A Tail of two Ziggy's

So my pal Chris Amerouso, he of glamour and animal photography fame, knew I needed a dog before I did. He's an animal lover and supporter of many charities, as am I, but he's also kind of a tattooed Dr Doolitle.

Anyway one day he comes to me and says that our mutual friend, Linda Blair, of head spinning fame, now runs an amazing PIT-BULL rescue and has a dog for me. His name is Snowflake and he's at her compound. Snowflake needed a minor operation and had been dropped at the pound by a family unable or unwilling to spend the $200. Linda had rescued him just a few days before execution. (when you put it like that it drives home the fact huh?)

I wasn't sure a Pitt-bull was the right dog for me, but I love them anyway so went to visit Linda at her World Heart Foundation Compound.

First of all Linda does an amazing job rescuing Pits, and she runs the place solely on charity donations. She is a truly dedicated and brave person and must have over 50 dogs at her compound and knowing Linda she will find a home for all of them!

So I was finally introduced to snowflake, the dog Chris and Linda thought would be just right for me, there, in the middle of the room, ruling a pack of huge pitbulls, was snow flake, a JackChi! Thats a Jack Russell/ Chihauhua mix. I wasnt sure how to take that! A JackChi? What am I Paris Hilton with the little dog! ?

But then he trotted up to me wagging furiously, not just his tail but his whole body! I was hooked!

That was it, we were instant pals and he has lived at the Valentine compound for two years now.

One thing I knew for sure, the name Snowflake HAD TO GO! He had such a strong alpha personality with the Pits he deserved something cool and hip and strong.

I never knew how agonizing it can be finding a name for you pet, seriously !!! It took me weeks!

Finally I settled on the name Ziggy, but named after which famous Ziggy? As that would surely be the question,

So here it is, the announcement of his full name, Ziggy Marley Stardust Valentine III.

I always joked about people who had photos of their dogs on their cell phone....but THAT day I just had to take one, and now of course the phone is jammed!

I was at a coffee shop, we had just adopted Zigs and I wanted some java, a lady approached with her very young child,

"can he pet your dog "

she asked

I told her I had literally just picked him up and didn't know how he was with kids. she said...

"thats OK I'll take responsibility"

I was a little stunned but having a few witnesses I let the two meet,

Check out the pic,

Ziggy loves kids, he loves everyone, it's true what they say, a rescue knows he's been rescued.

By the way the rescue I'm talking about...is me

.

Go find one today,

Your perfect companion is sitting, waiting, wagging, on death row...go save him.

Magic really exists...

The Magic Castle ahhhh the place dreams are made of!

I will never forget driving into Hollywood, no

money, no job, just a passion to try and succeed. I thought I could work as a magician while setting up an acting agent, etc. I had heard of the Magic Castle, a mythological place where only the greatest Magicians in the world get invited to appear...literally, I knew it was in California but had no idea where!

The first apartment we stopped at was on Orange Drive, run by an english couple, we wanted to rent but had no credit, no jobs and not much money (about $2000 if I remember right). These guys were angels, they not only let us rent there but helped us find jobs!

I recall mentioning how I hoped to work at the Magic Castle, when the husband, Norris, frowned and took me outside, less than a block up the road, glistening in the sunlight WAS THE MAGIC CASTLE! Needless to say I auditioned to work immediately.

I must have performed THOUSANDS of shows there over the years, even winning a few awards.

Last night I took some friend up there who had never been and the wonder and joy in their faces reminded me of my first time, such a wonderful evening of magic and memories, and drinking and eating !

It's a fantastic place, I hope it stays around forever.

Their are times in life where you jump BEFORE looking, you

have to because if you see the challenges ahead or allow yourself to think of them you will never do it!

Sometimes just having faith in yourself, that everything will be alright, is enough. Having angels sent to watch over your journey cant hurt either!

I have always been a member of the 'jump in and just do it' club. You want to do somthing strongly enough and for the RIGHT REASONS the doors will open, maybe not immediately and for sure not in the sequence you may wish for, but they will open.

remember the ROLLING STONES, '

"you cant always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you'll find you get what you need!"

