Post #7, The Washburn Experience

Greetings Readers! Today I want to talk to you about a place that I am very familiar with, Washburn University. This year marks my third year at Washburn and it still amazes me how much goes on at campus. 2016 will mark Washburn's 151TH birthday. Not so bad for Mr. Ichabod! Now, there is events that are for students only, but there is plenty for non students as well.

One of the main places to stop by on campus is the White Concert Hall. The place to be for music majors and where to go to for orchestra performances! There are plenty of performance throughout the year to attend. During the summer the White Concert Hall also houses the Sunflower Music Festival. This event let's you experience chamber ensembles, jazz concerts, and piano pieces.

If the performing arts are more your cup of tea then hop on over next door to the Neese Gray Theatre. Usually there is four or five shows per season. This season has included "Mauritius", "Into the Woods," "The Nether," and upcoming production "This Is Our Youth."  The theater also host The 24 Hour Play Festival. This year's festival presented a Y.A. edition where all the actors, directors, and play writers were high school and college students. They scramble getting everything together in the set time to reach their performance at the end of the day. Truly tests the skills of these young thespians.

If religion is a part of your lifestyle I would suggest heading to the Carole Chapel. While it is a petite church it certainly has charm. The chapel holds services when classes are in session. You can also rent out the space for weddings and other events. Even if religion isn't your doing the church is beautiful to see!

Washburn also has excellent facilities for its sports. Catch a baseball game at Falley Field, the Lee Arena, Moore Bowl, or at the tennis court. The homecoming game is always filled with excitement! Don't forget there is less popular sport games you can watch too. Washburn has rugby team that has home games throughout the seasons. This year Washburn also started up a Quidditch team! Harry Potter fan or not their games are pretty fun to watch!

KTWU is also located on Washburn's campus. You can stop by and take a tour  of the station. It pretty neat to see the behind the scenes of what goes to the daily news! The Crane Observatory holds open houses for the public as well. Gaze the stars through a stunning telescopes from the late 1800's! There is also a planetarium that you can schedule to see!

It's always a good idea to keep up to date with the Washburn calendar! There are plenty events that happen all over campus. The International House holds English classes and the union will occasionally have guest speakers such as comedians, magicians, and even co-host from the Discovery Channel's Mythbusters. There is also lectures and events at Mabee Library. As mentioned on my previous post, the Mulvane Art Museum is a great place for people to visit. Lastly, different departments host events too. I know the History department has movie of the month presentations that are open the public. After the film there is usually a discussion led by one of the History department professors. As you can see Washburn is a pretty busy place. Definitely go visit even if it's just to walk around campus!

Comedian Nick Guerra

Music/comedy duo Dakaboom

Post #6, A Little Slice Of History

Greetings Readers! I don’t know about you but I have a personal weakness for museums. I have always looked forward to field trips in my school days just to go out and explore whichever museum we were heading to. Something about just having a little slice of the past right in front of you was always intrigued me. When I moved to Topeka I was pretty stoked to find out that there quite a few museums in town.

My favorite museum is a bit of a hidden treasure. The Holley Museum is located inside the Ramada Hotel on 6th Avenue. The museum is only five rooms but they pack a punch. It is a military museum that covers events from WWI, WWII, Vietnam war, etc. There are plenty of dioramas displayed showing battles, planes, ships, etc. It’s an interesting collection that was started by Mr. Holley. He used to house all of these dioramas and collectibles in his basement working on dioramas became a passionate hobby of his. When he passed, his wife gave his collections away and they became the museum of today. Over the years other individuals have donated pieces to the Holley museum. The admission is free and there is an audio guide on loop to help you navigate.  

Another of my favorite museums here is The Great Overland Station. Although it’s mostly used to hold events there is still plenty to see. One room in particular has model trains. The station holds events such as the “Painted Quilts Across the Flint Hills.” Perhaps the biggest event that happens at the Overland Station is the Railroad Festival. Every year it holds a family-friendly festival. There are merchants from all over that sell jewelry, bags, and other accessories. They have live re-en actors that give people a look at life during the old prairie times. There is also a stage with music and a second stage with Native American dance and songs. Of course there are train carts, mini-train rides, etc to explore as well!

