Those Two Times I Met Roger Moore

I enjoyed the privilege of meeting Sir Roger Moore, the screen star and UNICEF ambassador who died this week, not once, but twice.

One of my friends, Lisa Bigazzi Tilt, was with me on both occasions, and most of the other folks present are still connections and longtime pals.

Just about everyone with us the first time probably was sad like me when news of Moore's passing started to hit the wires.

He was a memorable, friendly celebrity personality as is his wife, now widow, "Kiki" -- who accompanied him both times we shook hands -- was also a friendly person. 

The New York Times' A.O. Scott penned an appreciation of Moore that aptly names the second actor to portray James Bond as "the best" in the role. Though my personal favorite title in the series -- "Goldfinger" -- stars the "original" Bond, Sean Connery, I just smile thinking of each of Moore's turns donning spy shoes and gadgets.

In some ways, meeting Moore in person and experiencing his cheerful, genuine friendliness sealed his ranking as "the better Bond" in my book. Others with fun memories echo this sentiment. 

My first Moore encounter arrived in November 2002 via my longtime client IAAPA, the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions.

Lisa and I were working in the press room at the association's annual trade show in Orlando, now known as IAAPA Attractions Expo.

The 2002 convention was our fourth, and joining us from our public relations agency team was the "newbie" Dawn Brewer, still a great friend as is Lisa.

Moore was chosen to present a speech about his work with children and UNICEF's relevance to the "business of fun," and we enjoyed the longtime James Bond and "The Saint" actor's remarks at an executive breakfast.

Prior to the convention, we also hand-picked a few key media outlets to speak with Moore -- for a knighted celebrity, he was overly generous with his time, and also excellent at staying on message about Expo (which was difficult since national TV outlets like CNN and Fox News only wanted his satellite interviews to focus on the latest Bond film "Die Another Day" which happened to open the same week of Moore's visit to IAAPA's gathering).

Following Moore's breakfast remarks and his trek to a local TV studio for the aforementioned satellite interviews, it was my job to introduce Moore the actor to Roger Moore the film critic for the Orlando Sentinel newspaper -- the scribe Moore wrote a great piece about finally meeting his coincidental namesake. I was standing beside the Sentinel photographer who snapped the image appearing the next day, as shown here:

(Film critic Roger Moore is now writing MovieNation posts, including this remembrance of meeting the actor. Interesting to get a nod as "A P.R. wag" as described by the critic).

We next escorted Moore and his wife to the IAAPA Press Office for a trade magazine interview with another longtime friend, Tim O'Brien, then editor of Amusement Business and contributor to Funworld (IAAPA's monthly). As the interview got underway, a happy accident occurred (at least this is how I recall it when sharing this memory).

When Moore, his wife, O'Brien, our IAAPA client, Dawn and I gathered around a press room table, we offered fresh coffee to the Moores to be sure they were comfortable. Dawn was kind enough to bring the new brew, and without realizing it, upon offering sugar, I swear she said "Here is your coffee ... shaken, not stirred ..." with the straightest deadpan face (or perhaps she did not realize the correlation to James Bond's martini preferences).

A great big laugh was shared by all. Moore's bright blue eyes smiled with the unexpected chuckle (though my guess is that he regularly heard similar lines for most of his post-007 years).

We later joined Moore for an outdoor photo op with a British video game manufacturer who was showcasing an interactive football (soccer) video game for which Moore was not shy to play along and complete a few place kicks. Then like taking off in "Moonraker" or "Live And Let Die" Moore was soon gone in a flash. 

Sadly, I had no camera with me that November afternoon, and the images I snagged from others are no longer available, lost in a move or still packed away in storage. I dropped in the above left image from a EuropaPark event to give an example of Moore and his wife's age and demeanor in 2002. 

We did not think another Moore encounter possible, but the following year on a work trip to New York with Feld Entertainment, our merry band of Ringling Bros. publicists (including Lisa) went out in search of a late-night meal after we experienced the circus at Madison Square Garden.

As we approached an off-Broadway Irish Pub around 40th Street, we noted a town car driver awaiting his passengers when, you guessed it, Moore and his wife emerged from the restaurant.

I happened to be closest and called out, "Mr. Moore, great to see you and your wife again since the theme park convention" (or similar) to which he extended a hand and with his thoughtful gaze and handshake expressed "I remember -- that was fun!" before turning to remind his wife, who smiled back.

And away they went as we turned to find our Ringling Bros. clients standing agape. 

