Public Hearing High Speed Rail

Posted on by Thor

I decided to go to a public hearing to learn a little bit about the proposed high speed rail system. Florida has been a candidate for the system since the 1980s. The fast population growth, flat terrain, large number of tourists and distance between cities make Florida an ideal candidate for high speed rail. On January 10, President Obama announced a $1.25 billion award to Florida as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009. These funds will start construction of the Tampa-Orlando high speed rail corridor. In May of 2010 Florida received $66.7 million in ARRA funds to take the project 30% of the way in terms of design, ridership projections and to prepare bid documents in early 2011.

The 84 mile line will run from the Orlando International Airport to down town Tampa with a stop at Disney of course. The room was lined with maps on easels that showed the proposed route. The project will be built in the median of I-4. Bridges and overpasses were built higher for years to accommodate the train. The train will reach speeds of 168 m.p.h. The system will have 5 stops, Orlando Airport, The Orange County Convention Center, Disney World, Lake or Polk County and Downtown Tampa. Each station will have connections to bus routes. The system should be operational in 2015 , so expect four years of construction on I-4. I am sure this will not cause any traffic problems or rubbernecking. Tourists should be thrilled, but the average Orlando resident will have little reason to use the system.

After the presentation, the floor was opened for questions or concerns. One woman just expressed her concern that the system have good connections to bus routes. A man stood and started talking about his dreams of a system that transported cars as well as passengers. He was told that to get the line operational, they had to use proven existing technology. The public hearing was over so fast that I didn’t finish my sketch. I walked to Panera Bread to finish it up while having dinner.

Waiting for Bill Clinton

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The day before election day, Bill Clinton came to Lake Eola to endorse the Democratic Candidates. I had just been to a public hearing to sketch the ten or so citizens who wanted to find out how billions of our tax dollars will be spent to get tourists from the airport to Disney and if they want, Tampa. The small turn out was a bit depressing. I arrived at Lake Eola early, got a sandwich at Pannera and started to sketch. North Eola Drive which runs along the West Edge of the park, was completely shut down. Police blocked the northern access with their bikes. An officer walked up to me when I just had five lines on the page. He asked, “You sketching?” I replied, “Not much to see yet, I just started.” “Weren’t you at that Smile event?” Suddenly I remembered him. He took an interest in my work that day as well. He said, “You do good work, I’ll let you get to it.” Though he was pretty far away, I swear he might have been voguing a bit, looking regal for the sketch.

News vans were lined all along the street with satellite dishes to broadcast the event live. A homeless man stood close to me several times complaining about the number and placement of the police. I ignored him. One word from me and he would have someone to complain to for the rest of the night. Political signs from all the Democratic candidates were everywhere. An area was fenced in to contain the crowd. This area was only about twenty yards square with a stage set up with a podium and large American flag. The media had a staging area near the back of the enclosure. As they were setting up the TV cameras, a security detail told them to leave the area. They had to leave any equipment since the wouldn’t be able to get it back in if they took it with them. An officer with a K-9 bomb sniffing dog explored the media staging area. The dog was a bit off task since he kept looking up at the growing crowd waiting to get in. The officer kept pointing at one bag and the dog just wouldn’t sniff.

I walked around some more considering drawing the growing crowd in the darkness. But the crowd was depressingly small in size. Even if Bill played saxophone, it would be to little to late. Even though I had a ticket, I felt tired and despondent. I decided to drive home before the area became locked down with black limos and secret service. I would watch Bill on the eleven o’clock news with the rest of the Orlando couch potatoes.

Haunted House

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After the Halloween wedding, Terry and I went home and got ready for Trick or Treaters. Terry got into her Zorro costume again. We had two large bags of candy to give away. If no children stopped by we would be stuck eating Gobstoppers, Taffy and boxes of Nerds for weeks. Halloween is our pet cockatoo’s favorite holiday. Terry brings him to the door where he greets the children with a warm, “Hello!” He often flaps his wings frantically causing the kids to shriek with delight. The cutest trick or treaters were two little girls, maybe five year old twins, dressed as Indian princesses. Terry let them pet Zorro and then she got two of his white feathers which she also gave to the girls for their head dress. Later, a little boy dressed in a diving suit also wanted to pet the bird. When Terry got down on one knee to get to his level, he also got on one knee.

