An interview at the Enzian Theater.

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I interviewed Julie Norris Wilder at the Enzian Theater to find out what I could about the law suit she was in with her founding partner at Dandelion Commonitea Cafe. She and the partner had different ideas about how to run the business. When her daughter, Maya, was born, she asked the partner to step in and help run the business more. She felt that corners were cut and the cafe didn’t live up to the who is it idea she had mind. She tried to buy out her partner but couldn’t raise I needed funds to make that happen. The differences had to be settled in court an ultimately she surrendered her shares to the business she helped build. There were personal aspects to y conflict, but those details can be left behind as both parties move forward and grow independently. She is happy to know that Dandelion is still doing business and thriving.

I have collaborated with Jul. when we put out an Analog Artist Digital World calendar several years ago. She is a graphic designer on top of being an entrepreneur, an environmentalist and devoted mom. She has plans to build a business that helps empower women. She dreams big and goes for those dreams. She has been the host of Front Porch Radio for years. She show airs every Wednesday at 4pm on WPRK 91.5FM. She interviews people who make a different in the community, and sparks thought provoking conversations.

Birdman questioned what is real and what is imagined.

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Terry and I went to see Birdman at the Enzian Theater,1300 S Orlando Ave, Maitland, FL. While I waited for her to arrive at the Eden Bar outside the movie theater, I couldn’t resist doing a sketch. I ordered an Orange Blossom Pilsner and sketched as fast as I could. The advantage of being an artist in this digital age is that people who focus their attention on their phones become completely absorbed and therefor never notice that they are being sketched.

Birdman turned out to be one of my favorite movies of 2014. It was much like Hitchcock’s The Rope in which there were no discernible cuts between scenes. The movie was about an actor who was famous for his role as Birdman in the movies but he wanted to be taken serious as a true artist. He wrote and directed a play for Broadway that he hoped would revitalize peoples perceptions of him as a true artist. The camera followed his every move as opening night approached. The first scene showed him in his dressing room in a cross legged yoga pose. As the camera pulled back you realized that he wasn’t only meditating, he was floating above the floor. My disbelief was suspended and I accepted each of his supernatural yet ego centric quirks.

What happened on stage always seemed to reflect what was going on in his own life. Because there were no obvious camera cuts, the moments seemed to play out in real time right until the opening night of the show on Broadway. Much of what happened might have been imagined by the narcissistic director played by Michael Keaton. There was a hilarious moment when he took a cigarette break right outside the stage door. A stage hand closed the door locking him out and he had to walk around the block, through Times Square in his underwear to get to the front entrance of the theater. Did this actually happen, or did he imagine the humiliating situation? Every scene raised these type of questions. This wasn’t a CGI effects block buster, but it was a smartly written drama that raised more questions than answers. I absolutely loved it. The film garnered wide critical praise, and won the Academy Award for Best Picture, along with the Best Director for González Iñárritu, the Best Original Screenplay, and the Best Cinematography from a total of nine nominations, tying it with The Grand Budapest Hotel for being the most nominated film of the Academy’s 87th annual awards ceremony. Michael Keaton deserved to win the Academy Award as the best actor.

The Creature From the Black Lagoon Screened at the Enzian

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As part of the Cult Classics Series, the Enzian Theater screened the original 3-D version of The Creature From the Black Lagoon made in 1954. Gina Stanley, the actress that was the Creatures on screen crush was at the screening. In the film she wore a stunning white swimsuit that was quite revealing for its day. Much of the film was shot in Florida swamps. In the film, Gina is screaming every time she sees the creature. The actor inside the creature suit, Ben Chapman, who was 6 foot three, played the creature on land. He was a former Polynesian dancer under contract with Universal Studios. His height and size made him perfect to play the creature. A second actor, then a college student, Ricou Browning, played the “underwater Creature” for
the film, and he wore the “underwater Creature suit” for the sequences
shot in Florida

Julia had an incredible career as an actress outside the lagoon. She starred
opposite Tyrone Power, Glenn Ford, Tony Curtis, Rock Hudson, Jimmy
Stewart, and Charlton Heston. Working on a horror film was considered a step down for many actresses so she almost turned the film down. It is ironic that today, this is the film she is most known for.

