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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Image via

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.

On My Bookshelf: Movie Adaptation Edition

I took a bit of a blogging break recently. I was busy, with traveling and settling back into my fall routine, but I am back with a new edition of On My Bookshelf!

These books are all adult novels, with the exception of Showrunners, that’s flat-out non-fiction, and all have movie adaptations coming out in the next few months. 

This is Where I Leave You - Jonathan Tropper

I have rule: I must read the book before I see the movie. Most of the time, this is not a problem, as I read a book, Divergent, The Hunger Games and am left to wait for the on-screen adaptation for months - or years. No show with TiWILY. The book came out a few years ago, but it’s getting a second life as the movie comes out September 16, and is generating a healthy amount of buzz.

The trailer does a fairly apt job at summarizing the book, so I won’t get into that too much, but what I found really interesting about Tropper’s writing is his ability to remove Judd from the present and send him back to certain moments - the day he caught his wife cheating, for instance - and anecdotally fill in the blanks for the readers.

The end isn’t wholly satisfying for someone who likes books to be presented to her with bow-tied perfection, but life isn’t perfect. It’s really messy. Families come together and the separate and then come back to the same table, with years of baggage on their shoulders. But they’re still there for you.

Goodreads | Amazon | B&N

Gone Girl - Gillian Flynn

I still don’t quite know what to make of this book. I do know I am moving through it slowly. Maybe it hasn’t picked up yet, but while I am enthralled and want to read it, I find it hard to fly through the pages. Everyone seems to have read this book and are eagerly anticipating the movie version with Ben Affleck (sold) and Rosamund Pike, out in October.

Nick is such a complex character, I do love being in his head. Right now I’m about 100 pages into the story, and I think it’s Amy’s journal entries - the chapters switch from Nick’s omni-present third person and Amy’s first-person POV - that are slowing me down. My fingers are itching to flip to the back to the book and read what happened to her, but something in the back of my head is forbidding me to cheat ahead. It’s for the best.

Goodreads | Amazon | B&N

Showrunners: The Art of Running a TV Show - Tara Bennett

Do I need to explain why I’m super insanely excited to read this? If you know me, probably not. But I haven’t talked that much about television on this platform, so allow me to enlighten you. I am so. excited. to dive into this book. It’s a companion novel to the documentary by the same name that will be premiering this October. It's everything I could have ever wanted from a book - after reading greats such as <em>The Revolution was Televised</em> and other long-from "oral histories" about my favorite shows. 

Containing interviews from the best in the biz - Joss Whedon, Damon Lindelof, Mike Royce and Robert and Michelle King among them - my greedy wannabe television-writing/producing/showrunning fingers are grabbing for this book (figuratively - I already have it, I just don't have the time dedicate to it today. But tomorrow? It's just Showrunners and me.) I’ll be reading it over the weekend and doing a write up of it over at Hypable, but it will be more leisure reading for me than work. That’s for sure.

Goodreads | Amazon | B&N

Hopefully, I'll post again in the next month and a half... but with all of these books I'm reading, I make no promises.

Book Recommendation Sunday: 'Isla and the Happily Ever After'

A few years ago, back when ebooks were still an experimental medium that didn't really hold a candle to real books, I bought Anna and the French Kiss on my Nook. It was late at night - long past closing hour for a brick-and-mortar store - and immediately got to reading. The next day, I finished the book and knew it was one of my all-time favorite stories. 

Before Anna, I wasn't crazy about Paris. I had been an Anglophile since I was 15, but France just didn't strike my fancy as much. Therefore, it's not an understatement to say that my entire view of the city (and country) changed after reading the book. Stephanie Perkins was able to show me a side of Paris that I hadn't seen before, didn't know existed and now would die to experience.

Her second book in the 'series' (stand-alone companion novels, really) Lola and the Boy Next Door was pleasant and enjoyable, but just didn't hit me as a hard as Anna's tale had. But last week, finally, after months and years of waiting - which I was happy to do because Perkins was so open with her readers about her struggles with depression and subsequently, writing - Isla and the Happily Ever After debuted.

In keeping with Anna and Lola, I had downloaded it to my Nook - which I now read mostly on my iPhone and iPad - and absolutely tore through the 258 pages in a day.

There is a reason Isla and the Happily Ever After it is currently touting a 4.43 rating on Goodreads. Let me tell you how much I love this book: roll up my love for New York City, Paris, and happily ever afters and you have my opinion about Isla. 

People were saying it is structured differently than Perkin's other books, but it is still the same theme. It's about Isla and Josh figuring out what they mean to each other. Whether they're in a relationship or not while that happens is irrelevant. It's still about friendships that change over the years, and how the choices we make define us. As seniors at SOAP, they're trying to balance living in the moment and planning for the future. 

As with her other novels, the book spans roughly a year, so it does move at a fast pace. But the characters develop and evolve as they should, and we understand how their motives change over the months.

I flew through the final few pages of Isla and the Happily Ever After because it was exactly what I could have ever hoped for for these characters. It was like adrenaline was rushing through me and I had to find out what happens next, turning page after page after page.

The only sad thing about finishing Isla is knowing I won't be able to see these characters in the context of another book. Alas, they're happy where they are, and that's good enough for me.

Buy: B&N | Amazon | Books a Million

Pure Barre: Deceivingly easy, incredibly fun

I like fitness classes. They're fun, keep me entertained, and much better than trudging on the treadmill after thirty minutes, trying not to think about how much I hate running. 

A few months ago I tried kickboxing, which left me exhausted and sore days later. Last summer, I signed my soul over to the devil and took up weekly Saturday morning SoulCycle classes. Both were so much fun for me, and now I'm always eager to try the next best thing (like trampolines!) 

