Fairvilla Megastore presented 5 Senses of Sexy: A Valentine’s Party.

Posted on by Thor

I followed the 104.1 talk radio station truck into the parking lot of Fairvilla Megastore (1740 North Orange Blossom Trail, Orlando, Florida). Two lovely ladies at the entrance gave me a pink wrist band, two drink tickets, and a card that listed all the vendors I should visit during the course of the night. I’ve never been inside the adult store before, so I was a bit nervous and excited. I explored the store before deciding what to sketch. There were two floors of every imaginable sex toy, lotion, lingerie and leather. Several employees knew about AADW and soon I was being given a  tour.

The senses included:

Taste: Complimentary cocktails, sweets and treats.

Touch: Pug Kissing Booth, Presented by Pug Rescue of Florida.

Sight: A performance by Big Bang Boom! Cabaret
Hear, and The Poetry Vending Machine

Smell: Pheremone perfumes and massage candles.

Nikki Meir showed me a vibrator from the Rabbit Company. The company had black T-Shirts with what looked like a pink human nose on it. It turned out the nose was actually the company logo which features Rabbit ears. The vibrator I was shown was small, fitting neatly in the palm of my hand. It comes apart and resembles a thumb drive for a computer. This small USB plug is how the device is quickly recharged. It was purple and had the shape of a goats hoof, or as I later realized, small rabbit ears. Those vibrating ears could be slipped like two fingers around any sensitive spots. I immediately saw its appeal.

Upstairs there was a bed set up with restraints. Couples could try out the restraint system to see if it suited their needs. There was a game called “Pin the cock on the jock” which featured a bold bulls eye right where you would expect it. I decided to sketch the more refined and subtle Poetry Vending Machine. The vending machine is featured at the International Fringe Festival each year. Tod Caviness explained that the poems written at Fringe get most interesting late at night when patrons have been drinking too many beers at the beer tent. They give the poets several words to act as inspiration and late at night all those words become deprived and filthy. That is why the Poetry Vending Machine fit right in at Fairvilla. Some of Orlando’s best poets came out for the event. Actually, perhaps all of Orlando’s male poets came out for the night. A Haiku was just $2 and a custom poem was $5. At the end of the evening, Todd, who is now a dad, walked away with multiple red whips and eye masks. They were some mighty fine spoils for an evening of writing poetry.  

Jazz at the White House

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The Civic Minded 5 presented reed player Trevor Watts and pianist Veryan Weston, a longtime duo and storied members of the British improv scene at the Timucua White House, (
2000 South Summerlin).  This free concert presented cutting edge new jazz, where mastery met sensibility and the joy of the moment. The visual artist for the evening was going to be Martha Jo Mahoney, but she couldn’t make it. Bernie Martin was working on a watercolor at stage right and I was sketching in the balcony so the visual arts were represented. I was surrounded  by a family who took some interest in what I was doing. I recognized the husband but couldn’t quite place him. Finally after a short conversation, I realized it was Mark Simon, who wrote a book called Storyboards, Motion in Art. I have that book in my art library and refer to it anytime I get a storyboard assignment. What a small world. This was the first time Mark and his family attended a Timucua concert. They were in for an explosive, experimental treat.

The music was edgy and on the verge of  pure cacophony. As I worked, I realized I didn’t have a rag to wipe off my brushes. I used the sketch itself to wipe clean the brush. I worked in a frenzy driven by the music and the panic of the moment. Both performers had thick grey hair that swept around the back of their skulls reminiscent of friendly poltergeist clowns. I’m considering growing my own grey  lion’s mane to duplicate this bohemian look.

After the concert people socialized around snacks and wines in the entry foyer. I caught up with Wendy Wallenburg, who helps out at the social hour, and her friends, Sarah Austin and Nikki Mier.  Nikki suggested I should start wearing outlandish clothes as a fashion statement so people can spot me at events.  I still prefer to blend in with the wallpaper. Elaine Corriveu, who is Benoit Glazer‘s wife, and the hostess for the evening, wanted to see my sketch. I honestly believe she appreciates what I do. If you haven’t been to the White House, then you are missing out on a gem of the local music scene.

Drinks at Taps

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A friend of Amanda Chadwick’s named Matt Rankin was in town visiting from Washington D.C. Amanda arranged for a group of friends to get together to meet Matt. First we were to meet at Mitchell’s Fish Market (460 North Orlando Avenue Winter Park). Terry was there when I arrived. It was raining. Amanda and Matt arrived soon after my Martini. I had met Matt a few times around Orlando before he went to D.C. to apartment sit. He and Terry started telling jokes. Outside there was a musician playing guitar and singing cover songs. He was pretty good. Terry and I ended up ordering the same dinner. It was a delicious cod with a crab stuffing over asparagus shoots all baked in a light butter sauce. Everyone else was running late and they planned to meet us later at a bar called Taps. When we finished dinner we went to search for Taps. Google maps on Terry’s iPhone indicated it was within walking distance. We walked out the door and it was directly across the street.

We sat at a table outside and soon Wendy Wallenburg, Nikki Mier and Sarah Austin arrived. When I wasn’t sketching, I spent most of my time talking to Nikki. She had some wonderful suggestions about places and people I should sketch. Wendy kept asking for the darkest beer in the bar. She claimed there was a beer so dark and thick that it was impossible to see light through the glass. Several servers tried to find this dark beer for her. Samples littered the table. Terry, Nikki and I all ordered hard ciders. Mine was sharp and a little bitter like green apples. Nikki’s cider had a buttery after taste that was nice.

Nikki showed me an adorable picture of her as a child and some really sweet pictures of her dog. One photo of the dog eying a treat on a table was hilarious. Only his eyes and ears were visible and the treat was located where his nose would have been. Another photo showed the pup asleep with his nose tucked into a corner. The black oval spots on his coat receded as if in perspective. She called it her Escher shot. We were all finished with our drinks before I could finish my sketch. I ended up adding watercolor washes at home.