When Miles Simmons envisions his future, he dreams fame and fortune. As Hollywood actress Audrina Patridge’s potential co-star in an upcoming Web series, Simmons is one step closer.
Early February, the 25-year-old submitted a video entry into a contest seeking actors for the planned online show, “YobiAct with Audrina Patridge.” Simmons hoped to capture his comedic and acting talents in his video, and was validated when just one week later he had enough votes to qualify as a top 10 male finalist.
The Web series stars Patridge, best known for her role in MTV’s reality TV series “The Hills,” as a talent manager from Hollywood who moves to Detroit to start her own firm. The contest will grant one male contestant a position as her personal assistant and one female as the receptionist.
The finalists will go through another round of voting beginning April 10, which will begin the process of elimination until one male and one female are chosen to be featured in the series. Information about voting opportunities will be posted to http://yobi.tv/yobiact/audrina-patridge-contest/finalists.
Simmons, a former Vancouver resident who now lives in Wenatchee, hopes that enough votes will allow him to launch a rap and reality TV career under the stage name “sWAggy long legs” — with only the “WA” capitalized, to highlight his Washington origins.
“Audrina’s in that young, hip crowd,” Simmons said. “If I can work with her, I can get my name out there and perhaps develop a working relationship where I can venture out.”
Simmons has also received recognition as a professional video-gamer through contests and tournaments. As a working parent and aspiring star, the next step, he hopes, is to become established in Hollywood.
Until Hollywood calls, Simmons continues to enter contests.
“I want to get in anywhere I can fit,” he said. “I’m trying to go as high as I can.”
Vancouver resident’s book blends fiction, travelogue
Longtime Vancouver resident Bill Hughes took a trip on the Trans-Siberian Railway in 1972 that left a lasting impression.
It wasn’t until about 30 years later, when he rediscovered his notes from that journey, that Hughes got the idea to incorporate his experiences into a fictional book that blends in autobiographical elements.
The resulting novel, “20/20: Perfect Vision or a Political Pipe Dream?” centers on a character named Hugh Williams, based on Hughes.
In the book, Hugh is in a ski accident and slips into a coma for 20 years. He wakes up in the year 2020 and tells his caregivers, through a series of flashbacks, about a trip he took on the Trans-Siberian Railway. They in turn tell him about what happened in the world while he was comatose.
“He’s a modern Rip Van Winkle,” said Hughes, 83, who is retired and used to own a shipping company.
Hughes self-published the book in 2008 through Gorham Printing in Centralia. He self-published a previous version through a different company in 2004.
The book is available to borrow through the Vancouver Regional Library District and for purchase through Hughes directly (bhughes803@aol.com).
Hughes said his 1972 trip was prompted by a desire to study communism, which he hates. It was the first of 10 trips to the former Soviet Union. On a return visit in 1991, he taught capitalism to students for several weeks.
Hughes has visited 51 countries and hopes to write another book about his travels as a follow-up to “20/20.”
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