Like millions of others, I enjoyed Moore's "007" roles and campy-by-comparison-to-Sean-Connery approach Moore took to the character. "For Your Eyes Only" is my favorite for his work on the Cortina Olympic ski jump, downhill slopes as well as his climbing scenes at Meteora, Greece, a site I went out of my way to visit as inspired by Moore's work. 

Every single time I play backgammon, Moore's winning game in "Octopussy" comes to mind, and it was fun to see the actual board and dice from the scene in a "007" exhibition during the London 2012 Olympics.

My prom tuxedo was white because of Moore's wardrobe selection to roll double sixes. 

"Cannonball Run" gave Moore an opportunity to poke fun at himself as he did with witty remarks at the IAAPA press events.

And who could forget his "Moonraker" scenes in Rio de Janeiro (the city showcases Moore in many of the sites where he performed)?

Just last week on holiday in Paris, I experienced many of the sites of "A View To A Kill" and its Eiffel Tower opening sequence featuring Moore in hot pursuit of one of my favorite Bond Girls, Grace Jones. 

Moore even reprised his 007 likeness in support of the successful London 2012 Olympic bid, according to this article.

And he drove a Volvo P1800 like my parents' first car as a couple in Oklahoma City (I've wondered for awhile whether my dad selected the Swedish sports car inspired by the actor's role on "The Saint").

It will be fun to share these memories of Roger Moore for years to come, and to smile about them any time a 007 marathon appears or Carly Simon's "The Spy Who Loved Me" plays on the radio. R.I.P., Roger Moore.

Images via Pinterest and EuropaPark website

Banksy To Disney: It's A Small World, LOL!

If you boil down my public relations portfolio to three types of clients, the triumvirate includes, in no particular order, arts, Olympics and theme parks (more broadly "attractions").

From time to time there are overlaps among these genres of business.

Olympics meets arts at the Cultural Olympiad. Or theme parks coincide with the Games as sports venues become attractions (like Beijing's Water Cube turned water park), or new destinations are born around an Olympiad (the new-in-2014 Sochi World theme park, for instance). 

But unless you count art museums as attractions -- as my client International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA) does for their membership base of permanently-affixed destinations for fun and learning -- it's less common for the news cycle to blend theme parks and the arts.

And that's not all that's uncommon about the new art installation titled Dismaland now open on the west coast of England. 

In case you haven't read the reports and seen the videos or photo galleries, Dismaland is perhaps the world's first 'bemusement park' now open in Weston-super-Mare, a coastal town three hours from London by train.

The hometown newspaper Weston, Worle & Somerset Mercury has some great galleries and daily updates like the pop-up park's first wedding.

Dismaland is presented by the artist Banksy, who recruited a few dozen other modern and contemporary artists for his secret-until-last-week installation at an abandoned beach side pool attraction named the Tropicana.

While the Weston-super-Mare locals were told a movie production would take over the abandoned Tropicana for a feature film setting, Banksy & Co. quietly assembled numerous rides and experiences inside its walls.

A wave of publicity began around August 18 as external signage and black flags went up, and by last Friday several global news outlets carried the story of Dismaland's opening weekend.

The installation remains in operation through much of September. 

Banksy has some major league art friends. Two favorite names -- Damien Hirst and Jenny Holzer -- leaped off the screen when my friend Brian first told me of early Dismaland reports in the Wall Street Journal.

A look at the complete list of artists yields a who's who compilation of known or rising stars of modern and contemporary artists, skewing heavy on the cynical scale through their conversation piece (and critically acclaimed, bold and unforgettable) creations. 

I fell in love with Holzer's work at her Walker Arts Center installation in Minneapolis in 1991, on my
first 'adult' visit to a museum during the autumn of my college freshman year.

She had me at Truisms and her carved benches at the High Museum of Art (a client from time to time) and other museums always make me smile. 

My first Hirst encounter arrived in 2012 at the Tate Modern's Cultural Olympiad exhibition the day after the London Olympics ended three years ago.

Something about a bovine head decomposing in a fly-filled glass box, or a great white shark encased in jello, or a live butterfly room followed by several canvases made from tens of thousands of butterfly wings, not surprisingly stays with the museum visitor.

Hirst's anatomically correct (inside and out) carvings of male and female medical school models, and gazillion-dollar diamond-encrusted skulls, also made an impression. 

Banksy's Oscar-nominated documentary film "Exit Through The Gift Shop" introduced me to his work -- then mostly a distinctive graffiti or tagging pieces -- making me an instant fan.

