Saturday, August 16, 2014

My first sale, and Hambone's a "Bee"

First of all, I must report my first sale of my new book - to myself!  It was great for me to see firsthand all the hard work I did in actual book form, thanks to the good people of Lulu.  Believe me, I'll do all I can to hustle and push this book out there to everyone.  I won't be rich off One Family Together Forever, but with my bills piling up and no new job on the horizon, I need to make some money off this.

Meanwhile, I have just expanded on a concept I explained briefly when I summarized an episode of Gone Barefoot in season 4 (January, 2014).  There, I introduced the Honey Bees in passing when I reported on a "Pink Party" spinoff with younger members of the Barefoot extended family.  The Bees began as the Barefoot family athletic program's cheerleading team and was called the Bear Paws, but this has slowly evolved into a full-time entertainment unit and has gained a separate name and mascot.

Hambone (known as "Reba" here, for her real name Reba Pearl) is joined by the 13 others, who are cheerleaders, contemporary dancers, and - as mentioned in my summary - "lip dubbers."  These are groups of people who turn popular songs into full-scale productions by mouthing the words to songs while doing choreographed movements.  An example in real-life is this video from Jack Britt High School in Fayetteville, NC; also, Macy's has just announced a national contest for lip-dub groups, which is open to high-school students from across the United States.

Some of the 14 are real people like Alyssa Barefoot, Brandy Rapp, and even a colorized picture of former Mickey Mouse Club cast member Billie Beanblossom.  Others are based on three cheerleader models I found on various websites, including that of Party City, with brushes, hue and saturation adjustments, and curves adjustments to create distinct faces and hair colors.  "Buzzy" is played by Georgia Tech mascot "Buzz"; I found his picture at the Georgia Encyclopedia site.



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