Looking back to 1989, it terrifies me to think about where we may have ended up, if it hadn't been for that lovely warm couple who managed the Orange Apartments I don't think I would be writing this today,

Thank you both

steve

Martin Nash , the greatest card cheat in the world, and I next to our Magic Castle Caricatures!

With Tippi at Shambala fundraiser , that's a whole other blog!

Ghosts

So, its hard for me to say this, but...I live with two ghosts. SCOUTS HONOR!

How do I know this and why don't I run?

I shall explain. I moved into this particular house a number of years ago, it's a four story and the basement room, which opens out to the garden, was very cold from day one but this is to be expected from the lowest floor

Every time I went down to this room I felt irritation in the air, annoyance, like I shouldn't be there. Well I ignored it. Over the next two years there was a fair amount of drama in the house and so I didn't pay attention to the vibe in the basement.

After my divorce the house was empty for a while and then I moved back in. Now it was even MORE irritable in the basement and at time I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand up as if someone was right behind me.!

Normally a person may run , but I've had a number o bizarre experiences in my life so it just pissed me off!

So I performed a completely improvised burnt sage ritual in every room. Just made up the words as I went along, basically saying

HEY THIS IS MY HOUSE NOW, IT'S THE WAY OF THE WORLD, DEAL WITH IT, IF YOU DONT LIKE IT LEAVE.

Things seemed OK after that... then I had people stay over...

A pal who house sat for me called to ask if I had ghosts (hadn't told a soul..hard to get sitters if you do!) she said she had felt like she was being chased around the house when she was alone, more than one presence... as if to say

WHY ARE YOU HERE YOU SHOULD LEAVE!

She really didn't want to continue the job.

Now believe me when I tell you I was was not happy! So I Saged the house again on my return, this time very forcibly explaining the DEAL to whatever it was that wanted the house to itself. Im not afraid of these things and I let them know. This battle would continue on and off for a year. Then my GF at the time started feeling it. Now she is a lucid dreamer and has the ability to stop and confront something IN a dream if she doesn't like where its going! She had one experience where she felt I was sitting on the corner of the bed telling her she should wake up and leave and a vivid dream where she was being chased around the house by two men, one huge and one small. They were telling her she needed to get out! She stopped the dream and told them THEY should leave. They told her it was their house and they didn't want anyone else there, THEY HAD GOT RID OF THE WOMAN BEFORE AND THEY COULD GET RID OF HER!

So I made one final sage ceremony but this time I made them a promise it went like this

I HAVE FILLED THIS HOUSE WITH LOVE AND LAUGHTER, IF YOU DONT LIKE IT I COULD CARE LESS...BUT..IF YOU DONT QUIT RIGHT NOW I WILL SELL THIS HOUSE AND MAKE SURE I SELL IT TO THE LOUDEST, LARGEST, MOST OBNOXIOUS FAMILY I CAN FIND. YOU WILL WISH YOU HAD BEEN GOOD TO ME ! SO ITS TIME TO LIVE HARMONIOUSLY OR GET OUT!!

It has truly been peaceful since then, no visitor has experienced any weird vibes....although as I write this the hairs on the back of my neck are starting to rise....

Charity, Disney and violent video games!

This morning I had breakfast with Scot Williams, Scot was a writer and producer on Crossing Jordan, then moved over to co-ep BONES and now will be working with the big TV cheese himself....Jerry Bruckheimer! Way to go man that's awesome! Best of luck!

Scot is also the co-founder of SHANES INSPIRATION a truly wonderful positive charity, please check it out and donate if you can, The recession has hit charities so badly, and any help will always be appreciated..plus I will like you more !!!!

Soooooo excited to start shooting a new series for Disney XD, we begin July 8th, just saw the pilot it's looking goooood, show is called VIPER SLAP! About a 14 year old boy who joins an 80's rockband searching for a comeback. Here's a pic of me in full make up! is that my real hair..hmmmmm

The other awesome video game, DRAGONAGE, that I completed this year will be premiering in October. its amazing!  Check out the trailers

http://dragonage.bioware.com/gallery_videos.html

I think I recorded close to 6000 lines of dialogue, well more really, approximately 3000 lines and three or four variations on each, so it adds up! 

Here is a pic of my character, Alistair, the reluctant hero. who kicks ass!

