♥ Ongoing Days 2005 ♥ Note on soap magazine publication dates and content of articles/interviews regarding multiple soap stars: Many of the monthly or every other month (and sometimes quarterly) magazines back in the 1980's would be on the newsstands a long time before the date on the actual magazine. We've noticed, for instance, that DAYTIME TV magazine did an interview with Drake in late 1986 about his upcoming wedding, which was scheduled for December 1986, yet the interview didn't appear until the July 1987 issue several months later. Therefore, it might be a bit confusing to read about his "upcoming" wedding in an interview dated July 1987 when you happen to know he was married in December 1986. We've tried to date the articles to match the date on the magazine, regardless of when the events talked about took place. Hopefully it will make sense as you go along! We've also edited some of the articles/interviews to just include John's storyline, since this is a Drake/John website. We've left out comments and sections about other actors or storylines unless they're involved with John's storyline. This too should be very apparent and clear when we've done that so it makes sense and you don't have to skim through a long article to find the "John parts." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

♥ Take Five Drake Hogestyn And Deidre Hall (John And Marlena, DAYS OF OUR LIVES) SOAP OPERA DIGEST: What are your New Year's resolutions? Deidre Hall: As a rule, I try not to make resolutions. I just look at my world for areas to improve. This, more often than not, involves deepening my relationship with my (sons). I have become more comfortable with the idea of accepting life as it presents itself. SOAP OPERA DIGEST: What do you hope for your character in the coming year? Deidre Hall: I think it would be for all the characters on DAYS to be home and safe in the arms of their loved ones. I would embrace scenes where our soldiers come home, our neighbors trust and respect each other, and there is a sense that the world is a safer, happier place. I would like to see Marlena, as I do, pray for all the mothers who are aching to have their children home. SOAP OPERA DIGEST: How will you spend New Year's Eve? Deidre Hall: I have a "New York New Year's" - it happens at 9:00 PM in Los Angeles. That hour will find me snuggled with my boys, happy and grateful to be together, welcoming whatever comes. Drake Hogestyn: With (wife) Victoria and the kids from 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM. After 9:00 PM she's mine, since it's our anniversary! SOAP OPERA DIGEST: How will you spend New Year's Day? Drake Hogestyn: I'll serve Victoria breakfast in bed - it's a special tradition of mine. We'll go to a movie with the kids and hopefully I'll catch a little football on television. SOAP OPERA DIGEST: As time passes, how has the meaning of New Year's changed for you? Drake Hogestyn: There is more reflection on the forks in the road of life. Choices are made, there are successes and failures, life, death and new beginnings. SOAP OPERA DIGEST, 1/4/05 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

♥ Culture Club SOAP OPERA WEEKLY: What is the last movie you saw? Drake Hogestyn: The last movie I saw was on network television. It was THE FAMILY MAN with Nicolas Cage and Téa Leoni. I like those kinds of movies where, if you have a chance to make a decision again, (you see) what would happen. It was a good ending. It left hope that things were going to go in the right direction. SOAP OPERA WEEKLY, 1/25/05 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

