Riker’s Ripoff

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Terry and I went to the premiere of a brand new venue on International drive. There were valet assistants roadside, but we had been here before and figured, we would find our own parking in back. Terry guided me to a spot right near the entrance. There were no other cars in this area of the parking lot.

The premiere was amazing and we lingered after the show. When we finally left, I got an uneasy feeling as we walked back to the parking lot. The lot was now full of cars that were backed into their spaces. I had parked nose first and my car was gone. I clicked the door remote several times to be sure. “Shit, someone stole my car.” What made it worse was that the tablet and projector were worth several thousand dollars combined and they were hidden below the back seats. The walk home might be about five miles.

There was a group of men in the parking lot and we walked over to them. Their car was gone as well. They pointed out a Tow Away Zone sign nailed to a tree. The sign was in a dark corner of the lot and we hadn’t seen it. Riker’s Roadside Service had their number on the sign and Terry called. She demanded to know what business was responsible for towing the car. She never got a straight answer. We were offered a ride to Riker’s by a volunteer from the venue. It was out in the middle of nowhere (1425 Taft Vineland Road). The place was a suburban tract house with cars parked on the front lawn and a large fenced in area in back. A sign on the front door said we had to go to a walk up window on the side of the house. The doorbell was broken and there were no lights on inside. Terry called, 407 855-7776, again, and she was told someone would get to us in half an hour. I started to sketch while Terry sat on the stoop making more calls.

After about forty five minutes Tow Trucks started bringing in more cars. About five vehicles were Towed behind the building and locked behind the fences in short order, and then the trucks roared off to go get more. It would cost $150 to retrieve the stolen vehicle so this place was raking in big bucks. I sighed relief when I found that nothing had been stolen from inside the car. Riker’s is an infamous prison right outside Manhattan so the name was appropriate for the lot full of stolen cars surrounded by fencing and razor wire. What is so infuriating is that Terry had looked around for signs when we parked and we didn’t see the dark corner in the dark shadow below a tree where the sign was nailed. If the parking lot owner, whoever that might be, wanted to keep people from parking in the lot, he would invest in lights to illuminate the tow away zone signs. Riker’s now is on my list of the most despised businesses in Orlando. Trespass towing seems to be a lucrative business and there are a small army of trucks on the prowl. Drivers ethics must wear down fast because a sign on the front door said, “Drivers wanted”. Should I ever need roadside service, I’ll be calling AAA not Riker’s.

Musee d’Orsay

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The first museum Terry and I went to in Paris was the Musee d’Orsay. Once a railroad station, the museum now houses an amazing art collection. We were expecting long lines but the line into the museum was surprisingly short. A security guard didn’t like the looks of my portable artist stool however and I had to check it. We climbed immediately to the top floor where I started quickly surveying the paintings. I checked myself when I realized Terry was several rooms behind. There were rooms full of Corbet paintings, endless impressionistic landscapes and a fabulous collection of sculptures. The top floor windows opened up to a beautiful vista overlooking the Seine River as a statue stood vigilantly at the precipice. It was in this museum where the fantastic Honore Daumier sculpted busts of politicians was on exhibition. My only regret is that we somehow missed seeing a Vermeer painting.

Museum burn set in after we hit every floor. The museum is compact enough where you can see the whole collection in one day. It felt good to be back outside. Terry introduced me to a Parisian delicacy, the Croque-monsieur at cafe across the street from the museum. A Croque-monsieur is a delicious grilled ham and cheese sandwich. It is much better than any American made grilled cheese and it became a regular part of my diet in Paris. We sat on a stone wall and I did a quick sketch of these sculpture. Artists who did the sculptures were, Mathum Moreau, Aime Millet, Eugene Molie, Eugene Deplaplanche, and Alexandre Falguiere. I’m always annoyed that the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC has bare cinder blocks decorating the entry columns of the museum. Why on earth don’t they commission an artist to do classical sculptures like these?

PechaKucha Night

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Paul Joachim Thomas invited me to sketch Pechakucha Night at the Orange Studio (1121 N Mills Ave, Orlando) on October 26th at 7PM. He presented Outside the Box Cake, where he talked about his adventure of discovering his artistic
passion through cake, chocolate and sculpting. The adventure began when he did a life sized sculpture of a nude model in cake at Nude Nite. Since that sculpture, opportunities kept presenting themselves. W Without a doubt the most memorable talk was given by Without a doubt, the most memorable talk was given by Michelle S. Royal who talked about the formation of an Erotic Museum. She began her talk by removing her animal print shirt to uncover a tight black leather bodice. Crude line art that looked like it was traced from photos were projected showing couples in every imaginable position of the Karma Sutra. Naomi Wilzig started the World Erotic Art Museum by simply asking curators if they had any erotic art. Soon she became known in the art world and the collection grew.

