Artistry and kindness, featuring Viggo Mortensen

      Everyone wants to meet a celebrity, on some level, we're almost programmed by society to look up to and want to meet one on a daily basis (wither we realize it or not). We should remember, though, that celebs are just regular people with extraordinarily diff jobs. I've worked with, am friends with, or interacted with many celebs over the years, so when one does something so over the top, memorable and feel compelled to let the world know about their kindness. 

      Next to Aaron Eckheart, Viggo Mortensen is one of the nicest and most caring celebs I've ever met. I've been a huge fan of Viggo for year, I loved him in Disney's Hidalgo but of course everyone knows him as our favorite Dunedain chieftain, Aragorn II from the Lord of the rings franchise. My interest in him, (ok, crush on him) peaked during these films and I unprecedentedly learned more about him. 

    Normally, I don't like to pry into celebs lives unless I'm really curious but even though I don't go too deep into their business. I prefer to get to know someone the old fashioned way by talking to them. Nothing beats a great convo! So during the release of the Lord of the Rings trilogy I found out Viggo broke his leg riding the horse named "Bill" from said film and then later adopted him and a few other horses. Apparently he did the same thing while filming Hidalgo. I then learned Viggo has a horse ranch / animal farm down in Idaho where the horses from both films are housed. 

     Diving deeper, I learned about Viggo's artistic side after hearing him sing in the Return of the King movie. Turns out he's a quadruple threat in that he sings, paints, does photography and writes in his spare time. I also learned he, at that time, had one book published titled "Recent Forgeries". 

    Recent Forgeries is an exhibition catalog from his first solo art exhibition that focuses on a collection of some of Viggo's artwork, photography, poems and has a CD with his spoken words and songs. I liked what I saw of his artwork so I decided to purchase the book, which at that time, you could only do via his publishing company, Smart Art Press.

   Recent Forgeries was extremely hard to come by there was a warning that it would take a long time for me to receive the book once I ordered it. Time was nearing the 2.5 month mark of still no book when I receive an email stating that they apologize for the delay and I should be receiving my book shortly. They also stated the book is hard to come by so would I mind a gently used copy. I replied that I was fine with that, being an author myself I understand how small publishing companies can have issues when only 1 book is ordered instead of a lot of them. Things are different now a days but when you only need one book, it can be a pain. 

     Two weeks after I responded to Smart Art Press's letter I received my book in the mail and was completely shocked to find my book was autographed by Viggo's himself, had an apology from Viggo and the book was from Viggo's personal collection! As a writer. When your book gets published sometimes you are allowed to get a few copies just for yourself at no charge, other times, like when you are self published, you can order copies of your book as a special discounted rate. 
      Turns out Smart Art Press told Viggo about me purchasing his book and why it was taking so long. I hate to say it but I don't think this book at the time had a lot of traction until after Lord of the Rings trilogy was completed. So he offered one of his personal copies, he was very apologetic for the binding being ripped and he autographed it for me! I literally felt like I had just died and gone to Heaven! It was an extraordinarily kind gesture from him and speaks volumes for his character / personality.  

       So what did I think of the book? I love the photography and artwork. The poems were deep and meaningful. The forward was written by actor Dennis Hopper who wrote in length about Viggo's artistic accomplishments. The music part, some of the songs I truthfully didn't like. The melody was a little too slow and drawn out for me but overall I truly enjoyed it all. Since then, Viggo has gone on to produce tons of artistic books that can now be found in most book stores and online retailers like Amazon. 

      As much as I appreciate the ease of purchasing his book now, I'm so thankful this wasn't the case back then, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to obtain his autograph or personal copy! It's an item I will treasure forever and I can't thank Viggo or Smart Art Press enough for their kindness!  

You get Oprah, and you get Oprah and we all get Oprah!

        My life tends to throw surprises at me on an almost constant basis. Not that it's a bad thing to have as I'm always up for a new adventure. Today colored me speechless as I had no idea I would be hanging out with the one and only Oprah! 

