So, living in Venice always came with a sense of mystery. One such example is not really knowing your neighbors (or in this case), whom they would become. I was living on a walk-street down by the beach, by way of Michigan. It was a great place, but nearly everyone was pretty interesting and some downright crazy. I was really nice, but kept my distance a bit.

Behind the house I had an apt in, were 2 guys doing the same. They were cool and we shot the breeze when we were coming and going. They were living at a nice Venice beach house their Dad owned (a lawyer from DC...I think), while one went to Med School and Residency and the other pursued and acting career. Sounds good to me!

But, they were cool. They had a lot of friends and threw this AWESOME party every 4th of July. It was on their rooftop deck with plenty to drink and a killer band, House of Vibe Allstars. Charlie Tuna from Jurassic 5 would step up on the microphone and the deck would start bouncing! They were sooooo funky and just jammed (until the cops inevitably shut it down (a travesty when they were so good and there was so much worse going on all over town. (Video below, if you are in Santa Monica and want to check them out at Hervelle's).

But, here is the funny thing: I always loved these two brothers for their amazing party and hospitality once a year, but thought it must be hard for Jonnie to be a struggling actor while his bro finished up and became a Doctor... Well, I learned that dreams do come true and that guy was Jon Bernthal and is HUGE now!!! After I moved and watched The first couple season of the Walking Dead to witness his BIG BREAK. Now, he has been in films directed by Scorsese and Polanski... HUGE!!! The dude killed it!

So, if you believe in karma and have a dream, throw a killer 4th of July party and let your neighbors come!!! Congrats Jonnie!

Category: URtheStory // Holiday Celebrations