Even more ice cream enthusiasm

Awesome ice cream lady

Ms. Pac-man

I get behind Ms. Pac-man.

Ms. Pac-man important facts (a nerdy public service message):

• It’s very important that you understand that Pac-man and Ms. Pac-man are COMPLETELY different games. It is not simply that she has a bow in her hair. Pac-man actually gets boring very quickly because it is the same level repeated over and over. Ms. Pac-man is a much more fun game whererin the levels change and you have to chase down all the fruit.

• The game is at a level of greatness that each ghost has a distinct personality, a stupid name and is programmed to react differently.* You should be most careful around Pinky (the pink ghost) and Inky (blue ghosts). You can be less careful around the Sue (orange) which is the stupidest which will probably run away from you.
  

• There are loads of places have a real Ms. Pac-man machine for you to play. An incredibly incomplete list includes: some Urban Outfitters stores, JFK airport** and of course Barcade in Williamsburg. But the reality is there is only one Ms. Pac-man machine you need to know about in all of New York City. There is an amazing Pac-man machine at the Golden Dove Diner on Staten Island.** The machine has 5 different kinds of Pac-man and the option of playing each version in fast and regular modes. Also: the Golden Dove has excellent challah french toast.

• If you can’t get out to Staten Island***you can of course play a semi-decent version here:



Click to Play!

*Stupid but true.

***Don’t bother playing at JFK as it costs $1 per game. Never play Ms. Pac-man for more than 25 cents unless you are really, really bored.

** Take the X1 bus from Manhattan or the S79 from Bayridge.

Astoria food enthusiasm

I moved to Astoria from good old Staten Island in February. I get behind Astoria, but more to the point of the blog, I get behind food in Astoria. Believe it or not, Astoria is not just about Baskin Robbins. I present to you be a (far from extensive list) of Astoria food I think is awesome.

Before we get to that, I’d like to try an experiment. Last night I was speaking to my friend Jordana who told me that use of the word “awesome” tells people what generation you are from. Apparently kids these days are using words like “popping” to express enthusiasm. It has something to do with lip gloss. So for this installment I will retire the dated word “awesome” and describe things as “popping.” I will try to do this as often as possible . It’s sort of the secret word. And what do you do when you hear the secret word boys and girls?

Astoria popping food:

1) thai restaurants

In Astoria we are ankle deep in poppin’ Thai restaurants. New ones pop up every day. I am literally swimming in pad thai and I could not be happier. Yajai is Ms. Myagi’s favorite and I like Thai pavillion. It makes sense that there would be so many Thai restaurants coexisting with so many Greek restaurants because of how close Greece and Thailand are geographically.**

2) JJ’s Sushi

I should stop writing this blog and go there right now. Just the letter’s “J’ and “J” cause me to have a Pavlovian response where I want to stop what I’m doing and eat lots and lots of sushi. They have this amazing…er….poppin’ sushi and literally everything on the menu is great. They have these amazing*** edamame dumplings as well. You should probably stop reading this and go.

3) the taco truck

The taco truck on 30th avenue and 33rd street is magical. They use actual mexican cheese and the rice and beans are delicious. The guacomole is not real, but they squeeze it out of a tube and for some reason I think that’s poppin. Supposedly the truck also delivers, but we’ve never tried this.

4) feta cheese

So you are probably going to ask me, Oh where oh where can you get yourself some feta cheese in Astoria? How about EVERYWHERE? There are so many wonderful Greek markets that I cannot even begin to name them all. Did you know that Bulgaria has a different kind of feta than Greece or France? Personally I think the French feta cheese is poppin.

5) Michael’s Restaurant

It’s a poppin diner. Everything is awesome, even non-diner foods.

** Clearly this is not true.

*****There are other words that kids today are saying but I am so unhip that I don’t know. Please leave comments with your favorite words.

Butterflies and dinosaurs

I get behind the Museum of Natural History. Stevey and I went there a few weeks ago and saw this amazing butterfly conservatory. Different species of butterflies were flying around and landing on backpacks, ears and other appendages. The exhibit is only running until May 26th so you need to go as soon as possible.

We saw other exhibits as well, but I would be lying to you if I told you I go to the museum for any other reason than to see the dinosaurs.

Before I get to discussing dinosaurs, please note: when you go to the museum of natural history its important that you realize that the admission price is a suggested donation. That’s not to say that I’m not for supporting the museum. The point is that anyone, regardless of income level can see a ginormous museum, and more importantly, two huge rooms full of dinosaur fossils. Dinosaurs are for everyone.**

There’s something awesome about dinosaurs that is almost beyond words. You’ll definitely feel that way as you walk around the two exhibit rooms. It will be important to go with a friend so you have someone to discuss what your favorite dinosaur is and why. For me its between a T-rex and the awesome stegosaurus. The fossil of the stegosaurus will make a convert out of you.***

If you can’t find anyone to go with you, and you’re desperate to have a dino-conversation pick someone at random in the museum to talk to. Note: avoid being creepy. You can also share random awesome dinosaur facts; for example scientist are pretty sure that velociraptors had feathers; or a megalodon could probably eat a T-rex. Note: random awesome dinosaur facts do not have to be limited to those learned at the museum.

