8/31/06 If you want it do right... do it yourself.

I was unhappy that all summer long I had to send out headshots of myself wearing a winter coat. The photo has a dark hue to it, the coat is black... and whatever. Why didn't I do something? I dunno know?!

I just received Adobe Photoshop and I sat all weekend teaching myself and re-touching the master photo of the already re-touched headshot I was sending out. It came out great I was thrilled. Then I tought why not re-touch some others and have reproduced another shot without a coat. It took me about 20 hours over the weekend to re-touch these pics till I was absolutely pleased with them.

This is the before (already re-touched) headshot.


This is the headshot I re-touched.


So if you want someting done right, learn to do it yourself!!
That's my day in NYC.
-Jeff

Aug 21st, 2006 Boy was I surprised!

My Folks and sister are visiting me in New York City from Florida. I was able to get tickets with the TV medium John Edward for a group he was doing here in the city & I invited my mom to come along with me in hopes of being "read" by John Edward. Fortunately, we were... unbeliveable.

On their fifth day here which was Sunday Aug 20th, we had plans to dine with some relatives in a Times Square restaurant. I wondered why that peticular restuarant, Sofia's. I had been there with friends on different occasions and the food was good, but it was the same time people were going to the Broadway matinees and the streets would be packed. As we walked into Sophia's, we were headed toward the back and at a long table I noticed a friend of mine. Eunice, actually she is my employer at a place where I work called Plays for Living. Then Sitting next to her was my Theatrical Agent Barry.... what?! Wait a second, there's more co owrkers from Plays for Living, then I saw friends of mine from New Jersey, then my brother & his wife & my nephew from Albany, then friends from Staten Island, then Mim, the head usher from The Lincoln Center Theatre wher I work as an usher... and it went on and on... Steve, Nadine & Joanie dear family friends from Staten Island, Barry my agent & friend, Yvonne dear to my heart, Eunice, Maryellen & Bill, Judy, and Jenny (my fabulous coworkers from Plays for Living and Yana & Angela who couldn't make it signed the card), my super brother Sam his wife Julie & my adorable nephew Zack, Enza & Mike friends close to my heart from New Jersey, Missy and Justin my cousins and best friends always from Brooklyn, Mim the chief usher from Lincoln Center whom I work for who I totally just adore, Matt, Elaine & Renee my cousins from Long Island who I want to be around more & more, my wonderful sister Ruth, & my folks. Even Matthew my ticket taker buddy from Lincoln Center who was working at the theatre where Tarzan is playing stopped by to wish me a happy birthday.




My folks had thrown me a surprise 50th birthday party. Wow, never in my life did I get such a fantastic, surreal, warm, loving feeling as I did at that moment. They were all people that I loved, that I always wanted to be around, even my co-workers from work...we socialize all the time together. I was always the party giver, the planner, the person to make sure that things were taken care of for the next person, and here I am now being the receiver. Boy did the tears roll for that moment.

It seems my folks had been planning this since I purchased the tix to the John Edward event in April, and with the help of two of my closest friends in the city Yvonne and Susan (who was in San Francisco on a business trip and couldn't be there but wished she could), my folks managed to contact all these people. But the kicker is that every single one of these people down to my 8 year old cousin Justin (who I saw at his block party in Brooklyn in July) and to my 6 year old nephew Zack (who I recently spoke to on the phone) were able to keep the secret about this surprise party. I'm shocked! I announced that I'm glad I wasn't invited because I would never be able to have kept this secret.

My sincere thanks to everyone, how they were able to keep this secret from me and make this a truely surprised birthday party, my 50th, one that I will never forget. And much love to my folks who planned this for me and made this the most memorable experience in my life to date.
-Jeff
PS I didn't get the part of Adam Sandler's older brother in that film that I auditioned for... argh! I was so right for the role, but onward and upward... I move on and anxiously await my next audition.

Thursday August 10th, 2006

It's almost like a definite that I didn't even get a (blank) call back for the Sopranos audition. I know I was good. Argh!

I'm in a down & funky mood today (even though I have a great audition tomorrow for Adam Sandler's older brother in a film called "I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry"). I read and hear about everything that everyone else is doing, and although I am very grateful for all that I have, I tend to compare myself to them. I've come far and done alot (almost a jack of all trades but master at none), and yet I'm trying to find one simple thing that I "excel" in. Others can tell me that I excel in manythings, but I don't feel it. Sometimes I think I have too many projects on the burner at the same time. Hence, my time is not properly focused on one thing.