♥ Logan Crosses Over In this monthly column, TV GUIDE'S Michael Logan explores the worlds of the spiritual and supernatural - with some help from famed CROSSING OVER psychic John Edward. I recently had the wildest chat with Drake Hogestyn. The actor, who plays John Black on DAYS OF OUR LIVES, has long been one of my most favorite people to interview - he's warm, smart, honest, funny and always fascinating. I just didn't know how fascinating until I phoned him the other day: It seems our Mr. Hogestyn once had a close encounter with a UFO. It happened back in the mid-1980's when his wife, Victoria, was pregnant with their second-youngest child, Whitney. The family was on a road trip through northern Ohio when the sighting occurred. "It was two in the morning on a beautiful night - snowy, dark, no one was on the road - when all of a sudden I noticed a huge, slow-moving object in the sky off to the left of the highway," Drake recalls. "It looked like an upside down aircraft carrier, and the craziest thing was that I couldn't tell if it was ten feet away or two miles away. And it got no closer or further away, even though I was driving toward it at seventy-five miles per hour. I tracked it for half-a-minute, then looked over at Victoria. She was seeing it, too, and her mouth was agape. I said, 'Honey, what the hell are we looking at?'" I'm No Trekkie: He pulled the car to the side of the road. At this point, the UFO was over the middle of the highway, and Drake describes the top of it as being too dark to distinguish, but that its underbelly was "well-lit and full of multidimensional alleyways and crevices. And there was no sound whatsoever. Just as I got out of the car to get a better look, I saw one long string of snow light streaking off to the right and the object disappeared." It's important to mention here that Drake is not some sci-fi geek predisposed to flying saucer sightings. "I've never seen an episode of STAR TREK in my life," he says with a raucous laugh. "I'm a realist. And Victoria is the most no-nonsense person you could ever meet. And there were many other witnesses. The next morning, we called the highway patrol to file a report and were told they'd been inundated with calls from people who'd seen the same thing." Consulting The Doctor: As readers of this column know, I always have John Edward weigh in on the subject at hand. This time, he chose to bow out, not because he dismisses the notion of UFOs, but because he had nothing to share on the topic. But, as it happens, I've become friendly with Dr. Lynne Kitei, the Phoenix, Arizona physician who wrote the acclaimed UFO study THE PHOENIX LIGHTS. Lynne is famous for crisply documenting on video one of the biggest, most widely seen UFO events in modern history. It occurred in March of 1997 in the Phoenix, Arizona area, though the objects - a mile-wide, V-shaped formation of amber-colored orbs - were also witnessed by thousands of people as far away as Tucson and all the way to the Mexican border. In her amazing, mind-expanding book (which I especially recommend to non-believers), Lynne posits the theory that all unexplained psychic and spiritual phenomena are actually related and very possibly influenced by the spirit world. She came to this thinking after interviewing hundreds of others who've encountered UFOs and comparing her findings with other major UFO studies done around the globe. "An overwhelming number of those who've experienced UFOs or UPs - unexplained phenomena - as I prefer to call them, have also experienced other phenomena, like telepathy, near-death experiences and out-of-body experiences," notes Lynne. "These experiences helped make them realize that we humans are both physical beings and spiritual beings. They know, deep in their souls, that their experiences were very real." Now This Is Weird: Though I'd told Lynne that I wanted to include her in a column on UFOs, I had not mentioned that Drake also had a series of out-of-body experiences. Here's what he told me: His first OBE took place in 1975 when he was hit in the stomach with a baseball during a game at the University of South Florida. "The pain was so bad, it literally dropped me to my knees," he says. "I got in my car and drove myself home, so doubled over I could hardly see over the dashboard. When I laid down, the bed started spinning as if I was having a really bad hangover. Then the spinning suddenly stopped, and I found myself looking down from above at a figure on the bed that I realized was