5G COVID Conspiracy Theory

Posted on by Thor

5G is the next generation of wireless network technology that is steadily being rolled out across the United States and around the world. It provides faster data speeds and network capacity than existing 4G LTE technology.

An implausible 5G Conspiracy theory is based on the strange notion that the launch of 5G caused the spread of COVID-19. With social media platforms plagued by the spread of misinformation, this idea circulated like wildfire. The basic premise was that COVID-19 was man-made or something evil, a sort of viral Frankenstein. One version of the conspiracy goes like this, the COVID-19 pandemic is part of a strategy conceived by global elites to roll out vaccinations with tracking chips that would later be activated by 5G, the technology used by cellular networks.

More than 70 cellphone towers were set on fire in the United Kingdom in April and May because of their alleged link to the spread of the virus. Other arsonists struck around the world, while a woman in North Carolina fired her gun at cell phone workers as they worked on a tower. This is like the villagers taking to the streets with torches and pitchforks to corner the monster.

This level of fear inspired irrationality reminded me of the 1938 Orson Wells produced radio play War of the Worlds. This radio broadcast had residents in New Jersey running for the hills  and shooting at water towers thinking the Martians were attacking. The mind can become unhinged in times of crisis.

“The weight of scientific evidence has not effectively linked exposure to radio frequency energy from mobile devices with any known health problems,” the FCC noted.  I’m left wondering why these conspiracy theorists wear face masks if they believe the towers cause the infection. Tech companies have had struggled to combat COVID-19 misinformation. As long as the pandemic has been in the news, there has been an endless torrent of false information about it.

“People are drawn to conspiracy theories during periods of crisis and uncertainty, and this is certainly one of those times,” Karen Douglas, a professor of psychology told the HuffPost. By connecting dots, conspiracy theories take the unknown out of the equation and give people a sense of control. Even if the belief is untrue, having some sort of explanation for what’s going on can be soothing.

The reality of the situation is that COVID-19 was naturally caused, and we don’t know how to stop it from spreading yet. That is scary. If a person believes 5G towers caused COVID-19, they have something concrete to fight rather than facing the unknown. A study from Princeton University found that social isolation is linked to dark, superstitious thinking. People have more time for conspiratorial thinking. People who believe in conspiracy theories are more likely to be associated with prejudice, violence and crime.

Of course the president of the United States is often guilty of spreading these conspiracy theories leading to a perfect storm of stupid. He has even Tweeted that the CDC and media are lying about the virus to hurt his re-election chances. He has troubles with his priorities. He loves throwing gasoline on the fire.

One thing we can all do to prevent the spread of conspiracy theories is to look for trusted, reliable information backed by facts and science and maybe some art.

Accidental Historian Install

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The Accidental Historian Exhibit will be on display the the Orange County Regional History Center (65 East Central Boulevard Orlando FL) from September 21, 2019 to January 21, 2020. I went in to sketch during the install of the exhibit. I was  intrigued with the fact the eight years of my sketchbooks were stacked like the Tower of Terror inside a glass museum case. The staff tried to just stack the books but it swayed uncontrollably and they had to come up with a plan B. A clear plastic spine was created that supports the high column of books but even with that solution, the tower slumps forward just a bit like an old man reaching for a cane. On top of the tower one sketchbook is open to a sketch of a giant inflatable alligator that was once in front of the History Center thanks to Heather Henson. A laser level stood sentry like a War of the Worlds armored attack vehicle. It stood on spindly legs staring at the sketchbook tower perhaps judging how fragile it looked.

In this exhibition, created at the
History Center, you get to learn how individuals who are absorbed in documenting
the world of today accidentally become some of Central Florida’s finest
historians for the future. You can also catch a glimpse into some of the museums
collections that were created for the now – more than 100 years ago.

