Weekend Top 6 Picks for May 16th and 17th.

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Saturday May 16, 2015

 9:30am to 11pm Free. Haiku Be Bop. Rollins College Bush Building Room 201. Stamford M. Forrester speaker.

1pm to 3pm Free. Family Days at the Maitland Museum. Maitland Art Center, 231 Packwood Avenue West, Maitland, FL. Gather your family for an afternoon of quality time together at the A&H’s Family Days at the Museum!  Families are encouraged to stay and enjoy the A&H museums after the program concludes. Family Days at the Museum is held on the 3rd Saturday of every month, and each program is held in a different location within the A&H Museums. Join us for this afternoon of family fun!

3pm to 11pm Free. Swamp Sistas La La @ Fringe Fest. Green Lawn 900 E Princeton St, Orlando, FL. Park Ave CD’s and Beth McKee present Swamp Sista La La on the Green Lawn @ Orlando International Fringe Theatre Festival: A free, day long music event to raise awareness and $ for fighting local hunger with healthy food. Artists performing at the La La include: Beth McKee, Laney Jones & the Spirits, Kaleigh Baker (star of Fringe show Janis Joplin, Little Girl Blue), A Caché, Multiple Me (Lauren Carder ), O-Sky, Rebekah Pulley & the Reluctant Prophets, E-Turn, and Beth’s Swamp Sista Songwriting Circle featuring Loi Jeannette,Shadow Pearson, Gail Jijon and Kattya Graham.



Sunday May 17, 2015

10am to 4pm Free. Lake Eola Farmers Market. Lake Eola Park, East Washington Street, Orlando, FL. Weekly.

1pm to 3pm Free. Yoga. Lake Eola Park, 195 N Rosalind Ave, Orlando, FL East lawn near the playground. Weekly.

8pm to 9pm Free. There Will Be Madness. The Orlando Fringe Festival outdoor stage Lock Haven Park. here Will Be Madness, the official flash fiction slam of There Will Be Words, makes its debut at the Outdoor Stage of the Orlando Fringe Festival.

Eight amazing flash fiction writers will face off head-to-head audience-judged slam in three rounds of literary combat until there is only one (think Highlander, but without the beheadings and the swords).

The format for this show is

1st round: 250 words max

2nd round: 375 words max

Championship Round: 500 words max

Scheduled to appear (so far)

Sam Slaughter

Jared Silvia

Danielle Isaiah

Curtis X Meyer

Meg Sefton

and you? perhaps. Spots are limited. If interested, send an email to twbwsubmissions@gmail.com or comment on this event page.

The winner will be crowned Outdoor There Will Be Madness Champion, and may face this year’s Indoor champion in a unification bout later this year.

For more details about There Will Be Words, check out therewillbewords.com

Poe follows the last days of the master of the macabre.

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This year’s Orlando International Fringe Theatre Festival
has just begun. If you haven’t been before, you are missing thirteen days of non-stop theater at venues all around Lock Haven Park. Fringe plays are selected by lottery.Fringe is… 100% UNCENSORED, 100% UNJURIED, 100% ACCESSIBLE, 100% of $ from ticket sales go directly to the ARTISTS. Anyone can Fringe.

I went to a rehearsal for Poe presented by Theater Downtown in the Green Venue which is in the black box theater of the Rep. It seemed fitting that Poe, Written by Stephen Most and directed by Frank Hilgenberg, should be staged in a black box. The play follows the final tormented days of the author of “The Raven” and “The Tell Tale Heart”. Chris Prueitt breathed life into the tortured poet.  Before the rehearsal started cast members joked and wrestled playfully. It is a shame some of that playfulness never seemed to play a part of Poe’s life. His pompous airs didn’t impress towns folk and as he recites one of his poems he is beaten and robbed. His father considered him a lazy vagrant. Their contentious relationship comes to a head as Edgar imagines himself murdering his dad and hiding the corpse below the floor boards.

Biographical fact mixed with fiction is retold through the authors own tales. Darci Ricciardi did the shows choreography. Before the rehearsal, she welcomed me dressed in a whispy white dress that made her look just like Marilyn Monroe, all that was missing was a subway grate. The dress made sense when she and three other dancers moved in mystical fluid motion around the fallen poet. Bawdy prostitutes and violent thugs haunted the poets life. Family life offered little solace.

