Disney Digital Brains

Posted on by Thor

Disney World in Orlando, Florida shut down at the beginning of the pandemic but re-opened as the cases spiked in Florida over the summer. Guests had to wear face masks at all times, except while eating or swimming, but enforcement has been a challenge.

Some guests would take off their masks for the photo opportunity. At first the parks refused to offer those photos to guests but that meant that guests who were wearing masks could not get a copy of the photo. To overcome that problem, digital masks were Photoshopped onto guests who did not wear a mask, allowed those in the photo properly wearing their face masks to get the photos.

Since this issue caused online discussion, Disney decided to reverse the policy and will not be digitizing face masks over guests’ faces any longer. Convincingly Photoshopping a mask onto a guests face is a challenge, and it comes off as a clear fake. My advice is that Disney Photoshop brains onto guests who slip their masks off. It might hide most of their face, but it makes them seem like they are capable of thinking and reasoning. The only real solution to the Photoshop conundrum is to escort any guest photographed without a mask out of the park. Better yet close the damn parks during the pandemic.

In September 2020 Florida Governor Ron DeathSantis signed an executive order removing all statewide restrictions. This executive order allowed the Central Florida theme parks to re-open. Disney invested $2.4 billion in COVID-19 related safety measures in latest quarter. It would be difficult or near impossible to contract trace COVID-19 cases back to Disney World. The infected person might have been infected at a restaurant off property, at the hotel, or on the trip to or from Florida. This is what allows the parks to function with immunity. Disney Land out in California remains closed because that Governor is working to keep his constituents safe.

Florida reported 11,699 new COVID-19 cases, the most since July, as the total deaths near 20,000. The Florida governor has been bragging about the first vaccines to be administered, but it will be many months before everyday citizens are able to be inoculated. Florida has the fourth most deaths of any state with 20,133, following New York (35,360), California (20,969), and Texas (23,911). The following months will be the darkest of the pandemic.

Fun Spot: Fluid Dynamics

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Fun Spot was one of the last Central Florida attractions to close back in March of 2020. They re-opened a month before Disney in May 2020 after just a two month shut down. Fun Spot welcomed guests back with no masks required.

The Orlando Weekly reported that Fun Spot has multiple failed inspections by county officials. Bill Kitchen reached out to Fun Spot on May 20, 2020 after the park announced it would be reopening. He implored, “[An] expert in physics, aerodynamics or infectious disease would ask you to realize the danger in allowing the public to ride an attraction that would allow high speed airflow to travel between occupants, no matter whether the ride motion is circular or linear. Sterilizing the seats and hand-holds (or separating occupied seat rows) may be of no use whatsoever in protecting the public from infectious aerosols flowing into the face of the participants on the downwind side of an infected occupant.”

The funder John Arie, forwarded the message to his son adding, “I believe God has designed our bodies to heal and our immune systems to protect us as it has done for centuries. Our immune systems cannot develop and protect us if we are forced to ‘stay in place’ and quarantined.” He then asked his son to let him know “when you will be allowed to open.” Two days later, John Arie Jr., the current CEO of Fun Spot, reopened the parks. An associate of Kitchen’s visited the Orlando park and observed multiple people not adhering to safety protocols. Disney and Universal require mask-wearing and physical distancing but Fun Spot doesn’t have the same level of adherence. Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings signed an executive order instituting fines for repeat violators.

Disinfecting the White House

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CNN reported that On January 20, 2021 president elect Joe Biden plans to give the White House a deep cleaning before he and his family move in. Throughout the campaign Joe has consistently worn masks and practiced social distancing in stark contrast to Trump’s super spreader rallies.

The General Services Administration (GSA), is handling what will be a “thorough disinfecting and cleansing” of every surface in the 55,000 square foot mansion. Rugs and window treatments, if kept, will also be deep-cleaned.

