Collide-Scope

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Individuals from various backgrounds collide to confront a community challenge in this signature bi-monthly event at Urban Rethink (625 E Central Blvd • Orlando, FL). Anna McCambridge Thomas started these creative, think outside the box community awareness sessions. I attended the December 10th session. The ten or so individuals sat in a circle to share ideas. In the past, small teams were set up to consider creative solutions to our community’s problems. Unfortunately, there were some clashes of will among participants in one team, so adjustments to the format had to be made moving forward. This session was an open discussion for all that showed up.

 Each challenge will address an issue that is mainly social in nature,
and will focus on our community, but can be adjusted to a broader (even
global) scope in its presentation. The challenge will be announced at
the beginning of each corresponding event. These events are not meant to
solve issues within one week’s time, but to open an interesting,
informed, creative and honest dialogue. It is also meant to promote a
more healthy, vibrant and livable community, and to bring together
people who might not have otherwise met or collaborated. (This includes
both the selected participants and the individuals who join in as
audience members.) Perhaps a spark will ignite in the mind of a visitor
who will help to continue the project, or create something new based on
an idea within it.

One group was assigned the task of considering the homeless problem. They noted that many homeless in Orlando still have cell phones. They came up with the notion of assigning a homeless person a QR code. The homeless person could ask a passer by to scan the QR code and an information page would inform the person on how to donate to a food pantry. Terry Olson talked about an Urban Artist who did a mural under a highway overpass. I didn’t see the art, but it apparently livened up an otherwise dreary area. The city deemed the art to be graffiti and they did a sloppy white wash over it. Now the overpass is more dismal than ever. Terry is looking into ways to make it easier for artists to get permits for public art. Utility boxes are being painted by artists. The artists are only given $100 for supplies and that is their sole commission for the job. It is no wonder that many of those decorated boxes look like they were painted by amateurs. One box on Mills Avenue near the Orange Studio does make me laugh, it reads… “The end was here!”

Wedding of Jonathan David and Anna Marie West

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Jonathan David West invited me to sketch his wedding to Anna Marie. I met the couple for the first time at the Day of the Dead festivities at City Arts factory. The wedding took place at The Springs Gated Community (400 Woodbridge Road Longwood, FL).  I arrived early as groomsmen were getting dressed in their tuxedos. Jonathan, still in a T shirt, saw me and explained that the wedding would take place at the gazebo down by the spring.

I walked down to the water’s edge. The gazebo was dark. I picked my sketching spot because I liked the way a weather vane stork silhouetted against the sky. A Renaissance trio of musicians set up in the gazebo and Christmas lights flickered on.

The wedding was short, sweet and to the point. When the couple was pronounced man and wife, someone pulled out the plug by mistake and the gazebo wend dark. They must have scrambled fast because soon the lights came back on. The couple then ignited a flame that filled a paper bag hot air balloon. The glowing orb floated up, just missed some tree branches and then floated up to the clouds. Everyone was given sparklers. I decided my sketch was done, so I joined everyone forming a double sided line. All the guests raised their sparklers and the newly wed couple ran under the sparkling canopy.

The reception was held at the top of the hill in a club house. There were perhaps fifty guests but I didn’t do a head count. Every puppeteer in Orlando seemed to be there. Jonathan and Anna are both puppeteers. After guests had their meals, Jonathan and Anna put on a puppet show. They had made puppets in their own likeness and they told the story of how they met. They were childhood friends, that used to talk for hours on the phone and play together. For Anna’s 16th birthday, Jonathan took her out. She hoped he would kiss her that night, but the moment slipped by.  Once Jonathan walked an incredible distance, crossing townships, to see Anna. When she asked him why he had come, he unfortunately replied that he just wanted to go for a walk.