Poe fell madly in love with a young cousin played by Jolie Hart. Their happiness was quickly cut short when illness struck and Jolie lay motionless on a platform like Sleeping Beauty. The poet couldn’t accept her death, believing she would return to him. Had she been buried alive? She ultimately did return in dreams wearing a white expressionless mask. Darci and the dancers also wore white masks and black gowns and danced in a scene that managed to make my skin crawl. The show has it’s horrors, it’s tortured misgivings. If darkness you seek, it might be quite thrilling.

Tickets $11 plus required Orlando Fringe button (available at Fringe box office).

Green Venue – The Orlando REP (Black Box theatre to the left of The Rep main stage)
1001 East Princeton Street, Orlando, FL.

Thursday 5/14     9:00pm
Saturday 5/16     10:30pm
Monday 5/18      9:00pm
Wednesday 5/20 5:30pm
Thursday 5/21     7:30pm
Saturday 5/23      8:45pm
Sunday 5/24        11:30am

Ballerat’s sprawling botanical garden is a beauty mate.

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The last town Terry and I drove to was Ballerat. In Australia it was springtime while back in Orlando it was Winter, not that there is much of a difference. We stopped at the Ballerat Botanical Gardens (Gillies Street North, N Ballarat VIC 3355, Australia) so Terry could enjoy the flowers and birds and I could sketch. I suppose I should have wanted to capture the gorgeous vibrant colored flower beds, but instead, I walked straight into a sculpture pavilion. The pavilion felt like it came from a Victorian era Worlds Fair.

The Pavilion and its statues were unveiled in 1888 by Premier Duncan Gillies, a former colleague of James Russell Thompson
whose bequest to the City enabled the purchase, in Italy, of the
statues. The Flight from Pompeii and the four accompanying statues are
housed in the Statuary Pavilion in the Ballarat Botanical Gardens. The
Flight from Pompeii, in the center, was designed by Professor Carlo
Benzoni and carved by Charles Francis Summers while the four
accompanying statues were all designed and carved by Charles Francis
Summers. The octagonal Pavilion was specially designed by T.E. Molloy in
1887 to house the statuary. 

I left out the guard rails since they blocked my view of certain details. Families and couples would come in briefly to view the statues. Parents would explain the sculptures significance to their children. I wondered why the couple only had time to throw towels over their loins as the ran down the streets of Pompeii trying to escape the lava and ash erupting from the volcano. He thought ahead enough to also bring a bed sheet which billowed above them to hopefully stop any red hot rocks from burning their backs. Had they just been in bed, or did they run from a bath house?

One aspect of this scene is that large quarter sized flies would enter the pavilion and they would buzz and pound themselves against the windows trying to escape back out to the vibrant garden. They would start their frantic escape by smacking high against the glass. With each successive blow, they would grow tired and ultimately rest against the windows bottom ledge.  In my head a devised an obvious fly trap that would easily catch every fly allowing them to be removed and released into someone else s garden. How many times would flies stop to rest on the smooth granite semi nude skin of these statues and they couldn’t slap the flies away. As it was, I had to smack a few persistent flies with my sketchbook when the distracted me too much from the sketch. This pavilion was Pompeii for every fly that entered. The were doomed to see the glorious freedom just beyond the glass and die from exhaustion  or the slap of my sketchbook as they struggled to reach it.

We stopped to rest while hiking McKenzie Falls.

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Pam Anderson and her husband took us to hike in Grampians National Park which was a short drive from their home on several one lane dirt roads. We stopped at an abandoned gold mine but unfortunately we didn’t see any gold flakes in the soil. The drive up to Mckenzie Falls involved a twisting, winding road with hundreds of switch backs. We took the hill at an aggressive speed with constant acceleration and hard breaking in the curves. I started feeling motion sick in the back seat so I fixed my gaze out the front window trying to anticipate each new curve.

Mckenzee Falls had just reopened after being ravaged by an out of control wildfire. All the barren tree trunks were charcoal black. One plant thrives after a fire. Fires release nutrients to the soil and create rich seedbeds for newly dropped seed. The first rains after fires bring the landscape to life; a cycle of regrowth, competition and maturation starts all over again.The Australian Grass Tree thrives after a wildfire.  It sends up a four foot inch thick rod that thrusts up from the grassy base. This phallic seed bearing appendage earned it’s un-politically correct nickname, “Black Boy” from it’s charred appearance. Life always finds away.

