Flight out of Panama

Terry and I piled into a cab outside Alison's apartment building at four in the morning. The streets of Panama city were relatively quiet. At the airport there was a long line at the American Airlines counter. Why were they all up so early for? We waited to cheek our bags. Security was the usual hassle, removing shoes, getting the tablet PC into a separate storage bin to go through the x-ray machine. My assortment of art supplies usually sparks curiosity and a second search. This time I just had to put up with a pat down. Terry said the female security officer felt up her breasts.

Terry is usually nervous flying so she took a prescribed tablet to calm her nerves. We checked into the Admirals Club which is much quieter than waiting at the gate. Terry was out like a light. She slept while I sketched until a patch of sunlight crawled along the wall and then shined right into her eyes. At the gate people pushed and formed a long line when section A was announced for boarding. I stood at the back of the line and Terry walked up to the front of the line. She waved me up. She asked several people if they were in section A. They weren't. We cut in front of everyone. Terry explained that she had lived in Venezuela for a year and in Latin America everyone pushes to the front of the line. Bureaucratic courtesies like road signs were ignored.

Terry immediately fell asleep on the plane. An hour late, the plane taxied out to the runway and stopped. Half an hour later the pilot announced that one of the six fuel pumps wasn't working. The air on the plane shut off. The cabin gradually started to heat up. I wished I had worn shorts. I started sweating. People stood in the aisle talking nervously in Spanish. The plane taxied back to a runway and continued to wait. Still there was no air. I was getting lightheaded. There was less oxygen and too much CO2. I calmed my nerves. I might be hyperventilating. They could always deploy the oxygen masks, couldn't they? I was seated right next to one of the exit doors over the wings. I imagined I could force open this emergency exit before I passed out. But what if I passed out first? Terry was sound asleep. The pilot announced that they hoped to get a portable air system trucked in from another airline. An hour later the air turned on. Everyone raised their hands to check the flow of air. Several people stood putting their faces up to the air nozzles inhaling deeply and turning their faces into the breeze.

I don't know if they ever fixed the fuel pump. Three and a half hours late, we accelerated down the runway and took flight. We missed our connecting flight in Miami and had to get our bags to go through customs and head through security again. This time I had to stand in one of the new full body scanners. A bright light bar whirled around me as I stood with my arms up in the sign of surrender. I didn't get to see my nude scan, I was curious. At the Orlando airport we waited forever at baggage claim. Terry's bag arrived early in the process. Everyone else picked up their bags and left. Then an orange cone that said, "Last Bag" showed up on the moving beltway. We went into the office and found out that my bag was still in Miami. I had left a camera in that bag so I didn't have to carry it. What a mistake! A day later my bag was delivered to my doorstep with several new rips and the zipper handles removed. Luckily the camera, which I never did use on the vacation, was safe and sound in it's protective case.

Pulse of Miami

On our final day experiencing Art Basel in Miami, Terry and I went to Pulse. This contemporary art exhibit was in a huge warehouse which is normally used for photo shoots and large parties. At the entrance I went through the routine of getting my press pass which landed me a VIP card. The previous evening Terry had been handed a ticked by some guy on the street who had already been to the show. The building is surrounded by a stone wall and the gated entrance lead us to a nice grass lawn with some sculptures and hammocks tied between the palm trees. It was a perfect lazy morning so I decided to start off by kicking back and relaxing on the lawn. There is nothing better than sketching to settle into a place. I was fascinated by this small red European car which was perfectly symmetrical, having steering wheels and headlamps in both the front and back of the vehicle. Re-imagining automobiles seemed to be a running theme this year.

Many people entering the PULSE galleries stopped stared and took pictures. Signs on the car's seats however asked that no one sit inside the vehicle. In front of the car was a sculpture by Orly Genger titled "Beefcakes 2010." It was made from miles of white rope woven together like it was crocheted. It's spiraling form looked to me like Hokasai's "The Great Wave at Kanagawa." Similar rope sculptures were scattered around the lawn. Children couldn't resist sitting and playing on them. Soon parents relaxed and sat on the sculptures as well while they discussed their last European vacation.

