Just About Famous at the Sunburst Convention

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I went to the Welcome Party at the Sunburst Convention For Professional Celebrity Impersonators, Tribute Artists and Look Alikes at the Florida Hotel and Conference Center (1500 Sand Lake Rd, Orlando, FL). The hotel was right in the Florida Mall so it took me some time to locate the place. I asked the concierge where I could find the Celebrity Convention and he said, “All the celebrities are down the hall to the right. There was a large empty room and I was about to look around some more to search other rooms. Paula Dean walked in and asked where everyone was. Just then we both heard laughter from behind a door. Inside people were watching a documentary titled “Just About Famous” about celebrity look alikes. “When fans cannot get close to the real thing, these professionals step
in to fill the void. As the old adage goes, ‘imitation is the sincerest
form of flattery.’ From a celebrity impersonator convention to their
lives across the country, JUST ABOUT FAMOUS chronicles the few who have
had the fortune, or curse, of looking like the most recognizable people
on the planet.” 

This wasn’t a great sketch opportunity, but I began to realize that I as surrounded by celebrity look alikes. Right next to me was Gene Simmons, a band member from Kiss. What do you do when you discover you are sitting next to Gene Simmons? You sketch him of course. Also in the room was Johnny Depp, Barack Obama, and George Bush. Only a few were in full costume, but it was fun trying to figure out which celebrities I might be sketching. The film turned out to be much longer than expected so I had plenty of time to sketch.  I was pleased to see that a local pink haired actress who I only know as Barbie Rhinestone, had a prominent role in the film which is now on Netflix. It turns out she can become Marilyn Monroe and Katy Perry. She probably had the funniest moment in the film when she demonstrated a voice warm up exercise in which she screeched and flexed her fingers like cat talons. She made a cupcake bra for her Katie Perry persona that is hilarious. In the film she pointed out that she sort of hoped people would be impersonating her, but this was the next best thing.

Celebrity impersonators discussed how people react when they think they are in the presence of a celebrity. For some reason people feel the need to reach out and touch. One celebrity Look alike at the conference had a stalker. The guy drove four hours to cause trouble. Greg, one of the organizers of the event asked the trouble maker to step outside and the guy was escorted out of the hotel for trespassing. This is a community of people who look after each other. It also became clear from the documentary that this was a fun group of people to be around. The convention runs through Sunday September 27th.

Weekend Top 6 Picks for September 26th and 27th.

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Saturday September 26, 2015

8:30am to 6pm Sold Out.  FL Blog Con. Full Sail University 3300 University Boulevard, Winter Park, FL. FLBlogCon was founded on the principles of openly sharing experience and
expertise with others. This conference provides one day where we cast aside
differences in backgrounds, blogging topics, and competitive goals, and instead
embrace coming together in the spirit of cooperation, helpfulness, and friendship.
We know you will embrace this philosophy and focus on the great role models of
professionalism set by yourself and your fellow bloggers. Most importantly, we want
all bloggers to feel welcome and included, no matter their experience or background.

3pm to 3am Free.  ARTLando. Loch Haven Park, Orlando, FL. A celebration of Orlando’s Arts and Culture. Featuring a performing arts showcase, outdoor art walk, live painting, and more! Pet friendly! After the sun goes down, experience Blue Star’s Varietease, Fretless Rock and the Rock Hard Review.

9pm to 11pm  $10 Super Jam Art Show For PEACE! Will’s Pub, 1042 N Mills Ave, Orlando, FL. A night of art, peace and music. With so much hate and bs going on in the world we thought a Super Jam Art Show for Peace would be a good way to promote something positive in our community. Feel free to share this event all around the FB. There will be live art, live music and there will also be a collaborative art piece (peace) that everyone can join in on!

Sunday September 27, 2015

10am to 12:30pm $10 Crealde Sketch Class.  Crealdé School of Art, 600 St Andrews Blvd, Winter Park, FL. Life drawing from  a nude model.

Noon to 2pm Free but get bite to eat. Florida Gospel Jam. Fish on Fire 7937 Daetwyler Drive Belle Isle FL.Every 2nd and 4th Sunday.

