Kenney Myers

Author | Actor | Producer | Kickboxer | Entrepreneur

Catch All

How to Fix Visual Studio .NET Pre-release Problems When Switching Computers

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So I ran into an unusual problem recently.  I had a Razer gaming notebook that I was using as my primary computer and building a Blazor application (see Blazor.net).  This is Microsoft’s answer to single page applications like angular, react, etc.  It’s actually fantastic but being pre-release it is constantly in a state of flux.  Okay so before you lecture me on the dangers of bleeding edge development … I don’t really care because it is totally worth it to be able to use c# in my web pages.  Okay, so back to where the problem comes into play.  My razer’s battery started to significantly swell and effectively got so big it cracked the case and warped the keyboard.  My fear there was that it would explode and/or catch on fire.  So I had to get another computer because as a developer I cannot wait for Razer to fix it.

I purchased a new Asus Rog Strix (yes I like gaming notebooks) and started loading it up.  I got the latest preview of Visual Studio 2019 and the stable Visual Studio 2019.  I also inadvertently in doing that got the latest pre-release version of .net core 3.0 (preview 8).  My application is working off of preview 6 and no matter what I tried to do through uninstalling the preview Visual Studio kept using preview 8.  It was super frustrating to say the least.  The uninstaller provided by Microsoft simply does not remove the files.

After over a week of messing around with it I found a solution.  You literally have to go to explorer and the c:\Program Files\dotnet directory and search for preview8 (or whatever one you actually want to remove) and then one by one you must delete those folders and files until there are no more names preview8.  After you do that and make sure you have whatever preview you want installed then your project will build and run as expected.

So the lesson learned here is that when you are a developer using Microsoft preview versions and you have to switch computers you need to be very careful with what you install.  You also need to inventory the versions you have on your old build machine just to make sure you actually have the same environment on your new computer.  Otherwise, you will be forced to update and migrate your code potentially mid-project and multiple times.  It’s risky to be working with previews in the first place but if you find yourself in the same situation hopefully this helps you a bit.

Finally, just so we don’t give Razer a bad name here for their swollen battery.  They did offer to replace the battery and keyboard if I ship the computer to them (which I can now do since I can build my project again).  So, for a modest fee I will be able to get the Razer back as well.  That said, I’ll probably stick with the Rog for a while.

 

How to Use Technology to Learn Lines for Auditory Learners

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So as many of you know that follow me my main job is as a software developer and general tech gadget nerd. When I throw myself into anything I tend to go “all-in”. I also strive to always find good ways to leverage technology to solve real world problems. Lately, this has applied a lot to acting. As I strive to improve as an actor I wanted to reach a point where any script I was working on just flowed naturally for me. So in addition to the rehearsal mobile app I wrote I decided for my current film I was going to try auditory learning methods as well. If you are a person that learns through listening and you want to act this could be very helpful for you. In addition, if you are like me and learn things through various ways then this is still useful (you’ll have to try it to believe me though).

So the current feature that I am working on is a Christmas Film called Ivy & Mistletoe and it was a perfect one to try this new technique out on.  I’ll give you the cliff notes to what I did here first:

  1. I grabbed all of the scenes from the script that had my character in them and copied the text from the script to the clipboard.
  2. I pasted each scene one by one into a program called Line Buddy (any text-to-speech tool would work).  As a developer I could have written my own program for this but I found Line Buddy to work perfectly.
  3. I formatted the script for Line Buddy and assigned each role a specific computerized voice that was pitch appropriate.
  4. I then recorded the playing of the script using a program called Capto.
  5. I then exported that movie to a .mov file and imported it into Filmora.
  6. I downloaded royalty-free instrumental only background music from the web.
  7. I added the background music to a separate track in Filmora to layer in the audio background noise.
  8. I then exported that to another movie format (any will do).
  9. Finally I converted that movie format to a .mp3 for playing in iTunes and my android MP3 player.

