From Horses to courses, driven in an #ecarriage through Central Park

So, no doubt you've followed the wonderful people of NYC coming out and protesting for the preservation of the enviroment just a few weeks ago, well another ecological concern was what to do about horses being used in the center of a busy polluted city.

So how ecological is a horse drawn carriage ride through the magnificent Central Park?

Opinion was divided when Bloomberg, the city's then mayor decided to take horses out of the equation.

Some in favour of getting rid of the horse rides used the argument that many of these horses were tired, weren't treated well, and hey wasnt this 2014? shouldn't we stop using animals for our own entertainment in this pollution- shouldn't horses be free to do what horses do?

 Some in favour for keeping the horse rides because it was traditional, it is something that's been going on for years of course and the horses are confined to a non-car environment path in the park.
Given that the horses used are the ones best suited to this type of work and unable to do heavier labor some said the horses would be slaughterd, and this was more cruel, effectively stopping the horse drawn carriage rides, would end the horses lives.

Whatever your opinion on these issues, they have gone.

But the creative people at"Creative Workshops" in Dana Beach, Florida have come up with a environmentally friendly alternative.
The horseless E-Carriage! based on the original carriage from 1911 the clever engineering folk in Florida have created an almost exact replica, only this time the car is electronic, and so less of those harmful pollutants, while still keeping the horses free from the labour.
It's had a day in NYC, take a look at it next to central park below and follow updates on their FB page, they have all the  history to the cars and engineering process it took to get here on there as well as other fab pictures and video, they're also doing one for Arizona.

Star Wars Auction by Original ILM Model Makers, for one of ours.

Hello all,
I am doing a one off, because this is the sort of feel good news that needs to be shared.
As you know I used to work in California making models for movies, blowing them up and the like.
Well, Robbie Edwards, a fellow English man, was one of my co-workers, and my friend.

Robbie working on Pirates of The Carribean, messy making. 

On Greenscreen set, Robbie sets out to sink a ship.

Unfortunately Robbie suffered a stroke in Sept 2013,  it was devastating, but he's managed to cling to life and kept a wonderful sense of humor with his slogan of 'musn't grumble' how very English. Although his recovery has been laborious and painful, he is learning to walk again, and getting his motorskills back, a hidden element of the stroke is the fact it affected his temporal lobe- the part that affects creativity- his job was primarily creative as a model maker on major motion picture movies in California. His wife has written a blog here.
He has worked 30 movies in 20 years including Star Wars, Pirates of the Carribean, War of the Worlds and Men in Black, to name a few- the stroke has effectively put an end to the career he would have had to pay back his US medical bills; when he had the stroke he had no health insurance and Obamacare hadn't kicked in yet.

Robbie making mini houses look real

Now the wonderful part is that the collegues at the model shop, have realised how huge his medical bills are and that he has no way to pay them back, and so are organising a fundraiser creating original artworks from the Star Wars movies a C3PO head carved by Lorne Peterson Oscar and Bafta Award winner, and Indiana Jones, to name but a few pieces, this will be on an online auction for 10 days, and ending on the 21st Sept in a benefit night where all of his friends and family will convene.

Some of wonderful team of Model Makers

This is a fantastic heartwarming story of a group of collegues, helping to lift someone whose hit hard times due to ill health and hit their livelihood, to banding together as a community proving good things can happen, and adversity shared and halved. It is an honour to have been one of them and to share with you now.. go on.. give back to the man who created all that on-screen magic for you! :)
So, bid for stuff online NOW at: http://www.32auctions.com/Robbie

Attend the benefit here in California, and be in the company of all those talented creative movie model makers, or if you cant get there and the story moves you please do donate.

All Pictures Credits to : Sean Casey. Copyright protected.