Two of Terry's friends showed up and we all sat down to have lunch. Over lunch I was told about some Graffiti artists who were working over on 23rd Street. As soon as I finished eating, my mind wandered and I got antsy wanting to get another sketch done. When the conversation turned to fashion, Terry suggested I take off on foot to sketch. I didn't need to be told twice. I hiked past a cement factory and several automotive cut shops. The buildings got dingier until I hit the first patch of bright graffiti color. Suddenly every building was covered with pop images, Henai Anime, and bold tags.

When I came across a group of artists busy tagging a wall, I settled in to sketch. The artist working in the foreground is named "Clever." I could smell the aerosol fumes the whole time I worked. The distant artist used a face mask and Clever wore a purple surgical glove on his spray can hand. People occasionally would stop and take pictures of the artists at work. Paint cans and other supplies were neatly arranged on a large trailer bed. The trailer bed just happened to be parked there offering a nice platform to inspect the work in progress.

When I was done with the sketch, I shared my work with the graffiti artists and then wandered the neighborhood some more. Galleries popped up left and right. The buildings exploded with color and were filled with art. Music blared from boom boxes and then I came across a large store front that was being covered with graffiti. Grazyana Kleinman, an Orlando photographer was there taking photos. I stopped to talk for a while. Grazyana has shot a whole series of photos of graffiti artists at work. She was ecstatic, in her element soaking in the vibrant street scene around her. Terry drove up thanks to several text messages and Art Basel was over. I certainly experienced more this Year than last, but three days just isn't enough time.

CEO Stagecoach

There was so much more going on in Miami besides the art on display in the Convention Center for Art Basel. I spent an entire day trying to track down and sketch the CEO Stagecoach. In the morning Terry and I went to the Rosa Dela Cruz Gallery (23 NE 41 Street ) along with Elayne Pines, Bob Newlen and Derek Hewitt. I quickly ran through the 3 floors of modern art and decided I had to draw this furry Sasquatch with mirrored staircases spiraling in and around it. A female guard stood vigil in her white suite beside the sculpture the whole time. The wall behind was covered floor to ceiling with colored mirrors which appealed to many a vain patron or photographer. Periodically a patron would walk up to the furry monstrosity and snap a photo using their iPhone. To me the sculpted creature looked very annoyed at all the attention he was getting. Black ooze dripped from his fingertips and where the fur was stripped away the flesh was pink and raw. I wondered if his privates were the focus of these photos but I couldn't see from where I was sketching half way up a staircase. Just as I was finishing the sketch, I got a text message from Terry letting me know she was relaxing having a free coffee and cookies out on the back patio. After I tried a few cookies myself, we went to a staff member of the gallery and asked about the Stagecoach. He didn't know where to find it but he did an exhaustive internet search. It turned out that the artist was giving a talk about his creation at the LIONS Gallery at Museovault(346 NW 29th Street) and the coach was slated to be there till 4pm. Terry and I got back in her car and rushed over to that gallery.

As we pulled up to the Museovault, Terry pointed and shouted out "There it is!" The horse drawn art was on the move however. I was despondent. It was leaving. Terry suggested I get out and run after it, but I haven't figured out yet how to sketch while running. We went inside to ask about the piece anyway. The space had a fun quirky collection of art. There was a radio that once belonged to Robert Maplethorpe that Kieth Haring had drawn a few of his white stick figures on. I was informed that the CEO Stagecoach was going to pick up the artists parents and it would be returning. I sent out an excited tweet just in case any other artists had made it their mission to sketch the coach. I paced the gallery nervously waiting for my moment to sketch. Terry had one of the curators looking online for handbags and concertinas. I felt at home in this gallery which was humble compared to the circus of excess at the convention center.

The CEO Stagecoach was created by artist Jeremy Dean. He got the idea of cutting a Hummer in half and rebuilding it as a stagecoach after he read about how people bought cars before the Great Depression of 1929 and then they could not afford to pay for gas. All over the south Americans converted cars into horse drawn carts. These cars were referred to as "Hoover Carts", after President Edgar Hoover. The Hummer has become a symbol of American excess in the 21st century. Jeremy ended up spending his wife's life savings to buy a brand new Hummer to deconstruct. Luckily the piece was immediately purchased by a museum in Kentucky. After all the modifications the vehicle weighed in at 18 hundred pounds which isn't much more than a standard cart. The gorgeous Belgian Draft horses didn't seem to mind. As Jeremy said, "This is an exploration of historical amnesia, the culture of excess, financial collapse, sustainability and the future, through leather, steel and chrome." Jeremy is planning to convert a Cadillac Escalade next. I asked Jeremy to sign my sketch. After his talk a bicycle rolled by on the sidewalk riding on its rims with no rubber tires. There was something surreal about the moment as both vehicles made statements about want and economics.