Okay, that sounds pretty terrible I know but it is certainly worth it.  The result gave me a way to constantly play something in the background while working, driving, exercising, or even sleeping.  The background music was set to a lower level than the text so it provided some noise cancellation without being overly distracting.  The music I picked was also Christmas music which further set the mood/tone for maximizing the auditory learning experience.

I obviously cannot use or share the script that we are actively in production on but I can provide you with a similar example.  If you think this is interesting let me know and I can kick around developing it into a more usable one-stop application.  Of course you can easily do all of this with a variety of available tools and a little bit of effort on your part.

SAG – My Journey and Why I Decided to Join

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Whenever someone finds out that you are an actor or have done acting jobs there are a handful of questions that are inevitable 1) are you on Netflix (where can I see you) 2) are you a member of SAG?  I’m not sure why people seem so interested in whether you are a member of the screen actors guild or not but it’s VERY frequently asked.  In general, my response has been I have done work that makes me eligible but up until this month (January 2019) I had not joined.  Here are some of the reasons why I had not joined:

  1. I wanted to build up a decent acting resume before joining.  Since it is significantly easier to find non-union work I wanted to wait until I had a couple of dozen productions under my belt before joining SAG.
  2. Up until this month no production companies had expressed an interest in me being a part of SAG.  While I could have skipped it, knowing it was important to them coupled with having some experience on my resume helped me decide to move forward.
  3. It’s not cheap to join SAG and as you may or may not be aware acting jobs do not pay super well (or consistently).  So while my day job as a software developer does pay I wanted to make sure that there was a financial return on my investment for joining the union.
  4. A lot of jobs in the Houston area are non-union so I wanted to wait until I had more National jobs and/or a specific goal in mind (I now have both of those covered).

In my opinion to join or not join SAG is a personal decision that each actor needs to make based on their own circumstances.  Whether I made the right decision or not is way too early to tell but if you are trying to decide, here are some videos that might help you take a decision:

  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iV1gCpThbPw – Wendy Alane Wright, The Hollywood Talent Manager provides some solid advice on when to join SAG and the difference between SAG Eligible and Must Join.  It’s a little more about timing than it is whether you should join or not.  She does say “set aside money to join SAG because eventually you will need to.”  She also says your resume should be full before you join so that you can compete with the best of the best.
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Qec-vIH5UU from The Acting Resource Guru.  Provides three things to think about 1) where are you in your craft? 2) What is your on-set experience? 3) How much is on your resume? How much footage do you have?
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jw_bsynwu8Q this one tells you quite a bit about what the union does for its members.  Which helps you understand more about why you should join SAG and finally how you join.
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8S4bzsHcYIs this video is really just a commercial for their workshop but the interesting point that it makes is know the industry in your area.  Are there union jobs around you?
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEKojxchH58 this is actually just a hilarious video about what his experience was with joining SAG on very short notice.  Humor me.  This is a great distraction if you are just trying to decide to join or not join ha!
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOduSHxPxBM This one is from Amy Jo Berman and she is a well known acting coach and casting director.  She also talks about knowing your market because a lot of markets across the U.S. are heavily skewed toward non-union jobs.

So now, let’s talk about the process to join SAG and what was that like (at least for me).  For me it was a multi-step process that looked something like the following:

  1. I submitted a SAG agreement that I had signed for a new media project (Chosen Kin) to the appropriate SAG-AFTRA email (newmedia@sagagtra.org).  Now I did this over the holidays so it took a week or so for them to get back to me.
  2. They sent me an employment verification form.  I added the dates I worked on the project (for the contract submitted) and attached the call sheets for that project.
  3. I also had a very kind-hearted and amazing producer reach out to SAG on my behalf to vouch for me (somewhere throughout this process).
  4. The New Media group over at SAG notified me that my employment was confirmed and that I needed to call the membership group to setup an appointment or get the full application.
  5. I called them and answered a few questions (did I want a State or National membership) and then they told me the amount and sent over about a dozen pages for me to read and fill out.
  6. I completed all of those things and then had to fax that all back to SAG.
  7. They then contacted me to let me know that someone already in SAG had a similar name to mine and that I needed to add my middle name or initial to proceed.  This is known as the “SAG name game” in the industry.  They do this to make sure there is no confusion for acting jobs, royalties, etc.  So it’s actually really important and just something you have to clear.
  8. Finally, they processed the paperwork and charged my card for the membership fees and first quarter dues and I was done!

