Tag: video

Categories
personal

Travelogue: Bermuda 2024 Pt 3 – Looks like I’m back

So, it would seem

Since we were only in Bermuda for a total of six hours, we had a lot more time to tour the ship some more.

I got to check out alla the places I didn’t get to go to the first few days because I was so sick.

A lotta of the things I probably woulda done had I not gotten sick but after that, I really just wanted to lounge around and rest.

Afterwards, the Firecracker enrolled us all in a contest where we go against the officers in trivia – it was called, “Are you smarter than a ship’s officer?”

Turns out, we were.

Won a bottle of champagne to boot!

Later on, we caught a comedy show, which was pretty impressive because (a) it was clean enough to bring the kids and (b) he spent the whole time – hilariously – riffing on the audience.

It was quite impressive.

Most modern cruises have waterslides, if not mini waterparks; well, the MSC Meraviglia had a waterpark that the kids just loved.

I’d been feeling better so I ended up joining them for some of it.

Later on that night was their “white night,” so we dressed in white to support.

Whereas before, I ate essentially what one might consider “normally” – which is I would eat three meals, with an appetizer, main dish, and maybe a dessert.

However, because I was (finally) feeling back to my old self…

…I ate a lot more than that.

A LOT more.

Her: It looks like you’re back.
Me: So, it would seem. (reaching over) Are you gonna eat that?

Later on that night, a MASSIVE flock of sparrows crowded on our balcony.

I turned on the lights in my cabin to get a better view and two immediately slammed into the glass wall and hurt themselves (they later flew off) so I shut off the lights.

Was too beat to take a pic so you’ll have to trust me on that.

Didn’t open my door, though, even though I wanted to.

If I did, I’m sure this woulda happened:

Location: the kid’s jits class, nursing a sore back
Mood: tired
Music: bring back the water, let your ships roll in (Spotify)
Subscribe!
Like this post? Tell someone about it by clicking a button below.

Categories
personal

Travelogue: Bermuda 2024 Pt 2 – Dressing up, Teppanyaki, BRATTY, and the Beach

In Bermuda and my head

Finally emerged on day three still feeling pretty off but less like death warmed over so I ventured out with everyone to brekkie.

Him: Wow.
Me: What?
Him: I’ve never seen you eat so little before. And you never eat this much bread.
Me: Mommy told me that, when your stomach hurts, you have to eat BRATTY foods, which are Bread, Rice, Applesauce, Tea, Toast, and Yoghurt.

And that, my non-nauseated friends, is a list of alla the foods I’d been eating up to that point.

It’s good that I was feeling better because the Firecracker booked us all a table at teppanyaki for dinner, so we went to that.

The chef we got was a nice guy, and the food was delicious, but he was obviously still in training because he messed up the egg tricks three times.

Still, it was good, and the kids were entertained.

And I, for one, was certainly happy to have something other than bread and carbs.

Afterward, the Firecracker and I separated to do our own things.

Now, a guy was supposed to play the Rolling Stones at a bar that the Firecracker and I hit up earlier.

I didn’t have any tequila, mezcal, or anything beyond soda water so my bar experience was pretty different than it usually is.

The kid was super excited to have a small, private concert.

Unfortunately, the guy never showed.

Me: It happens. (shrugging) Whaddyagonna do?
Him: (nodding, shrugging) Yeah, whaddyagonna do?

But there was another band that was playing the Beatles, so we went to that.

The Firecracker was able to join us, so that part was pretty nice.

We also got to dress up all snazzy, like.

The next day, we arrived in Bermuda, but – like I said – there was that new hurricane developing so we were told that we only had from 9AM to 4:45PM to be in Bermuda.

So, we made the most of it and headed to Horseshoe Beach for the pink beaches.

Because the Firecracker and I had been to Bermuda (many times) before, we just hopped the bus to get there.

The last time I’d been on the bus was a decade earlier with Alison.

The last time I was in Bermuda, I was so irritated because I just wanted to remember her, but the idiot driving wouldn’t stop prattling on about nonsense.

It still makes me mad thinking about it.

This time, though, I sat with Alison’s son in the back while the Firecracker sat in another row with her son. So, I finally had my time with my thoughts and our son.

Me: Mommy and I once walked this exact route.
Him: Really?! This far!?
Me: It wasn’t my smartest idea, but mommy was nice enough to support me.

I won’t bring up Alison again in this because it fucks with my head.

In any case, after a spell, we finally arrived at the beach. The boy was underwhelmed but enjoyed being in the water.

Me? I was in and out of my head a lot for a bit.