Reed’s Outlook gave us a stunning view of the entire valley. There is a rock that juts out over the cliffs edge and it used to be possible  to stand at it’s tip, “Lion King” style for photo opportunities. Unfortunately it is now fenced off. One too many people must have fallen off after being asked to “step back” for a photo. Terry kept her back plastered to the rock wall standing clear of the railing.


The parking lot at the Mckenzie Falls trail was full of cars. A Japanese double-decker tourist bus pulled into the lot and it seemed like hundreds of people piled out. I’ve never seen a bus like this before. It was set up as a sleeper and each person must get a coffin-like compartment that comes with a curtained window. I really wanted to look inside. The parks department office was burnt to the ground and surrounded by a fence for our protection. Only a single brick chimney marked the site. Pam and her husband are avid hikers and they planned to hike all the way to the base of the waterfall and back up. Once we got near the river, the flies started buzzing in our ears. Pam explained that “The Australian Salute” is the gesture of swiping flies from your face. Thankfully, Terry and I had head nets that kept the flies from getting on our faces. The second watercolor hit my sketch, dozens of flies would land on the page to drink it up. Either they liked the color or the moisture. I stuffed pencil end erasers in my ears to dull the annoying buzzing around my head. Terry and I stopped because she felt the hike down was too steep. This sketch was done at the top of the falls. I was glad for the chance to sketch. If this sketch seems rushed, that is because it was rushed. I decided to consider the sketch done when Pam and her husband hiked their way back to us.


When we drove down out of the park, we stopped at a Cricket field as the sun set. Dozens of Kangaroos were foraging in the field. Terry kept walking up to the kangaroos I suppose with the intent to pet one. I’ve seen videos of kangaroos boxing and using their tail and hind legs as very effective weapons. I kept my distance and watched. The kangaroos knew to hop away and keep a safe distance.

Friends gather at Barney’s Bar Bistro in Australia.

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Another of Terry’s high school friends, Pam Anderson, invited us to her home and it involved a long drive through Victoria to the town of Ararat. The home was surrounded by a gorgeous garden situated on many acres. From the back yard we could see young colts following their thoroughbred moms. The couple were both teachers and their sons had just left home to forge their own lives. One son was a civil engineer and he was making good money out west for a mining company. The mine is in the middle of nowhere so the pay tried to compensate for the isolation. Their other son had moved to New York City. Apparently this trip to America is quite common for Australian youths.

Once a week a group of friends gathers at Barney’s Bar Bistro (Ararat – Halls Gap Rd,, Pomonal, Halls Gap, Victoria) for a bite, some drinks and plenty of conversation. The building is a converted woolshed barn and is has an open layout with exposed wooden beams. We sat out back waiting for a table to open up. In the field behind the bar, kangaroos by the dozens gathered to forage as the sun set. Terry and I were ecstatic at the sight but this was a common sight for everyone else.

Having been behind the wheel of the car all day, I was itching to do a sketch and I started to sketch the second we were seated. Terry apologized for my behavior but no one seemed to mind. By the time our food arrived the sketch was done. Most of the people in the group were teachers, so I got to learn a bit about the inner politics inside the High School. The boys had their mom for one class and their dad for another, so it was almost like being home schooled. A college education is paid for by the government, so youths are highly educated and they don’t start their adult lives deep in debt. American politicians could learn a thing or two from Australia’s example.

A Lorne Australia residential sculpture garden has plenty of surprises.

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Josie Browne, a high school classmate of Terry’s told me that I had to check out the front yard of a neighbor of hers named Deborah. She gave me directions and I set off with my art supplies in hand. Her neighbor is a well known sculptor in Melbourne. When I got to her property, I was met by “Big Dik” and “Tits“, a bull and cow whose sexuality was bright red. A ram named “Baby Tart” negotiated the space between them as they faced off. A bright pink sheep was covered in plastic forks and spoons which created a rich texture to her coat. A nude blue couple stood in the background near the entrance to the home-studio. Even the trees were alive with faces and covered in giant lady bugs.Unfortunately Josie couldn’t recall Deborah’s last name. My online research lead me to a Deborah Halpern, but her work has much more of a Picassoesque feel to it. My online search for “Big Dik” and “Tits” didn’t result in any bovine sculptures.

