The Knockturnal
  • Home
  • Entertainment
  • Music
  • Lifestyle
  • News
  • Videos
  • Covers
  • Merch
Author

Catherina Gioino

Catherina Gioino

Catherina "Cat" Gioino is a native New Yorker, a huge movie buff and an amateur pizzaiolo. She currently works in transportation policy in New York, and previously was a breaking news reporter for the New York Daily News, and had stints at MSNBC, NY1, PBS and the Queens Gazette-- and was at The Knock since the beginning. When she's not biking around her hometown of Astoria or testing out the train system of another country, you can find her slinging wine and drinks at a friend's local bar.

AutomotiveFeaturedLifestyle

Meet the Women Competing for Ford at the Rebelle Rally, the Longest Off-Road Rally in the US

by Catherina Gioino October 23, 2023
written by Catherina Gioino

Ford’s line up at the 2023 Rebelle Rally, the Bronco Raptor, the Mustang Mach-E Rally, and the Bronco WildTrak

Who needs roads when you can build them yourself?

That’s exactly what these ladies did at the eighth annual Rebelle Rally, a 1600-mile rally through the West Coast’s many ecosystems, and the first women’s off-road navigation rally raid in the United States. Women of all ages and backgrounds came to the Eastern Sierras last week to kick off the eight-day rally, which rewards quick thinking and resourcefulness rather than putting pedal to the metal.

This year, 64 teams consisting of driver-navigator duos competed in the rally, where GPS and cell phones are all but nonexistent as the women are tested on their navigation and driving abilities. Winning the rally is less about speed and more about points: those who can find their navigation markers with as few setbacks as possible gain more points that are added to their total. 

The Rebelle Rally puts these ladies through rough terrains and 12-hour long days of driving all the while getting what little rest they can while sleeping in tents where temperatures sometimes drop to a bone-chilling 14 degrees overnight. Trudging through one giant treasure map in the middle of weather extremes using old-school paper maps is hardly a walk in the park, but for Laura Wanlass, it might come close.

Maria Guitar, Laura Wanlass, Kaleigh Miller and Bailey Campbell prepare their cars during the Rebelle Rally Prologue

“It’s nice to be out of society. You’re truly present, you have no other thoughts, nothing creeps in,” said Wanlass, who daylights as a lawyer in Washington state. “Then you go home and you can’t remember anything of your past. You can’t remember the password to your work computer. It’s that fast.” 

Wanlass is one of several women sponsored by the Ford Motor Company this year. An official Silver Sponsor of the rally, Ford has competed for four consecutive years at Rebelle, with five teams racing under the carmaker this year.

Although Wanlass might find it difficult to remember her day-to-day life outside of the rally, it’s for good reason: she and her fellow teammate Maria Guitar finished third and second overall in the 4×4 class in 2021 and 2022 respectively. This year, the two finished third overall, in the Bronco Raptor.

“We’ve been on the podium for the last two years,” explained Guitar, a day trader from Columbus, Ohio. “You start dreaming weeks and weeks and weeks out.” Guitar, who navigates as Wanlass drives, said this is the first year they’re sponsored by Ford, but that hasn’t made a difference in their strategy.

“We want the most, always. We’ve placed that pressure on ourselves, and so we have to just not worry about it and focus. Bring your best, do your best.”

The Ford Mustang Mach-E leaving the campsite to start in the Rebelle Rally Prologue

Ford brought four of their successful Bronco and Bronco Sport vehicles for another multi-year win after the Ford Bronco Sport scored a historic three-peat win last year in the X-Cross class. Shelby Hall and Rori Lewis finished fifth in the Bronco Raptor, and Jessica Moore and Melissa Clark came in first in the rally’s X-Class division, competing in the Bronco Sport.

Driver Karisa Haydon and navigator Trista Smith, who were the 2022 Rebelle Rally Cross Rookies of the Year and Stage 7 winners, moved up to the 4×4 class in the Bronco WildTrak this year. They finished sixth in the new division.

“We were rookies to the purest form. We had never driven off-road,” said Smith. “We trained the entire year for it but before that, we’re not super offroaders, we were not into motorsports and had no navigation experience whatsoever. So we just really dove in. And it allowed us to do really well last year.”

The duo explained they’re keeping to the strategy they employed in last year’s Rebelle, namely, how efficient they were on the road– or lack thereof. Haydon, a stay-at-home with a pair of daughters, ages two and four, got her time management skills while working in management at Starbucks. “I live and die by that kitchen timer,” she said as Smith joked she would get out of the car to see if they had reached their marker to receive points. “I’m the time controller in the vehicle. I’m like ‘We need to leave now to hit the next marker, and we only have a few minutes at this one.”

Haydon and Smith’s communication skills stem from their long cultivated ongoing friendship: while Smith and her family– who have been living nomadically for years– were driving through Portland, Oregon on a rainy day when their car broke down. Smith’s husband called his friend, Haydon’s husband, for a new alternator, who had one but was away. Haydon went to save the day herself, delivering the alternator and inviting the Smiths back to her home to fix the car.

Kaleigh Miller and Bailey Campbell prepare the Mach-E ahead of the Rebelle Rally

“So we just sat there and had some rum and coke in the garage,” said Smith. “And we hit it off and went from having no experience to doing trainings to going from zero to getting sponsored by Ford. It’s incredible.”

In addition to the four Bronco gas-powered cars at this year’s Rebelle Rally, Ford is also showcasing a new car that has yet to be released to the public. Bailey Campbell, a driver, and her navigating counterpart, Kaleigh Miller, are pioneering the new all-electric Mustang Mach-E Rally for the first time ahead of its 2024 launch for the mass market.

“The range thing is completely different from gas mileage. I think that’s probably the biggest change for me,” Campbell said upon her and Miller’s return from a day of driving during the Rally’s prologue, a practice day for competitors before the points start to matter. “That and the lack of noise. It was 50 percent laughter today because we’re wearing helmets and all you hear is us breathing and not the gas.”

“This is my first time in the car, let alone electric,” said Miller, a CPA living in Tucson, Arizona who has competed in five of the last eight Rebelles. “So we were in the car yesterday, testing out all the buttons. I think for the general public, it’s a pretty cool way to test out the range and the general environment.”

There’s no better way to test the range of an all-electric car than pushing it to its limit in the middle of nowhere on a single charge. Both the nearly 130 competitors and the rally organizers and staff are lodging at secluded campsites in three different areas of California throughout the rally, miles from the nearest outlet.

Rebelle Rally founder and race director Emily Miller

To facilitate not only the Mach-E but also four Rivians, the Rebelle Rally enlisted the help of a new ingenious charging solution as brought by Salt Lake City-based Renewable Innovations. 