When the horde slowed, and all the candy was gone, Terry and I drove out to Winter Garden to see an amazing haunted house. This is a private home which is only open to the public on Halloween. Cars were parked all along the side of the road. I found the first open spot and we walked towards the house. We used my book light as a flashlight. The center median and many lawn had yellow caution tape out to stop cars from parking. The City of Winter Garden had told the home owner that $350 dollar tickets would be issued this year if cars parked on the median. Guess the City of Winter Garden is looking for some profit from this free event.

There was a huge line of people lined up to go in the front door of the haunted house. The line was moving though so Terry and I lined up. A wolfman kept sneaking up on people in line. He tried to scare Terry, but she just put her arm around him and said, “So what are you doing later?” A faceless hooded ghoul stood silently and his eyed began to glow red. Children were screaming in terror and pleasure. The wolfman walked up to a mother with her toddler in her arms. The little girl held her hand to her face saying, “No, no NO!” Then burst into tears. A teenage boy walked up to Terry and said, “It looks like you dropped something.” He knelt down to pick the imaginary object up. “Oh look, it’s your self-esteem.” She countered with, “You keep that, you need it more than me.”

The inside of the home was lavishly decorated. Animatronics and live actors combined to frighten guests. A wedding couple on the porch reminded me of Nick and Brooke. Right at the front door a scream faced ghost stood motionless. As a family walked by it suddenly moved and shouted scaring a family half to death. Not knowing what was real was unnerving. At the entry there was a treasure chest full of full sized candy bars. A glow bracelet was offered to all who entered and when people left through the back door there were free beers for the adults and sodas for the children. I have never seen so much Halloween generosity before. We used to give baby pumpkins to children who were frightened visiting our Tenafly N.J. home on Halloween, but this Central Florida treasure takes the cake.

Halloween Wedding

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I had only met Brooke Haber twice. She was an author I met at a Boudoir Bombshell Calender photo shoot. Brooke is writing a novel where the main character is a photographer. Like me, she was absorbing real life experience through observation. The second time was at an authors talk back, where Jamie Freveletti spoke about her experiences becoming a woman thriller novelist.

Terry and I were invited to Brooke’s Halloween Wedding. Costumes were not required and any sexy costumes were discouraged since children would be present . It was a gorgeous day. The wedding was in Clermont and Terry wondered aloud about all the open farmland we drove through. We knew we were in the right place when we saw the cornstalks and bales of hay. It was hot in the direct sunlight and there were people huddled in the shade of a gazebo for some shade. Folding chairs were arranged in two sets of neat rows. I picked up a couple of chairs and sat in the shade of a small tree. We were told the wedding wouldn’t be for another half hour which gave me a jump start on the sketch. I sketched in all the background elements waiting for the ceremony to begin.

Movie music from Pirates of the Caribbean and ET began to play. When Brooke arrived, the music switched to Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy singing “You make me Happy.” Children rushed up the isle in front of her throwing fabric Autumn colored leaves. The ceremony was short and sweet stressing that this was the first step in a life of fidelity and trust. Brooke expressed with tears, the fact that Nick has made her the happiest she has ever been , and that he has stood by her even when things got bad.

At the reception a block away there were sandwiches and endless homemade dishes. Two skulls greeted people as they entered. The first dance was tender and sweet as Nick cupped Brook’s face in his hands and kissed her. It was more of a slow affectionate embrace than a dance. Christen Wheeler, a friend and photographer shouted out, “Dip her!” Nick gladly complied and she fired off a shot. Brooke then dipped Nick for comic effect. The wedding cake was Goth and magnificently decorated, blood red and velvety when stabbed. Terry and Denna Beena swapped shoes and I must say, Terry’s yellow pumps went really well with Denna’s purple tutu and bright multicolored hair. They were instant Facebook friends. Terry fired off a friend request on her iPhone and Denna confirmed on the spot.

Foul!

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It was the opening night season premiere game for the Orlando Magic in the brand spanking new Amway Arena. As I walked toward the venue, two hours early, I saw small crowds of fans dressed in blue and white all along Orange Avenue. Several news helicopters hovered over the city most likely shooting footage of the gathering crowds around the Amway Center. I wasn’t going to sketch the game, I was going to catch Brian Feldman as he read the NBA Rulebook to the crowd. At just about any sports or theatrical event in this town there is always a person on a soapbox shouting hell and damnation to the crowd. Brian’s performance didn’t offer salvation, but enlightenment regarding the rules of the game.

