Eye of Ian

Posted on by Thor

The 24 hour leading up to Hurricane Ian making landfall were stressful for all on the south west coast.Early projections showed the storm would hit up near Tampa, Florida. I have a sister who lives in Port Charlotte and she lived through Hurricane Charley back in August of 2004. In that hurricane she hunkered down in a bathtub and the winds ripped off the roof of her home. Charlie was also supposed to head up to Tampa but it hooked off at the last minute and tore right through Port Charlotte.

There was a mandatory evacuation for the zone she lived in with Hurricane Ian. I asked her to come to our guest bedroom in Orlando but she really can’t travel that far. She therefor moved to a neighbors house which was larger and had a generator. The home was maybe a mile from where she lived at the end of a canal. Early reports are that her home suffered only minor damage and a tarp has already been put on the roof. Storm surge waters had water coming right up to her front and back doorways but it stopped short of going inside her home. A fence was blown down and there are trees down in the neighborhood. Ironically her umbrella style clothes line went unscathed. Power has been down.

The local sports complex is offering ice and large container of water as well as several BBQ dinners. That was the first hot meal since Wednesday. The primary concerns seem to be no hot water and no gas for the grill. Everything had to be emptied from the fridge since it started to smell.

Here in Orlando we were nervous because there is a large dead tree in the back yard. A neighbor told us it might have been hit by lightning but a contractor said that beetles had killed it. There are vines growing all over the branches and we thought until about a week ago that it was alive. So our concern was that the whole tree could fall.

We lucked out in that only very large branches crashed to the ground during the storm. One fell while our dog was in the yard relieving himself. It missed him. We have been taking clean up slow. Each evening I burn tree limbs in the fire pit rather than waste all that fuel. We lost power for 24 hours and I had to cancel several virtual classes. Our refrigerator contents were moved to a building with a generator and promptly returned once power came back on.

Pam has had of deal with endless repair work because of water leaks in the History museum and the off site storage facility. I experienced a horrible irregular heart beat in the mad rush to clean the yard prior to the storm. I suddenly realize I am not as spry as I used to be. I have been taking the clean up of dead branches slow and steady in the mean time. My mini bon fires make it a more relaxing project.

Super Spreader Bowl

Posted on by Thor

The 55th Super Bowl is sure to be the cause of an increase in COVID-19 cases nation wide. The NFL tried to make the stands safe in Tampa, by limiting attendance to 22,000 fans, 7,500 of which were vaccinated health care workers. It seems a strange idea to honor health care workers while packing 22,000 fans into a stadium. Other seats had been sold for $100 and fans sent in photos which were made into cut outs to fill the empty seats.

In a video message before the Super Bowl, President Joe Biden called for a moment of silence for the 460,000 Americans who had died from COVID-19. Boos could be heard from fans in attendance. In the few televised views of the stands fans could be seen without masks or wearing them as chin straps. It became clear at game time that fans were seated too close together in the stadium defying any possible 6 feet of social distancing.

In Tampa, Mayor Jane Castor announced a temporary ordinance requiring that masks be worn outside in several popular gathering spots. The order states that violators could be fined $500 as a “last resort.” Another ordinance requires masks at any indoor location when social distancing is not possible. That would include many bars and restaurants but not private residences. It became clear that these ordinances were ignored and not enforced. Thousands of mask less fans flooded the streets of Ybor City in Tampa after the game. This scene was played out all across the country in bars and pubs.

Case numbers are finally dropping all across the country but new variants are arriving which make the virus much more efficient at infecting more people. Health officials fear the game could seed new cases at exactly the wrong time. Mask It Or Casket said on Twitter, “There are too many people in this stadium. Go crawl in a hole and disappear, DeSantis.” Florida Governor Ron DeathSantis who was at the game did not wear a mask. Rep. Ron Wright (R of TX)  died of COVID-19 on Super Spreader Sunday.

The CDC urged fans not to hold Super Bowl parties this year. They advised fans to have outdoor viewing party using a projector screen and of course wear a mask with two or more layers, avoid direct contact like handshakes or hugs, bring in fresh air through windows and doors, and encourage guests to bring their own food and drinks. Even if fan at Super Bowl parties started with good intentions they are sure to have let their guard down after taking a drink any time an announcer said, “Sukup.” Though the CDC advised watching the game at home, there were many local bars and pubs which held Super Spreader Bowl Parties.

