This is officially my first sketch of 2010. I had four other parties I was considering for New Year’s Eve, but Brian Feldman and Tisse Mallon told me about this $5 James Bond themed party at the Enzian Theater. At $5 admission, it may have been the best deal in town. Approaching the theater, I could feel the electric excitement of the crowd. Terry and I had to park several blocks away because the lot was overflowing. At the Eden Bar outside, people were packed shoulder to shoulder. One man in a black jacket had a huge scar down the side of his face and he was petting a white rabbit. This villain explained that the rabbit was much more sinister than the cat used in the Bond movie, From Russia with Love. Beautiful women were everywhere, dressed in gorgeous gowns. Groups were voguing for the cameras. There was a red carpet to the theater entrance. A movie screen was set up outside and crowds were seated at the tables watching. Gunfire ricochets could be heard from every angle.
I found Brian, Tisse and Mark Baratelli almost immediately. It turns out Mark had scored a table thanks to his Blog, The Daily City.com, so we tried to get in. Everybody but Mark was turned away at the door since we did not have wristbands. So we stood in the line for wristbands. The line never seemed to move. Terry proactively sought out the General Manager of the Enzian and got us wristbands.
We squeezed past the bouncer and found Mark’s table. There were only two chairs at the table and four of us, so I hiked back to my truck and got my portable chair. Once seated, I scanned the crowd and started sketching. Faces were lit everywhere by the warm loving glow of iPhones and other portable devices. The music was so loud that you really could’t talk, so I imagine people might have been texting one another even as they were seated at the same table.
After the ball dropped, Terry and I got on the dance floor. We got caught up in a line dance to a song I had never heard before. The music roared “To the left, to the left, to the right, to the right, turn yourself around, turn yourself around!” It involved a few chorus line kicks and shuffling left and right. We caught on pretty quick, although the crowd itself was never very organized. The smooth slippery beat was addictive. Dancers batted blue and white balloons around the dance floor. The strobe lights tended to blind me so I usually danced with my back to the stage.
We left the Enzian and then headed over to Matt McGrath’s house. His place had a group of actors and actresses all shoulder to shoulder at the backyard bar. Leander Suleiman, an actress I had sketched before, was there and I introduced her to Terry. We all toasted with champagne when New Year’s came around for Chicago.
Matt and I chatted for a while and I found out he is going to be a producer for a possible Orlando Fringe show called “Project F.” The show is fourth on the waiting list to get into the Fringe, but he’s excited about the project, and we discussed it for quite a while. Other than talking to Matt and Leander, I didn’t socialize much. I was winding down. Matt claimed that his party would be going strong till 11:45 AM, but I didn’t have the ambition to keep partying. We returned home happy and pleasantly exhausted.
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The Citrus Bowl Parade
When we got to the starting point for the parade, the horses became a bit agitated. They kept turning around and around. I got out of the truck to sketch them several times. Then before you knew it, we were sent to the front of the line to head up the parade route. The pooper scooppers got their bucket and shovel out and followed behind. Immediately, a horse let loose a pile. As the scoopers shoveled, a bicyclist got too close and got hit with some flying poo. She laughed though and the scoopers shouted out an apology.
The parade route was really crowded. The officer’s children sitting in the police pickup truck bed with me started throwing candy out to the crowd. Adults and children alike were shouting, “Over here! Throw some over here! The kids were only five or six and didn’t have great throwing arms. The candy would land maybe a foot from the truck, and then the spectators would run into the street to retrieve it. I worked on finishing up this sketch for the duration of the parade. The horses and Citrus float were both sketched at the very beginning of the parade. Every inch of the float was covered with orange and yellow citrus. Once we were moving, the float fell far behind. When we turned the corner onto South Street, we lost sight of the floats behind us for good. I just kept picking out individuals in the crown and adding them to my sketch one at a time.
I was surprised when I heard my name being called out. I looked up from my sketchbook and saw Tisse Mallon and Jeff Wirth in the crowd. I gave them my best Cinderella wave and they laughed. Later, when we were rolling past the grand stands where the TV cameras were, I again heard my name and I picked out Mark Baratelli and Brian Feldman who were up high in an overlooking apartment courtyard. As I was waving to them, I saw a huge camera boom that was swinging over the street. I suddenly realized I might be on TV when the parade is aired nationally on New Year’s day. Being in a parade is like experiencing eleven seconds worth of fame. Then almost immediately, the parade was over.
As we drove back to the barn, we passed a pristine lake with beautiful white ibis and ducks. I could smell the water and warm air. A cormorant was drying his dark wings. It was a beautiful day for a parade.
Seven Deadly Sins – Sloth
The Cameo Theater on Colonial near Mills was the venue for an Emotions Dance Company event called Seven Deadly Sins. When I arrived, the first thing I saw in the theater’s plate glass windows was Brian Feldman who sat on a worn and tattered recliner staring at a TV which was showing nothing but static. Brian had a remote control, but for this 30 hour performance he was personifying Sloth so he never had the ambition to change the channel. There was also a fake aquarium with animated fish swimming about. I immediately sat on my portable stool and started to sketch. Several times people passed by that I knew so I paused for a moment to say hello. A drummer set up camp right next to me, leaned over and asked “Hey, I love your stool. Any chance I could borrow it?” I was working so I had to say “No”. He began putting out plastic buckets of varying sizes and before I knew it he was banging out a very loud beat. He must have banged on those cans for close to an hour and I found it hard to concentrate. I probably rushed this sketch a bit since I wanted to get inside away from the noise. If Brian noticed the drumming, he never showed any interest, he just stared listlessly at the static screen and ate Cheerios.
