muralcle is just a memory now

This morning, the wrecking crew came over to Habersham Street. Some of the backers were there, too, as well as friends of the artists whose work was portrayed on the Wall.
By the time I arrived in late morning, the middle section and the right portion had been partially dismantled.
One nice thing: the workers were very considerate of the fact that this was an artistic endeavor which was to be destroyed. Great care has been taken to salvage those portions which are to be given new homes.
Matt had been dragging whole concrete bricks up toward the front of the street, laying out neat rows to help folks find the images they wanted to cherish, their portraits captured on the concrete.
I looked, but my triangulated face was not there.
Up toward the wall I went! One by one, I turned over bricks, searching for mine, hoping it had not been destroyed, hoping the brick might be nearly whole and not shattered.
Hoping, hoping, hoping.
Twice I ended up on the ground. I had left the house so hurriedly that I had just slipped on my sandals, not "real" shoes. Twice, I stepped on a corner of broken brick and my foot slipped out from the shoe, landing me on my buttocks. BAM! The first fall resulted in a couple of scrapes; the next time, only my ego was bruised.
If only I had looked straight ahead of me that first time I fell.
My image would have been about at eye level, there on the lower left portion of the wall, below the gaping hole.
After my second misstep, I busied myself with turning all the fallen bricks face-up. That slowed me down, made me start paying more attention to the colors and patterns on the bricks. I realized that the two large sections I had just turned over, each consisting of three bricks still fused together, would have come from the same section where my image once was. Maybe my face was still on a section in that area!
And so it was.
On part of the wall which had not yet been dismantled, a section partly hidden by tar paper.

For now, the block rests on my living room floor.
I brought home eight and a half other blocks from the site.
I was careful to not take any blocks which had portraits on them; I am well aware of the value of such art. The blocks I rescued from the site have only splashes and swooshes and lines of color upon them. Somewhere in my back yard, those blocks will be grouped together to tell their stories.
Hopefully, that will be soon.

the mint juleps take the stage

Oh, my, my, my!
Ooh la la, and all that jazz!
I am still so excited from the show that I can't even think about going to sleep!
That vaudeville and burlesque show at Muse Arts Warehouse was more than two hours of dancing, comedy, singing, and good old-fashioned, red light district, FUN!
Balloons, scarves, jingly anklets and bracelets and hipshakers - there was even a snake!
This show had it all, I tell you!!!
A cello-strumming songstress and a zombie out for revenge!
A tapdancing chanteuse and a couple of wiseacres!
Lorenzo and Cree, formerly with the Gypsee Belly Dance Troupe!!! (My absolute favorites!!!)
And Ol' Devil Sherman himself, to put the five Mint Juleps through their paces, clad in bustiers and garter belts and feather boas!
The Mint Juleps, aka Savannah Sweet Tease, is sure to please all, having several different flavors to suit any taste!
(All puns intended, of course!)
You can read about it here, but that may be all you can do.
Bear in mind, folks are hungry for this type of entertainment.
This show sold out and I imagine their second show will also. So, just in case, you can enjoy this photo of the cast from their facebook page.

I am thrilled to be a kickstarter backer of this incredible delight! "Ol' Devis Sherman and the Mint Juleps" has produced a show which is much more than I had anticipated. I sooooo look forward to the dvd video, which I will no doubt wear grooves into. Maybe I should order a second one now...

Rip Van Winkle sleeps no more!

When I first backed this musical by the Savannah Stage Company, I didn't know how well it would succeed. Please do not misunstand me: I had hoped it would. But their dream was so lofty, and so different, and I honestly did not know how well the school system would accept it.
But "Rip Van Winkle: A New Musical" has done quite well!

In an update posted on October 30th of last year, we backers were told:
On November 5th, Savannah Stage Company opens Rip Van Winkle: A New Musical at the Moses Jackson Center in Savannah. Our first performance will be for a group of senior citizens from West Savannah that the Moses Jackson serves, as a 'thank you' to them for providing us a home to rehearse in. They have been extremely welcoming to us and very accommodating.
Later this month we'll perform the show 2 more times for elementary school aged children and, since we've decided to extend this tour until the end of the school year, we're continuing to book shows for next year. If you haven't been keeping up with our progress on Facebook, we encourage you to take a look at some of our rehearsal photos and be on the lookout for production photos once we open.
This tour is coming to life daily and we're doing our best to share our progress with you. Without you guys this thing would never have been possible and we're reminded everyday of how lucky we are. Thank you for your continued support. Be on the lookout for our website launching mid-November. Have a Happy Halloween!