I am constantly amazed at the detail in these games, this one is truly majestic!

So you see, an actors life for me, to play such different roles, inhabit so many lives, taste the worlds I might have entered and those I steered away from. That's why I love it, it makes this life I'm leading now...more like a multiple role playing game..split personality existence, without the prozak!

Sunday photo shoot with Karen Soltero, gonna rock that!

you all have an amazing weekend, now lets seeeeee...who do I want to be today.......

uncharted 2, among thieves

Yesterday I was continuing my year long adventure working for Naughty Dog on the sequel to their blockbuster, UNCHARTED. It's a Sony playstation game and we are close to finishing it. They have some amazing surprises with the sequel, the motion capture elements, directed by Gordon Hunt, are a blast to work on, look stunning on film, and the all in one motion capture jumpsuits we have to wear, absolutely humiliating!. 

It has been inspiring to work with these talented actors who can break out a million voices and impersonations, at times its hard to keep a straight face! I am playing the character of Harry Flynn, he's so much stronger, braver, handsomer and rugged than I am, but then that's the grea thing about motion capture, look at Beowulf!

I have been given permission to blog the new trailer for the game, its like a motion picture, the game play itself has incredible detail,

it's a new world to me, and I love it.

steve

about comments!

As with other sites and blogging, I will try to read as many comments as I can, but it will be impossible to respond due to time constraints. I value your opinions. Anything inappropriate will be deleted and blocked. 

Thanks for reading this...the most boring of all my blogs 

So to make up for it here is a picture of me as a diminutive gardener in a super silly short I made for the internet!

PEACE

Meeting your heroes

Recently took a trip to New York to walk the runway for DRESSED TO KILT. Sir Sean Connery's annual fundraiser. was a blast on the runway but backstage was another experience. Met some wonderful people, passionate about the charity and their lives, people taking risks and following their passions, people who appreciated the chance this event gave them, to help others.

But I also had a classic 'don't meet your heroes' moment, an actress I have long enjoyed who was a complete B***** to me. For no reason and I mean NO REASON! I simply said hello and had to endure, not just her bitching about the event, but the disdainful looks and eye rolling she sent in my direction. 

The bigger they were, the rougher they fall!

It's funny, DRESSED TO KILT for me embodied everything I love about ' The Biz':

People giving their time and stature to a charity for the shear joy of participating and raising money...

and the worst of 'The Biz':

 'celebrities' who have forgotten what it is to have manners and be polite, who have insecurities and entitlements so vast they have lost touch with the simplicity of

 being a human being.

If it wasn't for Inna that may have ruined my night, (I have a tendency to let rudeness get to me) but she convinced me to focus on the elephant...

Have to say though, all in all a fantastic event, I will be taking part in more and more this year, including SHANES INSPIRATION, a wonderful positive charity that puts to use every dollar it raises.

THEY SAY NEVER MEET YOUR HEROES. I disagree, meet as many as you can, for one thing you will often be pleasantly surprised, but the truth is you will see them as simply human, people as fallible, flawed and scared as you and me. Let this inspire you because lets face it, if THEY can become successful, then so can you.

I have been in Hollywood for 20 years now, many more 'heroes' stories to come...

Ok people here we go, before we start with true blogs I have to include the obligatory BIO!

‘EVERYTHING HAPPENS FOR A REASON…’ 

That’s the phrase that keeps Steve Valentine going, as he plows 

through his wide, varied and ultimately strangely connected 

career. 

Born in Scotland and raised near London, England, Steve has 

had a fascination with performing from the age of 5. That was 

the year he started THEATRE and DANCE training and took a 

passionate, lifelong interest in MAGIC. His first job was playing 

a child Prince in ‘THE KING AND I’ in London theatre at the 

age of 7, 

From those humble beginnings to appearing in almost two 

hundred hours of television, a dozen movies and countless 

commercials, to starring in the Hit TV series CROSSING 

JORDAN, Steve Valentine has done it all. 

Always the performer, Steve DJ’d in Europe, ran a nightclub at 

18 years old in the former Yugoslavia only just escaping the war, 

entertained troops in the Belize jungle, Northern Ireland and Falkland Islands during that war. He 

has traveled the world on a cruise ship performing stand-up comedy, headlined in Las Vegas and 

become known as one of the top close-up magicians in the world. 

