Joselyn Martinez

Nooooo! Betsey Johnson is closing…but there is a huge sample sale!

joselyn — Thu, 17 May 2012 13:08:54 +0000

I was so sad to read on www.Racked.com that one of my favorite designers, Betsey Johnson, is closing all NYC stores. I don’t know about the other stores across the country because my attention went into the Liquidation Sample Sale flyer. I sigh remembering how unique Betsey Johnson’s pieces have always been. I remember finding a New Year’s dress at the designer’s store in the Garden State Plaza Mall years ago when all other stores had failed. Betsey Johnson’s dresses seemed to make room for curves and I loved that. I also found another favorite Betsey Johnson dress at the Soho store; this one was black and had a vintage, roaring 20s touch. Wait a minute, the leopard print shoes I wore to my last photo shoot were Betsey Johnson! That was a recent purchase. So are my favorite bright blue shoes! Can’t this be stopped? Lobbying or something? Ok fine, maybe not.

Here are the leopard Print shoes by Betsey Johnson:

Oh well… moving along, I’m over it because I am super excited about the Sample Sale. Gotta be there bright and early. BRIGHT AND EARLY.

The links below is where I got the flyer and story from. Click on them for more info:

http://ny.racked.com/archives/2012/05/16/betsey_johnson_will_host_a_liquidation_sample_sale_this_weekend.php

and:

http://theshophound.typepad.com/the_shophound/2012/05/over-and-out-betsey-johnson-schedules-a-final-liquidation-sale-this-weekend.html

Selena’s new version of “Amor Prohibido” available now!

joselyn — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 10:30:01 +0000

I first learned of Selena on a Saturday night sometime between 1994 and 1995. My mom was in her room watching the famous Don Francisco when she called me over to see this wonderful new singer. Well, to us she was new but for so many she had been a superstar for years. We became instant fans. Her voice, unique style and grace were captivating.

A few weeks after, I could hear her hit “Amor Prohibido” playing everywhere. I also remember my alarm clock radio waking me up to “I Could Fall in Love,” in the mornings. For weeks I wondered if it was a new Madonna song. As it turns out, the song was a single of what was going to be Selena’s cross over album. At only 23 years of age, Selena was named the Best Selling Latin Artist of the Decade (90s) By Billboard, already had 14 over top ten singles and was well on her way to becoming an international star.

Today marks the 17th year anniversary of Selena’s passing. Those that were fans will never forget her laughter and amazing talent. I am happy to share that Capitol Latin has released a new version of “Amor Prohibido,” as a duet with Mexican singer Samo. The full album, “Enamorada de Ti,” is scheduled to be released on April 3^rd, 2012. Cristian Castro, Don Omar, Selena Gomez and Juan Magan having collaborated in the new versions of some of Selena’s greatest hits!

Here is the duet with Samo. Isn’t it amazing how new arrangements can create a new version of songs we love?

Click here to view the embedded video.

If you’d like to order (or pre order like I did), click on the link below and you will be directed to the Amazon page.

See larger image

Enamorada De Ti (Audio CD)

List Price:	$12.98 USD
New From:	$7.57 In Stock
Used from:	$4.25 In Stock
Release date April 3, 2012.

Leaps of Faith and Action 2012

joselyn — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 01:03:03 +0000

It’s a Leap year! I’ve been waiting for this day. Actually, I haven’t, but now that it’s here I’m really excited about it. It’s a whole extra day of the year. That makes this year 366 days instead of 365. Aren’t some of us always wishing we had more time to do this or that? This year, we have an extra 24 hours. I can be really cute and try to figure out how many minutes and seconds is included in a year but I don’t have THAT much time on my hands. The writer of the famous musical RENT had that much time though…and time well spent let me tell you because the song: Seasons of Love is one of my favorites: “Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes. How do you measure? Measure a year? In daylights, in sunsets, in midnights, in cups of coffee…”

All right, so assuming we have all those hours we just have to calculate a bit more. I’ll let someone else do that math and add it on to the Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes. Whatever number it is, it’s a lot. With all those extra minutes for leap day I decided to do a few things that I wanted to do earlier on had not; for various reasons that no body will care about so I’ll keep it short and leave it out. I don’t even care for them anymore. Just getting it done is what matters.

I started the mastering the songs for my music project. Also, I officially started working on a program I signed up for with the fabulous vocal coach, singer, songwriter and mentor Cari Cole. Just a few minutes after listening to her speak on the Module 1 of her Step up to the Spotlight Program I knew I had made the right decision:

“My intention for you is that your music steps up, your success multiplies, and your happiness multiplies as well.” –Cari Cole.