Stendhal Syndrome

In the nineteenth century a French author named Stendhal was traveling in Florence Italy and he was so overwhelmed by all the art and beauty that he became dizzy, faint and physically sick. After a second solid day of chasing art in Miami I believe I might have suffered from this Stendhal Syndrome.

This sketch was done in the convention center. This installation caught my attention because inside people were sitting and gently playing a drum. The piece was called Circleprototemple by Ernesto Neto. A thin shear red fabric was stretched over wooden forms which created what in my mind resembled a heart or very large strawberry. This wasn't an organized performance, rather curious passers by would enter the oval portal and sit on the wooden benches inside. A single drum mallet was suspended from a bungee chord over the drum. If the mallet was lifted and dropped it would bounce up and down striking the drum. Some people went inside not to play the drum, but to sit and finger their iPhones and PDA's . I was surprised when Orlando photographer Grazyna Kleinman stopped by while I was sketching. She told me about her crazy night of partying till 4am. She was running on pure adrenaline. As we spoke an exhibitor told me to move my chair out into the exhibit floor walkway. He felt I was blocking a painting by Brian Calvin called group smoke.

I got two press passes to see SCOPE, a huge collection of work from contemporary artists in a large outdoor tent. Here I found the work of an artist whose paintings truly caused my heart to race. His name was Karim Hamid and he paints large figurative works with oils on board. His work is expressionistic and resembles the work of Francis Bacon to some extent. This work fired off something inside me, a new flame ignited. This is why I had come to Miami!

Later, Terry and I offered Brian Feldman a ride out to Miami's South Beach. He had a case of Art and culture induced hiccups. He spent the whole ride telling us about the performances he was planning for the 2011 Orlando Fringe Festival. Every sentence was interrupted by a new and peculiar hiccup. Each interrupted thought caused us all to laugh to the point where it became hard to breath. I tried to share with him a time honored family cure but the incantation alone didn't work without a cup of water.

Terry and I met two couples for dinner at a Cuban Thai Restaurant after dropping Brian off at South Beach. He was still hiccuping when he jumped out of the car. I had a spicy and delicious Pad Thai. When we called it a night and started the drive back to our friends home for the night, I suddenly felt ill. My stomach churned and I felt my innards turning to mud. Terry drove around the block and dropped me back at the restaurant. I ran back inside. Too much rich food, art and running around. I wouldn't be documenting any naked bonfire parties this night.

Art Basel Miami

As soon as I entered the Miami Convention center I searched for the media accreditation area. It was up an escalator on the second floor of section D. I had drafted my own press pass request letter with a nice Analog Artist Digital World letterhead. I was shocked when the young girl at the reception desk accepted my credentials and send me back to have my photo taken which was then printed out on a crispy new press pass. Blogs are slowly gaining ground as legitimate news media. Entering the convention floor, I had my bags checked by security. Terry, her friend Elayne and Bob had purchased tickets while I got my press pass so I tapped out a text message to Terry to find out if they were on the Convention floor yet. Actress Susan Serandon walked past me with an entourage. When I spotted Terry I told her about my star sighting and she quickly wandered off to gawk. I texted Brian Feldman to let him know I got my press pass. He had coached me on who to contact about getting the pass.

I wandered off in search of a spot to sketch. The narrow halls didn't offer much room for me to sit myself without getting tripped on. Art covered every wall so it was hard to find a spot to sketch from without sitting in front of a painting. I finally found this grassy knoll of artificial grass. I set up my chair and sketched the people relaxing around me. The painting on the wall opposite wall was the work of Eddie Martinez done in mixed media. Figge von Rosen Gallery had a series of photos on the wall of Mexicans dressed in colorful traditional outfits. A couple next to me were discussing the Picasso's and Magritte's they had just seen. To my right there was some metalic silver looking fabric suspended on a stick. The stick would spin and the fabric would loft up, looking like a spinning pizza and then a UFO. This huge show often left me wondering, just what is art these days. Every woman wandering the halls looked like a fashion model. I have never seen so many beautiful people all gathered in one place in my life. Someone estimated the valve of all the artwork assembled in Art Basel at over three Billion dollars. If you looked at the value of all the women's high heeled shoes walking Art Basel they might rival that value.