There was a somewhat disastrous design of the Creature’s head, that
almost made it into the final film. But a screen test at the eleventh
hour convinced the studio head that the look of the
creature did not work, and the head was redesigned and became the
classic we know and love today. The film was impressive on the big screen and it became clear that many scenes were staged to take advantage of the 3-D effects. After the screening Gina signed autographs and I had her sign my sketch.

Florida Film Festival Industry Party at the Copper Rocket

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On April 11th I went to the Florida Film Festival Industry Party at The Copper Rocket, 106 Lake Avenue Maitland, FL. It was a chance to hang out with Festival friends and chat about all the amazing films. Each Film Festival guest got one complimentary beer and live music all night long. There was a table set up at the entrance and I got an arm band. At 8pm the place was pretty empty. Drew Yardis performed on the stage in the corner and I started sketching him. He performed covers of popular songs while adding his own inflections and personality to each piece.

Journalist Michael McLeod joined me at my table. He explained that Susan Sarandon was giving a talk at the Enzian Theater across the street. That program which also featured a screening of one of her films, wouldn’t let out until after 10pm. That is when The Copper Rocket was going to get mobbed. I wondered if I should hang out just in case Susan decided to get a drink in this local dive. Denise Sudler also stopped by our table and we chatted while I continued to sketch. We discussed the notion of my doing an evocative sketch for her. It would be an edgy commission that might spur others on to consider the idea.

The filmmakers of Druid Peak sat at the table next to us. The film was written and directed by Marni Zelnick. Executive producer Maureen Mayer explained the film to us. It is set against the backdrop of the wolf reintroduction program in Yellowstone National Park. It is a coming of age story about a troubled teenage boy (Andrew Wilson) who finds a home for himself tracking wolves in the wild. The production was partly funded by a one hundred thousand dollar grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. It is a story about the why of conservation, not just the how.

Florida Film Festival

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I went to a Florida Film Festival press preview for “After Winter, Spring“directed by Judith Lit at the Enzian Theater, (1300 S South Orlando Avenue, Maitland, FL.) This is a love story for the farmers in Perigord,
France, which has been continuously cultivated for over five thousand
years. One hundred years ago, half of the population of France were
farmers. Now less than 3% are. Will the Perigord peasants be the last
generation to employ and sustain the old methods? Will the world lose
their “old peasant wisdom” of prudence, respect, and love of the earth?
Filmed over four years, “After Winter, Spring” is a treasure trove of
great food and farming traditions. With fascinating detail, it captures
the roots of farm-to-table and the tenacity of the people who have taken
one season at a time for generations. The filmmaker, an American ex-pat
and Perigord neighbor, was raised on her own family’s farm in
Pennsylvania. Her bond to the land and the people who love it translates
into an insightful, lyrical tribute to a way of life on the verge of
extinction. 

Judith grew up on a small farm in Pennsylvania. She saw how her parents had to sell off the farm in small parcels until there was no land left to farm. When she traveled to France later in life, she fell in love with the quaint farming life. She packed everything and went to France to rediscover her roots. She interviewed her farming neighbors to learn about their more natural way of living.

The film didn’t only show small farms as a bucolic ideal. Three generations of women ran a goose farm. In a rather graphic scene, one of the women answered questions as she shoved a funnel deep down a gooses neck to force feed it. She massaged the goose’s neck to force it to swallow. The harsher sides of farming were shown, like shaving a slaughtered pig with a machete or breaking a chicken’s neck and then plucking the feathers.

A tobacco farmer bragged about the beauty of his hand harvested crop. “The more beautiful it is, the prouder we are. It (the tobacco) sings on the verge of being brittle.” All the farmers are trying to find a path through change. It is hard to compete against huge industrial farms that have multi-million dollar machines doing all the work. The smaller farming families feel their land helps preserve habitat. Since they are attentive to the land, they become more attentive to themselves and others. As one farmer stated, “I accept what life gives me. I can’t do otherwise.”

The one shred of hope is that people have grown sick of over processed food-like products. A younger generation is returning to the fields to live lives closer to nature.  Farm to table, has become a new battle cry. Perhaps the pendulum can swing back. Perhaps Spring can follow a Winter of industrialized neglect.

