Exploring Detroit – D:Hive Bus Tour
Since a large part of making sure your company can flourish and grow is making sure the city it’s in can do the same, Quicken Loans is a vocal supporter of Detroit and along with that, making sure that new employees know what’s here to see and enjoy.
So it was that I took a bus tour of Detroit during the middle of my work day. D:Hive is an awesome organization that exists to help visitors and transplants make the most of Detroit. Whether it’s showing you all the great entertainment options, giving you a walking/bus tour of the area and its history, helping you find a job or a new place, they try to cover it all. (more…)
Detroit Grand Prix
The Chevrolet Belle Isle Detroit Grand Prix (as it is officially called) was held May 31-June 2, 2013.
It featured cars from the IZOD IndyCar Series, the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series and the Pirelli World Challenge Championship Series. The track is 2.3 miles long and is actually temporary. It takes months to set up the full track area including paddock, bleachers, vendor area, and more.
Thanks to a random giveaway at work, Chris scored 2 tickets for Saturday along with parking, shuttle, and paddock access. (more…)
XGames Bid for Detroit Party
The theme for the night: Bring XGames to Detroit!
As a finalist in the ESPN XGames search for a new city to host them for the next three years, Detroit stepped up and threw a massive bash to show ESPN just how this city can rock. With only three days notice we had a half pipe with BMX and skateboard demonstrations, food trucks serving up awesome menus, Mix Master Mike from the Beastie Boys spinning on a stage complete with light show and fog machine, and local graffiti artists showing their talent on large plywood boards.
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Upcoming Convention – Anime Central
ACen is celebrating their Sweet 16 this year. Since they’re having this milestone event, I thought it would be fun to show when we started attending and how we got sucked into being life-long Alley Artists.
After Report – Anime Park
This was our second year selling at Anime Park. It’s very well organized for such a new anime convention, and being a High School student run one at that. There were a good mix of panels and a great Maid Cafe, and seemed to be a decent turnout of attendees.
We’re here!
With that in mind, there are definitely some things that can be improved. Some I expect is out of their hands. For instance, we were in a different school this year. Still on the same campus, because the city of Canton has this unique setup where there are three high schools all on the same land. I’ve never quite understood why it was decided to be set up this way, but I know all three have a full roster of students every year.
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After Report – Penguicon 2013
Hold on to your keyboards folks, this one is going to be lengthy! I have ton of photos to share, along with summaries and thoughts on the convention and panels.
So just what is Penguicon? First, let me tell you what it isn’t: it isn’t just one thing, one genre. I mention this because when I talked about Penguicon to friends I heard “Oh, but I don’t really know Linux.” Let me stop you guys right now, because it is WAY more than a Linux con. It is everything geeky, nerdy, open-source, Sci-Fi, and a bit of things in between.
Panels ranged from “how to promote yourself” to “creating 8-bit music” to “making pasta from scratch”. If you like anything DIY at all, from cooking to electronics, it’s here for you. I hope by the end of my write-up, you’ll be super excited to get your hands on a 3-day badge for next year (which will be May 2-4, 2014 at the Westin in Southfield).
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It’s not the gear…
Just to show you don’t have to have the fanciest most expensive cameras to take an awesome photo:
This image won “Thumbs Up” on ViewBug in a Self Portrait contest. It was taken on an iPod while sitting in my car (parked, not driving!). I glanced in the rearview mirror and noticed the sun coming in the back window gave me this great rim light on my hair. I grabbed the only camera I had with me, my iPod, and clicked.
Now, it’s not the most prestigious award in the world, but I’m mostly pointing out that it’s the vision not the gear that creates something that not only you are proud of but others can appreciate as well. They didn’t know how this shot was taken, only that they liked the end result. That is what counts.
Restaurant Review – La Dolce Vita
I decided to have a mother daughter dinner out and have an excuse to try one of the places participating for Detroit Restaurant Week. My mom cares for my grandmother full time and does not get the opportunity for a nice evening out very often, so I was really looking forward to this (as was she!).
Image courtesy LDV
After report – ShutoCon 2013
ShutoCon in Lansing, MI is a newer anime convention with a good focus on artists and cosplayers. The AA coordinator (and convention chair) is a long time artist herself and strives to make her con have all the best available for us. She was extremely understanding about feedback and complaints (I had few, and most weren’t under her control but felt should be noted), and definitely has a good thing started.
It was held at the Lansing Center and the connected Radisson Hotel from April 5th-7th, 2013.
Convention Appearance – Penguicon 2013
One week until Penguicon! They have their schedule up now – go check it out and plan what you’d like to see.
I will be there as media coverage taking awesome photos of all the stuff you don’t want to miss.
Take a look at their site: Penguicon for details of what/where they are and the current schedule details.