In November 2020 there were multiple outbreaks of COVID-19 in the White House even infecting the first family. GSA began using a mist disinfectant throughout the building at that time. Staff in full hazmat-looking suits misting widely used areas such as the briefing room.
According to federal financial docs, obtained by TMZ, the Public Building Service agency’s dropping nearly $29,000 on the cleaning service in the East and West Wing “due to COVID-19 at the White House.” The White House has been a hot spot for the spread of the virus and continues to be as 20 Christmas parties are held this month inside it’s walls.
NBC News reported that back in April, 2020 the White House invested up to $600 million dollars on 60 washing machines that could disinfect N95 face masks for up to 20 times.  The machines use vapor phase hydrogen peroxide which as it turns out degrades the masks after two or three washes. There was no open bidding process for the contract and of course Trump doesn’t like wearing masks, he feels they make him look less masculine.

Pre-Pandemic: Fridge Repair

Posted on by Thor

This is the first sketch I did in a sketchbook that was returned to me after if fell off my bike on a cross country bicycle trip 35 years ago. Someone found the sketchbook packed away in a box and realized I had signed the first page.

The pages are rather thin and don’t hold watercolor very well, but I am attempting to full the remaining pages. This is a sketch of Jimmy John’s sandwich Shop in Downtown Orlando. The fridge was on the fritz and a repairman was trying too get it back up and running. I sketched as I enjoyed my sandwich.

The sketchbook ha once again been put on hold since I am no longer going on location to sketch each day. Now Most of my sketches are illustration having to do with the COVID-19 virus and America’s mishandling of this health crisis. Those illustrations are being done digitally. That work could also be lost to time if I don’t keep on top of backing up files or making prints of all the work I am doing. I remember a film historian mentioning that the early silent films of Thomas Edison are the only samples of very early film because film degrades and burns up in time. Thomas Edison thought ahead and made paper prints of every frame of film and those paper prints make it possible to recreate the films of the time, remaining the only samples of early film.

I am thinking that making prints of digital files may be the only way to have digital art stand the test of time.

Daily COVID-19 Deaths Surpass 9/11 Attack

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The New York Times reported that at least 3,011 Americans died Wednesday, December 9, 2020, the most deaths in any single day of the pandemic. Over the past seven days, an average of 2,249 Americans have died from COVID-19 each day, the Times reported.

On September 11, 2001, 2,977 people died when terrorists crashed two commercial airliners into the Twin Towers. It is very possible that we will keep experiencing the carnage of a 9/11 every day as the numbers keep rising exponentially.

The U.S. also reached a record high Wednesday with more than 106,000 people hospitalized with COVID-19, according to the COVID Tracking Project.

For 30 years, the World Trade Center Plaza showcased a 25-foot, bronze sculpture known as The Sphere sculpted by German artist Fritz Koening. The bronze sculpture took four years to create.

In the aftermath of the collapse of the towers, the sculpture was damaged but largely intact. It was carted away and stored at a JFK storage facility for a year. It was then moved to Battery Park along with an eternal flame. AS the memorial was built people kept petitioning to move the sculpture back to the World Trade Center site. in 2017 it was finally returned to a site outside the 9/11 memorial. Unfortunately the artist Fritz Koening had died earlier that year so he never got to see the sculpture’s return. The sculpture was not rebuilt or refurbished. It remains as a symbol of hope despite the scars of a horrific event. Hopefully we can also recover from the horror that COVID-19 continues to ravage on the county.

Blue Sky

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Ron DeathSantis was one of the last governors to shut down the state of Florida at the beginning of the pandemic and he was one of the first to open up to full capacity much to the pleasure of his mentor POTUS Trump. At press conferences The Governor always puts a favorable spin on his handling of the pandemic by picking out obscure facts from the data and ignoring the growing danger as the state is being hit by a wave much bigger that the summer surge. This is known as the blue sky policy. If people are ignorant of the facts they can go about their merry way until they are also infected.

Like the POTUS, his denial of science puts every Floridian in danger since many are encouraged to not wear masks and gather in large groups. He is literally killing his constituents. Though the hope of vaccines are on the horizon, his backwards policies may result in many denying their efficacy. To him politics are more important than human lives.

