The Electronic Entertainment Expo 2011 is happening

Posted on June 7, 2011 by admin

The Entertainment Electronics Expo (E3) is going on right now in at the Los Angeles Convention Center in California. E3 is an annual video game exposition or trade show that video game publishers and developers use to show off the latest and greatest upcoming video games. The expo official started today, but in usual fashion, many video game publishers and companies held pre-E3 conferences earlier this week. At last year’s show Microsoft showed off the hugely popular add-on for their Xbox 360 console, the Kinect. Some of this year’s show big announcements so far include Microsoft’s Halo 4, the sequel to the worldwide shooting video game. Nintendo unveiling their next console the Wii U, which builds upon the success and innovation of the original Wii video game console. And Sony revealing the new $249 price tag for their new mobile video game system the PS Vita. There have been dozens of other big announcements at the show but since we aren’t a video game blog we won’t be covering them here. Sadly, E3 is only open to members of the game development community and the press but that doesn’t mean there aren’t way to get in. However, if you really can’t find any way into the Expo then check out sites like Game Trailers and IGN, which are offering live streams of the some of the best announcements at the event. E3 is hosted by the Electronic Software Association and runs from today, June 7, to June 9.

E3 image and logo are property of the Electronic Software Association

Steve Wyrick has Brand New Magic Show at Hilton Las Vegas

Posted on May 24, 2011 by admin

Viva Las Vegas! The sin city is best known for its gambling, bright lights and flashy nightclubs, but the best part of Las Vegas is the shows.
When was the last time you saw a magic show? A magic show is probably not the first event you would think to book, but somehow, the magic shows tend to be the ones that are most memorable, most striking and most invigorating.
The illusions will make you question what is real and have you crazed to figure out “how they did it”. A night of tricks is definitely worth paying money to see. Well-skilled magicians will have you sitting on the edge of your chair and begging for more.

Steve Wyrick is an “ultra magician” and touts that his upcoming show will be the biggest and best yet. He has performed on “The Late Show with David Letterman”, Vh1’s “Celebracadabra” and TLC’s “American Chopper.” Wyrick’s shows are unreal and will have your mind spinning like a top. Some of his signature illusions involve making a jet airplane appear out of nowhere and making a helicopter vanish in mid air. Wyrick has performed at multiple hotels in Vegas and is best known for his show at Planet Hollywood. Wyrick will now be performing nightly at the Hilton Las Vegas, beginning June 29. With a new location and new set up, Wyrick is sure to fill the house and wow the crowd.

Steve Wyrick’s show is expected to be spectacular so if you have been looking for an excuse to have a little fun, then you will definitely want to see his show. Tickets range from $40-$125.

The Lost Horizon Night Market looks ridiculously fun

Posted on May 16, 2011 by admin

Photo by Jessica Bruder

The Lost Horizon Night Market is like a secret carnival, bazaar, and Burning Man all rolled into one, it’s the sort of event that just happens. You either already go the Night Market or just haven’t heard of it yet. Newcomes are often surprised by the Lost Horizon Night Market and you’re unlikely to find the attractions at Lost Horizon anywhere else, they aren’t really the usual fair, but that’s exactly why it is so popular. The Lost Horizon Night Market was co-founded by Mark Krawczuk and Kevin Balktick after Krawczuk opened a noodle truck at the 2008 Burning Man as a prank. The joke was on Krawczuk though as his noodle truck was a big hit and after seeing such success at Burning Man, Kruwczuk turned to Kevin Balktick to start the Lost Horizon Night Market in New York in 2009. Since then the Lost Horizon Night Market has grown to be a huge production with over 20 different attractions run out of the back of rental moving trucks, just like Kruwczuk first noodle truck. Some of the attractions at Lost Horizon Night Market include things like the Mission Impossible Truck, Smash Truck, Surviellance Truck, and if you’re in New York, Mark Krawczuk’s noodle truck.

Photo by Jessica Bruder

Any trip to the Night Market is guaranteed to be fun and unforgettable experience. For instance, before gaining entry to the Mission Impossible Truck people were charged with completing various missions assigned to them by a mysteriously masked man. If they completed their mission people could then try their luck at liberating one of the many cupcakes kept under guard by “lasers” and tripwires inside the Mission Impossible truck in true Tom Cruise style. One of my favorite attractions at the Night Market just by principle alone is Mac & Attitude.