me! I was surrounded by what I can only describe as this snow-blue energy field. As I began to float higher and higher, the image of me on the bed started to fade. I think that scared me so much that - pffft! - I was suddenly back in my body and bolting upright. My heart was pounding like mad, I was dripping with sweat, but I felt great! There was no more pain. I was like, 'Holy sh##! What in the hell was that?'" Wait, It Gets Weirder: Later that year, when Drake had transferred to Ball State University in Indiana, he was hit with the same excruciating pain while lying in bed one morning. Again, the bed started spinning, and he experienced the same sensation of floating above himself. "Only this time, I tried not to freak out. I wanted to keep the experience going as long as possible because it was so blissful," says Drake. "It was like being in a state of orgasm - not physical orgasm, but more like a mental state of orgasm." He continued floating upward, but he did freak out again when everything suddenly turned orange - and just as suddenly, he was back in his own body. This happened to Drake yet again in 1982, when he had become an actor and was living in Malibu - the same pain, the same floating, the same bliss, only this time, instead of seeing orange, he saw a dark field of squares and dots. And it nearly happened again one night in the early 1990's, when Drake had decided to sleep over in his dressing room on the DAYS set. This time, when the pain hit, it so jolted him that he fell through a glass coffee table and the OBE went no further. But what about those colors Drake saw? Upon doing some research after his experiences, he discovered that the room directly above his room at Ball State had an orange shag carpet. And directly above his bedroom in Malibu was a dark roof with shake panels (thus, the squares?) and tons of eucalyptus nuts that had fallen from a nearby tree (thus the dots?). You can draw your own conclusions from this, but Drake feels certain - with both his UFO experience and his OBEs - that what he experienced was not illusion. "I don't know what it was that we saw in the sky in Ohio, but I know it was a very real phenomenon. I also know that one's spiritual self can separate from the physical self during an OBE and no one can tell me differently," he says. "Yeah, I'm a straight-shootin', grass-roots Indiana boy, but at the same time, I have to admit that well...stuff happens. And sometimes there's just no explanation for it." Michael Logan, SOAP OPERA DIGEST, 1/25/05 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For The Record A bearded Drake Hogestyn (John) revealed that he first started around episode 5,000. "Someone told me that I have shot more original one-hour shows of DAYS than any cast member in the history of the show," he marveled. "Now, that's an honor." SOAP OPERA DIGEST, "Perfect Ten" about the 10,000th Show, 2/1/05 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

♥ Drake Hogestyn On The Fan Furor The devotion of the Marlena/John contingent never ceases to amaze DAYS' Drake Hogestyn (John). "I'm touched by their devotion to the show," he offers. "I've always said, 'We ask the audience to enjoy a chapter in our book an hour a day and, hopefully, forget about the stresses in their own life.' John and Marlena are one of the couples they tune in to see. I'm appreciative of that." Hogestyn can even relate to viewer disappointment over the couple's long separation. "I feel their frustration - and I share it," he admits, adding that he gained an even greater perception while taping the John and Marlena fantasy scenes that were scheduled to air on February 10. "When we did those scenes and saw the magic that was happening...I understand on a different level how the audience would like to see more of that, why they want to see the couple together, and why they're missing that." Does the fan base's incredible dedication ever motivate Hogestyn and Deidre Hall (Marlena) in scenes? "We don't go out there and say, 'We're going to try and make this moment to give the fans what they want out of this,'" responds Hogestyn. "But things happen. I'm sure subconsciously you are gearing. You know the fans want to see if there's a moment that's going to happen, and we instinctively know where those points of view are. We can hit those points and give the audience the relief that they're looking for." It just may take a while... SOAP OPERA WEEKLY, 2/22/05 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

