Squarrel Cafe review, yes that's how they spelled it!

      Coffee shops are a staple of society and now, you can't go half a block without running into one or four. So, in an age where you need to stand out amongst the crowd, how does one do this when you just sell coffee?

      Let's backtrack a little. The production company  I work with, Sketchfed Studios, LLC,  wanted to host a mini company outing on an on going basis. Someplace open, inviting, not necessarily alcohol related as not everyone drinks liquor but different from the norm.

    As we all love playing video games, I started to seek out establishments that had gaming as well. I found quite a few that offered board gaming as an incentive. The prices ranged from $10 and up for a max of 3 to 5 hours of gaming or ordering two item minimum while playing.

   By NYC city standards, these weren't too pricey and doable for the budget. As I was searching around the areas we wanted to meet, I stumbled upon this small coffee shop called the Squarrel Cafe. It's located at 572 Atlantic Ave, 1 block west from the Barclays Center, by the Dunkin Donuts on the corner. I literally have passed by this place a million times and sadly never really noticed it (as I'm not that big of a coffee drinker) but the way the name is spelled definitely caught my attn.

     So I went inside to check it out. It has a very simple and modern feel to it that's open and inviting.  They serve coffee, bubble tea, etc and now offer desserts and hot pressed sandwiches. They also have board games, lots and lots of board games! They only charge $5 for all day unlimited play and have a vast assortment of titles I havent even heard of. The titles range from younglings all the way up to adults too. Can't beat that price either!

     They have a special challenge posted on the large school-like blackboard located towards the front of the store and winner of the challenge gets a free item. Currently it's a giant Sudoku puzzle (I never really tried sudoku before, maybe I should start? Haha).

    The biggest draw is that every one has their own personal space to eat, play games and even hold business meetings. All of these were going on simultaneously while I was scoping the place. This place is kid and teenager/ sfter school friendly and all the kids inside were very respectful. The bathroom is super clean, spacious and has this really cool hand dryer attached to the handles of the sink. Feel free to play around with that while you're in there, ha ha.

     I never found out why the name is 'Squarrel' and not 'Squirrel', I have a hunch but I'll hold my tongue for now. They definitely did mean squirrel as the logo for the cafe is a picture of a squirrel. Oh well.  They've only been open for about 6 months now and are newbies to the neighborhood, but  definitely go check them out and show them some love!

www.squarelcafe.com

Kipo and the age of wonderbeasts (2020)

 
 All I can say about the latest 'anime - style' show is another huge win for the Netflix, Dreamworks and Studio Mir partnership.  Based on Radford Sechrist's web comic named 'Kipo', 'Kipo...' is about a post apocalyptic world, 200 years in the future in a city called Lost Angeles where, presumably, some type of nuclear device went off worldwide, causing all animals to mutate in various ways. Some animals, the dogs and bunnies, kept their animalistic characteristics but became giants with excess body parts i.e - extra ears and tails. Some animals become more cognitive and exhibited very human like behavior.

    The humans of this world are separated into two groups - above ground and burrowers. Kipo Oak is a super intelligent 13 years old girl who's a part of the burrowing humans. Something traumatic happened, her burrow city was destroyed and she was separated from her  tribe. She tries to search for her people and along the way meets a young, tough girl named 'wolf who lives alone above ground, a 'mutie' pig named Mando who has four legs and eyes, and a young DJ named Benson who's best friends with a beetle named Dave,  Dave's 'mutie' ability, besides his human like personality, is that he literally goes through metamorphosis within a two weeks span in almost every episode. Within these two weeks, you get to see Dave as a larvae, a two years old, a hormonal teen, a jacked up young beetle and a super old bug with limbs that consistently fall off his body.

     The show also revolves around this newly formed group  and their misadventures above ground trying to help Kipo find her people. Their story arcs when Kipo's group relaizes they are being hunted by a super smart and powerful Mandrill named Scarlemagne. He wants to rule the surface world by taking control  of whatever human are left, mind controlling them into being his slaves and joining his massive army. This 10 episode first season ends with Kipo briefly being reunited with her people right before Scarlemange absconds her father. Kipo throughout the series also goes through some dramatic changes that will forever change her life and the world.