Photo by Shalaco

At Mac & Attitude, they only serve macaroni and cheese, but every bowl comes with a free side of attitude. The original Lost Horizon Night Market is still running strong in New York and since then it has spread to west to Oakland and San Francisco. Unfortunately, the schedule and location for the Lost Horizon Night Market varies. The most recent Lost Horizon Night Market in New York occurred on May 9^th, 2011.

You can find out more about the Lost Horizon Night Market on Twitter or their homepage here

via Wired, NPR

The 2011 O.Henry Pun-Off World Championships

Posted on May 16, 2011 by admin

“There was the person who sent ten puns to friends, with the hope that at least one of the puns would make them laugh. No pun in ten did.”

If that made you laugh then you might be in for a treat as the 34^th Annual O.Henry Pun-Off World Championship is being held on Saturday May 21, 2011 in Austin, Texas. The O.Henry Pun-Off is a competition honoring writer William Sidney Porter where contestants compete for the top titles with spontaneous and original puns. The O.Henry Pun-Off is actually divided into two different pun competitions: Punslingers and Punniest of Show.

The Punslingers competition is a series of single-elimination rounds in which two contestants are given a single category and must think of the best pun that they can. The contestant with the lowest scored pun is eliminated eventually leaving one person to be crowned champion Punslinger. In the Punniest of Show competition contestants present puns on stage and are scored by a panel of judges on originality, presentation, and content. Interestingly enough, the puns can be presented as stand-up comedy, music, visual piece or whatever the contestant can think of as long as it’s still a pun. The contestant with the highest score in Punniest of Show wins the competition. Don’t expect to see your favorite comedian though at the O.Henry Pun-Off, as its mostly just ordinary people with a perchance for wordplay; anyone can sign up. The competition begins at noon on Saturday, but the festivities really start at 11am with a barbeque, live music, and a vintage book sale.

The Pun-Off is being held at Bush Square at the O. Henry Museum, 409 E. Fifth Street in downtown Austin, Texas. Admission and parking for the event are free.

Find out more about the O.Henry Pun-Off World Championship, or read more great puns at the PunPunPun site here

San Diego Comic Con 2011

Posted on May 9, 2011 by admin

It’s that time again when the smell of mint condition comics fills the air and all of the fanboys and girls line the streets of San Diego. That’s right it’s time again for the San Diego Comic Con. Start planning now because if the last few years have been any indication this event is just getting bigger and better. Comic Con will be taking place from July 21-24 with a preview event on the 20th. For you unlucky people that haven’t bought a ticket yet well unfortunately all of the 1-day and 4-day passes have already sold out, but you might still have a chance to buy a ticket from the Comic Con website as refunds and cancellations are processed some tickets might become available. Otherwise, there are still a few tickets on sale on eBay.

Spider Man Wants to Go to Las Vegas

Posted on April 21, 2011 by admin

It has been customary for hit Broadway musicals to make the transition to an ongoing run in Las Vegas, after their New York production comes to an end. This has been the reported intended destination of the highly publicized and greatly anticipated Spider-man production that has yet to open at the Foxwoods Theatre on 42nd Street. The production is currently schedule to open on June 14th.

The production, which until recently, was directed by Julie Taymor, has been wrought with technical issues, and seeming creative conflicts. U2′s Bono and The Edge provided the music and lyrics, and are reported to have been part of the disagreeing aspects of Taymor’s artistic vision. Taymor is well known, respected and critically acclaimed for her work on The Lion King, for which she won a Tony Award for directing the Broadway production. Interestingly, The Lion King is one of Las Vegas’ most popular hits.

Taymor also directed the visually spectacular Across the Universe, which featured Bono as Dr. Robert. The production is currently on hiatus, though it is schedule to resume its previews on May 12th. It has been reported that part of the producers’ problems with the production relate to its appeal to adults, and want the show to be more of a family event. The current break is intended to make cuts and changes that will turn the show into a more family oriented experience, which is part of the intention with taking it to Vegas. Time will tell if this show will make the hits list on the Las Vegas events calendar.

Looking for Gold with Maps

Posted on July 22, 2010 by admin

It can become something of an obsession, or something of a great pleasure, or sometimes they can both be the same thing. The idea of a map somewhere, perhaps buried in a bottle underneath a tree in someone’s yard , is an old fantasy that speaks to children. Well, it’s one that’s supposed to speak to children, but it’s appeal extends to nearly everyone. Buried treasure isn’t just an obsession for story books, because there really are places in the world where people look for gold.

The important thing to keep in mind, perhaps, is that it really is about the present moment and not the outcome. Taking a Florida map in hand, and trying to find the places where the pirate’s treasure might be, can be a maddening enterprise, unless one remembers that Florida is a lovely place to be. And those places where the pirate ships sunk are usually inhabited by museum staff, and don’t want people looking for gold.