“ I had a chance to stay in Vegas with my own illusion show” Steve admits “ But I’m an actor at 

heart and needed to stay in LA to follow that dream.” 

Once in LA Steve still dabbled in magic, winning the coveted CLOSE UP MAGICIAN OF THE 

YEAR award, two years in a row, from Hollywood’s World Famous MAGIC CASTLE. 

Steve had to retire from the magic scene when, auditioning for a movie role the producer turned 

out to be a past magic client who had hired Steve for his kids bar mitzvah, he didn’t take Steve 

seriously as an actor. The next day the magic was dropped and the rest is history. 

One year later Steve got the sitcom ‘Nikki’ for the WB, followed by six years on NBC’s ‘Crossing 

Jordan’: 

 “While he is unorthodox in his approach to his work and the people he works with, there is 

something amusing and charming about him,” says Steve Valentine of ‘Dr. Nigel Townsend’ his 

“Crossing Jordan” character, a quirky criminalist/forensics expert -- and ex-British soldier. 

“Out of the myriad of characters I have played, ‘Nigel’ is definitely one of my favorites -- arguably 

the most multi-faceted and easily the most FUN!” 

Steve’s guest star appearances run the gamut, his guest starring role on NBC’s “Just Shoot Me,” in 

which his character, ‘Zigmund’, has an affair with Nina (Wendie Malick), was a showstopper that 

produced a flood of letters and industry talk and gained him rave reviews. His additional series 

STEVE VALENTINE BIO 2009

credits include such shows as  “House”, “Monk”, “Chuck” “Middleman” “Will & Grace,” “The 

Minor Accomplishments of Jackie Woodman”, “Dharma and Greg”, “The Hughleys,” “Boston 

Legal,” “Providence,” “JAG,” “Charmed,” “Martial Law,” “VIP,” “Promised Land” and 

“Diagnosis Murder.” 

Steve’s feature-film credits include Co-starring roles in “Spiderman III,” Albert Brooks’ “The 

Muse,” with Jeff Bridges and Sharon Stone; Tim Burton’s “Mars Attacks,” “Return to the Secret 

Garden” and George Huang’s “Trojan War.” He also starred as the ‘Boogeyman’ in Disney’s 

“Don’t Look Under the Bed.”  As well as such independent films as “Remembering Phil” with 

Nick Turturo, “Fatman and Mr. Taco”,  “Gabriella,” and “Foreign Correspondents,”  

Continuing in his desire to stretch and perform in as many arena’s as possible, Steve just shot ‘I’m 

with the band’ for Disney, starring as the lead singer of the dumbest Rock band in the world, can 

be seen Hosting “Estate of Panic” for Sci-Fi Channel ( just nominated for a Rose D’or) and starring 

in “Stone of Dreams” (the ‘Wizards of Waverly Place’ movie) again for Disney. 

Steve Valentine first set foot in America, performing magic on a cruise ship based out of Puerto 

Rico, in March of 1989. It was there he met his now ex-wife, and moved with her to Los Angeles. 

Now, 20 years later, in March of 2009,  the again single Mr. Valentine has just completed  Disney’s 

‘Stone of Dreams’. In which he plays the villain ‘Archie’, a wizard turned street magician, shot 

entirely on location in…. Puerto Rico. 

EVERYTHING HAPPENS FOR A REASON. 

THE STRETCH CONTINUES: 

Recently Steve has written and produced a number of TV and Film 

projects including CRIMEWORLD- a new take on Sherlock 

Holmes, THE GOURMET DETECTIVE -  based on the series of 

hit mystery novels, BLOOD MAGIC a horror screenplay based on 

real events and AMONG SPIRITS, a period X-Files. 

He also just optioned his reality magic competition show MYSTERY 

TOUR to Fox 21. 

Steve Valentine lives in Los Angeles with his newly rescued doggie 

Ziggy and two ghosts. 

In his spare time, he enjoys horseback riding, dancing and riding 

roller coasters, sometimes all at the same time, and yes if you ask 

nicely, he will still blow you away with an incredible magic trick! 

Valentine’s birthday is October 26, every inch a Scorpio..…