College sent the kids to different states.  They each got married starting separate lives and families. Anna had seven children. Those marriages eventually both lead to divorces. Many years later, Jonathan and Anna both moved to Orlando for different reasons. After so many years apart, there was still a spark that remained from their adolescent romance that burned bright. Once again Jonathan and Anna were inseparable. Their respective puppets took a bow and everyone in the room stood and applauded.

League of Women Voters Hot Topics Luncheon

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 The date was 12/12/12 and at 12:12PM the Sorisis Club, 501 E. Livingston, a few blocks east of Orange Avenue in downtown Orlando, was filling up. The room seats about 130 guests. Sara Segal had invited me to sketch the League of Women Voters Hot Topics luncheon. The quaint one story building resembles a church meeting hall. When I arrived, Sarah introduced me to Andrea Kobrin, the Hot Topics Chair. I decided to sit behind Terry, the sound man.

The topic of the day was the state of the Arts in Central Florida. As people ate lunch there were random acts of culture. A singer performed with a piano accompanist. Two women read lines from a play. A large canvas was hung as a backdrop on the stage. It was painted by Nancy Jay in 1996 was titled “Tree, Leaf,  Cell” and it showed a macro and micro view of life. Rene Schneider had artwork on display by middle school and High School students. The students were from abusive families and the program helps build self esteem.

Flora Maria Garcia, Terry Olson and Kathy Ramsberger spoke about challenges, innovation and opportunities for the arts and their organizations. Matt Palm from the Orlando Sentinel moderated. Each speaker had opening remarks. Then there was a panel discussion, followed by questions and answers.  Kathy Ramsberger was asked repeated questions about how the Dr. Phillips Center of the Performing Arts will benefit local performing arts groups. She responded that the Center would charge fair rental fees for it’s use. There is now an uproar because the Center has decided not to use Florida Theatrical Association to book the Broadway shows. That organization has been bringing Broadway shows to the Bob Carr Performing Arts Center for 24 years. The Dr. Phillips Center wants to book the shows themselves saying they will save an estimated $700,000 annually. $75 million dollars still needs to be raised to complete the third phase of construction. The Florida Theatrical Association vowed that they would continue to bring Broadway shows to Orlando. Do people go to shows to experience new architecture or do they go to experience great art?

Red Rum at the Falcon

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The Falcon Bar (819 E. Washington Street, Orlando, Florida), has a back room that is themed after The Shining. The entire room is painted red and thus is the Red Rum. A plastic big wheel tricycle is perched atop a wall harkening back to the movie. The wall paper pattern on the wall is the same pattern used on the carpets in the movie. RR is engraved on a large mirror and a stuffed dear head overlooks everything. The room’s blood red walls made the room feel  bit disturbing.

Every month, Melissa and John Felcman, hosts a Lady’s Fashion Hour, which is a monthly Happy Hour featuring local Orlando fashion.  When I went to sketch December 5th, Dear Prudence was featuring their local fashion wares. Dear Prudence is vintage inspired style, clothing, accessories and a full service bead store located in Audubon Park Garden District. I arrived just as they started setting up. I relaxed on the red couch sketching as each item was carefully displayed. Merchandise was moved constantly. This Feng Shui dance made it hard for me to decide when to nail down an item in my sketch.

Soon enough the room was full of women inspecting jewelry and trying on items from the rack. I had a quick chat with the proprietress from Bee’s Knees. I’ve seen her at many events and just knew her as “the cupcake lady”. She is married to one of the owners of Redlight Redlight and that is one place where you might find her delicious cupcakes on most Thursday and Friday evenings. Weekly, you can find the Bees, Erica and Emily, at the Audubon
Community Market on Monday nights and the College Park Farmer’s Market
on Thursday nights.

There Will Be Words

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On December 11th, I went to the final installment of “There Will be Words” for 2012 at Urban ReThink, (625 East Central Boulevard, Orlando).  Officially it was the end of the second year of these monthly readings by local authors. Jesse Bradley was the host.  The authors who read this month were,

Hunter Choate,
Rachel Kolman,
Jonathan Kosik,
and Leslie Salas

Flirt. 

