In Rememberance

It is with great sadness that we remember Austin' mom, Kay who passed away this past weekend.

A true champion, she was much loved by many and even more by her family.

Our thoughts and prayers are with Austin and his family at this time.


Many of us know what it is like to lose a parent.  Our hearts go out to Austin for his loss. 

Good thoughts and prayers

Moms are special. The carry us for 9 months, bring us into this world and keep caring for us no matter how old we are.  They know what makes us smile, how to fix everything from skinned knees to broken hearts, and keep the family traditions.  They are referees, peacemakers, and our first teachers.  They take care of us, where we live, where we go and what we do. They never give up on us, and are always force of nature.  They are superheroes who never seem to tire or weaken. Moms are universal, we all had a mom.   Moms are special.

And some are bad asses.  Just ask Austin.

We've known for a long time how Austin feels about his mom.  How proud he is of her accomplishments, her fight, her strength.

It's now that becomes important.

Earlier today Austin tweeted this:


This is my beautiful family! Yall, my mom is battling cancer. We need your thoughts and prayers!!!

This isn't Kay's first battle with cancer.   She fought back and beat it before.  She has the fight and  the family to help her face it again.

This time Austin is asking for a little more help for the fight.

 Some times we need to step back and put aside the little things we find ourselves getting so focused on and look at the big things,  the universal things - things like moms.

Here's leaving all the stuff for a while and sending good thoughts, prayers and love Austin's and his families way.

Past, Present, Future

In Jake's interview with the LA Times in addition to the comments about family and reflecting on his life at 30 and where he sees himself at 60. (Family, kids)

He did something he doesn't do too very often , he spoke about Heath.  And with great admiration.

"I work with actors, and I've made a conscious effort to work with people who are more talented than me, because I think they bring out your best work. Heath was always full of massive charisma and great skill, and he really took his time to listen to himself and find that. And I have great admiration for that." 

 

Heath left an impression on Jake personally and professionally that he will carry with him for the rest of his life.

Did anyone notice what Jake left out of this interview?  He talks about a future,  but notice he never mentions who he is sharing it with, and  mention of  the word wife.

So who is he going to have this messy family with?

Family, Truth and The Great White Way

A bit of a bounty of Jake articles today, but one jumped out for today's post.  It is an interview with Broadway World about the play.

 
Besides Jake talking about wanting to act at an early age and how he got started, there were three questions that leaped off the page.


TS:  What drew you to If There Is I Haven’t Found It Yet?
JG: Terry is like de Tocqueville. He comes into this family and he observes and comments on what he sees. I love the character of Terry and I loved Nick Payne’s writing. It was that simple. And when I went to see Michael Longhurst’s production of Nick’s other play, Constellations, at the Royal Court in London, the deal was sealed. They are an unbeatable pair. They are the new generation of British theatre talent.

TS: What do you think the play is about?
JG: I think the play is about family. And it is about the desire we all have to be seen and heard by our family and how – for many different reasons – it can become hard to hear the people we love most and how hard it can be to be heard by them.

TS: How is the character of Terry relevant to you?  Can you share some of your preliminary thoughts about Terry with us?
JG: I love the way he talks, how he moves through the world. He is desperate to pull the truth out of everyone around him, but he is unable to face his own. He is a constant contradiction and like this broken, beating heart with legs.
Jake goes on to say, "Variation keeps me inspired. I always like finding roles that are different from the one I played before."  That might be true, but they look more like variations on a theme. 

 You can read the whole article here.

Oh Austin - don't worry we see your training- keep it up bud,  and it will be an Austin Friday - Texas Travelogue or is that Texas TriAthalon-alogue?

Family Ties

While Austin leaves the Tree behind, Jake's getting back to his roots so to speak, via his Big Sis.Maggie will be on the April 22nd episode of The PBS series “Finding Your Roots”. No word if she which side of the tree she is on the search for, but it maybe more insight on the Achs, the maternal side of Maggie and Jake's heritage. Both of Jake's grandparents were physicians on his mom's side of the family. His maternal grandmother Ruth, who passed away before he and Maggie were born, was a medical researcher who discovered that the palm-print patterns found on babies born to mothers who had German measles early in their pregnancies were signs to hidden but serious health abnormalities. His grandfather Samuel Achs was a surgeon.

Also on the April 22nd episode will be Robert Downey Jr.

The show will also be available on PBS's website.