Since then, there have been shows at an art gallery and at several libraries! I have not yet managed to catch any of these shows, but you can see my name here, on the troupe's website.
I'll keep my eye out for the postman to bring my video soon!

muralcle block party!

I was asked to promote this event, so here we go. Please note that all of the following italicized words were written by the folks at SeeSAW. I have added my photographs in lieu of using theirs.

For Immediate Release
SeeSAW Block Party and David Ellis
Who: SeeSAW (Savannah Art Walls) and Savannah artists Katherine Sandoz, Troy Wandzel, Adolfo Alvarado and visiting artist David Ellis
What: Block Party
Where: SeeSAW Mural Wall | 34th and Habersham Street | Savannah, GA
When: Sunday, October 14 , 3:30 PM - 5:30 PM
Social Media Feed: Twitter @SavArtWAlls
Follow SeeSAW’s collaboration with David Ellis with the hashtag #EllisSAV on twitter and instagram October 14 - 19.
For info please email info@savannahartwalls.org

SeeSAW (See Savannah Art Walls) is excited to announce a block party this Sunday, October 14 in celebration of a year’s worth of art and community support at the mural wall at 34th and Habersham Street in Savannah, GA. In December of 2011 SeeSAW secured approval from Savannah’s Metropolitan Planning Commission to oversee the first designated rotating mural wall in Savannah. To fund a years worth of murals SeeSAW successfully raised over $7,000.00 on the crowd-sourcing website Kickstarter. Most of the money raised was locally sourced from individual Savannahians and local businesses that support the amplification of public art.
In order to stay in line with the curatorial standard of creating work that is Savannah-centric in nature, SeeSAW selected prominent local artists Katherine Sandoz, Troy Wandzel, and Adolfo Hernandez Alvarado. These three artists were selected to tell a visual story of Savannah because of their consistent history documenting and interacting with the diverse people and geography of Georgia's first city.

Starting on the coldest day of the year in February 2012, Katherine Sandoz painted an abstract landscape of Turtle Island, a hammock off the Georgia coast directly due east from the wall at 34th and Habersham. The landscape spanned the length of the 8 ft x 100 ft wall.

In June 2012, rather than obliterate Sandoz’s landscape, Troy Wandzel decided to add a field of flowers along the lower third of the wall. Often in contorted positions, Wandzel painted over 70 portraits from life of everyday Savannah citizens that willingly suffered the June heat with smiles on their faces.

Staying in the theme of adding
to the wall rather than starting
over, in September of 2012
Adolfo Hernandez Alvarado synthesized Sandoz’s landscape and Wandzel’s portraits by painting a centrally located female figure with a crown formed out of seashells and waves. The woman represents
the feminine qualities of Savannah as a city, from its natural and architectural beauty to its motherly embrace.
“La Madre” of Savannah is flanked by two bearded horn players derivative of the fountain in historic Forsyth Park.
To close out the year with a bang, SeeSAW will be bringing in world-renowned NYC-based artist David Ellis for a week of painting “large, mobile, 3D” objects placed on the lawn in front of the wall on 34th Street. SeeSAW co-founders James “DrZ” Zdaniewski and Matt Hebermehl were inspired to create SeeSAW based upon previous experiences assisting Mr. Ellis on projects in Savannah and the Wynwood Walls neighborhood of Miami, FL. David Ellis will be in Savannah October 14 - 19.