If you’re interested in more info on Cari Cole and her programs for musicians, you can log on to: http://www.caricole.com/home/about/

I’m glad with my leaps this year. Have you done any?

Revolucion Latina Beyond Workshop Series 2012

joselyn — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 22:37:08 +0000

Revolucion Latina Adult Classes 2012

One of my favorite organizations: Revolution Latina is offering tuition-free master classes in Dance, Voice and Shakespeare. Why I love them? Because they are a non profit organization serving the Latino community with their motto of Dare To Go Beyond.

Professional artists that have performed on Broadway shows such as: In The Heights and Chicago, donate their time along with other industry experts; Ian Hersey (Public Theatre-Shakespeare) and William Wade (vocal ensemble) on this Beyond Workshop Series.

The deadline is Sunday, February 26th. For more information you can log on to www.revolucionlatina.org/proj/bws

I hope some of you sign up and enjoy these great classes!

Words to Live By: Perseverance and Confidence

joselyn — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 18:23:19 +0000

Since we’ve definitely earned the name of the information age for sure, I make an effort to pick and choose exactly what information will come across me on a day to day basis. Though I love my electronic devices and can’t live without them, (no really, I can’t), I also love my planner; a real planner, with pages that I write in… with a pen. One of my favorite things to do is write a few quotes or phrases on the “notes” section of my planner at the beginning of each year and then add more as I go along. Doing so helps me keep me grounded and connected to my mission or goals wherever I find myself. I often find myself squeezed between two people on a subway car. Yay!

As soon as I saw these lines by Marie Curie towards the end of 2011, I knew it would be my lead quote for 2012:

We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something, and that this thing, at whatever cost, must be attained. -Marie Curie.

Well, the quote actually starts with: Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance…and so on, but I figured I’d take out the first two lines to make it fit me right now. I don’t need to be reminded of life not being easy so I’ll just start with perseverance.

Don’t know exactly where I ran into Marie Curie’s words of wisdom. FYI, she was a physicist and chemist and according to Wikipedia (don’t you love them?) she was the first to win two Nobel Prizes.

I believe in perseverance, confidence and that we all have gifts…. we must attain them in our lifetime. Even if we are riding some subway stuck between two people during rush hour and there is a sick passenger announcement…. at whatever cost.

Celebrate 2011, Welcome 2012

joselyn — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 00:18:49 +0000

At the end of the year, I like looking at the wishes I had written down at the beginning of the year. Thank you 2011. Hello, hello 2012. I’ve been so waiting for you.

Special thanks to Franklyn Espinal (www.espinalphotography.com) who was the photographer for this picture. To think, I wasn’t really too crazy about holding a bottle (though I was very happily drinking it) and flipping my hair around. Franklyn and I had spoken about doing a photo shoot for years. Somehow, we never got around to it. Fine, it was my fault because I kept over planning or thinking this isn’t ready or that isn’t ready. This year, I said I just had to get it done. We spoke about the different shots we wanted and got them. In between, we also did some extra fun shots I would have never thought about. That’s the great thing about collaboration; sharing ideas and giving new ones a try.

Thanks to all of the people that were part of 2011.

Now, time to open some bubbly!

Favorite Quotes

joselyn — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 00:12:14 +0000

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Enjoy what you have now

joselyn — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 22:24:00 +0000

A few weeks before my January 26th birthday, I was debating whether or not I wanted to have a dinner, gathering or nothing at all. When planning, I share my birthday ideas with my best friend and the conversation always takes us to that birthday of mine four years ago when the forecast for January 26th, 2007 was: Bitter blast, Artic air arrives, below freezing temperatures. The city advisory news was urging people and pets (of course) to stay in unless they had to go out.

Since that bitter cold day, I’ve joked that it was so bad I wanted to call in and excuse myself from going to my own party. I am the type that stays in when it is too cold. For many years I had spent my birthday in the Dominican Republic, where January 26th is a national holiday, it’s warm and is smack in middle of baseball season. Yay!

Even after that extreme weather warming on January 26th of 2007, almost everyone (except maybe one or two) showed up to my party! I was pleasantly surprised. It would be totally acceptable that nobody went (including myself).

After my best friend and I had a good laugh about her admitting she just wanted to stay in too (she has an August birthday), we spoke about my plans for this year. Temperatures in NYC haven’t been extremely cold and there weren’t any warnings yet. Around January 20th though, temperatures started dropping and Facebook messages were more and more about the winter and the cold. I would text her “Do you feel it coming? the cold?” She’d Lol me back.

I ended up planning a small soiree at the new cozy lounge Apartment 78 in Washington Heights. The place is close to most of the invited guests and I made it on that same Wednesday after work so that people were already out and about.

