Geeking Out on Inclusion: Flame Con Grows as it Redefines LGBTQ Culture

Last weekend, subway riders in New York might have noticed costumed nerds were flooding the city. International Cosplay Day took place in Central Park, Liberty City Anime Con at the New York Marriott Marquis, and, at the Sheraton Times Square, there was Flame Con. Billed as “The World’s Largest Queer Comic Con,” this was the event’s fourth year, and its third change of venue (previous installments took place in Brooklyn). Flame Con continues to grow in attendance and scope. Continue reading at ChelseaNow.com.

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Three Cheers for Pride Parades!

 Everyone loves a parade — but marching in a parade is much more fun than watching one. I perform with a team of LGBT cheerleaders called Cheer New York, and every year the squad marches in New York’s Pride parades. Cheer New York doesn’t cheer for a sports team; we cheer for charity. Most of our time is spent at walkathons, fundraisers for LGBT organizations, and performing on stage at events. But the annual shotgun of parades in June is what it’s all leading up to. Three weeks ago, on the morning of Queens Pride, 40 cheerleaders were taking our first synchronized steps of Pride Month. On June 24, we’ll march across the finish line at Manhattan’s Pride Parade — tired and sunburned, but full of cheer, and proud. Continue reading at ChelseaNow.com

Cutting-Edge Games Fest Has Something New for a ‘Change’

The Games for Change Festival has always been ahead of the game, in terms of the social impact of video games. Each year, its panelists and curators examine how games can be used to promote positive change in civics, education, and health. With its 15th installment taking place June 28-30, the festival looks back at its own history, while looking to the future. Continue reading at ChelseaNow.com.

Learn to Take Tea Like a Duchess in Time for the Royal Wedding

Any time there’s a royal wedding, a royal birth, or even a Brexit, Americans suddenly embrace their colonial roots and develop an obsession with all things British and fancy.

Nothing is more regal than a tea party, complete with extended pinkies and refined manners. So, in preparation for the impending royal wedding (May 19!), I took it upon myself to learn the correct way one should comport oneself when “taking” tea. Although I fancied myself quite the refined lady at the start, my education in tea etiquette was swift and brutal — but delicious nonetheless. Continue reading at ChelseaNow.com

Tribeca Film Festival Review: “Tiny Shoulders: Rethinking Barbie”

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The Barbie doll has been a feminist boogeyman (or boogeyperson) for decades. As an inanimate object, she’s an easy target — but there are real people behind the doll. The documentary “Tiny Shoulders” looks at Barbie’s journey from groundbreaking toy, to cultural lightning rod, to her most recent redesign for 21st century sensibilities. Continue Reading at Downtown Express.

Tribeca Film Festival Review: “Sidelined”

ìThe Chargettes perform.î Shari McDonald in SIDELINED. Photo credit: Jack Schwaesdall.

My review of this documentary: “In television sports coverage, it’s called a “honey shot” when they point the camera at one of the cheerleaders instead of the players. For most of the 20th century, cheerleaders were just on the sidelines of sports coverage — but in the ’70s, the exploitation of NFL cheerleaders became big business. The filmmakers behind the short documentary “Sidelined” pin this on the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders, who rose to mainstream awareness thanks to a convenient honey shot, and their skintight short shorts. Most other cheer teams, like the San Diego Chargerettes and Chicago Honey Bears, got caught up in the rush. When Playboy magazine capitalized on this trend, and did a spread with cheerleaders, it destroyed at least one squad. “Sidelined” looks at this scandal from a variety of perspectives to explore just how much the “girl next door” can be sexualized before going too far. Continue Reading at DowntownExpress.com.

Tangible and Social: Virtual Reality at Tribeca Immersive

The stereotype of Virtual Reality (VR) is an isolated person sitting alone in a room, their head sealed within a helmet, master of a lonesome utopia. Early efforts at VR often met this cliché — but the “Tribeca Immersive” programming at the Tribeca Film Festival (TFF) aims to make virtual reality a more tangible and social experience. Tribeca Immersive includes a Virtual Arcade of VR experiences (Apr. 20-28), along with a festival of films shot in 360 degrees. Both are running at the same time at TFF this month (Apr. 18-29), and will give even hardcore VR users an excuse to leave home and experience these site-specific installations at the festival’s headquarters. Continue reading at Downtown Express…

ìobjects in mirror AR closer than they appearî is an interactive new media installation based on the critically-acclaimed theatrical performance THE OBJECT LESSON.
Photo credit: Max Gordon.