♥ The Scene DAYS Had To Do Over... Can I? - Drake Hogestyn Takes On His Biggest DAYS Challenge Yet: During his two-decade reign as John Black on DAYS OF OUR LIVES, Drake Hogestyn has endured multiple identities (Forrest Alamain, Roman Brady and a Roman Catholic priest), near-death by electrocution and a wife possessed by the devil. (OOPS! This is wrong. It should be gas and beheading not electrocution. Also, at the time of Marlena's possession, Marlena wasn't John's wife.) But it's his current story, portraying a man battling drug addiction, that has him asking for the first time: Can I? SOAP OPERA WEEKLY: What has it been like playing a broken, desperate, disheveled John Black? Drake Hogestyn: It's disconcerting. I'm appreciative that they're expanding me like this. I wish I had a better arsenal of acting talents to do the storyline justice. Fortunately, I've never had to experience any type of addiction that can spiral you to these depths. SOAP OPERA WEEKLY: Would you cite this story as your most difficult to date? Drake Hogestyn: I would. I thought it was a paralysis story at first. Then, at the DAYS anniversary party, (Executive Producer) Ken Corday told me John was going to become addicted. He told me they were going to take it (to the limit). SOAP OPERA WEEKLY: Did you think, "How am I going to do this?" Drake Hogestyn: Sure. SOAP OPERA WEEKLY: Did you do anything to prepare for the story? Drake Hogestyn: I watched a lot of movies about rehab. I like Jeff Bridges a lot. (I watched his film) 8 MILLION WAYS TO DIE. He plays an alcoholic. He has blackouts. He loses everything. I actually stole a piece from the film, where he blacked out. He's in the hospital, and when he wakes up he is just a mess. I tried to take a little bit of the attitude in that scene, but it didn't work. It was in a scene with Kate. SOAP OPERA WEEKLY: Did you have to reshoot the scene? Drake Hogestyn: It was the day before we broke for the holidays, the number two scene out of seven. After we shot it, we had a five. Lauren (Koslow, Kate) happened to tape the scene in her room. I asked, 'Can I take a look at it?' I watched it and said, 'The acting police are banging on the door at NBC to come and drag me away.' We went back on the floor and I told the director, 'That last scene...whoa! THAT was the end of my career. Can we do it again?' He said, 'No.' We shot the third scene. I said, 'Can we go back and shoot the second scene?' He said, 'No.' Fourth scene. 'No.' Fifth scene. 'No.' We finished the seventh scene and they said, 'Moving on.' I thought, 'This is how I'm going to go on my two-week break?' I just stood there on the set. Then we hear, 'Hold everything. We're going to roll back.' I got to do the scene over and get out of it what I wanted to get out of it. It wasn't until we came back in January that I learned that someone had told (Co-Executive Producer) Steve Wyman that I'd had an issue with a scene. Steve said, 'Drake doesn't ask for that. If he wants to shoot a scene over again, something wasn't right. Let's do it again.' That made me feel good. SOAP OPERA WEEKLY: Have you spoken to any rehab counselors or recovering addicts? Drake Hogestyn: I was getting my wife a coffee at The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, and the guy who was making it looked up and asked, 'Do you need any help with your story?' He told me that he was a drug addict for eight years. His (friends and family) did an intervention. Three different times they dragged him into rehab. The third time worked. They brought him down through methadone. I was feeding off him, trying to get a line on it. It's a slippery slope to bring believability to this. John's got pride. John is strong, yet he was caught by his kid putting a needle in his thigh. John's guilty. He's defensive. He's in pain. All those different emotions are (playing into) scenes. It's expanding me. SOAP OPERA WEEKLY: Kate, of course, has been the woman helping John get through withdrawal. How is teaming with Lauren Koslow? Drake Hogestyn: It's a good collaboration, and it's interesting the way it's written. In John's state of mind, he's not looking for love. He's looking for a fix. For her character it's interesting because here she is, unbeknownst to John, doing devious things for her children. She's giving advice to Philip on how to get Belle, and to Billie on how to get Bo. She doles out all this advice on how to get the guy/girl any way you possibly can. Then, when she has the chance to do that with John in his delusional state, she doesn't take advantage of it. She doesn't take her own advice. Lauren's (reasoning) on that is that when Kate was on the street, John took her in and gave her a job at Basic Black. SOAP OPERA WEEKLY: You're enjoying working with Lauren? Drake Hogestyn: It's a good group. I've been having a good time working with Lauren and Kyle (Lowder, Brady) and Arianne (Zucker, Nicole). They like to work hard, roll their sleeves up and have a good time. I told my wife that. I went home and said, 'I'm having the best time working with those three people.' It's a hard storyline to be in, but having them there...it's real. SOAP OPERA WEEKLY: But you must miss working with Deidre Hall? Drake Hogestyn: This is the longest period of time that John and Marlena haven't been written together. We've had separations before, but never this long. SOAP OPERA WEEKLY: You and Deidre shared some fantasies, recently. (They were set to air February 10.) What was it like taping them? Drake Hogestyn: The scenes were electric. They were comfortable. They were memorable, because we have done these scenes before, but it seemed all fresh and new. I felt great things happening. It's a good pairing. I'm beginning to appreciate it more as they've been apart - what those characters, after everything they've been through, mean to each other. There's a lot of depth. Things were happening that you don't see written on the page. When it's developing in front of you, you just let it go. It's not like the actors are making any choices. It's an interesting gift, when it's presented to the two of you, that only the two of you can make happen. It was a fulfilling day's work. SOAP OPERA WEEKLY: The fans must have loved it. Drake Hogestyn: I don't believe they were disappointed. Those scenes recemented the love between John and Marlena. They showed how in John's deepest despair, Marlena is the one force that can save him. Were there enough of them? No. Will there be more of them? Absolutely. It's going to be a fantastic love story - yet again. Marlena saved John before, nineteen years ago. She saved him in Aremid. Hopefully, she will save him again. Janet Di Lauro, SOAP OPERA WEEKLY, 2/22/05 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