Banksy's Olympic street art intrigued me on the lead up to London 2012 (though I never did find any of it in person, likely due to collectors' theft or authority figures covering up Banksy's handiwork).

I theorize that one episode within "Exit Through The Gift Shop" itself created the foundation for Dismaland.

In the documentary, Banksy and a filmmaker accomplice embarked on a mission to install a temporary work of art -- an inflatable 'Guantanamo Bay prisoner' -- inside a fenced ride area of Disneyland. After purchasing tickets and making their way through the Happiest Place On Earth, Banksy did successfully deploy the smuggled work while cameras rolled.

It's safe to say Disneyland's security team was not amused.

According to the documentary narration, "While Banksy went on the rides, [the filmmaker] was introduced to a different side of the Magic Kingdom."

I won't spoil the film by revealing details of that experience, but it's a solid bet the shared adventure and its outcome planted many seeds for today's Dismaland, and last week's installation opening may be the result of more than five years of planning.

And, oh what bemusements await Dismaland visitors!

Outdoor highlights (er, lowlights) spotted online so far include:

• Entry queues for several hundred ticket holders (with wait times authentic to many theme park experiences), after which guests are curtly greeted by black and white-clad security guards and signs banning everything from weapons to underwear
  
• One Shamu-like orca leaping from a toilet toward an awaiting trainer's hoop
• A park bench on which a woman is swarmed, Hitchcock-style, by attacking seagulls
• Midway games including 'Topple the Anvil' (featuring the metal tools straight out of Looney Toons' Coyote and Road Runner episodes), and 'Hook the Duck' at which players attempt to rescue petroleum-covered rubber duckies from an oil spill (hint: the hooks are mismatched for an impossible latch)
• More oil spill adventures on an unplayable golf putting green nicknamed "Mini Gulf" (the top half of the "o" rusted and broke off)
  
• A not-so-merry-go-round carousel ridden by protesters and a knife-wielding purveyor of lasagna
• Park employees clad in day-glow "Dismal" branded vests, with some offering black Mylar balloons bearing the message "I AM AN IMBECILE"
• A massive, pretzel-bent tanker truck sculpture, with matching impractical picnic tables belched out of (and still attached to) rolled sheet metal (or is that bath tissue?)
• Motorized boat game through which players steer Mediterranean refugees or pursuant coast guard cutters 
  
• Children's sandbox play area with built-in micro-loan bank charging only 5,000 percent interest
• Caricature artist who only sketches the backs of her customer's heads
• Selfie holes featuring blank outlines or cutouts for group photos with ISIS soldiers
• A new twist on the pop-up puppet show featuring Punch & Judy
• Book burning featuring glowing works by local author James Joyce
• Several "traditional" Banksy street art works spray-painted about the Dismalandscape.

The creepiest and perhaps coolest, edgiest works are inside a custom-built castle, the centerpiece of the installation. Inside its doors visitors explore:

• An fan-suspended beach ball precariously hovering over a few dozen skyward-pointing (and sharpened) steak knives
• A miniature urban landscape featuring only police and media crews in the hours after a Ferguson, Missouri-like violent event
  
• Canvases featuring a truck full of weapons-clad ISIS soldiers (driven by Cookie Monster) and pollution-blackened Los Angeles skyline with one surviving color billboard for the real Disneyland
• Holzer's latest, brilliant word-infused works, including one stating (paraphrased here), "Keep Your Church Out of My Sex Life and I'll Stop Having Sex In Your Church"
• Bumper car demonstration featuring The Grim Reaper with soundtrack provided by Blue Oyster Cult

The most shocking work of Dismaland may be Cinderella's overturned golden carriage featuring a dying princess hanging out of the crashed vehicle, illuminated only by the strobe flashes of paparazzi cameras.

With the approaching anniversary of Princess Diana's fatal crash in Paris, this work is bound to remain a conversation piece (it takes one's breath away).

Looking at the actual rides installed at Dismaland with some knowledge of what buyers seek at IAAPA Attractions Expo each November, I cannot help wondering whether Banksy or any of the other artists attended the trade show in Orlando in recent years.

After all, some IAAPA member ride manufacturers likely provided the customized carousel, space ride (made to look like a camping trailer gone off its hitch), miniature Ferris wheel, the aforementioned bumper cars and other on-site thrills. What remains unclear is whether paying customers are allowed on the rides (for safety's sake, I hope if rides are permitted then operator protocols are in place).