When I arrived, I unfolded my compact artist stool and leaned against a metal pylon getting to work. Brian’s father was using his iPhone to shoot continuous video footage of the reading. The sun set behind a bank of deep blue clouds. Brian shouted the rules into the megaphone. The rules are amazingly repetitive. I thought at first that Brian might be reading the same rule over and over, but listening closely I found the variations in the pattern. Erin Volz in a blue jersey rode up on her bicycle. After listening for a while, she relieved Brian’s dad by taking over the iPhone and shooting video. She remained there listening intently, a true Magic fan.

A policeman approached Brian and the two of them spoke for a while. I couldn’t hear what was said. As Brian got back on his crate, he looked at me and shouted, “Incident!” I started sketching faster adding color to Brian and his dad in case they were told to move along. So far I had escaped detection. A female security officer rode up on a high tech electric tricycle. She spoke to Brian and when he showed her the rulebook, she smiled, laughed then drove off. A third officer, a huge muscular fellow with a motorcycle helmet also approached. He insisted Brian move his crate a foot further west. He said to Brian, “You are blocking pedestrian access to the curb.” He also insisted Brian not use the megaphone. He complied and continued reading and shouted into his cupped hand. I couldn’t hear a thing he read from that point on and I was only ten feet from him. The Center was blasting the insipid commentary from two announcers who were predicting a stellar season for the Magic. The crowd rushed past me growing thicker and louder. I wanted more rules.

I think it was Erin who thought of rolling up a Magic poster, creating a crude paper megaphone. Brian shouted into it, “Thor! Can you hear me?!” The second time he shouted my name, I looked up and gave him a thumbs up. The paper megaphone was only a minor improvement. A couple of times fans paused and listened, never for more than a minute. Perhaps two people ever noticed what I was doing. One woman walked up and said, “Look at you, Mr. etch-a-sketch!” I cringed but gave her the blog address. I finished my sketch long before Brian finished reading the rulebook. I patted Brian’s dad on his shoulder and waved to Brian who continued to read valiantly. I made my way East on Church Street a lone fish swimming against the school of blue and white all heading to the game. My job was done, a slam dunk. Brian said this might be his final Orlando performance in 2010, so something big must be on his horizon. I think route 66 is calling his name.

Ghost Busters

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The October edition of Dr. Sketchy‘s had a Ghost Busters theme. The walls of Tatame Sake Lounge were lined with paintings by Vaughn Belak which all had a macabre, goth, Halloween flavor. Tamara Grey who had run Dr. Sketchy’s since I first discovered it a year ago, moved to the West Coast to work at a visual effects house. Her move happened just days before and so she handed over the reigns to Kristen Pauline and a photographer named Adrienne Frankenfield.

The woman dressed as the Ghost Busters secretary, Jenine Melnitz, was both sensual and awkward with her tight orange mini skirt and wild red hair which almost hid her cat eye shaped lime green glasses. The model wearing the Ghost Busters uniform had gone all out in duplicating the tools of a Ghost Busters trade. His backpack haa blinking diodes, a disk shaped vortex at the base and tubes that went everywhere. That unit would fire off a serious plasma beam.

While all the rest of the artists were struggling with the one and two minute poses, I was focusing my attention on the room and all the paintings. When there was finally a five minute pose, I blocked in the figures quickly and finalized the ink work on Jenine. I then waited for the ghost Buster to take another “shooting” pose. when he did, he was facing the wrong way so I moved to the opposite side of the room to sketch him. Happy Halloween!

Carving Pumpkins

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I got an invite to attend the Stauton Spookerific Pumpkin Party 3 . I also got a nice note from actress Lindsey Cohen saying she hadn’t seen Terry or me for the longest time, and we should come to the party. Terry and I had just seen the movie “Social Network.” I pulled out my calender and we debated on where we should go next. We decided to head to the pumpkin carving party. We stumbled around in the dark for a bit searching for the house. When we walked in, everyone was on the floor stabbing pumpkins. There was plenty of frenetic activity as pumpkin guts were scooped out and thrown into the trash can. I had told Terry I didn’t need to sketch at the party, but I couldn’t resist.