Then it came, first the posts from Facebook and people telling me there is another storm warning. I laughed but when I looked out the window the morning of my birthday, the streets were already covered in snow. Forecast said the snow would start in the afternoon, but instead it started early in the morning. Then I get my email update: Mayor Bloomberg issues New York Weather Emergency advisory. I deleted it. As if it was going to make it go away.

Everyone that had previously confirmed said they were still coming. My mom called and said it was just snow and we’re in NYC and party was still on right? The lady would hike for a party if she had to. Then she drove me around with hubby for my errands.

Apartment 78 had the cutest drinks menu set up for me and everyone that said would show up did! Some were nearly freezing and wet because they walked so much in the snow. Others came from downtown and had to head back a little early. Some that have cars took public transportation to make it to the party and some of the guests stayed way beyond I left and hustled rides back on the street.

I do have a point in all of this: There might be snow, rain, and cold for my birthday or other people’s birthdays and occasions and it doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy it. After making the decision of not canceling, all we had to is make it work out. The snow looked beautiful and if it’s falling, it has it’s purpose. The most important thing whether there is snow, rain or uncomfortable cold is that friends and family had a good time. Though sometimes all might not be able to make it for various reasons, they have been or will be in other celebrations.

This year, I officially accepted the winter.

Standing In Part 1

joselyn — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 22:39:00 +0000

Last month as I was getting ready for…I don’t know, something, I got a phone call from a casting agent asking me for my availability to stand in for Jennifer Lopez in her next feature film, The Back Up Plan.

I didn’t think much of it because with time, I’ve learned not to get attached to any casting call. To do so would be like playing the lotto and getting disappointed every week when someone else takes what you thought was your key to happiness. And I mean really attached though, like my mom kind of attached, who believes that whatever current NY Lotto game she is playing will make her the winner. Then someone else wins and she’s like: Dammit, that could have been me! But she forgets all about that drawing once another one comes up and that will be her winning ticket. You see the similarities?

After I told the casting agent I was available for the ten days of the shoot (except for Thursday but whatever, who cares about my plans?), she submitted my pictures and production approved. I was surprised…hey you never know and I sure didn’t know anything about stand in work. I’ve seen some people “stand in” but had no idea what they were doing.

The criteria for work as a stand in is to have the same height, skin tone, hair color and preferably the same sizes as the actress but you don’t have to a total look-a-like. When I warned the casting agent that I no longer had light brown hair like Jennifer Lopez’s she told me she cleared it with production. My brunette hair was fine.

So what do we do as stand ins? I’ve had a hard time explaining this and it’s part of the reason why I am writing the blog, Well, to begin with, we’re standing, that’s for sure and in my case, in heels. As a stand in my job is to rehearse all of the scenes the actress will do so that the camera and lighting angles are positioned during set up. Many have asked me: Why don’t the actors do it? Why do they hire someone else to look like them? In a feature film, it can take anywhere from forty-five minutes to two hours to set up just one scene. The director needs to secure the correct lighting and camera angles for all of the shots.The lighting and camera crew decides what to use and not to use and you can only do this at the location. During this time, the actors can get hair and make up done, and rest or do other prep. It would be too tedious to do all of their rehearsals and then act out the scene and one scene is shot from many angles so we were usually on set from 10-13 hours a day.

On the first day on set, one of the production assistants (referred to as P.A’s) introduced me to Chris, who was selected as the stand in for Alex o’Loughlin, (the main character opposite Jennifer Lopez) and whom I’d been seeing for the next ten days of my life. I was also introduced to the rest of the crew. Chris filled me in on stand in work and showed me the call sheet. The call sheet contains the info for production that day such as, set locations, scenes to be shot that day, time to report (referred to as the call time) but never the time we are finished. Ever! So you can’t make plans for happy hour or anything like that.

I learned we were referred to as:the 2^nd team by the crew. Jennifer and Alex: the 1^st team. As astand in I watched Jennifer Lopez rehearse the first scene of the day a few times. 1st team leaves for hair and makeup or whatever and 2^nd team is called in. Chris and I would go in and do what they just did, except we do it over and over and over and over. We have the actor’s lines in hand and do everything they do except we aren’t them…and we know we aren’t them because I didn’t get hair and makeup as a stand in! Anyway, the lighting equipment and cameras are worked on so that it is appropriate for the scene. We can move an inch over here or inch over there as crew members are hanging off machinery that allows them to adjust lighting or move props around. Different decisions are made as to what to use for example, a trolley for the camera or not, what type of lens, and all sorts of things I have no idea about. By having stand ins, they can adjust because we move back to beginning and end spots or try different positions until it’s really; a rehearsal. The camera man gets to test and see what the real shot would look like and then the actors just have to do their scene.

