Rick Beeman

Today was one of those days were so many great things happened to me.    First of all, my son wrote me an email telling me he missed me.    I haven’t talked to him in a month.    So that got everything started on the right foot.    I sent home a care package full of Arabic trinkets and gifts, like camels, pashmina scarves, aladdin’s lamp, and Arabic costume jewelry.    I also threw in some of the magazines and newspaper articles that were written about me.    I should preface this next bit.    I had a dear friend from college, She was actually my first girlfriend.    We reconnected through facebook (don’t get any ideas, she’s married).    But it has been nice finding a friend again.    It turns out her sister, whom I was close to as well, is a teacher at Max’s school.    So we were able to reconnect right before I came back to the Middle East.    This is the email I got from the former girlfriend today about her sister and Max.   “Connie called today and said that Max brought her the m...

I screwed up today.    I knew it would happen eventually.    I scheduled two appointments for the same time both out of the office and both couldn’t be changed.    I’m so busy and Im not very good at writing down every appointment.    I do have a secretary/office manager but she is so busy with her other duties that I don’t want to be a bother.    Tanya was worried, as I was supposed to talk to a bunch of high school kids about Hollywood.    I assured her that she could handle it, and I’d be just a little bit late.    Guy was there too…so that took the pressure off.    Tanya is a great girl, she just doesn’t believe in herself that much.    That’s what Im there for I think…to encourage her that she is truly gifted.    So I was off to appointment #1.    It was a very high profile meeting about making a documentary of the largest shipping port in the Middle East.    KSDi had been covering the construction once a month for the last 30 months.    There was about 10 people in the room, all ...

What a nice day it turned out to be.    I told you all last night that I was dreading going on the boat because I really wanted to sleep in.    I’ve been working pretty hard so Im a bit exhausted.    But I went to the boat and had a great time.    It was Khalifa, his childhood friend of 50 years and the girls from the office.    We all had a very nice time.    The water was amazing.    We were boating in the Persian Gulf.    It was like a lake, smooth as crystal and very clear.    In about 25 feet of water you could see the bottom of the sea.    It all seemed to be very tropical.    If they would invest in the tourism industry here in Bahrain, with the right marketing this place could be big.   Khalifa, kind of knew I had an aversion to fish, so after he caught one…he kept putting it in my face asking me to take the hook out of its mouth.    It was flopping around…and thankfully, it flopped right off the hook.    I was tempted to throw it back in the sea, but the Filipino girls were co...

I don’t have a lot left in the tank tonight. I’m pretty exhausted still. I think the acting classes on my day off…I teach three… are really taking it out of me. I have never taught three in one day, completely different, children, teens, and adults. I haven’t even taught two. So we are going into unchartered territory here. I’ve only been doing the three classes for one week, and already Im starting feel it. It’s a muslim holiday tomorrow as they celebrate the birth of the prophet Muhammad. I was so glad to hear about that as I craved sleep. Then Khalifa invited me on his boat. Im quite honored that he asked, then he told me the time…I have to leave by 7:30 am. Crap…. Well…Im honored he asked me to go. Things are starting to happen slowly at work. But still the pressure of the finances sometimes gets to me. Bottom line is I have to make the company money. If I don’t all my dreams and aspirations gets detoured. I know Im part of God’s plan being out here. So it is a ques...

What an exhausting day. It was very busy in preparing for the classes. I went to Fuddruckers for breakfast today. I stayed there a bit longer as I was preparing for the classes. As I was leaving, the waitress told me she saw my piece that Angel Cecil produced for me on Bahrain TV. Then in a matter of moments I had the entire staff and the cook surrounding me and smiling. We flipped open the magazine so I could show them the letter to the editor about me. They all said… “Very Handsome” like I was some kind of a celebrity. It was a pretty funny little scene. The waitress recognized me because I used to go to the other Fuddrucker’s across town where she used to work. The kids got there for the first class. I was a little flustered because my production staff was stuck in traffic so we had to start a little bit late. This was an even bigger issue, because one of the volunteer moms had arranged for several members of the media there to cover it for their paper and TV shows. It r...

(I missed a blog day...but it wasn't my fault...i don't think.  Just as I was about to post, I lost my internet connection...which is a common occurrence in my building.) What an incredible day it was for me.    We had a church day out today.    So there was no regular service.    Instead, everyone drove out to a campsite way out in the middle of the desert and did the service there.    There were tents and chairs, like an old fashioned revival type of meeting.    I noticed there were two pretty new blondes in church.    There aren’t a lot single people that go to my church, so they kind of stand out a bit.    I got to talking to the two, and they are new here to Bahrain.    They are both architects.    I invited them to the acting class and they are going to come and watch tomorrow.    The one had a boyfriend in Australia.    The other from Zimbabwe seemed like she had real potential.  (A blonde haired blue eyed bombshell from Zimbabwe, are you serious?)   We’ll see how it goe...