I sketched from my perch on the second floor balcony.  I liked Jonathan Kosik’s story titled “Pensacola.” The story told was of pristine sand beaches turned into hazardous sites by thick merciless oil from a spill in the Gulf. Men in hazmet suits worked tractors that pushed the black sand up and down the beachfront.  Lifeguard stations stood empty. As the well spilled into the Gulf, the narrator tried to reach his wife by phone. There were irreconcilable differences. Lawyers sent papers that needed signing. 223 calls had been made. “A long drawn out period of litigation, mixed with harassment charges, would only delay the cleanup of what had turned into an ugly situation.” Experts believe the Gulf might restore itself in 50 years. For those who lived through the damage, the loss would last a lifetime.

On display at ReThink was a black dress on a manikin made entirely of plastic garbage bags.  The plastic was folded into ornate roses that decorated the bust and lower skirt of the dress. Dina Mack pointed out that the dress had a zipper in back and, if you were thin enough, you could wear it. I imagine it would get rather hot especially in the Florida sun. The International Academy of Design and Technology assigned groups of students to design the dresses. They were on display at various Thornton Park businesses. The schools slogan is “You imagine, we get you there.”

The next “There Will be Words” will be on February 12th at Urban ReThink. Authors mingle around 6PM and the readings begin around 7PM. You never know what stories might surface or sink beneath the black waves.

Otronicon

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Otronicon is a four-day event held at the Orlando Science Center (777 East Princeton Street, Orlando). It is a celebration of interactive technology using video games to demonstrate the future of how we live, learn, work and play. Whether you’re a video game fan or just wondered what it is your kids
are doing in front of that computer, there’s something for everyone at Otronicon, Orlando’s biggest interactive technology expo!

I went to Otronicon on the evening of January 18th. Two little girls ran around excitedly as their father waited in line in front of me. The father shouted at them to stand still. It turned out I was standing in the wrong line. I saw a media and volunteer table and I walked over. I walked through the first two floors rather quickly as I hunted for my sketch. EA sports had a room full of their sports games that could be played with feedback on large flat screen TVs. I saw hints of Star Wars costumes and technology including a Millennium Falcon experience. I presume this was one of those rides where the entire room rocks and lurches. I get sick to my stomach on those so I didn’t go in. I was there in the evening and it wasn’t very crowded.

When I entered the dinosaur paddock I immediately felt the urge to sketch. US Marines in camouflage fatigues were teaching kids how to use the Deployment Virtual Training environment. They all seemed so small beneath the huge beast. One swipe of that tail would have cleared away all that technology. Next to me students from the 4H Exploring Bacon Robotics Club were demonstrating a robot that could shoot a basketball. They built the robot to compete in the International FIRST Robotics Competition. They are now working on a robot that can throw a Frisbee and climb a pyramid. On March 7-9th the Orlando Regional Robotics Competition will be held at UCF. It sounds like fun.

After the sketch was done, I decided to sit down and experience the Marines Virtual Environment. I asked the marine next to me how to get started. Moving the mouse left and right changed my field of vision as if turning my head. The W key moved me forward. If I pressed it twice I could run. The marines hands were so big, I never saw the other keyboard commands. I walked into the environment not knowing how to fire my gun. It looked like I was in Iraq. I saw an explosion in the distance and I saw several other marines on their belly’s ready to fire. Thirty seconds into the experience, I heard a gunshot and my screen went black. I was dead. I got up from the console and went home.

Admission to Otronicon is $27 for adults and $20 for youth (ages
3-11). Tickets also include one screening of “TRON: Legacy 3D” as well as access
to Star Wars®: Where Science Meets
Imagination. Science Center members can experience Otronicon for free and see Star Wars: Where Science Meets
Imagination for $12 for adults and $9 for youth (ages 3-11). The Expo is open through January 21st.

DRIP Splashes onto International Drive!