♥ NBC Gossip DAYS OF OUR LIVES Drug Daze: Drake Hogestyn (John) admits that playing a drug addict has made him "tired, short-tempered, compassionate" - and has led to some interesting feedback. "I was getting (my wife) Victoria a coffee drink and this guy says, 'You need any help with your storyline?' And I said, 'You think you can help me?' He said, 'Eight years.' I said, 'All right, how long after you load up do you start getting the shakes?' He said, 'Two hours if it's bad stuff, four hours if it's top-shelf. Eight hours without, you're thrashing, you can die within 24 hours. And nothing else matters.'" Hogestyn's father has also weighed in. "My dad doesn't like it," admits the actor. "He said, 'They're decimating the character. The character of John Black is not that weak. He would never do this.'" Hogestyn has tried to keep everything in focus. "I think I make it bigger than what it is," he reflects. "I should just relax and remember what Sir Laurence Olivier told Dustin Hoffman in MARATHON MAN. Dustin Hoffman stayed up three nights in a row to do the dental scene and he was apparently, like, delirious when it was time to do the scene. Olivier said, 'Dustin, my boy, try acting. It's so much easier.' So I'm relying on the brains in the booth to tell me to do what I am doing or bring it in." SOAP OPERA DIGEST, 3/1/05 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

♥ Buzz What's the hardest part of playing John's withdrawal scenes on DAYS OF OUR LIVES? Being spritzed with water in between takes to look sweaty. "The other day, the studio was ten degrees and they were spritzing cold water on me," shudders Drake Hogestyn, adding that he quickly took charge of the situation. "I keep the water bottle now. I fill it up with hot water. Then, I put it in bed under my leg, so it stays warm. It's made things much better." Co-star Lauren Koslow (Kate) worries that Hogestyn is getting a little too attached. "I keep telling Drake, 'You're going to get addicted to that water spray,'" she chuckles. SOAP OPERA WEEKLY, 3/1/05 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You've Got Male I realize that I will evoke absolutely no sympathy from female readers for saying so, but sometimes watching soaps can make me feel slightly - well, inadequate. In past columns, I've discussed how male viewers enjoy sampling the scantily clad, female eye candy on display, but the flip side of that is how we are also exposed to soaps' parade of perfectly sculpted, shiny, smooth, tan male bodies. It's kind of sad because they're old enough to be my father, but even DAYS' Drake Hogestyn (John) and Peter Reckell (Bo) put me to shame, though at least they allow themselves a little hair on their bulging pecs. I know this is old hat for female viewers. Women have been pummeled with a waif-like, top-heavy standard of beauty since braless Chrissy and Janet teased poor Jack on THREE'S COMPANY. But as I sat there last summer watching ONE LIFE TO LIVE'S Antonio (Kamar de los Reyes) do a striptease, his ripped, hairless torso clearly devoid of the slightest trace of pizza or beer indulgence, it really made me think about the kind of thing women have been going through all these years. "Men are now being held to that perfect body image and standard that women have," confirms Dr. Tina Pieraccini, professor of broadcasting at SUNY Oswego University and an expert on body image in the media. "I think overall, the media doesn't cause this kind of behavior, but it certainly creates an environment and that environment has always been there for women. But for the male perfect body, the environment has just come into being in the past ten or fifteen years." Which isn't to say that there was once a time when soaps featured unattractive men. On the contrary, a predominately female audience turns to soaps for romantic fantasy, so sexy, attractive men have always been an integral component. However, the perception of what a physically attractive man actually is on television has evolved over the years. "If Luke Spencer (Anthony Geary) from back in the day were to try out for GENERAL HOSPITAL today, he probably wouldn't get the job," Pieraccini argues. "He fit what was considered more attractive in the 1970's or 1980's, or at least more acceptable, whereas today, men are supposed to look more polished and 'perfect.'" Pieraccini believes that the change began with shows like ALLY MCBEAL and SEX AND THE CITY, shows in which strong, independent women would blatantly fantasize about men and lust after their bodies. "Those two programs in particular kind of opened up that door," she suggests. "Once it was open, soap operas weren't far behind because it became acceptable for women to leer or say, 'Hey, nice butt' on television." Soap actors themselves realize that buff is better. DAYS OF OUR LIVES' Bryan R. Datillo (Lucas) has said that during the year he spent away from DAYS he was "going to the gym and eating right and trying to stay ahead of the game, trying to get rehired, basically. A lot of the things that I heard about Lucas in the past was that he couldn't be a male-type dominating figure who could wow the ladies and jump in and out of bed with girls and show his body…All that stuff counts. All that stuff brings you up to a certain level and gives you more to present with, more to bring to the table." "We've done studies where women tend to see themselves as fatter than they really are, while males see their bodies as smaller than they are," offers Dr. Salvatore Cullari, professor emeritus of psychology at Lebanon Valley College in Annville, Pennsylvania. "Some people actually call it reverse anorexia. I would say that the number of eating disorders in males has doubled over the years. You're probably talking about four to five million people in our country, so it's not a small sample." As we've seen in the media coverage of the Major League Baseball controversy, young boys wanting bigger bodies are now using steroids to get the desired results, which can lead to a host of serious problems. "Steroid use has really skyrocketed," Cullari nods. "Some studies suggest that as many as ten percent of high-school males have used them at least once." So, is it that the media creates this perfect body image that people can't live up to, or is it that the body images seen on television are reflecting the tastes of television viewers? Like most of life's biggest conundrums, the answer probably lies somewhere in the middle. "I think as much as people recognize it intellectually, women who watch the soap operas aren't sitting at home saying, 'Gee, I'd like to see someone who looks like my husband on that show.' They're saying, 'Boy, I like looking at Nikolas' tattoo on that muscle,' so I don't see it changing," Pieraccini states. But then again, some experts think it's possible that an aging population and the public's current concern over steroid use could alter the male beauty standard. "Maybe as the baby boomers get older," Cullari says, "eventually television and the media might make exceptions because we're an older population now and we aren't going to have six-pack abs anymore (laughs)." Hey, who knows? Maybe one day women will be clamoring for more pale, hairy-chested guys with bad posture on their shows. You hear that, Tyler Christopher? Eat up and sprout a chest rug, buddy, 'cause I'm coming for ya. Mike Bruno, SOAP OPERA DIGEST, 5/3/05 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