I woke up with a strange cat purring against me.    Its weird the kind of dreams you have when you are in a different environment.    I only dream about twice a year, and last nights dreams were pretty vivid.    I rarely dream about my ex-wife which is kind of odd, considering how long I was obsessed/in love with her.    But last night I did…it was very surreal.    I am saddened sometimes at what I lost.    Im in a great situation now…but I’d trade it all away if I could have what I used to have.   I was on such a high from the acting class last night.    I really believe it was the best class I ever taught.    It just flowed and the students were totally into it.    We established a trust early and that allowed the improv to really flow.    There was one guy in particular.    My good friend Muneer…the Omani.    He was brilliant.    I think everyone just fed off his energy.    If you want to take a look at it:  http://www.ksdibahrain.com/KSDi-ScreenActingWorkshop_01.php Im starting to ...

I woke up with a strange cat purring against me.    Its weird the kind of dreams you have when you are in a different environment.    I only dream about twice a year, and last nights dreams were pretty vivid.    I rarely dream about my ex-wife which is kind of odd, considering how long I was obsessed/in love with her.    But last night I did…it was very surreal.    I am saddened sometimes at what I lost.    Im in a great situation now…but I’d trade it all away if I could have what I used to have.   I was on such a high from the acting class last night.    I really believe it was the best class I ever taught.    It just flowed and the students were totally into it.    We established a trust early and that allowed the improv to really flow.    There was one guy in particular.    My good friend Muneer…the Omani.    He was brilliant.    I think everyone just fed off his energy.    If you want to take a look at it:  http://www.ksdibahrain.com/KSDi-ScreenActingWorkshop_01.php Im starting to ...

What an incredible day it was. Its another one of those days were several good things happened. Im really enjoying my work and I think my co-workers are too. We haven’t had any really big deals yet, but I think they are brewing. We are getting the company on a firm solid foundation. I think when the work hits…its going to hit us big time like a tidal wave. So maybe God is using this time as a time of preparation for us. I happened to be chatting with a producer in Los Angeles tonight. She was wanting to know about bringing her film out to produce here. So I have to bid on her project. Are you kidding me? How are these people and I connecting. What am I doing to receive so much favor? God just has me in a very unique position to meet some very important people. This girl was a bit actress on Alias and other projects. She used to be a fashion model in New York. Is God really that good? Yes, yes he is. Its just strange, every person I meet seems to wan...

It was a tough day today.    For some reason, I was just discouraged…though I tried to fight through it.    I think the global economic crisis is starting to get to me.    Though God is not a God a of fear or anger and I have to treat those thoughts as an attack of the enemy.    I think one of the reasons why I went through so much pain was so that I could be ready and able to encourage others.    I think that was pretty evident today with my South African friend.    I feel really bad for him.    I mentioned last week he lost his job.    I told him to keep the faith.    God has a plan and purpose.    All things work together for good.    The bad part is…he faces deportation, he can’t get the deposit back on his Turkish vacation so its use it or lose it, the banks froze his accounts so he can’t access his money, and his credit cards have been cancelled…Other than that Mrs. Lincoln, how did you like the play.    Wow…all this happened.    I know that I know that I know that God brought me...

Im really starting to get my joy back.    Its amazing how much a relationship will shoot your spirits through the roof but when it crashes…it crashes hard.    I think I crash harder because of my divorce.    Im way too anxious to jump into a relationship.    Im too picky, but when I find someone that meets up to my ridiculously high standards, I move way too quickly and scare them away.    Everyone has told me to stop doing this…and I agree with them.    Yet I do it anyone.   I’m not really sure what God is trying to teach me through all this.    But I hope I learn quickly.    I have been chatting with a lot of my acting students.    It continues to create quite a buzz.    We have the children starting this week, so I think it will grow even more.    I so enjoy the marketing aspect of it.    I really enjoy the people in my office as well.    We are just one great big family or so it seems.    We all get along very well.    And we have some very talented people.    We are limited becaus...

Im a little bit more awake tonight than I was last night.    That was weird.    I wrote one sentence, fell asleep.    Wrote another, feel asleep.    I was writing at 11:30 at night here which wasn’t that bad.    I usually go to bed around 1.    Yet I had no idea how much mental energy I put into teaching the classes.    It really took its toll physically which is kind of different.    The classes were an amazing experience.    Everyone was very nervous as this had never been done in Bahrain before.    Out of the 15 students I had (in the adult class) only three had ever studied any type of acting.    So we are certainly pioneers in this region for this.    We all think we are a part of something special.   I do this thing with my students that take them on a type of guided meditation.    It’s kind of like hypnotherapy-lite.    Its really cool.    I get them to totally relax their body.    It takes about 15 minutes as I softly guide them through the process.    Once the body is complete...

It was a very important day for me today.    The first day of acting classes and I was a bit apprehensive.    I had absolutely no idea who was going to show up or not.    It could have been an absolute failure or a smashing success.    Already the buzz of the class has generated a lot of publicity for KSDi around the island.    We are being branded and that is going to have its long term benefits.    Last night at dinner for example, I met a guy who said…I saw your magazine, I read about your acting classes.    Then I went to Fuddruckers for lunch this afternoon.    As I was leaving a waitress looked at me, and said…are you in Highlights magazine.    I smiled and said yes.    She said, Oh Mr. Beeman we’ve been reading about you.    She then pulled out the magazine from the rack.    She knew my name.    How is that possible?    She knew my name.    People tell me that this new push is creating a lot of buzz on the street.    Its funny and cool to be a part of that talk.    Im hoping to ...