But I did get to show the kids where I liked to go on the beach – years ago, I saw a tree growing outta rock there and found it again.

It was doing well and, somehow, that made me feel better.

We didn’t get too much time there but that’s fine.

I was just happy to be able to sit and read for a few minutes. And be in my head for a bit.

We made it back to the ship with hours to spare and stopped by the dockyard for a bit before the kid and chilled out on our balcony and had lunch together.

It was a good day, all things considered.

Location: back in the hood
Mood: less gross
Music: Suffer in the morning, but that taste is all I wanted, me and tequila (Spotify)
Subscribe!
Like this post? Tell someone about it by clicking a button below.

Categories
personal

No such thing as inclement weather

Only poor clothing choices

Her: The artichokes were good. But they’re just too much work.
Me: They’re the crayfish of the vegetable world.

It’s been quiet around here for a change. Most exciting thing was that I made the Firecracker artichokes for the first time.

Did get stuck in the rain the other day though.

It wasn’t that bad.

After all, there’s no such thing as inclement weather, only poor clothing choices.

Location: bed, waiting for the sandman
Mood: sleepy
Music: no music, just the rain
Subscribe!
Like this post? Tell someone about it by clicking a button below.

Categories
personal

Date night in Chinatown

You know what you're not seeing? A line.

An early dinner at Nom Wah

The kids were away and, like I said, I’ve been hankering for Chinese, Japanese, and Greek food lately.

Me: We may end up going to Big Wong. I’ll figure it out once I get there.
Her: Soup dumplings are always a good idea
Me: (in Chinatown) There’s zero line at Nom Wah!

For those of you not from NYC, Nom Wah Tea Parlor is one of the very first Chinese dim sum restaurants in America, opened in 1920.

The children of the last generation of owners decided to update the marketing to include social media but not update much else and it’s worked; there are tons of videos about it like this one from Bon Appetit:

Or this one from Munchies:

Or this one from PBS:

Alla this attention means that there’s always a line going around the block.

I’ve been in this little town for 45 years and I’ve never gone in, actually.

But the other day we lucked out and there was zero line and we got superstar seating.

Her: This is what happens when you eat like an old man at 5:30PM.
Me: But…no line!

We were both starving so we ordered a ton of food…

…really, so much food.

We managed to eat almost everything – so good.

Afterward, we had some wine and beer that we slowly enjoyed while chatting when a waiter came up to us and said that there were lots of people waiting; sure enough, there was a long line that went to the neighboring street.

So, we left and, because the kids were away, we headed to a speakeasy that was hidden behind a coke machine called The Basement.

Since it was still early, we easily got a seat…

…and ordered some drinks, which were excellent but…

…she was mainly interested in the kettle corn they gave us.

Her: Ask for more.
Me: Me? Why don’t you ask for more?
Her: Oh, I will.

She’s wasn’t lying.

Her: Do you wanna play some beer pong?
Me: I’m beat, I just wanna sit.
Her: You’re no fun.
Me: Accurate.

Her: We’ll be home and in bed by 10PM.
Me: I know. It’s glorious.

It really was.

Location: earlier today, coughing up a pollen-infused lung on 77th
Mood: hopeful
Music: deep down in my heart, there’s a hole (Spotify)
Subscribe!
Like this post? Tell someone about it by clicking a button below.

Categories
personal

I’m sure she knows

Honest and for true

This entry is out of order; back to the regular nuthin in the next entry.

The Firecracker’s dad came into town this weekend and we met up with him on Saturday for a kid’s birthday party.

It was fine for the most part but then a parent snapped at my kid when he tried to break a piñata with his foot when it fell down – like an 8 year old kid understands why whacking a piece of cardboard with a stick is ok but kicking it isn’t – and destroyed him in front of all the other kids.

It pretty much set the mood for the rest of the weekend for us.

He’d never cried at a birthday party before and, of course, it had to happen during the weekend of Mother’s Day and his mom’s birthday.

Obviously, there’s no way for the other parent to have known that.

But I hoped that, as a parent, she woulda known that people’s brains don’t fully develop until they’re 25. She was yelling at a kid for being a happy and excited kid.

At least he was and then he very much not.

If it wasn’t for the fact that she couldn’t have known and that she was a mom, I woulda been arrested.

Still, he was fine after a spell because I raised him to be resilient, but – man – I was steamed.

Him: She said I did it on purpose, but I didn’t. I was trying to help. (sadly) I’m the worst kid.
Me: Don’t ever say that. She doesn’t know you at all. You’re the best kid mom or I could ever ask for.
Him: Really?
Me: Honest and for true.

