Pulse Survivor: Laura Vargas

Posted on by Thor

Advisory: Please note that this post is about the Pulse Nightclub Massacre on June 12, 2016. It contains sensitive and difficult to read content. Post written with narrator’s consent.  

Laura Vargas survived the Pulse Nightclub Massacre that happened on June 12, 2016. Laura was at the club that night with Luis Vielma who was one of the 49 victims of the shooting.

Laura and Luis both worked at Universal Studios. Laura began working at Halloween Horror Nights at the Walking Dead House. Luis was transferred from the Disaster ride to Halloween Horror Nights. They hit it off and began hanging out together outside of work. Eventually Laura left Universal to work for her father’s accounting company in Miami.

Laura came back to Orlando From Miami for a Universal Studios awards ceremony. Luis didn’t have a date, so he invited Laura to be his for the ceremony. She got to Orlando on Friday June 10, 2016. On Saturday they went to Kiki’s for breakfast and then Artegon to go to a comic book store opening. She had a rewards voucher for Rainforest Cafe and so they had a fabulous dinner there.

A friend called her and asked if se would be interested in going dancing at Pulse that night. She hesitated, not having prepared for a night out. She asked Luis if he was up for it and he said, “Sure why not?” They got home, changed, and left about 11:30pm so it wasn’t going to be a very long night. On the way to the club Luis called another friend and invited him as well. They all got to the club about 12:15AMish.

It was a whole new world, there were people everywhere. The music was salsa and meringue. This could be a fun night. Laura got the first round. Luis would get the second round. They usually only get 2 drinks since there was driving involved. It was a fun night.

Luis was going to drive so Laura got her last drink about 2am. As she was putting her debit card back in her wallet she heard popping. People were running. Her view was blocked by a wall. She looked around the corner and saw a man reloading his gun. She ran back to Luis. She said to him, “This is for real, this isn’t part of the show, there is a man in here with a gun, what do we do?” He said, “Just keep your voice down and get on the floor and do as he says.” That is what they did.

Luis slid against the wall and let himself slide down, and hugged his legs and hid his face. As she was getting on the ground face first, she felt the first shot which entered her lower back and exited through her thigh. She fell with her whole body weight. She heard three more shots next to her. Luis was there as well as three other girls so she assumed they each had been shot. The pain was indescribable. She kept hearing screaming in Spanish, “Please god, what is this? Please don’t let him kill me, save me.” Within two minutes the room went silent with flashing lights. She could her the  gunman’s heavy footsteps and the occasional shooting.

She was moving on the floor trying to get comfortable when she felt footsteps approaching her again.  She felt a shoe standing next to her. Her body shook from a second shot which hit her mid right side of her back and it went straight through.  Her ears began to ring. She pretended to be dead since it was clear the gunman’s goal was to kill. When he walked away she managed to get her phone out and she called her ex. Her ex called back which could have drawn the gunman’s attention to them. With no answer, the ex stopped calling and later went to Pulse.

Laura then waited for voices of police. She prayed. It felt like an hour. She began to hear footsteps and heard “Alpha team go left.” She looked over her left shoulder, and she said “Please help me. “He gave her a signal to be quiet. The police then announced, “If there are any survivors that can get up and walk out, then go now.” About 8-10 people ran out. What remained was a sea of bodies. She couldn’t see Luis. An officer then said, “start taking out survivors.” Laura managed to flip over and get in the way of an officer. The female officer and another officer pulled Laura out. The female officer grabbed Laura’s wrists and she said, this is going to hurt very much but you need to stay quiet because the shooter is still in the building.” She was pulled through glass, blood, and vomit. Things cut her back as she was dragged. She was picked up and placed in the back of a pick up truck. She was asked to roll over to make room for another shooting victim who was limp and in very bad shape and the truck took off. An officer was hanging off the truck and he told the guy next to her “Don’t die on me, hang in there.” Her ex called on the truck ride and she was told by the officer that they were going to ORMC. That was the last she had her phone and wallet. She was holding on to her possessions so they could identify her body.

Six nurses took her into the hospital. They cut off her clothes and asked each other, “How many gun shots?” She realized she had not died at the club but realized she might die in the hospital as she waited for her turn in triage. She blacked out and woke up with doctors working on her again. She was taken to a room with several other patients from Pulse.

She heard popping again. She thought,  “He is coming back to kill the rest of us.”  A doctor said something like, ‘This is a code black, this is not a drill, do what you were taught and stay with your patients.” The curtains were closed, and doors locked. She asked a nurse to hold her hand. She was terrified. The shots were actually from the club which was just a few blocks south of the hospital.