Josie told me of the time she visited the sculptor for tea. She was a bit terrified at first to see the inside of the sculptor’s studio. They became immediate friends and keep in touch. Awkwardly, I planted myself in the corner of Deborah’s front yard to sketch. If she was home, I would just have to hope that she wouldn’t mind me sketching her quirky work. Lorne Australia has a Sculpture Biennal where sculptors place their work along the long stretch of beach.  There were exciting and unexpected arts scenes like this throughout Australia.

Ravenwood is a quaint Bed and Breakfast perched high up a hill in Lorne Australia.

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The day started out with a leisurely walk on the beach with Josie and her sheep herding dog. Large sheets of volcanic rock  on the beach had solidified with the positive and negative shapes of un-popped lava bubbles. The inverted cups filled with ocean water as the tide went out and became mini aquariums. All forms of life from algae to crabs thrived in the tide pools. Ever since I was a child, I’ve been fascinated by tide pools. I love any kind of self contained ecosystem.

Half way up the hill to Josie Browne‘s house, I stopped to sketch Ravenwood. First, I liked the name of this Bed and Breakfast thinking it might be occupied by Edgar Allan Poe, but also the building reminded me of paintings done by Edward Hopper. As I sketched, Terry and Josie continued walking up the hill. I remember as I walked up this steep hill alone once, I saw an old man coming down the hill. I thought to myself that I should control my breath a bit so I wasn’t huffing and puffing as we passed each other. He remarked, “Darn, I’m more winded than you just going downhill.” I laughed and began huffing and puffing again.

There is so much of this old Victorian architecture in Australia. I wondered if there was a way up to the widow’s nest. Metal roofs reflect the sun like mirrors. And the front yard of this home had a vibrant garden filled with pink roses.

Weekend Top 6 Picks for May 9th and 10th.

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Saturday May 9, 2015.

Noon to 2pm $25. NOH8 Open Photo Shoot. Parliament House Orlando 410 N Orange Blossom Trail, Orlando, Florida. Single/Solo Photos: $40

Couple/Group Photos: $25 per person

NOH8 accepts cash and credit cards only. Fees paid to participate cover services and costs for one edited digital print only, made available via noh8campaign.com, and do not include physical prints.

* COME CAMERA-READY

* WEAR A WHITE SHIRT

* POSE & MAKE A STATEMENT!

The NOH8 Campaign will team up with The Wedding Alliance for an open photo shoot at the The Parliament House on Saturday, May 9th! Stop by anytime between 12pm-3pm to pose for an official NOH8 photo by photographer Adam Bouska. No reservations needed!

Photos are first-come, first-served – and we move fast! Please arrive camera-ready with a plain white shirt to match the signature style of the NOH8 photos.

When is the best time to arrive? Most people tend to arrive before the photo shoot begins, but as long as someone has lined up by the advertised end time for the photo shoot (3:00pm for this photo shoot), they should be guaranteed a chance to pose!

Once you arrive, the next steps are easy!

1. Fill-out one numbered model release for each person.

2. Have a NOH8 temporary tattoo applied for your photo.

3. Standby for your number to be called.

4. Process your payment once called.

5. Trade your processed model release for duct tape!

NOH8 Co-Founder Adam Bouska will photograph roughly 5-10 frames per person. One frame will be selected/edited by our team and made available within approximately eight weeks (timeline subject to change).

Funds raised by the NOH8 Campaign will be used to continue promoting and raising awareness for marriage and human equality as well as anti-discrimination and anti-bullying through NOH8’s interactive social media campaign. This includes bringing the campaign to other cities and countries around the world, creating and compiling images for our ongoing large-scale media campaign, and covering the costs of the daily operations and maintenance necessary to run this rapidly growing campaign out of our Burbank Headquarters.

The NOH8 Campaign is a tax-exempt charitable organization under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Click here and scroll down to the ‘Funds & Financing’ portion of our FAQ for more information about how fees are utilized.

6pm to 8pm Free. Brewery Tour. Orlando Brewing, 1301 Atlanta Ave, Orlando, FL. See how beer is made.

9:30pm to 11pm Order food or drink. Son Flamenco. Ceviche Tapas Orlando, 125 W Church St, Orlando, FL. Hot blooded Flamenco dancers.