The Sun Sentinel reported that, the Florida Department of Health’s (DOH) county-level spokespeople were ordered in September to stop issuing public statements about COVID-19 until after the Nov. 3 election. Rebekah Jones a former DOH worker had her computer and phone seized by police because she was reporting the daily hard facts about the spread of COVID-19 that don’t mirror the Blue Sky policy. He withheld data about the spread of the virus in schools, prisons, hospitals and only after prolonged legal battles could reporters gain access to those facts. The sunshine law requires certain proceedings of government agencies to be open or available to the public. When it comes to COVID-19 there has been a black out. Any messaging has to go through the Governor and he insists on Blue Sky messaging rather than stating facts. He seems to think he can pack everyone into bars and restaurants at full capacity despite the rising tide, and he can still keep the at risk population safe. The fact is he can’t. Rather than make adjustments to slow down the spread, he seems to want everyone infected. He seems to have embraced the disgraced former POTUS advisor, Scott Atlas’ herd immunity theory which will result in a huge spike in needless deaths. With community spread as wide spread as it is becoming, this will be a very dark winter with very dark sky’s.

Joe Biden state, “Out of our collective pain, we will find our collective purpose: to control the pandemic, to save lives, and to heal as a nation.” Lets hope DeSantis eventually decides to help rather than hinder as COVID sweeps through Florida a second time. Information is power. Stay informed. Stay safe.

Data Raid

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Storm troopers entered the home of Rebekah Jones to seize her computers and tech. They didn’t take the router or other tech in the home,  just the computer she uses to keep Floridians informed about the daily death toll of COVID-19. They also took her cell phone which has all the contacts who have helped her in the quest to keep Floridains informed.

On Twitter she posted home surveillance video of the raid as officers entered her home with guns drawn. She answered the door and was pushed outside. She was asked who was inside and she told them her husband and two children were upstairs. An unmasked officer stepped around a child’s ball in the hallway and shouted up the steps for the husband to come down. As guns were pointed up the steps Rebekah shouted for them to stop pointing their guns at her children.

Quoting Jones from her tweet, “There will be no update today. At 8:30 am this morning, state police came into my house and took all my hardware and tech. They were serving a warrant on my computer after DOH filed a complaint. They pointed a gun in my face. They pointed guns at my kids.” She went on to say, “This is what happens to scientists who do their job honestly. This is what happens to people who speak truth to power.”

A search warrant had been issued based on a complaint from DeSantis’s Florida Department of Health (DOH) regarding an investigation claiming Jones sent an alert to the DOH emergency alert system. She denied the claims in that charge. In a December 9, 2020 tweet Rebekah reported, “The judge who signed the search order of my house was appointed by Governor Desantis and sworn in less than a month before he signed that warrant. In civil court. He’s not even a criminal court judge. It was one of his first actions as judge.” Rebekah could face 5 years in prison if convicted of cyber crime.

Rebekah Jones worked for DOH and she designed and built their COVID-19 data dashboard which was praised by members of the White House corona virus task force at the time. Six months ago she was fired when she refused to alter data to downplay the seriousness of the COVID-19 pandemic as Florida Ron DeathSantis wanted to fully re-open up the state. Jones created her own version of the dashboard with more accurate data. It is the source of information I turn to when seeking honest numbers about the outbreak in Florida.

In an interview on CNN with Chris Cuomo, Rebekah stated, “I have not had access to any systems at DOH for over 6 months. I am not a hacker. This is just a very thinly veiled attempt of the governor to intimidate scientists, and get back at me while trying to get to my sources. DeSantis needs to worry less about what I am writing about, and worry more about the people who are sick and dying in his state. And doing this to me will not stop me from reporting the data, ever. She started a Go Fund Me and plans to get a new computer so she can get immediately back to work. Data on Rebekah’s Florida Community Dashboard is now being updated.

DeSantis has been strong arming a Blue Sky campaign that ignores the pandemic and paints a rosy picture of his handling of all the death and agony.  The Sun Sentinel reported that Governor DeSantis in the weeks leading up to the November election ordered health officials to not talk about COVID-19 with the public.

