coyoteheavenmedia-blog

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#netneutraliy

Alright, I need to be serious for this moment. Recently in early morning of today the #FCC (Federal Communications Commision) voted to end #netneutrality by a 3-2 vote. What does all this means is that the big internet providers like AT&T, Verizon and Comcast will have complete control over the prices of your internet and how much internet you can have.

This hit is a massive blow to everyone, because without net neutrality, our connections will be weakened by higher cost, access to website might be limited by your providers, and for start ups and indie games may find their contents blocked or ended up paying more than normal.

The injustice and the backlash of this decision will make less growth and more pain when trying to use the internet.

The FCC and the trump administration (which one of them is in charge of the FCC) cause this because they want to make more money at our expense and because the net neutrality was created by the Obama administration back in 2015.

Despite all the plead from everybody including google, Facebook, democrats, and even Hollywood telling the FCC not to do this, the vote was cast anyway. With this impact happen, we have but three choice. Either we just let this happen and do nothing or we stand up, head straight to every government building in the country and demanding for our net neutrality and our freedom to use the internet back!

And if we can’t get it, than the third choice would be for us to create a new internet!! A better, faster and more free internet that the government won’t have control of, we got the hackers and enough computer geniuses and the hardware and software to make this happen, we just gotta try! #newinternet #freetheinternet

[coyoteheavenmedia-blog]

A Day in Megacon Orlando

It was a hot sunny day when I first arrived in Orlando where I’ll be spending the day in one of the biggest conventions in Florida, that convention was Megacon. As I arrived at international drive and found a decent parking space at the Pointe Orlando, I begin my walk to the Orange County Convention Center but when I reach the west area of the convention I discover that it got a second convention that occupied the west side of the convention center, which leave me to make a long walk to find the main entrance to Megacon.

I soon realize of how big the Orange County Convention Center really was when I took the long bridge that leads me to the north/south side of the convention center but when I got there I realize that I have to walk around the south convention area in order to reach the entrance which have made my legs and feet hurting like I was walking for 500 miles.

After a long and grueling walk around the south convention area I finally arrived at the main entrance to Megacon Orlando, I was lucky that there no line for the pre-paid day passes since this only the first day of the convention. So I got my day pass and begin the wait for when they start to allow everyone to come in starting from the VIP pass holders to the 4 day pass holders until they finally reach the day pass people (that’s me).

When I made my first step and journey into the monster that is Megacon’s vendor area I was overwhelmed by how big it is and I thought to myself if I’ll ever survive it for a whole day. There was cosplayers beyond what my eyes can see, some of them went for popular characters, some cosplay as character that you didn’t expect to discover or rediscover, and there are a few that take their cosplay to a level above the rest.

As i was walking around the vendor area, a girl who is near a Piranha Plant statue at the Joysticks Lounge booth signal me to come me and she was happy to see me. She told me that we met before at Joysticks and although my memory was a bit fuzzy I soon remember of my last visit in Orlando when I first met her at the front entrance of Joysticks Lounge during St. Patrick’s Day, after we talked a bit and got my picture taken with her and the Piranha Plant I continue on my journey in Megacon heading towards the Cosplay Community area.

Right when I was getting lost in Megacon I encounter Zac Hurst in the walkway at the cosplay community area, He is a friend of mine and he also the founder of the M.U.C.H. Foundation (Makers United for Children’s Hope). The MUCH Foundation is a non profit group of dedicated cosplayers, makers, photographers, and volunteers with incredible skill sets that work together on helping children and families that are dealing with their struggle with disease, financial hardship or disability. They also has a R&D department that been working hard on crafting and perfecting prophetic limbs through 3D printing and making robotic limbs in the goal of reducing or eliminating the cost of all children’s needs.

Zac was very excite (and so do I) that for the first time ever the MUCH Foundation got a booth in Megacon, after I had a little chat with him and some directions on where to find the booth I head straight to where the MUCH Foundation booth is located. As I arrived at the booth there was a 1960s batman, a daredevil, and hawkeye watching over the booth, the booth has a background of the original 1960s batman’s batcave as well as some MUCH Foundation’s merchandises and business cards they gave around.

After saying my hello and goodbyes with everyone at the MUCH Foundation booth I continued on wandering around Megacon, during my time walking in the convention I encountered several interesting cosplay but one cosplay that caught my attention was a 3 people cosplay of the little mermaid. The Little Mermaid cosplay team had a ariel in her mermaid form sitting on a rock, a ursula with a trident (either that or morgana), and a prince eric would carry a rope in which he drag the rock that the mermaid was on all throughout the convention.

The fact that this guy was able to single handily pull the ariel and the rock with just his strength was not only impressive but it also shows the dedicated relationship of ariel and prince eric.

The excitement of fandom can happen to anyone, whether if it to discover an actually original batman movie batmobile, or even someone cosplaying as one of your favorite characters in an anime like Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid for example. And the truth about all the cosplay that came to Megacon is that they work real hard and put a lot of time on making their costumes, the reason they did this can varies, some did it to show their love for a show, other did it for the fun of it and just love to act like the character they cosplay, and there are some that cosplay and made their costumes as a profession. In fact, some of those made it a career choice creating their own cosplay business.

