How I Saw 'Avengers 2: Age of Ultron'

This past Saturday was so gorgeous, so after Pure Barre (my third in a row!) I decided to go sit in a dark, cold movie theater for two and a half hours. I also decided to walk the approximately four miles to Lincoln Square theaters to see Avengers 2: Age of Ultron, so I got plenty of vitamin D.

I love walking around New York City. Starting in my neighborhood downtown and walking through so many different ones -- Union Square, Madison Square Park, midtown Times Square - there is such an ebb an flow of tourists, solicitors and residential New Yorkers. One minute, you're pushing past people gazing up at the Empire State Building (admittedly, like you've done plenty of times), the next, you've got the whole block to yourself, everything is quiet and it's...eerie. But I digress.

Google Maps said it'd take me and hour and ten minutes so naturally I gave myself two hours to get into the Upper West Side theater. I stopped along the way at Juice Generation, picking up an I <3 Watermelon smoothie as replenishment. Slowly but surely, I've become addicted to the juicing craze, just like every other broke 20-something who cannot afford $7 smoothies everyday.

At 12:30, a half hour before the show started, I breezed right into the theater, virtually empty despite the crowd-control ropes and signs indicating different Avengers 2 show times. I settled into my seat and broke out the snacks.

A word about smuggling in snacks: I paid an arm and a leg for my $15 ticket. It's not like I would buy snacks anyways if I couldn't bring my own, so I feel no guilt sneaking in a plastic baggie of sustenance. Judging by the myriad of water bottles and CVS-sized snacks I noticed populating cup-holders during the trailers, other movie-goers felt similarly.

Unlike regular people who can eat regular popcorn, I cannot. A one-two combo of having inherited deep pockets in my teeth makes eating it painful, and my stomach's irritated intestinal tract means I haven't eaten "real" popcorn in a very long time. Enter: Shark Tank and Pipcorn. Long story short, this popcorn is only half-popped. Less kernel shells, easier to digest, and a super satisfying snack. I found a bag at the Union Square Whole Foods and have already gone back once a few times to replenish my supplies. It says a bag has four servings, more like one serving four me.

Seriously guys, if you see a bag of this, you've gotta buy it and try it.

Sitting in the theater though, I had a revelation. The Sea Salt Pipcorn, mixed with the similarly-sized Van's gluten free Honey Crunch cereal, created a harmonious unity of salty and sweet that made my taste buds sing. Like, I thought chocolate and salt were a perfect match. But I honestly think this has it beat. I'll never be able to think about movie snacking the same way again.

The movie was awesome and I think we call breathe a sign of relief now that the endless press tour is over. Even if Joss Whedon was forced to quit Twitter. Are you happy, haters? C'mon guys. We're all entitled to our own opinions. Love or hate the movie, nothing will ever please everyone.

What I'm Listening To: Spring 2015

Here are the songs I'm listening to when I don't have The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt theme song stuck in my head. Music is always important to me, but as we head into summer, it's especially important to cultivate the perfect 'top-down, highway- cruising' music. Even if the reality is... walking 30 blocks to work at 8:30am when there's 95% humidity and it's 80 degrees. 

'KIDS IN LOVE' - THE MOWGLI'S

My love for them is well-documented on this site, and I feel no different about their new album. It's filled with a myriad of songs, ranging from the slow and soulful to the fast-pasted alternative-pop tunes that they're so good at creating. Seriously, go listen to the album, whether you buy it on iTunes or listen to it on Spotify, press play and go bask out in the sun for a few hours. One of my favorites is the title track that comes towards the end, Kids in Love. Where some bands get overwhelmed juggling four or five "men" (read: boy bands), The Mowgli's manage to balance not one, not two, not three or four or five band members, but seven, six male and one female.  And man, that one female, Katie, has some serious kick-ass pipes on her.

For a through -- official -- breakdown the bandmates and some insights into the songs off the album, go check out their About page on their site. 