Art Basel

Tomorrow I leave for Art Basel in Miami. Art Basel is happening between December 2nd and 5th. Art Basel Miami Beach is the most important art show in the United States. As the sister event of Switzerland's Art Basel, the most prestigious art show worldwide for the past 41 years, Art Basel Miami Beach combines an international selection of top galleries with an exciting program of special exhibitions, parties and crossover events featuring music, film, architecture and design. Exhibition sites are located in the city's beautiful Art Deco District, within walking distance of the beach and many hotels.

I went to Art Basel last year and felt like I saw and experienced only a fraction of the art available. The world class art on display in the convention center alone is too much to digest in one day. I wandered in circles often finding myself back at the spot where I began. I am convinced a GPS is needed to navigate this endless maze of art. An iPhone Art Basel application is available and I hope it helps. This year I need to pace myself like a marathon runner while keeping my pen and sketchbook always ready. I need to keep my mind open and let the sketches flow. Last year I did this sketch of this huge sculpture by Thomas Housago. It is solidly built with rusting metal. The legs were made from quarter inch thick solid steel plates. The sculpture dominated the space at the base of a stairwell near the bookshop. An Andy Warhol look alike stood waiting for a friend. Two pigeons rested on a pipe high above and as I sketched them I realized they never moved. The pigeons were themselves a sculpture. The Rubell Family Collection was one of the many satellite exhibits that surrounded Art Basel. Let the festivities begin, I am back Miami!

Miami International Book Fair

0n the second day of the Miami International Book Fair, Elayne Pines, our hostess had one more author interview to do for her syndicated radio show "The Book Report." I did this sketch from outside the authors lounge which I had been denied access to. In this courtyard near the children's area, authors would sit at tables and sign books for the lines of people who gathered. Some people would arrive really early and sit on the pavement to wait. This book festival has grown quickly over the years but it maintains it's grassroots simplicity. Authors love coming to the fair because for once they are treated like rock stars.

Later that day I got a text from Brian Feldman who wanted my help to get into the book fair. I won't go into the details of that clandestine mission, which involved a homeless man, a sketch and hiding from security behind a CNN TV broadcast truck. When Brian arrived, Terry and I were waiting outside an auditorium to see Salmun Rushdie. Brian waited in line with us for a while working his iPhone the whole time trying to get me in to sketch a Spanish singer that night. He didn't have any luck getting tickets and he wandered off to look at all the tents full of books. He had to leave before the book fair closed to get to another "Going Green" performance at the Adrienne Arsht Center. Brian had arranged another performance in Miami where he will autograph 1500 head shots for anyone who wants one.

While walking the book fair I paid close attention to every graphic novel I saw. I finally had to buy a graphic novel by Nicolas De Crecy called "Glacial Period." I have been talking to an author about collaborating on a graphic novel, so I am opening myself up to the possibility.

Miami International Book Fair

The Miami International Book Fair is a huge event that sprawls taking up four city blocks. Elayne Pines who host a radio show called "The Book Report" was conducting interviews with authors all during the day. She lead us to building one of Miami Dade College where she would conduct her interviews on the second floor. Terry was her assistant for the day. I was left on my own to wander the booths and sketch. The fair was in part sponsored by the Mexico Tourist Information Association. In the center of the sketch there is a Red Mariachi Clown who wandered through the crowd. Later that day, Salman Rushdie, the well known author of Satanic Verses, was walking in the same intersection towards the authors lounge in building one. Wide eyed fans approached him, letting him know how his writings had affected their lives. Since Elayne wanted to interview him, we ended up becoming part of his entourage following him into the building.

After the sketch was finished we went to an authors panel discussion on "The Facebook Effect." David Kirkpatrick has been writing about Facebook since it began as a college meeting site. He pointed out that this is the only company to go from 0 to 600 thousand users in 6.5 years. He pointed out inaccuracies in the recent movie. The founder, Mark Zuckerberg, did not form the site after loosing a girlfriend, he had a girlfriend the whole time. More importantly David was highly impressed by Mark and he felt Mark was inaccurately portrayed as an asshole. Marks friend didn't walk away from the company empty handed but became an accidental billionaire.