Rebelle Rally founder and race director Emily Miller– herself a renowned driver, having won several momentous rallies and instructed over 8,000 people how to drive and navigate off-road– lauded the rally’s efforts to stick to sustainability in every aspect of the race, including the rally’s push to secure green hydrogen to charge the Mach-E and other fully electric vehicles.  You can read more about the use of green hydrogen and check out our other coverage of the Rebelle Rally here. Also read about the fun we had in the Ford F-150 Raptor R here.

“We have 800 kilograms of green hydrogen. It’s a lot of hydrogen, but it’s what it takes just to power these electric vehicles remotely and rapidly and to power the base camp as our backup to get down the road,” Miller said, explaining how Georgia and North Carolina are the only two locations in the United States to find such green hydrogen at that scale. 

The Ford Mustang Mach-E charging through energy provided via green hydrogen

Given the difficulty in sourcing and the financial constraints in securing such a large amount of green hydrogen, Miller explained that she and her team quite literally hit the books, putting pencil to paper and calculating how much energy the Mach-E and other electric vehicles would require throughout the Rebelle Rally’s course. 

“It’s every type of temperature, it’s every type of terrain, every altitude. We will go from 10 feet above sea level to 10,000 feet,” Miller said. “People tell me that they want their kids to do this. If they want their kids to do it someday soon, I was gonna have to figure it out. And it’s not easy and nobody is doing a long-distance rally like this.” In response to the push for more sustainable modes of transportation and referencing California’s ban on the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035, Miller said, “This thing’s not going to happen unless we figure this component out.”

And the competitors love that not only are they pushing themselves to the limit, but the organizers behind Rebelle are as well. “It’s also a bigger electric field than they’ve ever had before,” added navigator Kaleigh Miller. “But a lot of technologies have evolved over time. Tents now are clicks and we’re asleep that much faster. In this rally, every second counts, rest and drive.” 

October 23, 2023 0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
AutomotiveEntertainmentLifestyle

I’m a Card-Carrying Member of the All-Powerful Bike Lobby– and the Ford F-150 Raptor Made Me Rethink Everything I Believe In

by Catherina Gioino October 16, 2023
written by Catherina Gioino

The 2023 Ford F-150 Raptor R in all its glory

Ahead of five teams competing for the Ford Motor Company at the eighth annual Rebelle Rally this year, the automaker flew me out from my wonderfully liberal home borough of Queens to the equally liberal Los Angeles County. 

Upon landing at the spectacularly poorly-signed LAX– where a seemingly simple search for the hotel shuttle ended up with my lauding of an ousted former Queens native governor known for his propensity to pronounce a certain Queens airport in a very Queens manner– my partner Alex and I were immediately greeted by pleasantly-timed car horns and red brake lights meant to rival a BTS concert at MSG. 

The author in the Raptor on Day One

In LA, where cars do rule above all, there are more than 65,000 registered electric vehicles in the county– that’s more than the entire population of Portland, Maine. There are 7.7 million cars registered in the county, enough to rival the entire population of New York City. For context, only one in four households in New York own a car, meaning there are less than two million cars on the city’s streets. 

On the sustainability front, LA boasts the largest number of EV charging stations in the country, with over 11,000 commercially available stations spread throughout the city. In comparison, New York City has just over 7,600 public charging stations for the 158,000 EVs registered in the city. New York shines in bike lanes: over 1,500 miles of the city’s streets have some form of a bike lane on them (here’s when I brandish my bike lobby card and decry what really constitutes “protected” in that number, but hey), as compared to LA’s less than 100 miles. Both cities, of course, still boast an unconscionable amount of pedestrian and cyclist traffic deaths that only seem to be growing in the last few years. 

The Raptor and the Ford Ranger stuck in LA traffic

Who Am I – or, Why Should We Care About This in the First Place

Although I wish it were, this isn’t a writing exercise in the New York-Los Angeles rivalry. Let me explain these seemingly out-of-context numbers: with a stats background and a master’s in urban policy, I ran for city council in the Queens neighborhood where I grew up on the line of “public space for the public good.” Unfortunately, running on a platform for increased bike and bus lanes, and removing privately-owned vehicles from certain publicly-owned streets to create pedestrian plazas aren’t the most popular policy recommendations in a city where over 200 people have died from vehicular traffic this year alone.

 

The cars waiting for us in the hotel driveway

But I digress. In most respects, I’m not the first person who should have been given a Ford F-150 Raptor R to drive around for the weekend. I actively denounced erroneous drivers on my #BikeNYC Twitter when it was still a thing; I volunteer at my local open street; and I have spent the last three years working in transportation policy at two different micromobility companies geared towards reducing car trips under two miles (which constitute over 50 percent of all car trips in the United States). 

The author approaching the Raptor for the first time

But on the other hand, I’m probably in good company. I’ve been driving [legally] since the second I turned 16, and as much as I hate to admit it, I have a little more than a basic understanding of cars. I grew up in my uncle’s European auto body repair shop, and at one point, knew how to differentiate between the different parts that make up a radiator. That, and being told by friends, family, coworkers, lovers, and anyone in between, whom have entered in cars in which I was at the helm in both New York and Naples to Ireland and Morocco and everywhere else in between, how unstressed they were compared to the outside environment, has all gone to my head. So sure, I’m the perfect candidate to drive a Ford F-150 Raptor R for the weekend, sign me up. 

The Ford F-150 Raptor R or: How I Learned to Stop Second-Guessing Myself and Love the Climb 

What’s traffic if you can’t hear it in the silent cabin?

Enter Ford. After waking up in our hotel room early last Thursday morning, we made our way down to the lobby for some breakfast before meeting the other journalists on the trip and our Ford counterpart– and all-around fantastic California guide and driver– Mike. We were given the home rules of the drive: each of us would drive from LA to Mammoth Lakes in our own Ford vehicles. We’ll have some pit stops on the way, and don’t get too caught up with the wonders of “the 5” or “the 14.” 

The creation of one group chat later, we grabbed our bags and were led outside to the sight of four incredibly powerful-looking trucks. Each of us called dibs on a truck, with my now new friends Tamara grabbing the Ford Tremor and Laycee and Tim climbing into a Ford Bronco. To my shock– since I waited for Alex’s return from grabbing coffee and therefore called dibs last– we were given the monster out of all of them, the Ford F-150 Raptor R.

The Raptor “R” is everywhere

Mike and his Ford colleague Tony both raised their eyebrows as we neared the truck, with Tony saying “You’re going to love this” as he tossed the keys in an almost perfect imitation of any number of 1980s/John Hughes-directed films (but yes, in specific reference to that one). Entering the truck was a testament to itself: not only did you have to step on the footboard to even get close to eye level with the driver’s seat base, but there was a perfectly placed handle to hoist yourself up into the cabin. 

I’ll let you Google more well-versed auto writers who can detail all of the features of the truck, of which there are many, and frankly, this isn’t the publication to mention the truck’s 37-inch tires or the 5.2L Supercharged V8 with 700 horsepower engine. Indeed, The Knockturnal is not the publication that can detail at length why the 5-link coil rear suspension type with a Panhard rod and the 640 pounds of torque make the F-150 Raptor R so fun to drive, which it does. 