Let me tell you, this was quite a block party, too! People from the neighborhood, people from all over Savannah, even people from other cities, all came together to admire the Muralcle and to watch the New Yorker create his motion-based paintings on the side panels of cargo trucks. It was almost like he was dancing! He may well have been, as the crowd was entertained by the sounds of Vinyl Appreciation while slurping Italian ices to stay cool in the sunshine.
Remember how Fliss had her portrait painted in June by Troy Wandzel? Well, the evidence points to his having an influence on Adolfo Alvarado's design. Perhaps he asked that my visage be preserved; perhaps he did not. Whatever the case may be, Fliss remains with "La Madre", peeking out on the lefthand side. Is it mere coincidence that has me nestled near "The Mother"? I prefer to think it was on purpose. Yet another message from beyond, reassuring me that I am spending the money properly.
Thanks, Mama.

savannah stage company fall educational tour

They're local! They're talented!! And they want to educate children!!!
Sounds like a win-win situation to me.
The schools gain some much-needed artistic input, disguised as free-lance show-and-tell, and the children gain education, disguised as entertainment.
Their first work will be an original play, titled "Rip Van Winkle: The Musical". You already know my fondness for musicals, as I have backed not one, not two, or even three - no, keep counting!
But this is, I believe, the first musical geared toward children.
So, sure, that warrants a Benjamin for the kitty.
Me? No, I don't have any children of my own to benefit from this endeavor.
No, I sure don't.
But I do have nieces and nephews who are still in school. I also have great-nieces and great-nephews who will be blessed by this talented troupe.
With any luck, my schedule will even allow me to see the live performance of the show!
However, at the very least, I'll have a dvd of "Rip Van Winkle" to enjoy at my leisure.
And my name will be associated with the show as a backer.
Woohoo!

unchained again! rawrf! rawrff!

The Bluebird flies again! Unchained is on the loose!
Run to your nearest coffeehouse for their heart-grown tales and foot-tappin' music!
As you can see, my T-shirt has arrived! You can't tell from the photo above, but the design is on the bottom left portion of the shirt. The front of the bus is on the front, with the bottom of the bus wrapping around to the back. Very nice!
I really like the Georgia hound dog sticker, too! I can just hear him now, baying of their coming as he runs down the back roads of Georgia and South Carolina and Florida! Ar-ROOOO! Ar-ROO-ROO-ROO!
Nice thank-you note, too. I really appreciate those!

owen's hobby - a narrative short

This is not Zachary Burke's first project posted on kickstarter. Actually, this is not the first time this SCAD senior has posted to raise funds for "Owen's Hobby". In fall of 2011, he was trying to finish the film and had a pretty high financial goal - which fell short. So, that meant he received no funds for that campaign.
This time around, he's done with filming and has it in post-production status. So, the funding needs are less and the goal is more within reach.
I like the premise: a stalker has to choose between outing himself as a pervert or allowing harm to come to the object of his attraction. It reminds me of the plot in one of my favorite Melanie Griffith's movies, "Body Double". (Aside: Excellent Brian de Palma movie and a soundtrack that includes "Relax" by Frankie Goes To Hollywood - magnifique!)
I'm hoping others will join me in the funding - I would love to own the hard copy of this film!

hellyfish

Lost bombs at Tybee Beach have been the topics of quite a few discussions over the years, especially here in Savannah, Georgia, just thirty minutes away. Now, we are asked to consider this: the bomb has radioactive material inside, which, thanks to the corrosive properties of salt water, has now leached into the nearby ocean and tainted the sealife. Jellyfish have mutated into gigantic creatures, able to feed at will on whatever goes into the water - including snooty young triplet blondes.
Really makes you want to stand up and cheer for the Hellyfish!
(smile!)
So, I'm backing it with one dollar for every year of my life.
I think Pat Longstreth and Rob McLean have a top-notch, fun, horror film on their hands and I want to see it!
I want to hold it in my hands!!
I want to watch it over and over!!!
Pardon me while I go stand by my mailbox...

time travel and literacy

J. Lee Graham does not lack for motivation.
When his first kickstarter venture failed to raise the needed capital to launch his book about time travel, In The Nick Of Time, into the hands of eager children, did he give up? Absolutely not!
Now, here he is, back in the ring to take another swing (as AC/DC would say). Focusing on getting books into the hands of readers, not reviewers, his project is revamped and has a lower funding goal. (Hey, critics will cost you, in case you didn't know. You didn't think Roger Ebert wrote for free, did you?)
I'm looking forward to holding an autographed copy in my hands.
And having another copy sent to the public library here.
Share the wealth, you know.
As he would say: mahalo!

