The Grandma Party Bazzar at Stardust Video and Coffee.

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The 15th annual Grandma Party Bazaar is an Orlando holiday tradition held at Stardust Video and Coffee

(1842 E. Winter Park Road, Orlando, FL.) There you could find handmade gifts, food, raffles, live music and more.  It is a great opportunity to grab something
unique for that hard to buy for person on your holiday gift list.

Music on the main stage included DJ Nigel, DJ Oled, Dad, Von Nacht, Tiger Fawn, TV Dinner and more.  I spotted Tiger Fawn with her Vulcan ears among the booths but I didn’t see her perform.  Pam and I brought Sprout to the event and there were plenty of butts to be sniffed.

Tents were crowed into the Stardust Video and Coffee parking lot.  Across the street more tents were set up outside Park Avenue CDs and Redlight Redlight.  One vendor had vintage board games but they were priced at $40 and $50 a pop.  It was a gorgeous sunny day and several friends stopped to say hello. Perhaps someday I should rent a space and offer quirky crafts at affordable prices.  Market value art would not sell.  Of course, I shouldn’t be selling any art right now since it is considered a joint asset.  My art is only half mine, it would seem. 

9th Annual Zombietoberfest

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The 9th Annual Zombietoberfest was just held in Audubon Gardern District. If fell on the same day as one of my Orlando Urban Sketch Workshops, so we used it as our location. With parking sparse, I parked several blocks away and walked to our meeting spot at Stardust Video and Coffee. We were two students short, so we waited for a while in front of Stardust and then decided to get rolling while the zombies were still shuffling about. The quick lesson and worksheets advised artists to do a sheet of zombie studies that focused on gesture and building the figures from simple shapes.

Since this was a very crowded event, the challenge was to find slow moving zombies. Fast energetic zombies would be impossible to sketch. For instance, a zombie taking a selfie would only take a few seconds before they turned and walked away. I decided to focus on Deviant Dollz, founded by artist Linda Janssen. This collection of miscreant dolls seem possessed or the victims of a horror movie.

Several grand parents picked out a doll for their grand daughter who made a magnificent bloody zombie. I didn’t see their choice, but the grand daughter decided she would prefer a bloody and beaten Raggedy Ann doll that looked like she had been abused by Raggedy Andy. Pam Schwartz begrudgingly explained the teddy bears to me. They were tied together in such a way so that their snout was up another bear’s butt. Apparently there is a film called the Human Centipede in which the people can only survive if they eat the excrement from another. The goal was to see how long the people could survive without being fed. I don’t think i need to see that film.

There was perhaps one zombie for every 40 attendees. The most popular zombie costume seemed to be females in bloody prom dresses. I’m not sure a zombie film has been made yet in which zombies invaded a prom, but it cold make and interesting premise.  The Deviant Dollz booth was incredibly popular so I spent most of my
time trying to look around the crowd to see some of the dolls. Keeping track of all the artists in the crowd was impossible, so I let them all wrestle with the sketches on their own. Afterwards, we all met near the bloody zombie snow cone food truck to compare drawings and take a group photo.

Weathering Hurricane Irma.

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I spent all morning looking for a coffee house with Wi Fi. My apartment has no power. I tried Stardust Video and Coffee first. A staff member was dumping water out the front door using a plastic trash pail. He let me know that Stardust was without power. A crew was cutting up a fallen Live Oak across the street. I tried Drunken Monkey next. The parking lot was full. I parked a few blocks away and walked in. There was a huge line for coffee. Nicki Drumb, who got an awesome grant to help create “Moving Art“ on Orlando’s Sun Rail, had her cup of coffee and gave me a hug in line. She let know that the Monkey had no Wi Fi. Ugh, I groaned. Next I tried the Orlando Public Library which had bombastic music piped in at the entrance. Unfortunately the library was closed. 

