Joel’s review of Ant-Man (2015)

Posted on July 20, 2015 by Joel

Saturday was a busy day. We atrended a funeral in the morning for someone’s father up in Rockland, NY. In the late afternoon, after the interment service at the cemetery, we grabbed some lunch at an Indian restaurant in Teaneck. After finally getting home, we rested for a few hours, then went see Ant-Man in 3D.

Ant-Man (2015) is the latest Marvel film featuring the MCU story of Ant-Man. Not the Hank Pym version precisely, as that character has had a lot of baggage since his appearance in “Tales to Astonish” back in 1962. This is about the 2nd character to play Ant-Man, Scott Lang. I thought it was interesting approach, and ultimately worked. The film actually begins with a flashback to 1989 when Hank Pym enters a S.H.I.E.L.D building and challenges Howard Stark & Peggy Carter for attempting to secretly re-engineer his P

Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) is a master burgler, as he describes it. He was caught after his last crime, and sentenced to three years in a California prison. Recently released, he’s struggling to get / retain a job, and to see his daughter Cassie. His daughter is currently in the custody of his ex-wife (Judy Greer, and a bit wasted in this role. Incidentally, she also had a minor role in Jurassic World as a mother. Another small role, and she deserves better.)

Meanwhile, the original Ant-Man Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) is an old man now, and in conflict with the man who has taken over Pym Technologies — Darren Cross (played by Corey Stoll.) Although Pym has been hiding Pym Particles (they allow atoms to change size), Darren Cross plans to figure out how to both develop and weaponize Pym Particles.

Hank and his estranged daughter Hope (Evangeline Lilly) enlist Scott Lang to help them destroy the information within the Pym computer network, and steal the weaponized Pym technology, code – named “Yellow Jacket.”

It may all sound confusing, but it’s all fairly straightforward. The film is pretty enjoyable. It’s certainly going for laughs vs grim dark drama. And while using Pym Technology for evil was important, you didn’t have that “the fate of the world hangs in the balance” that is often used. Honestly, I think we all need a break from world-ending catastrophes.

Did I like this film? Yes. It didn’t move me or anything. I will admittedly say that it didn’t impress me as much as Guardians of the Galaxy last summer, but this was pleasantly entertaining. The funny moments were good, and the supporting cast was good. Especially the ants — they were cool. And there are a number of subtle MCU callbacks, including a cameo from one particular Avenger.

It’s a comic book story, it’s funny and entertaining, and the wife and kids enjoyed it. It’s not a home run, but I’m good with a double or triple once in a while.

Ant-Man (2015)

Ant-Man (2015)

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The day the hot water heater died

Posted on July 17, 2015 by Joel

Damn you, Murphy’s Law.

In a reenactment of the mythical Noah’s Flood, our 75 gallon water heater (that I believe was installed when the house was built) died on us Friday. Nay, not just “died on us.” Imploded in a spectacular fashion, and at an inopportune time.

My wife had invited guests to come over Friday night (mothers and kids), but the husbands would not be invited. Call a “Girls Nite In”, but with kids. [Personally not my idea of a fun time if it was a “Dad’s Nite” but whatever.] The plan was that I would tidy up Thursday evening, then occupy myself Friday night after work. I asked the kids to help me tidy up the basement, since the kids were going to be sequestered down there for the evening. Before going to bed late Thursday night, I surveyed my work and said “This is good.”

Friday evening as I’m catching the train at Newark Penn, my wife calls me to report the basement carpet is wet. Extremely wet. Over a large area. We’re wondering what is leaking, and I’m immediately wondering if the burst pipe  from a few months ago was the culprit. Sadly, it was even worse – the hot water heater. This is likely (but I was not 100% sure) that this was the original hot water heater that came with the house. I’m not certain because the previous owners were there for around 15 years.

Namita wasn’t sure how to shut off the water, but neither she nor I had planned for this type of emergency. Maybe that should change. Anyway, not much to do until I could get home in over an hour. Meanwhile, guests were already over. All we could do was throw down some blankets and towels.

As soon as I arrived home, I bolted downstairs with a guide I pulled up on how to turn off the gas and shut off the water. I found a small leak pouring out near the bottom. Whenever it actually cracked, it likely emptied out the entire 75 gallons and kept refilling and emptying. What a mess. I threw more towels down (purchased during our last big leak), and ran off to get ready to meet Doug for Jurassic World.

Before or during the movie, my friend Jason offered via text message to lend me his wet / dry vac to soak up the water. Great idea, as throwing down an infinite number of towels wasn’t going to cut it this time. I picked up the wet / dry vac after the movie around 2 am, snuck into the house quietly, then spent the next two hours sucking up as much I could. I quit around 4 am out of exhaustion.