Coming close to my 50th birthday is hitting much harder than I thought it would. Never could I picture myself at 50, and now with the weight gain and the loss of hair and the liver spots starting I'm there... middle age, but what's weird is that usually most of the time I do feel younger, and I do realize that 50 is just a number, not a state of being. I wanted to do so much in my life.... how much time do I have left?

I'll be fine... I just had to vent a bit.
Thanks for listening Doc... I'll leave my quarter by the door as I leave.
-Jeff

Tuesday August 8th, 2006

Well, I haven't heard anything about the Sporanos audition... Argh! It's one thing when you feel you gave a lousy read, but when you are so confident that your read was in the right direction... it gets so frustrating when you don't even get a call back.

Bette Midler was asked about how she dealt with auditions when she was a struggling singer/actress and she said: "You have to walk into the audition with the confidence knowing you are better than white bread, and walk out with the humility know that you are not."

My survival work as a bookkeeper has been quiet this week, I guess everyone is on vacations. I'm trying to get my company Joey Vegas Productions up and running as a production desig studio that does demo reels for actors. I've really dived into the world of apple computer in the last 2 years & editing & audio production has been my second nature. I am going to produce, direct, edit & act in a short film that one of my friend's has been wanting to do. "Funny Face", will be about 10 minutes and we will flood the festival circuit with it.

My agent called with another audition scheduled for this Friday. A pretty decent role in a studio feature film. Hey that's not bad!! Adam Sandler's older brother in a film called "I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry". Adam is opposite Kevin James and they play out of work firefighters who pose as a gay ouple to get health insurance. (Something very close to that). Jessica Biel is also in it. A 50ish year old big brother named Moshe who is a Sopranos wanna be. Yeah I can do that!!

Gearing up to my 50th birthday, and I have mixed feelings about it. I'm definitely not a kid anymore but sometimes I feel 20 years old. If I can only hang on to that without feeling that I'm being silly, I'll be fine.

I have a strong "To Do List" and 2 priorities are to finish the book I started "I'm a Famous Actor... You Just Haven't Heard of me Yet!" and to delve into the rewrites of my screenplay "Mary's Dilemma". You can read about "Mary's Dilemma" at www.marysdilemma.com

I openly share with you so I thank you for reading.
-Jeff

August 2nd, 2006

Today I had another audition for The Sopranos, this time the role of Dr. Uri Rosen, who tells a cast member (I'll keep it a surprise) that they have lung cancer & 3 months to live.

When I first received the scene from my agent I saw that there were a few medical terms in it, so I sat online looking for both the phonetic spelling for proper pronunciation, and the meaning in the context of the sentence. No problem was able to do that.

I walked into Walken Jaffe Casting drenched like a wet blade of grass. The heat was actually hellish here in New York City today.
But I was surprised when Meredith Tucker (Casting Associate) recognized me from my last Sporanos audition for Tony's Real Estate Lawyer a few months ago. She addressed me directly by name & chatted abit. That put me in a total state of comfort and I knew I was going to ace the audition. Although (and here are those horrible demon voices in my head speaking), I was there for the role of a renowned doctor & I wore tan slacks and a green & white checkered shirt... the other guy was wearing a white shirt & tie! Forget it! I'll stand out then in a green checked shirt.

I listened as the other guy went in and I thought his delivery was too relaxed and quiet. I went in very calm & focused. I sat in the chair in fornt of the camera, slated my name & began. After the first take Meredith said I needed to speed up, that I was taking too long with the dramatical pauses. The second take went great. She commented on the detached air I had and it worked well for a doctor who has to tell many people that they are going to die. She asked me to keep in mind that because I had to tell many people, the words were almost systematic. The third take went perfect & she said it was excellent, no need for another take.

As I rose again she mentioned it was good to see me, so I added a little banter chat. As I left the building I went straight to a card store, purchased a Thank You card, filled it out, inserted one of my postcards for her personal wall by her desk & mailed it right away. I felt great.

That's my life here n New York City... and how is your?
-Jeff