July 2006 Featured User

Jay and Jay's Spokesperson

Interview by Sunya, Alex P Grimes, and Chelle

Sunya: Who is this Jay?

Jay's Spokesperson: Well, he's now a 10 year old kid who has just always been a little cooler and more interesting than most other kids...An A student, loves football & basketball, swimming, and music!

Alex P Grimes: Why should we care about Jay in the first place???

Jay's Spokesperson: Why not? He's cool! And who else spent hours a day doing all the moves to his VH video at 2-3-4 years old??!! Right, Nobody :D

Sunya: Why are you his Spokesperson? (Ok, so I know. Not everyone else does.)

Jay's Spokesperson: When we joined the PD, Jay was the one much more interested in VH--(not that I wasn't! But he was obsessed!) I guess I picked the goofy username because, initially, any posts I made were kind of speaking for him, because he was 4 and couldn't write/ spell--much less type!

Alex P Grimes: Why does he need a spokesperson???

Jay's Spokesperson: Now, he doesn't. Then, he did .

Chelle: Well then let's hear from the man himself. Jay, what is your earliest VH memory?

Jay: I don't remember seeing the video for Jump, but I know I watched it a million times because we have videos of me then, and all I said was "Watch guy Jump" because I wanted to do that all day.

( Note from Jay's Spokesperson : This stuff is precious...TOO funny!! He was in diapers in the earliest videos--sounds like a baby, too! He has quite a reputation among friends & neighbors for his peculiar VH fixation when he was so little...they saw him outside at his baby drumset playing Hot For Teacher....and anyone who came over had to sit down & watch him 'do' Jump....)

Sunya: Are you still into playing a musical instrument?

Jay: Mostly my drums with my new CDs. Sometimes my guitar with my uncle when he visits, but I need a new string.

Sunya: How old are you now, what grade are you in?

Jay: I'm 10. I will be 11 November 5th. I'm going in to 6th grade.

Sunya: If you could spend a day with Wolfie, what would you want to spend it doing? (Other than spending it with his dad.)

Jay: Shooting hoops or swimming. Check out their music stuff.

Sunya: If you could go anywhere in the world, where would it be?

Jay: I've been to Seattle a few times, drove back across the US on the way back once. I went to Boston , South Carolina and other places. Right now I like to be home because It's fun and I like it here. I don't even want to go visit my parents every other weekend, but I have to.

Chelle: What do you want to be when you grow up?

Jay: A chef.

( Note from Jay's Spokesperson: Jay has quite a talent for cooking..I've told him that as a career, he can't go wrong with that because everyone eats! Plus, he can make lots of money, and travel, if he wants...Of course, he's 10--his plan might change!)

Chelle: What do you like to do in your spare time?

Jay: Play basketball, swim, play PSP or video games sometimes. And I can't wait to play football again, and I download music like Guns and Roses and Motley Crue and lots of old stuff. Right now, I love the Scorpions best. I still know every Van Halen song and nobody else knows anything about them, but I do.

( Another note from Jay's Spokesperson : Jay had a debate with a DJ at an outdoor event a few years back..trying to tell the DJ that Jan Van Halen was Ed & Al's father, where the guy kept trying to tell him it was their sister JAN! lol

Reminds me of how crazy he was over Diver Down...the 'Big Bad Bill' message he put on our answering machine..the flipping the cassette after Secrets, to hear Little Guitars on the other side...And he LOVED Happy Trails...)

Chelle: Ok, Jay's Spokesperson, for those who might not be familiar with the history, give them the run down on your grandson, Jay.

Jay's Spokesperson: Yep, it all started in the spring of '97...Jay was hooked on VH1 when he became interested in the Wallflowers 'One Headlight'.....(we have video of that too, he had to tap his foot right when Jacob Dylan does in the video..lol) By summer, he had his own VHS tape of his favorite songs, and then there was Savage Garden's 'I Want You'....That was his first sign of kinda going overboard about something...The infamous 'Countdown Of the 100 Greatest Videos' at the end of '97 played Jump....and the rest is history. He was absolutely entranced...mesmerized by it.. I taped that video on a rerun of the countdown, and we watched it over & over & OVER after that...'til I got VH's Greatest Hits, and that expanded him a bit. When I bought some cassettes for him, he, little by little, learned everything. This does include Van Hagar (and he knows the difference) but of course, he's a kid, and as I've said a million times--he doesn't know the gory details re:VH, and doesn't need to know.