She was in the hospital for 11 days with tubes and catheters. She could not eat or drink anything since her stomach had been shot. Therapy dogs were the only thing that could calm the pain and hunger. Pulse survivors were registered at the hospital with alias names so it was a challenge for family to get in.

The gun shots affected her small intestines, her stomach, and her liver. In surgery, a nurse grabbed her head and said, “It’s all right we are going to save your life, now count back from ten for me.” She was thankful that she would not feel any more pain. She woke up with a tube down her thought and saw her ex and her mom. Her hands were bound so she would not rip out the intubation tube. She signaled to a nurse that she wanted to write a note and she wrote, “where is Luis?’”She was told he was in surgery though no one knew where he was. She didn’t find out Luis had died until two days later when she had to go in for a second surgery. She had called a friend since she suspected the staff was keeping her in the dark. She asked her friend, “Have you heard from Luis?” Her friend let out a long sigh and said, “Has no one told you?” It was bad. Luis Sergio Vielma was one of the 49 lives taken on that horrible night.

Gods and Monsters the Mercury Collective.

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Gods and Monsters (in the Artegon Market Place)
and The PAR Group, LLC, presented “The Mercury Collective — Premier Launch Party” The evening was promoted as an artistic development and networking event, with some of Orlando’s best emerging music artists and media creatives. “A New Hip-Hop, Soul, and R&B Renaissance.”

I arrived at the start of the event and didn’t notice any creatives or Hip-Hop musicians. I sat down and started drawing the guys at the next table playing a role-play board game. Star Wars and Super Hero figurines lined the shelves, and edgy local art hung on the walls. This dark industrial room was a busy and fun to draw. The Artegon Market Place was shut down last month, so this venue no longer exists. All the vendors were told to leave, wondering what had happened.

I had sat in on the early promotions before Artegon opened. It sounded like an amazing opportunity for local artists and crafters to present their wares to tourists on International Drive. I was considering renting a space. The mall that preceded Artegon was always empty, with most stores closed with a color banner covering the storefront to represent what it would look like if people shopped there. The foot traffic didn’t increase much when Artegon opened. There were random beer-tasting events that I went to sketch, But Gods and Monsters was always the best draw.

Inside was a gallery where local artists presented their work. The good news is that Gods and Monsters (5421 International Dr,, Orlando, Florida 32819) is still open along with the other larger shops like Bass Pro Shop and the Cinemark Movie Theater. The next event I want to sketch at Gods and Monsters is a Retro Futuristic Electro Swing Party. That starts on Friday, March 10th, at 10:30 p.m.-2:00 a.m. It will be an evening of entertainment and fashion from Ocular Hysteria. Admission is $5 at the door. There will be Go-Go Dancing and grinder performances from DefenzMechanizm throughout the night, Antique beats provided by Joseph Vourteque Ringmaster / MC Director/Producer at ROUGE Electro Swing & Cabaret Chicago/Detroit. Costumes are encouraged, Photo ops and prizes!! There will be vendors and artists.

Nude Nite Orlando.

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Nude Nite Orlando is at the Central Florida Fairgrounds & Expositions Park (4603 W Colonial Dr, Orlando, Florida) this year. It was scheduled to happen at Artegon but Artegon closed it’s doors for good. Nude
Nite is a dazzling pop up gallery, an art and entertainment event
celebrating the beauty of the nude. It brings together hundreds
of artists for three evenings of visual art, performance and a cast of
characters both in costume and out. Open to the public, tickets can
be purchased at the door. Show is 21+

I walked the event quickly and settled in to sketch the incomparable Nix Herrera who was doing exotic Art Nouveau body paintings, The woman was painted all black with golden stenciled patterns on her belly thighs and forearm. A heavy set man was being painted all bronze. They both had black fabric helmets. The woman had a thin face guard similar to a football he met and the bronze man had aviation goggles. The woman held an illuminated globe. Futuristic golden triangular forms were mounted around her nipples. She wore an expressions white mask giving her a statuesque flair. 

Selfismo had a painting with a man with an enormous penis. The penis looks like it is sticking out of a woman’s head in me sketch. A little for the back in the scene there was a confession area. Fire curtained booths allowed for the most sordid confessions. One confession read, “I an tucking my fiance’s best friend.” Another, promoting the confessional said, ” I showed my mom’s deck picks to my class.”

