a big game will build him up.Perfecto combination. All I can say is, Watch this guy...

Too many pics of men on the blog. For interests of massaging sore eyes,  Heres a little eye candy, Maybe a lot for yall, Here's Nickiiiiii Minaaaaj, hehe

 In other news, Yohan Blake beats Usain Bolt again in both the 100m and 200m. The worlds fastest man is second, twice in three days! We'll, bolt isn't 100% fit. Hopefully he will be in time for the Olympics. And unveil a new dance while he's at it. Maybe a chicken dance or something hehe,and get blake to do it too... This is going to be one interesting year...

Stay Fit.

Yours Truly

Dean