EventKC.com Blog

Halloween On The Hill Pictures

2011-12-31T00:00:00-05:00

Halloween On the Hill Pictures are now Available!

Halloween On The Hill Pictures

2011-12-31T00:00:00-05:00

Halloween On the Hill Pictures are now Available!

Halloween On The Hill Pictures - Black Party VIII Pre-Sale

2011-10-31T00:00:00-05:00

Photos from Halloween on the Hill are up here on EventKC.com. Click on the Halloween on the Hill galleries on the right side of the page. Pre-Sale Tickets for The Black Party VIII go on sale tomorrow! Don't Miss out on Kansas City's Best New Year's Eve Party. Buy before Nov. 15th to receive a $10 discount.

The Black Party - New Year's Eve 2011

Go to The Black Party Facebook Page and click attending for your chance to win a pair of tickets to the event.

Winners announced every Friday starting Nov. 18th

New School Fitness

2011-02-10T16:16:11-05:00

My Blog Looks Good Naked

Yesterday was the day I named this blog. The task of naming a blog is easier said than done, and many were tossed around. By many I mean two. I won’t divulge the other name today; however, I absolutely intend to later on as it is pertinent in the fitness world. You will probably find it humorous, but not today. Today is the birth of “My Blog Looks Good Naked”. This is the round-about goal of the everyday individual when taking an interest in improving their body. Many are too shy to say it but let’s be real… in the end you want to look good naked too! Hopefully this blog is going to be a stepping stones for that ambition. If not only want you to look good naked but I hope that when this blog is done it sees a beautiful piece of writing when it looks in the mirror and says, “damn, I look so good naked today.”

It’s not vain, it’s honest.

Being that this is the first of many posts it’s important that we have an understanding of what it takes to person the person and body we see as healthy and fitting to our own standards. Fitness isn’t about what anyone else sees when they look at you, but the image you see in front of you. Ladies and Gentlemen, the most important thing you can do for yourself is give TIME. Time is what it takes to find the movements in your body, and time is what it takes to find out the capabilities of your body. After time you need honesty. People need to take an honest approach to their use of time, honesty in their body’s range of motion, and most importantly being honest with themselves about goals. It’s easy to lie, and be deceitful, telling yourself, “I just can’t make it to work-out today, so busy with work/the dishes/travel/hangovers/favorite DJ/movies/date night/shoveling snow/watching Jersey Shore/blah/blah/blah”. Everyone can say your work is done for the day or hasn’t started yet. The dishes can wait. Most hotels have floors to do push- ups on. Drink less if your hangover interferes with lifestyle. Your favorite DJ is probably in better shape than you. Movies will end up on DVD. Your date might just think it’s time to hit the gym. Shoveling snow is not a workout. Yes…Jersey Shore is awesome! So is TiVO, so get to work. As a personal trainer I see full time professionals in the gym 6 days a week pushing forward because they are done lying to themselves about something they were formerly unfamiliar with. I suggest you become one of them. We should all be improving our health. Become a part of the fitness movement.

Now that you and My Blog Looks Good Naked have met, and had an appetizer of the philosophy MBLGN abides by, it’s time to talk about Valentine’s Day. EventKC what’s on tap?

That sounds sexy. So are your love muscles.

Before your mind goes on a gutter dive let’s be clear on what muscles I’m referring to:

Pelvic Wall and Floor

A LOT of stimulation over Valentine’s Day weeked will be triggered by tension built up in the pelvis. There are well known exercises that can increase this intensity. The Pelvic Tilt is and exercise you can use to increase the pelvic muscles, the abdominal region and is in fact, the basis of core strength.

To perform a Pelvic Tilt all you need access to is a flat floor surface, a soft bed will not suffice.

1. Lay flat on the floor with heals tucked in close to your gluteus maximus (butt, money maker)

2. Take notice to the natural curve of your spine and lumbar region as your lower back engages to support spine, and lifts from the floor

3. Tilt your pelvis/hips in a small rocking motion, engaging your abs and pulling your lower back to the floor

This will be hard to perform and until fatigue, if you would like to increase the difficulty of the motion:

4. Lift legs in air, straight and you body appearing “L” shaped

5. Drop legs towards floor until you feel your back to begin rising

6. Pull legs back to “L” position before back lifts

Men, this Valentine’s Day work on your dance moves. This one’s called the Hip Thrust.

Hip Thrust:

This is a relatively advanced movement. Begin attempting use from the floor.