Enter: Pure Barre. The ballet-infused fitness class doesn't focus on cardio and how much you sweat, but rather, micro-movements that engage your entire body and really work to strengthen muscles all over. One of their mantras is 'Lift. Tone. Burn.' for a reason, people! 

Image credit: Pure Barre

I was so happy to see they opened a location in Annapolis, MD - a town that hasn't exactly jumped on the fitness class trends of SoulCycle or FlyWheel - and absolutely loved the studio. The instructor was wonderful with us newbies - about four out of the eight of us in the Friday morning class. I never felt intimated for not knowing exactly how it all worked, and the atmosphere was oddly relaxing, as we were shaking, trying to hold certain poses. 

I had thought I'd get through the class relatively unscathed. I can do a 2-minute plank, have fairly impeccable balance, and consider myself in shape (I've been working out four-six days a week for a year now.) Uh, yeah. Didn't really work like that. A 90-second plank is a lot harder to do when you're constantly correcting your form in the mirror. You have to use your own weight against you, 'tucking' your abs tight and hips under your waist.

Just hanging out or working their abs to the max?

While the class did feel good, there were moments where my legs experienced a new kind of pain. At one point, as we were standing on our tippy-toes, grasping the ballet barre, leaning away from it at at 45 degree angle, I honestly thought my thighs were going to burst into flames. The class is 55 minutes, split between a variety of arms, abs, legs and full-body toning. They use weights, exercise bands, small bouncy balls and yoga mats. And, of course, the ballet barre. 

The moves themselves are nothing new, but as I was holding three pound weights and pulsing them above my head, my shoulders and biceps burning, I just begin to feel better. Like I knew that the pain would be worth it (and I had paid for the lesson, so why not get something substantial out of it.)

I'm home for one more week and I think I'll just got ahead and purchase the 5-class series (saving a whopping ten dollars than if I bought them individually.) Just as SoulCycle promotes finding your inner soul, Pure Barre encourages you to "embrace the shake." 

I'm not exactly feeling the same kind of post-workout exhaustion than if I had run four miles, I think tomorrow I'll wake up and need to immediately begin stretching.

On My Spotify: 'Magazines or Novels,' Jon Batiste and Stay Human, "Bang Bang"

Oh August, you are a gift to the music world. So much good music has been released so far this month, and it's only August 8th. As we head into the final days of summer, there's no reason to let your 'Summer 2014' playlist grow stagnant, riddled with cobwebs. No no, dear reader. Instead, as these tracks to your playlist and you'll keep rocking all the way into fall. 

1) Magazines or Novels - Andy Grammar

Andy Grammar is one of my favorite musicians. He’s right up there with Eric Hutchinson and Jason Mraz in terms of quality, listenability and likability on social media (seriously, the guy’s great.) After memorizing every amazing song off his self-titled album, Andy Grammar, I have eagerly awaited the release of Magazines or Novels. Unsurprisingly, it is such a knock-out of an album. It opens with my favorite track, “Honey I’m Good” with such catchy vocals and melodies. Even slower tracks like “Remind You” are so interestingly composed, using a hint of synthesizer in the chorus, unexpectedly.

Andy Grammer said the album is named thusly to look at the juxtaposition between 'light' reading (magazines) and something more substantial (novels) and I think his album is a delightful mix of both. Honestly I love every song, but there are also those that are very carefully crafted, one's that may have taken more time, and some that may have come easier to him. Sometimes, you need to put down the novel to pick up a magazine.

This is an album I’ll need to have with me at all times for many years to come. The music is transcendental - you can listen to it anywhere and draw different emotions from each song every time - and as I’ve said, I cannot get enough of this man’s vocals.

Listen: Honey I’m Good., Holding Out, Blame it on the Stars

2) “Express Yourself (Say Yes)" - Jon Batiste and Stay Human 

Thank you, Stephen Colbert. Thank you for having these musicians on your show. Thank you for letting them do something out of the ordinary with their performance. Thank you for introducing me to Jon Batiste and Stay Human and their album, Social Music. 

“Express Yourself (Say Yes)” is such an intriguing song to listen to. It’s jazz, but it’s also R&B, it’s not pop but thinking about it now, it’s almost reminiscent of Pharrell’s “Happy" - but, better. Also, I love the intro to this song - people in different languages saying ‘express yourself.’ I like how you don’t really pick up on it until the fourth or fifth listening. Seriously - a lightbulb went off in my head, “oh, that’s what they’re saying!” 

If you do get a chance to listen to Social Music (find the time, people!) be sure to listen to "Express Yourself Outro," as well. It serves as a nice cherry on top of the "Express Yourself" sundae.

To get the full effect of this song, check out their performance on The Colbert Report. It is five minutes very well-spent.

Listen: Express Yourself (Say Yes)

3) “Bang Bang” - Jessie J, Ariana Grande, Nicki Minaj

It’s being hailed as the new “Lady Marmalade” but “Bang Bang” has the potential to be greater. It’s a good song, any way you cut it. It probably won’t win a Grammy, but mixing these three women’s voices together is something special. Breaking it down one by one, the all bring something to the table that, without, would leave the song lacking a spark.

They may preform in different genres (‘genres’ being used very loosely, as you could argue all of them fall under Top 40/pop/hip-hop) but they all have such powerful voices. When they sing, you listen. Ariana Grande is the next Mariah Carey. Nicki Minaj is breaking glass ceilings in the rap world left and right. Jessie J sings complex and layered songs, not just mind-numbing stuff.

Listen: Bang Bang 

September has a lot to live up to.