Otronicon

Posted on by Thor

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!

Posted on by Thor

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

Posted on by Thor

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

Posted on by Thor

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

Posted on by Thor

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.

CREAM at the Falcon

Posted on by Thor

The Falcon Presents: CREAM. The Cream of the Crop, ‘La crème de la crème,’ the cream of the cream, the best of the best. The Best of Orlando of Artists.
The show opened December 12th and runs through January 18th. I have one sketch of a poetry reading in the show. Check out the most talented artists in Orlando! When you buy local art for yourself or as a gift, you support both the artists in our community and the local economy and you get the joy of giving something that is one of a kind. Melissa Felcman was still placing labels under the artwork when Terry and I arrived. We ordered several hard ciders and I watched the bar maid do her multitasking ballet of serving drinks.

At the opening, I did a sketch at the bar. As I worked, the place filled with artists. Kelledy Francis who did some amazing fine art fashion when she was here in Orlando, had moved to Texas and then NYC where she now works at an advertising agency. She used to work as an art teacher at Valencia College and I once visited her class to share my sketchbooks with students. Scott Donald introduced himself. I had sketched Scott once before as he worked on a painting behind Neon Forest Gallery. He had long hair back then, and I didn’t recognize him in a trim suit all polished up. The Neon Forest Gallery unfortunately had to close down several months after I sketched the opening. They used to bring in hot artist talent from NYC and LA but people in Orlando weren’t buying. It is a sad tale I have heard again and again. Ron Marrs stopped by the bar long enough to let me know he was moving to New Orleans.

13 in 13

Posted on by Thor

Orlando Playwright, Joseph Reed Hayes, will offer audiences 13 artistic projects in 2013. Determined to focus on his artistic passions
in the new year, Joseph will spend the
next 12 months bringing 13 separate creative projects to life. His
“13 in 13” project takes everything he’s learned as a playwright, music
producer, freelance writer, radio guy, spoken word performer,
photographer, voracious techno-geek, and shameless self-promoter to
energize one art-filled year of events and engage and excite Orlando and
a worldwide Internet audience. The first event on February. 5th will be a screening of  “Big Easy Express“, an area-exclusive screening of the
critically-acclaimed, Grammy-nominated movie at the Cobb Plaza 12 in
downtown Orlando. I sketched the theater as the sun set on another business day. The movie tickets to this screening must be reserved by January 30th. As of this writing, 16 more tickets needed to be sold to guarantee that the theater is reserved. Get your tickets now.

The 13 productions in 2013 will be financed in part by a Kickstarter
crowd-funding campaign, which ends January 27th, and will include five
Hayes-produced jazz shows, two of his original plays and a brand-new
live Holiday radio drama, two workshops, a photo exhibit, a movie
screening and a spoken-word performance. In designing this ambitious
year-long project, Hayes will bring his work and the talents of many
local musicians and actors to new audiences in person and online during
live streaming events. Hayes has designed the Kickstarter campaign to help engage theater and
jazz lovers in Orlando.  “I’m asking my audience to help me create this
year of art, and spread the word. I’m excited about what I’m going to
attempt in 2013, and I think together we just might make it happen,” he
said.

Every artist involved — 19 musicians, 11 actors, 8 directors and theater
technicians, 4 writers, 1 chef, a sound-effects person — will get paid,
because Hayes believes talent and art have great value, and that value
should be rewarded. Videos, audio recordings, photo books and posters
will be created for each project, and most of the events will be open to
the public, some at no charge. Many of them will be streamed online, as
was his breakthrough United Arts of Central Florida-funded House
Theater Project in 2012, which staged his play “A Little Crazy” in his
living room and reached viewers as far afield as England, Italy and
Romania.

13 in 13 Events:

1. Feb. 5: “Big Easy Express“, an area-exclusive screening of the
critically-acclaimed, Grammy-nominated movie at the Cobb Plaza 12 in
downtown Orlando.

2. Feb. 9: “Creating an Audience and Shameless Self-Promotion“, a
Downtown Credo Conduit workshop by freelance writers and guerrilla
marketers Jennifer Greenhill-Taylor and Joseph Hayes.

3. April 4: Trumpeter Brian Groder and pianist Tonino Miano — musicians,
composers and educators from New York — conduct a master class in
composition and jazz improvisation at the UCF Jazz Studies Department.

4. April 5: “Jazz in the Real World“. Groder and Miano take their
students from the UCF Jazz program out of the classroom and into a real
world gig.

5. April 7: “FluiDENSITY” premiere. Groder and Miano premiere their new CD of

modern classical/jazz improvisations at the Timucua White House.

6. June 25: “Jazz On Edge Supper Club“. Vocalist Heather Friedman and
her trio perform at Hannibal’s on the Square for a special dinner and
jazz supper club.

7. TBA: “SOLOS.” House Theater Project production of Hayes’ Orlando Fringe Festival hit jazz play.

8. TBA: “SOLOS AFTER HOURS” — a House Theater Project/Jazz On Edge joint
presentation of “SOLOS” with a live band, followed by a cabaret
performance of the Solos Quartet with guest vocalist Lulu Picart.