As you make your way out of the exhibit, try to see some of the rest of the museum. This will invariably happen accidentally on your way to the dinosaurs and back toward the exit. The museum is huge so give yourself some time to get lost. Hopefully you’ll end up in the ocean exhibit to see the giant squid. You’re also guaranteed to see many large dioramas. Enjoy!

Recommended additional dino-activities:

• Go see the huge, animatronic t-rex at the times square toys r us, which is much more awesome than the links suggests.

• Re-Watch Jurassic Park’s 1 and 3. I know you love Jurassic park which was of course one of your favorite movies when you were little. Jurassic park 3 is amazingly bad and cheesy. (Or better yet read the books which are WAY better.)
• Or spend two minutes watching this:
**butterflies are only for people willing to pay $18.50

*** Leave comments about your favorite dinosaur!!!

More ice cream enthusiasm.

After all Stevey’s hype about B&R clearly its time for a short recap of 31 cent scoop day.

Stevey and I were a bit late getting there. The event (yes it was an event) ran from 5-10 and we arrived at the Steinway B&R at about 9:30pm.   The line was so long that the store had actually closed its doors and no one else was allowed in. Not even Stevey and Robin who talk to the owner reguarly (his name is Fred). This unfortunately forced us to the dreaded B&R/dunkin donuts down the street where things were just as insane. It was an ice cream mad house! It took Stevey several tries to put his order in because the noise level of all the people. It was like that scene in Willy Wonka when everyone buys all the chocolate to get 5 golden ticket. Except sort of a 31 cent ticket, wrapped in a cone… (I know I’m going too far there. Sorry.)

There was one other thing this event was filled with: enthusiasts! 31 cent ice cream causes people to love ice cream harder than they have ever loved it before.

Our freezer now contains reeses,* pistachio almond, cookies and cream, rock and pop, and york peppermint patty. For the uninformed rock and pop is a sherbet that is neon green, florescent purple and contains “popping candy.”**

Sadly there was no german chocolate cake for Stevey.

*we didn’t mean to get reese’s, but were victim’s of a clever ruse involving a Health bar crunch mix up. Still delicious.

**and possibly uranium.

Cheese from around the world

Last January Stevey and I had a life changing experience in Amsterdam when we went to a street fair and ate some cheese.
We both thought we had eaten cheese before.
We both thought we had eaten goudas before.
We were wrong.

When you go to Amsterdam* you MUST eat cheese. There are no two ways around this. In between coffee shop trips, bicycle rides and the endless eating you will inevitably do, cheese should be an activity. Don’t worry; the Dutch are friendly people** and they give you ample opportunities to eat cheese. There are street fairs, farmer’s markets, cheese tours, cheese shops, etc (getting behind amsterdam is another blog. If you haven’t been, you must go). The cheese that you will eat in Amsterdam is like none you have ever tasted before.***

Anyway when I came back from Europe I missed cheese so much. Your average Tesco has a wall of delicious cheese and very little of it is the processed crap we have. More specifically Stevey and I became obsessed with Goudas and enthusiastic about trying different cheeses. This led us to Zabars (LOVE Zabars, easily another blog) and discovering our new favorite place: Murray’s cheese shop.

Why is Murray’s awesome? They were patient with me and Steve as we asked all of our cheese related questions. They also would have let us try all the cheeses if we hadn’t become full. We left with several goudas including one from Vermont which was almost as good as what we had in Amsterdam. They also have a tour of their big cheese cold room in the back with samples provided. We haven’t actually gone on that yet, but that is in the works. Also: The tour is only $10. Murrays is also right next door to more awesomeness including Aphrodisia, and Cones (see upcoming blog about ice cream).

We leave you with your new favorite song about cheese:

*Well for that matter anywhere you go in Europe. You should just go to Europe.

**Tell them you’re Canadian or from New York if applicable.

***(unless you are from anywhere in Western Europe. A few weeks ago at Risotteria, Stevey and I were laughed at by a very nice couple from Brussels when we suggested they go get cheese in NY.)

General enthusiasm

Perhaps a good place to start would be to explain about being a general enthusiast. I was one for a while and didn’t realize. Maybe you are too.

Firstly, if the above sentence made you think, “wow I’m excited to think I could be a general enthusiast!” that’s your first clue.

Other clues:

• Use of exclamation points to describe things combined with abundant use of the word “excited.” (examples: I’m excited to drink this orange juice!!!” and “I”m excited to live with Hope!!!”)

• You find yourself really “getting behind things” and wanting to tell people about them.

Being a general enthusiast does not make you a pollyanna. In fact, you most certainly can be a general enthusiast and also be cynical. It also does not mean that you are enthusiastic about EVERYTHING. It just means you’re incredibly excited about some very specific things.