As the day was nearing it climax and my body and legs was ready to give up, my mind and spirit kept me going because there is one panel I must go to before my day in Megacon was over. And where I was going is the Stan Lee Q&A Panel.

When I first came into the room where the panel will be held, almost the entire room was packed with so many fans all came to see Stan Lee live and hear what he has to say. By the time I was able to find a seat almost everyone that was in the convention was here.

After spending a few hours waiting Stan “The Man” Lee arrived on stage and everyone was giving him a round of applause while standing up. Stan Lee is one of co-creators of Marvel Comics, he along with Jack Kirby created many of the iconic marvel characters that we all know and love. As we got the panel started with a lineup of fans that want to ask him a question there was some ground rules that one person in the audience shout out “Don’t ask questions that you can find on Wikipedia” or a simple question like who your favorite superhero you created (which it obvious that Stan Lee said Spider Man).

With the Q&A got started, some of questions people ask was about what it take to make a good comic book story, some was about some of characters that he created and some that he wish he created, he mentioned that during that deadpool short teaser that came before the Logan movie, he was originally made a cameo appearance and complement deadpool’s suit right before deadpool said “Zip-it Stan Lee!” but the studio cut that part out in the theater version, but thanks to Ryan Reynolds, the original version with stan lee’s cameo was restored and uploaded into YouTube for everyone to see and Stan Lee thank him for that.

As the panel near the end and there was enough time for one more question, the question that one fan gave was if Stan Lee were to make one executive decision back when he was working marvel comics in the 1960s which would it be? that question even got some of the audience impressed, even Stan Lee was impressed. 

Seeing how much everybody in the panel love Stan Lee was a great experience for me and I learn a few things that I didn’t even know, like during the Q&A Stan Lee talked about how Jack Kirby drew and that he drew those panels like he already drew it before, Jack drew it in the panel and move on to the next one without making any changes or erase anything. Many artist normally trace the lines and erase and fix whatever mistake they made till it looks right but Jack Kirby never made any changes, he drew like he already knew what he picture it in his mind, which also got Stan Lee to gave him the nickname “Jack King Kirby”.

With the panel finally over and Stan Lee made his goodbyes to everyone in Megacon, I was all ready to head back home. Megacon on the first day alone was an interesting and humongous time with so many cosplayers, vendors, and community groups that all came here to show their love and fandom of everything. It also one of the biggest convention I ever been to. I don’t know if I can handle the others day in Megacon but I do know that this was a memorable one indeed.

[coyoteheavenmedia-blog]

Pondering The Bonfire

What does a group of people see when they sit down and come together near a bonfire in the middle of the night? Do they just sit down just enjoying each other company like friends? What makes a bonfire so special to be near?

A bonfire is a nice little spot where friends or a small group of people come together to keep each other’s company, share stories, and even enjoying the moment of watching the fire as it move and flow in every direction while still within it own personal space.

But there is a deeper meaning as how a bonfire represent.

A bonfire can sometimes reveal a person’s soul, if you stare at the bonfire just enough you could see something that some may think it’s trippey, but others will think that it’s a spiritual vision.

A bonfire can reveal many things but it can also be the light that can give people closer together because not only the heat would warm people even in the coldest of weather, but it also acted as a signal light that guide people to their destination.

From throughout all of time in history, the bonfire had always been one of the most important tools to make in the world.

[coyoteheavenmedia-blog]

His Name was Ned

I was wandering around Ybor City looking for a great idea to photograph but unfortunately I didn’t have much luck on some inspiration.

But when I was crossing the street near The Ritz, a homeless man sitting at the corner of The Ritz called out to me. At first I wasn’t sure if he really is signalling me but he pointed his figure to me and ask to come towards him.

Being cautious I head towards the man, when I arrive he asked me to photograph him, he saw me with my camera looking for something to photograph and he offered me a chance to photograph him without even asking for anything else.

I was surprise by his offer and seeing how generous he is I accepted his offer to photograph him, I took a few shots of him holding his sign which I can tell at first glance that this would be a memorable black and white photograph.

After I photographed him, I offer him some of my water from my water bottle as a thank you to him. He was happy and thanked me for the water, after he had some of my water he asked me for my name and told him my name out of respect and in return I asked him for his name and he tell me that his name was “Ned”.

Hearing his name, capturing that great black and white photo, and seeing him offering to be photograph to me without asking for anything have gave me great respect for him and so I promised him that I will name this photo after him and try to show  this photo for all to see.

I tried to showcase this photo but no one was interested in seeing it or accept it in their shows, until now I wasn’t able to show this photo for all to see and be admired. But by showing this here and telling my story behind it, I hope I can finally  be able to fulfill my promise to Ned.