1. Place shoulder blades on side of bench in the sitting position with feet 6-8 inches from glutes

2. Press your hips upward from the heel, hinging at the shoulder blades keeping neck relaxed

3. Weight as necessary

Be safe, strong, and feel great. Your body is an ever changing entity that you have the power of controlling. Please feel free to e-mail MBLGN at mybloglooksgoodnaked@gmail.com

Follow Me at www.twitter.com/MBLGNKC

Friend Me at www.facebook.com/DylanElliot

The Talk

2011-01-28T16:14:24-05:00

The Talk –

After a long chat with a friend of mine this weekend, I was reminded of a scene in Jerry McGuire. Cuba Gooding Jr. and Tom Cruise are having a conversation about relationships when Gooding’s character states plain and simply you have to have, “The Talk.”

The Talk may mean different things to different people. However, in this context we’re going to focus on the beginning of relationships. The sugary, endorphin filled, opening stages of the relationship can lead to people making assumptions that may necessarily be true.

Ideas, on when casual dating develops into a committed relationship, span across a wide spectrum. Very intelligent people can find ways to ensure a satellite doesn’t fall out of orbit. However, ask those people if having sex with someone after three or four dates means you’re “exclusive,” and you will get a multitude of vague responses. Most of these answers won’t even be truthful, they will be designed to prevent the respondents from the appearance of being an insensitive heartbreaker.

If there’s even an inkling that your true relationship status, not the one on Facebook, is in question… it’s time for the talk. It’s not always about putting a label on the current situation. Labels can also bring on undue stress and tension. However, everyone wants to feel secure in their assessment of their current romance.

Establishing what actions constitute being in a committed relationship is much harder than establishing what doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re in one.

- The length of time dating. It could be that one intense date leads to commitment. Or, it could take weeks, months, or years to develop a bond. In most cases there are signs that will let you know where you stand. But, when in doubt, talk it out.

- Good Person. Just because the person you are seeing is a good person, doesn’t mean that person isn’t dating more than one person. Not wanting to commit doesn’t in itself make a person morally bankrupt. Make sure that you get on the same page even if you’re dating Ms. or Mr. Nice Guy.

- Compatibility. People can have a great time together. They may have a lot of similar interests. Sometimes there is a strong physical attraction. None of this stuff defines a committed relationship. All of these attributes help, but aren’t definitive.

- Sex. I saved the biggest misnomer for the end. Sex doesn’t always equate to love, relationship, or commitment. Sex in most cases is a game changer, but it isn’t the last step in building commitment. Sometimes sex is just sex.

The best thing to do is to have “The Talk.” Note that I didn’t say the easiest course of action. However, this may inevitably be the only way to confirm that feelings that your feelings are being reciprocated by the object of your affection.

The Dating Hot Spot

2011-01-10T18:35:26-05:00

The Dating Hot Spot!

There have been a lot of articles on how bad dating can be in Kansas City. These articles predict gloom and doom for everyone in their 20’s and 30’s that want to meet someone. However, from what I’ve seen this just isn’t true.

I’m not a date doctor. I’m not a match maker. But, I am an observer of people. And as most of you know I have countless hours of experience. I can’t offer you the secret to dating success and happiness. But, I can offer the perspective of someone in the business of being out and about.

Over the next few weeks, I will be writing blogs that will give you some perspective on the dating and nightlife scene in Kansas City.

Here we go…

Location is Everything –

It may not seem that important in other cities, but it is crucial here in Kansas City. Where you live, and hangout may dictate your dating success. I know it sounds crazy, but go with me on this one. In the end you may just agree. The overall sentiment is that people now date and mingle close to home.

We (me and anonymous friends) have determined that Kansas City has what we refer to as the “Dating Hot Spot.” This is the part of town where most of the available young professionals, live, work, and play. This area serves as the host of many of the area's entertainment events, is home to the bars and restaurants, and provides a home to many local sporting events.

So where is this so called Dating Hot Spot? Basically, we have come up with borders on the North, South, East, and West sides of the region. The Dating Hot Spot extends from River Market to 95th street for North and South boundaries. The area extends from Troost to Shawnee Mission parkway for the East and West Boundaries.

Now you’re thinking to yourself, “How did they come up with this?” It’s very simple once you start to break things down. Some things I’m about to say may or may not actually be true, but they are the perceptions of many people.

The 95st and River Market Barriers save you from entering into the Family Zone. The Family Zone signifies an area that is made up of mainly cul de sacs, split level houses and strip malls. These areas have great schools, an abundance of bar and grills, and quaint coffee shops. There’s only one problem… The majority of people that live in those areas are ALREADY SETTLED DOWN. This means they are either married or living with a boyfriend/girlfriend.