Florida Film Festival

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The  23rd Annual Florida Film Festival is now underway. The Festival runs for ten days showing 170 films. This is one of the top film festivals in the country and if you go, it is likely you will rub shoulders with producers and directors as you sip a drink at the Eden Bar. With so many films to choose from, it is a good idea to surf the Film Festival website, to see what interests you on any given day. The festival runs through April 13th.

I attended several preview screenings to wet my palette.  The Enzian Theater (1300 S Orlando Ave, Maitland, FL) is nestled among huge live oaks that tower overhead. They looked particularly naked this year before the bright spring foliage filled then in. Philip Tiedtke stopped to see how my sketch was turning out. He explained that this year they invested $11,000 to have all the Spanish Moss removed from the trees. I knew something looked different, but I hadn’t put my finger on it. He explained that all the Spanish Moss was smothering new growth and it made the branches extra heavy. There was concern that they might collapse under their own weight thanks to all the moss.

Besides all the film screenings, there are also panel discussions, industry parties with fabulous food and drink and opportunities to meet the stars. Susan Sarandon, Paul Sorvino, Giancarlo Esposito, and Shawn Christensen are all attending the Festival. So get out and see some films and do some Hollywood star gazing..

Mennello Gala

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The annual Mennello Museum Gala on February 22nd was referred to as, “An Evening With Fabulous Friends.” In exchange for illustrations supplied for the Museum’s 25th Anniversary, Terry negotiated tickets to the Gala held at the brand new Alfond Inn, (300 E New England Ave. at Rollins College, Winter Park FL.) Each year, The Friends of The Mennello Museum of American Art host an elegant gala to raise funds for the museum’s collections, exhibitions, and programs. This, the Eleventh Annual Gala celebrated The Mennello Museum of American Art, located in Orlando Loch Haven Park, which is owned and operated by the City of Orlando. The Gala also celebrates the passion of its founders, Michael A. and Marilyn L. Mennello. Marilyn passed away years ago and a statue of her is in the museum.

I was working from 9am to 5pm at Full Sail on the Saturday of the gala. Terry agreed to bring my suit and tie to the inn. I met her up front as her Porsche was being valet parked. I felt a little awkward being in jeans surrounded by tuxedos and women in ball gowns. Terry was in a gold sequin dress and blended right in. I rushed off to find a men’s room to change in. There was no large bathroom stall so it was like getting dressed in a very tight closet.

The silent auction items were in a small rotunda with a green house glass domed ceiling. Everyone crowded into this tight space with a craps table taking up a huge chunk of real estate in the center of the room. I spent most of my time trying to keep people from tripping on my art supply bag. Terry flourishes in this type of crowd and she squeezed her way around the room handing out fliers for my retrospective show next month. For a brief moment we stepped outside where it was cool and airy but we immediately went back into the chaotic crowd. I bumped into Michael Mennello and shook his hand. I’m not sure if he remembered me from the day I sketched him in his home.

When they opened the dining room, Terry and I found our way to table 26 which was the Enzian Theater table. Sigrid Tiedtke was warm and inviting, giving us both a hug. I was very flattered that she knew of my work. She looked much like her daughter Elizabeth who I often see at the Enzian. Philip Tiedtke sat next to Terry. The Tiedtke family established the Enzian Theater back in 1985 and it is Orlando’s top art house movie theater. The annual Florida Film Festival is now one of the top ranked film festivals in the country. Another couple at the table turned out to be musicians and I hope to sketch them performing some time soon. Frank Holt, the Executive Director of the Mennello Museum also ended up sitting at our table. Although table 26 was far from the podium, we were surrounded by talented heavy hitters in the arts community.

My tie wanted to keep flopping down onto the wet sketch. I dropped my pencil several times. The room was constantly buzzing with activity as the staff rushed to serve food. I picked at my plate of food as I worked, but I spent more time sketching than eating. The live auction had a fast talking auctioneer. The largest item was a trip to Colorado and most of the other items were group restaurant outings. Before I knew it, the Gala was over. Such events seem so rushed when you try to capture them with a sketch.

Weekend Top 6 Picks

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Saturday January 11, 2014

1pm to 3pm $5 Science Play Festival. Mad Cow Theatre (54 West Church Street, Orlando, Florida 32801).  “A Short History of Nearly Everything”. Adapted by Lauren Gunderson from a book by Bill Bryson. For the first time ever, Mad Cow Theatre creates a unique play festival exploring the world of science plays through a weekend of staged readings and discussion forums. Join us as we explore the worlds of science, technology and history through imaginative stories.