Rarely do you ever find a chance encounter that would never expected to find, rarely do you find a moment that would give you an impact on your outlook in life. And this was one chance encounter that I’m not gonna forget.

“His Name  is Ned”

[coyoteheavenmedia-blog]

A Day at The Festival of Chocolate

It was a hot and cold morning as I was on my way to the Museum of Science and Industry (aka MOSI) for a day of looking and tasting at The Festival of Chocolate.

The Festival of Chocolate is an event that showcase the unique delicious and creativeness of chocolate and other sweets, where local sweet shops showcase, promote and sell their product to the people in this event and it is also where they showcase a creative fashion show where each local fashion designer that participate the show created an outfit that is made 100% out of chocolate wrappers.

As I enter the building they got stations where people can buy chocolate coins to purchase the chocolates in the vendor areas, in the showcase area where all the chocolate vendors and special events are located there was various different types and variations of chocolate that is available. There was chocolate truffles, chocolate cupcakes, chocolate cake, brownies, fudge, chocolate extract, chocolate fountains, chocolate flavor vinegar, chocolate flavor beer, and even chocolate wine!

In the center of the showcase is a well known celebrity chef Paul Joachim who was doing a live chocolate cake sculpting with a model right next to it. He sculpted the chocolate cake face detailing the lips, adjusting the eyes and fine tuning the nose.

There was also a chocolate showpiece competition where chefs around florida competed by showcasing their custom made chocolate sculptors for recognition and for the prize money.

But beside all the chocolate there are also other different sweets and activities in the festival of chocolate, there was a vendor that create ice cream using liquid nitrogen as the cooling method of making ice cream, there was also an area where chefs teach other how to make some chocolates, there was even a private area where adults can taste and try chocolate and wine, and there was some interactive event where the participated played chocolate bingo.

With everything that been happening around the festival of chocolate, there was one more big event to see. That event is the Chocolate Fashion Show.

Each of the designers from the International Academy of Design and Technology (IADT) showcased their models in one of a kind outfits and dresses that are made entirely out of chocolate wrappers, it was also a competition where there was awards from most original to best in show.

The outfits that was showcase at the show was incredible, each designer had put a lot of effort and details from the wedding dress that came with a unique head piece and flowers made out of candy wrappers to a fashionable short dress made out of crunch bar and york chocolate wrappers.

Overall the festival of chocolate was a fantastic event, all the chocolates in the festival was delicious, the chocolate fashion show was a big hit, and I even got a chance to taste some chocolate along the way. It was a great day for chocolate.

[coyoteheavenmedia-blog]

My First Ever Convention

I first arrived at the Sheraton Tampa East feeling nervous for a job to photograph an event because I have no idea of what to expect in my first ever experience in a convention, the name of the convention that I’d experience my first time in was Khaotic Kon.

When I enter through the doors into the hotel I was amazed by how many people in costumes which they are known as cosplayers came to a convention on a single day, each cosplayer design, create, or simply put cloths together in the goal of portraying as the character they love and showcase their craftsmanship to everyone.

As I start to wander around I have seen various people from teens to young adult dress up some great quality costumes you wouldn’t find in any other place, Some cosplay as characters from anime, comics, tv shows and video games while some went creative with their own variation of a character.

There was vendors that sell merchandises of anime and cartoons and there was also an area known as Artist Alley where local artists create and sell their fan art to everyone.

With all the costumes and merchandises, Khaotic Kon also has events and panels where cosplayers schedule and set up for various fan base topics and interactive forum. Some of the events has forums that talked about anime, cartoons, crossovers, fan-base what ifs, and even the industries and artists that create these anime and cartoons that everyone loved, while there are events that showcase plays and entertainment from a cosplay character play to even raves.

One of those events that I was here for was a first ever Cosplay Fashion Show hosted by a group called Cos-Mods, a few months before Khaotic Kon I went to an audition that cos-mods set up in the Ybor CIty district in Tampa, FL. I was nervous at the time when I first met them because this audition feels kinda like a interview but I quickly warm up to them which they were impressed by my portfolio photos.

As they set up the stage for our cosplayers to do a practice run, I get to know a little more with everyone in the group. They all set this up because they love cosplay and want to make an event that is ambitious and fun at the same time.

With the time comes for our doors to open and the people that was waiting in line start coming in, it was time for our cosplay fashion show to officially begin.

As our cosplay fashion show begun, each of the cosplayers on the stage showcase their cosplay outfits, from aquaman and his atlantian armor to iron man and his self-opening helmet, from princesses and their beautiful dress to the most custome made cosplay armor outfit I ever seen.

The crowd that saw them was loving the show and as our cosplay models made their final showcase we have reach the end of my time in khaotic kon.

Khaotic Kon was an interesting experience for me, it was my very first anime convention I ever been to, I connected with the cosplayers and understand how much work and effort they put in creating their costumes and why they did it, and as for the cos-mods group I stay in touch with them. In the years that follow after this event those very same group I first met would became my friends and the very same friends I connected with them would later on become part of a MUCH bigger group with the goal of bringing hope to children.