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Drip is now officially making a splash on International Drive (8747 International Dr. Suite 102, Orlando, Fl 32819, behind Denny’s and Senor Frogs).  The venue is a cavernous dark warehouse that guests enter via a loading dock. My wife and I have been to several performances and the show keeps getting more dynamic. The last show we went to was sold out and I have never seen the venue so crowded. Near the entrance there was a sign saying the limit was 264 people. There was a waiting list for people who couldn’t get into the show.

At the entrance you have to sign a release stating that you know there is a chance you will get wet and covered with paint. White tee shirts are for sale that inevitably got covered in paint. Some women had hand prints on their chests, indicating some creative use of paint. As I see it you are guaranteed to be in the “splash zone.” Once you sign the release then your hand is stamped with the Drip logo. Inside the bar and waiting area, Melissa Kasper was at a table with jars of paint. She asked what color I wanted and I got a bold slash of blue paint on my left cheek. I knew that I might get wet, so, to protect my sketch, I wore a waterproof wind breaker. I might have looked like a geek, but I was prepared. The bar offered various colored beers. I ordered an orange beer and Terry ordered a blue beer. By the end of the night her tongue was as blue as a panda’s. Jessica Mariko, Drip’s founder and choreographer was at the door to greet us. This show was a long time in the making and it was exciting to finally see it all come crashing together.

The show opens with a loud, raw and vibrant rock band performing live on the stage under a wagon wheel suspended from the red metal ceiling rafters. The modern dance focused on a love story of a young couple, who meet and breakup. The female dancer, Jessie Sander, strode onto the center of the dance floor with a bold beam of light behind her. She approached the male dancer, Marcus Alexander Cartier, with slow deliberate steps like in a wedding march. She was showered with yellow sand and water while the male dancer’s color was blue. Together their colors mixed and combined to create green. Sand was thrown in a wild dance contained within four clear plastic walls that were later removed and stored next to the stage.

With this sketch, I focused my attention on the band as they were back lit by strong stage lighting. Below the stage, lights raked their beams across the sand covered dance floor. The show had a bold energy that had the entire audience involved. There is no passive seating, instead the audience stood around the edge of the warehouse to watch. Water balloons burst against the walls sending their milky white spray everywhere. Several times my sketch got drenched and I had to wipe off the sand and paint. This show has an energy that is addictive. Tourists and locals will be blown away. This is the most hip show to hit Orlando and International Drive in a long time. After the show you can linger and meet the sexy cast while sipping colored beer. Marcus has really grown into his roll and the Jessie is expressive and energetic adding her spark to the show. If you want an amazing date night, this is the ticket for you. Performances are every Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 8PM.

Christmas Eve

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On Christmas Eve, we all sat in my sister Pat Boehme‘s living room in Punta Gorda sipping wine and watching TV. Terry multi-tasked on her iPhone, while Pat and Mike Napolitano watched Wheel of Fortune. There was a recent controversy with this show when a  holiday-themed puzzle that featured a line from the Christmas Carol
“The 12 Days of Christmas,” was solved correctly by contestant Renee as
“Seven Swans A-Swimming.” She gave something of a lazy answer, however, and failed to clearly
enunciate the “G” at the end of the phrase, saying “Seven Swans
A-Swimmin’”. (Her clues were the letters “SE_EN S_ _NS A-S_ _MM _NG” —
note the “G” was revealed on the board, so she knew it was there.) But The Powers That Be behind the wheel buzzed Renee’s answer and deemed it incorrect. The puzzling ruling has created an uproar on the Internet with many viewers claiming that it was unfair.

The news was about some ex-convict who set fire to his mothers home and then he ambushed first responder firemen, killing two of them before he shot himself.  This is why I don’t watch the news if I can help it. When the sketch was done, I watched the Frank Capra classic, “It’s a Wonderful Life”. That film always gets me. Christmas Day Pat prepared an amazing Turkey Dinner with all the trimmings. Pat and I drove over to visit her son, David Boehme who lives in a trailer park a few miles away. He has just graduated college and has started the daunting task of trying to find a job. Pat gave me a cute little “Charlie Brown Christmas Tree” but unfortunately the single red ornament broke on the drive home.

