Sunday, February 26, 2012

Down at The Beach with Alexander Skarsgård & the Independent Spirit Awards

As originally featured on The Vault - TrueBlood-Online.com.


Yesterday, I went down to the beach and saw Alexander Skarsgård.  Well, actually it wasn't quite as easy as that sounds. I went to the beach in Santa Monica where the 2012 Independent Spirit Awards took place and after much effort, managed to get a few photos of the tall vampire. It had been announced that Alexander Skarsgård would attend and I wanted to try and get some photos and/or video of him.  His film "Melancholia" was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award as best foreign film. Unfortunately, the film didn't win the category.

The awards took place in a large tent erected in a parking lot next to the Casa Del Mar Hotel, a very exclusive beach front hotel. I arrived late because I had other appointments in the morning. When I got there, it was already well after the red carpet had taken place, and many fans were already lined up in front of the barricades that had been erected to keep them from entering the area.  It essentially was fence that ran parallel to the bike path.

Since the red carpet had already ended, all the stars were already in the tent and the show was going on so, if I was going to get any photos, I had to wait about three hours until it was time for them to leave.

Because of my late arrival, I didn't get a very good spot in which to wait and autographs and photos with the stars was pretty much impossible. I did see quite a few stars though.  In addition to seeing Alex, I saw Colin Farrell, Ben Kingsley, Anne Heche, Jonah Hill, Kirstin Dunst and Carson Kressley. My camera was able to grab a few photos of Alexander as he left.  He was waiting for his car and all the fans were screaming to him to come over, so he did and signed a few autographs for the fans, but alas he didn't come close to me.


The dress code for the day was California casual, which I think, means pretty much, "anything goes."  I saw stars with evening gowns and those dressed in just jeans and t-shirts. However, Alex dressed it up a bit and he looked mighty fine, I'd say.

Below are the photos I was able to catch from my less than perfect viewpoint:

 

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Joe Manganiello Spends ‘A Day At the Beach’ for Claire’s Place Foundation

Yesterday, February 11, 2011, I attended an event supported by True Blood's Joe Manganiello "A Day At The Beach" with Claire's Place Foundation, Inc. in lovely Santa Monica, California.

Joe is friends with Claire, a 13 year old girl who has been living with cystic fibrosis her entire life. Joe was asked by Claire to support her fundraising event and he quickly said, "Yes."  Here's more from the Foundation's Facebook page about Claire:
She is inspired, passionate, and very excited about making a difference for other children and teens by sharing her experience, strength and hope with them. Claire has recently suffered many setbacks but maintains a positive attitude and believes this is the key to living a fulfilling life - despite being burdened with such a deadly disease. In honor of Claire’s experience and enthusiasm for life, The Claire’s Place Foundation, Inc. was created, a charity committed to providing heartfelt help to families affected by Cystic Fibrosis.
Their mission  is to heighten public awareness about Cystic Fibrosis, and improve the quality of life for the families it affects by providing education, life skills, inspiration, and positive support.
I arrived early to the event and immediately went to the registration table and received my free t-shirt and pink bracelet to wear in support of the charity.  Joe Manganiello, actor Chad Lowe and Franchot Tone's band were scheduled to appear.  Also included were fitness experts, Lionheart Fitness Kids, and Jeff Blair Fitness who held exercise sessions with both the children and adults. There was also a silent auction of many items and food sponsored by Whole Foods to help support the charity. The poster below details much of what the day was about.
 
Joe Manganiello arrived right on time and stayed for most of the two hour event, which began with Claire introducing actor, Chad Lowe, who also attended, Joe and the Franchot Tone band. Joe chimed in thanking Claire for all her hard work and then Claire mentioned how much her mother had done to see that the event went well.

You too, can help this worthy charity by donating; just go to their donation page by clicking here.


Obviously, my main purpose for being there, in addition to wanting to raise awareness for the charity, was to see True Blood's hunky werewolf, Joe Manganiello. Below is a video with Joe and others, including Claire herself. In the video we see Joe living up to the reputation fostered by all the other True Blood cast members I've met before him by being genuinely friendly and kind as he talks to the fans, and plays with the children. There are some particularly sweet moments in the video when we see Joe with Claire and also as he plays being a werewolf with the children. When I spoke to Joe I tried to get some True Blood secrets out of him, but he was pretty tight lipped, although he did mention some the word "transform," which I don't really know what to make of.  Oh, and yes, Joe is unbelievably tall!


Joe posed for a photo with me.
 Photo of me with Joe was taken by Barbara Henderson