PechaKucha is an entertainment event held several times a year in downtown Orlando. The heart of the event is a set of PowerPoint presentations on a variety of topics, led by some of the most interesting people in the city.

Drawing its name from the Japanese term for “chitchat,” PechaKucha (puh-CHA keh-SHAW) rests on a simple idea:
20 images x 20 seconds. It’s a format that makes the presentations concise and keeps things moving at a rapid pace. Speakers can present their PechaKuchas on any subject, from the personal to the public.

PechaKucha Night was devised in Tokyo as a chance for creative people to meet, network, and share their work. Since its debut in 2003, it has turned into a massive celebration, with events in hundreds of cities around the world and audiences in the thousands.

Orlando first began hosting PechaKucha Nights in October 2010, quickly gaining an enthusiastic following and positive media attention.

Pecha Kucha is an opportunity to listen, learn, engage, and unwrap the hidden brilliance of Orlando!

Tickets were $10 at the door. There was live entertainment after presentations by Strings Etc. and food available from Tako Cheena and Charlie’s Bakery. There was a cash bar with beer and wine provided by Shipyard Brew Pub.  Gary Lambert Salon, 90.7 WMFE, and Kangagirl Productions offered their generous support of this event.

Monday Night Jazz Jam

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Yvonne Coleman, a radio personality at Jazzy103.com invited me to sketch an evening honoring the Founder of the Monday Night Jazz Jam, the late pianist Billy Hall. After a fabulous four year run between Beluga’s and the Grand Bohemian, “Jazz Jam” had  a Special Premier Night at Terrace 390, (390 N. Orange Ave), on the first floor of the Bank of America Building, Downtown. I arrived a bit late and the place was so packed, that I couldn’t find a place to sit with a decent view of the musicians. I finally noticed a small table next to the keyboard player that had a donation jar. There was no cover, but donated tips would benefit The Steinway Piano Society for Underprivileged Youth. The jar was stuffed full of singles.

Numerous TOP Local and Internationally known Musicians and Vocalists performed.

I knew the singer Jacqueline Jones because I had seen her perform at the Barack Obama campaign volunteer headquarters in Winter Park. Trumpet players, saxophone players and flute players stood on the side lines and periodically a player would step up to the mic for an improvised solo. Joseph Jevanni, at the keyboards, had his Intensity Productions business cards on the table. The evening of Jazz had the place jumping with some of the best of Central Florida blues and jazz. Yvonne stepped up to the mic to let everyone know that the owners of Terrace 390 were ecstatic about the amazing turn out, and that the Jazz Jam will be hosted there again on a regular basis. Specifics had yet to be worked out. The next one will be Monday, December 3rd at Terrace390.

On the walk back to my car, a guy on a bike shouted out to me, “Hey Bob!” as he biked by on the opposite side of the road.”That was odd.” I thought. “He must have mistaken me for someone else.” A few minutes later, he biked up quickly behind me and dismounted. “Let me cut to the chase.” He said as he walked beside me. “If you give me two dollars, I’ll bike off and you will never have to see me again.” There was some menace in his voice as he told me, “I’ve had to rob people in the past. We are all concerned about Democrats and Republicans but we don’t help each other out.”  He had the high ground since he could get away quickly on the bike. I decided it wouldn’t be a good idea to pull out my wallet. Instead I found a fist full of change in a back pocket and I handed it over. I suppose I should have let him know my name wasn’t Bob. I’m glad I didn’t put all my change in the tip jar, since I needed it for safe passage to my car which was another half a block away.

Functionally Literate

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November 3rd was the inaugural episode of Functionally Literate held at Urban ReThink. The quarterly events aims to connect, entertain and enlighten Orlando’s growing community of writers, book club nerds and culturally curious. Each event will feature a visiting author along with thee talented local writers. The series is organized by Burrow Press and The Jack Kerouac Project. When Terry and I entered, a bit late, the place was packed. Large holiday lights were strung from the balcony creating a festive canopy over the audience. For some reason people were shy about sitting in the front row so we scored two front row seats.

