Luna Rosa a luna eclipse

A real quick note here. I am going to post some photos I have just taken of the Luna Rosa eclipse of the moon. I have a very basic digital camera so they are not great shots but I want to share them anyway. Of course NZ is the first country on earth to see the sun each calender day, and so I guess we are possibly the first country to get to witness this eclipse. It finished with a stunning coloured moon as if a red veil was shrouding it. Beautiful to behold and another reason to feel blessed.
Her are the photos in a form of sequence. I had to get to bed and so could not wait up to photograph the passing of the eclipse.
I shall get another post up in a few days as I would like to rave about some new found friends I have had the privilege of spending time with lately.


The beginning












FINI as they say at the end of french films!!!

a right royal Sir Ian McKellen, A japanese flag and drugs!!!

for some reason, not totally known to me even, this is how I currently look ...getting ready for a shakespeare maybe!!!




what I may look like if I was on drugs...


what I might look like if YOU'RE on drugs!

These photos were taken during a workshop on digital photography I attended in the weekend. When I saw these shots it was immediately apparent that this was the universe showing me something...maybe its time to stop the drugs!...not that I do drugs...hell no not me,...well not much..you know,..if at all... cause the clouds quite often look 3D even without drugs...if you know what I mean,..




Gidday, t'is now Tuesday 21st of august ( as you are probably aware august is the 8th month of the gregorian calender, however, this was not always the case!!!, originally august was named Sextilis, because it was the sixth month in the ancient Roman calendar. Then around 8 BC, while ol' Augustus was doing his conquering thing all over the place, sextilis was renamed after him, because several of the most significant events in his rise to power, culminating in the fall of Alexandria, happened in this month. Originally, August had 29 days, then along came Julius salad,... I mean Caesar salad,.. bugger I mean Julius Caesar, and lo and behold around 45 BC, Mrs Caesars boy Julius threw in a couple more days, giving august its present total of 31 days. Maybe George Bush might want to add a couple of days during his reign of terror.
Just in case you're into flowers or stones, August's flower is the gladiolus ( think Dame Edna Everage ), or poppy, and its birthstone is the peridot, sardonyx, or sapphire.
there ya bloody go!!!
Permit me if you will, to launch straight into a rave about a young fella by the name of... Sir Ian McKellen.
T'was during the filming of Lord Of The Rings, that I had the pleasure of spending time in this fine gentlemans company, on a number of occassions. These instances included sharing his makeup bus a couple of times ( he had the kick arse wig on the gig, well maybe a tie between his and Orlando Blooms, both the long white blondie styles,... but please!.... don't get me started on those poncey elves!!! ). It was also a priviledge to be invited to his abode in Wellington for lunch with a few others on one occassion. Then my last day of filming happened to coincide with Ian and Billy Boyds last days of shooting LOTR, so we were presented with swords by Mr P Jackson at the same function. I should confess Ian and Peter Jackson were probably the only two people I tended to withdraw into a form of "personality shell" around. Having wondered why the hell I was like that, I have deduced that it was because I was in so much in awe of them. Sounds strange to be saying that, but it's true. I really didn't feel like I had a lot to contribute to events in their company, they both seemed so onto it, as it were, and they both have such great intellects and wit, so I would tend to rabbit on to others ( not saying that the others were any less onto it!!! ) but that's the way it was, I would be as exciting as a piece of rock around these guys. I think I just felt humbled to be in their company,... or maybe I am part rock...
Why the rave? well on saturday night just gone, my wonderful agent Imogen Johnson managed to hussle a couple of tickets for me to get along and witness Sir Ian live on stage, here in Auckland, performing the role of King Lear as a member of the one and only Royal Shakespere Company. It was bloody superb to see this company in town, and at the after match function I got to meet up with a few of the actors who were all wonderfully down to earth, great people to chat with, in between sips of various liquids. However the big impact of the night was witnessing Ian McKellen do his thing on stage. Truely, I sat absolutely elated at times by his performance. As a performer, to sit there and watch what he was doing on stage, I felt I was in the company of someone who is a genius in their domain. I was overwhelmed at times with the desire to jump up and start acting right there and then...dangerous, as I was sitting in the front row of the balcony! You know how sometimes when you listen to certain music that gets you going, you just bust out a couple of lines, well I was in a packed 2,000 seat theatre and just wanted to bust out some the lines as Ian was doing them!!! Bloody brilliant,... thankyou Ian , thanks RSC, thanks Jacqui and Linden from the Edge, and most of all,... thanks Mum ( she wasn't there, but at this point, it just feels right to say thanks Mum! ).
If you want to see some photos of the after match function go here...http://www.wireimage.com/GalleryListing.asp?nbc1=1&navtyp=CAL====284828&ym=200708