Some rabid  fans dress eerily similar to the QAnon Shaman who was one of the many insurrectionists arrested after the attack on democracy.  The most impotent lesson from this game is that the team with the most points won the game. This is a simple concept most former presidential supporters don’t get.

Protesting the Trans-Pacific Partnership in Tampa.

Posted on by Thor

The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) writes the rules for global trade—rules that were originally intended to increase made-in-America exports, grow the American economy, support well-paying American jobs, and strengthen the American middle class. The TPP is a trade agreement that brings together 12 countries
along the Pacific Rim, in what would be the world’s largest free trade
area, accounting for 40 percent of the global economy.

On the drive on to a Tampa protest, however, I was told there are economic reasons to believe that TPP will not only fail
to provide the promised benefits but actually make things worse. TPP reduces tariffs between partnering countries but tariffs are already low. A more expensive dollar makes imports cheaper and exports less competitive in foreign markets. the result of that is of course corporations sending jobs over seas. Critics of the TPP reference the failures of NAFTA, which was first
conceived during this period by the original champion of trickle-down,
Ronald Reagan. Leading up to the 1994 elections, NAFTA garnered
bipartisan support. Global Trade Watch’s
assessment of NAFTA’s “20 year legacy” demonstrated that an estimated one million jobs have been lost to NAFTA.

Several dozen protesters gathered in Tampa to Protest TPP on a rainy Thursday. Banners were unfurled in a strip mall parking lot and then protesters marched a long a busy street as the rain fell harder. Police kept a polite distance. I resisted sketching until protesters gathered in a public park. It poured. The demonstration then moved to a building where a meeting about the partnership was taking place. The protesters were kept at a distance a way from the building entrance in the rain. A few cars honked their support. It is hard say if this protest made a difference but it is good to know people don’t take destructive policies and back room politics lying down.

Kevin Hing’s 50th Birthday

Posted on by Thor

50 years is a major milestone and cause for celebration. Kevin  Hing had me do a sketch of him and his dad at the traditional Irish music session at Claddagh Irish Pub (4308 Curry Ford Road). Since I needed to scan the sketch before I gave it to him, he suggested I drive out for his 50th birthday celebration in Clearwater which is just south of Tampa. This was a chance to see how my Toyota Prius performed on a longer road trip.  This was a chance to stretch out her legs on the open road. I drove for an hour or so in the quiet cabin towards the setting sun. A draw bridge raised leaving me waiting for some time to get on the island.

The home was right on the Inter coastal waterway. There was a very diverse crowd. There were conservative politicians out by the pool and plenty of musicians mingling in the kitchen. Vicki Gish and Scott Vocca thanked me for the print I had given them. They had it framed and it went on the wall for the first time that morning. I arrived a bit late because of the drive, but my timing was perfect because the food had just been put out. There was plenty of BBQ and I loaded my plate. I got a soda from outside, but when the Irish music started, I switched to the thick rich Guinness beer. Kevin thanked everyone for coming. He was happy to share this island paradise with so many of his friends. He got a bit choked up  as he spoke about how lucky he was and people filled the silence with applause.

Irish musicians from all over the state of Florida came to Kevin’s birthday celebration.  Besides the Orlando Klan, there were musicians from Tampa and Clearwater. As they started to play, the sun dipped below the horizon and the sky burned orange. I sipped my Guinness between reels. As the evening grew darker so did my sketch. I’m half Irish on my mother’s side. Her grand parents came from Corr Ireland and the music seems to be in my blood. When my sketch was done, I packed up my supplies. I have never stayed to the bitter end of a traditional music session. They must play very late into the night. Kevin confided, “Sometimes it’s hard to tell if your playing really well or if you’ve just had too much to drink.” My sketch seemed to take form without effort, then again I might have had too much Guinness.

