Jason Bryant Blog

Some really cool new features from Blogger and Google. I am a really big fan of Google Reader and want to let you know about a way to view all the blog posts that I have found interesting. I love this idea, because that way I don’t have to put up a post with links to all the cool stuff of the day. You can just subscribe to my Google Reader Shared feed. Here is the site. This is the atom feed. Let me know what you think. Post your feeds too.

An interesting comment about my blog appeared this morning and got me thinking about how much media is changing. I do admit that my last few posts have been entertainment related and it’s true that there is more to my life than watching T.V. shows. Although as an actor, it seems when I’m not watching T.V. shows or movies, I’m helping to make them so it’s hard to get away from it.

But this got me thinking about blogging and new media. I’m new to blogging, a few months in fact, and I’ve been podcasting for over a year. My time in “old” media has been much longer, more than a decade. So I am having to undue years of training by program directors that constricted creativity and pushed my “real” personality down. Radio was all about clients and selling. My personality was somewhat manufactured. It was all “family fun” and “party on”. As an announcer you were always told to “keep it short” and “get to the point”. Having time to reveal personal details about yourself was hard to manage in between all the sponsors and commercials.

With blogging and podcasting it’s all about being honest and truthful. That’s a big shift. As anyone who has listened to my podcasts knows, I have trouble even swearing because of being on commercial radio for so many years. Saying a bad word would just result in a meeting or getting fired altogether.

My biggest struggle as an actor is to find that truth. I was so trained to “be happy” and “on” all the time that I often push the real stuff down in order to maintain the illusion of the jovial radio announcer. In a way, acting, blogging and podcasting are the opposite of being a radio personality. The illusion is stripped away. There are no clients to please, time constraints to deal with or subjects that are off limits.

I will do my best to be honest and open with everyone that takes time to read my blog and listen to my podcasts. That’s my contract with you. If you give me your time, I will give you truth and openness.

And in the case of the last month, I haven’t had much time to think about blogging or podcasting because I was working this movie called “The Englisman’s Boy”. It’s for CBC and was directed by John N. Smith and based on the book by Guy Vanderhaeghe. It will air sometime next year. It was a great experience getting to meet Nicholas Campbell and Bob Hoskins. You want to talk about great actors who know how to get to the truth. They are both masters at cutting through the bullshit and being honest in their craft. I will strive to do the same.

One final thing you might enjoy. Some new Google products courtesy of Time magazine.

An update to my fall TV schedule. Smallville is officially over for me. After last season’s inconsistency I was ready to quit watching the show, but I thought I would give it one more chance. The season premiere was good, but the last couple episodes have been horrible. So for the first time in five seasons, I did not watch this weeks Smallville. It’s the end of an era.

A show I forgot to mention, season 2 of Extras has been on the BBC this past month. Starring Ricky Gervais from “The Office” fame, Extras is all about life as a movie extra. As someone who works in the film business, I could relate to all the situations Ricky finds himself in. Very funny and worth every minute of your time.

So as everyone knows, Google bought You Tube this week. Very cool, as long as they don’t mess with it too much. Robert Scoble linked to a great example of why You Tube is stealing attention from mainstream media. It’s a guilty pleasure. Kids don’t come home and watch TV anymore, they are watching stuff like this…

With You Tube, Podcasts, Blogs and iTunes (not to mention Bittorrent), it makes you wonder why you still subscribe to cable or satellite at all. Live sports I guess. But even hockey highlights are online.

I love the new red iPod Nano. Bono launched the Red product line on Oprah last week. I think I’m going to stick with my original plan to get the new shuffle simply because of the small size. It will be great for jogging. Once the new video iPod comes out, I’ll get that to replace my three year old 20G.

It’s been a very busy September for me and I haven’t had time to post for awhile. I’ve been working on several projects and when I do have time off I just needed to veg out, if you know what I mean. But I had some time this morning so here goes…

The new NHL season has started which is cool. My team, the Toronto Maple Leafs won last night. My buddy just picked up the new EA NHL Playstation game and reviewed it. Also, the new T.V. season is underway, here is the list of shows I am watching:

1. Corner Gas (CTV) – I work on the show so I have to watch. Season 4 is off to a great start. Life in a small Canadian town was never so funny. I was in the season premiere glaring at Brent’s new haircut. The best episodes are the ones were they are all really mean and sarcastic to each other. That’s the comic gold.
2. How I Met Your Mother (CBS) – Season 2 is very hit and miss so far. The bad ones are really bad, but Barney is always funny.
3. Heroes (NBC) – Milo Ventimiglia (Jess from Gilmore Girls) is part of a group of people who discover they have super powers. Intriguing idea and if it doesn’t turn into a ‘crime of the week’ show it will be cool. I like the international feel of the show. The production value is amazing.
4. Gilmore Girls (CW) – I’m worried about G.G. Season 7 begins without the original creator, Amy Sherman-Palladino, but the first two episodes were good. At least we haven’t had plot lines about that Loreli’s dog, Paul Anka. That stuff is so lame. We haven’t seen Emily and Richard yet, which is really odd. I wonder if the new CW thinks they aren’t hip enough to be on the show. Too bad because they are wonderful.
5. Bones (FOX) – David Boreanaz (Angel) is great as a detective. The show is really gross sometimes, but the cast is terrific and funny. It’s the only crime show I can handle.
6. Lost (ABC) – The most original show on television. Great actors, great writing, great visuals. This show was made for HD. I like it because you never know what you are going to get. It’s addictive and habit forming.
7. My Name is Earl (NBC) – Some really bad episodes make me not want to watch, like this weeks ‘freak show’, but the characters are great. Earl, Randy, Crabman and Joy are always spot on. The plot lines tend to drift into ‘trying too hard’ territory. Still worth watching though.
8. Survivor (CBS) – Yeah I still like king of reality T.V. I give much credit to host Jeff Probst. If he wasn’t so good, I doubt I would still watch. The race thing was a bit gimmicky but once we get to know everybody things will heat up. The show is always a slow start because there are too many contestants. It’s always more interesting once the first few get voted off. The show is a lot like life, you form alliances and try not to get voted off. Office politics work much the same way. It’s also good because I live in Canada and during the winter I love looking at scenes of sun and beaches. (Lost is good for that too).
9. Smallville (CW) – Season 6 is underway and seems to be on track. Last season was almost a deal breaker for me. Too many rip-off’s of other shows like “24″ and “Saw”, plot lines that didn’t go anywhere and brutal dialogue. The show has very much “jumped the shark” but I’m willing to give it another go.
10. Supernatural (CW) – Season 2 of this fright fest. Good cast including Jensen Eckles (Dark Angel, Smallville) as “Dean” and Jared Padalecki (Gilmore Girls) as “Sam”. Great use of classic rock for the soundtrack and stunning lighting and visuals. The plots are scary without being over the top. As with all series, some episodes are lame, but there’s more good ones than bad ones.

So that’s my line-up of shows this season. Enjoy!