Virtual Ball Drop

Posted on by Thor

Times Square is empty on New Years Eve. As the number of coronavirus cases continues to climb across the country, event organizers will host a virtual ball-dropping celebration.

Police   have set up a perimeter around Times Square to keep spectators out. Garbage trucks and buses are parked at intersections to keep vehicular traffic out. There will be no public spectator viewing areas. Even people in local hotels are being told to stay inside.

The event will be broadcast online. The ball will be raised at approximately 6 p.m. to the top of One Times Square. There will be musical performances by Andra Day, Gloria Gaynor, Jimmie Allen, Machine Gun Kelly, the USO Show Troupe and more. Additionally, first responders, front-line and essential workers will be celebrated as special guests and heroes of 2020. They will be some of the privileged few to celebrate the new year from Times Square.

Mayor Bill de Blasio will press the button to send the Waterford Crystal ball on its one minute descent and finally the horror of 2020 will come to an end. Last year when the ball dropped, the first case of COVID-19 were just being reported.

The New Year’s Eve ball has dropped every year since 1907, except in 1942 and 1943, when the dropping was suspended because of the city black-out during World War II.Even then people gathered in the dark to celebrate. COVID-19 has created a much greater black out on social gatherings. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is urging people to stay home and celebrate virtually with friends and family. The COVID-19 death toll is projected to be as high as 419,000 by mid-January.

Pre-Pandemic: Best of Orlando

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Each year the Orlando Weekly hosts the Best of Orlando Party at The Beecham (46 N Orange Ave, Orlando, Florida 32801). I sketched as they put the lettering up on the movie marquee sign out front.

This is definitely the most crowded club scene I tend too sketch each year. There was no Best of Orlando party in 2020 due to the pandemic. People did vote however and the Weekly put out a Best of Orlando Issue for when life returns to normal.

The best visual artists in 2020 were:

1st: Synthestruct synthestruct.comThe website featured interactive light displays.

2nd: Crystal Dombrosky crystaldombrosky.com Featuring mermaids and water.

3rd: Eric Pabon facebook.com/artofericpabon Featuring Comic and sequential art, graphic design and branding and caricature.
Far more important, the Best Burlesque troupe was 1st: Corsets & Cuties, a Burlesque Cabaret corsetsandcuties.com. They continue to perform with safety precautions in place, but I am holding off sketching them on location until this pandemic peters out.

COVID Prayer

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A California man murdered a fellow COVID-19 patient with an oxygen tank. 37 year old, Jesse Martinez became upset when the 82-year-old man sharing his hospital room started praying, according to Los Angeles police.

Martinez allegedly grabbed an oxygen tank and bludgeoned the elderly patient.

The victim died the following day.

The police said the two men did not know each other, and they were receiving treatment for coronavirus in a two-person room in Antelope Valley Hospital in Lancaster in southern California.

Jesse Martinez, was arrested and charged with murder, a hate crime enhancement and elder abuse,” a statement read. The victim has not been identified. Martinez was moved from the hospital room to a jail cell and is expected to appear in court in Antelope Valley on Monday December 28, 2020. The investigation is ongoing.

Pre-Pandemic: Auditions for Chess Match at Orlando Renaissance Festival

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I went to Cypress Grove Park, 290 Holden Ave., Orlando Florida to sketch the auditions for Chess Match at Orlando Renaissance Festival. The show, produced by Lance was a stage combat production which was the headline show in the Orlando Renaissance Festival, and was comprised of over 20 roles (both combat and non-combat oriented) that will brought the epic lore of the Grimm Brother’s Fairy-tales to life in a Living Chess Match. No experience was required. 

The rehearsal took place on a scenic lake side spot at the edge of a forest. Groups of actors were selected to go through scenes together. I got to watch various actors go through the same scenes and I fell in love with certain performances. It was a fun and inspiring morning.

Pam came with me with her two pups and walked them around the park while I worked. One actor had his pup with him as they watched the rehearsal. By the time Pam returned I was finishing up the sketch. My challenge was to catch the ever changing crowd of actors as the moved around the open field performing.

The Orlando Renaissance Festival announced that the 2020 Orlando Renaissance Festival has been cancelled. This decision was not been made lightly, and was made with the safety of guests, participants, and workers in mind. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, they closely monitored the situation, and they do not believe that we would be able to operate safely this year and in full compliance with local ordinances.

They will be returning in December of 2021! They were prepared to open a second week of operation in honor of the 5th anniversary, and they do plan to move forward with that in 2021. Our dates for 2021 are December 4-5, 10-12, 2021.

This year, (2020) they plan to premiere a virtual event on Zoom and Facebook Live on  December 5-6, 2020.  The event is free of charge to participants and patrons, and is their way of offering an opportunity for  all to come together and experience the magic of the festival.

