AF Twenty-Seven

Quite a number of days have expired since my last entry but I’m back. Back with another gist list to cover the latest activities of my Open Florida experiences over the last couple of weeks. Enough with all this gibber jabber let us approach the list…shall we?

Gist List Number Two

1. Had a blast at Fun Spot in Orlando off International drive. Tried DDR and some jumping game for the first time. Those games were pretty intense but the real fun was the Go Karts. Oh yeah and Paco did not beat me at a race holding a camera. That is a bold face lie and he knows it!

2. Indulged in a Grilled Swordfish Ponzu for the first time at Seasons 52 also in Orlando and had an out-of-body experience while consuming some of the best desserts I’ve had in weeks.

3. Took in some vittles at James’s Place in Venice, Florida. The food there was pretty good but I don’t remember what I ordered.

4. Drank a nice gulp of hotel lobby lemonade water (the crew knows I love that stuff) at the Portofino over by Universal Studio. That place was chic.

5. Appreciated some fine art over at the Morse Museum and became a real fan of Louis Comfort Tiffany before I exited the building. True story.

6. Held a baby alligator after the airboat ride out in Boggy Creek.

7. Saw my very first Opera at the Bob Carr Performing Art Centre called “Die Fledermaus.” Very Funny. Very interesting.

8. Had some splendid sushi at the Beacon which is appropriately up the block from one of my favorite parks in Orlando, Lake Eola.

9. Gave Paco and Wipeout a small tour of downtown Orlando nightlife by taking them by a few of the places I used to frequent. Spots like Spy Bar, Independent Bar, Cleo’s lounge, The Crooked Bayou, and AKA Lounge.

Next time I’ll take them to Roxy, Tabu, Monkey Bar, Sky60, and The Social. If they are down of course.

10. Got to experience SkyVenture. Here is a video:

Amon Focus SkyVenture Experience from Amon Focus on Vimeo.

Thanks for looking, reading, and watching. You seriously ROCK!

Till Next Time

Amon Focus

Hello everyone out there I-Net land. It has been too too long since you (residence of I-net land) and I (Mr. Focus) last touched bases. To tell you the truth I’ve probably started writing this post at least four or five times since the last post. Sometimes I wish I had the ability to crank these posts out like some of my comrades but figuring out what the heck to write is always a challenge. So for this post I’m going to choose seven or so pictures and give a brief testimony of what I think is going on. Are you ready? I am, kinda. OK let’s go:

The Wrong Key
Here is a picture of me asking The Skipper which is the right key to the bus. Moments before I asked The Skipper his advice on choosing the proper key to open our vehicle, I had taken a pretty long hike (about a 100ft) to the TV-RV and guessed wrong about a dozen times.

At Lakeridge Winery
I’m about 98.23499% certain that The Skipper took this picture. One of the first things we did when we arrived at Lakeridge was take one of their tours which super cool. When it came time to get an interview with a member of the staff, I chose one a spot which was truly behind the scenes and that was rarely seen by the general public. I like doing that.

The Air Boat

If you would have told me twenty years ago that one day I would take pleasure in driving an air boat down the Everglades, I would have ran away from you and called an adult. Why? Because I was ten and I didn’t talk to strangers. Back to the future. I can presently confirm that driving an air boat is a lot of fun.

The Expert Shoot
It is alway fun working with Lauren Tjaden, our adventure expert, and here she is with our very own Wipeout. The ironic part about this picture is that I should be working on the edit for this video right now but I needed to take a break and writing this post is helping out a lot.

Air Boat Captian
This is a pic of Gus and I. I like this picture because he looks pretty serious but really he was a pretty funny dude.

Earplugs

Here is a picture of Gus handing me a pair of earplugs. The air boat gets pretty darn loud the faster it gets and they definitely came in handy, thanks Gus.

Sensitive Amon
About a few months ago I discovered a piece of technology that seemed to pass me by. I believe they are called contact lenses. The cool thing about these “contact lenses” is that are placed directly on the eyeball and thus eliminating the need to sport spectacles. The only downside I’ve found to them is that every now and again your eyes will get dry. At that point the application of another cool invention called eye drops becomes almost essential for visual comfort. They challenge is applying these drops in a manner which prevents from tears rolling down your cheek. If you fail to succeed, be sure to know that a member of your crew will take a picture of the experience and call it Sensitive Amon. All that being said, I like this picture.

Well that about sums it up for me.

Till Next Time

Amon Focus

Hello everyone out there in i-net land. I never thought I’d ever say this in terms of having a job, but it’s good to be back in the office. I guess that’s the luxury of having a position in a career that you love.

It’s Monday and I’m feeling pretty refreshed. For the Thanksgiving Holiday, I headed out to spend time with friends and family in one of my favorite places in Florida…Orlando!

I used to live in Orlando about five or six months ago and boy have things changed. On Saturday I had to run a bunch of small errands and I decided to take the scenic route to each of my destinations. Through my journey, I often found myself with my mouth open wondering aloud, “When did they put that there?”

My love for Orlando runs deep. Orlando is where I learned to hone my craft and met some really cool people in the process. Here are few things that I adore in the Orlando area:

Full Sail Real World Education

Located in Winter Park, this school is an incredible educational experience that I will forever be grateful for. Many of the opportunities that I’ve been blessed with have happened because of them. Thanks, Yo!

Tijuana Flats

The Flats is seriously one of my favorite places to eat in the Orlando area. I usually order the blackened chicken burrito with everything except jalapenos smothered in queso and a sweet tea. My mouth is watering as I type this and I ate this very meal just yesterday.

AKA Lounge

I used to go there on Wednesday nights back when I attended Full Sail to enjoy cool vibes and hip hop music. On Sunday nights, I’d head there to drop a jewel or two in the form of spoken word poetry.

Promo Only

Some of my best times in the “O” happened either on the property or the vicinity of Promo Only. I learned to become a professional motion graphic artist/video editor here and it is the birth place of my extended family, Black Burke.

Wine Styles

I used to live around the corner from this place back when I lived in Altamonte Springs. I learned to appreciate a variety of wines and develop my palette with the unique way they sold their products. I am a big fan of Killer Bee Malbec and usually buy a bottle whenever I’m in town. The owners were so cool that they let me film there when I needed produce an example of my video skills to get this very job.

Lake Eola

At one time, I used to take a walk through this park every weekend. It is one of the places I took loved ones when touring the city on beautiful days. On a good day you’ll see joggers, families, photographers, ducks, dogs, jugglers, and sometimes even performers.

Church Street

Party, lounge, and eat very well all on this historical strip.

I’ve got to get to my latest video edit so I’m going to leave you with a small list of other places and things that I also enjoyed in Orlando:

Royal Thai
Sam Flax
I-Drive
City Walk
Barnes and Noble
Colonial Photo and Hobby
I-4

Waterford Lakes
Prince Entertainment
The Premium Outlets
Universal Studios (Islands of Adventure)
Futon Planet
Winter Park
Mellow Mushroom
Brio Tuscan Grille & Tuscan Bakery

Brooklyn Pizza
Uptown Altamonte

Before I go I want to leave you with a random picture that I took with a horse at last week’s shoot in Ocala at the Mane Event.

Till Next Time

Amon Focus