A common theme in the visual art displayed was of nude women under water. There must have been at leas ten photos and paintings of the aquatic setting. A very ugly mermaid was at another body painting station. A nude woman on stilts wandered through the crowd waving sinewy rainbow scarves. 

Tonight starting at 6pm is the last night to experience 25,000 SF of Nude Art and Entertainment.

WHEN: February 18 – 2017

WHERE: Central Florida Fairgrounds

4603 W. Colonial Dr. Orlando, FL 32808

TIME: 6pm – 12am every nite

TICKETS: Available at door  (ATM onsite) $35

WHO: 21 and Over, ID Required

PARKING: Complimentary Abundant Self

FOOD: Provided for Purchase

MVG League at Gods and Monsters.

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Gods and Monsters is a large Comic Book shop located in Artegon (Suite E8, 5250 International Dr, Orlando, FL 32819. One one visit, I found the back of the Store converted into An MVG Tournament arena featuring Pot Bonuses, High Octane Players, HD Live-Streams, food and drinks.

This event followed the CEO rulesets for each game.This seemed to be an Olympic style multiplayer competition with announcer giving commentary for onlookers. To be quite honest I had no idea what was happening as I watched the big screen. Having never played any of these video games, I couldn’t tell who was fight in who and why.  

Photographers took photos of the competitors, action. Several people asked y take photos over my shoulder of the sketch in progress. The event was referred to as “Energy” which provides a bold take on the “Spirit
Bomb,” an iconic phenomena from the Dragon Ball Z series, in which Hero
“Goku,” calls for energy from the entire planet, in order to deal a a
catastrophic, world-ending, blow to his enemy.

As a viewer,
you’ll have the chance to “Lend Your Energy” to your favorite player.
In return, the player that generates the most “energy” will be given the
effect of “Powering Up.” This element,
with the addition of other Easter eggs, we believe will enhance the
experience by closing the gap between players and viewers. Although a bit confusing for me, it was all quite exciting.

Nude Nite offers three evenings of sensual art and performance.

Posted on by Thor

Nude Nite swept in to Artegon, (5250 International Dr, Orlando, FL) on February 11th to 13th. Nude
Nite is a dazzling art and entertainment event celebrating the beauty
of the nude. The show brings together hundreds of artists for three
evenings of visual art, performance and a cast of characters both in
costume and out. Show was 21+.

I parked near the Cinemark Theater but when I walked inside, a guard was closing up the mall. H turns out that Nude Nite is on the opposite end of the mall, and I had to walk around on the outside to get there. One small sign on the mall lawn pointed towards “The Art Show”. There was a line near the Nude Nite entrance. I was surprised that the woman at the ticket table knew my name and ushered me in. I was given a NN hand stamp. Why was a hand stamp needed? Perhaps some couples might go out to their car for a quickly, and then return inside for more entertainment.

Art was everywhere. Chairs and umbrellas hung from the high industrial ceilings. Some paintings had been sold. Bernie Martin had a red dot on a nude watercolor selling for $350. A burlesque dancer was performing on the main stage, and the crowd was so dense that I abandoned any notion of sketching any performance on stage. Instead, I explored the outer edges of the venue.

I focused on this sensual dancer who vogued and gyrated all evening.  Her sensual swimsuit was painted on along with her ruffled collar. No pasties hid her nipples. She was popular as a photo opportunity with couples posing near the cage, pursing their lips like Zoolander. A sign advised patrons to respect the performer, and Do Not Touch! That sign was common throughout the venue. The dancer took a break just as I was starting to apply color to the sketch. There is no door to the cage, so she had to squeeze through the bars. That in itself was a sensual act of liberation. I patiently painted the background until she returned.

I was standing near a sculpture that resembled a male phallus with spikes sticking out of it. I kept getting asked if I was the sculptor. A photo of nude women posing and intertwining formed the image of a human skill. A gaping open mouthed facade lead patrons in to a hall of mirrors. Several artists asked about my tablet which seems a liability, because no one ever asked what type of sketchbook I was using.

The Art of Beer at Artegon.

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Artegon is located where the old Festival Bay Mall used to be, at 5250 International Drivenear all the Outlet Malls. The promoters pitched the venue as an exotic artist’s market. In the first months, quite a few local artists set up shop in cages to sell their art. Robin Van Arsdol, (RV) took over a large gallery space near the movie theater which was prime retail space. He left as did most other artist’s. At a First Thursdays even at The Orlando Museum of art, I asked him why he left Artegon. His response was rather simple, “They lied to me.” I left it at than.