7pm to 9pm Free. Nerd Nite Orlando: Movie & Trivia Nite. The Geek Easy 114 S Semoran Blvd Suite 6, Winter Park, Florida.  Join Nerd Nite Orlando for our first ever movie and trivia nite! We’ll be doing a round of science fiction trivia, as well as screening the classic comic sci-fi film, The Ice Pirates. Come meet up, drink, and learn something new!

The Miami Project tent at Art Basel offered plenty of surprises.

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This sketch of the entry to the Miami Project tent at Art Basel in Miami Showcases a sculpture by Mei Chin titled Cabinet of Craving. The large spider, 9 x 14 x 14 feet, was made of white oak, antique English bone ware (circa 1843), footed silver tray, steel, pigmented dye, and shellac.The sculpture is an homage to Louise Bourgeois, a Houston artist and friend, Jesse Lott, and Victoria artist, Madeline O’Connor. It
assembles cross cultural adaptations found in furniture, ancient motifs
mix bred with nationalist symbols, all under the influence of
addictions that shape historical destinies. This crouching spider like
monumental sculpture pushes it’s abdomen to the ceiling. Just behind this
decorative mongrel visage, of an English bulldog and ancient Chinese
“gluttonous” taotie mask, is Victorian-style glass case revealing it’s
curious diet, an antique 1843 teapot upon a silver serving tray. The
sculpture is a hybrid monster born out of addictions and manipulations
of empires, in this case, the Victorian English craving for tea and
porcelain, the Chinese desire for silver and the insidious and illegal
trade of narcotics that lead to the Opium War.

A lounge chair and coffee table contrasted the sinister theme inherent in the spider. Catalogs where placed on the coffee table periodically that showed many o the artists works. I never picked up a catalog since I didn’t want to carry around the weight. I was already carrying 3 sketchbook ins in my art bag.

I had wandered away from the crowd I was with so that I could find a quick sketch subject. Re-finding my friends was a challenge since every tent was packed with patrons. It was easy to develop “art burn” after a few hours at which point very work of art seems pretentious and homogenized. Most of the time I was focused of winding my way through the crowds rather than focusing on the art. I also rather enjoyed the fashionable people watching.

Terry’s friend Elaine Pasekoff, had parked at a local parking lot, but Terry and I decided to stay later and then we took a bus back up to the condo in Miami Beach. Traffic is crazy at Art Basel, so taking the bus was a relief.

The Sea Fair was a unique venue for viewing art at Art Basel.

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The first Art Basel venue Terry and I went to was the Sea Fair on board the luxury yacht “Grand Lux” (100 Chopin Plaza Bay front Park South Dock Downtown Miami, FL). SeaFair offers a venue through which the world’s finest galleries are
able to deliver art to collectors’ doorsteps in a unique, self-contained
ultra-luxury seagoing venue. I sketched while Terry scouted out the galleries. Once my sketch was done, she showed me her favorite pieces. My favorite was a sketch done on a wrinkled up piece of paper. The wrinkles were incorporated into a large graphite drawing of an old man’s face.

Sea Fair is the world’s first mobile mega yacht venue. The $40 million
custom-built yacht was designed by internationally acclaimed yacht
designer Luiz De Basto. At 228 feet and 2,800 international tons, it is
the largest ship built for commercial operation on the Intracoastal
Waterway and requires a draft of only 6.5 feet allowing it to dock at
small yacht facilities in central city locations such as Chopin Plaza.

The well-appointed luxury venue features an impressive formal marble
entryway, 28 individual exhibit spaces, a coffee bar, the Luxe Lounge,
an open-air champagne and tapas bar on the aft deck, Sapore’, a formal
glass-walled restaurant/club on Deck 3, Bistro360, an informal open-air
restaurant and Bar360, a sky deck cocktail reception area.