       Let's rewind a bit. I'm always inviting my friends on my many adventures, be it the red carpet, an expo, trip around the world, you name it, I've done it and I've probably invited YOU along with me. So I love it when my friends return the favor in kind. 

     A friend of mine runs a hiking club meetup .com group and she was invited by the Oprah / Weight watchers company on a special secret short hiking event. Oprah is starting off the new year on a Weight Watchers 2020 tour where she interviews special guests and discusses all things personal or health related. Kind of like a self help tour. She's in the best shape of her life and she wants to  help the world discover their best selves while bringing some positivity back into our daily lives!

      So this Saturday, February 8th, Oprah is hosting a sold out show at the Barclays Center on Atlantic Avenue where her special guest will be none other than Michelle O'bama! Tickets are completely sold out for this event and have been for weeks, sorry folks! So to kinda kick off her tour, Oprah did a special half mile 'hike' in Brooklyn bridge park with some fellow health enthusiasts and members of the NYPD. 

    So my friend's hiking group was chosen to go but most members didn't want to come as the weather would be bad. Knowing me the way my friends do, she knows nothing stops me when I wanna do something fun. Besides, it's just rainwater. So I was able to join them for this special event!

   There were a total of about 30 people, mostly women, who joined the walk. We were given free weight watchers items such as a hand towel, popcorn, small chocolate bars, a swell bottle and water. There were camera crews and a professional photographer to capture every moment. Literally, I couldn't take a step without bumping into a film crew, but they were all extremely friendly.

   We walked along the riverside up just before the Brooklyn Bridge where we ended the event helping Oprah with an interview for CBS news (NYC channel 2). I was worried that due to the bad weather, Oprah might not show but the invite stated "rain or shine", so thankfully weather wasn't too bad and nothing stops that woman either. We all had plenty of opportunities to speak with her, she took her time and gave hugs, advice, anything we wanted. 

     Everyone was very respectful, even when asking for a selfie, once one person received the selfie, they moved so the next person could have their moment with Oprah. Oprah even allowed fans to have her record video messages to their family who couldn't attend the event.  

During the interview with CBS,  one thing I noticed was just how articulate she is. I know she's a talk show host (and super mega billionaire) but it's a different feeling to chat with her and be able to hear her speak off camera. She sounds even more professional off camera than on. She kept the mood light, joked with us, and all in all, it was a great experience for my first time meeting her. 

Now I wish I could attend her tour this weekend, but I will be attending the Carnival kick off party with my old Brazilian Samba  group, Samba NY! But that's a tale for another blog. Stayed tuned folks! 

Projekt Jaydyn / Sketchfed Studios would like to thank Lazy Hikers Group, CBS news, WW (formerly Weight Watchers), the City of NY, Parks Department of NY, Brooklyn, and Oprah.

 More pictures on IG @Projektjaydyn

    

Jason AKA Levi Holley Encounter

      For this edition of  noteworthy celebs, I want to Focus on an actor I 'met' via another great actor on Manu Bennett's,  Instagram page. 'Jonathan' aka Manu Bennett is an amazing New Zealand actor who is best known (at the time of writing this) for portraying Crixus in the TV series Spartacus, Allanon in The Shannara Chronicles,  Colonel Slade Wilson / Deathstroke in Arrow, and Azog the Defiler in the Hobbit film trilogy. In September 2019 I happened to chance upon Manu's  IG page where he posted a note to his fans to please show some love to his former Sparticus' co-star's,  Levi Holley who played Leviticus, IG page. 

Levi's Tattoo

    'Jason' aka Levi Holley  is a stunt choreographer, actor, model, martial artist from Auckland, New Zealand. This past summer 2019, Levi was diagnosed with an 'inoperable' brain tumor. He is currently in a Cancer treatment hospital in New Zealand where they are looking into all options available to help him. So, I went to a brief message meant to lift his Levi's Instagram page and left him spirits. I wrote the following:"Hey! Best of luck to you! Was reading Manu's post about you, your fight, & his admiration for you so just wanted to stop by and send your page some love and luck". 

