10 THINGS YOU DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT HAMILTON




• The first thing that Hamilton wants to point out is that people don’t always know that when it comes to gum, he never takes the full strip “I always tear gum in two, it’s a thing I do. That way it lasts longer”.

• The Colombian native moved to London, England at the age of 10 not knowing a word of English. He took up extra classes to learn the new language. He quickly picked up the new English language, making it his main tongue.

• Other nicknames include ‘Hammy’ for short, picked up by his friends. ‘H’, not to be confused with Ian ‘H’ Watkins of the former 90s Pop band ‘Steps’. ‘Hamilton Road’ as he was called at school; his Secondary School was built on a road with his name, and he had to endure 7 years at it. ‘Fox’ is a self made nickname following an obsession with The X-Files in the 90s and to be known as ‘Fox Hamilton’ and to avoid the taunts of being called ‘Hamilton Road, Ham or Ham & Cheese’.

• His first kiss came at the age of five with the girl next door, literally. She moved next door to his aunt’s house where Hamilton and his brothers spent their summer and Christmas holidays. “Her name was Kelly and although no tongues were involved” Hamilton comments, “She was my first ‘girlfriend’, and we were often found hidden under a bed tickling each other, I didn’t know the true meaning of a relationship back then, I was only 5, but it lasted until I was 8. Only seeing each other during the holidays”. The first proper french came at the age of 14 at a family party, “My friend told me her friend at the party liked me and wanted to kiss me, so we went into her room and met with Carolina. There I was kissing this girl whom I just met, not knowing what to do, while my friend stood in the bedroom behind us, my mother was in the living room with the rest of the guests”.

• His first kiss with a guy came at the age of 17. He had met up with a guy from the Internet. “It was 11:20pm, we were standing on the balcony of Ku Bar (London) and the bar was soon closing. I took a plunge at it. He was much taller than me, so I had to pin point on my toes so I could reach his lips. He was sweet but 3 days later I got an email from him telling me that he’d gotten back with his ex the night we met and that I kissed like a fish. I was distraught”. Hamilton assures us that he doesn’t kiss like a fish any more, “I don’t think I do, anyone want prove?”.

• Hamilton also collects foreign coins as a long-term hobby, “I was given a bunch of foreign coins long ago and that’s where it all started. Now I ask people for their change when they return from trips abroad. I have a huge jar with lots of coins”. Upon being asked which is the most rare coin he has he explains, “The Spanish ‘25 pesetas’ that has a hole in the middle, no longer in circulation as the Euro has taken over. And much closer to home coins from the reign of Edward VIII and George VI. I kind of inherited those from a family friend after she passed away”. It doesn’t just stop there; he also collects foreign bank notes, “Why? Why not!”.

• On being asked why he started to write a new Blog, Hamilton answered, “The Importance of Being Hamilton is a way of communicating my thoughts and feelings. Friends and people often come to me for help, advice and on how to deal with situations. The Blog uses examples of how I deal with my own situations. It’s also a way of keeping in touch with all my friends and a way for them to find out what I get up to here in New York”.

• Hamilton often puts the interest of others ahead of his own. Sometimes taking the time to help friends emotionally and offering advice. “I find my self pushing friends and bringing out the best in them. I also learn from my friends, as they can sometimes teach me things I don’t know or things I should know. I’m grateful I have friends that I can call anytime and have a good talk”.

• Hamilton as a first name is rarely common, mostly used as a surname in European and North American countries. His parents wanting to differ from the normal ‘Latin-Spanish Christian names’, decided to name him after a search on an Encyclopaedia. Sir William R. Hamilton was the man. “A famous mathematician” recalls his mother telling him. “I sometimes wondered why I didn’t get the ‘William’, I’m just content that I was named after a man that made a significant development in quantum mechanics who also discovered quaternions”. His mother was a big student of numbers and mathematics, working as an accountant in Colombia. “But think about it, can you see me as a William?”.

• “The first movie I saw at the cinema was ‘Short Circuit’. It was a school trip, back in the late 80s. I remember very little of the movie, only the robot and not staying seated for very long. I think my attention span was very short back then”. Hamilton studied Cinematics at The University of East London and explains he got into film because of Dawson Leery, “I used to watch a lot of Dawson’s Creek back in the day. I wanted to do what he did because it looked really cool. That’s where my passion for film grew and the more I got into it the more I loved it”. Acting was also considered, starring in 4 school plays during his Secondary School years. His most famous role was playing the President in the musical version of ‘Annie’. “The role came to me because the original President stood down and I was the next best choice. I’ve considered acting, but I’d rather make the movies. Who knows maybe I’ll get in front of the camera sometime”. Hamilton is now happy planning new documentaries and short films, he hopes to see in the big screen soon. Writing is also a hobby that is slowly becoming a new career, making him the next male Carrie Bradshaw. ‘The Importance of Being Hamilton’ is posted once a week.