The metal cages have been replaced by walls that give the market a more quaint feeling. The cage ceilings remain. In the large open area at the center of Artegon, a sky trail was set up. In the first few months after Artegon opened, a tourist fell to his death from this attraction. I was told that benches were placed around the body to keep people away. Today there is a six foot open topped box that could be used for the same purpose. Four people could lift the four walled box and place it where it was needed. Only the tallest people could peek inside.

The Art of Beer was hell in this large open area. Free samples of beer were dispensed to the long lines of people. John Jacob Williams performed covers with his guitar. The music was just background noise as people waited for their free beer. Mark your calendar, the Art of Beer happens on the Second Tuesday of every month, at 5 p.m. Don’t climb up into the rafters after you have had a few.

Phantasmagoria at the Gods and Monsters Grand Opening Celebration.

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On June 13th Gods and Monsters, (inside Artegon, 5250 International Drive; Suite E8, Orlando, Florida) the second largest comics, toys, collectibles and gaming venue in the U.S. celebrated its grand opening. Inside the cavernous venue were comics games and collectibles making it a geek paradise, as well there was the Transmetropolitan Gallery and Offworld L.O.U.N.G.E. making it a comfortable haven to relax and linger. The Grand Opening consisted of 12 hours of entertainment, activities, art demos, contests and give-a-ways, all while raising money for the Hero Initiative!

The Official Ribbon Cutting Ceremony was at 10am. The re was a free arcade sponsored by Free Play Florida and BART.  Throughout the day, there were special appearances by renowned cosplay models, Callie Cosplay, Heather1337 and Jenifer Ann. [ don’t claim to know who they are, or even who they were dressed as, but it upped the events celebrity status.

Florida’s critically acclaimed Victorian Horror Troupe Phantasmagoria performed in the back of the cavernous space. The acoustics weren’t ideal to say the least so it was near impossible y hear The actors over the din of conversation from excited fan in the store. They are consume professionals however and they shouted their lines to the rafters.

 the re were artist demos all day long and i said hello to Toni Taylor who was work in on a large canvas that will wrap around a pillar. Other artists included Bianca Roman-Stumpff, Kevin Wood, Mark Pacich, Robo Ohno, Shawn Surface, Derrick Fish, Jenni Gregory, and Michael “Locoduck” Duron .

Photo opportunities with costumed characters, including Starlite Princess, Iron Man and Spider-Man.

After Phantasmagoria’s performance there was a Costume Contest with prizes. The entire audience seemed to consist of comic book characters. Both adults and children got on stage to sport their costumes. One of the cutest costumes was a young girl dressed as a bumble bee. One of the goriest was z zombie Betty Boop.

Corsets and Cuties Halloween Burlesque

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Corsets and Cuties will be performing a Halloween Burlesque show at Gods and Monsters, 5250 International Drive; Suite E8, Orlando, Florida, on 

Friday, October 23 at 10:00pm.

The She-Devils of Corsets and Cuties dare you to step out of your comfort zone and feast your eyes on the flesh of the damned.

If you have seen the Cuties perform before, you know to expect the
unexpected. However, the voluptuous beauties are bringing a touch of
the macabre to the stage. Demons, Zombies, and Vampires will titillate
your fancy. But be careful. You may leave your heart behind.

This sketch is from a Corsets and Cuties performance at a BASE Orlando body painting showcase.

In this performance, Barbie Rhinestone shyly took to the stage and sat in the chair. She was in trench coat and she seemed surprised to be surrounded by an audience. Babs shouted from the crowd, “You go girl!  The music kicked in and Barbie made a shy half hearted attempt at shaking her shoulders. The crowds wild, encouragement got her to stand up and use her hips a bit. Then garments were discarded with a sensual flourish while her bright pink hair whipped free. Corsets and Cuties performances are always outlandish and hilarious. 

 
Advance tickets. 
Tickets are $15 at the door.
18+
Please park on the south side of Artegon Mall. Gods & Monsters is located directly behind Sheplers.

The Visit offers redemption laced with fear.

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Gladys West from Elite Animation Academy gave me tickets to see a free test screening of M. Night Shamalan‘s “The Visit” at Cinemark Movie Theater in Artegon Marketplace 5150 International Drive Orlando FL. The free ticket warned that attendees should arrive early since the screening was on a first come basis. I decided to arrive early and sketch the line as it formed. 20 people were already in line. I asked the couple who were last in line, if I could squeeze in behind them after I finished my sketch.