Sunday May 10, 2015

1pm to 3pm $5. Film Slam. Enzian Theater, South Orlando Avenue, Maitland, FL. Originally a project of University of Central Florida’s Downtown Media Arts Center, Enzian became the home of Film Slam when DMAC closed in 2006. Now in its fifth year at Enzian, Film Slam continues to be a popular outlet for indie and student filmmakers throughout the State of Florida.

Film Slam will usually be held on the second Sunday of each month at 1PM at Enzian.

COME CELEBRATE INDEPENDENTS DAY!!!

It’s so hot outside our brains just melted! So, this month we’ve booked the craziest Film Slam line up of the year.

Experimental Films, Puppet Films, Art Films, Bartenders throwing bottles, Gangsters, a Music Video….this has to be the most amazingly eclectic line we’ve had for all of 2012.

Program starts at 1pm sharp. Tickets are still only $5. Q&A with the filmmakers to follow screening.

1pm to 3pm Free.  Yoga. Lake Eola Park East lawn near playground. Weekly.

9pm to 11pm Free but get a coffee. Comedy Open Mic. Austin’s Coffee, 929 W Fairbanks Ave, Winter Park, FL. Free comedy show! Come out & laugh, or give it a try yourself.

Lorne’s Swinging Bridge becomes a backdrop for a wedding photographer.

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I asked Josie Browne advice on picturesque places to sketch in Lorne Australia. She drove me to the swinging bride, which is a small footbridge that crosses a quiet stream right before it trickles into the ocean. At the beach, the stream breaks apart into a series of tiny deltas. On the far side of the bridge is the Swinging Bridge Boat house and Cafe (30 Great Ocean Road, Lorne VIC 3232, Australia).  Terry, Josie and I ate lunch here after a long walk on the beach. The food tasted great after so much fresh air and exercise.

The  bridge reminds me of a painting Vincent Van Gogh did in Provence of a small yellow bridge. In his painting, women stone washed their laundry at the river’s shore. I had no such luck, darn washing machines. I did notice an oriental couple posing repeatedly on the far shore.

A wedding photographer was shooting photos of the couple. They moved out onto the bridge and the photographer coached them to get ever sillier with each shot. The soon to be bride was quite a ham. Soon all three of them were standing behind me. The photographer asked if it was alright if he took a few shots of me. I said it was fine. After what seamed like an eternity of constant, persistent clicking they wandered away.  So now in some couples wedding album there is a photo of this couple acting stunned and amazed as they look over my shoulder.

Remeniscing about senior year at Melbourne’s Lauriston Girl’s School.

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At Terry’s high school reunion for Lauriston Girl’s School in Melbourne, she met Josie Browne who offered us a chance to stay in her Lourne, Australia beach house. The house was designed by an architect for himself and it has unique panoramic windows that give the sleek modern interior a feeling of being open to the environment. Josie was incredibly open and sincere, we both liked her immediately. Apparently her husband is her polar opposite, being loud and always seeking to close the next big deal. The family dog is an incredibly intelligent sheep herding dog. His greatest joy in life is retrieving a tennis ball that Josie tosses down the beach using a plastic sling. The house isn’t right on the beach but up a steep hill. The second floor balcony allows a sweeping view of the ocean over the neighboring roofs.

Josie’s daughter was back home and working long shifts at the restaurant in a hotel at the bottom of the hill. Her love is animal husbandry and someday she may fulfill her dream of living on a farm with plenty of horses. As Terry and Josie talked about Lauriston, a Sydney horse race was on the telly. Horse racing is huge in Australia. It became a national past time right after the gold rush and money from the races helped build the city infrastructure.

At the restaurant at the bottom of the hill there was outdoor seating. Signs of the railing around the dining area said, “Don’t Feed the Cockatoos”. The entire trip Terry had been looking for cockatoos because she missed our pet cockatoo named Zorro. As we ate dinner, cockatoos landed on the railing to watch us eat. If you turned your back for a moment they would swoop down and grab some of your food. At a trash can by the beach, cockatoos had pried the lid off and were rummaging in the garbage. I put some of the trash back and scolded a cockatoo as if I were talking to Zorro.  A few minutes later, trash was once again being thrown to the ground. Come to think of it, Zorro never obeys either. The cockatoos also chew and destroy any wooden surfaces on buildings. To say the least, cockatoos are considered a pest in Lourne.