The Accidental Historian features both historic and
contemporary work and collections, including drawings by the renowned
artist and teacher Ralph Bagley and Orlando Urban Sketchers , poetry by
Orlando’s inaugural poet laureate Susan Lilley, audiovisual work by food
blogger Ricky Ly, historic images by photographer T.P. Robinson, and of course a some Orlando sketches by myself.

Visitors to the exhibit can create 19th-century “tweets” and step
into a larger-than-life, Instagrammable photo station, along with other
fun features. The exhibit is fully bilingual, presented in both English
and Spanish. Related programs range from preservation workshops to
poetry readings and a historical food-based demonstration.

In my sketch, I focused on the huge open sketchbook in the corner of the room where Orlando Urban Sketchers work was displayed. I am proud that these artists who work together to explore Central Florida with their sketchbooks are now seeing their work exhibited in a museum. Their vision is unique in a time when people tend to shoot homogenized selfies with thoughtless abandon. These artists take the time to truly see the world around them.

The Cradle Will Rock Was Used For an Open Debate Among Students

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The Cradle Will Rock is a 1937 musical by Marc Blitzstein. Originally a part of the Federal Theatre Project, it was directed by Orson Welles, and produced by John Houseman. The musical is an allegory of corruption and corporate greed. Set in “Steeltown, USA”, it follows the efforts of Larry Foreman to unionize the town’s workers and combat wicked, greedy businessman Mr. Mister, who controls the town’s factory, press, church and social organization. The piece is almost entirely sung-through, giving it many operatic qualities, although Blitzstein included popular song styles of the time.

The production was shut down four days before its opening by the Work Progress Administration,
which stated that due to budget cuts, the WPA was reorganizing its arts
projects, and all openings of WPA plays, musicals, concerts, and art
galleries were to be delayed until after July 1, however, many asserted
that the musical had been censored because the pro-union plot was “too
radical”.
The theatre was padlocked and surrounded by security to prevent anyone
from stealing props or costumes, as these were considered U. S.
Government property. Welles, Houseman, and Blitzstein, seeking a way to privately produce the show, rented the much larger Venice Theatre and a piano just in time for the scheduled preview on June 16, 1937.
The 600 audience members, who had gathered outside the Maxine Elliot
Theatre for the preview, traveled 21 blocks north to the Venice
Theatre; many were on foot. The sold-out house grew even larger when the show’s creators invited people off the street to attend for free.To avoid government and union restrictions, the show was performed with Blitzstein playing piano onstage and the cast members singing their parts from the audience. It was a bold decision for every actor since taking this stance could have ruined their careers. Orson Wells and John Houseman were fired for insubordination. They then formed their own, Mercury Theater Company, which would later produce the radio play War of the Worlds which put Orson Wells on the map allowing him to later direct the movie Citizen Kane using many actors from the Mercury Theater troupe.

Though attempts might be made, it is hard to silence creativity in a democratic society. But it might take one frail voice to make that stand. Students sat in a circle on the empty stage reliving the events in 1937. It is hard to imagine remaining silent when social media makes expressing any idea so easy. Yet who honestly ever swims upstream. We do all we can to swim downstream in school formation.

Welcome Home, Pay Up

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I just got back from a beautiful trip to the Pacific Northwest and started going through the pile of mail. I discovered a letter from the City of Orlando saying I had not paid a parking ticket and since payment was overdue, I owed a fine as well. What Parking ticket? I had never seen one. I discovered after some research that the ticket was issued on the opening night of “War of the Worlds“. On that night I had gone to an opening night pre-party at the Savoy. Parking is near impossible in the antiques neighborhood where the bar was located and I drove around for quite some time to find the perfect spot. I parked in a residential neighborhood far from the congestion and enjoyed the long walk to the bar. I didn’t get the ticket for parking in a no parking zone but instead it was for parking with the butt of the car facing west instead of east.