A barely miniature Raptor flashes on the driver’s dashboard when entering the vehicle

Also, having just three days with the car wasn’t enough to even get through the quick guide user manual let alone explore all of the features in the car itself. Instead, I’ll discuss what I, a normal layperson, found so fascinating with the vehicle. After you immediately step into the seat, you’re welcomed with the Ford Raptor “R” logo flashing across the driver’s dash, with a miniature replica of the car doing a show-model 360 before the screen flashes to the speedometer and user controls. The “R” comes across all over the car, inside and out. Its trademarked “Code Orange” color is seen on accents inside the car as well as on the R in the car’s grille and the decals near the pick-up bed.

There’s a giant screen that lets you multitask where you can set one-third of the screen to music or some other entertainment and the other two-thirds to the map. Because I run cold whereas Alex runs hot, the dual AC/Heat came in clutch; and the clutch itself was so well designed that it perfectly fit the palm of my hand and made me feel like a captain on a spaceship with how it handled shifting.

Plenty of elbow room on the console

The cupholders, like everything else with this car, run big, so our small coffee cups were quickly enveloped by the sheer depth of the holders, but it was nothing some wiry fingers couldn’t handle. That, and the surround sound brought to you by 18 Bang and Olufsen speakers (including two in the headrests!) made Alex’s playing of boygenius and Japanese Breakfast match the deep bass of my playing of Asap and The Ramones. 

The coolest tech part about the car might be the wireless charging pad that acts as a cable without having to go through the process of adding our phones via Bluetooth. We knew we only had the car for a weekend and I for one hate when I rent a car and have to add my phone for the short 24 hours the vehicle is in my possession. Ford truly thought through every person who enters a car and wants to be on aux– just toss the phone on the pad and you have the phone connected to the car– all wirelessly. 

Perhaps the most exciting aspect found in the interior cabin was less the trinkets and gadgets but more, the extra-wide

The back is pretty spacious too

elbow room on the console that opened up and doubled as a lay-flat table and writing desk. If you’re using good ol’ fashioned paper maps (of which the drivers of the Rebelle Rally are reliant– read more about the rally here and here), or if you’re like me and carry a pen and notepad with you always, and especially for last minute notes, that table makes you question why flat surfaces are so scarce in cars today. 

To be forthcoming, this is certainly one of the most expensive vehicles you can buy, but it certainly is cost-effective for the features you get. Not only was the MSRP of the truck we were driving nearly $110,000, but every time we stopped to fill up on gas, it would cost over $150 just to fill up the 36-gallon tank. I know, we were driving in California, land of the $6.50 gallon, and boy did I try to get the average MPG over 12 (I hit 12.3 at my finest hour!), but it’s a lot for the average person, especially in an urban environment where I wouldn’t even consider driving, let alone parallel parking on a cobblestone street in Brooklyn. (I’m not going to lie though, the electric Ford F-150, with a price tag a fraction of its gas-powered cousin, does seem enticing given how much fun I had driving it around this weekend.). 

You can split the 12-inch screen between maps and entertainment

That being said, if you have a need for all of the specs of the truck (again, of which there are many), there are so many practical ways to use the Ford F-150 Raptor R, from towing upwards of 8,700 pounds (the most of all F-150 variants), to climbing up steep terrain (which I’ll get to below), this is a fantastic car. More importantly, if someone gave me $100,000 to buy a car, I would 100 percent go with the F-150 over any equally priced sports or luxury car. Move over, the 2023 Porsche Panamera 4 with an MSRP of $97,000, I want this American-made beast that makes me feel so safe even when driving with any number of jerks on the road in any number of foreign-made sports cars with an equal or larger MSRP. 

Hitting the Road– and Nothing Else

Driving through the Eastern Sierras

After our initial five minutes to get acquainted with the vehicle, we were gathered by Mike who gave us instructions on our intended drive from LA to Mammoth Lakes. We were going to follow him from the hotel to the expressway, and then get to a meeting point for coffee and a bathroom break. With the agreed-upon destination set on the car’s 12-inch screen, we hit the road– slowly.

I mean this seriously: I’m a … defensive driver, according to my driving instructor when I was 15 with a learner’s permit. And according to most, not-too-cautious individuals who enter a car with me, I’m assertive when I need to be but never overly confident. That all went out the window when we started driving the truck. To say I was cautious of making wide turns in this 96-inch wide car– a full 10 inches wider than its non-Raptor F-150 counterpart, which in itself is 14 inches wider than the average car (72 inches)– is an understatement. Alex, who falls well into the “overly cautious” category of drivers, was shocked at my use of both hands on the steering wheel as we pulled out of the hotel’s semi-circle driveway and onto the street. 

Alex barely making it over the Raptor

Following Mike started as a semi-arduous ordeal given that the regular LA driver found my speed-limit driving a bit slow for their taste (and to be fair, you’d expect a truck of this size to go slightly over the limit, I give), and so, I soon found it comical people in puny sedans would try to cut off a 6.5 foot-tall truck to beat the light for the expressway onramp. But to reiterate, I felt safe in this car. I knew no matter what dumb shenanigan that driver was going to pull, the Raptor R’s immense size and safety features would keep me as coddled as a 21st-century baby boomer executive asking someone to convert a document into a PDF. And so, I got more comfortable.

As we approached our turn for the onramp, I was waved on by another Ford F-150 owner, who gave a slight smile as I signaled and got onto the expressway. Granted, I’m not the first person one expects to see commandeering the Raptor, but as Mike later explained, F-150 drivers in the know would recognize the sport package of the car we’re driving and tip their hats in our direction. And lo and behold, not only did we get smiles and head nods the whole way up, but we even got a little honking serenade from another Ford F-150 Raptor R, in an Azure Gray Metallic color that perfectly complemented our Antimatter Blue exterior.

Baja mode on the F-150 Raptor

Now getting the hang of the full body of the vehicle, the drive up was pleasantly exhilarating. Drivers gave us space, let us merge when needed, and again, no dumb shenanigans as I was used to when driving smaller-bodied vehicles. It’s something that has been studied time and time again: the impression of a big vehicle affects both the driver of said vehicle and those around it. While this can sometimes have a detrimental effect on the driver of a vehicle (namely having been studied in sports car drivers engaging in reckless driving and taking more risks), it can also have the opposite effect. I for one was constantly aware of every square inch of the vehicle, and that came in handy on the road and off it– which is the exciting part below.