Tisse Mallon, who organized the event, came outside and said to me, “Brian is very proud of the Game of Life that is in the foreground. He replaced LIFE with SLOTH“. Feeling a bit slothful myself, I hadn’t even noticed, so I went back and added that detail to the sketch. Inside the theater, there were semi-nude dancers painted to represent the 7 deadly sins. I spent some time trying to figure out which sin each represented. They moved in slow motion constantly gesturing in an abstract sinuous ongoing performance. There were also staged acts throughout the night. This was a fun event and sketch outing.
War of the Worlds – Text
At Saturday’smatinee performance of War of the Worlds, the usual announcement about turning off cell phones was changed. The back row of the theater was reserved for tweeters. This section would allow individuals to tweet about the performance as they watched it using iPhones and Blackberries. Performance artist Brian Feldman was ushered to the tweeting section and his fingers were in constant motion during the show.
A little late. Good thing I’m very familiar with the War of the Worlds story. 11:19 AM War of the Worlds Actor Brandon Roberts is my long-lost brother. 11:20 AM Where’s Orson? 11:22 AM Trivia: BrianFeldman‘s eaten dinner on OrlandoShakes‘ Goldman Theater stage w/ his family (FeldmanDynamic) 15 times. 11:24 AM Oh cool! The action stopped for a second while they (the actors) decided what to do (world of the show). 11:24 AM RT @ War of the Worlds Zingo! 11:25 AM @War of the Worlds TMI? 11:27 AM Marshall Law? Or Martian Law? 11:27 AM @ Omar Delarosa Believe it. 11:28 AM I know this show’s less than 30 minutes in, but I already have an idea for my own War of the Worlds show. October? 11:29 AM This show makes me want to see Floyd Collins. 11:31 AM I like how this version shows both sides: the broadcast and the public’s response (in a time way before Twitter). 11:34 AM They just mentioned last week’s New Jersey corruption scandal! Relevant. 11:35 AM Heil Martian! 11:36 AM If the heat rays have truly cut off communication, then how am I still tweeting? 11:37 AM This is an actor’s show. 11:38 AM Actor up front sounds like Dan Ackroyd in Spielberg’s 1941. 11:40 AM You’ve obviously never seen any of the “Saw” movies. 11:41 AM @ War of the Worlds Yeah, this should totally be set in New Mexico. 11:42 AM Gas masks? Gas masks?!!! Gas masks? Gas masks?!!! Gas masks? Gas masks?!!!! 11:42 AM Dan Ackyrod’s voice is back! 11:43 Avoid bridges to Long Island; Hopelessly peanut buttered. 11:44 AM Orson Welles v. BrianFeldman – Only at the @ LovingHut! 11:45 AM 2X2L? 11:45 AM “It’s not real?” 11:46 AM You Can’t Do That On Radio! Or Television! Or YouTube! Or Twitter! 11:48 AM And now… The Aftermath. People hate The Great Orson Welles! 11:48 AM I need one of those radio mics. 11:50 AM “You only live once”… unless you’re a cat. 11:53 AM That’s it! War of the Worlds…With Kittens! 12:03 AM Twitter Applause!
Hot Dog Eating Contest
In Coney Island, Nathan’s hosts a 10 minute hot dog eating contest and this year Joey Chestnut won by eating 68 wieners. The Orlando take on this contest is a bit different in that the contestants have 10 hours in which to eat the hot dogs. When I arrived at Dandelion Communitea Cafe, Brian Feldman had eaten only 3 hot dogs and he only took a few bites from another politely using a knife and fork. If anyone asked who was winning, he would respond with, “How do you define a winner?” They were not competing it seems based on simple numbers but it was a more refined competition based on savoring the moment. Caroline Johnson, who is from Spain, was reading excerpts from her novel while Brian and Zac Alfson slowly tasted their vegan hot dogs. Caroline was also a contestant since she had a small mountain of uneaten hot dogs in front of her, but she never tried a hot dog while I was sketching. Eight hours into the competition, the contestants had honestly lost count of the number of hot dogs eaten. The hot dogs were wrapped in a pita like bun called a Snuggles which are made locally in Orlando by Toufayan Bakeries. Pittsburgh artist Dawn Weleski, acted as the MC. She would periodically interview members of the audience. She would ask the audience member to sit in the blue chair to the left of the staging area and then ask them to wear an Uncle Sam hat and white beard. Brian’s mom and sister showed up late in the competition to watch the relaxed proceedings. Another announcer named Gordon Winiemko took the mic and decided to MC shirtless. He threw the sweaty shirt right at me and I caught it and then didn’t know what to do with it. Putting it on the table would be unsanitary yet dropping it on the floor would be rude. I decided to drop it on the table, and the two girls eating salad right next to me didn’t seem to mind.
From here Terry and I headed downtown for the Lake Eola Fireworks display. There, during the fireworks show one mortar must have fallen over because it fired off not into the air, but straight across the lake at the audience. It blew up just yards from the shore sending hot embers showering over the crowd. I do not think anyone was hurt.