AND THE OSCAR WENT TO...



I just flew back from L.A where I had a front row seat at the Kodak Theater. Here are the winners:

Best Picture: The Departed (I was looking at it closely so I get a half guess)

Best Actor: Forest Whitaker (As predicted)

Best Actress: Helen Mirren (As predicted, Kate Winslet's time is coming soon though)

Best Supporting Actor: Alan Arkin (I didn't see that coming)

Best Supporting Actress: Jennifer Hudson (As predicted)

Achievement in Directing: Martin Scorsese, "The Departed" (It was about time)

Best Foreign Language Film: The Lives of Others (I should have guessed that one too)

Best Animated Feature Film: "Happy Feet" (Penguins for best acting?)

Original Score: Babel, Gustavo Santaolalla (As predicted)

Documentary Feature: "An Inconvenient Truth (Al Gore for President!)

Cinematography: "Pan's Labyrinth”, Guillermo Navarro (As Predicted)


Well from the ones I guessed above I got 3 wrong, that aint so bad is it? From the over all ballot produce by the actual Academy, out of 24 I got 17. Making me the winner of our office ballot too!
"I want to thank the gays, the blacks and the jews, for without who there would be no Oscars, or people named Oscar"

I LOVE NEW YORK





“I Want to be a part of it ….I want to wake up in a city that doesn’t sleep…if I can make it there, I’ll make it anywhere” Sang Frank Sinatra on one of his most famous songs that have accompanied images of New York City around the globe, ‘New York, New York’.

It is a jungle out there, everyone is out for himself or herself and there are many species and places on the verge of extinction; people, restaurants and shops come and go like a new season’s fashion trend. I’m telling you the average immigrant in this city can only last a few years. True New Yorkers stick around because they have been here long enough to put up with what the City throws at you. Other people moan and complain about the lack of things, mainly within their lives, true New Yorkers accept the City for what it is and take advantage of its true potential and what it has to offer.

In an attempt to become a true New Yorker, rather than be seen as another alien from London, England making it in New York and let the City get to me, and at the same time remain a Londoner at heart. I went to the gym on Monday to sweat out my tears from last week’s near life crisis. I found it very rewarding pushing myself to new limits as to how much I can run for, how much weight I can bench press or lift. It definitely took my mind of things and I began focussing on new goals.
Later that Monday afternoon I strode to a different part of the City that I have fallen in love with because of the way television shows, such as ‘Friends’ and of course ‘Sex and the City’, have captured it in the past. People today say the ‘West Village’ is over rated. I found it quite astonishing walking through some of its cobble streets, and perhaps it was a reminder of some parts similar to London that made me feel ‘at home’.
There it was, my flat, a tall glass building overlooking the Hudson River, in the distant corner the skyscrapers of the Financial District and the Statue of Liberty and beyond to Jersey City. “What a view” I said to myself, “This is where I want to live, I’m moving in, I don’t know when, I don’t know how, this is my new apartment building”

Come Tuesday at work, I sensed a sombre and disheartening mood at the office. Was everyone else having a life crisis? I took it upon myself to cheer everyone up and get their hopes up somewhat, to look at the bright side of life, situations and people rather than allow them to cause further damage.
That night I went to the New York premiere at the IFC Theatre of a documentary film ‘Everything’s Cool’ directed by Daniel B. Gold and Judith Helfand both of who gave a small talk at the end.
Yet again I was seeing a movie in which the people want to help others, not just others but the planet too. The movie focussed on the effects of Global Warming and followed several characters and the activities they had taken up to get this critical message across. Too many characters made this movie a melodrama, but I found it very informative and proved that there is a situation at hand, which WE CAN ALL HELP TO IMPROVE, should we put our minds to it.

I was becoming a New Yorker; establishing my home and living space, going to the gym (crucial to all New Yorkers who want to be healthy and look good), attending movie premieres with co-workers. I’m slowly beginning to accept the City for what it is.

Wednesday at work the mood had shifted a little and we were all more optimistic than the previous day. We had a feast of grilled cheese sandwiches, to celebrate our boss’ ‘30th anniversary on winning the Academy Award’.
That night I knew I was seeing (Mr G). I had received an email from him telling me to come over that night for a talk. We hadn’t spoken to each other in five days, so I kept positive and optimistic for whatever the outcome of the ‘talk’ we were about to have.