A Small Roadtrip in a Big Truck

It takes about five hours to get from LA to Mammoth Lakes, and the F-150 had us yearning for a longer drive. The seats were so comfortable that 6 ‘5’’ Alex didn’t need to get out every so often to stretch out as he so often does in other vehicles. On the seats alone, the lumbar support reached so far it could practically offer you a chiropractic visit in itself, and could be so far removed that you could mistake it for a Herman Miller chair. The Raptor is the best road trip vehicle: it’s beyond roomy, both in the front and rear row seats (which also come with heated and cooled seats), and it’s surprisingly smooth and quiet. By the time we reached our first pitstop and regrouped, all of us were exclaiming about the wonders of our new rides and how we couldn’t wait to hit the road again.

The truck went up steep hills like a hot knife gliding through butter

The rest of the ride did not disappoint. The Raptor R somehow made the traffic that would be found on a typical California drive relaxing. We were beyond elated that of the few traffic jams we found ourselves in, we barely noticed them because we were so comfortable in the cabin. Maybe the answer to road rage is just getting a car with a relaxing interior, or maybe it is just getting an F-150, who knows?

Once we left our first pitstop, we made our way onto SR 14, passed by the third largest onshore wind energy project in the world in Mojave and drove through historic settlements along US Route 395 (including passing by the Museum of Western Film History given how many movies were filmed in this area) before grabbing lunch at Copper Top BBQ in Big Pine. One tri-tip and pulled pork meal later, the group and I made our way to the next destination: an unnamed hot springs site. Mike, who played tour guide not only while in the cars but also when we exited for hikes, stressed an important aspect of sightseeing in nature: keep it as is, or the adage goes, take nothing but pictures and leave nothing but photographs. For city slickers like me and Alex, the hot springs site was a phenomenon in itself, leaving us in awe of all of nature’s wonders, and we couldn’t agree more with Mike’s take. 

Hot springs in the middle of the Eastern Sierras

Women Drivers Make Their Own Roads in the Eighth Annual Rebelle Rally

What better way to emphasize such appreciation for Mother Nature than meeting with nearly 130 women who were going to turn off from all of the technological wonders of the 21st century and drive in the Rebelle Rally without a phone or means of outside communication? You can read more about the Rebelle Rally here and here, but in essence, these women drivers were told to literally [not] get lost in nature, all without a phone, which in case you needed a rundown of a mobile device’s functions, here are a few: map, watch, compass, calculator, speedometer, timer, forecaster, flashlight, measurements, and more. 

The Ford Mustang Mach-E driving through the Rebelle Rally gate

We went around Brown’s Owens River Campground, met with Rebelle Rally founder Emily Miller as well as drivers on the Ford team (and got intimate with their respective cars), before returning inside for a run of show from Miller addressing the whole lot of drivers on the eve of the Rebelle Rally prologue– a practice dry run of the competitors can expect for the rest of the rally. With previous competitors taking to the stage to share funny anecdotes and words of caution and with Miller going through the roster of all staff members and volunteers that made the rally possible, dinner was served. Michelin Chef Drew Deckman, who has been cooking at the Rally for all eight years, introduced everyone on his team, many of whom work with him at his other restaurants and have themselves been repeat visitors to the rally as well.

Immediately, the tent erupted with conversations of the ride ahead– and what these ladies were leaving behind. Work, family, friends, and anything in between was put on hold when the women brought their phones to the campground to be sealed away for the remainder of the rally. As we chatted with a few about their nerves, or lack thereof, we dined on burgers and hot dogs, and later on as the temperatures dropped in the campsite (that is after all, in the middle of an open expanse in nature), the crowd was enticed with s’mores around an open fire. 

Nearly 130 women are competing in this year’s Rebelle Rally

While the competitors had to survive the night in just their tents as temperatures dropped to a chilly 14 degrees the night before, the group of journalists was sent to The Westin Monache Resort in the town of Mammoth Lakes to stay for the remainder of the press trip. There, I pulled possibly my only lapse in judgment with the truck: I decided to forgo the valet parking in favor of self-parking the car in the hotel’s underground garage. A few wide turns later, I started to question my ability to parallel park over simply pulling in inside the lines. Thankfully (and only slightly embarrassingly) a very supportive Mike, who was driving his personal Ford Ranger, had parked right in front of me and informed me of the sheer width of the truck making it larger than the lines in the hotel’s garage. 

Competitors are tasked with finding markers without phones or GPS

An early morning wake-up the next day had us catching the sunrise through the rather stoic Ponderosa Pines as we ate breakfast in the hotel lobby. Once the team regrouped, we made our way back to the campground where we would be seeing off the competitors as the prologue started– and then we would be driving part of the rally ourselves. Excited, we exchanged waves and wishes of luck to the racers as they passed the Rebelle Rally’s blue gates and made their way to their markers, all before climbing into our respective vehicles to make the same route ourselves.

This Truck Eats Other Trucks for Breakfast

The F-150 Raptor handles off-roading like a champ

Reader, I have never driven off-road in this sense. Sure, my cousin taught me to drive stick in our hometown in Italy at the bottom of a mountain with a narrow (but paved) two-way road, but I’ve never truly driven off-road– that is, until this past weekend. And frankly, I don’t know if I would have been this confident if it wasn’t for the power and comfort of knowing I was in the Raptor, a car I had already gotten used to driving at this point, and knowing what it could do– or so I thought until I put it to the test and that horsepower proved I had just seen a fraction of what it could do. 

It just ate giant rocks and drops like jello; it climbed steep 20-degree hills like we were a hot knife gliding through butter; it sucked up all of the dirt and dust from the car in front of us like a sous vide; it – okay you get the food-induced points. The Raptor handled everything we threw at it, and I’m convinced even if you tried to push it to its limits, you would never get close. The Raptor truly is an off-road race truck with luxury car creature comforts.

Quite literally leaving everyone and everything in our dust

Don’t take just my word for it, listen to the truck itself. The driver has the option to fine-tune the car to your needs. I hate the machismo-compensating sound of a revving engine and exhaust, so you can set the exhaust to “quiet mode” which tapers that sound down a bit. And because the inside cabin is so well insulated, we barely heard any of the ATV riders in the area doing donuts on the next road over. 

That isn’t even half of it: with six different driving modes on the Raptor, you can even specify what surface you’re on and the truck will follow suit. The truck has the usual sport and normal driving modes, but it also has one for towing and another for slippery conditions. For these dirt roads, we stuck to just two: Off-Road and Baja. When we first approached the rocky conditions, we figured hell, this is off-roading after all, let’s go with the Off-Road driving mode. And it blew our minds, but it was nothing compared to the surprise that was in store for us when we switched to Baja mode. Clouds of dirt and dust might have well-been nothing for the undercarriage camera that conveniently showed every obstacle ahead of us– and that proved little challenge for the massive clearance of the Raptor. Baja mode, or as all of us came to call it, beast mode, is meant for high-speed off-roading, switching the car into a more aggressive suspension to handle those fast turns and speeds on uneven terrain.

