Get 8-Bit with Louisville Arcade Expo

The great thing about Kentucky's conventions is that all of them provide something unique and special. Louisville Arcade Expo is certainly no exception. Since 2011, Louisville Arcade Expo has been providing the Commonwealth with the opportunity to play probably any video game imaginable. Expo goers can harken back to their youth in the local arcade playing Ms. Pac-Man or Tekken. Personally, I was a Mortal Kombat master. I played every time we went to Giovanni's in Flatwoods and got pretty good at it if I may say so myself. You can read about my first console experiences on the blog post My First Video Game.

Arcade X, which takes place March 6-8, features over a hundred pinball and arcade machines set on free play, Classic Consoles from the 70s, 80s and 90s, and Classic Computing including the Apple II and Commodore 64. For just $20 a day or $45 for the weekend, you can play all of your favorite games and also take in events such as Retro Pub Trivia, Maximum Chiptunes by DJ CARTnage, and tournaments, including Street Fighter II, Power Pad Olympics, and Galaga. Regional vendors will be on hand to sell their retro gaming inspired wares.

Whether your interests are in Oregon Trail, Doctor Who Pinball, or Colecovision, you're sure to find something that's right for you. This year, Arcade X will also present one of the founders of Activision, and an early designer of many great console and arcade games, David Crane.

Louisville Arcade Expo

Triple Crown Pavilion @ the Ramada Plaza
1776 Plantside Drive Louisville, KY

March 6 - 8, 2015

Fri 2p-Midnight, Sat 10a-Midnight, Sun 10a-4p

@Door:  $20/Day | $45/Weekend

Facebook | Website | Event List | Twitter

If you're able to make it to Louisville this weekend, it's sure to be a great time. Everyone be safe, as Kentucky has just gone through Snowpocalypse 2: The Blizzarding. Keep up with more Kentucky convention news here at Kentucky Geek Girl.

Be sure to like Kentucky Geek Girl on Facebook and follow my daily updates on Twitter! If you have any questions or want to discuss partnership opportunities, be sure to send me an email.

KickStartKentucky: Build Lexington in SimCity

KickStartKentucky is a new feature at Kentucky Geek Girl where I scour the web for interesting, Kentucky-based crowdsourcing projects. It doesn't have to be Kickstarter, projects can come from Indie GoGo or any platform. The only criteria for this feature is that the project has to be about Kentucky or based in Kentucky. If you have a project that you'd like for me to feature, just send me an email!

In this inaugural edition of KickStartKentucky, I'm sharing a project by Nolan Gray called "Help me build Lexington, Kentucky in SimCity (2013)." The title is self-explanatory. Nolan wants to construct the Athens of the West, the Horse Capital of the World, Lexington, Kentucky in SimCity.

I am fascinated by cities and city planning. As a historian, I find it interesting to see how a city changes over time and Lexington is no stranger to change. Starting from a town plat which spanned less than ten blocks, Lexington became a sprawling city, especially in the mid-20th century when urban sprawl was the norm all over the country. Even today, new subdivisions are cropping up all over as more and more land is taken in by developers. The landscape of Lexington has changed tremendously even in the 10 years that I've call it home.

I asked Nolan a few questions about his project and what he hopes to accomplish. More from him after the break.

Welcome to Night Vale to Return to Kentucky on May 12

Fans of Welcome to Night Vale, rejoice! Cecil, Carlos, and the cast of characters returns to Kentucky for a live performance on May 12 at Louisville's Bomhard Theater at The Kentucky Center. Tickets to the 2014 event sold quickly, so be sure to order yours soon!

Welcome to Night Vale is a twice-monthly podcast which can be described as "A Prairie Home Companion" meets Gaiman and Lovecraft. The podcast, presented as a radio program, provides community updates for the small desert town of Night Vale featuring local weather, news, announcements from the Sheriff's Secret Police, mysterious lights in the sky, dark hooded figures with unknowable powers, and cultural events. The show is hosted by Cecil, with secondary characters voiced by guest stars such as Mara Wilson and Wil Wheaton.

