Author Alex Hutchinson

Cynthia Rothrock   The early years of my life were built on a massive pile of martial arts movies. It was the one genre I could not get enough of. From the tornado kicks of Bruce Lee to the masculine brute force of Chuck Norris, I rented a new film nearly every day for four years straight. In addition there were random karate films on TV and kung fu theater on Saturday mornings. If you add cartoons and comic books, I was swimming in an ocean of chop saki action. In my world everybody really was kung fu fighting. While I loved them all, there were a select few that really ignited my passion. The first was The Karate Kid (1984) . This story of  a misplaced youth being trained by an old Japanese man to face down the school bullies really touched home for me. I was a skinny white kid dealing with similar issues. Hell, I even looked like Daniel Larusso, same haircut and everything. This was the movie that I used to convince my parents to finally sign me up for karate. Billy Blanks The secon

Alex & Iris at Manikin's Freak Show Friday I had never been comfortable in a nightclub before but this place was different. Was it the music? Was it the laser lights and deepening fog? Was it the friendly bar tenders and reasonably priced drinks? No, none of those things ever meant that much to me. So why was it when I walked through the red door at Manikins Goth Club in Sanford, Florida did I feel so comfortable? What did this place trigger in me? Manikin's lounge & nightclub is the creation of Tom Morris, a black entrepreneur who wanted to cultivate a unique experience in a town where local businesses weirdly lack diversity. I say weirdly because Sanford is 46% black or mixed race. That is a high percentage in a state full of retired white people. Sanford has over 1,300 businesses and yet less than 50 are black owned . That is usually a signal that a lot of voices are not being heard. Alex, Terri and Gene at Manikins Halloween night So is diversity the key? Look, I&#

  Tawdry wizards, sizzling dancers, pirates, clowns, drag queens and non-stop sexual innuendos. But enough about the audience, there are also amazing things happening on stage. Orlando is well known for its theme parks, its tourist destinations and even its downtown nightlife. Little known to the outside world is a yearly event called the Orlando Fringe Festival. Orlando Fringe has been supporting independent artists for the past 33 years. Talent arrives from around the globe to display their skills, humor, acting and pageantry during this two week long event. You can choose from among 100 different acts ranging from children's shows to stand up comedy, from Broadway musicals to brilliant burlesque. There is truly something for everyone. My personal history with this event started almost 20 years ago. A good friend of mine from Journal group named Ed Anthony persuaded me to give it a try. Ed is a Fringe super fan. He attends every year and sometimes every show. One time he attended

  1978 - Avon Massachusetts: As a little kid I had a reoccurring dream. There was an army of men in white armor wearing bucket helmets. They were led by a tall, dark stranger with a deep voice who carried a glowing red sword. They chased me through a series of hallways until I awoke. When I told my mother she explained that she had taken me to my first movie only a year earlier. We had seen Star Wars. While I was too young to comprehend what I had watched, the images embedded in my mind had forever changed me. The town I grew up in was very small and known for only one thing, it had a drive-in movie theater . My parents started taking me when I was only a baby. Over the years I became a movie addict watching hundreds of films and memorizing many of them. I was deeply inspired by these works of art which motivated many of my adventures as a writer and athlete. Selling my book "Twisted Trails" at MTB events  2023 - Sanford, Florida: Upon reaching my 50th birthday I have finall

  Let me be clear, we never considered ourselves a gang. When a group of teenagers get together, get in trouble and get the wrong kind of attention they tend to earn a negative label. Back in high school I was bullied a lot but I was determined to do something about it.  I gathered together a group of friends and we started training, military style. We worked out, practiced unarmed combat, ran nighttime missions in my hometown and eventually stood up to those bullies. We called ourselves the HAWKS. In the early 2000s I wrote a three book series about our adventures. The first book is available here. In keeping with the times I have been dipping my toes into the Crypto-verse which includes a new way to sell artwork known as NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens). This artwork is stored and recorded on a piece of software known as a Blockchain ensuring that the owner has proof of purchase. This new technology is allowing artists of all types to sell their work in a digital format and even earn royal

  Freezing atop Pikes Peak 14,115ft "I hope to do that someday," said my customer. This man was in his mid-fifties, overweight with looming medical problems. He was repeating a mantra that had no doubt stuck in his head most of his life, the idea of someday. I had told him the story of how my wife and I traveled across America and his eyes opened wide with wonder. My name is Alex, I'm a former adventure writer who currently works as an airport shuttle driver. I talk to hundreds of travelers every year. I get to hear their stories and I tell them mine. This man's story stuck with me because it seemed so sad. Let's call him Carl, not his real name. Carl is obsessed with stability. "Well, you've got to have a stable job and benefits so that you can have health care and someday retire... and then start living." Really? Carl's story is typical of many of the people I grew up with in Massachusetts. They were focused on stability, income, benefits and m