The author on the last day of the trip, unwilling to give up the keys

With dust clouds behind us and the sunset along the horizon, we made our way back to the campground to catch up with the competitors and then to the hotel, where we would once again have an early morning before setting off to see California’s changing leaves (one thing I can say as an East Coastal-elitist that we have more to be in awe of) as the sun rose. As the women competitors of Rebelle made their way through Day One of the rally, we made our way south. We had a pitstop at the esteemed and almost untouched by time Erick Schat’s Bakery just after stopping to catch the solar eclipse. As the group parted ways, we headed through Manzanar and to Alabama Hills, where once again, the Raptor ate dirt roads like nothing. As we had to pry the keys from our hands to return the car at LAX, and were once again greeted with the delightful sounds of traffic we so dearly ignored in the silent Raptor cabin, we knew this trip fundamentally changed our views on pickup trucks, and were so glad to have to experience off-roading in a true Ford nature. 

To read more about the Rebelle Rally, its founder Emily Miller, the competitors, and how they’re powering fully electronic trucks, check out the articles here and here.

October 16, 2023 0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
EntertainmentEvents

Be Your Own John Wick at The Continental’s Pop-Up Bar in NYC

by Catherina Gioino September 30, 2023
written by Catherina Gioino

In the dark and gritty underworld of John Wick, there’s only one rule: professionals are told to abide by no business conducted on Continental grounds. That, and markers must be honored. And yet, as if the second to fourth movies of the John Wick franchise have taught professionals nothing, they have murdered another person in The Continental, and this time, you’re prime suspect number one. 

That’s the premise when you enter The Continental premises in New York for the next three weeks. The famed downtown Manhattan cultural attraction, and the actual filming location of The Continental in the John Wick series, is hosting a murder-mystery party and you’re at the center of it all. 

“Welcome to The Continental: The Hotel Bar Experience” is an immersive cocktail dinner party experience running for three weeks starting September 21. The pop-up spurred with Peacock’s newest prequel to the John Wick series, “The Continental.” Each week of the pop-up also correlates to the release of the latest episode of the three-part series: Part One on Friday, September 22, Part Two – on Friday, September 29, and Part Three on Friday, October 6.

Regardless of whether you’re a diehard John Wick fan or do not know how important the sacred grounds of The Continental are to this deadly world of crime, you’re guaranteed to have a blast at the pop-up bar experience. From questionable subjects offering convoluted information to bloodied suspects giving up even more contradictory statements, you’re playing part detective and part theater goer in this truly enveloping experience. Coupled with the exchange of gold coins like in the movies, you’re pretty involved in the criminal underworld of the John Wick series, and you’re going to love every minute.

The night starts before you even get through the front door. While waiting to take a photo next to an NYC cab straight from the 1970s, you’re accosted by a New York Herald Tribune (RIP to the NYC journo folks out there) reporter who gives you his card and says to text him with any information you might have regarding a mysterious murder on Continental grounds. With the scene set, you’re given three gold coins and are escorted to the front desk of The Continental.

Upon entering the unholy grounds, the concierge explains the rules of the show: keep your “fancy telex machine,” as characters will refer to it often, one at all times as there will be messages conveyed to you–via text so no decoding there–and also opportunities to scan QR codes and take photos that you can check out through a special link sent to you. Additionally, you’re required, absolutely a must, to have a blast. Once you pay your coin to the concierge, you’re invited inside for some champagne while Roy the Cowboy with a loose bolo tie tells everyone a certain set of clues lurks behind the initial bar’s curtains.

Walking behind those curtains, you’re now set in the main setting for the night. There, you’ll find tables and seating arrangements for those who want to just take a laid-back approach to this murder mystery, but for those who are fully involved, there are several somewhat conspicuous characters who are full of clues–or, red herrings. While these characters roam around the room, you’re welcome to exchange your coins for many John Wick-inspired drinks, and you’ll leave plenty filled with the mouthwatering food passed around throughout the night. Don’t worry if you run out of coins–there are trusty porters and bellhops who cleverly slip you a few more when you need them.

With a rather loud interruption in the middle of the night, you’re then left to your own devices as you get riddled with messages regarding which rooms to visit and which characters to speak to–as well as a fun opportunity to take your photo for “intake” with a sassy tattooed assistant telling you in a rather deep 1950s Brooklyn accent to hurry it up. Without giving too much away, you’re in for a treat in the adult playground you’re encouraged to roam with glee.

“Welcome to The Continental: The Hotel Bar Experience” is an immersive cocktail dinner party experience running for three weeks starting September 21. Get your tickets here and let’s see if you make out the suspect before your ex-communicator.

September 30, 2023 0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
KoncertsMusicThe Latest

Meet the Winner and Contestants of the Red Bull Batalla Miami Regional Qualifier (Part Two)

by Catherina Gioino September 1, 2023
written by Catherina Gioino

Sixteen freestyle rappers battled it out in Miami this past weekend for the Red Bull Batalla Regional Qualifier, testing their quick wits and killer lines for a chance to make it to the world stage and take home the title of best freestyler in the Spanish rap world. 

Continue Reading
September 1, 2023 0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
KoncertsMusicThe Latest

Meet the Winner and Contestants of the Red Bull Batalla Miami Regional Qualifier (Part One)

by Catherina Gioino September 1, 2023
written by Catherina Gioino

Sixteen freestyle rappers battled it out in Miami this past weekend for the Red Bull Batalla Regional Qualifier, testing their quick wits and killer lines for a chance to make it to the world stage and take home the title of best freestyler in the Spanish rap world.

Continue Reading
September 1, 2023 0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
EntertainmentEventsEventsFeaturedLifestyle

Red Bull Brought The Knockturnal to Miami to Explore the World’s Largest Freestyle Competition – and it did not disappoint

by Catherina Gioino August 31, 2023
written by Catherina Gioino

Attendees during Red Bull Batalla Miami Qualifiers at Skatebird in Miami, Florida on 26 of August, 2023 // Ian Witlen / Red Bull Content Pool

 

 

 

 

 

 

We all know Red Bull gives you wings, but did you know that it can also help people spit out fire? 

That was the case in Miami this weekend when the top Spanish-language lyricists from all over the country delivered some brutal and precise lines at the Red Bull Batalla Regional Qualifier. 

Now celebrating its 16th year, the Red Bull Batalla boasts the largest freestyle competition in the world, and the talent that flocked to Miami for the Regional Qualifier had The Knockturnal questioning if we were at the National Final instead. 

Sixteen rappers, freestylers, dancers, and artists all around compete in three different regional qualifiers–with the previous qualifiers taking place in Los Angeles in July and Houston in August–to test their quick-witted rhyming strengths and prove why they should advance to the National Final in Dallas in November. The winner of the National Final will test their chops with top MCs from all over the world in the Red Bull Batalla World Final, taking place in Bogotá, Colombia, on December 2. 