There are two other main types of people that live in the Family Zones – Townies and New Hires. As many people know, a lot of people from Kansas City head off to KU, Mizzou, and K-State and return to the KC workforce after graduation. This means a lot of these people already have built in support systems where they grew up. They hang with their college and high school friends. These are the “Townies.” There is nothing wrong with returning to the Family Zones where they grew up they have friends in their clique that can introduce them to new people. However, if you’re not part of one of those groups and you move to a Family Zone you may be in trouble.

The New Hires are the last group of people that usually live in the Family Zones. These people just moved to Kansas City for a new job, and some real estate or leasing agent convinced them they would be getting a better bag for their buck if they lived at 119th street or in Parkville. This may be true, but what that agent didn’t tell them is that it will take them 25-30 minutes to get into the city when they want to hang out with other young professionals. This really isn’t their fault they were tricked, but they live out of the Hot Spot all the same.

The East/West boundaries are a little easier to explain. If you live East of Troost, it’s not fair and it’s not right, but people think you live in the hood and wonder why you’re kickin’ it over there. My Mom’s side of the family lives east of Troost. I grew up there before we moved away, and I think I turned out ok. It’s an unfair bias, but it’s there. Don’t blame the messenger. I’m just telling you.

The west boundary has to do with safely getting home without getting arrested! Everyone is making a strong effort to make sure we drink responsibly when we go out. That being said, it’s still not comforting to know that if you have to cross Shawnee Mission Parkway after dark you are most likely going to get pulled over, or have to go through a DUI checkpoint. It’s true that we should all be responsible anyway, but it’s a hassle. No one wants to deal with the police in Johnson County.

So, that leaves us with the Hot Spot. And what is so important about the Hot Sport:

- The Waldo, Brookside, Plaza, Westport, Martini Corner, Power & Light District are all in the Hot Spot.

- Nothing in The Hot Spot is more than a $15 cab ride away

- The Majority of the young professionals in the Hot Sport are SINGLE!

- On any given night you can find something to do in the Hot Spot whether it be related to Art, Fashion, Music, Dining, or Sports

Most importantly, people that live in the Hot Spot aren’t leaving the Hot Spot to go and see you! I know what you’re going to say, “If you really care about someone, it shouldn’t matter where they live.” You may be right, but you may never get to that point. If a guy lives on the Plaza and meets a young lady that lives at 127th and Nall in Overland park, he may never ask her out. Why? Here’s the scenario:

1. For the first couple of dates he has to go and pick her up at her place, drive to the location of the date, take her home after the date, and then drive home. That’s over an hour and a half of driving for a two or three hour date. A lot of people just won’t do it.

2. The relationship progresses. The couple wants to see each other 3-4 times a week. Now, every night, someone has to pack up their life and head to the others place with everything they need for the next day to get ready. In most cases, this will be the guy.

3. Lastly, the guilt factor. If you live 3 hours away from the person your dating there isn’t an expectation to see you more than on the weekends a couple times per month. But, if you live 35 mins away and you’re tired and just want to stay home, you feel guilty for not going to see your “significant other” it’s worse than a long distance relationship.

So if you live out of the Hot Spot what can you do?

1. Find a new place to live

2. Go out of your way to hang out in the Hot Spot and reassure anyone you meet that you can deal with the obstacles pointed out above

3. Find some Townies that live close to you. They can help you develop some friends in your area.

4. Go to some young professionals networking groups such as GenKC, Young Variety, etc. These groups can help you meet people also.

Stay Tuned for more blogs about being out and about in Kansas City!!!

Carlos Lee

Author

Once upon a time in KC

www.kansascitytalk.blogspot.com

Palm Pre v iPhone

2009-08-17T15:15:00-05:00

This Week - Palm Pre v iPhone

Which Should You Choose???

CES 2009 brought us a new player in the smartphone upper-echelon. Let's drill down and see how the Palm Pre compares with the iPhone and Android's G1.

1. Multitouch touchscreen/gesture control: All three are capacitive, only the Pre and iPhone have multitouch. The Pre's glowy little "gesture area" has dropped the touchable real estate all the way down tto the bottom of the phone, which is great for being able to navigate with one hand and not interfere with the screen at all. The wavey dock you bring up from the bottom looks awesome, but can you use it out of the box without a second thought or page through the manual? That's my question. Advantage: iPhone/Pre tossup.