    Besides all the brilliant storytelling, interesting characters, and amazing artistry, one thing that really makes the show standout is the music. Kipo plays guitar and sings on various episodes while Dave and Benson are the DJs of that world. The cast also features some pretty powerful musicians as voice actors like Joan Jett as a rocker snake named "Camille".

    It's also very LGBT friendly and has a cute moment between Kipo and Benson where he tells her he's gay. Nothing over the top or in your face. Just a simple and quick not really coming out moment but more giving us  a heads up. His sexuality isn't heavily played out on the show either. It's like Benson's a young, gay, p.o.c who's an awesome DJ and reliable friend.

    Overall, this series has a little bit of everything for everyone. There's no 'over the head' adult jokes so it's equally entertaining for young kids and older alike. Season 2 has already been confirmed but no release date in site yet. though producers for the show promise season two will be bigger and much more action packed! Can't wait to see what happens to Kipo and the gang!

Whale Shark Festival Part 2: The Swim

    I love the water! I'm a half Sagittarius and half Scorpio so my water sign side keeps me craving a good swim! When I was in Aruba, I went snorkeling by the sunken war ship, the Antila. We were slowly making our way over to the  ship, I had all these cute little fish swimming around me, things were great!

    Then suddenly, the fish disappeared as I neared the ship. All I know was I couldn't hear anything, I was under the water, heading for this huge sunken ship and I'm totally creeped out. You can't hear anything, barely see anything, there's no fish to keep you company, you're swimming to a large dark object in a large dark place. This made me realize I need to condition myself so that I won't be scared and panic while underwater.

      I've swam with eight species of Shark, both in and out of cages, but even they were small in comparison with what else is out there. So decided I needed to slowly work my way up the size ladder of marine life. So here's what happened when I swam with Whale sharks for the first time.

      Initially there were so many small boats out on the water, I was worried we wouldn't see any whale sharks or be able to get close enough to get good pictures. Thankfully,  a lot of whale sharks  arrived and we were all surrounded by more than 40 of them! The whale sharks were all around us, filter feeding off brine shrimp in the water.

      Whale sharks are super funny creatures or just don't give a shit. They all swam right up to us, mouths fully opened and they never swerved away. We literally had to swim out of the way of they would've barreled right into us. I had to swerve above a whale shark's tail twice as it came directly toward me. Another time, a whale shark was heading straight towards me with its' mouth fully opened and I had to swerve that too. The whale sharks were also ramming into the boat by accident, they swim so close to the surface that when they passed under a boat they would scrape along the bottom. Several of the whale sharks exhibited minor cuts and bruises to their dorsal and causal area.

      Technically you're not supposed to be that close to the whale sharks. The rules state you are supposed to keep a distance by boat of around 100 feet; when swimming stay six feet away from the tail end and 4 feet away from the head. Naturally none of this is followed as no one told the whale sharks they were supposed to withhold these distances! The boat we were on gave us ample time to swim with the sharks, going out two persons at a time, and we were all able to gain some amazing shots. The whale sharks didn't seem to mind our presence at all. Their body language was completely relaxed towards the humans yet over focused on eating.
 

      Swimming with whale sharks was definitely an unforgettable experience and helped me to both understand and appreciate marine life more so. I feel like I am now somewhat more confident in going under water and being around large objects or animals that I may find down there. I appreciate the tour company, Ceviche Tours, for allowing us ample time in the water with the whale sharks, and for making some amazing seafood ceviche for lunch.



For more information:

Whale Shark Festival  & Isla Mujeres Tours

www.cevichetours.com

Whale Shark Festival, Isla Mujeres 2019 part 1

   I've always been a huge animal lover and pursuer of knowledge. Combine these two character traits and my life gets pretty interesting! I normally attempt to go away one to four times per year for personal trips and maybe twice yearly for business conferences.

   I had the good fortune of accidentally learning about the whale shark festival that is held yearly at Isla Mujeres, Quintana Roo, Mexico. Every year, whale sharks migrate down Mexico primarily from May - September.  The various companies come together to jointly host this festival which starts with a parade down the main streets on the North end of the island. Then over the course of the next five nights, the island hosts a bevy of marine biologists, researchers and other wildlife experts to host educational seminars. There are also local food, music, and artists on hand. The biggest draw for tourists is, of course, the whale sharks themselves.