Okay, so I kind of touched on this but I found another reason you may want to join SAG sooner rather than later is if you have a super strong preference for your name a certain way.  If you do then you may want to lock that in because it has to be unique (phonetically unique).  So in my case any derivatives of Kenney (ken, Kenny, Kenneth) made my name not unique.  It’s not a super big deal though so don’t freak out and join just for that reason it’s just another possible factor.

So this may or may not be useful or interesting to other actors or my friends and family but I just wanted to write this up before it becomes ancient history.  I’m actually excited to begin 2019 as a part of SAG and working on some really interesting projects (Little Cupid, New Dogs Old Tricks season 2, and a couple more surprises).  I’m super fortunate to have some great friends in the industry and none of it would be possible without my friends and family supporting me (I need every bit of help I can get).  Thanks again for reading about my SAG adventure!

How I Got Rid of “Old Man” Aches & Pains

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I have always worked out and tried to keep in fairly decent shape.  That said, after 40 I started to suffer from chronic aches and pains.  It got to the point where it was hard to get up from a seated position or even to reach down and tie my shoes some mornings.  I usually loosened up some over the course of the day but things like getting in and out of the car and other simple tasks just weren’t as easy as they used to be.  Keep in mind that I wasn’t really overweight and I was staying active so I thought I was doing all the right things.  That was until I found out that some of the workouts I was doing were actually making me have some of the aches and pains.  I switched to fasted exercises every morning and functional body weight exercises twice a day (most days).  I cut out cardio and ADDED some carbs back to my diet and it made all the difference.

Morning Routine (10-15 Minutes of Exercise)

So by far the biggest difference for me is getting up (3:45am) and doing fasted exercises (working out after sleeping and at least 5 hours since eating anything).  There are a lot of different exercises that you can do but I do the following for about 15 minutes pretty much right after I wake up:

  • Scissor Crunches – 15 of these (1 per side, both sides)
  • Sumo Squat Crunches – 15
  • Seated Thrusts – 15
  • Shoulder Tap Planks – 15 (1 per side, both sides)
  • High Knee Taps – 15

I usually get through that routine 3-4 times (it’s not about speed but slow, controlled movements).  You can swap out a number of different types of crunches, squats, and planks to not get bored.  The important thing is to get your motor running first thing and to get your body warmed up for the day.

Eating Throughout The Day

Breakfast – So in the morning I usually have egg whites on tortillas or oatmeal with almond butter in it.  Just don’t go crazy on breakfast and keep it reasonably clean.  I am striving for a bit of protein and yes some carbs first thing after my fasted workout.

Lunch – My lunch generally consists of chicken, brown rice, and some broccoli.  I can just as easily do a wheat wrap with chicken breast and veggies as well.  In general it’s clean eating but I do eat some carbs just better carbs (no fries, chips, etc.).

Dinner – My dinner is usually meat and veggies.  I may sometimes have brown rice again but the main thing I try to get in is some meat (protein) and veggies.

Snacks – I generally snack on almonds, walnuts, pecans or some other kind of nut.  I try to avoid peanuts and cashews though as much as I can.

Coffee – black with some truvia or some sort of no calorie sugar substitute.  Actually eating clean is easy for me but not drinking cream in my coffee is a challenge (I don’t do it though as much as I love it).

Fruit – I’ll eat it but try to stick to berries (strawberry, blueberry, etc.).

Evening Routine – Longer Workout

So 4 or 5 times a week I add a longer evening workout routine.  This is generally speaking some sort of tabata with body weight exercises.  I have A LOT of different routines that I do but I’ll give you one example one (all of this is without resting).