WTNV released its 61st episode on February 1, so there's plenty of time to get caught up before the May 12 performance. Tickets are available now and can be purchased through Ticketmaster. If you're unable to make it to the Louisville show, Cincinnati is a comparable drive from Central Kentucky. And for those who really want to drive to Cleveland, you can do that too.

MAY 12. 8:00PM
LOUISVILLE, KY
BOMHARD THEATRE
ON SALE NOW


MAY 13. 8:00PM
CINCINNATI, OH
TAFT THEATRE
ON SALE NOW

MAY 14. 8:00PM
CLEVELAND, OH
HANNA THEATRE
ON SALE NOW


Be sure to like Kentucky Geek Girl on Facebook and follow my daily updates on Twitter! If you have any questions or want to discuss partnership opportunities, be sure to send me an email.

Five on Friday: Favorite Bad Lip Reading Videos

Like many of you out in Internetland, I'm a peruser of YouTube. I like to start with a video and just watch similar vids until I feel like I've reached a sufficient level of WTF-ery. Case in point: Bad Lip Reading. I first came to know of BLR several years ago when they parodied the video of my dear Michael Bublé, to which he posted an amazing response video. I've been a fan ever since and love to keep up with their newest releases. Since joining YouTube on March 21, 2011, BLR has garnered 4,146,593 subscribers and 424,525,344 views. I believe it, too. Their 2012 Presidential Election videos were insanely popular and I see their pop culture parodies circulated often.

"Weird Al" Yankovic Announces Mandatory Fun Tour Dates

Yankovic is all over the place these days, recently guest starring on ABC's Galavant. He's even lending his voice to the new Adventure Time video game. It was teased on Facebook all day on Monday and Tuesday at Midnight, the dates for "Weird Al" Yankovic's Mandatory Fun tour were announced on his website. This tour comes on the heels of the immense success that Yankovic has found with the release of "Mandatory Fun," his fourteenth studio album. Yankovic has performed numerous times in and around Kentucky and this tour is no different, with the following dates on his tour:

MAY 23
RYMAN AUDITORIUM
NASHVILLE, TN

MAY 28
MURAT THEATRE AT OLD NATIONAL CENTRE
INDIANAPOLIS, IN


MAY 30
JACOBS PAVILION AT NAUTICA
CLEVELAND, OH


JUN 21
FRAZE PAVILION
KETTERING, OH


JUN 24
PALACE THEATRE
LOUISVILLE, KY


JUL 7
SOUTHERN KENTUCKY PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
BOWLING GREEN, KY


AUG 7
TENNESSEE THEATRE
KNOXVILLE, TN

There you have it, there are plenty of chances to see the king of the musical parody this summer. His newest album is comprised of twelve songs and features parodies of Iggy Azaelea, Pharrell Williams, Lorde, and Imagine Dragons among others.

Yankovic, a geek icon, will no doubt perform song from his storied career which spans the last three decades. I'm not sure which show I'll be able to go to, but I hope to see him at the Louisville Palace because it's just after my birthday! This will be a concert that you won't want to miss, I know I'm kicking myself for not seeing him when he performed at Paramount Arts Center in Ashland.

Let me know in the comments if you're going to get tickets when they go on sale on January 27! Dates are, of course, subject to change, so be sure to keep an eye on "Weird Al's" website!

Be sure to like Kentucky Geek Girl on Facebook and follow my daily updates on Twitter! If you have any questions or want to discuss partnership opportunities, be sure to send me an email.

Images courtesy:
http://assets.nydailynews.com/polopoly_fs/1.1867637!/img/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/article_970/weird-al-yankovic.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandatory_Fun

Imagine Better This Saturday With the Harry Potter Alliance at Plantory

Real talk time: the world is kind of a mess right now, but there are definitely things that restore my faith in humanity. Case in point, the Harry Potter Alliance.  I must confess that I haven't even finished the book series, but I did see all of the movies, and have been a huge Harry Potter fan for almost 15 years. I am so excited by the work that this group is doing. Since 2005, the Harry Potter Alliance has engaged millions of fans through work for social justice, equality, and literacy. The best part, though, is that the organization is making activism accessible. They've succeeded, with nearly 100 chapters and a network that reaches nearly one million people.