We then went to have dinner with the Firecracker’s family at a local taco joint that I’d been to before and then called it a night.

The next morning, despite it being Mother’s Day, the Firecracker got up bright and early to make her family and us a killer brekkie with a baked blueberry and apple oatmeal dish and a baked fritatta with feta and bacon.

The oatmeal bar

My kid liked it so much, he asked for seconds of everything and also asked for more the next day.

God, I love that kid – he’s just like me where we eat our feelings.

We all chatted at my place for hours until we had to meet up with the ABFF for dinner and to remember Alison.

The Firecracker and her kid came along.

The ABFF, her sister, and kids were beyond great.

We ordered a crap ton of Chinese food and, just like in years past, we decorated balloons for Alison.

This was probably the worst birthday/Mother’s Day yet for the kid because he feels the loss now.

Being humiliated and yelled at a birthday party probably didn’t help matters.

It was the hardest one for me for a while because it hit the kid so hard.

Him: (looking up at the ballon) How do we know she’ll get it?
Me: We hope.
Him: (nodding) I hope she knows I miss her.
Me: She knows. I’m sure she knows

Location: home, fulla dumplings and other carbs
Mood: livid
Music: I try to say goodbye and I choke (Spotify)
Subscribe!
Like this post? Tell someone about it by clicking a button below.

Categories
personal

Travelogue: Winston-Salem Pt. 1

Radically Different Outfits

I’m writing this somewhere in the middle of Virginia.

This past weekend, the Firecracker, her kid, my kid, and I all piled into a car so I could meet her mom, who’s from the south.

Well, that’s not quite what happened. We got into our rental car and promptly got out because it reeked of cigarette smoke.

That ate up a lotta time for us and we also found out that the day we left, Obama, Clinton, and Biden were in town.

Getting outta the city’s always a bear but the visiting presidents and alla the rain made everything worse.

My son didn’t come with us down south as he wanted to stay at his grandparents, so we drove him out to NJ first to drop him off.

MIL: You want some coffee before you go?
Firecracker: Oh, I already have some in the car, thank you.
Me: I’d love some, but I go to the bathroom enough when I travel.

This turned out to be pretty true when I asked her a few hours later if she wanted to pull over to get a quick break.

Her: Nope – I’m gonna be a taskmaster here.
Me: Can I at least borrow your sunglasses to try and sleep a bit?
Her: (laughing) You’re gonna look great in my sunglasses.

She was wrong.

Tried to get some sleep in the car but that was pretty much impossible.

Somewhere in West Viginia, her kid got hungry so she finally pulled over and we searched around for a place to eat.

Her: I love seeing the country. Isn’t it beautiful and peaceful?
Me: It’s like when I went to college [in Cornell]. I gotta, say, though, this place is less bucolic and more like the land of strip malls.

I had a chicken sammie animal style at Chick-fil-A.

The next four hours or so were just like this.

We were making good time so for dinner, we ended up stopping by a joint called Holly Jo’s Creekside Grill.

The food was only ok but everyone was super nice and I can’t remember the last time I ate with Darth Vader.

The problem was probably that I ordered a salad. It was not a good salad.

Everything else was good, though.

It was pretty late when we pulled into our hotel in Winston-Salem – some 12 hours after we left that morning.

The hotel itself was pretty nice.

Me: Man, look at the size of this place! Real estate’s gotta be lot cheaper out here if this is just the lobby.
Her: Yup, Winston-Salem only has about 250,000 people.
Me: That’s not even as big as my family’s neighborhood in Queens.

The hotel room was pretty nice too.

When we got up the next morning, we were pretty amused to find that there were two conventions happening in the convention hall just a block from our hotel room:

The first was the Triad Anime Convention while the second was the North Carolina Youth & Hyphen Convention 2024.

Shall we say that the attendees of the respective events wore radically different outfits?

Firecracker: (talking about the Youth Convention ladies) Do you notice that they’re all wearing skirts down to their ankles?
Me: I do now. (pointing over at an anime convention girl in hot pants) They’re dressed pretty differently.
Her: Very. (shaking head) They should probably wear a little more.
Me: Nah, it’s America. People should dress how they want.
Her: It’s cold!
Me: This is true.

I didn’t take any pics of the latter but did of the former.

There’s more but I’ll tell you about it tomorrow.

Location: my room, getting ready for a trip down south
Mood: injured
Music: Won’t you roll with me, go with me, waste some time? (Spotify)
Subscribe!
Like this post? Tell someone about it by clicking a button below.