The Bigger the Better

Posted on by Thor

Nude Nite had so many sketching opportunities, that it was hard to focus my attention. A model lay prone as a female body painter scrolled intricate red patterns on her body. A tower of wire armature nudes spiraled upward with the artist continuing to add figures. Nude winged angels soared overhead. An aerialist spun herself on satin streamers from the rafters. I finally couldn’t resist sketching as Stephen Palladino worked on an urban mural of a very big and busty woman. The wall was inside the abandoned warehouse dividing the two huge halves of the Nude Nite exhibit. A forklift was needed to raise him up as he added a tattoo of legs spinning around a heart on the busty mural’s shoulder.

Since there was art on all the walls, I had to sit in the middle of the room, much like the guy seated on the red bucket. This meant plenty of people became curious, looking over my shoulder. I had to snap out of my “zone” fairly often to say “thank you” or to crack a joke so I could get back to work. To the left of the mural, behind that green partition was a large wooden table decorated with intricate metal work and divided into sections. A bottle was hard mounted to the table with an iron cage. The whole contraption had the looks of a Medieval torture device. The bottle was spun and a woman)s muscular boyfriend grabbed her by the hips, trying to position her as the bottle came to a stop. She laughed and leaned against him. They kissed passionately when the bottle stopped. I walked up to the table to see what the fuss was about. Written in the partitions, were instructions like “Nibble my ear”, “Talk dirty to me”, some I can’t repeat since there might be children reading, and of course the classic, “Kiss me.” I kept moving to make sure the bottle didn’t land on me. I didn’t see who had spun it after all.

I had a long drive back to Orlando from Tampa, and I decided three sketches were enough for one night, so I hit the road. The line to get in to Nude Nite was incredibly long. The evening was just getting started for many couples.

Body Painting

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At the Nude Nite warehouse in Tampa, I looked at some figurative art and then stopped when I saw body painter Cat Camp hard at work. She was working on a male and female model, alternating between them so they could each take brakes. Both models already had white bones painted in place. The male model had the number 6365 written on the center of his back with navy anchors jutting out from behind the shield. I asked him about the number when he was on a break. He works for the coast guard and last week a Coast Guard helicopter went down on a mission. He wanted this body painting to honor his fallen guardsmen.Cat outlined the rib bones and then his pelvis.

The female model spoke with me while I sketched. Seated in my artist stool, I had to look up at her. Ribs were painted on her chest with a flaming heart trapped inside. As we spoke, I made sure not to analyze the maze of patterns flowing over her breasts. She posed next for Cat who outlined ribs and accentuated details. Paint had smeared on her chest and Cat groaned. “I didn’t touch the paint, I swear.” she said. I thought the same. After an hour of being painted, the model’s eyes began to tear up. She tilted her head back not wanting the tears to ruin the paint. The male model noticed and asked, “Are you crying?” She silently took a break to wipe her eyes. When she was gone, Cat said, “I’ve been painting bodies for two days straight, I’m a bit cranky. She’s a delicate spirit.” Later that night the female model was feeling lively and vivacious again as she posed for photos with guests. “I love seeing my art come alive” said Cat.

Nude Nite Tampa

Posted on by Thor

I gave myself plenty of time to drive to Tampa with I-4 traffic. As I got off the highway I realized I was several hours early. I passed endless warehouses until I came to the end of the road at a warehouse with a “Mad Max” styled vehicle. The owner of the vehicle does set construction for the DRIP Dance company. This was it. I decided to walk the neighborhood in search of a sketch. There were hundreds of garbage trucks parked in a lot, smelling pungent. Crows perched on the trucks probably looking for food as they laughed. I realized the ride in front of the Nude Nite warehouse was a far better sketch, so I hiked back.

The sun was getting low on the horizon as I worked. Performers began to arrive. A magician strolled by and a body painter stopped to see what I was sketching. Her model arrived in another car. When she turned to go inside, I read “Paws off” written across her short shorts with two paw prints on her buns. I saw Kelly Stevens, the event organizer got out of her car. I almost shouted “Hello!” but she had a thousand things on her mind. I felt more at home as performers arrived.

A photographer walked beside me as I made my way inside. It was his first time photographing Nude Nite and he was excited. Kelly greeted me inside and I slipped between the red velvet curtains and looked at the art with an unobstructed view. Nude Nite celebrates the human body in art. The event was multifaceted with sculpture, painting, performance art, body painting and characters walking the floor. It was the largest figurative show in America. I walked over and started another sketch.