Washburn University also houses an art museum. Mulvane art museum showcases many pieces throughout the year. Many Art seniors have displayed their work at Mulvane. Mulvane also offers classes to all ages and abilities. They have their classes listed on their Washburn page. They also hold special events. On April 16 they will have a free event at the ArtLab where you can create a cherry blossom painting to celebrate the National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington DC.

These are probably my favorite, but there are other museums in town. The biggest ones are the Kansas Museum of History and Forbes Field's Combat Air Museum. Both are filled with knowledge and are a must see. The Charles Curtis Museum is a brick mansion filled with Kansas history artifacts and memorabilia. There is also many historical sites. The most famous one being the Brown vs Board of Education. The building gives you a look at the landmark case and the time period in general. Admission is free too!

Post # 5, To The Conventions We Go!

Greetings Readers! Today I am going to be talking to you about one of my favorite events to go to. Conventions! I have loved super heroes since I could remember. The ability to save the day and prevail just about everything thrown their way was just fascinating to me! To see super heroes and heroines go from clumsy fighters to butt-kicking vigilantes while learning about their own lives and characteristics was inspiring. Some would say it's to far-fetched to relate too. For me though, that just helped me relate more. Sometimes we need something more out there instead of the conventional.

A small chunk of my growing collection

I wasn't heavily interested in comics until after Joss Whedon's 2012 blockbuster hit, The Avengers. I fell in love with Hawkeye. In the film he is played by Jeremy Renner and runs around with the bow and arrow. A lot of people thought he was a bit useless compared to the other heroes. I of course thought he was the best and wanted to learn more about him. So I thought why not hit up the local comic book store and do just that.

Refocusing onto conventions. Conveniently enough, a year or so after I got into comics was also the year that TopCon was announced. Conventions are gatherings of people who share similar interest in ranging topics. They buy, sell, cosplay, discuss, compete, and just generally enjoy "nerding out." There are many conventions that offer people to meet stars and prominent figures from the works the fans enjoy. This could be authors, actors, voice actors, and artist. Conventions don't have to solely focus on comics. In fact nowadays almost all conventions that use the word comic in their name also focus on other things. Tv shows, video games, table top games. movies, book series, etc can appear at comic cons or there can be conventions that focus on one topic instead of multiple. Hearing Topeka was getting it's own convention was thrilling!

2015 marked TopCon's second year. The event was in September at the Ramada Hotel downtown. It lasted 3 days took up downstairs of the hotel, the main commons, and at least 5 rooms of the Ramada's main building. There were comic book dealers, art work, cosplay merchandise, video game tournaments, table top game tournaments, cosplay contest, independent film premiers, and much more. The environment was lively! There all sorts of people. From babies to grandpas! One of my favorite things was seeing family cosplay. There was a family dressed up as Batman, Catwoman, and the son was Robin. How cute is that! It was exciting to see how much bigger this year's convention was compared to the first one. The first TopCon was just a large room with 3 smaller rooms attached. People were crowded and even had a bit of trouble getting around.

This year also marked the first year of EmpowerCon. This a similar convention to TopCon but focuses on the message of empowerment. This year focus was on women. The guest were woman who have worked hard in their field. The main guest were Lindsay Wagner (The Bionic Woman), Gigi Edgley (Farscape) and Naomi Grossman (American Horror Story: Asylum).

It's nice to know that both of these events are growing. The conventions give people a chance to connect with each other and spend the day enjoying what they love. TopCon and EmpowerCon are still in their early years and have plenty of room to expand. We are no where near as big as conventions like San Diego's ComicCon but with time who knows. To continue showing you about conventions below is a video showing how wicked awesome some cosplayers can get. The one in the video if from a much larger convention but it helps you get the idea.

