SZoner, Mike Kunda [aka adnuk68] recently had the meeting of a life time. Here’s how Mike described it:
I got a call from my friends at the Victor Cafe. They asked if I could get there Tuesday by 6:30 and that if I could they would sit me next to Sly. Well I did just that, and what follows is as exact with no exaggeration as I can be .My wife can support all claims to this story.
OK, so we get there, say, “Hi” to our friends and catch up. We sit at our table and my friend tells me that Sly will be there shortly with his wife and children.
At bout 6:45 they get there. Jen‘s family was with them as well. They were all so nice. The kids sat at the far end of the table next to 6 or 7 of Philly’s police officers. They had dinner as well, but were there for protection, but never interfered.
Sly and Jen sat elbow to elbow with me and my wife. The tables are small and close together. I was able to watch Sly for 2 hours… talking about his hair (it’s at the half way point now for Rambo and when he gets up in the morning its all over the place). He was very animated, as you can imagine. We got to watch him parenting his kids, who by the way are very well behaved and adorable. He got up several times to escort them to the bathroom. All eyes were on him at any given point. Of all the times I met him and spending time on the set I never got that shoulder to shoulder pic of me and him that I wanted.
Well, at this point, Sly goes outside with his daughter, Sistine, and my friend, the hostess who has become very good friends with Sly and has several scenes in the movie with him. My wife said to get out there… now is the shot. As I walk out the door I feel what can only be described as sheer fear/hopefulness, praying that I can get the pic. As I walk out my friend says to Sly, “Sly, you remember my good friend Mike? He was here during filming.” Sly says, “Yeah, Hey Mike how ya doin?” I asked, “Who is this young lady?” and he said “This is my daughter Sistine.” I asked if she enjoyed her dinner and she said, “Yes.” She left and I said, “She’s gonna be tall, like her mom.” Sly says, “Yeah, a leaf eater (giraffe).”
I then told Sly I had seen the “Balboa” trailer and that it was great. I told him that when he rubs his chest and says I still got something in the basement the entire audience started to get fired up. He then got so passionate about this that we started going back and forth about plot points and Sly said, “the only reason Rocky fights is to purge the depression of Adrian dying.” We talked about the guilt of Paulie and how central to the movie this all is.
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At this point he and I were alone out front on the sidewalk. My wife was watching from inside the bar. She came out and I introduced her to Sly. He was very gracious and shook her hand, at which point she asked if we could get a pic. He said, “Absolutely.” So he put his arm around me and did a punching fist. I asked, “Do you remember my painting that you signed, before I finished it?” He said, “Yeah , the black and white one? that was you? I loved that painting. I told my wife about that.” Then some people started to come around and Sly still had his hands on my shoulder. They start saying, “Hey, Sly that guy looks like you!” So Sly steps back and says, “Ya know, you do look like me 25 years ago!” and he punches me (playfully twice in the chest). We shake hands again and I tell him he would never see my painting on ebay. He said, “You hold onto that because it’s heart and soul.” We also talked about the SZoners and how impressed he is with Craig and his words were “I thought I’d give Craig a shot. He’s done such a great job.” I thanked him again and he did the same. So we go back in and we have desert. As Sly leaves he stands and turns to me and says, “Thanks Mike, take care of yourself!” UN-REAL!! – Not only does Mike look something like Sly, but he even has a Mastiff named Butkus! Mike, I have to agree that your meeting with Sly was UN-REAL. Talk about the encounter of a lifetime! It’ s so cool that Sly remembered you and your painting! I also appreciate the kind words about SZoners and the job that I’ve been doing with the SZ. If you’d like to see some more of Mike’s art then click HERE or HERE or visit Mike’s website! Thanks to Mike for sharing his great story and art! – Craig |