Jared Silvia introduced the series and pointed out that Don Pomeroy‘s debut book, Wally, published by Burrow Press last month was available. Don Pomeroy thanked the book jacket illustrator Brian Phillips who had his work on display in the back of the room.  Summer Rodman and Rachel Kapitan then introduced Catlin O’Sullivan who is the resident novelist at the Kerouac House through the end of the month.  Catlin is working on a historical novel called The Kiss Off, involving a gangster on the lamb. She prefixed her reading by letting us know that a petite waitress had rented a room to the gangster. She went out with him one evening and things went from good to very bad. Upon returning home, she heard a raccoon in her attic. She went up to the attic with a hammer in her hand. What followed might upset any readers that despise cruelty to animals so I will end the scene there. If you want to read more, follow this link…

Susan Lilly read some wonderful poems. One was about a summer where she had to go to a camp where she was force fed sermons. A field trip to a rock concert exhilarated her to the point where she said, “If I had been a boy, I would have had a hard on.” She and her friend got in trouble for separating from the group. The other authors were John Henry Fleming and Don Peteroy. A reading versed in old English biblical phrasing told the story of Christ trying to win a basketball game to impress two girls. A large pad was flipped with the verses but the moderator unfortunately blocked my view. The audience would periodically respond with an Amen. It was funny but in time felt forced. Don’s story began to discuss how messy and gutturally funny human sexuality is when it is real. I will not even try to describe the slick, wet, messy, smelly and noisy details.

Afterwards, a large group of us went to The Wine Room a few blocks west of ReThink for some flat bread pizza and drinks. That morning the Kerouac Project had a garage sale that made over $1,400 which will keep the Artist residence running through the end of the year. There was plenty of laughter and barbed conversation to end the night.

Louvre

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The Louvre in Paris is a museum which definitely can not be seen in one day. Vast halls of sculpture and paintings go on and on in this huge palace. It was funny to see the crowds swarm towards the Mona Lisa painted by Leonardo da Vinci. The portrait appeared postage stamp sized when viewed from the middle of the room. Mona Lisa smiled at the endless crowd of tourists who crushed up to shoot photos on their cell phones. Many couldn’t get close enough, so they raised the cameras up over their heads to get a clear shot. Her image echoed across every view screen. One tourist decided to shoot a black and white sign with Mona Lisa’s likeness that pointed towards the room. In the hallway outside there were several more paintings by da Vinci, but they went largely ignored. One woman almost sat in the lap of a statue’s lap when she wanted to rest. Security guards quickly asked her to move.

Terry and I put in a marathon effort, seeing as much art as we could in one day. Terry wanted to see the Napoleonic Apartments which I thought would be a bore, but I was well impressed by the lavish, excessive opulence.  I’m amazed the rooms survived the French Revolution. I didn’t sketch until we left the museum. Seeing so much art left me itching to draw. I immediately sat down opposite this Louis XlV statue as the sun set. I should have thought twice because half way into the sketch, the sun burst out from behind the clouds blinding me as I stared straight at it.  In another way it was a blessing because it forced me to only see bold simple silhouettes. Artists seem able to work in absolute anonymity in Paris. I was surrounded once by a Japanese tourist group. I didn’t understand a thing they said but I have to assume that the chatter was positive. Terry and I went out for a magnificent diner that night, I believe at Un P’tit Coin Du Cuisine. The fine dining and wine helped us recoup from our museum burn.

Hippocrene Saxaphone Quartet

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On November 8th at 7PM The Accidental Music Festival kicked off with performances by the Hippocrene Saxophone Quartet at Urban ReThink (625 E Central Blvd, Orlando). The first pieces were solos titled, Calling and Cradle written by Jay Batzner and Alexis Bacon. George Weremchuk on soprano saxophone and Scott Devlin stood behind music stands on stage during their solos. I ended up sketching them again when they sat with the rest of the quartet.

Composer Stella Sung introduced her Tropicana Suite after a brief intermission. She explained that the piece was written for the Prism Quartet. She dedicated the piece to a friend and co-worker named Stephen Levinson who passed away. Stephen collected blue bottles which were quite beautiful in the way the refracted light. She wrote Blue Bottles Groove based on that collection.

The final piece, titled, We Are Star Stuff Harvesting Star Light featured a guest artist, Pandit Nandkishor Muley on the tabla drums. The music had an ephemeral peaceful quality. The Accidental Music Festival has one more performance featuring, Eladio Scharrón and Carrie Wiesinger performing Latin American works for flute and guitar including Cronicas Del Discubrimiento by Roberta Sierra, Fantasia by Inocente Carreño, and Histoire du Tango by Astor Piazzola. Concert begins today Sunday November 11th at 3pm @ The Timucua White House (200 South Summerlin) .

Round Building Fireside Chat

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Inside the Round Building, John Kaiser introduced a short film about the architect who designed the building which was erected in 1963. Early stages of the buildings construction were shown as well. There were audio technical difficulties which resulted in a Skype audio blazing over the architects audio. Out with the old and in with the new.

After the computer was rebooted, Jeff Stein appeared on the movie screen. He noted that his community was affected by hurricane Sandy and that a generator would have to suffice rather than a comfy fireside. His talk was about The Spirit of Organic Design, beyond Mid-Century Modern. 