Sara Socas performs during Red Bull Batalla Miami Qualifiers at Skatebird in Miami, Florida on 26 of August, 2023 // Ian Witlen / Red Bull Content Pool

Ahead of the Miami Qualifier, Red Bull welcomed several journalists from across the country to stay in the art mecca neighborhood of Wynwood in Miami. This year’s contestants stayed at the Arlo Wynwood, a hotel with killer views of Wynwood Walls murals, and a gorgeous rooftop pool complete with occasional guest DJ parties. With the surrounding area of Wynwood full of art, culture, and great food, and with the influx of murals, graffiti, dancing, and Spanish-speaking hip-hop heavyweights intersecting at every corner, the stage was certainly set for the world’s largest freestyle competition.

In between graffiti workshop classes and Asian-Latin fusion dinners, the stage was also certainly set at an unsurprising venue where often these subcultures intersect: a skatepark. That’s right: the Red Bull Batalla Miami Regional Qualifier was set right in the middle of a half-pipe ramp, letting the crowd there certainly match the energy of the contestants freestyling for the Red Bull red, yellow, and blue-colored Batalla trophy, featuring a recording mic. 

Apache performs during Red Bull Batalla Miami Qualifiers at Skatebird in Miami, Florida on 26 of August, 2023 // Ian Witlen / Red Bull Content Pool

The weekend started with a graffiti workshop class at the Miami Art Society, which detailed how the Wynwood neighborhood came to be, artists works in the gallery, and how graffiti often intertwined with hip-hop and freestyling. This was then followed by a graffiti lesson by Entes, a Peruvian-born graffiti artist who not only enlisted in the help of Red Bull staff and reporters to ultimately make a freestyling avian he cheekily called “Rooster,” but also created a spot-on Red Bull logo just by using his naked eye. 

The night concluded with an Asian-Latin fusion dinner at El Chinito, just down the block from both Arlo Wynwood and the Miami Art Society. The dinner consisted of mixed fusion dishes such as carnitas shumai and watermelon “tuna” pizza; and Red Bull-inspired drinks such as the Chinito Summer (Red Bull Red Edition– watermelon – Tanqueray Gin, Peach Schnapps, lime juice, and simple syrup) and Buru Loko (Red Bull Coconut Berry, Tequila Blanco, Peychaud’s Bitters), as well as the standard Red Bull Vodka. 

Before the show started on Saturday evening, several emcees chatted about their upbringings and how they got into freestyle, as well as what they had on their minds ahead of the competition. The scene was set once the show began: Red Bull brought out the Secret Walls crew to enter a real-time live painting battle during the qualifier. Artists Ruth Burotte Tamfee (@rutamfi) and Marlon Pruz (@marlonpruz) battled it out against artists @chnkfondue and @zoegen, unveiling an emcee-inspired work of art.

Judges for the qualifier included MC Snow, Chester, and Sara Socas, with co-hosts Racso White Lion and Sonja La Makina

Sourius competes against VNZ during Red Bull Batalla Miami Qualifiers at Skatebird in Miami, Florida on 26 of August, 2023 // Ian Witlen / Red Bull Content Pool

Leading the show and accompanied by DJ Cesar’s mixing abilities at the turntable. After the emcee was crowned the winner of the Miami Regional Qualifier–with a special guest appearance by El Misionero right before the final round–a Venezuelan rapper Apache gave the crowd a closing performance. 

The fantastic weekend truly showcased the opportunity for young emcees to hone in their craft at the Red Bull Batalla and unite emcees from not only all over the country but around the world as young emcees in the United States make their way to the global stage. 

Read our interviews with AdonysX, JD, and Crown here.

And our interview with Jay_Co “El Leon” and linked here.

August 31, 2023 0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
EntertainmentEventsLifestyle

Sit Poolside and Eat Hawaiian Street Food at The Dominick this Summer

by Catherina Gioino July 1, 2023
written by Catherina Gioino
You’d be quickly forgiven if you mistook the seventh-floor rooftop pool and bar views of a Soho hotel as straight out of the first season of The White Lotus.
Thanks to The Dominick’s lusciously decorated exterior views and El Ta’Koy’s fantastic food and drink menu, you’ll have a pretty hard time convincing people you didn’t pop into a Hawaiian resort for the weekend.
Instead, bring Hawaii to you this summer at El Ta’Koy at Terrace on 7. Located on the seventh floor of The Dominick Hotel, the restaurant not only boasts authentic succulent pig roast and frozen cocktails to surely quench any summer hankering, but it also delivers you to the island of Kauai itself with its canopied cabanas and a four-foot deep pool with a lifeguard on duty.
Kauai is special to El Ta’Koy, being where Chef Luis A. Pous first came up with the Hawaiian street food-inspired restaurant while he was opening a restaurant of his own on the island. There, he was able to discover the mixing of cultures found at farmers markets and food truck events, and found that the food was influenced by Polynesian culture in addition to Caribbean, North Latin and South American, European and East Asian cultures as well.
The melting pot was all apparent on June 29 when The Dominick hosted a special VIP summer launch event. El Ta’Koy kicked off the start of summer with a succulent pig roast, passed taquitos, tostadas and lumpias, churros to wrap up the evening, and, of course, tropical drinks like frozen Daiquaris and Margaritas.

Hotel guests and visitors alike can trade the sights and sounds of the city streets below with poolside spa treatments and festive rum and tiki-inspired libations. Visitors can also reserve a private cabana with seatting up to six people and with complimentary WiFi, mineral water and scented towels to use at the pool.
Summer at The Dominick in SoHo is known for El Ta’Koy at Terrace on 7 – a lushly landscaped indoor-outdoor restaurant complete with cabanas and poolside spa treatments that have guests feeling more like they’re at a resort than a sleek urban hotel.

There’s still a chance to visit The Dominick’s next luau, set to take place monthly throughout the summer. The next scheduled luaus are on July 26 and August 30, with additional summer events including Taco Tuesdays, Rum Flight Wednesdays, and Wine Tasting Thursdays.

July 1, 2023 0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
ArtLifestyle

“In Praise of Caves:” Exploring Earth’s Natural Shelters through Art at the Noguchi Museum

by Catherina Gioino November 9, 2022
written by Catherina Gioino

As industrialized societies and wealthy entities continue wreaking havoc on the earth’s climate and displacing millions of people in a mass migrant crisis, some artists are looking back and paying homage to how humans used to– and still do– live.

Javier Senosiain, El Nido de Quetzalcóatl (1998–2007). Model fabricated by Enrique Cabrera. © Javier Senosiain / Arquitectura Orgánica

On view now at the Noguchi Museum in Long Island City, Queens through February 26, 2023, “In Praise of Caves: Organic Architecture Projects from Mexico” is the culmination of decades of work by four Mexican artists-architects who explored the natural landscape of caves and created them in the modern context. Taking over the entire first floor of the museum, the exhibition offers a thought-provoking look at how humans live and move today, and how we might experience the future years to come. 