   Levi happened to be on IG at that moment, saw my message and we ended up chatting for over 15 minutes. We talked about our birthdays (he was born on November 22nd and I on November 23rd). He posted a picture of his giant archery bow tattoo located on his upper back and its symbolism; I told him about my current nine tattoos and what they meant. Levi said he "got his bow and arrow tattoo because it symbolizes getting rid of the past, getting rid of pain, moving forward, and getting rid of unwanted arrows". I feel like we all need to get rid of the past, but sometimes we just can't seem to let go. 

   I then went on to tell Levi a funny story that happened while Spartacus was still on the air. My friends and I were headed to the movies (if I remember correctly) and it was going to start soon. I was completely serious and spoke with authority when I told my friends "the movie's about to start, we should set foot to purpose then." My friends and I all started cracking up and I told Levi it was at that point I knew I needed to take a break from watching the Spartacus if I was starting to quote the show. Levi cracked up after hearing my story and I was glad I was able to get his mind off of things for a bit. 

   I see Levi's posts / hear from him very infrequently since that day we chatted. I try to reach out to his best friend and publicist, Hannah, just to make sure he's doing alright and that he's still.... himself when I don't see activity from him but I haven't heard back from her yet. Unfortunately, with the type of cancer he has, if it progresses the way he mentioned, he will not remember anything from his past, lose the ability to speak and function hence why Manu reached out to his fan base to get us to send Levi messages while he is still able to understand and respond. Levi also reached out to Manu and his own fan base to connect with everyone while he feels he still can. Levi is very brave, completely open and honest about his condition and posts about it as much as he can.  Last I heard anything from Levi was around  December 2019 when Levi had another brain biopsy done to see if some of the new treatments he tried was working.

Regardless, it was an absolute pleasure chatting with him. Our brief interactions were informative, witty and insightful. He's even given me some new tattoo ideas as I had wanted to pay homage to my Sagittarius and Scorpio sides. I wish him the best, I hope his new treatments will work for him and we can chat again soon!

My Jake Gyllenhaal, Source Code Movie Event

      I like every normal human am bound by curiosity; it fuels us to find answers to our inner most thoughts. So when I was given the opportunity to write a feature story on any current celeb I started thinking out of all the celebs I’ve ever met, who am I most curious about. It had to be Jake Gyllenhaal. Why? I was born three weeks before he was, Jake’s maternal family is from New York City, his name has been posted in every type of news story around and I’ve had the pleasure of hanging with him once upon a time earlier this year.

    There seems to be many different side to Jake and I feel often what people read about him leads them to believe he’s either ‘this type’ or ‘that type’ of person. For example, after Jake starred Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain, a lot of people questioned his sexuality. Many people believed he was gay and dating his best friend who he’s known since grade school. Jake also once stated in 2007 during an interview for NOW Magazine UK edition “'I don't think I'd be afraid of [homosexuality] if it happened.” This comment caused a lot more people to question him.

     I don’t feel Jake is gay or bi-sexual, which he himself has stated numerous times, at all regardless if what’s posted in articles. I met Jake in April 2011 while he was promoting Source Code at the Apple Store in SOHO NYC. After every one else had left the event, I hung around, like I normally do after an event, and Jake I’m guessing thought I was waiting for an autograph and came over to me on his own accord. I wasn’t paying attention as I was playing with my camera but other fans did and pretty much rushed him by the stage. The commotion caught my attention and I looked up at him and smiled and asked hi for a picture. He smiled back and said “sure”. Jake came to me, grabbed me and put his cheek right up against my cheek for the picture. Reality caught up to us and I jerked away but he pulled me back over to him.

