Entertainment

The Queens Zoo

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We missed going to the Central Park Zoo when we were there a few weeks ago and then we had plans with family and friends for a few weekends. With this free weekend we wanted to give the zoo another try. This time we headed to the queens zoo. It was a fast 20 minutes on one bus and a few blocks walk. It was the perfect day. Teagan was up the entire trip to the zoo and then fell asleep right when we got there. MC and i got to walk around a bit and then walked around Flushing Meadow park. We were about to leave when Teagan woke up so we went back to the petting zoo part of the zoo and MC fed some animals and Teagan just watched intently.

We headed home after that but I started getting a Migraine and MC was tired from being up a long night, so the rest of the day was low key.

Dinner and a Movie

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MC’s parents are staying with us for a few days  since they are without power due to the storm.  It has been a bit cramped since I am working from home due to the storm but it is nice to have them.  They help with taking care of Teagan, and MC doesn’t get to see them as often as I can see my parents since hers lives about an hour and a half away.

Since they are here and they dont know when they will have power, MC had the idea that they could watch the baby Friday night and we could go out and grab some dinner and catch a movie.  We haven’t done that alone since Teagan was born so it is almost 7 weeks.  We were both excited since we would love a night out and we have wanted to go see Argo.  Up until her parents came to visit we figured we would never get to see  it in the movies and would catch it on DVD.

We opted for an early movie and dinner afterward.  The movie was great.  Probably one of the best stories I have seen in a long time.  It was very well done and worth it as our first date out.  We went to the theater on Austin St and then went to a Sushi Yasu place across the street from the Theater   We wanted to try a new place and we were in the mood for sushi.  The restaurant was nice but the sushi was not as good as our favorite place in Woodside (TJ”s) or the more upscale Moca Asian Bistro around the corner.  After dinner we went to Martha’s for coffee and desert before heading back home.

It was a nice quick night out.  We were both glad to get away even though MC talked to her mom 3 times while we were out.  We might go out again tonight but we aren’t sure.

Why an I a Sucker For Time Travel Stories?

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I don’t know what it is about time travel stories.  I am a science fiction fan in general but there is something about adding a twist of time travel to a story to make things more interesting.  Since I was a kid I have been fascinated by them.  I think I started thinking about this earlier this week after the new season of Doctor Who came on.  I also have thought about what things I like that I can introduce to the baby once she arrives and is old enough.

One of my favorite movies of all time is one that I remember watching as a kid was The Final Countdown.  What little boy could resist it?  It had aircraft carriers, fighter jets, and time travel.  Even today I still think it is a pretty neat plot and I will watch the DVD every now and again.

I started watching Doctor Who in middle school, around 1983 or so.  I think I just stumbled upon it changing channels.  I started off at the end of Tom Baker.  I think I saw bits and pieces of episodes and then the first one I can completely remember was the Warriors Gate.  I didn’t understand why soon after the main character changed.  i would figure that out later, but to this day I was hooked.  Recently David Tennant’s portrail as the Doctor is probably one of my favorites  but Peter Davison is also still a favorite.  That is most likely because he is the one I remember most growing up since he was what was on the air.

Other shows with a bit of a time travel twist that I couldn’t get enough of were Lost, Journeyman (it got canceled way too soon), and Life on Mars,  I am also a sucker for the genre getting drawn into watching stuff that is really bad.  I wanted to watch Terra Nova for the premise alone and I haven’t been able to watch more than a handful of episodes.  Just because you have good effects does not mean I or anyone else will like something if it doesn’t have a good plot.

Maybe Our Last Weekend of Rest For a While

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This weekend we have tried to stay low key.  MC spent most of the day yesterday and today on the couch with her feet up.  We did a big batch of laundry today.  Yup, it was that exciting of a weekend.  Amazingly there was still some baby stuff that needed to be washed.

We (MC) perfected our pot popcorn making.  We do it old school, and MC is pretty dam good at it.  Very delicious.  Saturday night we ordered in from Bearburger as a treat.  Tonight we ordered Italian.  We also had a freshdirect delivery.  lots of getting food stores ready in case it is hectic once the baby arrives.

I went out to get waffles again today for breakfast.  The waffle truck was in Forest Hills again.  The line was super long today.  I am glad they are getting business in the area so they will be back regularly but it was a long wait!

The rest of the day (and a big chunk of yesterday) for me was taken up by me tinkering around with my website.  I will write about that in another post soon.