The good news of the work that they're doing is spreading like wildfire. Just this week, HPA succeeded in a four year long campaign for Warner Bros to use all fair trade chocolate for their Harry Potter licensed candies. This victory has gone viral and has been featured by a large number of online publications including People. This is certainly some great PR for the Alliance and should show the world the great work that they're doing. And their work spreads beyond the Harry Potter fandom, they're also energizing Hunger Games fans, launching the Odds In Our Favor campaign to fight income inequality and hunger.

If you're in the Bluegrass Region and you're interested in getting involved with activism, but are unsure how, please join us at The Plantory on Saturday, January 17 at 1:30 PM for the  Lexington Harry Potter Alliance Formation Meeting. Anyone ages 12 and older are welcome to attend. The WC Wizengamot, an official chapter based out of Woodford County, will be on hand to share how they use fandom based activism to enact change. This is a very exciting organization to be involved with and I just know that it's going to make a huge impact on Lexington!

Oh, and be sure to bring $1 to the meeting if you can, to help benefit the Huffleruffs, for care of magical creatures throughout Central Kentucky. Everyone at the meeting can use their dollar to vote for their favorite team name with proceeds to benefit Homeward Bound Canine Rescue and Rehabilitation.

For more information about the Harry Potter Alliance, check out their website. If you're unable to attend, keep an eye on the Lexington United page for more information about meetings. And if you're not in the Lexington area, fear not, because there is a Northern Kentucky chapter!


Be sure to like Kentucky Geek Girl on Facebook and follow my daily updates on Twitter! If you have any questions or want to discuss partnership opportunities, be sure to send me an email.

Game of Thrones Coming to IMAX

Last week, IMAX and HBO announced a partnership that would excite even the most casual of Game of Thrones fans. In an unprecedented move, Game of Thrones will be shown on large format screens. This is not the first time that a television program has been show in theaters, however, as there was a great deal of success in 2013 and 2014 with Doctor Who specials, but even that was in standard format.

Originally planned for a January 23 release, IMAX announced today that they are going to push the premiere to Thursday night showing on January 29. The company cited customer demand for the change and posted in their blog that Game of Thrones in IMAX "will extend through February 5. The date change, they said, allows for an expanded roll-out of screens to upwards of 200 IMAX theatres." Currently, only one screen in Kentucky will be showing Game of Thrones. Tickets will go on sale at Carmike Stonybrook 20 & IMAX located on S. Hurstborne Parkway on Friday, January 16.

Theater goers will be treated to two episodes from Season 4 of the hit HBO series - Episodes 9 and 10 - and a special extended preview of Season 5. Also posted on the IMAX blog, " Moreover, the first 300 IMAX ticket holders for the Thursday night opening show time at participating IMAX theatres will receive a commemorative Game of Thrones poster from well-known illustrator Robert Ball (www.beautifuldeath.com), who designed interpretive images of the most iconic deaths in each episode." This is certain to be a spectacle and I'm very excited to see what Game of Thrones looks like in IMAX!

As I previously said, Stonybrooke is currently the only theater in Kentucky to be confirmed for this event, but it is very possible that another theater will be added. The IMAX blog said to check back in the coming days. Another possibility is AMC Newport on the Levee 20, which is a great theater and would be my preferred viewing location.

I'll be sure to keep everyone informed! Will you see Game of Thrones in IMAX?


Be sure to like Kentucky Geek Girl on Facebook and follow my daily updates on Twitter! If you have any questions or want to discuss partnership opportunities, be sure to send me an email.

The Doctor Returns in a Encore Run of Mystery Theatre Production

Last summer, I had the esteem pleasure of attending a performance of Doctor! WHO is the Murderer?!, an original mystery by Kathy Hobbs, director of Fantastical Theatricals. The show is back by popular demand and will run for two weekends at The Chop House.