     My friend took the picture and Jake asked her “was it (the picture) okay? I want it to be alright for her (meaning me)” which surprised me as he was being overly sweet and comfortable around us. After he signed a few more autographs, his publicist dragged him away. He looked back at me and I gave him a little flirty smile and he stopped completely, smiled back with this curious and mischievous look on his face and began to walk back over to me. 

    His publicist intervened again, trying to get him and the other cast members to move to their next event sadly. Not done playing with me yet, Jake continuously jumped back and forth from behind a wall, waving like a madman at me. I started laughing and I playfully said “What are you doing? You’re such a weirdo!” Yup, I called Jake Gyllenhaal a weirdo to his face, but it was all in good fun. His publicist finally dragged him away from me and out little moment together passed. Does our little play session together mean he’s not gay, hardly, but again when it comes to celebs, we believe what we’re lead to believe due to our subjective views.

    In addition to questions about Jake’s sexuality, there have been questions about Jake’s demeanor towards the public. There was a report that a paparazzi tried to take a picture of Jake while he was using the bathroom and this year SXSW festival in Texas. Most reports say Jake had an altercation with the photographer and a lot of people’s response was that Jake was out of line because he didn’t need to resort to whatever violence they claimed he acted with. This story is a complete contradiction to an encounter with Jake my friend had recently. My good friend Danny was a waiter at Marc Meyer’s Cookshop restaurant here in the Chelsea section of NYC. 

    On almost every summer Sunday, Jake brings his mom and sometimes his sister Maggie, to have brunch at Cookshop as they love the healthy menu options. Jake’s family comes here so often that his mom became friends with my friend Danny. Jake doesn’t even mind Danny coming over to chat with them when he’s not their server though Danny never did this as he respected their privacy.

     All four of these examples with Jake show exactly who we, as fans and media alike, associate him to be like. An explosive and confrontational jerk for the media so they get a better story; a weekly acquaintance for my friend who wants better tips but also wants the Gyllenhaal family to feel at ease while at a relaxing brunch; the seemingly “in the closet” actor for those fans so into celebs lives they can’t see to differentiate fact from fiction. And then there me who met a guy, had a moment and hoped to make the moment last a little bit longer.

   The only people that have a right to say Jake is ‘this person’ or ‘that person’ is Jake, his family and friends. Jake’s a no bullshit type of guy, if he was gay, I don’t think he’d hide it, if he truly was a jerk that liked confronting paparazzi, you’d see it in him. He’s just a guy trying to be himself, ignore all the nonsense people say about him because of the profession he’s in. In any given situation, Jake will always just be Jake and unless you’re on his A-list, you’ll never be in the right when judging what you think you know about his true personality.

With Duncan Jones, Source Code Director

Duncan being grilled, I mean interviewed

   

Jake with Michelle Monaghan

Thanks Rotten Tomatoes for the free swag!

Jake Gyllenhaal

Meet the filmmaker’s series at Apple Store SOHO

Meet the filmmaker’s series - Apple store in SOHO hosts a bevy of filmmakers, actors, directors, musicians and artists alike. Oh yeah, they hold great classes too!

       Since 2011 began, I’ve been attending events I’d never even thought I’d ever be invited to like NBA draft parties and red carpet premieres. I’ve rubbed elbows with celebs and artists alike, especially at one particular reoccurring event at the Apple store in SOHO, NYC. Most Apple store’s in New York City give daily classes on how to best use their computer programs and equipment. You can learn to use such programs as Garageband (which I love a lot) and Final Cut Pro.

     The Apple store holds classes everyday from 10am to 8pm and each class runs about 1 – 1 ½ hours long. The classes are hosted by Apple employees who really know their stuff. If you reserve a spot for your class and miss it, you can easily go to the class at another time. The classes rotate between employees but when I went to three different Garageband classes, I learned something totally different each time, so it’s worth it to attend more than once. While looking for more classes to attend, I noticed Apple was hosting a ‘Meet the Filmmakers’ series’ event with Jason Statham for his then new film, ‘The Mechanic’.