At this point I gave up my quest for a digital connection. Instead I sketched this fallen tree near my apartment. The neighborhood was coming alive with people walking their dogs to get out after being cooped up for several days because of Hurricane Irma. Baby Blue , the owner of the Venue stopped her car and asked me if I needed anything from my curbside sketching perch. A neighbor who was also out of power stopped to see my sketch and we chatted for a moment. It is amazing how catastrophe helps bring a community together. With my sketch done, I drove up to Winter Park, because The re was a rumor that Austin’s Coffee (929 West Fairbanks Road Orlando FL) was open and it had Wi Fi. Behind the counter the Batista’s mused,”We got Nihilism, we got musings in cool places,We got bad attitudes, oh and we got power.”  With an ice cold Yak and a Portabella Mushroom sandwich, I finally settled in to write this article.

The night before, power flickered off just as Pam Schwartz pulled a hot home made pizza out of the oven. We played cards by candle light as the winds picked up outside. I followed the eye of the four hundred mile wide storm on the radar app on my phone. South West coast of Florida as a category four Hurricane and it crept north at 15 miles per hour. The winds blew objects which rolled and scraped over the roof. The sky flashed a mysterious vibrant blue. Emergency vehicle lights strobbed and illuminated the trees a blood red. Something banged at the front and back of the house. Several intense wind bursts made it seem like The roof might lift.

The next morning clean up began. It seemed like half of the tree limbs had snapped off of the tree. Curb side piles grew to fortress proportions. Large trees were down in the neighborhood. With yard work out of the way curator Pam Schwartz and I drove south to check on the warehouse where the Orange County History Center‘s off site storage facility is housed. What we found was shocking and unexpected. A huge double rainbow spanned the horizon opposite the setting sun over the huge warehouse parking lot which was now a lake which was thigh deep.

Audubon Park Farmers Market

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Every Monday as the sun sets, vendors set up in the Stardust Video and Coffee (1842 Winter Park Rd, Orlando, FL 32803) parking lot for the Audubon Community Market. There was no pressing event that needed to be sketched, so I got a vegan hot dog and started sketching. It is nice sometimes to just relax and watch the shadows lengthen as world grows orange. You can find locally grown produce no hand crafted jewelry from local artists. There is something new every week.

Inside Stardust most people stare at their computers either working or playing, it is hard to tell the difference.

I have been gathering tax documents the past few days. Trying to log into an online banking system, I had to navigate a maze of passwords. Although I have a long analog list on several sheets of paper, those passwords which I religiously wrote down, never seem to match the digital reality. I’m asked for the street I grew up on when I was three and I remember but my answer isn’t accepted. My mothers maiden name? Of course I know that but in the digital world the names don’t match. How much of my life is being wasted chasing false leads and running in circles chasing digital ghosts in the machine? Around tax season these digital walls seem overwhelming.

ODD 4 at Stardust Video and Coffee.

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The October ODD 4 (Orlando Drink and Draw), was held at Stardust Video and Coffee (1842 Winter Park Rd, Orlando, FL). This is y monthly event where artists, well, drink and Draw. There is no model is just artists working together and networking. I ordered a Big Wave beer and started to sketch. About six other artists came out to sketch. The Audubon Community Market was happening in the parking lot outside, so the place was crowded. The clientele at stardust have a layed back vibe. The guy a the end of the bar had waist long Rasta Dreads. I had quite a few beers and then I left the bar and drove home. The problem was, that I started a tab and left my credit card with the bartender. I only realized this when I got back home. It is an hour drive but, I drove all the way back to Stardust. They were still open and several artists were still there.

Eco – Action Cleanup cares for Orlando’s lakes while being hindered by city red tape.

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I went to Eco – Action Cleanup number 845 at Lake Concord. Jef Shelby organizes this intrepid group of volunteers who use canoes to help clean up the garbage from Orlando’s lakes. The Mission of ECO-Action, Inc., is to protect and preserve the
natural environment by encouraging, creating, and supporting ecological
education, responsible consumption, development of alternative energy
sources, and public participation in addressing environmental issues.