I stood in the kitchen with a nice counter to rest my art supplies on. Meggin Stailey, an wonderful comedic actress walked into the kitchen with a bowl of freshly gutted pumpkin seeds. She spread the seeds out on a cookie sheet and then reached up into a cupboard. A spice container leaped out at her and landed on the cookie sheet sending seeds trampolining all around the room with a crash. She apologized, but I had not been struck by any of the projectiles. She then rubbed down the stove top quickly. Her frenetic energy was endearing. I first saw Megin perform in a REP production where she played a demure woman focused on reading her book, while Brandon Roberts played a waiter who was constantly trying to win her attention. She remained oblivious. It was delightfully funny. I also saw her perform in Crimes of the Heart where she played the sister trying to keep some normalcy in a dysfunctional family.

Brandon was gutting a truly ugly green pumpkin with warts. Before he finished carving it he announced to everyone that he wasn’t feeling well and he needed to lie down. After Terry and I left the party, I found out Brandon had to be taken to the emergency room by Patrick Braillard and Melissa Mason. Brandon suspected he had a kidney stone. They waited in the ER till 1am. He finally got out of the hospital gown since the pain had passed. Shivering in the ER must have cured him since he had to pay a $150 co-pay.

Tribute to Leonard Cohen

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Leonard Cohen is a Canadian singer, songwriter and poet. Jeremy Seghers bought together an amazing cast of singers songwriters and poets to the Timucua White House, (2000 South Summerlin Avenue), for a stellar concert celebrating Leonard’s work. The whole Glazer family, Benoit, his wife and two children sang Whither thou Goest. The sets were short and sweet. Sarah Percer got on stage first, winning the audience with her warmth. Tony Macalusa played bass while Joe Canitia performed on the mandolin. Mathew Mendel is shown in the sketch performing on piano and guitar. I believe he performed on the drums as well that night. Jeremy Seghers is shown singing. In the far corner of the sketch, Tracy Burke is shown doing a quick portrait of Leonard Cohen in oils on canvas.

Poets like Brad Kuhn and Darlin Finch got up to the mic to read poems and observations by Leonard while the piano offered a soft supporting accompaniment. The whole evening was magical and uplifting. My head swayed to the beats as the lines danced without much second guessing or deliberateness. The evening ended with a stellar performance of Hallelujah with everyone in the audience singing along. It was an uplifting luminous moment.

After the concert everyone socialized with wine and snacks. The concert was free, as always and guests often bring along their own favorite vintage to sip and share. I got to meet some of the musicians and I could kick myself for not buying a $25 sketch from Tracy. I had a chance to have a long talk with Dina Peterson who is in my mind a true aficionado of the Orlando music scene. I feel I am taking baby steps slowly opening myself to hear, feel and see the amazing talent all around me.

The Eagles

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The Eagles were Terry’s all time favorite band from her college years. When she found out they would be performing as the first concert in the new Amway Center, she had to get tickets. I heard the tickets were not cheap. I met Terry at her office and then we walked over to Hamburger Mary’s for some dinner. The place was packed for Bingo Night. By the time we finished eating, there was a line of people out the door waiting to get tables. People eyed any open seats with annoyance and anticipation. We walked from Church Street Station to the Amway Center. The city splurged and installed blue spotlights to illuminate the I-4 underpass. A veteran in a camouflage uniform was selling tiny American flags. A man was shouting with his raised fist clenched in a peace sign indicating he needed two tickets.

At the entrance to the Arena I pulled out the computer printed tickets Terry had given to me earlier in the evening. We rode the escalator up to our level. There was a huge crowd around the Eagles T-shirts and merchandise. We had to walk down several staircases to get to our seats. I was shocked at how close our seats were to the stage. We arrived about an hour early which gave me plenty of time to sketch the stage as people filed into the immense space. The lighting changed constantly from blue to red. A lighting tech climbed a rope ladder to get to the suspended walkway hundreds of feet high. The crowd cheered for him and he paused and waved making everyone cheer louder.

Finally the band began to play and the cheering and whistling became deafening. When they performed “Peaceful Easy Feeling“, Terry leaned over and said, “This was my favorite song in college.” I looked over and saw that she had tears in her eyes. She dried he eyes grabbed my arm and put her head on my shoulder.When the band played “The Best of my Love”, people started raising their lighters and iPhones. Terry said there was an application for the iPhone that looks like a lighter. She quickly downloaded the application and soon there was the image of a closed lighter on the screen. Laughing, we both tried tapping the screen with our fingers trying to open the virtual lighter. We finally discovered the flicking finger gestures needed and she raised the lighter just as the song was ending.