The Buddy Holly Story

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Andy Matchett, of Andy Matchett and the Minx stars in this production at the Ice House Theater, (1100 N. Unser St. in Mount Dora). I can’t imagine another performer who could so easily step into Buddy’s shoes. The role seems custom made for Andy. The Buddy Holly Story tells the story of the three years in which he became
the world’s top recording artist. The show features over 20 of
Buddy Holly’s greatest hits including “Peggy Sue”, “That’ll Be The Day”,
“Oh Boy”, “Not Fade Away”, “Everyday”, “Rave On”, “Maybe Baby”,
“Raining In My Heart”, Ritchie Valens’ “La Bamba”, and the Big Bopper’s
“Chantilly Lace”.  ‘Buddy’
Holly’s music and story have been shared live with many more people than the real Buddy
Holly ever had the chance to perform to. The incredible legacy of the
young man with glasses, whose musical career spanned an all-too-brief
period during the golden days of rock ‘n’ roll, continues to live on.

I went to sketch a full dress rehearsal run through of the show. As actors got dressed, Whitney Abell sat stage right fingering her iPad. Soon all three of the actresses, the back up chorus, were ready for mic checks. The band went through their mic checks and perhaps an hour went by before the director called out, “Places!” An actor shouted back, “Thank you places!” The red velvet curtains closed and then re-opened. The primary conflict in the show was that country music radio stations didn’t understand Buddy’s music. They wanted to mold him into a country music star. When Buddy and the Crickets performed live at a radio station they switched up the performance and started playing their brash rock and roll. The stations phones lit up. During the rehearsal, the play came to a halt when power to the mics was lost on stage. One of the musicians joked, “We should rename the show, Buddy Holly Unplugged!”

The final number performed was “Rave On!” Midway into the song, the music just stopped and the theater went black and silent. A single spotlight illuminated the now deserted microphone where Buddy had been singing.  On February 3rd, 1959, the man who changed the face of popular music tragically died in a plane crash at the tender age of 22. Also on the plane were, the Big Bopper and Richie Valens’. That was the day the music died. In the darkness the entire cast bowed their heads. The show bounded back with an encore performance by Buddy with the lights blazing. At the end of the song, Buddy raised his fist in the air shouting, “Tell all your friends Buddy Holly is back in town!” This awe inspiring show will run from
January 18th to February 17th with evening shows on Thursday, Friday and
Saturday nights with matinees on Sundays and select Saturdays. Some shows are already sold out, get your tickets now!

Summer’s Fortieth Celebration

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Summer Rodman‘s husband, Steve McCall threw a huge surprise birthday party at their gorgeous modular Winter Park home. Summer turned 40. This wasn’t your average party, this was the kind of party you only see in the movies. There was valet parking out front and the entire home was illuminated with bright magenta stage lights. There were two food trucks handing out samples near Summer’s garden. The house itself is constructed of corrugated steel and the block shaped structures fit together like a puzzle. It is an amazing design that is apparently popular in New Zealand. There was dancing behind the house with a DJ on the second floor balcony spinning the mix. There was even a “Summer’s Fortieth Celebration” logo that was above the stage, on glassware and even printed on pink and white M&Ms.

About midway through the party, I found this perfect perch in Steve’s Den to sketch from. Employees from Summer’s family business, Amazon Hose and Rubber got up to the Mic to talk about and roast her. Then the dancing heated up on the dance floor. There was a large flat screen TV that could take photos of guests and allowed them to interactively sigh birthday greetings on the screen. Everyone got a swag bag that contained a CD with a Summer’s 40th mix of music, as well as a jar of Summer M&Ms.