When the director is satisfied with the placement of cameras and lighting, the marks are set with tape on the ground and we move out. The 1^st team is called in a few minutes before we are done and they step in on the marks as we move out. The actors do the scene until the director cuts and checks the gate (the camera lens). If the gate is “clear” then the scene or that angle is done. Which means 2^nd team has to be there because set up for the next scene will start and they waste your time. You better be there lest you have 20 people looking for you all over the set.

Another important thing for the stand in is to get “color matched” by wardrobe on the beginning of every day. “Color match” means I’ll get something to wear that is the same color as Jennifer Lopez or a copy of the same clothing she is wearing for every scene. I didn’t get “color matched” the first day, but for the rest of the shoot I’ll stop at the wardrobe truck first (after finding out where it was located since we moved locations and I’d get lost everytime) and then walk to set and right to work. If it’s in the a.m you can go extra early and go to the breakfast truck. With a call time of 7am, it’s a little hard to say: Hey, let me get there at 6am instead. Not on the 1 train I’m not.

All the shots we did were exterior scenes because the production had shot everything else in California.I was really surprised to see we were in the middle of the street with paparazzi, neighborhood people, policemen, security and a few tents for production as we worked. Yeah, some people were pissed off that the streets were closed off so they made their statement by going through and into their subway anyway. Streets aren’t closed for all of the hours of the day, but some people get upset because they feel it’s wrong. The thing is, who wants to see a guy pass by and come out waving to the camera: “Hi mom” during the movie? And people do this and all other sorts of things.

On the first day, I also worked as a double. For the first time, I wore a pregnancy belly! I went to wardrobe and put a body suit on with a belly on it. Then the two stylists worked on getting the dress to close as I held on to the inside of the truck. After learning how to get into a car while pregnant, I had the pleasure of being in a Rolls Royce for the first time. It was such a fun ride. I ran back to the wardrobe truck after we were done. I wanted to see if I could run with the belly and heels. People looked at me a little funny but what did I care? The whole experience couldn’t get any crazier. Actually it could, but I’ll write that on the second part of my first stand in experience.

Paving my own way

joselyn — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 08:53:00 +0000

Recently when I thought about what to make my first post about, maybe not recently, but for a long time, I’ve wondered…what do I have to say? What is the essence of what I want to share? The perfect phrase came up to me at the Latin Alternative Music Conference (LAMC) this month, where I attended a seminar titled: Paving your own way. The title was perfect for me because for some years I’ve been paving my own way in the arts.

When I first decided to start a music project I didn’t exactly know where I was going but I knew that starting it was better than not. It was right after college when I obtained my degree in Political Science and Latin American Studies; a Pre Law Major at NYU. Many times I’d sing in the cafeteria and other students asked me why I wasn’t in Tisch School of the Arts instead. I joked that I wanted to have a real career but during the middle of my college education I was presented with the opportunity to join an all girl band known as Las Chicas del Can. I grew up listening to their music and though I was a fan my answer was: absolutely not! There was no way I’d drop out of college after working so hard to be there besides, I thought… how many people from Washington Heights became artists anyway? I didn’t know anyone at the time that became an artist from my neighborhood (that has since changed).

I went to the casting for the band when another person mentioned the opportunity to me. I was chosen on the spot. Instead of making the possibility impossible for myself I went to the counselor’s office at NYU and asked about a leave of absence. The process was very easy and I was allowed to take two semesters off. It was perfect. After about nine months of work and travel, I was ready to go back to school and the group was breaking up anyway.

When I went back to school and my office job, it was my boss that gave the CD I had recorded with the band to his guitar teacher, who gave it to his boss and he gave to his wife, a manager for Latino talent. For months she asked me to get pictures for the castings she could have me attend. I had no idea was she was talking about. Eventually, I got my headshots. I was on my way to booking commercials, voiceovers and industrials. Between politics classes and some science classes that I never understood, I’d take off to castings and rush back to class or work.

My last year at NYU, I took an acting class and more vocal lessons and that is when I knew that I could actually pursue this dream that seemed to be pursuing me, asking me to give it a try.

I have since independently recorded a latin pop album and continue to do commercial and film and TV work in NYC.

Sometimes I think about what my life would be like had I not given the arts a chance and I can hardly picture it. The arts was always there, ready for me to pay attention to it. Is it easy and clear? Absolutely not! I think the arts is a little masochistic actually. Why keep doing it? Because it is so much fun to wake up with a challenge everyday and pave my own way.