     Meet the Filmmakers’ is a video podcast you can find on I-tunes where different directors, filmmakers, artist, musicians, and actors come for a 1 to 1 ½ hour block in which they discuss and promote their current film, album, or works of art. It’s a very intimate setting that anyone can attend but you should arrive early as seats fill up fast. The best part is after the session is over, most of the guests, time and publicists willing, are more than happy to come and sign autographs or take pictures with fans.

    When I met Jason Statham, there wasn’t a huge crowd and he had time to kill so I was fortunate enough to talk with him for a good 15 minutes! We took pictures together (I’m not a big fan of autographs, pictures tell a far better story than someone’s name on a piece of paper) and talked about pubs here in NYC versus Europe. A friend later told me that he noticed I was the only person Jason took pictures with and spoke with for that amount of time. I was absolutely flattered! This was a great experience for my first Meet the Filmmakers’ event.

     In the six months since then I’ve met actors like Jake Gyllenhaal, Will Ferrel, Eric Bana, Eva Mendez, Aaron Eckhart and several musicians, producers, directors and more. On a side note, if you ever meet Aaron Eckhart, he’s thee absolute nicest guy I’ve ever met and he tells the best stories! 

     If Aaron’s met you more than once, chances are he’ll remember you. When I met him, he spent 20 minutes talking to an older African American woman who was an extra in one of his previous films and he kept telling her “Yes I remember you” and asked how she’s been doing. He must have then given her some inspirational advice as they both started crying and hugging like they were old friends. He’s an absolutely amazing man for being so sweet to her and the rest of us and I thank him greatly for being so kind.

    My favorite quote that came from one of these events was when Eric Bana was discussing his latest role in the movie ‘Hanna’ and he told us that “last year (2010) was a bad year for actors”. What he meant was that 2010 was filled with so many sequels, there wasn’t much room for actors to stretch their acting abilities beyond what was already there. I was really interested in hearing more about this but he had to leave. Out of everyone I met I must say my favorite guest was Jake Gyllenhaal. After he was finished promoting “The Source Code”, for whatever reason, he came over and stood by me while I wasn’t paying attention. 

      He wasn’t really doing anything, just standing next to me as there weren’t many people around us until someone noticed him and ran to get his autograph. Once I looked up, he looked at me and smiled and I asked him for a picture (hey I was single and hopeful so why not). Jake grabbed me and after we took the picture he turned to my friend and asked her “is it (the picture) alright? I want to make sure it’s alright for her”. We talked for a bit before he left and as he was leaving, he continued to make me laugh by popping his head from behind a wall and waving like a madman at me, all the while he was laughing too.

    I’m grateful to Apple for creating all their classes and Meet the Filmmakers’ series as I learned so much and get to meet a lot of great people with interesting stories. If you’re into networking, Apple’s events are definitely not to be missed! 

   As of today, June 29^th 2011, I wrote this article on my way to the Apple store for their latest ‘Meet the Filmmakers’’ series with the very talented and highly respected thespian, Tom Hanks. Can’t wait to meet him!

Author’s Note: To find out about Apple’s events or classes, please go to www.apple.com/soho

Falling Up – Our Day w/ B.E.P.’s Taboo

        Jaime Luis Gomez is probably one of thee biggest names in music and clothing worldwide. His albums always go platinum and you can buy his shoe-line everywhere from NYC to Japan. You’re probably still trying to figure out why you don’t recognize his name yet? If I called him ‘Taboo’, I think you’d all now know who I’m referring to. Yes, I do mean Taboo one of the founding members of the infamous Black Eyed Peas. My friends, Suny, Starsa and I all had the pleasure of hanging out with Taboo at his book pre-release signing at Powerhouse Arena Bookstore in Brooklyn, NY on February 9^th, 2011. Powerhouse Arena hosted the book signing which featured Taboo himself and free Stella Artois beer for everyone.