By next year FB should have a billion users. Zuckerberg doesn't focus his energies on advertising or marketing, he hires people who do. Instead, all his energy goes into making immediate improvements to the program. This process of making immediate improvements and changing to meet new demands is what is making Facebook an unstoppable force. Another author, Dale Lamanga told hon he built a multi-million dollar business by simply selling tweezers. He stressed the importance of delegating responsibilities and empowering workers. He pointed out how important it is to focus on three things consistently, product, sales and management.

The third author, Larry Kramer discussed the idea of convergence. How all forms of media are now available on one platform. The iPad makes it possible for children to learn in new ways, a book might have a picture of a ball and when touched, the word ball appears and the audio plays. Newspapers that try to only promote the printed product fail if they do not also put their best content online. Consumers are in total control of where and when they will read and watch content. For content creators who embrace the new trends this is a very exciting time to market work in new and limitless ways.

Going Green the Wong Way

Getting to the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami was an adventure in battling congested urban traffic. Terry and I followed Elaine Pines who was a native Miami dweller. We hoped to get to downtown Miami from Miami Beach in 45 minutes. There were five accidents as we drove down I-95. Traffic slowed to a crawl. We considered scrubbing the whole theater experience since we were running late. Orlando performance artist Brian Feldman was performing in the theater lobby for an hour before Kristina's Wong's show. Brian and Kristina had met last summer at Atlantic Center for the Arts in New Smyrna Beach. Terry dropped me off at the theater steps and I jogged inside. I picked up our tickets and then asked the box office assistant where Brian was performing. He looked at me with a blank stare and said, "Brian Feldman? I'm sorry, I don't recognize the name." I thanked him anyway and searched the lobby. After I searched in the men's room (you never know where Brian might perform!), I found him right near the Carnival Studio Theater entrance. Beside him was a 5 gallon gasoline container. Brian lifted the container and took a long drink. Behind him, a large mosaic mural by Cundo Bermudez called "Ways of Performing" decorated the wall. He rested for a bit, coughing between long draughts. The arriving audience patrons that slowly crowded into the lobby never seemed to notice Brian. I, on the other hand, found the image of him sucking down gasoline timely and funny.I knew there wasn't much time to sketch so I rushed to get lines on the page.

Kristina's show, Going Green the W0ng Way, directed by Paul Tei, began with an image of Earth projected on a large screen. Hundreds of plastic grocery bags were piled up and toys were lined up along the back of the stage. The show was a no holds barred hilarious experience. She had no problems with self-deprecating humor. Everyone in the audience had a plastic grocery bag on their seat with a water bottle filled with beans that made for a fun alternative to clapping. The first act began with Wong shouting her environmental beliefs into a megaphone to her middle school classmates. She broke into a fast-paced rap that outlined her devotion to Mother Earth.

One of the show's funniest moments came as she demonstrated the wonders of a reusable tampon called The DivaCup. Her attempts to demonstrate this environmentally friendly product were embarrassingly funny. The story she later told about trying to reduce her carbon footprint by driving a car that ran on vegetable oil was endlessly funny. The car became a money pit, with endless trips to mechanics. She related the inner workings of the LA bus and subway system with so much detail, it became a spoof on how insane the inner workings were. I found it ironic that Terry and I had to battle so much traffic congestion in order to get to the show.

The environmentally friendly messages were driven home with humor. Life's bittersweet ironies were mined and exposed. The show never missed a beat. I laughed the whole time as I discovered more about Wong and the World she wanted to save. There are two more performances: Saturday, November 20th at 7pm and the same day at 10pm in the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County, Carnival Studio Theater (1300 N. Biscayne Blvd. Miami). Cost is $30-35.

The Miami Herald Press

The day after Thanksgiving, Elaine, our hostess had to go in to work at the Miami Herald. She had some last minute errands to run for an event she was planning called "The Herald Hunt". At 6AM every female in the house made a bee line to the mall to shop on Black Friday. Elaine came back from the shopping madness and as agreed she took me to the Herald to sketch the printing press. She was a bit nervous about getting me in since security was beefed up in the building.
Shown in the sketch is the silent room where workers periodically check to see if the printing press needed adjusting. They would leave the room and run up the steps to make adjustments to the press. The foreman suggested I wear earplugs and I took his suggestion. The noise is deafening. A long line of printed items flowed up a conveyor belt through a hole in the ceiling. Elaine explained that papers are bound up on this upper floor. Sketching opportunities were endless. I walked past the machinist shop and sparks were flying as the machinists worked.
After a while the foreman stopped by and looked over my shoulder. Rather than try to shout over the noise, he gave me a thumbs up.