It was one of the most pleasant break-ups I’ve had in a long time. I find it grateful when a couple sit and talk about what they each want or to discuss where the relationship is at or where it is going, rather than avoid the conversation all together and allow the relationship to escalate to dangerous emotions and possible unwanted hatred. (And for what it was, the break up sex was worth it too).
Perhaps it was what I needed, and I saw it as a positive step for the both of us, in terms of where we were with our lives and where our minds were. Rather than pinpoint a culprit, I was grateful for what the relationship had been and what it had taught me. I was once told that if you love something or someone, to let them go, rather than to hold on to them like we hold on to our pillows at night. I did just that. I let go of him. This was my happy ending; it’s the way that I love, like its forever, then live the rest of our life but not together. I surrendered to the situation, there was no use pretending; the pieces didn’t fit here anymore. I couldn’t help feel sadness within, of how things could have been, or of how things would have been. I shouldn’t duel on the past nor attempt to change it, for things happen for a reason, instead I was content that I had gained a good friend, someone who I could rely on, someone who has helped me and encouraged me to find my feet, to dig deep in the grounds on this chaotic City and find my place within it.

By Thursday I was trying to find answers to my life, to find myself yet again, I told myself or rather MIKA sang to me “Relax, take it easy, for there is nothing that we can do…there is an answer to the darkest times…don’t scream, there are so many roads left”. Life is one long road, sometimes even a rollercoaster of emotions. I had to pick myself up again. I couldn’t allow it to get me down yet again or to stop at this junction, a crossroad in my monotonous life. I moved my feet and joined the road of life. I wasn’t ready to become another human on the verge of extinction in this jungle of a City. I don’t know where the road is heading right now, soon I’ll know, soon I’ll have all the answers, all I know is that its a good and happy place where I am successful. All I need is to plan my next destination with great care.

That afternoon I took another walk (wondering the streets of New York is what I do best). I found my self in ‘Times Square’; the capital and centre of our universe.
There under the pouring rain, in the middle of the brightly lit square, between the multitude of yellow Taxis Cabs, and the hustle and bustle of people and tourists, I wept. Not because I was sad or depressed, but because I had realized where I was, “Fucking New York City!”

Next Blog: Sunday 4th March

AND THE WINNER IS:





With only five days until Oscar night, here is my list of the movies and people who I think will be winners. You heard it here first! I’ll be sure to check it on Sunday 25th to see if the real winners match the ones on my list


Best Picture: "Babel" (I'll be looking closely at The Departed too)

Best Actor: Forest Whitaker, "The Last King of Scotland." (So much talk, he is sure to wine it)

Best Actress: Helen Mirren, "The Queen" (I also thought Kate Winslet in "Little Children" also deserves an Oscar)

Best Supporting Actor: Jackie Earle Haley, "Little Children" (I'll be looking closely at Eddie Murphy too)

Best Supporting Actress: Jennifer Hudson, "Dreamgirls" (So much talk, she is sure to win it)

Achievement in Directing: Martin Scorsese, "The Departed" (It's about time)

Best Foreign Language Film: "Pan's Labyrinth," Mexico (It's in Spanish otherwise I'll be voting for "Volver" too)

Best Animated Feature Film: "Happy Feet" (Great on the IMAX Super Screen)

Original Score: "Babel," Gustavo Santaolalla (The music touched me)

Documentary Feature: "Shut Up & Sing", erm I mean the nominated "An Inconvenient Truth" (SAVE THE PLANET!)

Cinematography: "Pan's Labyrinth”, Guillermo Navarro (The colour and lighting looks brilliant on screen)

FLY ME TO THE MOON




“Fly me to moon, let me play among the stars…” Sang Frank Sinatra as the opening lyrics to the song ‘Fly me to the moon’.

That’s exactly where I wanted to be at the start of this week, The Moon. Was it the start of Valentine’s week, or just another rendition of feeling low for a couple of days where your whole life seems to have no meaning at all?

To occupy my mind and free my self from and imminent depression I filled myself by going out to dinner on Monday night with a couple of friends. Tuesday night I saw ‘The Lives of Others’. It seems as though other people’s lives are filled with nearly the same preoccupations as our own. Everyone has his or her own shit to worry about.
But that shouldn’t make people selfish to only worry about what is happening within their own life.
The lives of others is just that, a seemingly honest movie that not only shows that we have problems but we should also do what we can to help others or at least put a message of hope out there. You don’t have to go to the same extremes that the character Georg Dreyman went through to publicly publish an article about the lives and conditions about suicidal people in East Germany during the 1980s.