Stein is an editor, writer and practicing architect. Formerly dean of
Boston Architectural College and head of architecture at Wentworth
Institute in Boston, he taught at Harvard Graduate School of Design;
Technicum Winterthur, Zurich; and at Ecole de Architecture
Languedoc-Rousillon, in Montpellier, France. He recently completed an
American edition of the Swiss text “The Ecological Aspects of Building”
with his wife, art historian Emilie Altemose. The Cosanti
Foundation, a non-profit educational foundation started by noted
architect and urban planner Paolo Soleri, is dedicated to education and
the ongoing development and preservation of Arcosanti in Arizona.

The primary focus of future architecture would be energy efficiency without urban sprawl. Cars tend to separate people in ways that are profound. People don’t recognize each other as they commute. People end up living isolated lives of hermits. Any sense of community is lost for many. Arcosanti is an urban laboratory focused on innovative design,
community, and environmental accountability. Our goal is to actively
pursue lean alternatives to urban sprawl based on Paolo Soleri’s theory
of compact city design, Arcology (architecture + ecology). Built by over 7,000 volunteers, Arcosanti provides various mixed-use
buildings and public spaces where people live, work, visit, and
participate in educational and cultural programs.

Tonight at 5:30PM I will be doing a digital sketch which will be  projected live on a movie screen as part of the Accidental Music Festival. The concert is titled “Ghost in the Machine”, and it features works from Central Florida Composers Forum presenting new works for electronics by Orlando composers. The concert will be held at the Timucua White House (200 South Summerlin Avenue).

Round Building

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The Round Building, also known as the American Federal Savings and Loan, across from City Hall, will stand for just one more year before is is demolished to make way for the Doctor Phillips Center for the Performing Arts. The building is still standing today because it is being used by the Doctor Phillips Center of the Performing Arts, Public Relations and Financing staff.  The top floor offices have a magnificent view over the construction site.

The building took form back in the idealistic times when John F. Kennedy was elected President. Man was striving to reach the moon and this building took on the futuristic form of a cylinder. Orlando was just coming of age, as Disney and Martin Marietta set up shop.  The honeycomb shaped cement band around the base of the building acted as a sun screen for the banks windows. This cement honeycomb, reminiscent of “The Carousel of Progress“, is known as a Brise Soleil. The glass upper floors were added years later. Today, what is futuristic about the site is that curbside electric car charging stations are across the street.

Commissioner Patty Sheehan is spearheading a privately funded effort to save the Brise Soleil by re-purposing it as sculpture or a sun shield in a public park. A design competition was held that asked local architecture students to envision the re-purposing of the precast concrete curtain pieces. The winners of the competition were, Felix Chad and Jarod Lopatky for their submission “Reflections of Orlando.” Their digital rendering showed the Brise Soleil in two pieces standing on end and separated as two identical semi circular arcs in a public park. The students were awarded $360 dollars for the concept.

Patty Sheehan formed the not-for-profit corporation, Strengthen Orlando, Inc. – Round Building Reuse, to raise funds to get the Brise Soleil moved and displayed somewhere in Orlando. She has pledged to match any donations made to the project up to $70,000.

Marriage of Figaro

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On election night, I went to a dress rehearsal for The Marriage of Figaro written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. This Italian Opera premiered at the Burgtheater in Vienna on May 1st, 1786. When I entered the Bob Carr Theater, it was virtually empty and I sat in the second row and immediately started sketching the stage. The Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra was also on stage behind the limited set pieces. Soprano, Maureen O’Flynn, who played Susanna, walked on stage and arranged a wedding dress she placed on an arm chair. Baratone, Maurian Pop who was playing Count Almavia checked the set door to see how is swung open.

Count Almavia was bored with his idyllic marriage to his Countess, played by Twyla Robinson, and he decides to exert his feudal privilege of  droit de seigneur, the lord’s right to enjoy the bride of his servant on their wedding night. His engaged servants, Figaro, played by Robert Gierlach, and Suzanna, as well as the Countess, object to his plan. A comedy unfolds as the Countess, Figaro and Susanna make plans to dupe the Count. Identities are exchanged, oaths of undying love are pledged and even accomplices became confused in this “day of madness.”

I didn’t understand a word that was sung and since I was sketching and I didn’t have time to read the projected subtitles. Some things are so beautiful they don’t need to be understood, just felt. The music is memorable and timeless. In the end  there is forgiveness and absolution, every lover finds their mate. There is a performance Friday November 9th at 8PM  and on Sunday November 11th at 2PM at the Bob Carr. Tickets run between $17 and $70.