Lotto Pool - Brian Feldman

I traveled to Miami Beach to see Brian Feldman's first performance there. Brian sat in the lobby of the Carlton Hotel in South Beach 1433 Collins Avenue. There he sat at a small table decorated with Lotto playslips. The goal of this performance was to pool $1 from as many people as possible and then purchase the number of tickets corresponding to the number of people who entered the pool. The hotel owner had reservations about allowing Brian to stage his performance here. He was concerned that it might seem like Brian was selling tickets right in the lobby. Brian had to keep a low profile to keep from being booted out.
This same evening, there was a Pool Art Fair being held in the hotel in conjunction with Art Basel Miami Beach. Art Basel Miami Beachis a huge art fair with gallery owners from around the world displaying their wares. Much of the best art work in the world is flown into Miami for this event and it it almost impossible to see it all. Terry and I both gave Brian a dollar and had to sign a "Lotto Pool" agreement. If one of the lotto tickets purchased won then Brian would purchase a piece of art from the Pool Fair or a parallel fair of Art Basel Miami Beach and he would divide the work by cutting (if a canvas or paper) or breaking (if sculpture or mixed media) the purchased art into the number of pieces corresponding to the number of individuals in the lotto pool.
Part of me wanted to win and another part didn't want to win. I didn't want to be a part of destroying a great work of art and yet it might be fun to see some bad art cut up. A friend told me a parable about two women who went before a king both claiming to be a baby's mother. When the king could not get to the bottom of the issue with just questions, he decided to cut the child in half and give each woman half. One woman pleaded and said she would relinquish her claim if he spared the child's life. The king then knew she must be the true mother. With that in mind, I let out a sigh of relief when Brian sent me an e-mail informing me that none of the lotto tickets purchased had won. At least I got a decent sketch.

