December 2007 highlightsDec 27, 2007
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| Greetings from Orlando, Florida, Oh, the states we've been in! There are 45 of them now, because in December we added a notch for Georgia, putting in a 3-day residency at G.O. Bailey School in the town of Tifton. We had a great time, and received a heapin' helpin' of Southern hospitality. The school even presented us with a gift basket containing Georgia grits and boiled peanuts, among other things. Thanks y'all! And while in Georgia, we detoured through Harlem, a town that's hard to miss because you can spot the portrait of Laurel and Hardy on the water tower miles away. It isn't just because the city council loves comic movies or decided to put some starving portrait artist to work; this is the birthplace of Norvell "Oliver" Hardy (he borrowed a first name from his father who, being deceased, no longer needed it) and the home of the Laurel and Hardy Museum. Young Hardy became exposed to touring actors who stayed at the hotel his mother managed -- they had no RV's to travel in back then -- and, wouldn't you know it, the bug bit him. After attending a military academy -- yes, a military academy -- as well as the University of Georgia and even the Georgia Conservatory of Music (Did you know he was an excellent singer? Well now you do!), he was contracted to a prominent film studio in Jacksonville, Florida. (Did you know there were once major studios in Jacksonville? Well now you do!) Later, he went to work for a studio in New Jersey (Yes, now you know.) and when it moved to California, he went with it. After he'd been in a couple of films that also featured a wiry British chap named Arthur Stanley Jefferson (who'd once been an understudy for a fellow Brit named Charlie Chaplin) someone noticed that they worked really well together, and started pairing them up in their own films. And the rest is hysterical. The two would be partners and best friends for decades, and exert a major influence on all comic performers to come -- including, to be sure, our humble selves. And many mementos from their lives and careers are on display in this modest little building in Georgia. Another one of the state's historical locations of special interest to us was Eatonton, birthplace of famed folklorist and author Joel chandler Harris. As a teenager, Harris was apprenticed to a printer who operated on a plantation. And it was there that he made the acquaintance of former slaves who regaled him with African-American folklore. Later, when he decided to put those stories into print, he invented the character of Uncle Remus, a sort of African-American Aesop. The Uncle Remus stories have fallen out of favor in recent times because of the stereotypes they present (which were considered acceptable in Harris' day), including the use of extreme dialect that actually was praised for its accuracy upon publication. But while his writing is dated, the tales themselves are timeless. After Georgia it was off to the Sunshine State. We were hoping to catch another shuttle launch, as we did in 2003, but the blastoff was passed off several times, and as it stands we probably won't be able to see the launch, unless it's postponed again -- which is entirely possible. We've also been spending some time in the Orlando area, and we even auditioned to be temporary performers at Disney World, but were not offered a gig. (They probably weren't even looking for anyone on just a seasonal basis, but we had to give it a shot anyway.) It was the first real audition we'd been to in many years, and it was fun not only to go through the audition process again, but also to get a backstage glimpse of the Disney rehearsal facility near Animal Kingdom. And everyone involved was just as peppy as all other Disney employees! The temperatures in Orlando hovered near 90 for much of the month (hey, it's only December, after all), but we escaped from it for at least a little while by going to "Ice!", the seasonal indoor exhibit of ice sculptures crafted by artisans from China. Inside this 9 degree Fahrenheit wonderland are life size bears, deer, and other animals, as well as a colored "gingerbread house" and Santa's sleigh, all exquisitely carved from frozen water. And the crowning glory is a huge ice slide that kids of all ages (that's us) can slide down. Oh yes, and part of the proceeds go to a charity that benefits children with life-threatening illnesses. What a cool way to cool down! We'll be in Florida through the beginning of February, during which we'll not only present school assembly programs, but also a public performance at the Miami Lakes Library on January 12. And then we're off and running for another year of crisscrossing the country to offer fun, informative programs at schools and libraries everywhere. But you already knew that. Happy 2008! Dennis, Kimberly and Zephyr Goza |
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