People at the front of the line talked about the latest roll playing game. It made me wonder if there was a Comic Con in town. One guy in line sort of looked like Jesus, and his friends joked that he should audition for the roll of Jesus at Holy Land. Since he is an atheist, he wasn’t the right man for the job.  A security officer from Burbank California looked over my shoulder to check out the sketch. Her job was to make sure everyone turned off their cell phones before the movie started.

With the sketch done, I got back in line. The guys behind me were talking about an incident of road rage on an I-4 off ramp. The guy said that if his family wasn’t in the car then he would have killed the other driver. Jesus! I assume that every other driver on the road is as impatient as this guy. Even so you can’t escape everyone’s rage. The line started to move and Terry, my wife hadn’t arrived yet. I had to hope that she would be able to force her way in without a ticket. I put my art supplies in the seat next to me to hold her seat, but as the theater grew more crowded, I got uncomfortable turning people away. Luckily the theater didn’t fill up completely.

“The Visit” wasn’t what I expected. Everyone in the theater was braced for a scare. The film was set up like a documentary shot by a young brother and sister. Their mom had left her parents home twenty years earlier and never spoke to her parents again. Her parents looked her up on the Internet and they wanted to meet their grand children. The two children were sent off on their own by train to visit their grand parents whom they had never met in an isolated farm house upstate. The grand parents turn out to be more than a little strange, if not insane. What gives the film heart is that the young daughter is shooting a documentary in the hopes of finding an elixir for her mother’s guilt. Rather than horror, most scenes were laced with laugh out loud humor. As scenes grew darker and more sinister, laughter offered relief. Like in the “Sixth Sense” there was one unexpected twist that truly had the audience on the edge of their seats. The grandpa turned out to be scarier than Freddy Kruger and the grandma was as creepy as a Japanese ghost. Sun downers was the clinical explanation but she went way beyond that diagnosis. Terry grabbed my sleeve every time the tension built.

The Visit turned out to be a film with true heart. I give the film eight Yatzys. You really need to see the film to believe it. The fact that many people in the test audience had waited hours to get in the theater, meant that we had a very lively audience. The film is scheduled to open nation wide on September 11th.

Star Child’s Odyssey: A Retrospective View Into the Imaginative World of Toni Taylor

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Star Child’s Odyssey: A Retrospective View Into the Imaginative World of Toni Taylor opened on August 15th at Gods and Monsters, inside Artegon, (5250 International Drive; Suite E8, Orlando, Florida). I held a free ticket give away last week on AADW and Toni won the ticket to “The Visit” by M. Night Shamalan. I decided to visit her opening to present her with the ticket and to sketch. Toni was one of the first artists I met when I started doing one sketch a day. She was kind enough to let me visit her studio to watch as she painted.

Toni Taylor began her professional illustration career in 1985 as a
cover artist for Heavy Metal Magazine. She is a visionary artist whose
work travels through the realms of fantasy and mysticism. She feels a
special kinship with the mysteries of Ancient Egypt as well as the
spirit of Native America. Goddess imagery is represented powerfully in
her collection and as a lover of all things celestial, the beauty and
limitlessness of the Cosmos often finds its way into her paintings. Mark Your Calendar! Toni’s paintings will be on display for one month.

Toni has begun creating three dimensional tree sculptures using wire, driftwood and moss. They were quite beautiful and amazingly affordable. Dale Bartlett, the Tree Mon, helped inspire Toni to explore these mysterious miniature creations. Dale had tears in his eyes as he told me that Toni would certainly surpass her master. He was so proud of her. The retrospective showcased work from all facets of her career over the years. In the realm of her imagination anything is possible.

Anna Maiya Young and Todd Fisher the owners of Gods and Monsters had the foresight to include the Transmetropolitan Gallery inside the huge comic store. Anna told me about her bucket list of talented artists that she wanted to showcase. Those artists include, Clive Barker, David Mack, Ben Templesmith, Menton 3, David Stoupakis, Chet Zar, Damien Echols and Vaughn Belak, so her bucket list is almost complete. Needless to say there will be amazing art showcased in this venue all year.

A falconer and a knight from Medieval Times stopped in to the opening. Also some of the cast from Phantasmagoria mingled in the crowd adding to the color of the evening.  Later  performers danced with fire outside. I could feel the heat on my skin as they gracefully performed with five pronged torches. A butler offered a mistress a drink and then she became a human flame thrower spitting flames six feet in the air.