And now for something totally unrelated,... I want to find out what this WW 11 japanese flag is about. Could anyone who can read Japanese or knows about Japanese insignia etc, let me know please. Take a look and contact me through this blog, or contact me at my website www.bruce-hopkins.com.


Finally, remember to stream www.radiolive.co.nz from 1am -6am NZ time and listen to me ( Les ) as part of The Dawn Patrol with Des and Les, we call oursleves the Duvet brothers...the warmest show on radio and in a bizarre twist of fate we happen to be the most listened to english speaking New Zealand talkback radio show in China ( over there they know us as the chen xi dao hang )...you can take part in the show by sending us emails at desandles@radiolive.co.nz.

That's it from me for now. Be responsible for your life, don't blame others and don't re-elect goverments who are comprised of dickheads!!!
As incredible creatures, this life and this world are ours for the taking if we so desire, there's actually enough for all of us. Don't be greedy, learn to share a little. Thanks Sir Ian and all the others at the RSC for sharing your talent.
night night..... if I snore roll me over or just give me a jab in the ribs.....ZZZzzzzzzzzz.........

Holy crap I'm Suing Hollywood!!!, and I took a bloody big blink

Holy crap!!!, either I just had one of the worlds longest blinks, or I am a damn lazy arse son of a gun! I just saw as I signed into my blogger account that my last post was done on the 27th November 2006....get outta here! I knew I was being slack as I have had many an intention to come on and write a blog,... but 8 months of intending added up to zip,nothing,zero!
Let my blatant procrastination be a warning to you all, zip,nothing,zero will be the sum total of your efforts if they remain in the intention basket, without placing them into the action basket at some point in time.
It's damn fine to be back writing blah blah blah, even if no one sees it, it is satisfying to finally being tapping away again.

Maybe some of you who read this have linked through from another site that was related to Peter Jacksons Lord Of The Rings trilogy of films. For those of you who have come here via that route, I shall just do a brief blah about the action I have instigated in suing New Line Cinema, in relation to the merchandise clause in my contract, as an actor in the films.