I had just experienced a surreal display of authority at Lake Eola and decided I needed to further my experience in the city by dropping off my $45 parking ticket check in person. I was shocked when I walked up to the City’s Parking Division. The city placed this cash cow in the ground floor of a 5 story parking garage. This bureaucratic edifice resembles a movie ticket booth only a little bigger. It is playfully decorated by 32 colorful ceramic tiles decorated by school children to give the passer by a warm feeling that art is alive in the City Beautiful. I expected a long line at the pay out window but instead found I could just walk up to the window and deposit the check as if in a bank. I was curious to see my original ticket but knew that would cause a long and arduous wait. I just smiled and paid keeping my comments to myself. I don’t think I could have reasoned with the woman behind the window anyway. I am sure she has seen it all, besides video cameras were located everywhere. Big brother was watching.

As I sketched homeless would wander by, some with bikes and some with loaded carts, heading back to Parrimore returning from their day downtown. A young couple shouted down to me from the parking garage 2 floors above “Hey, don’t forget to sketch us!” Every 15 minutes or so another person would walk into the Parking Division to drop off a check or cold hard cash. The stream of people was steady and sure.

Post Script. I got a mutilated letter crushed into a plastic postal bag that says “We Care” in the mail today from the City for my Parking Violation Notice. A quarter of the letter had been ripped out by some sorting machine. I got to see the picture of my truck beautifully parked with no warning signs in sight. Sigh, I am so innocent.

War of the Worlds – Its a Wrap

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At the War of the Worlds Wrap party, Chantry Banks complained that in all the copy I had written about the show, I had never mentioned his name. So to satisfy his ego, here is a post lovingly dedicated to Chantry.
Whenever there was a break in rehearsals Chantry would pick up his knitting needles and start knitting. Erika who had to knit on stage while listening to the radio broadcast consulted with Chantry to get her up to speed. During every rehearsal Chantry would say something that would get everyone in the cast laughing. Sometimes after one of these outbreaks an actor would try and say a serious line and would end up cracking up and start laughing for no apparent reason. Chantry is a true professional however and often volunteered to read the Mercury Theater broadcast parts when it would help in the Public’s independent rehearsals. If there was any doubt about what would motivate his character, Chantry would never shy away from clarifying the point with the directors.
While doing this sketch I was intrigued by Chantry’s focus, his hands moved with sure deft precision. Did I mention Chantry? Chantry, Chantry. Chantry.
The play had its final performance two days ago. I am going through a bit of withdrawal. It is hard to say goodbye to such an amazing cast. I miss them all. Hopefully I will see some of them again if I sketch at other show rehearsals.

War of the Worlds – Costume Designer

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As I entered the Shakespeare Theater I noticed one of my blog readers Patricia looking at the board covered with sketches I had done of the War of the Worlds rehearsals. I walked up behind her and said “I know that artist, he is a hack.” We laughed and she introduced me to her friend. She asked if I was sketching or just enjoying the show tonight and I explained that I planned to sketch backstage again. She said she probably would not have known about the show had it not been for my blog posts. That made me extremely happy. Several students from my class at Full Sail also came out to this evenings performance.
Once back stage I decided to watch the hectic activity around the prop table again. Kelly – Anne Salazar the costume designer was relaxing and reading a magazine. She had already put out all the costumes and the actors were busy getting changed upstairs. Lindsay Cohen walked past and said “Hey TT“. She has a nick name for just about everyone in the cast and now everyone refers to me as TT backstage. Sigh, its not very dignified, but I have to live with it.
The stage manager announced “Five minutes” and the actors replied “Thank you five”. Alan who plays Orson Wells quietly went over his opening lines to himself. Everyone began wishing each other luck and then the show was on. What I like about sitting back stage is that the place feels like it is in a time warp. Kelly – Anne looked like she could have been straight out of the 1930’s and the poster on the wall hearkened back to war times.
While I sketched I heard a teenage girl sobbing on the stairs above me. She was one of the younger actors performing in “The Two Gentleman of Verona” in the next theater over. I could hear the muffled singing from this musical as I worked and quite honestly the singing was often way off key. Another girl finally tried to comfort the sobbing actress. “What did you do wrong?” The sobbing actress said something in between the tears, but just thinking about it slowed down the emotions. “OK is that it.” “You didn’t do anything wrong.” “It is soooo not your fault.””We are all freaking out, it isn’t your fault.” The crying actress finally said “I didn’t want to do anything wrong.” “Come on.” The two actresses came down the steps hand in hand and went to the green room.
Suddenly a huge standing ovation broke out in the Golwin Theater and I realized War of the Worlds had rocked the house. The actors came out laughing because there had been a strange sort of group delay when they bowed. The audience didn’t seem to mind, they went wild.

