Cakes.
“I’ve had clients at the
table for three hours just
talking about their lives and
opening up about everything,
I love to listen and hear stories
I’m like a cake therapist,”
Melody joked.
Some of her therapeutic
efforts come in the form of
guiding her clients into improving
their ideas for cake
design.
One client asked for a
heart-shaped cake for her
husband who was recovering
from his heart surgery, to
which Melody said “No, we’re
not going to just do a regular
Valentine’s Day heart, we are
going to create an anatomically
correct heart.”
Needless to say it was
quite the cathartic moment
for Melody and her client
when the cake was ready for
pickup.
She recently designed a
cake that replicated Yoda of
Star Wars and another that
was an amazing salute to Hip
Hop. The ingredients she uses
are just as creative, like her
guava cream cheese fi lling.
That’s the kind of spirit
and energy that rocketed
Melody into the national spotlight
on ‘Winner Cakes All.’
Unfortunately, Food Network
requires Melody to keep
much of the shows details in
the oven prior to the show’s
airing.
However, she was at liberty
to mention that the show
was fi lmed at a vineyard
outside of Los Angeles, four
teams will be competing, she
is the only competitor from
New York, and there is a
$10,000 prize up for grabs.
Another aspect of her reality
show experience that she
was free to discuss was, without
any prior knowledge, everyone
on the set just seemed
to somehow know that she
was from the Bronx.
“I can’t describe it, even
if I tried. They all just knew
I was from the Bronx,” she
joked, mentioning it must
have been her ‘Bronx charm’
that gave her away.
Her appearance on Food
Network is just the icing on
the cake for Melody’s other
upcoming projects. She’s
working on developing her
own non-profi t organization
related to trauma and therapy
along with some other,
very exciting campaigns.
Catch Melody’s episode of
‘Winner Cakes All’ on Food
Network at 10 p.m. this Monday.
Order one of her marvelous
cakes at https://www.md-
Vision-impaired graffi ti artist
Tony Cruz addresses UN
BY ALEX MITCHELL vcc.com/
Never in his worst nightmares
did the famed graffi ti
artist and Castle Hill native
Tony Cruz think that
he would be losing his eyesight
before the age of 50.
He also never envisioned
his case of type two macular
telangiectasia leading
him to a speaking engagement
before the United Nations
on Friday, February
1.
Cruz addressed the international
delegates on issues
of computer and LED
lighting’s harmful effects
during the UN’s 1 Million
for 1 Billion global impact
summit, sharing his own
harrowing, personal experiences
with the ‘blue’
light.
“In 2009 I was looking at
a computer and saw a little
dot appear on the screen,
at fi rst I thought it was the
computer but it wouldn’t go
away, then I realized it was
my eyes, that’s when it all
began,” said Cruz.
Things only got worse
for Cruz’s sight. Now he has
completely blurred vision
in his right eye, and limited
sight in the left; Cruz
even gets pain in his chest
and stomach when looking
at something too bright.
Eventually, his condition
will likely lead to total
blindness.
Cruz created a vision
awareness campaign in
2018 titled, ‘Do Not Kill Your
Vision, Protect Your Eyes,’
etching that same message
onto a wall mural on the
corner of Westchester Avenue
and Theriot Avenue in
Soundview last May.
It was around that time
when Cruz came in contact
with Kareem Hertzog, a
founding member of 1M1B;
then his campaign saw
nothing but success.
“When they told me I
would be speaking at the
UN, I thought it was just
going to be a small panel
in some conference room,”
Cruz said, unaware that he
would be speaking in one
of the general assembly’s
rooms.
After he spoke, warning
the youth especially about
blue light danger, Cruz’s
message was received with
a thunderous round of applause
as other delegates
told the artist they would
be consulting him on upcoming
vision awareness
projects.
“God was my editor that
day and graffi ti got me to
the United Nations,” the
artist said in near disbelief
at his turnaround from unfortunate
circumstances.
Prior to Cruz’s struggle
with vision loss, he painted
over 200 murals around the
Bronx, the rest of New York
City and elsewhere.
He used the south Bronx
and the hip-hop culture
of the 1970s and 1980s that
he grew up in as inspiration
for poetry through
his painting; Cruz’s late
mother, Felisia Colon also
served as the greatest support
he could ever ask for.
It was then that he
coined his graffi ti moniker
RAM2, coming from his
birth name, Ramon.
Later on, Cruz did years
of publicity work with
famed blind guitarist Jose
Feliciano, who he stills
stays in touch with and is
proud to call a friend.
“I guess it’s ironic
what’s happening to me
now. When I told Jose that
I couldn’t even drive a car
anymore he joking yelled
back ‘I never could!’” Cruz
laughed. “He always used
humor to deal with his
blindness, which is something
that he taught me to
do as well,” he mentioned.
Next up for Cruz is a
new campaign with the
Metropolitan Museum of
Art to teach graffi ti art to
the blind.
15 BRONX WEEKLY February 10, 2019 www.BXTimes.com
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Cruz next to his vision protection awareness mural in Soundview. File Photo
Bronx ‘cake therapist’ on Food Network
Melody with just some of her cakes. MDV Customs
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