Besides the dock side exhibition, the yacht took select patrons on sunset cruises, Brunch and Cay cruises and afternoon Bay cruises.  While enjoying the amenities, patrons could wander through the five decks which  offered 20 unique art galleries and
luxury boutiques. Cruised featured local and internationally renowned artists,
receptions, art performances and more. The yacht was ostentatious and pretentious which might help inspire wealthy patrons to want to buy art. It is a much better place to experience art than a convention center or outdoor tents. I preferred a quick walk through which minimized the risk of getting sea sick or experiencing art burn. From this venue, Terry and I rushed to a museum where an experimental dance performance was to take place.

Giving Tuesday raised funds for Florida Opera Theater.

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Giving Tuesday was on December 2nd an this fundraiser was at the Women’s Club of Winter Park (419 S Interlachen Ave, Winter Park, FL). The Club was founded in 1915, and is one of the oldest
not-for-profit community organizations in Winter Park, Florida. Giving Tuesday was created by the non-profit sector to establish a day of pure giving; to any cause that you support, believe in or are passionate about. It’s surrounded by the giving feeling of the holidays, so it turns out that it’s quite a successful day in the area of fundraising.

I was contacted because the organizer wanted a live painter while there were live performances throughout the evening (kind of like what the Glazier’s do at the Timucua White House). The original idea was to have patrons “add” something to this piece of art, so that it could be said that many people had a hand in creating this piece. People might add a few strokes themselves, or put their initials onto the canvas and the painter somehow include that as part of the painting.. The theme was to be “this is what the arts means to me”. I had done this type of thing at the Sonesta Hotel for a Downtown Arts District fundraiser. I did the 18 foot wide Orlando skyline sketch and patrons could essentially paint by the numbers. It was a disaster that I had no desire to repeat. It isn’t a great idea to give patrons that have been drinking wet paint. I did however decide to document the event with a sketch. Patrons still got to see a painting created live without getting their hands dirty.

The Florida Opera Theater singers were fantastic. This was a great way to warm up to the holiday season.

Art Basel is a yearly crucible to experience the art market.

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Once a year, Terry and I drive down to Miami Beach to experience Art Basel. Art Basel draws tens of thousands of visitors, collectors, gallerists,
artists, curators, and other art enthusiasts from across the globe,
all coming to experience the highest quality of Modern and contemporary
art. Terry and I stay with friends Elaine Pasekoff and Derek Hewitt. Elaine and Derek purchased three apartments in the same Miami Beach building, and they decorated them with themes from their world travels together. I believe this is the Africa suite. There is also a Paris themed suite. All of the floors were resurfaced and the kitchen was opened up by removing part of a wall to create a corner counter. The amount of work that went into these units is amazing, especially since Terry and I have had color swatches on our living room walls for the past decade.

The drive to Miami beach is a long one and we had to drive through torrential rain and the infuriating impatient Miami traffic around rush hour. By the time we arrived, we just wanted to relax. Elaine always has the Miami Herald, which is a good place to research which Art exhibits were generating some buzz. It is also fun to read about which celebrities were in town for the exclusive all night parties. Elaine and Derek know where all the best local restaurants are, so we eat out when we are there. The apartment is just a few blocks from the beach, so walking down to the beach as the sun sets is always an appealing way to end the day.

Drama erupts at Saint Mathew’s Tavern with Joe’s NYC Bar.

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I always tell people that if you sketch on location, some drama always unfolds. David Lee invited me to sketch at Saint Mathew’s Tavern (1300 N Mills Ave, Orlando, FL) and there was drama in spades. I found a seat in the corner of the bar next to a large speaker and got to work. I sketch in bars all the time but I seldom get to experience this level of heart felt camaraderie and gut wrenching drama. From the outset I felt this was a bar where everybody knew my name and I was invested in these peoples lives. This was interactive theater at its best.

Joe’s NYC Bar is an interactive, improvisational, immersive theatre
experience in which the audience is transported to a bar on Manhattan’s
lower east side. Debuting as part of the 2001 Orlando International
Fringe Theatre Festival, Joe’s ran for 4 years and 76 performances. This
past March Joe’s returned from a ten year absence and was greeted with
positive reviews from critics and audiences alike. The show sold out 5
of 6 shows in March and then all 4 performances at the 2015 Orlando
International Fringe Festival. Ten years later, Joe’s has proven to be a
concept and piece of theatre more relevant and popular than ever.