War of the Worlds – Prop Table

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For Friday nights performance I immediately wandered back to the Green Room to contemplate what I should sketch next. I arrived a bit early and found the room filled with chattering and excited teenagers who were performing next door. Sophia was sitting among them. We both wondered where the War of the Worlds actors were going to change. We walked into the Goldwin Theater and Fletch was there to explain what was happening. It turned out the Young Actor Company had a performance in the theater next door at the same time as War of the Worlds. He found two other rooms for our actors to change in.
When Sophia disappeared Fletch told me about another major problem. Lightning had struck the Theater the night before and the stage lights had been blown out. Suddenly everyone as in a panic. In the final minutes before the show an electrician was called in to try and fix the problem. Fletch dreaded the thought of having to performing the play with just the house lights on.
While all this was going on Lesley Ann was working on the wardrobe placing actors props such as hats and shoes in the appropriate taped grid on the floor. Other props rested on a table with a similar grid. The stage manager gently opened the vintage lunch box and placed in an apple which Joshua would eat on the stage edge facing the audience in the first moments of the play.
Before the actors had finished changing into their wardrobes, the electrician walked past me up the stairs with a line of nervous stage hands and lighting technicians behind him. Five minutes later, an eternity for the directors, the electrician walked past me again down the steps saying, “Another tragedy averted.” He was the hero of the day. I spotted Aradhana at the bottom of the staircase I was sketching from and shouted “They fixed the lights! You have lights!” She shouted with glee.
The actors just before going on the stage would tap fists together and tap elbows for luck. Andy who played Orson Wells, flipped through a magazine. The pace of this show is very fast. Actors would often run to the table to grab something and then they dashed right back on the stage.
The small rag doll on the prop table was created by Tanja and her daughters. It is made from extra curtain material she had on hand and filled with cotton balls. The hair was made from curtain lining material that they soaked in tea.The doll has a quirky endearing quality. For Tanja it is now a family heirloom.
I went to Tastings Wine Bar to celebrate with the cast. They had much to celebrate since the night was a near disaster that turned into a glowing success. Tonight is the FINAL performance of War of the Worlds. It starts at 7 PM at the Shakespeare Theater in Lock Haven Park. I plan to dress is a fine suit to celebrate a great run with an amazing cast. The end is near.