The exhibition, with works by Carlos Lazo, Mathias Goeritz, Juan O’Gorman, and Javier Senosiain, questions how humans might reconnect with nature through shelter, bringing forth environments that came forth in Mexico during the 1900s. The Knockturnal was invited to the exhibition’s opening night ceremony on October 18, where art lovers packed into the museum’s first floor and were joined by the last living artist Javier Senosiain, who described his inspiration for such works and how he interacted with his fellow artists and Isamu Noguchi himself.

“To be an originalist, we have to go back to the origin of things,” Senosiain said through a translator, before asking the audience to close their eyes and imagine themselves in the womb at the time of their birth. “We are like astronauts floating in space, in a round shape with no windows, and feel this urge to be pushed through, with the lights shocking us.”

Senosiain explains that psychologists describe the action of being born as a traumatic experience, and explains this is due to the shape of where we find ourselves in.

“If we are born early, we are put in a glass box,” he says. “When we leave the square room, we take the rectangular train to our boxy apartments in New York, where we get pushed into these cradles with boarded sticks.”

“As we continue to grow, we crawl around the apartment, through the rectangular doors, and see the kitchen with boxes and squares on the wall.”

The artist continues down this path of reasoning until the very end. “And when we die, we get put into a box and lowered into a square in the ground.” Because of this, Senosiain puts forth, “we lose three very important aspects of our career: creativity, spontaneity, and freedom.”

Instead, he offers that we should reconsider how humans live on earth and how we interact with our natural landscape— in a not-so-square-ish way. By paying attention to the earth’s natural shelters and more specifically, its shapes, we can ensure humans, in general, will never lose the most important aspects of our lives, all the while helping mitigate the very crises that [some] humans helped create. 

“We can return to the earth again,” Senosiain ended. “We can become human again.”

November 9, 2022 0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
EventsLifestyleThe Latest

Fancy Drinks and even Fancier Views at the New Rooftop Bar Nubeluz atop the Ritz Carlton New York, NoMad

by Catherina Gioino September 27, 2022
written by Catherina Gioino

Inside the new rooftop bar Nubeluz at the Ritz Carlton New York, NoMad

Set your sights straight to the 50th floor of the Ritz Carlton New York, NoMad where world-renowned Chef José Andrés opened a new cocktail bar that is just dying to be your next Insta background. Aptly named Nubeluz – a portmanteau of the Spanish words “nube” and “luz” for cloud and light, respectively – the rooftop bar is an electrifying 21st-century reiteration of velvet conversation pits, domed golden chandeliers, and eclectic geometric lamps, bringing the 1970s open plan living fully to [night]life. 

Ahead of its Saturday opening, The Knockturnal was among a few special guests to tour the rooftop bar – which boasts 270-degree views of the city from two outdoor terraces, complete with full frontal views of the Empire State Building just up the block. The generously poured sparkling wine during the event certainly matched the bold and bright colors of not only the interior bar but also the bar’s developers, Dayssi and Paul Kanavos of the Flag Luxury Group. 

Designed by the London-based Martin Brudnizki Design Studio, the sights and sounds were all front and center ahead of Nubeluz’s opening. “When we first envisioned this property with Rafael Viñoly,” the Uruguayan architect behind 432 Park, “we knew that the views would be spectacular and we needed to create an equally striking space inside for guests to be fully immersed in the beauty and glamour of New York at night,” said Flag Luxury Group President Dayssi Olarte de Kanavos.

Dayssi Olarte de Kanavos, Paul Kanavos

“Nubeluz draws energy and inspiration from the great city of New York, which completely surrounds you here 500 feet in the air,” Chef Andrés said in a press release.

The bar’s floor-to-ceiling windows bring that love for New York’s nightlife into new … light. One can stand at one edge of the bar and feel like they’re grabbing drinks with the Met Life Tower itself, and be able to look across the open concept bar to spot people atop the Empire State – if the massive line of people looking to grab a drink at the onyx-counter bar ever dissipates. 

Now open, the bar deliciously serves up opulent bar bites such as oysters, foie gras, sweet cones, and the ever-popular caviar bump. For those who really want to ball out, you can grab 125 grams of Giaveri Beluga caviar for only $950. The drinks are no laughing matter – led by Andrés’ ThinkFoodGroup’s cocktail innovator Miguel Lancha, the moderately priced mocktails and cocktails will surely leave you wanting more.  You can check out the extensive wine list and other small bites on the menu here. 

Afraid of heights but want good bites? Not to worry – you can still have the José Andrés food at a much lower elevation. The Ritz Carlton New York, NoMad features two additional Andrés restaurants for guests and visitors alike. The street-level Zaytinya offers a Turkish-inspired Mediterranean mezze menu, while the Bazaar by José Andrés gives hungry visitors an “Avante Garde” delectable dining option.

Nubeluz is open Sunday through Wednesday from 4 PM to 12 AM and Thursday through Saturday from 4 PM to 1 AM. You can make a reservation here.

September 27, 2022 0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
EntertainmentFilmThe KontendersThe Latest

The Woman Beneath ‘The Cave’: How Dr. Amani Bellaur Saved Lives While Combatting Sexism

by Catherina Gioino February 10, 2020
written by Catherina Gioino

Caught between the precipitous explosions of IEDs overhead and the continuous stereotypes received by women in Syrian society below, Dr. Amani Bellaur opens her heart and Underground Hospital operations in Feras Fayyad’s latest documentary, The Cave.

Continue Reading
February 10, 2020 0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Newer Posts
Older Posts

Digital Cover No. 19

The Knockturnal Merch

Follow Us On The Gram

theknockturnal

Lifestyle. Music. Entertainment.
Info@theknockturnal.com
New Cover Out Now ⬇️

We spoke with @truewhitaker last night at the prem We spoke with @truewhitaker last night at the premiere of @hbomax’s I Love LA!
We spoke with @holtlauren last night at the premie We spoke with @holtlauren last night at the premiere of @hbomax’s I Love LA!
We attended @hellosunshine’s 3rd annual Shine Aw We attended @hellosunshine’s 3rd annual Shine Away event, held at @universalstudioslot in Los Angeles! 

🔗: https://theknockturnal.com/hello-sunshines-third-annual-shine-away/

✍️: Katherine Wright

-
#HelloSunshine #Universal #LosAngeles
We spoke with @treaclychild last night at the prem We spoke with @treaclychild last night at the premiere of her brand-new show, I Love LA!
Step inside the chaotic world of The Chair Company Step inside the chaotic world of The Chair Company, where office life meets absurd comedy. 🪑 
Stream it now on @HBO. 

