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Virtual Reality is the Future of Fitness

Virtual reality is the future of fitness; you’re hearing it here, although this probably isn’t the first or last time you’ll hear it. Recently, we attended a special VIP influencer event for the kinda grand opening of a new VR spot in LA… Dreamscape. While we couldn’t stand a lot of the other influencers that were there (they thought they were really important, and were referring to themselves as influencers), we are very excited to return. They had three different options and we decided to be a part of a mission to save a baby whale. The experience was immersive and although it was less interactive than The Void (we did a Star Wars VR there), it was an amazing experience

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How Technology Can Make Aging Easier

Technology has changed so much in the last fifty years that it can sometimes feel impossible to keep up. If you’ve ever wondered how your children or grandchildren navigate their phones with ease, then you may be wondering how technology could ever make your life easier, not harder. While there is a learning curve for some devices, there are lots of great resources out there for learning the technology that could make aging easier.

Most older adults know the importance of keeping up with technology—78% of Americans over the age of 65 have a cellphone. But just having the technology and knowing how to leverage it for a better life are two different things. Here are just a few ways you can use technology to make aging easier.

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Featured in VoyageLA Magazine!

Life and work seems to be a balance of reaching out and having people reach out to you. While it feels like we’re almost always reaching out to others, there are times where the opposite happens and when it does, it leaves you asking, how did they find out about us? 

VoyageLA is a magazine (and online media source) that searches for the brightest and best new businesses (or old, undiscovered ones) in the LA area. Once they find them and find out more about them, they try to spread the word so others can enjoy what they have to offer.

Times with each other

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A Brief Review of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (Separate Spoiler-Free and Spoiler Sections)

[THIS IS MOSTLY SPOILER-FREE UNTIL I SAY SPOILERS AHEAD]

The movie many of us have been anticipating has arrived–Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. It’s already made a considerable amount at the box office (past 20 million before even the opening day) and people are lining up, waiting. Sure, it won’t make as much as Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens, but it’s surely going to still make a dent. In fact, I think some people will like Rogue One more than Force Awakens. Rogue One is many things Force Awakens is not. Rogue One is a gritty war movienot a character arc like Force Awakens. It doesn’t follow the same story mechanics and motions of the typical episodic Star Wars movies. Some people will love that and some people will just be okay with it. I liked this movie a good deal, but I didn’t emotionally connect as strongly as I did in Force Awakens.

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Top 5 Movies of 2016 – A Year Full of Gold

As we get excited for our favorite part of the year (November and December) and look forward to upcoming movies and video games, we want to reflect on what we’ve been fortunate enough to be exposed to so far this year. While there are certainly major challenges to living in LA, such as the traffic and rent prices, there are amazing benefits such as the exposure to cultural events and amazing cuisine. As a result, we have the ability to go to the movies and watch extremely limited releases. 

While you’ve seen a handful of movie reviews from us in the past, we missed some opportunities to review some of these films that you probably haven’t heard of, which is a shame! For that reason, we’re going to countdown our Top 5 movies that you probably haven’t seen this year. They’re all either on DVD or will be released so add them to your holiday wishlist or treat yourself to something special. You won’t regret it. 

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Don’t Text While You Walk Your Dog

We live in a very dog-friendly neighborhood. I can’t go for a walk without seeing another dog. I love this! I like dogs and I like people who like dogs. However, it really peeves me off when I am walking Noke and then I see someone stumbling along head absolutely glued downwards to their phone. I start wondering to myself why they have a dog in the first place if they don’t want to actually spend real time with it. Sure, maybe it’s an emergency and they really have to contact that person then and there. But usually–let’s face it–it isn’t. I bet your walks aren’t more than an hour long, maybe not more than 30 minutes either. You can spare that time to really be with them.

As soon as I see someone on their phone walking their dog, I immediately take Noke to the other side of the street and avoid that person. They have no sense of what their dog is doing, feeling, or intending because they are in some Facebook post. I can’t trust the human to handle their dog correctly, and thus I don’t want Noke anywhere near them. It’s not just the right thing to do, but you can also benefit from just being with your dog:

Noke after a rainy walk

Noke after a rainy walk

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H&F Shorts on YouTube

We recently mentioned that we’d be stepping up our YouTube game (again!) and this time (with the help of Iron Fortitude’s Juan), we’re  actually off to a good start. We set a goal to release four videos this month and if you follow this link, then you’ll see we already have 3. Obviously, if you watched those, they’re only 15 seconds each since they’re just “shorts,” but we plan on using these to promote longer videos and to get everyone just a little more excited about it. 

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Are You Ready for Star Wars?

Even if you’re not a Star Wars fan, you KNOW that the new Star Wars movie is coming out this week. It’s all over the news, the face of any possible medium of advertisement, and if you have any friends, they’ve probably mentioned it. The world is buzzing. It’s a monumental week.

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The #1 Greatest Video Game of All Time

This is it. The final entry in H&F’s Greatest Video Game of All Time series. This is big-time stuff. This is our ultimate FAVORITE game ever in the world. These games are important to us, tied to who we are, and in our hearts. We’ve finally arrived. If you missed the others on our countdown, please check them out: #25,#24,#23,#22,#21,#20#19#18#17#16#15, #14#13#12#11#10, #9#8, #7#6, #5#4#3, and #2

#1 Greatest Video Game of All Time

Kai – Morrowind I struggled to decide which of my top 3 is my most favorite game, but in the end it had to be Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind.  No other piece of art has ever transported me to another world like Morrowind.  The art, the lore, the music, and the quests all contribute to an amazing world that you can truly get lost in.

Like most Elder Scrolls games, you start out as a prisoner, this time exiled to the island of Vvardenfell, home of the dark elves or Dunmer.  You wake up as your ship reaches the harbor, with vague memories of a strange dream.  With only a vague instruction to meet with an Imperial agent named Caius, you’re dropped off into this strange world, with the freedom to take part in any of the hundreds of stories taking place throughout the land.
 
I’m not sure what it is that makes Morrowind so much better than the other Elder Scrolls games.  Perhaps it’s the lack of guidance and hand-holding, causing the player to feel like they’re exploring a wide-open world, rather than the set of fairly linear narratives in Skyrim and Oblivion.  There are great secrets hidden within the world and the game allows the player to find them rather than leading the player to them.  Also a tremendous amount of work and care was put into the art and lore to really make the world feel real and it really shows.  The graphics don’t quite hold up anymore (at the time they were amazing), but the game is still really engrossing.  
 
If you want to see the best of what gaming has to offer, you have to try Morrowind.
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