Tracks I'm loving: Kids in Love, Whatever Forever, What's Going On

PEANUT BUTTER JELLY - GALANTIS

Don't ask me why I love this song so much. You just have to listen to it for yourself to find out (and thank Spotify for their New Music Tuesday playlist). This is the best morning wake-up song, it's a great "it's 5pm, you've got to get through one more hour of work" pep-up on, basically it is the mood enhancer of Spring. Plus, any song that names itself after the most American sandwich automatically is a (delicious) plus in my book, just try not to think of the innuendo it stands for ("spread it like peanut butter jelly, do it like I owe you some money"? C'mon, that's not exactly the Da Vinci code.)

PLAY WITH FIRE - VANCE JOY

Give me a fruity drink in a fancy glass with a paper umbrella, put me poolside and play this song all afternoon. Or, one of the three will do. The ukulele's opening strings pretty much set the tone for the song, and by the time it gets to the bridge, with the crescendoing drums and such, is very reminiscent of Sufjan Steven's prime era. Plus, you've got to love the story told in the video.

What music are you guys listening to this spring?

I listen to podcasts and you should too - try 'Children of Tendu'!

I've never been a huge podcast listener. I have the same problem with them as I do with audiobooks - I find it hard to follow the story unless the podcast format is distinctly roundtable/Q&A. Up until now, the only podcast I (not even regularly) listened to was the Nerdist Writers Panel. 

I can't listen to them while I'm futzing around on the computer like I can with music because my brain freaks out and tries to pay attention to what I'm hearing and what I'm reading on the screen and it doesn't end well. (Yes. I did listen to Serial. I would play it every Friday morning when I was working out. No, that still wasn't enough to get me into podcasts.)
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But that's all changed thanks to Children of Tendu. The podcast is the most in-depth look at television production I've ever stumbled upon. It's more than 'how to write a television script' and more than a synopsis of 'what a television writer does'. They take you through every single step in one "season" (13 90-minute episodes). I've searched the different producer roles online before and have come up with barely scrapes of information. These guys spend three freaking hours talking about every kind of producer credit in television. 

It's hard to quantify how valuable the information the two hosts, Javi Grillo-Marxuach (@OKBJGM) and Jose Molina (@josemolinatv), have freely given to their thousands of listeners. Does that make it all simply, invaluable? It probably should.

Walking around New York City though has been a fantastic time to listen to these podcast episodes. I walked 10 miles last Saturday and listened to a few hours of podcasts, and I enjoyed every moment of it. Learning what a staff writer does - but taking a step back and learning what a writer's assistant, or how to even become 'staffed' or get an agent - is straight up pure enjoyment for me.

I don't know why I resisted podcasts for so long. I love listening/reading/watching interviews with my favorite people (Grace Helbig, many of the Daily Show correspondents, television showrunners and writers). These podcasts are literally dedicated to giving me that material. An hour and a half podcast with Chris Hardwick and Grace? YES! A roundtable with writers like B.J. Novak or the Better Call Saul writers? PLEASE!

To think, while I spent all those hours meandering around Penn State's campus for three and a half years, I could have been listening to so many more podcasts.

Now, I listen to Children of Tendu - or, will until I run out of episodes, trying to pace myself with the last few - The Daily Show Podcast Without Jon Stewart, Currently (co-hosted by Hypafriend, John Thrasher!), Nerdist with Chris Hardwick and Girl on Guy with Aisha Tyler. I also have randomly added Stuff You Should Know (how does anesthesia work?), Comedy Bang Bang: The Podcast, and You Tell It! to get my education/comedy bases covered.

An important part of my podcast obsession has been the app I use. We all know the pre-installed Podcast app from Apple is not the greatest. Heck, it's not even good. So, I coughed over the $1.99 or whatever it was to buy Overcast. You can get the free version, but the paid one is so much better. I put the speed level at 1.2x, just fast enough where I feel like there's no long pauses, but I can still understand people and they don't sound like chipmunks. 

So, if you have any good podcast recommendations, please send them my way. I'm into any topic and am thinking of going educational for my next few. I tried giving Welcome to Night Vale a listen but found it to be too much.