DAYS Interview In The Stars We asked DAYS OF OUR LIVES' Drake Hogestyn (John) to participate in our monthly "Star Sight" horoscope column, not realizing that he had a psychic experience many years ago that changed his life forever. Drake Hogestyn: Years ago, I was a waiter at the Sand Castle Restaurant out here in Malibu. And at our Christmas party, they brought in a psychic and her name was Judy Heavenly. And she was in all these tattered white clothes, flowing around, and I started to leave, and the psychic grabbed me by the arm and goes, 'You didn't talk to me tonight.' And I said, 'Well, that's because you're busy and I'm drunk (laughs).' And she said, 'I see that you're an actor.' And I said, 'No, actually, I'm a waiter and that's why I'm here at the Christmas party.' And she said, 'No, you're an actor and you're going to be in a play the first of the year, and I see it spinning off into a movie and you'll be working as an actor for the rest of your life.' And I kind of laughed because I'd never done a play in my life and didn't have any ambition to. Then she said, 'So you live on the water.' And I said, 'Anybody here could have told you I have an apartment on the beach.' She said, 'No...you want to live on the water.' I said, 'Actually, yeah, I just put a down payment on a thirty-six-foot Catalina Cruiser, a Frank Butler design, a Number Nine haul, and I've got it down in San Pedro and the guy's gonna bring it up and put it in a slip here by the Cheesecake Factory in Marina del Rey.' She said, 'It's never gonna happen.' And then she looked at my hand and said, 'There's a girl in your life,' and then looks up at this girl I was with and said, 'Not you, honey' :-, (laughs). It was really cold! She said, 'But it's a girl in your past, the love of your life, and you will be hearing from her within three months' time.' I was like, 'Alright, I don't think so.' So I got a call first thing in the morning from a guy named Ted Schmidt, who is a producer. He said, 'Okay, do you play softball for a team called Ann Wright Commercial Agency?' I said, 'That's right, they signed me on as a ringer because I used to play with the Yankees.' He said, 'You played with the Hollywood Allstars last year.' And I said, 'That's a fact.' And he said, 'You appeared in all the background shots, and physically, you are just perfect for this role we're doing at The Cast Theater. Would you come in and read for it?' And I got the role, and one thing led to another and I got the front page of the (newspaper's) "Calendar" section because I was writing a screenplay that Rob Lowe had taken into his agency. They called me in as a writer and said, 'Wait a minute, you're the guy on the front page of the "Calendar" section today. Will you go on an audition for SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS?' And I went on the audition that night and got cast, and that turned into the movie and the series and there we are. The boat was brought up from San Pedro, they took it to the Marina del Rey by the Cheesecake Factory, and as they're lowering it in the water, the belt buckles on the strapping snapped, the boat hit the keel on the landing, snapped the keel, and sunk in the basin. That was two. And then I got the call from Victoria (who is now his wife) out of the blue. And I was like, 'Oh, my God, who is this Judy Heavenly?' So about eight years later, I found her card, believe it or not. I called her up and she answered and said, 'Where are you?' I said, 'Well, you're the psychic, you tell me' (laughs). She said, 'I must see you right away.' I said, 'Oh, come on, you say that to all the guys.' So she said, 'I have an opening at two o'clock, here's my address.' And she hangs up. So Victoria and I go there. And she started with something very interesting: 'The people in your life in a working capacity will no longer be in your life in six months' time.' And my contract was up in six months and this was years and years ago and I didn't want to re-sign. Then she said we were going to have another child, a boy, and he was going to be very special: 'I'm not saying disabled, but not what you expect your male child to be.' Then she started talking about some spiritual stuff about an ashram. She said, 'You've been to the ashram and spiritually enlightened.' I said, 'No, I went with a fellow restaurant worker because she had heard about some out-of-body experiences I had had' (laughs). I went because that's what I was trying to achieve, and instead of bringing a banana or a flower I brought a baseball and he actually took it out of my hand and people started falling around my feet chanting. It was really hilarious! These (ashram) guys sit on pedestals and they look like they're pregnant; they've got these big abdomens. But he sat there and his eyes kind of rolled up in his head and to accept the offering, he kind of whips his hand around and rocks back and forth. But he stopped all that, opened his eyes, reached out and took my baseball. Baseball - the universal language! So Judy talked about the ashram and said there were people she wanted me to meet on a certain night: 'You must come, you must be inclusive in to this.' And I think there was some networking involved. I didn't go and I immediately called up (Executive Producer) Ken Corday here at DAYS OF OUR LIVES and said, 'I need to re-sign that contract immediately.' Everything that she said, I went the opposite way. I still have her card, but I've never contacted her. But those first three were like, 'Oh my God.' Those were life-changing things. To actually start working like I was working was really paramount, but secondly, if I had gotten that boat, who's to say that when Victoria called me and there was a chance to have her back in my life...You start living on a boat and being the kind of free spirit that I was, basically without an anchor, I know that Victoria could never have lived like that. So I think that was a sign that said, 'The boat's out and Victoria's in.' She was right on the money. The following article was found at SOAP OPERA DIGEST AND SOAP OPERA WEEKLY ONLINE. Click HERE to go to their home page and browse for any Drake information yourself. Jennifer Lenhart, SOAP OPERA DIGEST AND SOAP OPERA WEEKLY ONLINE, No Date Listed ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Having A Ball I love this story. Many years ago, when DAYS star Drake Hogestyn (John) says he "didn't have a pot to piss in or a window to throw it out of," his then-girlfriend, Veronica, took him to see the famous Hindu guru Swami Muktananda, who was at an ashram in Los Angeles. "Veronica said, 'You must bring an offering of some kind...a flower, a banana,' so we go and line up to give him our gifts," recalls Drake. "Muktananda had this huge, rotund belly, and his head is bobbing, and his eyes are rolling up into the back of his head and he seems totally oblivious to the offerings. When it came my turn, I went up and said, 'Here ya go, pal,' and snapped a baseball in the air." The gasps were audible. How dare this moron be so disrespectful to the great Swami! Muktananda's head suddenly stopped bobbing. The gasps grew louder. Then the guru reached out, took Drake's offering and broke into an enormous, child-like grin. "Veronica almost passed out," laughs Drake. "And suddenly, everyone was at my feet saying, 'You must go to India to study! You must!'" Well, he never did, but why would he? There's no need to go halfway around the world seeking Nirvana when it can be found so close to home. In a baseball. Michael Logan, SOAP OPERA DIGEST, 5/17/05 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