Categories
personal

Totally random (videos)

I’ll always love NY

There’s gonna be zero rhyme or reason to this entry cause I went through my camera and found a buncha random videos that I meant to post.

Let’s start with a video shot in October of 2023 where I took a bus out to Queens in this entry.

Now, I’d meant to post this video in that entry, but I forgot I even took it.

Essentially, that explains all the rest of these videos.

Nothing special but I just always liked seeing the NYC rivers while on bridges.

Now, this is another video I shot in October of 2023, where this very old and broken dude was screaming out racial epithets at people who were just walking by him.

I believe the cops got involved but I was already gone by the time they started to arrive.

While NYC definitely has moments like that, it also has moments like the next video, which I shot the following month on November 18th, 2023.

It’s just some people playing ping pong on the pedestrian square outside of Koreatown.

I like how totally random it is, just like NYC itself, which is also totally random.

That’s all I got for now.

Well, that is until I find another batch of random videos from my phone.

Lemme close out this entry with someone else’s video; this is Ryan Adams singing his song New York, New York.

It was shot in 2001, right before the World Trade Center was hit and is how I remember the buildings before all the horror.

There’s a line in it that goes, I’ll always love you though, New York.

Despite a whole lotta things, that sounds about right.

Location: a trampoline park all day, surrounded by kids and noise
Mood: headachey
Music: In a church on the upper west side (Spotify)
Subscribe!
Like this post? Tell someone about it by clicking a button below.

Categories
personal

SF Loop Dreams

Shooting in a dot-com

Didn’t have much time to decompress after our trip because I pretty much immediately had to get ready for a two-day Scenic Fights shoot.

The last time I checked, we were closing in on 585,000 subscribers, which itself is pretty nuts.

But getting – and keeping – alla these subscribers means that we gotta keep cranking out good content.

So, the other day, we tried shooting in my buddy’s dot com.

It’s weird, I know alla these serious movers and shakers these days, and I often marvel how I ended up knowing any of them.

Case-in-point, a buddy of mine sold one of his many companies to Facebook a little while back.

I’d never been to his offices before but he mentioned that he had a studio in one of them.

Me: Whoa! Can we shoot at it? We’re always looking for new places to shoot Scenic Fights.
Him: Sure – have your producers reach out to me to set it up.

And they did.

Honestly, I don’t have the words to tell you how gorgeous these offices were.

Like, they had two bars/kitchen areas in them.

And we took full advantage of them – I almost made myself sick eating all the snacks there. I did my best to not have too much of the alcohol since we were filming.

There were snacks and drinks everywhere, but I – of course – didn’t have any because that would just be gauche.

It’s been a long time since I’ve worked for a dot-com, but being there reminded me of onea my possible pasts from decades ago.

I often wonder what my life woulda been like if I’d stayed.

Then again, I suppose I like how my life is now, horrors notwithstanding.

Even though it’s nuthin like I’d expected it to be all those years ago.

Location: freezing getting from A to B anywhere right now
Mood: so gauche
Music: Dear me, you’ll be older one day. I’m writing from the future and you’re doing ok (Spotify)
Subscribe!
Like this post? Tell someone about it by clicking a button below.

Categories
personal

Travelogue: Vienna 2023 Pt 6 – Marie Antoinette, Schönbrunn Palace, Fake Ruins, Home

Can’t tell you how disappointed I am

Her: You know what’s wild? The same time we were in the room where Marie Antoinette was born, my sister was in Paris in the room she was in right before she died.
Me: That *is* wild – and so sad to me for some reason.

The last day we were there, the Firecracker had us heading out to the Schönbrunn Palace, which was where the Hapsburgs summered.

Coincidentally, her sister was in Paris at the same time, leading to the conversation above.

Now the Firecracker just likes going to castles in general, but I was super jazzed to see the Roman ruins – more on that in a moment.

Beforehand, though, we enjoyed some of the Christmas market outside the castle before heading in.

Just like the Hofburg, it was opulent and impressive.

While there was a glass cutaway in the palace showing the Roman ruins, I wanted to see the more impressive ruins on the grounds…

…and they were super impressive…

Me: I’ve never seen such nicely kept ruins, ever!
Her: This is amazing!

…and super fake:

Me: Holy cow, I can’t tell you how disappointed I am.
Her: Man, that stinks!

To assuage somea that disappointment, we headed to the next town over in search of a traditional German joint that was less than 550 years old.

We stepped into the first nice place we saw and ordered a Diet Coke and another Radler…

…along with a traditional Weiner Schnitzel and Beef Goulash.

It was all pretty good but definitely not American-sized portions, so I was still pretty hungry afterward.