I've been pricing flights to London and train tickets to Weston-super-Mare and for about $1,800 for a five-day journey from Atlanta, a trek to Dismaland my be slightly out of my budget. But then again, a week in Orange County, California, might be about the same range, right?

Since Dismaland includes its own signs instructing everyone to "Exit Through The Gift Shop" one might expect an expensive glossy catalog may soon be available as an alternative. Consider this blogger delightfully Banksy-bemused.

Most photos via Reuters except the Damien Hirst image at Tate Modern photo by Nicholas Wolaver

Olympic Sponsor Will Have A Ball In Rio

Since readers are still drowning in Rio pollution coverage in the wake of an Associated Press report, here's a positive Olympic water story to consider from now to the 2016 Games.

Brazil-based FloatBall LLC is working with a to-be-announced Rio Olympic sponsor to launch several Games-time 'FloatBalls' in time for next year's party.

And according to one company executive, the FloatBalls will help create an iconic image and lasting memories at some water competitions next year.

What's a FloatBall? 

FloatBalls are a new, spherical watercraft topped with a windowed dome reminiscent of a golf umbrella. Inside the 12- to 15-foot-wide vehicle, passengers find a dedicated captain, plush cushioned seats, flat-screen televisions, Wi-Fi access and refreshments, creating a luxurious and floating living room. 

When deployed into a large body of water, such as Lagoa Rodriogo de Freitas (in Rio's Copacabana venue cluster), FloatBalls resemble European footballs or soccer balls accidentally kicked into a pond. The boat's electric engine is eco-friendly and quiet.

Float Balls debuted in tandem with World Cup events in South Africa and Brazil, and last year FloatBall arrived in North America at Zoo Miami, according to published reports and a photo gallery. 

On the heels of the Florida opening, FloatBall exhibited at IAAPA Attractions Expo 2014 in Orlando, the global convention and trade show of the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA), a long-time public relations client of this blogger. 

I spent a few minutes talking with FloatBall CEO Giovanni Luigi in the company's outdoor booth, where one of the Miami-style FloatBall boats was on view. Though he would not reveal which Rio Olympic sponsor(s) may engage FloatBall for their Games-time activation, he said it was a safe bet that rowing and canoe spectators would see FloatBalls charting a course near Lagoa Stadium.

"Some special guests may watch competitions in a FloatBall," said Luigi.

It was unclear what sponsor activation(s) may be possible in the waters surrounding Barra Olympic Park, the heart of the Games on the north shore of Lagoa de Jacarepagua. Luigi said Olympic security topics were a big part of the Rio Olympic FloatBall negotiations, but he remained confident any hurdles could be cleared.

"It will be a fun experience of Rio," Luigi added.

First image via FloatBall, second image via FalandodeViagem.com.br. All other photos by Nicholas Wolaver. 

Reflections On Late 2012

With the calendar year winding down, I'm remorseful of the lack of blogging posts since election eve in November. Writing now during a flight from New York to Milwaukee, working to get a few thoughts of recent weeks on paper, err, on screen before the GoGo in-flight access shuts off, or the laptop battery runs out of juice.

Briefly, as a follow up to that election post: Thank God President Obama won re-election! I will remember the glee and relief of dozing off to sleep on election night, with NPR projecting the Obama win on my laptop. I can't imagine the last few weeks without the strong leadership, and it's exciting to anticipate that the new year may bring some meaningful discussion and changes on several fronts for the USA.

Mid-November was a fun blur of work with my 13th consecutive IAAPA Attractions Expo, the global gathering of (client) International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions. We enjoyed a busy week with coverage in the Wall Street Journal, Orlando Sentinel, Orlando Business Journal, each of the Orlando TV stations (notably Central Florida News 13 and their series by Scott Fais) and the online versions of NBC News, the LA Times and USA Today.

It was fun also to collaborate on some new business pitches with friends at McRae, and I appreciate the freelance projects requested by the High Museum of Art -- early 2013 brings the arrival of some big exhibitions including Frida & Diego and the works of Georgia artist Gogo Ferguson.

Thanksgiving was fun with family in Oklahoma, and I enjoyed pre-Christmas time in the Milwaukee suburbs with my girlfriend and her family before one of the most relaxing Christmas visits to Oklahoma. It was nice to also celebrate my oldest friend's 40th birthday in Manhattan and his home in Stamford, Conn., these last couple of days, which also afforded time to visit the Whitney Museum of Art and the Guggenheim (stay tuned for reviews of their current exhibitions, and an excellent new Denmark restaurant in TriBeCa, on upcoming blog posts).