       When we arrived at Powerhouse Arena on that freezing February night, Taboo’s book was on hand at sale price of course. We bought a copy and proceeded to wait in the line. The line throughout the night was semi-short as fans seemed to come in waves. One wave would come just as the last wave was leaving the store. I feel the line was like this because there wasn’t much advertising about this event, we only found out about it two hours before it started. I had never even heard o f Powerhouse Arena before either but I fell in love with the place the moment I walked through the doors. It’s a very down to earth yet artsy bookstore with two floors and a killer bathroom. The co-ed bathrooms have a painted mural stretching throughout all three stalls with truly beautiful artwork that I highly recommend you check out.

       I liked that there wasn’t a swarming crowd at the event as it made it more intimate and Taboo had more time to address each fan individually. If he had chosen a signing at a larger book store like Boarders or Barnes and Nobles, all we probably would’ve been able to do was say hi and bye to him due to the amount of crowds that would’ve shown up. I was surprised that there were so many kids, around 10 years old, at this event that wore tons of Black Eyed Peas memorabilia. I always assumed his fans would be a little older. The kids drew pictures and created paintings all which were given to Taboo. Taboo appreciated the kid’s gifts so much; he even did a short dance with them. Being a father of three kids (his third son wasn’t born until after this event passed) he seemed to be a natural with them.

       When it was our turn to sign he hugged us all and took pictures too. We got to chat with him for a while and when more ‘pea-ple’ showed up, we let them have their Taboo moment. We decided to stay until the very end which was a great idea as Taboo came back over to us and we chatted with him for the rest of the night. I remember we got onto the subject of his wife and soon to be born son who he, at that time, wanted to name ‘Dreamer’. Once his son was born this past April 2011, he decided to change the name to ‘Journey’ instead. When it was time for him to leave he gave us all hugs and kisses this time and we thanked him for choosing New York City to host his book release. We wished him great book sale numbers and BEP success and were off to eat Pizza. We were about to invite him and his crew to dinner with us but he had already left by the time we thought about asking. 

       As for his book entitled “Falling up – My Story”, I thought it was a very intimate eye opener into what it took for Jaime to evolve into Taboo without losing himself in the process. Taboo doesn’t pull any punches either as he discusses everything from his mother protecting him from his alcoholic father before he was even born, his first child being born when he was very young, and his close relationship with his grandmother all the way to his lifestyle choices while with the Black Eyed Peas. I found I was able to connect with a lot of what he wrote as we had very similar events. When he spoke about his parents, I thought of how my mom divorced my dad when I was 1 years old to protect me from his alcoholism. She gave him a second chance when he claimed to be sober but messed up again and was gone from our lives.  He slightly remained in my life as I had his number and we all eventually kept in touch until July 1^st 2007 when he died of Pancreatic Cancer.

      I loved and felt most connected to every mention of Taboo’s grandmother in his book and on his Twitter page (@TabBep). I too admired my grandmother’s wisdom above all others; I think we all do at some point. I love their relationship and how it helped to define him as a father and husband. Taboo also put a lot of candid photos in his book, from his early days to a lot of BEP events and celeb friends. I’m always fascinated by peoples life stories, not just celebrity ones. I’ve heard the most amazing stories come from the most seemingly ordinary people and it’s made me realize, everyone has a lifetime of great stories to share if they can just find people to listen. I urge you all to pick up a copy of ‘Falling up – My Story’ and hear first hand what Jaime, Taboo, has to say.

Note: I’m sending a copy of this article to Taboo himself so to Taboo I say, it was a pleasure meeting you. We appreciated hanging out with you at Powerhouse Arena! Love and Luck to you and your family, both your immediate and BEP family. And that perfume you liked for your wife is called ‘Pure Seduction’ by Victoria’s Secret. Truthfully, everything smells good there so she’ll love whichever you pick!