It was hard to tell where the play stopped and the inside jokes began. Some of the funniest moments were so topical that they had to be improvised. A straight laced Republican in a suit (Tim Williams) sat at my end of the bar and he seemed a bit out of place when everyone else was sleeveless or in T shirts. In a heated scene he confronted everyone saying “You don’t know me. You don’t know what I’ve been through.” This was true of everyone in the bar. What unfolded slowly, pealed away the layers to expose the inner pain that drove defensive behaviors. Much later in the evening, the Republican returned to the bar and found his recently separated wife (Anitra Pritchard-Bryant) was present. The bar went silent before the couple confronted each other.

Christian Kelty originated the idea for this interactive show. The seed was planted when he worked in a Renaissance festival show that invited the audience to participate. In this age of social media people are often interested in the endless drama that surfaces online every day. We have become a society of reality show voyeurs. In this everyday bar setting it becomes easy to let go and become part of the scene. Over the course of the evening it was possible to get to walk a mile in each character’s shoes. Even in this rehearsal, I wasn’t sure who was an actor and who just happened to be there for a drink. With a sold out show, that fourth wall must be even more blurry. Add a couple of drinks and the line is further blurred. Live local music acts fill out the evening, making it a typical night in the Mill’s 50 bar scene. Don’t just go to see a show. Be the show.


6 Performances
Running September 13th-October 18th
Sunday Matinees ONLY!
3:00pm doors 3:30 Showtime

Tickets available at:
www.wanzie.com
$17 in advance / $25 day of show

The stellar casts features: Anitra Pritchard-Bryant, Ali Flores, John Connon, Michael Marinaccio, Jenn Gannon, Simon Needham, Christian Kelty, David Lee, Tim Williams and Jodi Chase.

Musical Acts
9/20 The Smoking Jackets
9/27 and 10/4 Eugene Snowden (The Legendary JC’s) and Friends
10/11 DJ Jay Ross Barwick
10/18 TBA

Bolder Docs Presents The Florida Premiere of Conquering Kilimanjaro

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Conquering Kilimanjaro is the first feature-length documentary from the Emmy Award-winning team at Growing Bolder Broadcasting. Conquering Kilimanjaro follows an inspiring group of 16 cancer survivors and cancer community advocates as they attempt to climb the world’s highest freestanding mountain in Tanzania, Africa. Conquering Kilimanjaro celebrates the irrepressible nature of the human spirit, providing hope and inspiration.

 

Wendy Chioji, a Central Florida news anchor who beat breast cancer in 2001, was part of the climb just weeks after completing radiation and chemotherapy for thymic carcinoma, a rare and aggressive form of cancer. The cancer has now returned and Wendy has been accepted into a clinical trial that offers new hope. “Wendy will beat this like she beat breast cancer,” says Conquering Kilimanjaro filmmaker Marc Middleton. ”But we want to pause for a moment and make certain that she understands how much she means to so many. Wendy has always been about providing hope and inspiration to others and we want to return the favor. The night will included a special tribute and we’re donating a portion of the proceeds from the screening to LIVESTRONG in Wendy’s name.”

This incredibly documentary follows the lives of the climbers, first on the home front when they discover they have cancer and then on the mountain which becomes a symbol of their fight for life. Having just seen Everest in IMAX 3D I have a deep respect for the dangers any mountain climber faces. The fact that for cancer survivors wanted to reach the summit is inspiring. The 16 members of the Kilimanjaro summit team were, for the most part,
complete strangers before meeting one another just one day before their
adventure began. This climb built a lifelong bond between them all.

The film documented the romance of Bree and Stephen Sandlin. Bree is a marketing executive for Shell Oil, a mother of two and a breast cancer survivor,
Bree celebrated her one year “cancerversary” on Mt. Kilimanjaro with
her husband who she calls “the most sacrificing person I have
ever met.”  On day 6 of the climb it snowed. Bree developed mountain sickness. She was given a steroid shot, but if it didn’t work, she would have to turn back. “I am stronger than this mountain, that is all that matters.” she said as she continued the climb battling nausea and headaches.