7:30pm to 9:30pm $5  Science Play Festival. Mad Cow Theatre (54 West Church Street, Orlando, Florida 32801). “Photograph 51” by Anna Ziegler. For the first time ever, Mad Cow Theatre creates a unique play festival
exploring the world of science plays through a weekend of staged
readings and discussion forums. Join us as we explore the worlds of
science, technology and history through imaginative stories.

9pm to Midnight Free Falcon Soundraiser. The Falcon 819 E. Washington Street, Suite 2, Orlando, Florida. Soundraisers are a series of live shows presented by The Falcon, over the next couple of months. We will be actively accepting donations at each event and throughout the coming months at The Falcon, in hopes of generating enough funding to purchase a simple Sound/PA system for The Falcon. This will enable LIVE music on a more frequent basis at an already KICK ASS hang, and give local talent yet another venue to share their art! The first in the series will feature: audiotourism (members of SC Accidental and LostGhosts) http://audiotourism.bandcamp.com/ Instrumental/non-vox/two piece “90’s-esque inde-guitar swing ala wall of sound!” Come on out and support local business and local talent!

Sunday January 12, 2014

7:30am to 9pm Free Gallery Fresh Art Markets. Orlando Fashion Square 3201 E. Colonial Drive, Orlando, Florida 32803. On the 2nd Sunday of every month Gallery Fresh Art Markets and Orlando Fashion Square proudly present “Show Your Art.” This free to the public, indoor, non-juried art event showcases 60 to 90 local artists and fine crafts persons and is located throughout Orlando Fashion Square.

1pm to 3pm  $5 Film Slam 14′. 1300 S Orlando Ave, Maitland, FL 32751. FilmSlam will usually be held on the second Sunday of each month at 1PM at Enzian. Come celebrate independents day! 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. Q&A with the filmmakers to follow screening. http://www.enzian.org/film/filmslam-14

7:30pm to 9:30pm $5 Science Play Festival. Mad Cow Theatre 54 West Church Street, Orlando, Florida 32801. “Isaac’s Eye” by Lucas Hnath. For the first time ever, Mad Cow Theatre creates a unique play festival exploring the world of science plays through a weekend of staged readings and discussion forums. Join us as we explore the worlds of science, technology and history through imaginative stories.

500 Days of Summer

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While traveling I’ll be posting sketches from that were not posted from 2009. This sketch was done at the Enzian Theater before seeing 500 Days of Summer. The film was about a summer romance. The guy was head over heels in love but the girl didn’t believe in love. She went through the motions but in the end dumped the guy after 500 days. It was an annoying premise. Soon after, she did fall head over heels in love but with someone else. I wanted to see the movie because it showed the guy sketching on the movie poster. In the final scene the unlucky lover was sketching buildings with contentment like a true Urban Sketcher. Who needs love when you have a pencil and paper? A sketch is sure to meet expectations.

At a gas station yesterday I spoke with another guy pumping gas. He was heading to New Orleans, having come from Miami. His brother worked as an armored car driver in New Orleans. Several days ago, his brother was shot dead the second he opened the armored truck door by three gunmen. There is a $50,000 reward for anyone with information that leads to the arrest of the killers and thieves.  So this guy and his wife were on their way to his brothers funeral a few days before Christmas. The killing was senseless and the couple at the gas station had many more miles to drive before meeting family at the funeral. He showed me the news footage on his cell phone. I’m not sure why he shared so much. Perhaps that much grief needs to be shared. Live every moment. Life is precious and short.

Boycott SeaWorld

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Recently I saw the documentary film Blackfish at the Enzian Theater (300 S Orlando Ave, Maitland, FL). The film is about Tilikum, (Tilly), a killer whale who killed a SeaWorld trainer several years ago. The film opens with the 911 call to retrieve the body.  Tilly was captured in the wild. The killer whale pod split in two with the females and children going up one estuary while the males went another way avert the pursuing boats. Spotter planes however redirected the pursuit. In a horrible west coast floating sea park called Sea Land of the Pacific, Tilly had to spend each evening in a cramped pitch black holding module 20 feet deep and 28 feet in diameter with two adult killer whales who attacked him every night. Each morning he had new bloody wounds. Tilly attacked and killed a handler named Keltie Byrne at that park in 1991.