9. TBA: “Water Cities“, an exhibit of photographs of great world cities by Joseph Reed Hayes at Downtown Credo.

10. TBA: “13in13 Reading Series.” Spoken word performances by novelists
Julie Compton and Jennifer Greenhill-Taylor, playwright Joseph Reed
Hayes and poet Summer Rodman.

11. TBA: Jazz On Edge House Concert featuring the 5th anniversary Jazz On Edge presentation, which will be streamed live online.

12. TBA: House Theater Project will feature the world premiere of “A SLOW RIDE” by Joseph Reed Hayes. Streamed live online.

13. Dec. 2013: “THE LITTLE DICKENS,” An original “radio drama”
production of Hayes’ cracking new Holiday show, presented in front of a
live audience and streamed online in audio and video versions for
enjoying by the fireside.

Punta Gorda Christmas

Posted on by Thor

Terry and I drove to my sister’s home in Punta Gorda on Christmas Eve. The roads through the center of the state were quiet. We drove through large orange groves and past large juicing factories. 16 wheel trucks were loaded to overflowing with oranges. Some of the fruit actually rolled down the pyramid peaks and down to the street gutters when the trucks hit rough pavement. My sister Pat Boehme and her boyfriend Mike Napalitano had a beautifully decorated artificial tree in their living room. On Christmas Day, Pat gave me a Charlie Brown Christmas Tree. It was basically an artificial twig mounted on two planks and one red Christmas bulb.

On the day after Christmas, Pat and Terry wanted to go shopping in downtown Punta Gorda. Our first stop was Pat’s Chiropractor’s office. This large Community Christmas Tree was right across the street. I sat on a public bench and started sketching. Some of those ornaments were the size of basketballs. After Pat’s adjustment, she and Terry drove to a railroad station antiques store. I had sketched the railroad station before so I stayed behind studying the Christmas Tree and sketching as fast as I could. I figured when they were done shopping, my sketch would be done. Some guy exiting the chiropractors office looked over my shoulder and said, “You certainly found a wonderful way to relax this holiday.” I was anything but relaxed.

Circus Protests

Posted on by Thor

The Animal Rights Foundation of Florida is staging protests at the Amway Center. They are working to educate the public about the abuse used to train circus animals. Ringling Brothers is presenting their 43rd annual production. A barker outside the arena kept announcing “The Greatest show on Earth!” He kept announcing that anyone going to the show would “get a pair of crazy clown glasses!” The protesters want people to open their eyes.” Holding banners and poster boards showing elephants that were chained and being hit with a bull hook, similar to a fireplace poker, demonstrators shouted, “Don’t go to the show, this is what your money is going to!” “Take your kids to the Science Center instead!” One of their posters read, “The Cruelest Show on Earth. Some protesters held electric candles standing in vigil.

Some people strolling to the show were upset. “This is all Shit!” an angry man shouted at the protesters. A very angry woman shouted, “I’ll spend my money how I want! I personally know the trainers!” A flier handed to me stated that in November 2011, the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus had to pay a $270,000 fine to the USDA to settle allegations that it violated animal welfare laws in its handling of elephants, tigers and other animals. The fine was the largest ever against a circus. At Ringling Brothers at least 29 Ringling elephants, including babies, have died since 1992.

Animals at the circus don’t perform because they want to, but because they are scared not to.  Training includes whips, ropes, electric shocks and bull hooks. Animals in the circus live in chains, cages and railroad cars never experiencing their natural habitat.

Protests continue this week before every Ringling Brother’s Circus performance outside the Amway Center. Stop out and show your support.

Saturday January 12th- 10:00am, 2:00pm, 6:00pm ( Vigil, please dress in black)

Sunday January 13th -11:30am, 3:30pm

Monday January 14th – 10am, 2pm, 6pm

Tuesday January 15th- 11:30, 3:30pm

Wednesday January 16th- 3:30pm ( Help is needed at this show!)

Thursday January 17th – 6:00pm

Friday January 18th – 6:00pm

History of Animation

Posted on by Thor

Conrad Winterlich came into the 2D Animation class at Full Sail last month to introduce students to the history of animation. He usually gives this lecture when students get to his class much later in the curriculum. This was a test to see if an earlier introduction to the history of animation might offer students more creative options as they planned their work for later classes.

It was a fun lecture going all the way back to French cave paintings and covering animation trends throughout history. After the lecture I further researched Windsor McCay who single handedly animated “The Sinking of the Lusitania.” This propaganda film helped get America involved in WWI.  Of course the first film to use synchronized sound, Steamboat Willie, was shown. Some hooded students started to nod off, but there were so many amazing animated clips that kept most students engaged. I certainly learned a few new things.

Our animation lab just got new Apple computers for shooting and testing hand drawn animation. We also got new software, called Flip book Pro for testing the timing of animation. We tested the software for several hours learning it’s quirks. We will still be getting up to speed ourselves as we introduce January’s students to the new software. I’m actually excited about the new possibilities, applying digital software to make traditional animation faster and easier.