Dr. Robert Masson,  celebrated his birthday on the climb. LIVESTRONG CEO Doug Ulman was also on the climb. The empowering work his organization does was tarnished by Armstrong’s fall from grace. Doug had malignant melanoma twice when he was 19 years old, so he understands the need for an empowering community of people who have survived cancer and want to give back hope to those who are battling cancer.

Day 7 was summit day. All 16 climbers left camp in the morning darkness with head lamps on. It would be a ten hour climb to the top. Wendy Chioji developed a nose bleed. Above 19,000 feet, every step was a challenge. The strong bond between the climbers gave them strength. On average, 37% of climbers to attempt to climb Kilimanjaro reach the top.  Every climber fought their way to the top and ultimately all 16 climbers made it to the summit. They often put the needs of other climbers above their own. There are 32 million cancer survivors in the world. It is important not only to survive, but to thrive. Wendy said, “It was the most amazing, life changing experience of my life.” Bree said, “You can do anything you set your mind to.”

“Hope is a waking dream.” – Aristotle

After the Tone set the tone at TONE.

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Art in Odd Places: TONE / Orlando  has taken over Downtown Orlando on
Magnolia Avenue between Anderson and Washington Streets from September 17-20th. It is a public and visual performance art Festival that presents art in unexpected places. I went downtown on September 17th to see Brian Feldman, a performance artist from Washington D.C. who used to hail from Orlando. I saw him running to and from his car getting the elements for his simple set, a small table with red legs supporting a tiny potted plant, a phone message book, and an old rotary phone. The title of his performance piece was “… after the tone.”

The premise of his performance is that people seldom leave voice messages anymore. Instead, they might leave a text or a message on any number of social media options. I am a case in point. I seldom notice if my phone rings and there are 44 unanswered voice messages that I need to get to. I tend to respond immediately to texts or Facebook messages, however. With so many ways to communicate, I sometimes lose track of which method was used if I need to go back and reread a message. Voice messages may indeed become extinct. 

Joe Rosier was the first patron to approach Brian’s table. Brian asked him to name someone who would be least likely to pick up their phone. Brian then wrote down Joe’s message on a phone message book. Then Brian asked what tone of voice he should use to deliver the voice message. If the person picked up the phone, Brian would immediately hang up. Sure enough, on the first call, the person picked up and Brian hung up. Joe kind of cheated by calling back and asking the person to not pick up. On the second try, Brian delivered a voice message of endearment in a sultry voice.

A young woman approached Brian who knew nothing about his performance or even who he was. She agreed to leave a message with an ex-boyfriend. Her message was fascinating. She wanted him to know that, “You’ll get your $50 and you were never a good boyfriend, what makes you think you’d be a good friend?” Brian’s angered mafia voice tone sent the message with perfection. Another young woman asked Brian to deliver a voice message to congratulate a friend who just landed a new job in Chicago. Brian did his best to deliver the message in a hardy Chicago accent. He practiced, saying “Duh Bears” several times. The message ended with, “Oh, and you’re hot”.

Another artist, Klimchak, guy rode by on a bicycle wearing a flame patterned cape playing a theremin with strong speakers to belt out the sci-fi vibes. It rained for a few minutes and I ran for cover across the street to hide under the arched doorways of the History Cente, leaping over 6 Spanish Moss nests which had bars of Tone soap in them. Three nests were empty. Barbara Hartley later explained that the artist, Dina Mack, had purchased many bars of soap and the missing nests would be refilled each night. Michael Heidmann offered me his umbrella so that I could finish my sketch. Thankfully, the rain stopped long enough for me to finish. I’m so glad Orlando is small enough for this kind of neighborly gesture.