2. Multitasking: One of the beefiest of our beefs with the iPhone SDK is its insistence on Apps running one at a time. The G1's notifications drawer was definitely a step in the right direction, but the Pre's interface is the first smartphone OS that was built with multitasking as a core design element. Resembling the Xbox's old Blades, or a less-jarring OS X Expose even, the Pre's "Cards" interface always places you in the context of every app running for fast switching, and notifications from other apps don't pull you away completely from the task at hand. Multitasking is hugely important on a phone, and it's a good sign that Palm recognizes. Advantage: Pre

3. Hardware: Adrian says:

While the hardware is definitely high quality, I'm not entirely blown away by the design. It looks really nice, and original, but it's a little too cutesy in shape and kind of reminds me of an oversized pebble. A slightly larger screen could have definitely been put to good use, and I really don't like the black space on the sides of the screen.

A phone with a built-in QWERTY still hasn't touched the iPhone in terms of sleekness and pure sex. And it might still be a while. Advantage: iPhone

4. Development platform: The Pre's "Web OS" sure sounds nice—all developers need to know is JavaScript, HTML and CSS? Sounds good in theory, but building a mobile app will never be as easy as cranking out a new theme for your Tumblr. Palm's stressing ease of development, though, so it will be interesting to see how it stacks up against Apple's solid, familiar-to-devs OS X-based SDK and Android's fully open source approach. Advantage: Pre? If it's straight-up JavaScript, that's a lot of programmers ready to go. Note: we had iPhone here before, but we've switched with a qualification. Developer community still goes to iPhone for volume.

5. Web Integration: The Pre subtly integrates the internet into the phone at every opportunity, and it's awesome. Contacts get pulled in from Facebook, Gmail, IM and and scanned for dupes; the messaging app shows your last several emails, IMs and SMS with that contact in a single window. Really, really smart stuff. Advantage: Pre

6. App Store/developer community: A smartphone is only as good as the software it runs. On the Pre, Palm is still keeping application delivery details like pricing behind the curtain, but they did say the app delivery will be entirely handled by the phone (without a desktop app), which is a shame. They're saying that they're not going to duplicate Apple's Hobbesian app approval black box mistake, which Android has also hasn't fallen for, but there will be an approval process based on "security and stability." But as we know with Android, a dev community needs enough devices in the hands of consumers to reach critical mass, which the Pre will have to match. Advantage: iPhone, even with the black box, but Android and Pre's more open stances are reassuring.

7. Wireless charger: We've seen wireless charger tech for years at CES, but it's taken this long for a major consumer gadget to come bundled with its own wireless charger in the box. Whoops, it's not in the box, sold separately for unknown $$. But still: Bravo. Advantage: Pre

8. The Network: Dan Hesse, Sprint's CEO, gave our coast-to-coast 3G test a shout out in his press conference. Of course he did: Sprint won (in download speeds). Sprint was the only major carrier without a powerful, hype-catching smartphone choice, and now they have one. The Pre is a data-centric phone with a network we've proven to be strong in a large swatch of the country—that's a good combo. But would you switch to Sprint for the Pre? Ugh. Advantage: Not cut and dry for everyone, but we stand by our numbers: Sprint is the best 3G network in our tests.

9. Physical keyboard: It's preference, but one held by a large swathe of the gadget buying public: physical QWERTY keypads are still the mainstream input of choice. Touch is getting better all the time, but a lot of people still want physical keyboards. But better yet is the ability to choose; unfortunately, the Pre doesn't have a soft onscreen keyboard, and its slide-out is the same meh QWERTY from the Treo Pro. Advantage: It's preference, but on me, the iPhone's soft keyboard can't be beat.

10. Camera: The Pre has an LED Flash for its 3MP camera, something both the iPhone and G1 lack. Flash cellphone photos are ugly, but for a lot of people, they're good enough. So credit for throwing it in. Advantage: Pre

11. Battery: Apple's still an outlier with their non-removable battery; like the G1's, the Pre's comes out for a spare swap too. We've heard Apple's reasons for this a million times, we know the drill, but removable batteries will never stop being handy. Advantage: Pre

12. Copy & Paste: Yep, Pre's got it. iPhone still doesn't. Advantage: Pre/G1

13. Browser: All three use a browser based on WebKit, which has become the standard for the mobile web. We couldn't put it through our Mobile Browser Battlemodo ringer obviously, but what we saw looked great, and it's the only other mobile browser besides the iPhone that supports multitouch zooming. Advantage: iPhone/Pre

So there you have it. We're excited. Are you?