Am I suicidal? Of course not, I have hope, but one can’t only live on hope alone. Sometimes the true reality of life itself kicks in that makes me wish I wasn’t Hamilton.

I wasn’t looking forward to Valentine’s Day this week nor were my co-workers at the office. I asked myself, seeing as I’ve been in a relationship for the past six months, why?
The honest answer is that I didn’t have a sign or inclinations that romance was in the air from my other half.
WAIT! What am I saying? I’m not a half of a couple, I am complete and that is what I have to see and learn that my happiness is not dependent upon someone else, right?

My co-workers suggested that if I didn’t get any sign of any plans for V-day that I should join them for a slushy romantic movie, which all of them being single, were going to see. (They saw Music and Lyrics with Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore)
It was more of a support for each other as some of them found no date or the need not to be with someone else on one of the year’s most romantic nights.

What is it about V-day and people’s expectations for this day? That the relationship is still alive? That we have a significant other who cares for us as much as we care for them? Or that some how an ex from the past will call or email and say how foolish they were to let you go?

My only answer to all this has to do with previous V-days. Anyone who has had a decent V-day in the past and this year finds him/herself single or questioning their current relationship will use previous V-days to reminisce on the good V-days they’ve had several years ago.

We cant live on the past and defiantly not by wishing the future was a certain way. So I surrendered to today’s situations and made my Valentine’s Day all that it could be and made plans to see my boyfriend that night. If it hadn’t been for the snow in New York that day something else could’ve been made of the night. But I was content with a take away, a bottle of wine and a good cuddle.
Or was I? I don’t know, I can’t seem to find answers to this, only that I sensed less affection than I was giving.

My resume should state ‘patient person’ along with my other skills. Thursday at work, at house 'DeVil', proved that I was in need of much of it. My mind was elsewhere. Being a Personal Assistant to a similar "Miranda Priestly" required a lot of patience. Because when someone so neurotic who constantly changes their mind not only requires patience but a couple of Valium, Xanax, Ambien and some Advil to numb the pain of sometimes being made to feel wrong, worthless and incompetent.
Come Friday however, I came out on top. Not only did I manage to show that I was a good assistant but also be told that I was right the previous day and win an apology when my boss realized the job at hand is not as easy as it seems. All it took was a good night’s sleep and the knowledge that the next Valentine’s Day was 361 days away.

By the weekend I was comforting a severe hang over, all I remember was waking up at 181st Street on the A train at 4:30am, needing to take a downtown train again. It took me almost two hours to get from Brooklyn, where the party had been, to my little apartment in the Upper West Side.
With the knowledge that came to light via an email from the birthday girl that I had somehow picked a confrontation and offended the lead singer of a popular band about music tastes and fashion, made me quickly retrace my steps to the previous night to find out what I had done wrong.
It's not within my character to pick confrontations or offend people; I made a dash for it and apologized for my actions. I think I got drunk too quick and wasn’t pacing myself with the alcohol. I spent Saturday afternoon questioning my actions of the previous night leading me to believe I was heading to a similar crisis like the one Britney Spears is confronting right now…

Next Blog: 25th February.

New Blog

In an attempt to salvage my life from oblivion. I thought to re-attempt to write on my blog. I know I tried to get it started back in 2006, but it never took off. Why? well there were to many movies to review and I didn't have the time or the patience to do so, and I'm sure you'd rather get your movie reviews else where. However I still like movies and will carry on going to the cinema but I'll avoid writing about it in a blog, there are plenty of sites where you can read those I'm sure.

In a recent viewing of Sex and the City, I was reminiscing the days when it was on Television and looked at it closely to realize it emulated a part of my life that is sometimes never talked about or I choose to disclose with close and personal friends; past relationships and current ones.
The Importance of Being Hamilton is about something I like to do, but have never spoken about it in the past.
Why? well nobody wants to know that I sometimes write down my thoughts and feelings do they? Or that I'm writing a book.
So here it is, a blog about my thoughts and feelings, with the hope of being published weekly on Sunday afternoons for your pleasure and entertainment.

What do I have on the agenda as my first column this coming Sunday? Being the week of Valentine's day, what better way than to write about the turn out and people's expectations about the day of Love?
I can tell you that last year I spent it with my best friend, sulking over past boyfriends and feeding each other Toblerone.
That's what friends are for! I just cant wait to find out what is going to happen this year, will I go to the gym, see a movie with my co-workers or have a romantic dinner with a special someone?

Next Blog: Sunday 18th