V.S. Fire Dept Haunted Firehouse

And so another October is here and with it looking for things to do to make the most of the short-lived Halloween season.  

Tonight me and my man ventured off to check out the local haunted house @ the Valley Stream Fire Department.

http://www.nassaufdrant.com/forum/valley-stream-haunted-firehouse-13667.html



Okay, on the plus side its $10 for adults $5 for the kiddies.  And if you don't want to deliberately be scared, like the kids under 12 yrs old behind us, you simply ask and they give you a flash light which lets the ghouls know NOT to get you.  Also on the plus side is we went before 8 p.m. and the wait was under a half hour.

On the minus side, it was pretty tame, especially compared to the place we went place year, Schmitt's Farm, out in Melville.  Of course I screamed and was scared abit and held onto my man's hand for dear life, that's just me.  And the "scare" was actually pretty exhiliarating, which is a new thing for me.

I wish I could just say "be afraid, be very afraid" but that would only apply to being afraid of disappointment.

I'd heard good things about this haunted house and I was disappointed, I was hoping it was kick ass and it wasn't.  Then again, if you don't feel like driving far and saving some dough, then this is a decent option, especially if you are just taking little kiddies.

 

Broadways Finest - A Movie Review

So I decided to venture to obsure indie laden Malverne Theatre for a film called Broadway’s Finest.  After seeing the trailer I decided it was worth a look.

 

Pretty much unknown actors portray the characters here.   After an exceptional impromptu workshop performance as detectives, three out of work actor buddies decide that writing their own play may be the easiest way to find work.  Only soon they find themselves not only immersed in their roles, but taking the law into their own hands.  Check the trailer out on Facebook.

There’s a halfway decent, storyline and halfway decent perforamances, that made this Sunday filmgoer a-okay with watching this little film.  I give it two stars.

The Museum of Sex - a museum review

Okay so also on this Labor Day weekend I visited another  place in the city that I’ve walked by a million times known as The Museum of Sex,  located at 233 5th Avenue · New York, New York 10016.   Hours: Sunday - Thursday: 10am-8pm · Friday - Saturday: 10am-9pm

http://museum.museumofsex.com/

I took my man with me, of course how appropriate, but forgetting the coupon for the museum discount, oh well.

Walking into the shop, er museum you are assaulted with many books, novelties and condoms galore.  Towards the back you buy tickets $17 and change to enter the actual displays.

Not for the prudish!  Many exhibits were video in nature and very explicit (oh my LOL).  I was like a kid in a candy store ; )

 Nothing I hadn’t seen before except some vintage items and a section on animal and insect sexual behavior.  Again, nothing I hadn’t seen though I did learn abit about ducks engaging in necrophilia, who knew?

Again if you’re in the city and looking for something to do that’s non committal and relatively cheap, you might want to wander inside.

Obscura Antiques & Oddities - a bizzarre store review

So also this Labor Day weekend while in NYC I went to a few other places I’ve been meaning to visit. 

One of them being Obscura Antiques & Oddities 

http://www.obscuraantiques.com   of the “reality” t.v. show Oddities from the Sci-Fi channel.

Now few things in the actual store resembled the t.v. show.   

Yes, it was in NYC and yes both places sell bizarre shit, like antique "rectal dialators and antique helmet for being shot out of a cannon.  But other than that it doesn't bear much resemblance to everything else in the show, none of the staff, etc.  From what I understand the original location was on the Tenth Street and if you’ve ever watched the show it’s a long narrow venue whereas the store where we were in today was one square room.

The staff was pretty accommodating and even helped us out by snapping our picture, though we must have appeared to be a couple of dorky tourists (guilty).  They did give us a free postcard (see pic in upper left hand corner).

It’s a cute place to visit in the city (that’s free) just to check out something abit more bizarre than normal.

IL VAGABONDO - a NYC restaurant review

 

 

Earlier this summer my man was teaching me how to play Bocci.  It’s a huge game his extended family enjoys playing.  While at a barbeque a friend told me of a restaurant in NYC that has a Bocci court IN the restaurant.  She couldn’t recall the name, but nonetheless I was intrigued.

 After a quick search on the internet I discovered the name and venue that is  Il Vagabondo.  http://www.ilvagabondo.com/

And on Sunday of Labor Day weekend it seemed a good a time as any to trek in and see how it faired.  The unassuming location of 27^th Street between 1^st & 2^nd Avenue lends a venue a less than commercial appeal.   I happen to think is a good thing.   

 

While some others enjoy crowds I like finding a quiet gem in the rough.

We arrived just it was opening this evening.  The entrance revealed a bar with an understated atmosphere with a few photographs featuring bocci balls in all different types of scenarios.  We were lead up through an open kitchen area to our table.  While the restaurant had three dining rooms tonight one this one were patrons seated into.

As our appetizers, we ordered Baked Stuffed Mushrooms filling includes prosciutto.  We also ordered Tomato & Mozzarella with fresh basil.  The stuffed mushrooms were very tasty, I could have eaten more of them.

For dinner my beau ordered something called Veal Vagabondo which is veal in a brown wine sauce with prosciutto and cheese.  The veal was tender and moist although I thought the portion was rather small.  

I ordered a fettucine dish that was on the specials of the day BUT when my food arrived it was NOT the fettucine.  Instead they brought me meat lasagna, sausage lasagna to be exact.   Okay, so on the one hand they made an error.  The error being they put Saturday’s special on Sunday’s menu.  So the chef just gave me the pasta special for Sunday which was lasagna.  It was a delightful error.  Abit heavy but delicious. 

Management was falling all over us with apologies and honestly I wasn’t that offended at the situation since the food WAS good and I could see they were earnestly apologetic.

Management made up for this error by giving us complimentary coffee and dessert.  I had cheesecake and my beau had Mississippi mud cake.  Yep I’ll take that ; )

So onto Bocci.  In the first empty room there is a bocci “pit”.  You open the gate and step down onto the court.  For insurance purposes you do not use a belini but instead of use a large metal washer because they worry about balls flying at the nearby diners.

 It was a nice way to end the evening.  We played a short game (which was free by the way) and said our goodbyes.  My man kicked my ass at that game but what else is new?

Not the best Italian food I’ve had by far, BUT it was a nice unique experience.

HOPE SPRINGS - a Movie Review

So tonight me and my mom went to see the adult comedy “Hope Springs” .  Now that’s adult as in senior not as in porn, lol.

It’s a romantic comedy of sorts that lets the audience peek into the journey of a marriage that’s barely on life support and suffering from more than just “empty nest syndrome”.

Meryl Streep as the wide-eyed 50ish wife who signs her and her husband up for intensive couples counseling.  Tommy Lee Jones as the crotchity husband who’s just going through the motions pretending nothing is wrong.

I’d hoped this would be more of a comedy than it was.  Watching it, I felt like a peeping Tom listening to awkward details which quite frankly could have been written abit sharper and FUNNIER!

Wait for DVD and if you are squeamish about seeing Meryl Streep (a-hem) on her knees, then don’t bother watching at all.