F'd Up

Austin has gotten back home and after all he did, there was little bit of Israel leftover for one more day.

It wasn't just the Hollywood crew having a press conference yesterday at the Inbal Hotel, but a group of US evangelic ministers too, and in the same room.

As one outlet said: "In the same room a contingent of Hollywood celebrities spoke to the media about their experiences in the Holy Land while evangelical pastors from the United States answered questions about their own tour here. Both groups were in Israel on vastly different tailor-made tours, ...But despite the varying perspectives of the country, the conclusion of both groups seemed to be the same: A visit to Israel can be fun, fulfilling and surprising on many levels." (Jerusalem Post)

And what did Austin do?

He pretty much F'd it up.

Noooooo.... not that way.

He talked about :

Floating
“ 'We don’t see people floating in the Dead Sea or doing trips in jeeps in the Golan Heights. You don’t see that in the United States when the news reports about this part of the world.' ”

Fun

and ...

Family.

Austin "noted that American media only shows certain things about Israel and added that he cannot wait to show his family back home the pictures of all the fun things he did." (Israel National News)



oh and falafel :



And Austin is home with plenty of time for the holidays.... and a birthday...

and of course Two Wheel Tuesday Today from Monorail Studios in Austin, TX

Maybe you should put that on your Christmas list Mr. Nichols. ; )

Ohana Hele mei hoohiwahiwa

It was weekend trip for Jake who joined Maggie and other family members in Hawaii for their dad's wedding.A small wedding for family and friends, about 30 gathered in the beach to share the moment in the island spirit. Jake was one of the men who stood for his dad, casual in khakis, island shirt, and barefeet and keeping with island tradition, a lei.No word if Jake blew the conch shell during the ceremony, but he did do the shaka sign along with everyone else at the wedding for pictures.
Now it's back to work for Jake who returns to filming. His c0-star Michael was traveling too, attending Comic Con, to promote one of his movies coming out.

Pictures via PopSugar - check PopSugar for more pictures.

Another piece of the puzzle

Remember how it seemed that Austin flew out earlier than well....the great recycler.

Remember the sardines and his menopause moment?

June 30th
Delta 737. Sardines. I think menopause has found me.
about 1 hour ago via Twitter for BlackBerry®

Well it looks like our favorite Texan was in MI not just for an appearance at a wedding with the official plus one, but took the opportunity to have headed up for a few days of family fun.


"A Titan Sports Blog investigation took place and it was determined that the photo was taken on July 2, not by TMZ on Rodeo Drive, but at a family get-together in Michigan where Nichols is from. Nichols is the first cousin of the Dever triplets, student-athletes at Westminster who were the subject of a feature story a few months ago. We then contacted two of the Dever siblings and found that the hoodie that Austin is wearing belonged to Patrick Dever and it was a gift. Tyler Dever also revealed that he was cold that day." - Westminster

Funny how he was the only talking about flying on the 30th. Unlike the great flying text heading to NC and shoulder rub. And then that phone being lost and suddenly being found after the wedding.


Just another thing J&A have in common. Family in PA. And Westminster is just a little over an hour from Pittsburgh. Wonder if they saw a Sasquatch in the area last fall too. I mean who would go and see their cousins, and hey and why not check out Pittsburgh too.

All things connect.

Lullabies and Grampa Jake

As a part of the interview with ABC's Peter Travers, Jake was asked to sing a song. Travers told him whatever came to mind and even threw him a softball, and said something from Damn Yankees. Jake's choice a lullaby.



This is not the first time he has mention this song. He talking about The Fox, when he as talking to the KCRW around the promotion of Brothers. He talked about how he was influenced by his parents’ musical tastes and "repaid the favor with a Guest DJ set dedicated entirely to family – from the folk song that his dad sang him to sleep to the live track that makes him sob on set."

He talks about crying when listening to the River while on the set of Brothers and what the song reminds him of: "I think a lot of it has to do with, it’s connection to my family, listening to Bruce Springsteen when I was a kid with my dad. My first concert I ever went to was the Born in the USA tour concert and I remember being with my father. I just think the story between father and son and the complications between those two positions in a family has always been a huge thing in my life." It is not the first time Jake's use The River as part of his process, it was an important piece back when he debuted on the London Stage for This is our Youth.