 

Pre-Pandemic: HoodSTOCK-in tribute to 1969

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I went to Nora’s Sugar Shack to witness HoodSTOCK, In tribute to 1969!The event happened mostly behind the Sugar Shakc in partnership with Mills 50 and the Ivanhoe Village Community.

The events over the course of four days were to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the original Woodstock. Local creatives were showcased from Orlando through music, art, performance, spoken word, film, dance, and more.

Attendees could obtain special discount offerings on food, drink, services, and products. Also, Hoodstock was opening the conversation about establishing a permanent location for street performers, and buskers to perform in the future.

I went hoping to sketch one of the many musicians but I timed it wrong.  Vendors were just beginning to set up in the parking lot and attendance was light. My assumption is that it might have gotten much more crowded as the evening wore on. I miss these innocent days of documenting local gatherings. Hopefully after vaccines, life will slowly return to normal.

The POTUS has announced that he intends to hold a Woodstock style rally right here in Florida on the same day Joe Biden is inaugurated. Prepare for the super spreader event of the century! They are bound to have mind altering drugs!

#txtshow

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As part of Melbourne Fringe, Brian Feldman performed #txtshow (on the internet) via Zoom. He live streamed the event from Washington D.C.

The show was described online as:  “This completely immersive multiscreen performance features a mysterious character called txt (pronounced “text”) who recites a script written anonymously in real-time by a live audience (on the internet).”

“As the content is based entirely upon what audience members write in anonymity, this limited capacity show may contain mature themes, profane language, and explicit sexual content. Happening on Zoom, audience members must keep their camera and microphone on the entire show.”

I have sketched live TXT shows many times in the past when Brian performed in Orlando. It was a nice change to see the audience reactions by seeing them on the computer screen.

It was late here in Orlando when the performance began, so I had the bright idea of enjoying the show from the hot tub. I hadn’t considered the logistics of having to do a watercolor sketch while in the tub. I sank down mid chest and had to raise my elbows to try and keep the sketch pad above the water. Another thing I hadn’t considered was that the lights might not be on while I sketched. I worked with the ambient glow from the computer screen and balanced the sketchbook on the edge of the hot tub. Another thing I hadn’t thought about is that the moderator wanted us to keep our camera on. The problem was be were not wearing bathing suits. Modesty forced us to keep the camera off for part of the performance but then we went ahead and turned it on. Since the lights were off, it didn’t matter.  The flesh tones didn’t appear in the darkness.

Pam started typing a complex text for Brian to perform and in her haste, she dropped her phone in the hot tub. She pulled it out immediately and dried it off with a towel but the damage had been done. She turned it off and ran to the kitchen to put it in a container of rice. She explained that turning it on with water inside might short circuit it. She did sent off some more texts via computer as the show went on. She had Brian do some physical performances like pretending he was stuck to the back wall of his set.

His set was surprisingly stark. I love sketching from Zoom since people don’t usually think of the camera angles and they often have the camera pointing up a the ceiling. This creates some fun sketches of people in their homes from strange angles. Brian must have hung a pure white sheet behind him because his dark black suite stood out from a pure white backdrop.  One woman was laughing with delight the whole show. We scrolled to her several times to watch her laugh. Another woman frowned the entire show, she never seemed amused.  This made for a fun performance. Since I was sketching live, I discovered I couldn’t spend much time sketching each audience member since Pam was enjoying scrolling through the faces to watch reactions a swell. As  in a live performance people on occasion remarked about each other, like when someone complimented one audience members hat.  TXT made such a seamless adaptation to the new technology offered by Zoom. This was a fun night with absolute social distancing.

The next day several buttons stopped working on Pam’s phone, but over time the features returned and her phone made a full recovery from its dunk in the tub.

Not a Creature was Stirring

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Twas the Night before Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring not even a mouse. – Clement Clarke Moore.

Crede Baily, a top White House security employee who contracted the coronavirus has lost his right foot and lower leg in his three-month battle against COVID-19. Crede who is in charge of the White House security office, was the most severely ill among dozens of coronavirus cases known to be connected to the White House, Bloomberg News reported.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo  invited 900 people for a mid-December holiday party to be held indoors at the State Department. Only 75 mindless souls sent back RSVPs. The State Department canceled its holiday party on December 16, 2020 after Pompeo was forced to go into quarantine after exposure to someone with the coronavirus.

The formerly infected POTUS arranged 20 indoor holiday parties at the White House despite the CDC saying such events pose a great risk of COVID-19 transmission. Videos and photos taken at these parties show many guests not wearing masks. Trump campaign lawyer Jenna Ellis, who posted a photo of herself at a party December 4, 2020, has tested positive. It is unclear whether Ellis posed a risk when she attended. She did not wear a mask. If she was infectious then the White House hosted yet another superspreader. Ellis likely caught the virus from Rudy Giuliani in Lansing, Michigan at an Election Integrity Hearing.

 

Days Apart

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A Douglas County, Colorado couple in their 70s died within days of each other from COVID-19.