  • 30 seconds (shoulder tap planks)
  • 30 seconds (scissor crunches)
  • 30 seconds (shoulder tap planks)
  • 30 seconds (lateral lunges)
  • 30 seconds (shoulder tap planks)
  • 30 seconds (sumo squat crunches)
  • 30 seconds (shoulder tap planks)
  • 30 seconds (three punch combo with knee)
  • 30 seconds (shoulder tap planks)
  • 30 seconds (burpees)

REPEAT 5 TIMES

Once I am done with that I’ll generally do a plank tabata or some other type of ab work (honestly I only do this extra work about 2 times a week).  It’s important though because I have found that planks are one of those things that you lose endurance for pretty fast if you don’t do them regularly.

My Results

For me, making all of these changes and dropping the heavy cardio or lifting exercises I had been doing helped me lean out considerably (close to single digit body fat percentage).  In addition most of the aches and pains I used to experience are gone.  So for me it’s nice to look better but the real value is in feeling better.  Those aches and pains can really get old and completely change your attitude.  For me, I have to credit the fasted exercises in the morning a lot but I’m sure my diet and evening exercises help as well.  I don’t know if this will work for you or not, but I suspect it won’t hurt most to give it a shot and see how they feel and/or how it goes.

 

 

 

 

 

How to Be The Committed Actor That Everyone Loves to Work With

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So I was on set yesterday and came across something that in indie film (especially ultra low budget) has happened quite a few times to me.  We had a lead actor no show.  In this case we were able to power through and the director dutifully stepped up to play the part (which made for quite the challenge for her).  However, in many other cases this resulted in delays (usually several hours), last minute scene changes, and other scrambling.  Most directors and production companies seem to be used to these types of issues and they just power through them.  Which leads me to my point and that is that when you commit to a film (verbally or in writing) just commit to it.  Don’t just say you will do something and then cancel the moment something better comes along.  In the short-term you may have a better gig but in the long run word will get out and you just won’t get as many opportunities.

I guess it’s hard for me to relate to this because when I make a commitment to a production I honor that commitment (unless I am physically unable to for some reason).  So yesterday I also received a way better offer to be on an episode of a national TV show.  I declined because it wouldn’t work well within my other commitments to these ultra low budget productions.  You know what?  The director completely understood and was open to giving me another chance for a future episode (he was okay because I was honoring my commitments).  In the end, you have to be an actor that people can count on.  If another director or even your agent encourages you to break commitments, then my recommendation would be to break ties with them instead.

8 Ways to Simply Honor Your Acting Commitments

  1. Be easy to communicate with, check and respond to emails, texts, and other communication from the production team.  The more prompt you can be the better.
  2. Be on any conference calls or meetings that the director calls (again I have experienced this multiple times where actors just skip meetings).  Ironically, those that skip are usually the ones that complain about lack of communication.
  3. If you have rehearsals, be there.  Every chance you can show the director that you are easy to work with, reliable, and seeking direction for your role, the better it will work out for everyone.
  4. Confirm your call times with the director or production assistant and just be sure they know as soon as possible of any time conflicts so they can plan accordingly.  If you haven’t received the call sheet the night before your scene, contact them proactively to nail everything down.
  5. Show up before your call time to run scripts and just reduce the stress on the whole team (it’s way better to be the person waiting than the person everyone is waiting on).
  6. Show up knowing your character, knowing your lines, and just prepared to deliver.  Nobody wants to have to do tons of takes because you don’t know your part.  Do the work in advance and be ready.
  7. Don’t be difficult on set.  When you are on set it’s not about you it’s about creating the best production possible.  Don’t ruin that by being a pain to anyone.
  8. When you are done help clear out as best you can or at a minimum pick up after yourself and clear out after thanking the director and the whole team.

All of this really can be summed up by just being professional.  Filming is hard work whether it is an ultra low budget production or a major motion picture.  Show appreciation for what everyone is doing and try your best to just go with the flow.  Most importantly, just be present (physically AND mentally) at all times and you will be good to go!

