songbird's crazy world

So I had unused vacation days in a "use them or lose them" environment, and Drew is off from school, we're both stressed and tired, so how are we spending our days off? Well, with a "Lord of the Rings" marathon, of course. I've mentioned, several times, that I read "The Hobbit" and the "Rings" trilogy back in high school, and while Drew and I have seen each of the "Hobbit" movies in the theater, I'd never seen any of the "Rings" films. So we stayed home for two days and did nothing except watch DVD's -- all 11 hours of Hobbits and Wizards and a Elves and Dwarves, and the one true Ring to rule them all. Wish I'd seen them sooner, the movies were wonderful. - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

You know the routine by now,  We pick a day to take the train into the city, and then we walk...an walk...and walk. This year we went on the day after Christmas, a Friday.  Weather was relatively warm and comfortable.  And very, very crowded. We started at Macy's.  this year the marquis was decorated with SpongeBob.  The 34th Street windows have a "Yes, Virginia" theme (I miss "Miracle on 34th Street").  The Herald Square windows had Santa and some children travelling to all the planets in our solar system. We walked over the 5th Avenue and started  with Lord & Taylor. We stopped  for a snack.  I got a pretzel, Drew chose a hot dog. Then on to Bryant Park and the New York Public Library.  There are shops in the park.  We always stop at the chocolate shop for a free sample; the chocolate is so rich and creamy that you're not supposed to chew it, just let it melt in your mouth. Had an interesting e...

I'm really beginning to appreciate Asian fusion. We did takeout from Wild Ginger the other night. Very satisfied with our meal. As always, the sushi was fresh and flavorful. Shrimp Pad Thai was excellent, a generous amount of shrimp, the noodles had just the right "kick" without being too spicy. Sesame crusted salmon and wok grilled shrimp with garlic were perfect. Glad we found this place. - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

So we did our usual. Movie in the morning, Chinese food for dinner. Chen's buffet, a place we go to often, not much to say except it's a decent inexpensive buffet. So ... The movies. Our nearest AMC theater is in the midst of renovations. They're tearing out the conventional seating and replacing it ... With individual reclining chairs. Seriously, each patron gets his or her own recliner, you can sit, you can recline, you can put your feet up. Your seat is not attached to others in the row. There's plenty of room for others to walk past you to get to their own seats. And each chair has its own drink cup holder. This theater even gives you an assigned seat, like at a baseball game, a concert, etc. The seats were seriously comfortable. So far the price of the movie hasn't really changed, but when you lose half of your capacity... Anyhow, the movie we saw... Into The Woods . No surprise there. After all, I've seen the original Broadway production and t...

I must be the only person in America who has not seen "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, which is really weird, especially since I read and loved the Tolkein books in high school. "The Hobbit" was so light and fluffy, the three "Rings" books so dark and mysterious. So when I heard they were planning to turn "The Hobbit" into a trilogy, I had to wonder how they'd stretch it into three movies. December 2012 we saw "The Hobbit: an Unexpected Journey". December 2013 we saw "The Hobbit: the Desolation of Smaug". And this year we saw "The a Hobbit: the Battle of the Five Armies". Now, having seen all three movies ...the tone of the movies is very much a prequel for the "Rings" trilogy. A lot of the material in the Hobbit movies doesn't come from the book, but rather, the subplots are created to set us up for what is to come. The third movie is focused on action, there's very little in plot,...