Her: You’re always hungry.
Me: This is true.

There was one last castle that the Firecracker wanted to check out before we left but, because I was still hungry, we hopped off the tram early to check out a bar right before it called Cafe Prinz.

Me: (to owner) Zwei bitte. Und gibt es Apfelstrudel und Wurst?
Owner: I’m sorry, do you speak English? My German isn’t so good.
Firecracker: (surprised) Are you American?
Owner: (shaking head) No, I’m from Czech Republic, moved to Canada decades ago, and was on my way back home to the Czech Republic when my friend convinced me to stop here in Vienna and we ended up buying this bar.

She was super nice, and we ended up taking a picture with her.

The Firecracker wrote some postcards for her parents, and I offered to drop them off at the post office for her.

It was “only” two blocks away but each one of these blocks were like three NYC avenues.

Firecracker: I thought you got lost!
Me: I didn’t but…man, they don’t fool around with the blocks here.

After we had some food and drink, we headed off to the last castle.

There was another Christmas Market there, so I ended up buying more Glühwein with this cool mug.

We ended up just enjoying the market for a bit before heading back.

The next morning, we took off for home.

It was pretty uneventful except for the fact that we had to board the plane from the tarmac…

…and the food was pretty atrocious.

Her: It’s not good.
Me: It tastes like they saw a picture of a pizza and decided to make it based on the picture.

We got back to the states and missed the train back into the city by just two minutes.

Her: Wait, the train’s delayed, we didn’t miss it after all.
Me: Awesome! Well, that’s a good way to end this trip.

And that’s our trip to Vienna.

Back to our usual nuthin in the next entry.

Location: home all day, after a night of drinking with Mr. Read
Mood: sober
Music: Even though I love the road, I’m missing home (Spotify)
Subscribe!
Like this post? Tell someone about it by clicking a button below.

Categories
personal

Travelogue: Vienna 2023 Pt 5 – Opera House, Wiener Riesenrad, Griechenbeisl, and a Radler

I go where you go

The next morning, I had some brie and smoked salmon while she had the yoghurt she bought, along with several cups of coffee.

But it wasn’t enough and we ended up going to a tiny, non-descript cafe…

…where she finally got to have a pretty good rendition of a Sacher Torte.

Me: They’re generally a bit dry. Whaddya think?
Her: I liked it! The apricot jam really helped.

Stepping out, we noticed a building which had the same kidnapped photos/posters as we have in NYC, which was a somber reminder of the current state of the world.

Afterward, we headed off to the Opera House because she got us a 45-minute tour there.

Only found it somewhat interesting, but both the Firecracker and I really marveled in the history and beauty of the whole thing.

We essentially paid for the tour just to see the inside; the tour was very basic and 45 minutes was more than we needed for just seeing it.

Still, I was glad to have done it.

One of the only things that I really wanted to do was to visit the Prater amusement park and check out their iconic ferris wheel.

It was featured in onea my fave films, The Third Man, which actually starred my buddy’s grandfather.

Both the Firecracker and I wished that our kids were there to enjoy it.

Her: They would have loved this.
Me: When they’re older, we can bring them.

Afterward, we went to have dinner at a traditional Austria Bisel at the 550 year old (!) Griechenbeisl, which is a beisl, or a traditional German tavern with food and drink.

People that have eaten there includes Mark Twain, Beethoven, Mozart, Luciano Pavarotti, and Johnny Cash – so I figured we were in good company.

Getting there was fun – we felt like spies coming outta the cold war.

The name translates to “Greek Tavern,” but it had zero Greek food, just traditional German food, which is exactly what we wanted.

We ordered the traditional pork leg for two.

It was exactly what my belly wanted.

Oh, and there was another cool ceramic heater in the corner.

We both really enjoyed the drinks and the meal.

This was the aftermath.

We walked around for a bit afterward and ended up walking into this rando apartment building…

Her: Should we go in?
Me: No. But let’s do it anyway.

…checking out an underground furniture store…

…window shopping at above-ground luxury stores…

Me: I heard the Devil wears that.
Her: She does! I could never bring myself to spend that much on stuff like that, though.

…and, finally, hitting up another bar where we each had a radler/shandy.

Me: This was a super full second day.
Her: It was your idea to pack in everything today!
Me: True. We may have taken on too much. Should we head back?
Her: If you’re going back, I’m going back. I go where you go.

 

Location: a steamy swimming pool with the boy, who just got a certificate
Mood: argumentative
Music:  you feel like we’re on a Ferris Wheel (Spotify)
Subscribe!
Like this post? Tell someone about it by clicking a button below.