Woke up this morning and went to breakfast at my favorite little dive.    I took Guy there this time.    I spoke with Ravi the waiter, he always gets excited when I come in to eat.    I order the same thing everytime.     I just order the usual.      Ravi and I spoke about Slumdog Millionaire.    A.R. Rahman the one that composed the music and won the oscar was from his home state in India.    He was going to see Slumdog later in the day.    All the Indian people are very proud that it did so well.    Indians are my favorite culture in the entire world.    They are very kind and gracious.    Because I tip, Ravi always gives me my Diet Cokes for free.   After breakfast it was off to church.    I am starting to help out with the teens at church.    So I miss the main service.    I figure they need help, and im here to serve.    So it’s a good combination.    I listen to about 8-10 sermons per week on my ipod as it is.    So missing a live service is not a big deal.      As I was talking,...

What a busy busy day it was.    I stayed at the office late last night and got a ton of work done.    Then I had a flurry of activity I needed to get done fast.    I love being busy at work.    I had to run out to the Gulf Daily News for an interview.    The Gulf Daily News is the major publication in Bahrain.    It’s the equivalent of the Los Angeles Times for this country.    So after Slumdog Millionaire won, I got kind of aggressive.    I called the newspaper and found the editor.    I told him he needed to do a story about us.    Now Hollywood will be searching for the next Slumdog and I’m trying to position KSDi in the right place to capitilize on this.    It seems like everything is coming together seamlessly right now.    So I made it to the newspaper and it was a large open office, just like the kind of news room I remember from  All the President’s Men .    You know, you’d think with all the media experience I have I would have been in a few newsrooms in my day.    I really ha...

What an incredibly busy day today.    I didn’t start off so well.    I had some discouraging news from home, but you know what it didn’t affect me.    I was ready for it.    I just immediately gave it over to God and he took the burden away from me.    As a matter of fact, when I was doing my talk/listen to God today, I felt very strongly impressed that it was going to be a great day for me.    You know what it was a great day, despite the setback.    God is indeed faithful.   I must have completed about three days worth of work in one day.    It was incredibly efficient.    The acting classes start Saturday so that is taking up a great deal of my time in trying to promote them.    I have a hunch they are going to start small then exponentially grow once the word gets out.       I love talking to people about the classes when they call in.    If you’ve ever been in one of my classes you know I take a very unique approach.    It almost becomes part of my ministry.    A lot of people thi...

One of the reasons why I’m here became abundantly clear tonight.    My new good friend the South African, whose house is where we hold our Mon. night Bible Study abruptly lost his job on Thursday.    He called me for prayer and support, which I’ve been constantly praying for him.    He and his lovely wife have me over for a home cooked meal before our small group.    Im very honored and its nice to have a home cooked meal again.    I kind of felt led that I should ask the group to pray and fast for the South African in his difficult situation.    Not only did he lose his job but his visa expires four weeks after the termination of his contract.    So in four weeks he faces the prospect of being deported.    So not only does he lose his job, but he faces the prospect of having to pack everything up in his big house and ship everything back to his home, if that is where he is headed.    Oh it should be noticed, that he didn’t do anything wrong.    The economic crisis has claimed another ...

Yeah!!!! Slumdog Millionaire.    I had a vested interested watching the Oscars this year.    I haven’t missed a telecast in more than 25 years.    One day, I believe Im going to win one of those statuettes.    I thought that dream died a few years ago when I left Hollywood in 2001.    Now it is being revived.    I mentioned before that I think Slumdog’s success will have a direct impact on us here in the Middle East.    I have a hunch that Hollywood will now immediately trend to more International stories.    I spoke with my contact earlier today, he’s going to set up meetings with his Hollywood connections in the coming weeks to get this happening.    Please pray for this.    it could be huge.    Im a little dazed right now as I didn’t get much sleep the night before.    It was quiz night…and that is now a Sun. Night tradition for me.    We won the first round and didn’t come close the ensuing rounds.    If we don’t have a Brit or someone from the UK at the table we just have a hard t...

Im going to keep this a bit short tonight because I stayed out way too late.    It was quiz night so that is quickly becoming a tradition.    We do that in J.J.’s Irish Pub.    It’s a blast.    Its coold because there are several people that want to be a part of my team.    The Australian was on my team with her friend.    Im really fighting not falling for this girl.    I fall for everyone it seems.    I recognize that about myself.    I think it just has to do with being alone far too long.    I just long to be in love again.    I just have to make sure its with the right person for the right reason.    To fall in love merely for the sake of being in love I think is a recipe for disaster.    I recognize that about myself We had a new girl start in the office today.    Her name is Natasha.    She’s an Indian and was actually raised in Aramco, where I worked in 2005.    She was educated in the states.    She is amazingly talented.    We are very blessed to have her on my team.    Im sl...