♥ Facts About Drake And Lauren's Very Private Chat Here at BASEBALL MEMORIES AND MALIBU DREAMS, we have always based our site on facts. You won't find articles that exploit, expose or speculate on our site. If you look through our site, you'll see that many articles have areas where we have corrected errors (we've put them in silver) having to do with Drake's history and important dates in his life. We've also made corrections in storyline involving John. We'll make corrections by using information that we have found ourselves by watching old videotapes of that storyline. It is for these reasons, that we cannot post the following articles. The issue date for both magazines is 9/6/05. They are SOAP OPERA DIGEST, "DAYS' Off-Screen Turmoil" and from SOAP OPERA WEEKLY, "Top Stars Come Under Fire." After reading these articles, we feel that both magazines forgot that every story always has two sides. A good reporter will always allow both sides to speak, even if he/she might not agree with the topic that is being discussed. We were both appalled, disappointed and dismayed at the one-sided, totally unobjective slant of both reports about the recent online chat between Drake Hogestyn and Lauren Koslow and some of their fans that support John and Kate. Journalism 101 always calls for reporters to investigate and get the viewpoint from both sides of a story in order to show a balanced view of the event. These reporters clearly didn't do this. This chat was between Drake and Lauren and some John and Kate fans, yet nobody was quoted or even approached for comment who actually participated in the chat and who would therefore be more accurate in reporting the facts. Instead, they printed some emailed comments from disgruntled fans who were upset by what was said because of what they read in a transcript of the private chat that they obtained through underhanded methods. They weren't there, so they have no idea the tone of the discussion and the comments or how everyone there interpreted them. They intentionally jumped to their own conclusions, wrote to the magazines, and the editors published these articles based on their comments alone, without checking the facts. What is so wrong about Drake and Lauren privately talking with people who support their characters and storyline? They never said they're not doing and saying what's written on the page by the writers, as indicated in both articles! John and Marlena fans would be thrilled if they thought Drake or Deidre Hall were using "sub-text" to send them a message that they wanted John and Marlena to continue or go a different direction. How is it any different for Drake and Lauren to want to please their supportive fans by indicating through sub-text or glances that they want their characters paired together, or even coming out and saying so privately? Yet these fans (you know who you are) tried to get them fired or at the very least in trouble for saying that? This is still America so they are entitled to have their own thoughts and feelings. That they chose a private forum to express them says volumes for their integrity. Drake and Lauren's trust was violated by someone posing as a John and Kate fan to attend the chat and use their words against them. These articles fail to mention this fact, as well as the fact that there was no official chat transcript. How does anybody know that important points and commentary weren't left out of the stolen copy? To Deidre Hall fans, why is it okay for her to talk publicly in the press about wanting a Marlena and Alex pairing and how much she loves working with Wayne Northrop, yet Drake and Lauren get slammed on the Internet for doing the same thing? How biased and lop-sided is that? We feel that the soap press, as well as many DAYS fans, have taken away Drake and Lauren's rights to freedom of speech. These two have been treated like abused animals that don't have a voice, so we have made it our goal to post the real facts in this article. Both of them are such caring and loving people, especially with their fans, so it angers us that their trust was violated in such a cruel way. The fact that both magazines rushed to publish the controversy to sell magazines, without getting the facts, made us both livid! We're very disappointed at the flaunting of ethical journalistic practices in looking into both sides of a story and covering both, rather than publishing just one side. We think both magazines owe Drake and Lauren a big apology for this shoddy journalism. (Please Note: The opinions and viewpoints expressed above are the comments of my partner and I, and they don't in any way reflect on ZBOX WEBHOSTING, the host of this website.) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

♥ DAYS Outrage: What Really Happened Fans of Drake Hogestyn (John) and Lauren Koslow (Kate) came out in full force in support of their favorite duo, "Jate," after the SOAP OPERA DIGEST story about the chat the actors held hit the stands on August 30. (OOPS! This is wrong. Drake and Lauren's fans came out in full force in support of Drake and Lauren, since John and Kate weren't the ones whose trust was violated by someone posing as a John and Kate fan who attended the chat and vindictively used their words against them.) "Drake and Lauren taking time out of their busy schedules to chat with an enthusiastic group of fans was a very thoughtful gesture," says Amal Smekjal, who hosted the chat. (OOPS! This is wrong. The correct spelling of Amal's last name is Smejkal.) "We were pestering them with questions and they were indulging us, not engaging in some sort of agenda." Fans rooting for the couples John and Marlena and Roman and Kate, had made their displeasure known in the SOAP OPERA DIGEST piece; after the issue came out, e-mails from Jate fans poured in. "The John and Marlena fans and the one 'Kaman' fan you quoted were not at the chat and twisted the information as they perceive it," wrote one reader. "I was so happy and excited to be able to talk to two of my all-time favorite actors and will cherish that forever. I won't let all this negativity ruin it for me." While the actors did not directly respond to the situation, the DAYS rep, speaking on behalf of the show and actors, explains, "Since we believe that controversy and dialogue should be embraced, we are encouraged that the fans have been provoked and are thinking, caring and showing interest in the show. Even though John's story is to fight to reclaim Marlena from Alex North, (Drake and Lauren) wanted to speak directly to the fans and tell them that John and Kate are not forgotten. The love John and Kate felt during their time together was in addition to their feelings of love for Roman and Marlena, not instead of it. None of those feelings can just be 'switched off.' Besides, the Jate fans, as well as the John and Marlena fans, should know that this plotline still has plenty of twists to come." "To the extent that an actor's interpretation can influence a story, we believe there is a lot of life left in both stories. Not many actors have the power to influence change, nor would they want it. But we think actors should make choices within a scene that protect their characters and bring to the forefront the most interesting and intricate parts of the story they are playing. That is part of the actor's job: to provoke interest in what might happen. Only the 'powers-that-be' can decide what may come next." SOAP OPERA DIGEST, 9/20/05 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