christmas at cafe murder

Merry Christmas, to me, from those sweethearts at Beaver Toad Software. Well, to me and the seventy other backers of their kickstarter project to develop the game "Cafe Murder".
This was simply too good not to share with the world!

a "rolling greek temple" of brilliant raconteurs

This project was launched by a group of literary folks - readers, writers, teachers, publishers - right here in Savannah, Georgia. Woohoo! I know of them, even though I have not been to one of their presentations.
They want to bring storytelling back to the front porches of the Southeast.
But no one really sits on front porches and does that anymore. Many folks don't even have front porches on their residences, these days. Oh, sure, nearly everyone in a house or street-level dwelling has some porch-like structure adjacent to the front door, to keep the rain off while they are trying to get the door opened.
But that is not a real porch.
Oh, no.
A genuine porch has room for a few chairs, or a porch swing, and is a place where people can gather and share vignettes of their lives.
Nowadays, the coffeehouses take the place of porches as gathering sites.
To bring more people out of their homes and into the small coffeehouses, Unchained travels around to the smaller towns, bringing stories from life to life.
But their 1975 bus, their rolling Greek temple, called it quits last summer, curtailing their spreading of the joy of tales and tunes. Now, a new motor is needed, as well as a few other odds and ends, to make the Bluebird soar once more.
That's where kickstarter comes in.
Me, too.
I heard about this through a dear friend and immediately sought it out.
I'm really looking forward to seeing a future show - and wearing my new T-shirt, too.
Hope to see you there!

Celebration in the Garden

Why id I became involved with this kickstarter project?
I had been searching for local projects to support, in particular, projects in Georgia. This one caught my heart, promising to delight both my palate and my soul with tales which connect daughters to their mothers and the recipes of their younger days.
What a beautiful concept!
Stories of love through the generations, with a family recipe to add to the warmth of a mother's touch.
I know my mother would have very much approved of this use of her money.
I just wish she could share the Julia Glenn Carter's finished book with me.

time travel adventures

Yep, believe it or not, we have an author in Decatur who wants to encourage kids to read science books! To that worthy goal, he has written two books, In The Nick Of Time and The Time Of His Life, about space travel and has them geared toward the home-schooling market in particular. The books have an entertaining story with science, math, history, and other topics sprinkled in right under the kids' noses.
With this project, he's trying to get them published.
Hopefully he'll be successful in this funding venture.

fairtax, the musical

Well, alrighty then! A musical about politics!
Actually, Fairtax: The Musical is theatre and marks the second theatrical project I've backed on kickstarter. I hope it does as well with its funding as the summer venture here in Savannah did!
This one's home base is about four hours from me, so, when the play is eventually produced - estimated as July 2012! - I'll easily be able to drive up to see it. Maybe my best friend and her family will even be able to join me! Marietta is just an hour away for them.
Actually, when I know the specifics of the performance dates, I'll have to see if some of the Drinking Liberally chapters want to make it a group venture. THAT sounds like it would be a lot of fun and certainly lead to some good discussions at our meetings.
This portrayal of an ideal America, where everyone contributes their 23% for the benefit of all, should be quite entertaining. As it begins, everyone who buys anything, whether goods or services, is paying into the federal government. (No word about state or local taxes in this play. Hey, one thing at a time!)
A rather utopian manner of tax collection it is, until the politicians abolish it in favor of a more complex, progressive income tax... like we currently have.
Don Goodman is a man on a mission, a mission to change the income tax system, one song at a time!
I'll be listening for every note, too.

cafe murder opens

Wow! My very first game project on kickstarter! And it's local!
Well, not in Savannah, itself, but in Athens, Georgia, so that's close.
I'm curious to see how long it takes for an electronic game to be developed.
My ex has a long-time family friend who is in that business. He's known Jimmy Adams since they were in pre-kindergarten together in Michigan. I think Jimmy lives in Arizona or New Mexico now. (I know his mom, but I'm not sure I've ever met him, except in photos on facebook.) As I recall, he had something to do with "The Watchmen" graphic novel (which I did not read, but I loved the movie).
Anywho... This is not a graphic novel, but a very colorful, engaging bit of entertainment which looks to be suitable for most ages. Including mine!
Looks fun to me! I'm looking forward to having my very own copy of the game.
And I'll get a T-shirt, too... awesome!