We watched Jeff Who Lives at Home tonight.  It was not as funny as I thought it would be with the cast that was in it.  I would say it was OK, but nothing special.  Other TV watched this weekend was some more episodes of The Layover with Anthony Bourdain.  We have finished all our Top Chef episodes till a new season comes out and we have been trying that show out as a substitute.  So far it has been pretty good.  I have bookmarked some places to  try the next time I am in London, and MC and I did the same thing for if we are ever in San Francisco.

 

Date Night

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Today MC and I had originally planned to go to Jason and Gretchens house. It would’ve been the last chance we had before the baby came. Unfortunately last minute issues came up last night that I thought it was best not to go. Jason and Gretchen understood, so that was cool. The downside was we didn’t get to see them, and now we had no plans for today. MC and I decided to do some work around the house and generally try to relax most of the day. We did want to go to the movies, so we decided to head out for dinner and then catch a movie.

We didn’t realize how little time we had before the movie, so we ended up at Johnny Rockets. We like that place, it just wasn’t where we were planning on going for a date night. We were originally going to go see the campaign, but when we went to buy the tickets at the theater on Austin Street the ticket lady did not think we should see it. She saw the MC was pregnant and said the air conditioner wasn’t working the way it normally should. We agreed with her assessment and decided to try a different theater.

The other movie theater in the neighborhood on Queens Boulevard is actually a lot nicer, but he did not have the campaign playing. Luckily we did want to see the Bourne Legacy, and it was playing at the same time we were going to see the campaign at the different theater. I walked ahead and got tickets and we were able to find seats without any problem. The movie was pretty good, it kind of intertwined itself with the last Bourne movie in the trilogy. We both liked it.

Potted Potter

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While I was in London MC picked up pictures to the show Potted Potter.  They were relatively inexpensive and we had fantastic seats.  All week leading up to the show MC wanted to watch the movies so she could know what they would be talking about.  Since i didn’t want to see the movies again, she didn’t see them since she didn’t want to watch them alone.  Turns out you really don’t need to see the movies or read the books to enjoy the show.  It was really funny.  We had a blast.

We had dinner at shake shack before hand, and then walked over to the show.

The Steve Jobs Biography

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I finished the Steve Jobs biography today. It was an interesting book. It confirmed my previous assessment that the guy was a dick, but even then at times i found myself tearing up in some chapters. Maybe it is because my dad isn’t in the best of health, or maybe the book was just touching. I am not sure. Overall it was worth reading/listening to the audio book.

Hulu Plus

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With Netflix annoucning that streaming movies and TV shows will now cost extra I decided to check out alternatives.  I have been skeptical about Hulu plus just because if i am paying for a streaming system I would hope that there is no commercials but with the ability to watch content via a Roku or iPad on Hulu won out and I signed up for a free trial.

Now I am in the middle of my first paid month and I will say I haven’t used it too much but when I have used it I was glad i had the service.  Tivo failed me a few times and just going to an online library was nice.

Having Hulu Plus alone to me was useless since I don’t want to watch stuff on my computer.  At the begining of the month I bought a Roku 2.  The main reason I got one was to use it as a front end to Plex, but Roku offered a Hulu client so I figured why not try it.  Together Hulu with presentation on the TV makes it worth it.

Of course the main reason i bought the Roku was to use it with Plex.  Unfortunately the Plex client for Roku is very basic.  I love the Plex media center but using it on the Roku was not as good as it is on my Mac Mini.  I need to figure out what is wrong with my Mini that the HDMI connection is flakey.

A New Biking Location

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Ever since I moved I haven't biked as much as I would have liked.  Nothing beat going to central park and biking the loop or part of the loop.  The first summer I moved to LIC I went out once or twice and really couldn't find any place I liked biking too.  Last summer I went biking in Central Park once but otherwise didn't do much in the way of biking due to lots of work deadlines.

This summer I want to get out and do more biking and exploring.  Today I rented a bike right by the Intrepid (I didn't want to deal with traveling on the subway with my own) and biked on along the west side highway.  There is a great bike path all along the water.  Went from 43st down to the World Financial Center and back.  For my first outing of the year that was enough for me and my bike partner.

We opted for the by the water since central park is so hilly.  I am glad we did.  It was a great flat ride.  Only problem was a bunch of wind on the way back that was against us.  Overall a great afternoon out.

I need to find someplace in Queens I can really get to easily to bike around…

Saturday at the Movies

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Today was generally low key. I got to relax a bit from my travel week. I went with a friend to see Alice in 3D. It was better than I expected, of course I had low expectations. I also saw the preview for Tron and the new Shrek movies. I want to see both of them.

It was an early night since the dam 7 train isn’t running by my apartment so I needed to take the shuttle bus. Once it gets really late they don’t run that often. During the day they seem to be pretty good.