♥ My Set Visit Aloha, Paradise Join SOAP OPERA DIGEST as SOAP TALK kicks off premier week in Hawaii. No time for an island getaway? No problem. SOAP TALK'S Lisa Rinna and Ty Treadway hit the road when the chatfest kicked off its fourth season from the lush beaches of Waikiki. "It's surreal," grinned Treadway on location. "Who'd have thought that just because neither of us can ever shut the hell up, it would bring us here? It's unbelievable, especially when you consider that our budget is probably what LIVE WITH REGIS AND KELLY spend on coffee and doughnuts." "It's truly an ambitious undertaking," agrees Rinna. As for the star-studded guest list, here are some tidbits you probably didn't hear on-air: Guest: Drake Hogestyn (John, DAYS) Traveling Companion: Wife Victoria Itinerary: "Making love to my wife as much as I can. In twenty years, this is the first time I've had her all to myself. She's on the phone right now making sure the kids are all right." Show Highlight: Hogestyn is the proud papa of Ben, who just joined GENERAL HOSPITAL as Lucas. "This is so cool because now I have the dish on both soaps." On the day Hogestyn spoke to SOAP OPERA DIGEST, Hogey Junior was having his first scene with Anthony Geary (Luke). "It's his most pivotal scene to date. We worked hard on it..." Tom Stacy, SOAP OPERA DIGEST, 10/25/05 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

♥ NBC Gossip DAYS OF OUR LIVES Ask Dad: Drake Hogestyn (John) says he has tried to help son Ben (Lucas, GENERAL HOSPITAL) make the adjustment to daytime. "I can talk acting with him and we talk with an intensity about expanding yourself and subtext and layers," explains Drake. "But you're only as good as your last show. It's like baseball - you're only as good as your last game. I told him, 'I'm very appreciative of the fans who have followed this character throughout the years, but look around the house, Ben. Do you see any awards, any magazines? Do you see any indication in this house that I've worked on a soap opera for twenty years?' He asked where everything was - they're in Tupperware under the house, wrapped up in old baseball jerseys. Someday the grandkids may be rooting around and say, 'What's this?' (Laughs) (I said) 'Don't worry about people on the Internet, they can make you crazy and they will. Don't pay attention to that. The magazine articles? They go into the dressing room, right into the closet, all stacked up. You take pride in what you do, you come in with a very strong point of view, you know where you want to go with a scene and know the thought you want the audience with. (OOPS! This is wrong. Typo alert! This sentence makes no sense. In our opinion it should be "thought you want to leave the audience with," not "thought you want the audience with.") If you have that, it's all going to work out.'" SOAP OPERA DIGEST, 11/8/05 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

♥ DAYS Anniversary Special! Photos, Favorite Moments Forty Plus - NBC's Longest-Running Drama, DAYS OF OUR LIVES Hits The Four Decade Mark: Looking Back: Drake Hogestyn (John Black, 1986-present) SOAP OPERA DIGEST: When you first started on DAYS, did you think you'd still be on the show for the 40th anniversary? Drake Hogestyn: No, the story was to run from February to May - two sweeps periods - anything past that was remote. SOAP OPERA DIGEST: When did you realize that you were a hit with fans? Drake Hogestyn: When it was revealed to me that I was not Roman Brady. We were shooting in Mexico. I was standing on top of a Mayan structure known as the Temple of the Warriors. As I screamed out, 'I am John Black,' a busload of Japanese tourists below looked up and started clapping and taking pictures. SOAP OPERA DIGEST: Do you have a favorite storyline or one you'd like to do again? Drake Hogestyn: I've had many favorites, but the storyline I'd love to do again was the Roman/Diana Colville pairing in Greece. Fabulous locations and the first and only time I've been to Europe. SOAP OPERA DIGEST: What has made you re-sign when your contract came up over the years? Drake Hogestyn: Still too many missing pieces to John - and the money isn't bad, either. SOAP OPERA DIGEST: What do you like about John? Drake Hogestyn: Women love him, men want to have a beer with him. SOAP OPERA DIGEST: Is there something you'd still like to accomplish at the show? Drake Hogestyn: Produce...think (Executive Producer) Ken Corday will read this? Stephanie Sloane, SOAP OPERA DIGEST, 11/15/05 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

♥ Who, Where And WOW! Forty And Counting: DAYS OF OUR LIVES was feted by the Museum of Radio and Television in Beverly Hills in honor of the soap's fortieth anniversary. After watching a clip retrospective, Deidre Hall (Marlena) and Drake Hogestyn (John) got a little misty-eyed. "I saw a lot of magical moments," said Hogestyn. "Years have gone by and obviously, we look a lot different..." SOAP OPERA WEEKLY, 11/29/05

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