When that sea park folded,  Sea World Orlando purchased Tilly on January 9th of 1992 because they didn’t have a male killer whale. Tilly was responsive and bright but his dorsal fin was misshapen, sagging sadly to the side. This never seen in the wild. It is not unusual for animals in circuses, zoos, traveling exhibits, and
amusement parks to injure or kill trainers. On July 6th 1999, Daniel P. Dukes a park patron hid and stayed in the Orlando SeaWorld park overnight. He had the brilliant idea to swim in Tilly’s enclosure. The next morning they found his nude dead body, on Tilly’s back as the killer whale did laps in his tiny cement pool. An autopsy of the body found multiple wounds, contusions, and abrasions,
and concluded he may have died from hypothermia and drowning. It also
noted “laceration and avulsion of the scrotum and testes”. In other words, his nuts were chewed off.

On February 24, 2010 Tilly killed the lead SeaWorld trainer Dawn Brancheau. Sea World put a spin on the story released to the media,
blaming the Dawn, because she had a pony tail
that may have gotten caught in Tilikum’s teeth, stating further that the
trainer’s hair may have also been confused for a toy or a fish because Dawn had been holding a fish previously and may have touched her
hair afterwards, leaving the scent. SeaWorld would be innocent, if the trainer was seen to be at fault in the eye of public opinion. Video shows Tilly
dragging dawn by the arm. According to the six-page  autopsy report, Dawn’s left arm and part of her
scalp were ripped off, she suffered spinal cord injuries, her ribs were
broken, as were bones in her legs, arms, and face, she had bruises and
cuts all over her body, and, ultimately, she was drowned.

Other SeaWorld trainers realized that they could be next, so they went on camera for the Blackfish documentary. One reason Tilly is still in captivity is because his sperm is needed to impregnate the female killer whales. 21 killer whales calves have been born in captivity using his sperm. He is actually masturbated by trainers rather than breed naturally. which violates the court order to keep trainers fron having contact with the killer whale.

Tilikum returned to performing on March 30, 2011 using his fluke everyday to soak the crowds of spectators who pay to see him swim in the tight enclosure. After every performance he is sent to solitary confinement. In the wild his dorsal fin would stand erect as it sliced through open water. He could be part of a social pod that hunted together. These aren’t cute plush toys to be exploited. They are killer whales that are majestic in the wild. They may follow orders from their captives to survive captivity but you can only push a killer whale so far before they snap. Any killer whale in captivity has psychological scars. People still pay, perhaps hoping to see the next one snap. Trainers are expendable but a killer whale is a gold mine.

On September 15th, over 50 people showed up for this demonstration standing in the blazing sun in front of the Sea World entrance to dissuade people from going inside. Unfortunately the park had been open for several hours so traffic was on the light side. Passers by honked in support. Others shouted out in anger that they would spend their money as they pleased.

PETA’s 5 Reasons to Boycott SeaWorld…

  1. Twenty-four dead killer whales – and counting. Of the 24 killer whales who have died at SeaWorld since 1986, not one died of old age. Many of their deaths were caused by captivity-induced illnesses.
  2. Life in a bathtub
    drains marine mammals’ spirits. Forcing animals who naturally travel up
    to 100 miles a day in the open ocean to swim in continuous circles in
    tiny, barren concrete tanks causes stress-related behaviors, including
    suicide.
  3. SeaWorld tears families apart.
    In the wild, dolphins spend their entire lives in a pod with their
    mothers and sisters. Capturing even one dolphin disrupts the entire pod.
    Dolphins born in captivity are often taken away from their loved ones
    and shipped to other facilities.
  4. Frustrated animals are dangerous to people.
    Aside from the trainers killed by angry captive whales, the USDA has
    cited SeaWorld for several instances in which dolphins injured people in
    its swim-with-the-dolphins program.
  5. If you don’t support the jailing of innocent people, you shouldn’t
    support SeaWorld. Scientists at Emory University mapped the brains of
    dolphins and concluded that they are second only to humans in intelligence.
    Captivity is as hard on these sensitive animals as it is on people, but
    the dolphins are being punished without having committed a crime.