🔗: https://theknockturnal.com/la-premiere-hbos-the-chair-company/

✍️: Katherine Wright
-
#TheChairCompany #HBO #HBOOriginal #HBOShow #BingeWorthy #MustWatch #StreamingNow
@justinbieber led @skylrk to a standout win at The @justinbieber led @skylrk to a standout win at The Leag, one of LA’s most talked-about underground sports events. With celebrities, athletes, and creators filling the sidelines, the night captured the energy of competition and culture colliding under the lights. 🏀

🔗: https://theknockturnal.com/justin-bieber-leads-skylrk-to-victory-at-las-underground-sports-phenomenon-the-league/

✍️: Parris Rose

-
#JustinBieber #SKYLRK #TheLeag #LosAngeles #SportsCulture #Basketball #UndergroundSports
@nmixx_official spoke with The Knockturnal about t @nmixx_official spoke with The Knockturnal about their journey as six members, a long, inspiring adventure that’s led them to a major milestone: their first-ever full-length album, Blue Valentine. 💙

The project dives deep into the complexity of human emotions, wrapped in NMIXX’s signature MIXX-pop sound. 🎶

“The story of NMIXX is still unfolding.” 

Full Article 🔗 https://theknockturnal.com/nmixx-blue-valentine/

By @EmmaSalehi 

#NMIXX #BlueValentine #NMIXXBlueValentine #MIXXPOP #NMIXXComeback #KpopInterview #TheKnockturnal #Kpop #KpopNews #KpopGirlGroup #NMIXX_BlueValentine #HAEWON #LILY #BAE #JIWOO #KYUJIN #SULLYOON #엔믹스
Want to immerse yourself in the wonderful world of Want to immerse yourself in the wonderful world of @beetlejuicebway? Now you can! From now until Halloween, @tempotimessquare hosting an unforgettable Beetlejuice Suite experience where every corner is bursting with spooky charm, strange surprises, and a whole lot of Netherworld flair. 💀✨ 

Whether you’re a die-hard fan or just a little strange and unusual, this is your chance to step into the world of the ghost with the most. 👻 #BeetlejuiceBroadway #TempoTimesSquare #BeetlejuiceSuite
#ParkChanWook new film might make you laugh when y #ParkChanWook new film might make you laugh when you least expect it — and flinch when you do. 👀💥

Full review out now.

🔗: https://theknockturnal.com/park-chan-wooks-no-other-choice-is-dark-gripping-and-bitingly-funny/

✍️: Ishan Wankavala 

-
#NoOtherChoice #KoreanCinema #Cinephile #FilmReview #NewRelease #MustWatch
📸 WOODZ (@woodz_dnwm) — the artist redefining 📸 WOODZ (@woodz_dnwm) — the artist redefining boundaries with each track, image, and evolution. Dive into our exclusive to uncover the artistry behind the name. 

🔗: https://theknockturnal.com/woodz/

✍️: Emma Salehi

-
#Woodz #Kpop #ArtistSpotlight #Editorial
EXCLUSIVE: STAYC take the Stay Tuned tour to elect EXCLUSIVE: STAYC take the Stay Tuned tour to electrifying new heights, bringing “I WANT IT” to life with unmatched energy, confidence, and flair. Every beat, every move, every note is a reminder that STAYC don’t just perform—they command the stage. 🌈💥

From their glowing visuals to powerhouse vocals, @stayc_highup deliver a night that’s equal parts spectacle and soul.

🔗: https://theknockturnal.com/stayc/

✍️: Emma Salehi

-
#STAYC #StayTunedTour #IWANTIT #STAYCgirls #STAYChighup #Kpop #ConcertHighlights #ExclusiveFeature
Park Chan-wook shares how The Ax inspired his new Park Chan-wook shares how The Ax inspired his new film, exploring its unique darkness. 🌟

#ParkChanWook #NoOtherChoice #TheAx #KoreanFilm #KDrama #NYFF #NYFF26
Big sci-fi dreams ahead 🔥🤖Park Chan-wook tea Big sci-fi dreams ahead 🔥🤖Park Chan-wook teases his probable upcoming project Genocidal Organ! 

#ParkChanWook #GenocidalOrgan #NYFF #NYFF26
Dark humor and deep tragedy with @byunghun0712 in Dark humor and deep tragedy with @byunghun0712 in his latest film @nootherchoicefilm. 🖤🎬

#LeeByungHun #NoOtherChoice #KDrama #NYFF #NYFF26
Two worlds, one screen 🌏🎥 Lee Byung-hun refl Two worlds, one screen 🌏🎥 Lee Byung-hun reflects on 20 years of film, from South Korea to Hollywood! 

#LeeByungHun #Hollywood #KoreanCinema #Film #NoOtherChoice #NYFF26 #NYFF
Brighter days ahead 🌞 @cix.official share what Brighter days ahead 🌞 @cix.official share what it means to move forward together in their latest comeback. 

🔗: https://theknockturnal.com/cix/

✍️: Emma Salehi

Photo Credits: C9 Entertainment 
-
#CIX #GOChapter1 #GOTogether #TheKnockturnal #KpopInterview #KpopNews #CIXComeback #CIX2025 #KpopFeature #CIXFans
It’s going down! @stayc_highup is in North Ameri It’s going down! @stayc_highup is in North America on their ‘Stay Tuned’ tour! 💖

Watch their energetic and fun filled show near you 👀🌟

#stayc #kpop #kpopconcert #iwantit #staycstaytuned #staytuned
Who runs the world? Girls! 🩷 We had the most a Who runs the world? Girls! 🩷

We had the most amazing day of inspiring panels, activations and networking at @femalefounderworld, with @eyebuydirect! 👓
Eskil Vogt reunites with longtime collaborator Joa Eskil Vogt reunites with longtime collaborator Joachim Trier for their sixth cinematic journey, co-writing Sentimental Value, a poignant exploration of family, memory, and reconciliation. 

-
#Screenwriting #Storytelling #WritingForFilm #FilmWriting #NYFF2025 #NewYorkFilmFestival #IndieFilm
At @thenyff , @renatereinsve brings Nora Borg to l At @thenyff , @renatereinsve brings Nora Borg to life in Sentimental Value, portraying a character whose journey through family complexities and personal discovery resonates deeply. 

-
#RenateReinsve #NYFF #SentimentalValue #NoraBorg #FilmFestival #Actress
Follow on Instagram

About The Site

We are a collective of creative tastemakers made up of fashion, music and entertainment industry insiders. It’s all about access. You want it. We have it.

Terms Of Use

Privacy Policy

Meet The Team

CONTACT US

For general inquiries and more info on The Knockturnal, please contact our staff at:
info@theknockturnal.com
fashion@theknockturnal.com
advertising@theknockturnal.com
editorial@theknockturnal.com
beauty@theknockturnal.com

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin
  • Youtube

© Copyright - The Knockturnal | Developed by CI Design + Media

The Knockturnal
  • Home
  • Entertainment
  • Music
  • Lifestyle
  • News
  • Videos
  • Covers
  • Merch