OLI PETTIGREW “That Englishman In Texas” is a television presenter, actor and former model. He was born in Hong Kong and moved to England when he was young. Oli began his career as a model in Hong Kong in 1999 with a number of smaller jobs, which culminated in a campaign for Levi's and a speaking role in the 2000 film GenY- Cops starring Edison Chen, Maggie Q, and Paul Rudd in his Asian cinema debut. He relocated to Singapore landing a role on the TV show Eco 4 the World. Oli later helmed the prime-time show Sony Style TV Magazine for AXN in 2007 (a role that earned him a nomination for Best TV Host at the Elle Singapore Awards 2008), many features, guest spots, as well as hosting Cash Cab Asia, for which he won the Asian Television Award for Best Entertainment Host in 2012. Pettigrew hosted shows for Lonely Planet, Channel News Asia, Channel V, Star World, HBO Asia, Cinemax Asia, Food Network Asia, TLC and AXN. After living and working in Asia for many years, Oli moved to Texas with his family where his wife’s family is from. He says his mission with That Englishman In Texas is to tell the stories of the REAL Texas, as opposed to the Texas that is usually being featured in the news and media for all the wrong reasons. Oli calls Texas kind, friendly, welcoming, weird, strange and ridiculous in equal measure and works to show this to the world. You can visit Oli on his various platforms from his main website www.thatenglishmanintexas.com. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CHANCLA ACADEMY was started by JOE CORONADO after a COVID scare when his daughter suggested he make TikTok videos with her to create a digital memory book. He posted a video of what it was like to grow up in a low income family in San Antonio and it exploded. Joe wanted to honor his grandmother and does that with Chancla Academy. He says, “Life is like being in school and my abuela was my teacher and every time I got off track she hit me with that chancla as a reminder along with whatever life lesson came with it.” Making funny videos with his kids and doing restaurant reviews is not the only thing Chancla Academy is about, Joe says it is also about who we are today and the need to be that figurative chancla to keep family and friends on track to the right path. Joe promotes the San Antonio community by organizing events to stimulate the local economy and support local businesses. He has put together the Chancla Academy Rock Festival to embrace our community, culture and create an opportunity for local up and coming bands to revive the rock scene. Check out Chancla Academy on TikTok or Instagram.
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GENERAL KENOBI'S BUNKER is a YouTube channel dedicated to Star Wars collecting, featuring toy hunts, convention coverage, interviews, local highlights of our amazing city San Antonio Texas and more, with a sprinkle of other 80's and 90's goodness. The channel also hosts live streams, such as "The High Ground" series with Co-Host The Dad Vader, a nerdy dad who loves spreading smiles via all things nerdy, we come together to share various aspects of the Star Wars fandom through discussions and where members of the community are highlighted.
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ROB WICALL has always been a competitive, energetic, athletic comedian. He was playing soccer and running competitively by age five and at the same time was performing for anyone who would sit and watch (mostly gushing family members). He continued sports and performing all through school. In 1996, Rob was selected as a performer for an interactive team the San Antonio Spurs were putting together. Soon after joining the team he began doing appearances as the Spurs Coyote. About a year later, Rob was hired to be the mascot for the Washington Capitals and then also donned the Wizards’ mascot costume at the same time. But in 2000, Rob headed home to once again perform as the beloved Coyote. He kept at it until April of 2016, when he finally hung up the sweaty fur for good. During his mascot career, Rob was named Mascot of the Year by gameops.com in 2006 and won the NBA Mascot of the Year award in 2014. He also won Video of the Year, which is voted on by peer mascots, in 2007, 2010, 2014, and 2015. Part of the reason of his retirement was that Rob was diagnosed with Ankylosing Spondylitis in 2013 and had been struggling to continue an extremely physically active career and maintain his health. When he did decide to retire, he took the opportunity to become a face for those who suffer quietly with arthritis, and to be a reminder that a positive mental attitude is a powerful tool. Rob is excited about starting this new chapter in his life and he takes this next step as he always has, with a smile on his face and a positive attitude, but this time, he’ll have pants on.
Rob will be signing his book at a table from 10:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m.- 2:00 p.m. He will have a panel at 11:00 a.m. in the LCRC (Anime area) on his "Furlosophy" - lessons he learned as an NBA mascot.
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ESCAPE THE EARTH PODCAST is a monthly Sci-Fi/Fantasy podcast brought to you by the San Antonio Public Library Foundation. Each month our co-hosts discuss a title from a wide range of voices in the Science Fiction and Fantasy genres. We highly encourage listeners to read the books we discuss.
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