An Oklahoma couple married 45 years, died days apart. They texted each other “I love you” before going into coma.

In Jacksonville, Florida a mother and daughter died 19 days apart from COVID-19.

A Wisconsin couple married for six decades died from COVID-19 just 2 days apart.

A California couple married 35 years died from COVID-19, 11 days apart.

The wife and husband behind Seattle’s Kona Kitchen died from COVID-19 just days apart.

A South Carolina couple married for 66 years died days apart from COVID-19.

A Louisiana woman lost both of her parents days apart due to COVID-19.

An Atlanta, Georgia couple married for 49 years died days apart from COVID-19.

Three members of a Freehold Township, New Jersey family died days apart after contracting COVID-19.

Just as the United States is rolling out COVID-19 vaccines, the numbers have become gloomier than ever: Over 3,000 Americans died in a single day, more than on D-Day or 9/11. One million new cases in the span of five days. More than 106,000 people in the hospital. The U.S. recorded 3,124 deaths Wednesday, December 9, 2020 the highest one-day total yet, according to Johns Hopkins University. Up until last week, the peak was 2,603 deaths on April 15, when New York City was the epicenter of the nation’s outbreak.

 

No Exit

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A passenger died on a flight from Orlando to Los Angeles from COVID-19 a coroner confirmed. The man was seen by other passengers on the plane shaking and sweating and having a hard time breathing even before the flight took off. United Flight 591 diverted to New Orleans when the passenger died. Because medical professionals initially ruled the emergency as cardiac arrest, the flight continued on to Los Angeles on the same plane.

Contact tracers are trying to warn all the passengers from that flight. The story first came to light when the passenger @jobreaux seated in front of the man Tweeted: “The man behind me on this flight. DIED. OF COVID. MIDFLIGHT.” the passenger continued, “& we finna continue this flight. On the SAME CONTAMINATED ASS plane. Wet wipes *better* save the day this time. Bc I’m shook.” When someone asked her how she knew she knew the man had tested positive for COVID-19, she said the man’s wife had confirmed the fact while talking to the EMTs.

A passenger, Tony Aldapa who tried to help the man is now reporting COVID symptoms.   He along with a nurse performed CPR on the passenger to try and keep him alive as the flight was diverted to New Orleans to get the man help. “There were three of us that were essentially tag-teaming doing chest compressions, probably about 45 minutes,” During CPR, the bones of the deceased could be heard to crack as chest compressions were carried out before he started turning blue. Aldapa told CBS LA.

Aldapa said, ‘There was no mouth-to-mouth at all. We were doing chest compressions and they had him on the oxygen mask from the plane, then once we had a medical bag that is kept on board we used an ambu-bag which is a bag that you squeeze to give breaths, that’s what we used for breathing”. Aldapa is waiting for the results of a second COVID-19 test.

United Airlines claims the deceased passenger lied when he filled out a form before the flight saying he had no COVID-19 symptoms. The final weekend before Christmas saw more than 3 million travelers, according to TSA, which eclipsed any three-day total associated with Thanksgiving travel in 2020. The surge in new cases and deaths from all that travel will begin to be seen the first week of the new year.

Santa Vaccinated

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Kids across the country are concerned that Chris Kringle, or Santa might not show up this year due to COVID-19.

Dr. Anthony Fauci was on the case.  “I took care of that for you, because I was worried that you’d all be upset,” Dr. Anthony Fauci said. “So what I did a little while ago: I took a trip up there to the North Pole, I went there and I vaccinated Santa Claus myself.”

“I measured his level of immunity, and he is good to go,” Fauci added. “He can come down the chimney, he can leave the presents, he can leave, and you have nothing to worry about.”

If you want to visit Santa at a local mall, that is not a good idea. To practice social distancing, there are virtual options and drive by options should you want to visit Santa.

My concern is weather every Santa in America will be moved to the front of the line to get a COVID-19 vaccine. Are Santa’s considered essential workers as Christmas approaches? There are rumors that the wealthy are hoping to jump to the front of the line by offering bribes. Tens of thousands of dollars are being offered to get a needle jab. Healthcare workers and nursing home residents, are first in line then essential workers and those with chronic health conditions, then, finally, everyone else. Since Santa is 1750 years old he is likely a nursing home resident and at the front of the line regardless.

A new mutation of the COVID-19 virus in England is more contagious and caused Prime Minister Boris Johnson to say, “It is with a very heavy heart that I must tell you we cannot proceed with Christmas as planned.” “There’s no evidence to suggest it is more lethal or causes more severe illness,” the prime minister stressed, or that vaccines will be less effective against it. Families will not be permitted to go to other households to celebrate this holiday season.

In America, as cases, hospitalizations, and deaths continue to increase, the safest way to celebrate the winter holidays is to celebrate at home with people who live with you. Gatherings with family and friends who do not live with you can increase the chances of getting or spreading COVID-19.