Next is the song he sang for Peter Travers. The Fox by Burl Ives. "My father used to sing this to me -- and I love Burl Ives just as a character, just as a musician -- and when I was a little kid we were robbed outside of our house. We were driving home, we pulled up and we were robbed and ever since I was always really nervous about falling asleep, you know, naturally, and so my dad would sing this to me before I’d go to bed.
My father, has this guild guitar, which he still has, beautiful kind of mahogany color, and again it comes back to my father who was a big musical influence on me when I was a kid and continues to be."

Then it was a song connected to his mother. Inchworm by Danny Kaye. "So I would say “Inchworm,” would be my next choice because Danny Kaye was and is still a HUGE influence on me as an actor and a performer. I just watched him so much when I was a kid and he had this love of entertaining, I think I’ve heard also about him this real love of children and caring for them, and you can tell that it in this song. Just like, wonderful, wonderful movies, “Five Pennies,” and “The Court Jester,” and then “Hans Christian Anderson,” which this song is from. My mother was a big Danny Kaye fan and would always play me these movies. She is, in fact, the person who always calls me up and is like, *imitating his mother’s voice* ‘You should redo “The Court Jester!"

Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso "And this in particular, I’m taken so many places with this song. It really broke me out as a kid into the emotions and the intensity of classical music. This is another one of those things where I just remember being in the car and this is something that my father played me."

And lastly "Father and Son" by Loudon Wainwright. "This song somehow encompasses, I guess, what I was saying about family. At the very end, Loudon Wainwright says “Maybe its hate, probably its love.” Man, *chuckles*, that sort of says it. And I think, somehow, the fact that he’s the patriarch of this family that is so kind of extraordinary is something to look up to, something to admire. They are, I know at least publicly, they have complications and are open about it and it’s wonderful because we all try and pretend like everything’s ok, or that things are perfect or try to make them the way they’re ‘supposed to be,’ quote unquote, and I think this song is really about him being as honest as he can about his relationship with his son and just loving him deeply."

While the movie Brothers was about family, Jake was saying much more than just that when he did shared these songs.

As for Grampa Jake? This could be him in twenty years or thirty with Hollywood medicine. What is it? It's a 18" prototype of a Dastan statue for $300.00. The interchangable arms come free. (Kotaku)

When Jake was Sam...

or Harry.. or Stephen

Are there glimpses of Jake on screen before he even was on screen, in his mother's writing? Naomi Foner wrote the Golden Globe winning and Oscar nominated screenplay for the movie Running on Empty, staring Judd Hirsch, Christine Lahti, and River Phoenix. The story of 60's political radicals who haven't been able to use their real identity for years after setting a weapons lab afire in an effort to hinder the government's Vietnam war campaign. Ever since they have been on the run and are now parents raising two sons. The oldest son is a talented musician with a chance to go to Julliard, and wants a life of his own, and knows that it means his parents either get caught or he will never see them again.

It is a incredible performance by River Phoenix as the eldest brother who realizes that he has the choice to leave and pursue his own dream free from all the hiding and see what it is really like to live. He realizes that he does not have to pay what his parents did, that he can move on and that they are responsible for that but not him any longer. He also knows that he will have to leave them all behind.

But it is the little brother Harry who has to take on the name Stephen at their newest stop on the run, that is the focus today.
Harry is the little brother, kind and sensitive, not always knowing everything that was going on, sometimes a little left out. He tells jokes, and can be annoying, but you could see how hard Harry tries to get some more attention from his parents and wants to be a part of it all. And he wants them all to get along. His parents love him, but there is so much going on in these never ending hiding and their agendas, he seems to be lost in the shuffle, and he wants a little more, attention and love. In many scenes Harry turns to Danny (River) for his moments of connecting. The two of them bonded together no matter what is going on with their parents - they always have each other.


Have always thought that there was a lot of Jake in that little annoying brother who just wants to be wanted. Naomi uses family and family dynamics a lot her writing and you can see that she infuse some of her own family into the characters.

“Observing family allows you to use a small intimate palette to comment on the greater culture,” Gyllenhaal explained. “Family contains the best of us and the worst. And we can all relate to it, as we’re all part of some kind of family.

Its the best and worst that makes you think, if Jake looks back and sees pieces of himself and Maggie sprinkled amongst his mother's writing or his father's director and what he think about all of it. And then you wonder if they take piece of the parents and use them in their acting.

And Sam? Everyone's birthday cake always had Happy Birthday Sam written on it. (As in play it again Sam) It was the one constant in their lives.


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