   The whale shark festival is a way to educate people about marine life and explain why biodiversity is so important to the planet. The festival is hosted by a collection of Isla Mujere's marine life tour companies but its main sponsor is Ceviche Tours. Ceviche Tours collaborated with the other island tour companies to help promote both tourism and conservation. While I would like to give a proper review of the actual whale shark festival I sadly cant because the week the actual festival was supposed ti start, the Mexican government (yes you read correctly)  decide to postphone the festival to the following week! 

    I had a trip to Peru booked immediately after Mexico. I spoke with Ceviche Tours and they too were upset as they now wouldn't be able to attend their own sponsored event (they had to be out of town as well). We were all very disappointed.  I'm guessing there was a low turnout as it was too late for us all to change bookings. Though it was a disappointment to miss the festival, I did get to swim with whale sharks and you can read all about my experience in part two of my whale shark blog! To be continued.

x

Dragonball Super: Brolly (2019) review

            Unless you've been living under a rock lately, it would be hard for you to miss  the advertisements for Toei Animation and Funimation's newst baby, Dragonball Super: Brolly the movie. This movie has an immense amount of hype behind it as it has such a profound legacy to live up to.
     
              Akira Toriyama, CEO of Toei Animation and all around mega animation superstar, created the original incarnation of the Dragonball universe, Dragonball, back in 1984 for Shonen Jump Magazine. Dragonball was the third manga created by Toriyama-san, after 1978's Wonder Island and 1980's Dr. Slump, and were featured in the weekly manga anthology magazine. Dragonball quickly became popular in Asian countries and the Western areas due to its intense fighting and very interesting characters, each with their own unique personalities. Toriyama-San loosely based the ideas of the Dragonball universe on the ancient Chineese legend Sun Wukong aka the Monkey King of whom Goku is supposed to take after.

             Funimation helped introduce the Dragonball world to the small screen when it began dubbing the animated version of the series for western audiences. This helped skyrocket the series to other audiences who may not have been following Dragonball in its manga form. Tragically, all anime companies took a major and unfortunate hit during the 2008 recession. Alot of major animation and manga companies had to shut down due to financial  struggles.

          Funimation took a huge hit but also had the good sense to wait and feel out the recession. As the recession slowly receded, Funimation began buying up the rights to a about 90% of the shows that were given up when other companies shut down. As Funimation began to slowly rebuild its brand, it pushed hard to bring anime back to the west, even creating its own convention. Without Funimation's tenacity, anime like Dragonball might not be as strong in the world as they are today.

            But enough about all that, let's get back to the movie review shall we? Without a doubt Dragonball Super: Brolly is projected to be thee biggest hit to date for the mega franchise. It was the first anime to ever be debuted on an IMAX screen in the western world, first to have a red carpet premiere in both LA and NYC, it's also projected to have an over $8 million take for its opening weekend alone. It landed the number one spot in America, until Shyamalan's Glass came out, but still, an amazing run for this series.

          The movie itself doesn't disappointed in ANY aspect. The animation was stunning, absolutely  beautiful. You can tell there was a mixture of CGI and hand drawn animation used with some rough cuts of Vegeta showing in a particular scene. The narrative during the fights scenes was an anime first. The fight scenes were done from a first person pov and jumped from Goku and Vegeta to Frieza and Brolly. You could really feel like you were in the movie with them and this will be a great viewpoint for any VR system this movie plays on.

              And if that wasn't enough, it was hilarious! With scenes of "accidental" deaths by certain heroes and villains alike. We see just how vain and selfish both Frieza and Bulma are. We also get to see Goku and Vegeta's parents back on Planet Vegeta when they were very young. And we see young versions of many of our favorite characters and surprises like, gasps, Napa had hair! Mind you, I have never seen so much Saiyan and other alien tits and ass in my life! You'll see what I mean when you watch, lol.

             Of course the main feature was Brolly and the dynamic between him and his father, Paragus. This new Brolly movie is completely different from its predecessor, storywise, and while I love both versions, I did appreciate the back story of this new one moreso. They actually explained where Brolly's uncontrollable strength comes from and why he can't handle it all. He's less legendary Saiyan and more mistake that was never handled properly.

            The ending does leave things wide open for all the characters to meet up once again, should they decide to continue the anime or manga in something beyond DBS. And with the popularity of this series unending, I'm sure we'll soon be treated to more episodes covering the lives of our favorite Saiyans for eons to come!