The Herald Hunt

An estimated 5000 people showed up for the Miami Herald Hunt. The hunt offers teams of players a chance to win a 7 day Costa Caribbean cruise if they can find all the clues located around downtown Miami. The insanity began with a print out in the Miami Herald. There opening multiple choice questions were posted which would help locate coordinates on the supplied map to help pinpoint where clues were located. Here is one of those questions...
In August Sen Mel Martinez resigned as one of Florida's U.S. Senators. Whom did Gov. Charlie Crist appoint to replace him.
D. Gloria Estifan.
G. A live six foot nurse shark.
H. Some Lackey.
Well it wasn't Gloria, and not a nurse shark, so it had to be some lackey. Even I got this one right. The answer of H was then combined with a number given by Pulitzer prize winning author Dave Barry from the main stage to give a coordinate on the hunt map. This clue lead us to Trinity Cathedral a block away. Most of the crowd scattered. Terry and I were working with Hailey and she was the one who quickly got the map coordinates in place. As soon as the hunt began however some Carolers stepped out on the stage and started singing "Hark the Herald Angels Sing". Well hark means listen and this event was put on by the Herald so we stayed and listened. It soon became obvious that the two singers dressed as angels were not singing all the verses. They only sang verses 3, 5 and 11. In the paper 3511 was one of the clues. I thought, hey this is easy! We were off and running.
When we got to the Trinity Cathedral however we got bogged down. There volunteers gave each team a rubber bracelet and said "put it on your wrist". P 3 was stamped on to the bracelet. While everyone sat around looking at page 3 in the paper, trying to solve a letter jumble, I decided to just count the number of letters in "Put it on your wrist." That made the answer 16. I was excited and sure I was right but the rest of the team didn't agree. After half an hour of agonizing we decided to move on having not solved the puzzle. We even went so far as to count the number of bracelets on a mosaic located at the front of the cathedral but that was a false lead. After the event was over I found out 16 was the correct answer but for an entirely different reason. The jumble had "Put it on your wrist" within the jumbled letters and if you put the bracelet on the answer 16 letters were contained in the space. Ugh!!!
At this point I felt our team had no chance of winning and I started hunting for a sketch instead. At the Arsht Center Plaza, Juliet began calling out to Romeo from a balcony high above the crowd. She was so high up that Romeo has trouble hearing her and he yelled out that Juliet should call him. This clue lead astute hunters to a fake ad in the paper for an Italian restaurant called "The House of Montague". When the phone number in the add was called a message said "Where fore art thou has four syllables No, yes, no, yes." In other words pay attention to the second and fourth syllables. fore thou or 4000.
Another clue was given in the theater where a young white man named Jack was lying on the stage with a sword stuck in his chest. His friends tried to figure out who murdered Jack before the police arrived. As the actors were reenacting the events of the evening the house lights went out and the audience was told to stay seated while they fixed the problem. When the lights came back on the actors became concerned that something had changed. The murdered Jack had been replaced by a black actor. The answer to this puzzle was Black Jack or 21.
Other clues scattered about downtown consisted of an IV bottle and stand located outside the theater and a radio broadcast of a field goal. The answers would be 4 and 3. These were to help solve a Sudoku puzzle found down by the docks. Since my main goal now was no longer to win but to sketch, I returned to the main stage to sketch the carolers who had been performing every 15 minutes during the the event. As I was sketching, Dave Barry walked onto the stage and offered the final clue of the Hunt. He said, "I'd like to give you the final clue but it's just too gross." A gross is a dozen dozen or 144, two gross would be 288 this lead to a 6th clue in the paper that said "If words were inches". The insanely clever souls that had solved the 5 clues from around the city then counted the words in the 5 clues and got the answer of 48 words. 48 inches is 4 feet. On the Herald Hunt map, 4 feet were drawn near the theater and several teams sprinted in that direction. The location offered 4 bricks which were inscribed with the names of 4 made up donors all named Foot. The winners had to figure out the donors ages from dates inscribed on the bricks and from that they could assemble a phone number which when called announced them as the winners. Of course I never got that far, I was too busy sketching. Perhaps next year the Orlando team will be more of a contender.
It is a shame Orlando does not have such an exciting, fun, quirky way to get people excited about the arts and discovering the treasures of downtown. When the event was over I met Dave Barry and had him sign my sketch.

Black Friday - Miami

I did not head to the malls at 6AM like everyone else in the house. I was only convinced that I was missing a sketch opportunity late in the day by Margaret Nolan via facebook. I had already drawn The Miami Herald presses so I should have been satisfied. But when Terry and Elaine said they were going back for a second round of shopping, I decided to go. I thought I would be battling huge crowds but the mall was relatively quiet. The sound system piped in constant Christmas music like,"It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year". I swear that song is haunting me.
When I started to sketch the sun had already started to set. Christmas lights started to light up on palm trees and on topiaries. Some shoppers looked exhausted while teens patrolled chatting on iPhones. Santa had set up shop in an outdoor booth behind me, but I wasn't in a mood to face him just yet. Besides he looked nothing like the Macy's Parade Santa so he must have been an impostor. A mall security guard came over and looked over my shoulder. My stomach muscles tensed. He said "Wow did you do that just now?" Part of me wanted to be a smart-ass, but I just replied "Yes, thanks."

Thanksgiving in Miami

Terry and I spent Thanksgiving Day in Miami with Terry's long time friend Elaine. The Macy's Day parade was on TV as preparations were going on in the kitchen. Derrik made a fabulous appetizer with sun-dried tomatoes, olives, goat cheese and olive oil. He is working on that appetizer in the sketch.Terry as usual is fingering her iPhone. The turkey was in the oven being basted in ginger ale. Elaine's sisters showed up as did friends. In all twelve people enjoyed an amazing Thanksgiving feast. The dinner conversations were loud and boisterous. This was in stark contrast to the Thanksgivings of my youth where the only sounds were of knives and forks scrapping on plates. After the feast, Terry and I joined Elaine's daughter Hailey and Rebeka for a walk around the neighborhood. We walked along some beautiful canals and past many Suburban homes which had noisy celebrations still going on.
This morning I suspect I have been deserted as all the women invade the stores for Black Friday deals. Elaine has offered to let me sketch the huge presses for The Miami Herald so I should get an interesting sketch for today .