The GPS brought me to Central Christian Church. Across the street there was a lake, but I didn’t see any volunteers. Thinking I was in the wrong place, I drove up and down the street and then I drove behind the church. This is where I found the truck with a trailer full of canoes. People were already in canoes and on shore placing trash in yellow bags. By keeping the lake clean, wildlife is being protected. Fishing line in particular can strangle a bird who becomes entangled. Birds and turtles can also eat the fishing lines, which is a health hazard. On some cleanups birds have been found and turned over to the Birds of Prey Center for medical care. There is no shortage of garbage, bottles, beer cans, plastic cups, fishing line, grocery bags, cigarette butts, and even condoms. Despite the endless effort it seems that garbage is dumped faster than it ca be removed. These volunteers are true eco-warriors.

Rather than support these environmentalists, the city decided to impose restrictions and permitting. It seems politicians need to know exactly what lake is being cleaned and when. Jet ski’s and power boats are fine, but having volunteers out cleaning the lakes in canoes was considered a bit too anarchistic for city officials.  Now Jef has to apply for permits and wait up to four months for approval. The added bureaucracy is causing the Good Samaritan effort to be too much trouble. Jef hopes someone else will take on the effort because he doesn’t have the time for all the paper work.

Morgan Steele had volunteered to stay behind and watch the remaining canoes. He stopped over to see what I was working on. It turns out he is an artist himself. He loved that I was documenting the cleanup effort with sketches. He searched in the reeds next to me and pulled out a hypodermic needle. “Can you believe someone would shoot up behind a church.” he asked. He then walked over to a shady spot under a huge live oak, sat down, and leaned back against a large cross. Jef wrote me a Facebook message a few weeks after the cleanup.  “Since Morgan Steele’s passing, I’ve thought about some of the Jungian signs that prophesied his death – and I think of that last painting you did of Eco-Action’s clean-up at Lake Concord where he was taking a rest under the cross.” On April 23rd, Morgan lost control of his car while driving back from Stardust Video and Coffee. His car slammed in some concrete constructions on Bumby. A memorial will be held for him around Memorial Day. The Herculean task of cleaning Orlando’s lakes lives on. More Eco Warriors are always needed to stem the tide of a wasteful consumer society.

A whistle sounded and the canoes returned. Each canoe was filled wit yellow bags full of trash. The bags were stacked in a pile and everyone lined up for a group photo. Probably 30 full bags of garbage had been removed from the lake. More remained. The most unique finds, were a laptop computer, and a three foot white sign that said, “Church Parking Ahead.” If anyone had followed that sign, their cars would be found on the bottom of the lake. If you ever want to make a difference while canoeing on a central Florida lake, be sure to look up Eco -Action Cleanup.

Doug Rhodehamel builds the Star Wars Universe.

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Doug Rhodehamel is a big fan of Star Wars. He also makes things from junk. He is combining these two passions of his into one big galactic sized project. He has begun building 15 Star Wars vehicles from trash and surplus at 1/10 scale. That’s big. Bigger than any toys you grew up with, but what’s better, they will light up, have sound effects and play music and sound bites… LOUD! But to do so I need to hire electronics nerds and well as machinists. That cost some cash.

To finish this collection I will need your help.

Doug talked about growing up on Star Wars. He is an avid collector, of Star Wars Action figures and models, but they tended to lack quality construction and any sense of a grand scale. He first imagined one of the Imperial Walkers being six feet tall, so that a viewer would be eye to eye with the cockpit. This hasn’t been built yet. Instead he is focusing his efforts on completing the first of three X-Wing Fighters. The photon torpedo tubes will illuminate with sound effects, and the re are lasers at the ends of the wings. Large speakers will be mounted inside the fuselage of the model and the wings will animate open using an actuator.  All of this is being constructed out of plastic corrugated political sighs. Eventually the ships will be painted to hide the politicians names. Finally, here is a great as to up-cycle all these abandon political signs after each election.