Also looking forward to celebrating my mom's 70th birthday in about a week.

This year was HUGE on many personal and professional fronts and it is bittersweet to wrap up 2012. Hope we all enjoy a productive and enriching 2013 from day one to day 365.

The World Comes to Orlando

For the 13th consecutive year, my third week of November included a trek to IAAPA Attractions Expo, our client IAAPA's global gathering of more than 25,000 professionals in the world of theme parks, water parks, zoos, aquariums, family entertainment centers, museums and other attractions.

This week our team worked with reporters from the Associated Press, Central Florida News 13, Fox 35 Orlando, USA Today, the Orlando Sentinel and MSNBC (among others) to report from this big business event.

A couple of years back an Olympian was on the tradeshow floor, and though no Olympic competitors are here in 2011, we did find a nice Olympic surprise in a recent book by Ripley Publishing -- "Strikingly True" -- in which the colorful text features Ripley's - Believe It Or Not! factoids about several Olympic competitors as well as other five-ringed trivia. It is worth a look-see on your next trek to the bookstore, Nook or Kindle.

Infographic via IAAPA.org

Getting It On At The Getty Center

One of the best horror film revelations is that scene in “The Shining” when Wendy, wife of bat shit crazy Overlook Inn keeper Jack, finally reads his “novel” to learn “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” typed hundreds of times.

All work and no play does lead to bad things, so my lady and I just embarked on an 11-day holiday, thanks in part to a charity raffle hosted by Give Kids The World during (client) IAAPA Attractions Expo 2009 last November (we won two round-trip business-class airline tickets to Hawaii).

Yes, we are indeed living the dream!

Our adventure commenced Friday with cross-country flights to LAX, and Saturday’s adventures included:

• Breakfast at Santa Monica's famed Ocean Park Omelette Parlor, est. 1967 (home of the Schwarzenegger hame and cheese delight, or the avocado/sprout/bacon-infused delight on special -- YUM!
• Beach bumming and manicure work in Malibu, overlooking a prime surfing point (more than 50 wetsuit-clad surfers in the water)
• A visit to the beach side Adamson House, a beautiful estate where we received an impromptu history of Malibu lesson (who knew one family owned all of Malibu during the early 1900s?
• Scenic driving along Sunset Boulevard, where eucalyptus’ sweet aromas fill the breeze, and we spotted some (illegal) public art featuring the Monopoly man and one artist’s commentary on the global financial crisis (this public poster – shown in the photos with this blog post – was at the entrance to a Bel Air neighborhood, a surprise as we drove by it
• Driving and walking tour of Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, including a visit to one of Frank Lloyd Wright’s few existing retail shop designs
• Fresh gelato tasting and a visit to The Paley Center For Media (where we watched one of about 150,000 TV programs archived for posterity, and where a fantastic collection of Hirshfeld comics is on temporary display)
• More driving on Sunset, this time west-bound, much like the fantastic race scene from “Against All Odds” (terrible movie, great race)
• Dinner and drinks at The Getty Center, LA’s answer to the Parthenon in Athens. In addition to gourmet artichoke lasagna and a fabulous selection of sea scallops atop a green pea risotto (mouth watering while typing), we enjoyed conversation with two Germans at a neighboring table and two locals from Malibu at another – we all toasted the dusty red sunset over the Santa Monica Mountains
• A peek at The Getty’s permanent collection including Van Gogh’s indigo “Irises” and Roy Lichtenstein’s outdoor “Three Brush Strokes” sculpture. Also enjoyed the special exhibition of Leonardo da Vinci doodles, er, sketches and bronzes, and one moving painting of a lion at the feet of Saint Jerome. There is also an intriguing exhibit in The Getty library showcasing Arabic and other books illustrated by hand over the centuries to showcase the mind, body and geography – beautiful.

On Sunday we trekked back to Hollywood for a tour at Frank Lloyd Wright’s Hollyhock House, an estate of the same era and scope as the home at Malibu. I highly recommend a visit to Hollyhock, from which you may also see the Griffith Observatory, Hollywoodland sign and Wright’s other LA masterpiece, Ennis House.

As I write this post, we are seated on a Maui-bound flight, chasing the April sun across the horizon. Touchdown at Kahului Airport (OGG) will be a welcome moment as R&R continues.

Aloha!