Otronicon VIP Party

Posted on by Thor

On Thursday January 16th I went to sketch the Otronicon VIP Party at the Orlando Science Center, 777 E Princeton St, Orlando, FL. The VIP Party gave Mayor Buddy Dyer and other politicians a platform to proclaim Orlando the center of the high tech digital universe.

Most intriguing was Sarah Anderson who in 2003 lost the use of her legs in a car accident. She was sporting an EKSO Bionics suit that used a computer and digitally balanced braces that helped her stand and walk. I had sketched Sarah Anderson one other time at a fundraiser. Oddly, her story that evening was that she lost the use of her legs in a skiing accident.  Perhaps the executives or PR department felt that an auto accident is something more people could identify with and therefor would sell more bionic suits.

The military was out in force demonstrating flight and battle simulators. The mayor delighted in telling a story about how he blew a six inch hole into a friends chest. Students demonstrated a robot they had built for a robotics competition. One student had a Frisbee, so I suspect that in competition the robot would have to throw the Frisbee. This big orange boxy robot however wasn’t yet up to the challenge. Jen Vargas and Josh Murdock, both sporting Google glass headsets stopped to say hi. They are both going to be on a panel discussion about technology. Jen will be screening a film that won the Orlando 48 hour film festival. Teams of filmmakers were given only 48 hours to write, direct, shoot and edit their films. Seth Kubersky was at the event reporting for the Orlando Weekly.

Otronicon, running every day through January 20th, is a celebration of interactive technology’s role in how we
live, learn, work and play. The event features larger-than-life video
game experiences, state-of-the-art medical and military simulators,
workshops taught by industry pros, and so much more! The event has the
opportunity to inspire a child’s interest in science and tech careers
through the appeal of video games, interactive technology and virtual
reality.

Admission
to Otronicon is $19 for adults and $13 for youth (ages 3-11). Tickets
also include access to the new traveling exhibit “Zoom Into Nano,” giant
screen and 3-D educational films, one Hollywood feature-length film,
and live programming. Science Center members can experience Otronicon
for free. It is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday, January 19 and Monday, January 20.

For more information, please call 407-514-2000 or visit www.otronicon.org.

Moulin Rouge Gala- A Show Extravaganza

Posted on by Thor

I went to the Winter Park Community Center, (721 West New England Ave. Winter Park), on December 2nd to the Moulin Rouge Gala. I felt it was important that an artist be at the Gala. Toulouse Lautrec wouldn’t have passed on the opportunity. Every two years Le Salon Zizou works with a local charity and other participates to put together a combination of hair, fashion and entertainment to raise money for charity. This year they worked with the Disability Wellness Center in Sanford to help raise money for the EKSO suit for paraplegics. There are ONLY 20 world wide and this will be HUGE for Central Florida to have the first EKSO suit used for physical therapy when the other 20 are used for studies.

When I arrived, the dancers from Emotions Dance got on stage to loosen up and get used to the size of the stage. Larissa Humiston stood in front of the stage to let them know what worked and what didn’t. After them, a woman performed solo with Hula hoops and large geometric forms that she spun above her head. The ceiling was rather low which resulted in her crashing the huge cube shape into the ceiling beam. A singer discussed her song with the DJ. People in wheel chairs took to the stage. Blinking lights were on the chairs making for quite a display. Then negotiated the stage in a pre-planned choreography.

The twenty or so models arrived with outlandish hair stylings. I noticed model Jenny Coyle, from Sketchy Broads, with her hair bundled up in three huge Princess Lea buns. Le Salon Zizou, in association with the West Orlando Rotary Club, presented their 3rd annual Charity Hair Spectacular.  The real highlight of the evening came when Sarah Anderson got on stage with her wheel chair. With an assistant to spot her, she strapped herself into the EKSO Suit. As she did so, she talked about the day in 2003 when she lost her ability to walk. She was skiing that day and for whatever reason, she had an ominous feeling that she shouldn’t be on the mountain that day. Regardless, a horrible fall on the slope resulted in her becoming a paraplegic. Doctors told her that she would never walk again. She leaned forward and raised herself from the wheel chair.  She walked across the stage as the servos, gyros and computerized pistons responded to her weight shifts allowing each step in succession. Sarah stood onstage during the auction and the bidding got heated. “Never say never!”