 

 

 

Learn to Solve the Rubik’s Cube in Six Steps

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Have you ever wondered how long it took someone to learn how to solve the Rubik’s cube?  Maybe you felt like it was some supernatural gift that some people have and some people just don’t … like the ability to climb buildings (spider man) or the ability to be bullet proof (Luke Cage).  I set out on a mission to learn the Rubik’s cube and I decided the way I would do it would be to set a goal of solving the cube at least once every day for 30 days.  I figured that if I was able to accomplish that then I would indeed have finally mastered this task dispelling the myths and legends and/or finally obtaining this magical superpower.

So as an immediate disclaimer this is NOT a speed cubing article nor is that an objective that I have out of the gate … so this article will NOT cover techniques to allow you to solve the cube in under 10 seconds.  You will however with this method be able to solve the cube in under 5 minutes (usually much faster but you get the point).  I do believe though since this is the traditional method of solving the cube that most people should start with this technique and then graduate on to speed cubing after mastering the basics (this is a walk before you run kind of thing).

If you are like me you will have already explored many YouTube videos and maybe an online course or two where you saw all kinds of crazy notation that you had no hope of ever remembering.  So that gibberish is actually a real thing and you WILL want some form of notation.  My only modification to what most courses teach is you to tell you to just come up with one that is meaningful to you and that you can remember.  You are not going to be judged on your ability to remember F and F prime.  People will only care that you figured out how to solve the cube and whatever notation you use is really temporary until your muscle memory kicks in anyway and you are solving the cube on autopilot (that said I will show you the notation that I used).

Some online courses I have watched and reviewed on Udemy (I am not affiliated with Udemy but I take dozens of courses there every year) in the order of which they helped me:

  1. https://www.udemy.com/solve-rubiks-cube-in-6-easy-steps/ – this is essentially the original technique and the course that got me finishing the cube.
  2. https://www.udemy.com/simplerubixcube/ – also a very good course with an engaging instructor – you might like this one better
  3. https://www.udemy.com/solve-3×2-2×2-rubiks-cube-with-just-one-simple-algorithm/ – this is another useful one and it heavily uses the notations that I mentioned above
  4. Search Udemy for more (I could list them all but the above courses were my favorite even though I bought all of the course on Udemy for solving the cube).

So one more thing about me that you should know is that when I set my mind on doing something I generally go all-in on it.  Thus, me buying tons of courses and watching even more videos on YouTube and reading tons of articles (some of which help and many of which did not help at all).  I get locked in on a mission and just power through as much material as I have to until I accomplish my goal.  You will need a bit of that focus and stubbornness to get through what it takes to learn how to solve the cube.  Basically DON’T GIVE UP!

The six steps that you will learn to always solve the cube include:

  1. Solving for the white cross – not just any old white cross, thee white cross
  2. Creating the T’s, the first row of the sides, and completing the white side
  3. Filling in the T’s and completing the second row of the sides
  4. Solving for the yellow cross – any old yellow cross will due at first
  5. Lining up the yellow cross with the middles (aka thee yellow cross)
  6. Solving the puzzle (the last techniques are repeated until you are done)

Step 1 – THEE Old White Cross

Okay the goal here and until you move to step 4 is to keep the white side of the cube (the one with the white piece in the center) on top (or consider that the top of the cube).  You need to line the middle pieces so that you have a white cross on top and most importantly the colors on the side of each branch of the cross needs to match the middle piece color of that side.  So white on top blue on the side should be lined up with the blue middle piece, the white on top red on the side should be lined up with the red middle piece, and so on with orange and green (if you have a cube with standard colors – if your colors are weird then probably go buy a different cube).  Check it out in the image below and the tutorial video at the end of the article.

Step 2 – Mind your T’s

Okay now what you want to start to do is look to the third/bottom row for white pieces to move to the top.  If you don’t have any on the bottom row you probably want to manipulate the pieces (keeping THEE white cross intact) to get them on the bottom row.  Then you will want to line them up with the two colors that they need to match.  So the top color is white, one side matches the middle color of the right side and the other color matches the left side middle.  In the end you will end up with the left side of the cube solved (all white) and the first row all the way around the cube will have colors that match the middle piece on each side.  The top row and middle piece being the same color is what is referred to as a T.  You will have 4 T’s before you have finished this step.Check it out in the image below and the tutorial video at the end of the article.

