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RIP Aaron Banks

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This is sad news for the martial arts community. Master Banks was a very popular figure in the NYC martial arts scene during the seventies. He helped to pioneer the dissemination of the martial arts by helping to promote the “Oriental World of Self-defense” shows that packed Madison Square Garden during that time. I remember meeting Aaron Banks back in 1973 as my father was signing me up for my first martial arts class. This must have been only a few weeks after Bruce Lee’s “Enter the Dragon” premiered in the US. I don’t know about the rest of the country, but in NYC, that movie had kids dragging their fathers to any establishment that offered instruction in the martial arts. Unfortunately for my father, he was no different.

Aaron Banks was sitting at the front desk as my father and I walked in to Continue reading “RIP Aaron Banks”

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The Periodic Program Review, or I’m down with PPR!

PPR

Every five to seven years academic degree programs in the CUNY system have to undergo a process called a Periodic Program Review (PPR). The PPR is an in depth look at the academic major under review from a programmatic,  institutional, and industry wide perspective. The ultimate goal of the PPR is to begin an honest review of the program effectiveness which will then be used to help to guide the evolution of the major for the next five to seven years. Because I am the sole full time New Media faculty member, the research and drafting of the report for the LaGuardia New Media Technology program became  Continue reading “The Periodic Program Review, or I’m down with PPR!”

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2013 Five Boro Bike Tour

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Today was an excellent day for our annual Five Boro Bike tour family outing. The wife and I have done this every year together for a least the last ten years. My son started riding with us in 2010. This was his fourth trip with us. This year was very different because this was the first major public event since the bombing of the Boston Marathon a few weeks back.

The police presence was overwhelming. There were numerous checkpoints throughout the course. I even spotted a few police snipers Continue reading “2013 Five Boro Bike Tour”

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New York Cine respects ‘da skills!

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The stars are aligning for a brother. I am having one of those weeks where everything aligns and the world just falls into place. In my 47 years on the planet it has happen only a handful of times. It is right up there with sex, love and old school hip-hop. I had a great meeting with a group of educators that I hope to be working with in the coming months. I am keeping my fingers crossed.

Plus the interview that I done awhile back for the Film and Media web site, New York Cine, was finally released. I had forgotten that they sat me down to talk about the effects of torrenting and piracy on the film industry. Digital disruption at its finest. I plan to savor this ‘ish for as long as I can.


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iPad & iPhone Development Training

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Just got the word that I got accepted into a native iPad/iPhone app development course at Access Code NYC. I was one of the 20 people selected out of 200 applicants. I am psyched up because while I have developed some mobile apps using third party applications and frameworks like PhoneGap and Adobe AIR, this will be my first foray into native programming for Apple devices. Objective C here I come! Luckily I purchased a Mac Mini a few months back in preparation for a course like this one.

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The new Star Trek film

People that know me are aware that I have been a lifelong Star Trek fan. My friends are also aware that I absolutely detested the last Trek film directed by JJ Abrams. With that said, I can’t deny that this trailer has me more than a little excited to see the new movie.

My problems with the last film stems from the fact that while the action was great, the characterizations of Kirk and Spock were totally off. And I don’t mean just that there were different actors playing the parts. The script had them doing thing that Kirk and Spock would Continue reading “The new Star Trek film”

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Thai Cooking Lessons

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The wife and I continued our Groupon and LivingSocial addiction. We decided to take a Thai cooking course at The Institute of Culinary Education (ICE) instead of doing another archery, motorcycle riding, or NRA pistol certification class. In truth, I have recently become totally fixated on cooking related shows. Anything with Gordon Ramsey is an immediate season pass selection on the TiVos. So when I saw the Groupon offer a couples thai cooking class I thought that it would be another great opportunity to get out for the night with my girl.

Chef Vicki Caparulo was our instructor for the evening. She was absolutely amazing! She seemed to have that Continue reading “Thai Cooking Lessons”