Right when I got back from Barbados the other day, I got a little bit of rest and then flew out to Syracuse to lecture at Syracuse University.
Hours before the lecture began, students lined up outside of the hall. Even people who didn’t attend Syracuse University lined up! Amongst many great, loyal JC heads, Bill + his sister came out to hang. I think they were one of the first people inside.
Seats taken.
During my lecture, one of the many many things I touch on is the difference between parody + intellectual property damage. Before my lecture, I added an extra photo to the slide show. This was a photo that a few people from Syracuse sent my way, which had a group of sorority girls wearing fake, fraud, Johnny Cupcakes t-shirts (which said “Delta Gamma” at the bottom). I must of read these emails when I was going to sleep, because I forgot all about it until my Syracuse lecture. In front of the sold out lecture hall, I showed everyone the photo and asked them if they knew who + where these girls were. Before taking legal action, I thought I’d pay them a surprise visit. Nearly everyone in the class laughed, yelled, shouted – “I know where those girls live!” and “They’re having a giant sorority meeting tonight!” – So I told all of the students that I was going to walk over to their sorority house after my lecture, and get to the bottom of this. Out of the entire class, a TON of die-hard Johnny Cupcakes students anxiously stuck around to march over there with me.
Before the march of cupcakes began, I signed a bunch of t-shirts. This was one of the notable vintage ones!
So – Back to the march! Everyone was amped, and we bolted over there to make it before their meeting was up. But someone at the lecture must of leaked information! They locked their doors, girls were looking out of every window in the sorority house with the Macaulay Culkin Home Alone signature face. People were chanting, “Public Apology!”, “Sue their Asses!” and more. (The photo below is a portion of Johnny Cupcakers on their lawn + steps).
I walked up their stairs and knocked on the door a bunch of times. I was in a good mood, so I told them I’d like an apology. They thought I was pulling out a weapon when I reached for my camera bag. I got many sincere apologies and they offered to cook food for me, as well as raise money for a charity of my choice. I have a list of things they gave to me, that they offered to do to remedy the situation. I told them to never ever wear those t-shirts in public(I might have them send the shirts my way) – and I explained to them that what they did was illegal and looked down upon. I’m sure the higher-ups at Delta Gamma would be disappointed with what this sorority/chapter did. Passing down the positive Delta Gamma legacy is hard to do when one of their chapters is doing something illegal, which is being written about in the school + local newspapers. I now know who they are and where they live. If I decide to take further legal action I just might, but for now we are at peace and they responded immediately in a possitive manner. Thank you everyone for backing me up, literally. That was quite a fun and epic night.
**To read the complete school newspaper article, CLICK HERE.**
Bob and his crew were responsible for organizing this so well. Thank you guys! I also wanted to thank Tim for the extra promo help!
My old friend Beau came out to the lecture. I hadn’t seen him in 4 years. My old band, On Broken Wings, we would stay at Beau’s apartment when we toured through Arizona. Everyone called me the pancake man when I was there, because I would make my special pancakes for everyone around midnight. Beau is living in Syracuse now, and working at a few tattoo shops nearby.
After the lecture, cupcake march, and more – I hung out for a few hours with more students, and I listened to their ideas while giving them my personal advice. This student is on the right track with his business. He makes one of a kind, hand drawn hats with sharpies.
I can’t believe the details on these hats! It takes him nearly 15 hours to make one. Definitely check him out online if you get a chance. I’m sure there’s a waiting list for his hats!
My main focus was never how much money I was going to make. My main focus was doing something that I enjoyed. Finding that niche and sticking with it 110%. Even with working another job when I was 18/19 years old, I was happy having this Johnny Cupcakes hobby on the side. If this wasn’t fun and I wasn’t passionate about it, I wouldn’t be doing it.
Thank you everyone who came out and listened to me lecture for 3 hours. I don’t know how you all held in your pee for that long, but I didn’t see one person leave my lecture. <3