War of the Worlds – The Green Room

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A green room is a room in a theater, for the accommodation of performers when not required on the stage. Its function is as a lounge so that performers do not have to go back to dressing rooms and are still easily accessible for their call. For the Sunday performance I finally ventured back to the green room to see the performers before they went on stage. I held off going earlier because I was concerned the actors might feel uncomfortable with me sketching them as they got into costumes. There are three sets of dressing rooms and they all open into the green room. There was a plate of cookies on the table and several actors joked about not being able to stop eating them, “This is my last cookie, honest”.
Linsay Cohen asked everyone including myself to pose for a group photo. She coached us all telling everyone “You just found out Thomas Thorspecken painted you naked”. I smiled broadly, perhaps to broadly and after inspecting the Digital shot Linsay was disappointed that none of the actors had shown disgust or dismay. Kelly – Ann Salazar was on hand in case any costuming alterations were needed. Everyone was energetic and excited. I realized I couldn’t catch all the actors so I simply locked down the few who sat down and relaxed prior to the performance. This left the actors I did sketch sort of isolated as if in an Edward Hopper painting. Perhaps that is why Edward Hoppers paintings seem so lonely, it is simply because he couldn’t sketch the joyous activity fast enough!
When the play started the green room lights were turned off since the light would bleed onto the stage. I was concerned since I hadn’t started adding watercolor washes yet. I considered doing another sketch of the actors waiting in the wings, since there was some light to be found there, but finally I returned to the green room with the stubborn intent that I always finish a sketch once it is started. Painting in the dark was actually easy once my eyes adjusted. I kept the washes fairly light so the room feels light filled.
I worked on the sketch for the entire duration of the show, about 50 minutes. This left me to experience the action on stage strictly with my ears. The performance thus had the impact of the original radio broadcast. All the visceral panic and terror could still be felt just from my listening to the play. When the applause died down, the actors poured back into the green room and there was a blur of activity as they returned to this century. The cast went out to Stardust Video and Coffee for drinks after wards, but for once I returned home to watch a movie with Terry.
You can still see War of the Worlds tonight at 8 PM at the Shakespeare Theater and tomorrow night at 7 PM. Don’t miss it! Time is running out!

War of the Worlds – Opening Night

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Opening night of the War of the Worlds was pure magic! When I arrived in the lobby of the Shakespeare theater I was shocked to find the cast had assembled all my blog post sketches on a board in the lobby to share with the audience. I was deeply touched. For once I put away the sketchbook and sat in the front row center to get an up close view of the show. This was the first time I watched the show straight through without the distraction of attempting to sketch. This performance with a full audience had a panicked energy that I had not seen before. All of the actors performed the very physical scenes all out. Everyone was sweating which added a sense of authenticity to the emotions. Certain scenes left me feeling terrified. That feeling lingered.
After the play was finished and the standing ovation had died down, Terry and I were invited back to the green room for a sip of champagne with the cast. I was unbelievably happy and proud of the performers. The cast then went to the Social Chameleon and we all partied late into the night. Joshua and Terry got into a heated discussion on how events portrayed in the play in many ways resembled the emotions and fears generated on September 11th. Joshua actually said he channeled some of those feelings by re watching footage shot on that day of the people, who had to choose between being burnt alive or leaping to their deaths. I stayed at the party to the bitter end, When I finally got home and slipped into bed, thoughts of unfinished conversations and the adrenaline rush of the evening left me unable to sleep. I watched the sun slowly slip into the bedroom and then got up at 7:30 AM to go to a senior center to sketch a writing workshop. The sketch was effortless and had a renewed feeling of humanity.

War of the Worlds – Jessica Earley

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Jessica is soft spoken, humble yet vibrantly creative. When she speaks I always lean as close to her as I can to hear what she is saying. She is almost always laughing and has a innocent charm that can be seen in all her video work.
When I arrived at Jessica’s studio, it was pouring rain outside. I climbed the slippery metal staircase and struggled to close my umbrella to get in the door. Inside was warm and cozy.
She is the creator of the amazing viral promotional War of the Worlds video. Here Jessica is preparing to animate the stop motion titles to me used in a possible second video. Her huge cat is named Mein Kampf (my struggle) and he had a habit of stretching every few minutes and he knocked the Crayola Crayons off the Coffee table twice. Occasionally Jessica would accidentally brush a piece of paper against his fur and this would wake him up and make him look around wide eyed in alarm. Jessica said it is a bit embarrassing when the he gets out and she has to wander the neighborhood shouting “Mein Kampf” to try and find him.
She quickly drew all the letters on brightly colored craft paper then cut out the letters with scissors. These letters were then taped on the world map behind her and she then incrementally moved them until they formed the title over North America. She then animated the flying saucers which entered the scene and blew up the title with lasers. Her tripod is the pile of books to the right and the individual shots were taken with the tiny digital camera perched on top. It was fun watching her work her magic. I decided my sketch was done when her second camera battery died. Her work and mine was done.