The next day, I was asked, “If you were an abstract painter, how would you imagine the renewed affection that you and Terry are sharing.” My first response was, “I am not an abstract painter.” We laughed. Then I painted the scene he was looking for, “When the Eagles played ‘Desperado‘ the whole arena was lit dark and blue, the lyrics intoned ‘why don’t you come to your senses? Come down from your fences, open the gate.’ Then as the song rang out, ‘You better let somebody love you, before it’s too late’, the lighting pivoted out towards the audience lighting them in warm yellows and oranges. Couples held each other swaying side to side and Terry and I hugged in a long embrace.” Terry was there as I described the scene and she misted up as did the person who asked for the description. The warmth in the arena is the sketch I should have caught.

Haunted Swamp

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I went to the Enzian Theater (1300 South Orlando Avenue, Maitland), to go to the opening night of the Haunted Swamp. I walked around the property looking for hints of what was to come. As the sun set, I decided to sketch these volunteers who were ripping and cutting up strips of fabric and throwing them in a bucket. I was told they were creating a bucket of gore. The strips of fabric were to become intestines and eviscerated flesh. One of the girls was saying, “I have no idea what is going on. A friend asked me to come down and I said, what the heck, why not?” Later as I was working on color washes in the dimming light, the fellow with the red beard came over to see what I was working on. I didn’t recognize him at first since he was now dressed as a demonic clown. I watched as a volunteer got dressed as the extra tall clown. The head and shoulders are worn resting on his head and the large hands are on sticks held by him with the clenched fists inside the sleeves. A women shouted out, “Megan can you get your machete and clear a path down by the weatherman?” Megan ran off in the direction of the hearse.

With the first sketch finished, I realized there was about an hour until the Haunted Swamp came to life. I decided to get a beer and relax for a bit. As I reached for a chair, a man walked up and said, “Were you sitting there?” I decided I had to say, “yes.” He went on to explain that the table was his mothers. He and his friend ended up finding seats right across from me. The friend was saying, “If you had to pay real people to do this, it would be real expensive.” I suddenly realized these to knew what was going on. I asked the fellow I had played musical chairs with, if he knew who was in charge of all the actors. He introduced me to his son named Alex.

I explained to Alex that I wanted to do a sketch on the swamp route. He responded, “Well, I have to do one more walk through, follow me.” I almost had to run to keep up. At the entrance, a channel 13 anchor woman was trying to park in an impossibly tight spot. Alex offered her help in parking. The swamp was illuminated and ready but there were no actors in place yet. As soon as I saw the blood red clearing with a TV playing an interview with a demonic looking child, I knew I had to return to sketch. I told Alex where I planned to set up and he said, “Go for it.”

Terry was looking for me on the lawn next to the Eden Bar. We got our wrist bands and were the second people in line. They were the GAB girls from be_local. Their names were Destiny Bianca Lopez and Sharon Baumeyer, they shot video the whole time with night vision turned on. I looked over Destiny’s shoulder, the footage looked like it was from the Blair Witch Project. These two squealed and shrieked the whole time. Sharon fell down elbowing Bianca in the lips in the process. The blood red interview spot was one of the scariest parts of the swamp tour. Just as I focused on the strange child on the TV, a swamp creature jumped out with a loud howl. Terry clutched my arm, screaming. This was definitely the spot to draw.

When I returned to sketch I found out the creature was a beautiful young woman covered in military style grass camouflage. Whenever swamp guests would approach, the man in the straight jacket would stare at the TV and rock forward and back. The actress I was seated behind would crouch down like a cougar about to lunge for its prey. The TV interview repeated over and over… “Are you feeling OK? Can I get you a glass of water?” The alien baby made strange cannibalistic sounds. “what do you see there Johnny? What’s this about your mama?” Johnny, who’s eyes had no pupils, made juvenile “Ma ma” sounds. He breathed quickly and maniacally, his face filling the screen. “Don’t breath like that, it will make you feel real strange. Do you mind if I give you an injection or something like that?” Johnny thrashed about and the screen blacked out.

It was fun watching all the different terrified reactions. When it was time for all the actors to take a half hour break, I decided my sketch was done. They all walked through the final section of the course when suddenly all the lights went out. We were all subjected to the most frightening experience of our lives. Actors and volunteers screamed in terror and when it was over we all whooted, hollered and clapped in appreciation.