The Greek Orthodox Church around the corner had a food share earlier in the evening. That meant that some people walking past Brian’s performance piece were more concerned with finding a place to sleep rather than art. Across the street and up the block a bit, a man lay down on his back among the landscaping outside the History Center. Later on a fire engine and an ambulance showed up with their sirens and blinking lights. The man was placed on a stretcher and whisked away on the ambulance. Brian felt terrible that he hadn’t called the ambulance. With 50 or so art projects going on, I thought the man might have been a performance artist or maybe he was a homeless man taking a nap before police told him to move along. Being from NYC I’m kind of used to seeing people asleep on sidewalks. Never faint or collapse in a city setting. No one will notice.

After sketching Brian, I went to see an artist who was sealed inside a Plexiglas box. He was sketching his view from inside the box using day glow markers. Four large black lights illuminated him. Yellow plumbing elbows were all around the AT&T building and one of them had a matching elbow with a fist sticking out of it. On the corner of Washington and Magnolia, a 6 foot high board had an American flag and a gun range human silhouette with a target made with flowers. A black hand made from plywood reached up towards the cloudy sky. In the History Center Park, Halee Sommer showed me a storage pod that was set up as a darkroom where anyone could enter to learn how to develop black and white prints from negatives. My older brothers used to develop film in the basement and the smell of the chemicals brought memories flooding back. Amazingly, I only saw a fraction of the art on display. The Tone themed art continued all the way down to the new Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts. As I walked back to my car, I passed a man asleep in an entryway to the AT&T building and kept on walking. Be sure to get downtown and experience TONE for yourself.

Weekend Top 6 Picks for September 19th and 20th.

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Saturday September 19, 2015

11am to 9pm Free. Art in Odd Places (Tone) Orlando, FL – Downtown, Magnolia St. from Anderson St. to Washington St. Tone is a visual and performance public art festival to take place on September 17-20 in downtown Orlando. Florida. Artworks and performances will engage and collaborate with the public and public spaces from artists of all disciplines, experiences and mediums.

6pm to 8pm Free. Brewery Tour. Orlando Brewing, 1301 Atlanta Ave, Orlando, FL. Weekly.

7pm to 9pm Free. The Orlando Shuffle. Beardall Senior Center, 800 Delaney Avenue, Orlando, FL. Between Orange and Delaney Avenues. The Orlando Shuffle is always free, family-friendly, and fun. It takes place the 1st and 3rd Saturdays every month. Come play, learn, or just hangout. Retro attire is encouraged.

Sunday September 20, 2015

11am to 4pm Free. Art in Odd Places (Tone)
Orlando, FL – Downtown, Magnolia St. from Anderson St. to Washington
St. Tone is a visual and performance public art festival to take place
on September 17-20 in downtown Orlando. Florida. Artworks and performances will engage and collaborate with the public and public
spaces from artists of all disciplines, experiences and mediums.

5:30pm to ? $10 Southern Fried Sunday Country Covers Edition and Food Drive for Ferncreek Elementary. Wills Pub 1042 N Mills Ave, Orlando, Florida.  SFS is a special Country Covers edition of Southern Fried Sunday with performances by Giddy Up Go, Brian Chodorcoff and Bruce Schweizer, Rickey Dicken sand The Revival, Bobby Sanders Band, Tampa’s Will Quinlan, Jackson Rodgers & Stephen Rock with Guests, Bradenton’s Blue Mason Barter, Brian Chodorcoff and Wheeler Newman and Kaci-Jo Hibbard with Guests playing sets of tunes by some of country music’s most well known musicians at Will’s Pub and lil indies.

As always Free BBQ Dinner complements of Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey, Sierra Nevada Brewing Company and Poca’s Hottest and chef’d up by Mykal Williams will be served to all in attendance until it’s gone.

Doors at 5:30pm, Dinner at 6:30pm, get there early to get it!

This event is a food drive in conjunction with 1 in 4 Strike Against Hunger Project to help provide non-perishable food for the children of Ferncreek Elementary w/ $2 off the $10 cover with donation.

9pm to 11pm Free. Comedy Open Mic. Austin’s Coffee, 929 W Fairbanks Ave, Winter Park, FL. Free comedy show! Come out & laugh, or give it a try yourself.