Tonight, Friday February 26th at Stardust Video and Coffee (1842 Winter Park Rd, Orlando, FL) Doug will be showing off the progress on the X-Wing Fighter and the Tai-Fighter with lots of buttons for
you to press. This is a Fundraiser. Any funds you can donate will help finish this project. It
will be more than amazing and well worth it!

See you there and May The Force Be With You!

Loves First Kiss.

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Rusty Pliers returned to Stardust Video and Coffee (1842 E Winter Park Rd, Orlando, Fl) to read a short story entitled “Love’s First Kiss” at an open mic night.  I worked with Rusty Pliers back when Disney Feature Animation created films the old school way with millions of drawings done by hand. A small army of artists were required to make the films. I’m fascinated at how the many talented artists re-invented themselves after animated films turned to computers rather than drawings. Rusty Pliers took up the pen an started writing. At the first reading he explained the his alias Rusty Pliers came from a sideline career as a porn star. There were some rusty pliers on the set and they were used in ways that are probably better left unsaid.

This second reading on Memorial Day was much softer and innocent, recalling his first love in high school. She loved horses and although he considered horses to be monstrous beasts, he told her that he adored horses to get close to her in the barn. Their first kiss was tender and sweet and it stirred feelings below the belt that he didn’t expect. It was abruptly cut short by the girl’s father however. The young pair drifted apart and never rekindled that moment.

Another author told a story that resonated for Memorial Day. She had a career in the military and was good at he job. She got married and was starting he new life. Her husband was in the military as well, and they were not always stationed together. Life was good, but then she got news that changed everything. She had Multiple Sclerosis and this would take away her mobility. She eventually got medical disability. She moved and open boxes lay everywhere. She didn’t know what to do with the rest of her life.

What made he story so compelling is that she would occasionally stop reading and just relate her story from memory. The point of her story was that although her life was upended she needed to find a way to restore order. She started with a task that many overlook. She began organizing her spice rack in her apartment filled with unopened boxes. She cried as she worked, but with that one task done she could move on to the next. She was a brave veteran who had found a way to reinvent her life after all the structure and discipline of the military and she wouldn’t let MS define her life. Clearly as a writer she had rediscovered a way to let her spirit sour.

Rusty Pliers shocked the crowd at Stardust Video and Coffee.

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Saw Ewing was a lead cleanup artist at Disney Feature Animation. I worked under his guidance on the character Koda in Brother Bear. After Disney closed the Florida animation studio, I started work at Full Sail University and I worked closely with Sam as we taught college students the principles of animation using traditional pencils and paper. Sam had a dream of someday becoming a writer. He left Full Sail to follow that dream. I was happy to hear that Sam started a blog titled “Rusty Pliers.”

Soon everyone referred to Sam as Rusty Pliers. I wondered what the moniker meant. My thought was that each artist that worked for Disney was a tool. For the duration we were tools with a set purpose, to create ageless films. When the studio was shut down there was little need for Animators who draw. We were discarded tools left to rust (rusty pliers) until we found new outlets for our talents. The Florida humidity has caused all the tools in my tool chest to rust. It is unavoidable with age.

This reading at Stardust Video and Coffee set the record straight. When Rusty Pliers got on the stage, he had an eye patch that made him look a bit like a pirate. He started reading tentatively at first outlining his early dreams of becoming an animator.  Half way into the reading he took a moment to adjust his eye patch. He moved it from his left eye to his right eye which caused laughter to erupt. “That’s so much better.” he said. “I didn’t realize there were so many of you out there.” It was a full house. Standing room only.