Ron Filipkowski, the commissioner and vice-chair for the 12th Circuit Judicial Nominating Commission tendered his letter of resignation in response to the treatment of Rebekah Jones. Lets hope more politicians, lawmakers and civil servants stand up to this abuse of power by the Florida Governor. In response, Rebekah tweeted, “I continue to be amazed not by the depravity of our leaders, but by the strength of our community.“

Infamy

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“December 7th, 1941, a date which will live in infamy, the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.” said President Franklin Delano Roosevelt to an emergency session of Congress. On that day More than 2,400 people, including 68 civilians , died and almost 1,200 more were injured. Americans were shocked by this surprise attack.

On average more than 2400 people have died each day in December, 2020. The surge of deaths following Thanksgiving travel are not yet a part of this surge. This is like experiencing the horror of Pearl Harbor every day of the week with no signs of the pandemic slowing.

Government and health officials have warned that cases and deaths will rise further in the coming weeks and months due to people traveling and gathering with family, against the advice of health experts. This is the new norm, with death on an epic scale and half the country trying to convince themselves that it isn’t happening. People cling to strange conspiracy theories.

The attack on Pearl Harbor woke a sleeping giant and united Americans against a common enemy. Today Americans are divided and confused preferring to hate each others political stances as opposed to the common enemy. America was betrayed by its government as the president lied to Americans about the virus. So many believed and continue to believe his lies. He didn’t want Americans to panic. But given the facts and some leadership Americans are able to fight and win any war. Trumps efforts to overturn the election are also infamous, yet so many stand behind him while ignoring the the danger to democracy and the pandemic.

Joe Biden is for the first time trying to unify the country around a common goal of wearing masks when out in public for 100 days to fight the spread of COVID-19. Back in 1941 people would have understood that as a patriotic duty. Today more than half the country will consider that an invasion of their rights. Americans are killing themselves by ignoring science and standing behind Trumps rhetoric of victim hood and hate.

iPad Robo Docs

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Boston Dynamics’ Spot the robot dog a contact free way for doctors to measure. patient vitals during the COVID-19 pandemic. It kind of reminds me of that hybrid dog in the Invasion of the Body Snatchers that had a human head.

Using four cameras mounted on the dog-like robot, the researchers have shown that they can measure skin temperature, breathing rate, pulse rate and blood oxygen saturation in healthy patients. Plans are in  place to test the Robo Docs to approach people who are showing symptoms of COVID-19 in a hospital emergency department.

The robots, controlled by a handheld device, can also carry a tablet that allows doctors to ask patients about their symptoms without being in the same room. A Robo Doc would cost about $75,000.

One of the horrible aspect of dying from COVID-19 is that you must die alone since visitors are not allowed. Hospitals are purchasing iPads essentially on music stands that can be st up so that a patient who is dying can say good bye to family face to face. The iPad stations allow patients to communicate with their friends and family, often for the last time. A photo posted Thursday of iPad stations being prepared for patients in the ICU has gone viral on Twitter, amassing more than 115,000 likes and 27,000 retweets in just days. iPads are often used right before patients are intubated. At this point, there’s no guarantee that the patient will have an opportunity to speak to their loved ones again.

 

 

 

Pre-Pandemic: Elite Animation Academy

Posted on by Thor

This sketch is a flash back to teaching Urban Sketching in the classroom at Elite Animation Academy (8933 Conroy Windermere Rd, Orlando, FL 32835). In the background you can see the students behind the computers learning the digital software.

My students are in the foreground sketching the classroom setting. This was sketched during the summer camps in 2019. Back then we could sit shoulder to shoulder sketching away.

Since the pandemic began, classes have been virtual and I actually love teaching online. I am able to share my drawing program on Zoom and then the students can follow along. I just finished teaching Foundation Drawing, Character Design, Animation, Drawing People Places and Things and a Portfolio Review class.  I have been getting some amazingly talented students online and they get some very specific one on one instruction thanks to this new means of sharing ideas and information.  The virtual Winter Courses are beginning January 16, 2021 through March 27, 2021.