Both events will be coming back. TopCon 2016 will occur in September and EmpowerCon will return next February. Feel free to click on each to go to their websites and get the latest news. If you are interested in checking out a local comic book stores Topeka has two major ones. Boom Comics and Gatekeeper. They host tournaments and other events too!

Post # 4, NOTO District: The Arts Are Truly Fine! And So Is The Shopping!

NOTO Art District

Greetings Readers! Today I want to bring you back to the NOTO Arts District mentioned last week. I absolutely adore the NOTO district! It has quite a charm to it and it brings a liveliness to Topeka. Just as the name suggest the district is a growing hub for artist around the area. There are plenty of art studios such as Two Wolves Studios & Artist Den and Studio 831. The artist rent rooms that are usually located in the upstairs sections of the buildings. Throughout NOTO there are many galleries where these artist and others display their works. I find it fascinating how the district houses so much creativity!

Shopping
There is plenty to do if you yourself are not an artist though. NOTO host quite a few local shops! Many are antique shops such as Rusty Haggles and Portico. Others offer a unique boutique experience with their home accessories, clothes, and gifts. Pinkadilly being my personal favorite. The shopping area also includes Topeka Carnival Supply, MOODS photography, event hosting at Serendipity, and more. NOTO includes service shopping too. Ace Plumbing and Warner Electric to name a few. It even has an internet radio station, WREN Oldies radio!

 Eats

My weakness

After looking at all the art and shopping around I know I get a bit hungry. NOTO is home to my favorite cafe with some of the best breakfast food I've tasted! Bradley's Corner Cafe doesn't just do breakfast, they have lunch and dinner too. I recently tried their cheesy potato soup and had to stop myself from buying another bowl or two! Bradley's claim to fame though is their homemade pies! I'm addicted to their meringue pies! The atmosphere is also homey and has some pretty murals. Whenever I want to catch up with a friend, Bradley's always comes to mind.

Besides Bradley's there is also NOTO Burrito. The way I describe it is as a local Chipotle. They have similar menus that include tacos, burritos, and burrito bowls. Their chicken tacos are the best for sure! Located in the same spot is Bunker Coffee Company. They serve Espressos and milkshakes to give a pep to your step. The two companies go very well together. Tacos and milkshakes for life!

NOTO is adding to it eateries with the addition of The Wheel Barrel. While there is no set open date yet it is scheduled to open in the upcoming weeks. There will be a sandwich shop that also specializes in craft beer. I saw the inside of the restaurant a bit the last time I visited NOTO and it's looking like a great hangout spot! Their Facebook also mentions how they had woodwork and glass work done by other NOTO business. Just goes to show how NOTO business are always supporting of each other which is nice to see.

Statue located at NOTO

First Friday Artwalk
One of the most popular events that occurs at NOTO is the First Friday Artwalk. For the majority of the months, excluding winter, NOTO will have an evening art walk on the first Friday of the month. All the galleries are open to showcase artworks and the business open for special hours. It's the liveliest of days for the district! On these Fridays there is usually wine tastings, music, food trucks and vendors, and plenty of Girl Scout's with all your favorite cookies if you go on the right months. The event attracts hundreds of participants and gives the Topeka a strong sense of community! If you are over 21, there are bars and cocktail lounges that host after parties too.

NOTO continues to grow every year! It host a Dia De Los Muertos event and of course the Topeka Pride Festival previously mentioned. Hopefully more events and business will continue to make NOTO their home. It is truly one of Topeka's greatest spot and if you can only go one day I heavily suggest going on a first Friday. That way you can get the whole experience of NOTO's magic!

While I mentioned some of the shops and galleries at NOTO there are many more. Visit their website to get a whole listing of the businesses. Many of them have their own websites and social media sites which can be find on NOTO's website. I also have more pictures of the NOTO District in the slideshow located on the right navigation bar of the blog. Be sure to check them out! It's fun to see all the cool stuff they have and it is always nice to support a local business!