One saturday morning about 2 months ago, I received a phone call informing me there were some media who would like to interview me regarding the filing of a lawsuit I had instigated, in the LA Superior Court. I had known this was the direction we were heading but did not know the time frame so it came as bit of a surprise that we had got to this point.
I have actually been working on the case myself over the last 2 yrs during which time I approached an LA based entertainment lawyer, Phillip Rosen. I was advised to approach NZ actors who I thought may have the same merchandising clause in their contracts. I followed through, and I must say I met a lot of cynicism and resistance, however finally a number of actors and agents came on board.
After a lengthy period and numerous approaches, with no replies from New Line, Phillip informed me the next course of action was to instigate litigation. He duely approached a highly regarded litigation lawyer in LA, Henry Gradstein.
This action is only happening because along with my agent, Imogen Johnson, I had made an enquiry to New Line about a clause I had read in my contract, stating my right to conditional residual payments for merchandise bearing my character, Gamlings, likeness. After 8 months of communications New Line supplied a document that had essentially no detail and which informed me that the merchandising of my characters likeness had created a six figure loss to them. I quite simply refuse to believe this, without being shown evidence of how these figures were attained. Due to a discrepancy in the wording between the initial contract and the document outlining the financials, I decided to further my enquiry.
Both Phillip Rosen, my initial lawyer and contact, and Henry Gradstein took this case on, on a contingency basis. Without their generosity of spirit, there is no way our group of 15 NZ actors could ever have sought clarity in this matter.
I would also like to state that I have not taken this action lightly or because of some feeling that I have been hard done by. Nor have I taken it in relation to any actions Peter Jackson has entered into in with New Line.
I had been amazed to see this clause in my contract to begin with and so, many years later, when I had seen the astounding financial success of the films in both the box office and the merchandising streams, I decided to instigate my enquiry.
The taking of this action is not about a bearing a grudge, nor does it reflect any diminishing of the absolute joy and gratitude I experienced in every single moment of my involvement in the making of the Lord Of The Rings trilogy. This action is simply about addressing discrepancies in the information new Line has provided us with to date.
I trust this provides a little more insight into what is going on.
There ya bloody go!
By the way I read a very good article on TheOneRing.net that a spokesperson for New Line who chose to remain anonymous ( always a sign of courage on the wane!!! ), that we were being essentially greedy as New Line poured alot into this country during the making of LOTR. All well and good, however they forgot or decided to leave out the bit about getting in as the last film company to exploit a tax loop hole which meant that had the Lord Of The Rings trilogy flopped...heaven forbid!... the New Zealand tax payer would have picked up the tab, and New Line stood to lose a mere $20 million on the whole deal. Not a bad gamble on a countrys' tax paying population!!!
No matter what transpires, and I am told it will be at least another 11 months before any court decisions are looked at, what has already taken place has been a wonderful lesson for me. I feel like I am being true to myself. In the world of film, unless you are an A list actor who has created their own production company and therefore can call for projects, the life of an actor is often fraught with insecurity and this can lead to a willingness to allow yourself to be majorly compromised in many ways. As a result of deciding to stand up on this issue and seek redress I have gained a huge sense of self respect. The fact that I have also created an opportunity for the other actors to stand and be acknowledged makes it even more rewarding.
There you go. Much has happened and continues to happen.
I revently had the absolute pleasure of seeing a band called the Checks perform 2 gig here in Auckland. They are mates of my eldest son, and have spent over a year recording their first album in London. The album is about to launch, ...get it!!! Despite still being only 19-20 yrs of age these guys are so bloody good it is a little dumbfounding. I have seen pretty much all their gigs in NZ since they were aged about 17. I get inspired by witnessing such talent. They are bloody nice guys as well.
Have a look at their myspace page, http://www.myspace.com/thechecks, and listen to some tracks.
Currently I'm listening in the university lecture theatre that is my car, to a great CD set by James Arthur Ray, he of The Secret, this is a perfect follow up to other material I have been listening to and reading for inspiration.
Also I am starting to hang out for the release of one of the worlds most anticipated playstation 3 games, HEAVENLY SWORD. I got to take part in the making of this game and if the result in any way reflects the wonderful experience it was working on it, then this will be a winner. Google Ninja Theory, a UK company who are the creators of the game.
Meanwhile out in the real world, we are facing some wierd human behaviour at present, be it Mr G Bush Jnr trying to get morphined hostpital patients to sign over major responsibilities!!! wake up America!...( tune in to Air America in iTunes for a little light on whats going on without attracting the public attention!!! its scarey )... or be it here in NZ where we have too many of our young ( new born to 4-5 yr olds ) children being tortured and beaten to death by family members...that's right..here in paradise there is a sickness that is not very pleasant to behold.Where ever we are, we each have a responsibilty to be in charge of our own lives, which then frees us to make our own choices, when this is armed with knowledge and fuelled by compassion, we can be damn powerful bipeds.
Every day its a choice as to what your day will be. I have a brazillian friend Marcello who has taught me to look make the choice that "its a beautiful day and a beautiful life". Low and behold it tends to work!!!
I'm gone I'll get back sooner than 8 months next time, till then stand for yourself, then you can really make a difference for others,....sorry I thought I was Mahatma Ghandi or Martin Luther King for a second there!
From New Zealand, here are a couple of views over Auckland City, from my bedroom window in a house I moved into 3 months ago.... I feel a little of what Suaron must have felt, looking out on the lands from on high!!!
I'm a goneburger