Rusty then read about his next career move into the porn industry. This is apparently a hard industry to break into. It was during the filming of a hot kitchen sex scene where rusty earned his name. He discovered some pliers on the set and he worked them into the scene in kinky ways best left to the imagination. When the scene had reached it’s climax the director shouted, “You are going to be a star!” He wasn’t referring to the actors however. He was referring to the rusty pliers.

When the reading was over, my sketch was done. Back by the bar, there was a table full of former Disney colleagues. John Pierro has been doing a painting a day of his quirky and somewhat sinister intertwining figures. Merritt Andrews has been working for Universal Studios the past few years. Pam Darley turned me on to a bar her husband loves called the Brass Tap and I hope to go there on a Drink And Draw outing soon. Darko Cesar and his wife Mirjana were there as well. Darko is discovering how to use TV Paint which is the industry standard for producing traditional animation using a digital tablet. Kathy Blacmore is still teaching art to kids and illustrating children’s books. It was awesome to see Rusty Pliers laughing with friends. I had one grapefruit flavored beer and since I’m a light weight drinker, I laughed at even the simplest jokes. I was just happy to be surrounded by so much talent.

Nerd Nite moved from Stardust to the Geek Easy.

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Stardust Video and Coffee,
(1842 E Winter Park Rd, Orlando, Florida) hosted the 23rd consecutive and first Nerd Nite Orlando event!

The evening consisted of entertaining yet thought-provoking talks across many disciplines, all while the audience drinks along in a casual bar atmosphere. Speakers present for 15-20 minutes each on a fascinating subject of their choice, often in an uncanny and unconventional way. Following each presentation is a brief Question and Answer with the audience.

Quench your curiosity! Come meet up, drink, and learn something new!

The first presentation was “DNA Nanotechnology: A Breakthrough For Us All” by Felix Sosa.

The talk is about the history, development, and possible future of the great breakthrough known as DNA nanotechnology. Felix is an undergraduate researcher at UCF working towards a Bachelor’s degree in both chemistry and computer science. He currently is a part of a large-scale research effort between the Chemistry Department, NanoScience Technology Center and Physics Department at UCF designing, simulating and synthesizing DNA architectures that have vast applications from medicines to computational machines. His talk opened our eyes to the incredible possibilities right around the corner.

My favorite talk of the evening was “Trash to Treasure: Hoarding Demystified” by Heather Grove.  If you are a hoarder, have friends or family who hoard, or just know about it from the Discovery channel, you know it is a serious, life-threatening disease. With 1 in 30 Americans afflicted by the not so uncommon disorder, Heather hopes to shed some light on the science behind collecting shit.

Since she was one, Heather has found value in what most might consider valueless. From rocks to wine cork collections, Heather has been an avid acquirer of things, but with an extreme hoarder in the family, she has fought the genetic proclivity to collect stuff by understanding the science and specifics of the disease…she hopes to help others transform their habits from hoarding to helping re purpose waste and keep it from landfills. By day, Heather turns wasteful lawns into food-growing gardens and she is co-creator of East End Market. Her talk hit home because she had family that were hoarders. This made her talk more personal as she tried to explain her own hording tendencies. I myself seem to be a hoarder. I collected rocks and minerals as a child, coins, stamps and now I collect shelves full of sketchbooks. My studio is a riot of materials and books making it hard to even enter the room. Yet, since I still create every day, I don’t seek a cure.

The final talk, “The Cosmetology Cosmologist” by Derek Demeter. Derek has been Planetarium Director at Seminole State College of Florida since 2007. He writes and produces new shows that explore the astronomy and history of numerous cultures from around the world. He serves as Vice President of the Central Florida Astronomical Society and sets up telescopes at local shopping centers to give the public a truly “out-of-this world” experience.

After this evening, Ricardo Williams took the helm to lead Nerd Nite into the future. Now the events are being held monthly at the Geek Easy ( 114 S Semoran Blvd Suite 6, Winter Park, Florida). Mark your calendar! The next Nerd Nite is Ladies Nite and it will be tonight, July 9th from 7pm to 9pm.