Step 3 – Top Two Rows or  You’re Up a Creek

It starts to get a little harder at this point because you have to do a little more manipulation to get the pieces of the second row to match the middle color on each side.  The end result will be the top two rows of the the blue, green, red, and orange sides all matching the respective middle piece (blue, green, red, and orange).  In order to accomplish this you will once again be looking to the bottom row for your pieces making sure that you focus on any center piece on the bottom row that doesn’t have any yellow on it.  If you don’t have any center pieces at the bottom with no yellow then that means you will have to move some down from the second row.Check it out in the image below and the tutorial video at the end of the article.

Step 4 – The Yellow Cross (you should have to do this step between 1 and 3 times)

At this point you will flip the cube over and now the yellow side of the cube is the top and the white side is the bottom (they should be opposite of each other if you have a standard cube).  From this point forward you will need to learn and execute a few patterns.  If the yellow side (the new top) has only a yellow in the center then you will do this three times.  If there is a yellow line down the center hold that to where it is vertical and repeat the pattern (you will do this twice).  If there is a yellow L then you will hold that so it is in the bottom left of the cube and you only have to do the pattern one time to clear this step.  The pattern that I use is RU, [TL, BL], [TR, BR], RD.  I totally made this notation up but it shows the pattern in braces that mirror each other.  In my silly notation the following is the key:

First Character – the side to move

R – Right side
T – Top side
B – Back side (the side opposite the one facing me)

Second Character – how to move it

R – Counter Clockwise (right)
L – Clockwise (left)

If you are a purist this notation is total non-sense but I don’t care because it works for the way I remember things and it might work for others.

Okay so repeat that pattern shifting the cube as necessary until you get the L and complete the yellow cross.Check it out in the image below and the tutorial video at the end of the article.

Step 5 – Wait! I Meant THEE Yellow Cross

So you really can’t skip Step 4 (at least I cannot).  So you haven’t done anything wrong but your goal with THEE yellow cross is to line up the middle colors with the two solved rows you already have.  This is probably the easiest pattern for me to remember (not sure why there is probably a scientific reason for this).  Anyway using my crazy notation it is:

[RU TL] [RD TL] [RU TL TL] [RD TL]

If you execute that sequence successfully once then you will indeed have THEE yellow cross now.Check it out in the image below and the tutorial video at the end of the article.

Step 6 – Complete the Cube

Okay there is good news and there is bad news.  The good news is you really only have one pattern left to learn in order to be able to always solve your cube.  The bad news is it is weird.  It will involve you (remember you are not speed cubing) to rotate the cube.  The pattern goes like this (I have to write this differently because of the turns):

RD
Turn the cube counter clockwise
RD
Turn the cube counter clockwise
RD
Turn the cube clockwise
RU
Turn the cube clockwise
RU
Flip the cube over
TR
LD
TL

*YOU MAY NEED A VARIATION OF THIS MOVEMENT WHERE YOU USE THE LEFT SIDE TURNING CLOCKWIZE AND THEN COUNTER CLOCKWISE.

YIKES!  I’m sorry but there isn’t a great way for me to write this one (and remember other cubers will laugh at this notation but just ignore them) so you can remember but when you are doing it, it’s actually really easy and just works so …Check it out in the image below and the tutorial video at the end of the article.

So the final conclusion of all of this is that I did indeed learn how to solve the cube through this technique and it took about 2 weeks of solving the cube 1-3 times per day and committing what I learned to muscle memory (where I just automatically complete the six steps required to solve the cube sliding pieces around without thinking about it too much).  It’s not something that comes to most people naturally so just decide whether you really want to learn how to do this or not.  If you are willing to endure some frustration then give it a go, if not then just go ahead and move on now.