It becomes a metaphorical idea, then, to look for treasure. In the looking, there are great moments that happen to everyone who loves to travel. In that case, then, any East coast map will do, and it doesn’t have to be a journey for real gold. The real gold is found in the moment, and that’s a secret that even the pirates couldn’t keep secret.

The Evolution of Video Game Software

Posted on July 17, 2010 by admin

There has been a lot of progress over the years in terms of video game software. Video games have gone from being computer nerd experiments to being something that most people want to play. Game Software has gone from being something that you have to spend painstaking hours downloading, or you have to buy a large bulky console with just the one game installed on it. Now you can hop on the Internet and download the newest game. There are a number of sites that will let you do this, and not all of them are equal.

Some of these sites focus solely on games that you will have to pay them for. You will sometimes get a review or a preview version to let you know what the game will be like, but other than that there is no way to know if you will like it. Other sites will focus on free games that can be downloaded and used right away. Most often there is a mix between these two, with the free games enticing you in and the pay for games being the way the company can keep the free games on the site at all. Sometimes the pay for games will have more features than the free games did and are often worth the small fee to download them. Some of them are even large enough that they will need guides and walkthroughs.

Met to Get Stung by Sting

Posted on May 30, 2010 by admin

So Sting has already played Carnegie Hall, and no doubt, it was the result of practice, practice, practice. A lifetime of musical accomplishments certainly helped, as well as being a charismatic figure with striking good looks that seem to improve with age. There’s something to all the yoga and other interesting physical fitness regimens that he’s been practicing over the years. It will all be put to the test, and one he will most certainly pass, when Sting plays the Met in July .

There are lots of moments like these that make New York a place to be. It hasn’t lost its edge at all, and probably never will. The steady stream of young artists coming to test their mettle in one of the world’s most difficult crucibles means that there’s always something new and interesting. The discerning citizens, along with the many visitors who frequent New York’s hotels , are a ready audience for work by established artists, along with the tried and true artists who have reached maturity.

Sting may be mature, but there’s plenty of boyish charm left to make a whole new generation jealous or swooning, and the work always goes in new directions. Sting is perhaps entering another great phase of experimentation, and the show in New York will combine his own music with some classical variations that sound stunning in theory.

They’ll likely be wildly successful, pleasing the large crowd that’s bound to show up, but there is always a chance that something might go wrong, and the new direction might not be a perfect match for the cultural moment. But that’s what’s always kept his work so very interesting. The early work with the Police mixed forms well enough to re-create punk rock when it needed new life, and as old fans complained when they were getting too commercial, another generation began to notice that there was something compelling here.

That particular story has had multiple repetitions in every phase of Sting’s career, and enough to suggest that this is another musical direction, and one that will lead to new honey.

Erykah Badu At One with Paris

Posted on May 27, 2010 by admin

Paris has a particularly unusual appeal for artists in any number of mediums, with a population that is very cosmopolitan, worldly, and critical. In many respects, Paris has historically been the center of world culture in many epochs, and many different art movements. Today, there is still a lively atmosphere that’s infused with both past and present, and this makes it a city worth visiting more than once in a lifetime. Thankfully, the hotels in Paris do live up to the most romantic expectations, and the city’s sights are as breath-taking as one could imagine.

In terms of musical artists, the taste is exquisite, and one of the wonders of the world would be to see a favorite artist play here. Later this summer, music lovers will get an amazing opportunity to hear some phenomenal sounds in the city as Erykah Badu plays Paris . The city has a certain love for the eclectic, the bold, and daring, and the sensual, and she is all that, and a bag of chips.

Her new album, New Amerykah Part Two: Return of the Ankh, is a continuation of her lifelong experiment in being Erykah Badu. This album is a mix of all the styles she’s been pushing toward since the birth of Seven, and is also, at the same time, a recapturing of some of the more classic elements of her work. It’s a perfect moment for her to play Olympia Bruno , and not only because it’s a perfect venue for an international star who needs a lot of room for her fans.

It’s also a moment to be marked, and the venue is auspicious for her. There is a harmony in the location that blends with her own particular spiritual outlook, and it’s one that’s certainly present in the music. She takes turns, and heads down long tangents that sometimes appear to be fruitless, only to reveal at the 11th hour, there is a scheme behind it. Or, at the very least, some kind intelligence, giving her work equal portions of honey and urgency.

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