Chelle: How did you get involved in the online VH community?

Jay's Spokesperson: So, I got a PC, and, with Jay on my lap, I typed in 'Van Halen'....We were looking for pictures, initially. That's how I found the official site, Dome, etc...I remember being intimidated by the DLR Army, but I was talking to Mark Ferguson (Panamark) a lot, and he called our friendship 'sweet irony'...Hmmm...so I joined the Army with that name, and became a double identity, lol. Took Steve Savicki YEARS to figure that one out...;) And, the 2 usernames have different styles, as a rule...a true Gemini, aren't I?! Sweet Irony might be opinionated, scrappy, foul mouthed or bitchy at times...but in real life, I'm quite G-rated and VERY proud of the 4 kids I raised by myself. They are funny, attractive, mannerly, smart and independent. So far, Jay has all 'the right stuff', and I expect he will go very far in life!

The (old) friends I've made in the 'online VH world' are actually very precious to me. Michelle, Ada, Lisa (yes, Lisa), Vaughn, Eric (both), Mark, Jim, Brian, Tim, Matt, Dave (both), Josh, Mike, Tom, Lou, Trey, Dan, Ian, Dennis, Ken...and many others, including new friends....A lot of good times, all resulting from a series of 'flukes'--my teenage daughter getting pregnant, me taking custody of Jay when she was still young & irresponsible, Jay being a form of music prodigy (over VH, of all bands! In 1997, when he was 2!! lol)....getting that rinky dink PC and typing in "Van Halen"....its all just kind of mind boggling...

A strange, funny, interesting, amazing turn of events...

All this because of a little boy in diapers whose first sentence was "I watch guy JUMP"...

Sunya: You were a mod at the Dome. What is one of your favorite memories from there?

Jay's Spokesperson: The whole thing is a good memory! I had never touched a computer until we (Jay & I) started looking up VH....to think I had never seen anything online, didn't know what a message board was...well, to end up a moderator was too funny! I still remember being jolted when I saw a thread called "Who Is Jay's Spokesperson?" (Started by Chelle, I might add! lol) I remember thinking..'oh shit! now what??' Anyway, I remember the afternoon spent banning VHLover, the hilarious DLRInvasion & the pictures one Friday night that had me laughing so hard I was crying...talking to people and starting to feel part of a group (a strange group--but kinda fun one! heheh) and that was so good for me back then...good therapy! Oh, also, getting the pic of Jay & his poster printed in a thread on his 6th birthday...thanks to Sunya, I have that printed out..

Sunya: I hear you have a connection to the music business. Can you tell us about it?

Jay's Spokesperson: A connection?? lol Well, my 1st husband was a self taught (and very good) bass player--he had musician friends, including 2 NYC guitarists who ended up in Twisted Sister. One has remained a very good friend. When I went to Bermuda, and ultimately married & lived there, I knew lots of entertainers-local to Bermuda. and otherwise...I was also an extremely good piano player back when I was young, so that got me attention....(Now I'm just rusty and seldom play, but back then...well...I have to say, I was good. Excuse my lack of modesty!) And I have to admit this--I hung with Bette Midler right before she became successful--man, those days were fun! There are really too many stories to tell...

Chelle: So what's Jay like now?

Jay's Spokesperson: Jay is kind of spoiled, but affectionate & appreciative. He has 6 younger siblings (dad has 2, mom has 4) and is the greatest older brother. However, small doses of them is OK with him! Jay loves his music & will sit in the car until a good song ends--a throwback to the day he cried when we went in the grocery store & he wanted to hear ALL of the 1984 intro..

Jay has seen SH and DLR at the casino near here...at ages 5 & 7, he LOVED the shows and was truly in shock seeing Dave....We were going to see the 2 of them at the NY State Fair, but they cancelled. He used to ask me to invite Eddie, Alex, Michael, Dave over to our house and couldn't understand why they couldn't come. Now, I think he would be happy just to meet somebody and say hi. The sad truth is, sometimes that seems like the only thing he might ever get to do....and even THAT'S a longshot.

I'm sure Jay's is the only baby book on the planet that has the words "Van Halen" in it a thousand times. One of my favorite quotes was his response to admiration of his 'LEGO tower'...(wow look at that, you're awesome!)...he replied "I'm not awesome, Eddie Van Halen is awesome!" Find another 3 or 4 year old who thinks like that! lol