Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Who wants to play Megabots?

Hey Y'all,
I saw a MegaBot at New York City's Comic Con! Just what is a MegaBot? A MegaBot is an internally piloted robot that is 15 feet tall and weighs 15,000 pounds. It seats a team of two (a driver and a gunner). It has massive pneumatic weapons for arms and fights against other MegaBots. They fire special paint-filled ammunition, shooting at speeds of more than 120 miles per hour. The more damage inflicted results in weapons getting jammed, limbs flying off the robots body (not yours!) resulting in the robot shutting down.

The idea to build MegaBots started in the childhood dreams of each founder. However, the skills, means and opportunity to accomplish those goals didn’t present themselves until 2012 when Andrew Stroup and Gui Cavalcanti met as competitors on the Discovery Channel reality television show The Big Brain Theory: Pure Genius, an intense elimination-style engineering competition show. Starting on the show and continuing into the following year, Andrew and Gui spent countless hours designing and prototyping robotic components. After completing research and development, Andrew and Gui recruited Matt Oehrlein, an unrivaled controls engineer from the hacker/makerspace community. With these complementary skill sets and areas of expertise, MegaBots, Inc., accelerated to full throttle to bring these battling behemoths to life (from Megabots Press Kit).
These creators of the MegaBots remind me of Voltron or, as the younger generation would recognize, Power Rangers. They are all separate individuals with a set of skills but once they are grouped together they formed a huge battle machine called the MegaBot!
MegaBots, Inc has just launched a Kickstarter campaign to gather support for the first-ever giant robot battle league!



For more information or any press inquiries, please contact Andrew Stroup, Co-Founder of MegaBots, Inc., at press@megabots.com or 918.691.8755.
To learn more, please visit http://www.megabots.com or join the conversation at:
http://instagram.com/megabotsinc
https://twitter.com/megabotsinc

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Trip Hop with Emel Mathlouthi

Hey Y'all,
I was introduced to an amazing international singer/songwriter named Emel Mathlouthi recently and was blown away by her voice. She has such a good energy and aura about her that makes you feel at ease.
Emel is from Tunisia and she is best known for her protest songs: "Ya Tounes Ya Meskina" (Poor Tunisia) and "Kelmti Horra" (My word is free). "Kelmti Horra" became the anthem song for the Tunisian revolution.
When the Tunisian government banned her music, Emel moved to Paris, France to pursue her singing.  She has performed all over the world and this year we were lucky enough to have a U.S. tour.
I was able to watch her perform the last tour date here in New York City called Arabic Trip-Hop. The online radio network Live@365 had her performance for the new world series at Elebash Recital Hall at the Graduate Center. She performed songs from her two albums titled "Kelmti Horra" and "Helma".
It was a beautiful experience, the kind that you don't want to distract yourself from by taking videos or pictures (you want to be in the moment). Mathlouthi has several videos on YouTube where you can hear her music. She will also be performing at globalFEST on January 11, 2015 here at Webster Hall.




Monday, November 24, 2014

DUMBO Lights

Hey Y'all,
We had our official New York City Light Festival in DUMBO Brooklyn. The festival was a collaboration of light installations from different artists on November 6-8, 2014.
This area in Brooklyn is a beautiful piece of property near the Manhattan Bridge; the streets are cobblestone with train tracks embedded giving you a walk down NYC's memory lane. The archway was the main congregating space for the event.
I attended the event on Friday night, it was a beautiful site to see color lights reflecting off the bridge and archway even though it was freezing. They had projections against the bridges structure and DJ music echoing the archway. What amazed me was how many people showed up. When I was done with the event I walked to the closest train station at York Street (F-line) and the sidewalk was filled with so many people; it took me 20 minutes to get from the street level entrance to the platform!
On the last night of the festival I was told there were so many people they ended the event early (rumor/gossip?). If it's true I guess they will have to find a bigger space next year.




         


                                                                          


                                 


                                                      


                                     


                                                       


                                      

         



                                      


                                                      


                                                      


                                    


                                    


                                    


                                                       


                                                       


                                      


                                                      


                                      

         



                                      


                                      


                                       


                                        


                                         


                                         

                         




Sunday, November 23, 2014

Maroon 5-Adam Levine

Hey Y'all,
Maroon 5 had a special performance in New York City and they were awesome! The concert is based off their latest album "V". I love Maroon 5 and it's not just because Adam Levine is a cutie. If your in New York City on December 12th 2014, they are part of Z100's Jingle Ball concert lineup.


                           

                                       








Saturday, November 22, 2014

Kipling Holiday Tour in NYC

Hey Y'all,
Kipling has a Holiday Tour event taking place in New York City,  Los Angeles, California and Orlando, Florida. I attended the first New York event and it was so cute!
They offered complimentary sweets, custom gift wrap, holiday Tattly metallic tattoos and monogram bags.
The Kipling brand got started in 1987 in Belgium. It's name was inspired by Rudyard Kipling the author of The Jungle Book. I guess it's no surprise the brands signature mascot is a monkey!
Every bag comes with a small Kipling monkey key hanger. they have the brightest colors that make carrying a bag more fun and flirty.
My first bag is a small red backpack with pull strings and a velcro fastener. Happy to say my crinkled nylon accessory has lasted me over 20 years. The fabric is so durable and water proof I use it all the time.
I also have a larger cobalt blue backpack that I use for short travels. You wouldn't believe all the stuff I can fit in there. It even has a small compartment on the side I can hide anything in.
To add to my collection Kipling gave me a cute purple pouch that I got monogrammed with yellow neon thread and a black crossbody purse with four zipper sections and a magnetic snap clip compartment.
If your looking for a colorful gift to give to that special someone, this should be your choice. They are offering free monogramming for a limited time so head over to the site and Make Happy!