Early Saturday morning, I was out and about driving to and from our closest Lowes and Home Depot stores. The last time I had to replace an ancient hot water heater (years ago at the townhouse), finding one to fit the tight utility room was the major concern, not capacity. This time around, it turns out most retailers don’t carry large 75 gallon heaters. They aren’t common?

What I learned is that most people do have ones with 40 – 50 gallon capacity. The people who do have the large capacity heaters (75 or more) is when you have those large whirlpool tubs in your master bathroom, like we do. Those tubs can easily fill 55 gallons all by themselves.

After making many phone calls, we had two options:

1. Purchase a 50 gallon model from Lowes, and potentially have it installed later that afternoon.
2. Order a 75 gallon model, and wait a few weeks for delivery and installation.

I contacted Jason for advice (per my wife’s nudging), and they had 5 people using a 50 gallon model with no issues. We rarely use that whirlpool tub anyway, so screw it. We needed immediate resolution. We never use that tub much anyway.

Later that afternoon, we had a plumber installing the new hot water heater, and I was nearby working the shop vac. I had also pulled up the carpet in two places, and had two under carpet blowers (rented from Home Depot for $25/day) drying out the carpet.

This arrangement stayed for the next few days. The carpet and padding was soaked, and even the wet / dry vac was effective but slow going and back-breaking. To effectively pull water out of both carpet and padding, you have to push the attachment down for 10 seconds, then move it down two inches, and repeat. Slow. Going. And your back will hurt after awhile, I promise you.

I returned the 1st blower around Wed morning, but needed to keep the 2nd blower going until late Thursday night. I returned it that night just before they closed. The carpet is 99% dry, I think, but now I have all this carpet pulled up. While I was Home Depot, I picked up this rubber / plastic carpet tool to help me push the carpet back into the corners. I wouldn’t have minded one of those cool knee kicker devices, but they run for $80. I’ll try this one first. I still have to return the vacuum. The basement still smelled like wet dog or carpet, but I sprinkled Arm & Hammer carpet deodorizer all around. I didn’t vacuum yet, but it has helped immensely.

What a weekend and week. Water is terrible sometimes, because it gets into everything and spreads so quickly.

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Joel’s review of Jurassic World (2015)

Posted on July 13, 2015 by Joel

On Friday night, I drove up to Clifton, NJ to meet up with my friend Doug and to see Jurassic World (2015).  We had planned to see the 9 PM 3D showing at the AMC Clifton Commons, but the Ipes had an unplanned major leak in our hot water heater. As soon as I got home from work, I had to stop the leak, do some temporary clean up, change my clothes, and head up to Clifton.  I ultimately would not make it in time, but I was able to call ahead and leave a message that I couldn’t make it. We got to the theater, spoke to Customer Service, and they gave us tickets to the 10:35 non-3D show instead. Hey, fine by me. With some time now to relax, we went to a nearby Smashburger for a late dinner before the show.

Directed by Colin Trevorrow (best known for directing Safety Not Guaranteed), the film seems to be a direct sequel to the original Jurassic Park film, even though it’s actually the fourth film in the series. I only say that because they don’t mention anything about the events from the 2nd or 3rd film. Set 22 years after the events of the 1st film, Jurassic Park has been in operation on Isla Nublar for at least 10 years, but now known as “Jurassic World.” It’s a full-fledged theme park, with thousands of visitors at the park every day, resort hotels and all, much like a Walt Disney World real world analogue. There are rides, attractions, shows, and even a petting zoo of sorts where kiddies can ride baby triceratops.

The film stars Bryce Dallas Howard as the park administrator, Chris Pratt as a dinosaur wrangler who is doing a lot of work training velociraptors, and Vincent D’Onofrio as a sleazy InGen guy with some vague ulterior motive about training velociraptors for military use. Oh, and believe it or not, B.D. Wong is back as the original Dr. Henry Wu, the original geneticist from the 1st film. The plot of film is that while the theme park has been in operating for 10 years, attendance is dropping due to park visitors getting bored with seeing dinosaurs. The park management is running out of newly reconstituted dinosaurs, and is now inventing new dinosaurs, or you know, abominations. The newest is Indominus Rex, which is a combination of a few different dinosaur species that you know should never have been combined.

Indominus Rex gets away and starts wrecking uncontrolled havoc within the park, endangering park visitors, not to mention the other dinosaurs. The Bryce Dallas Howard and Chris Pratt characters go after the Indominus, and to rescue the two lost nephews of the Bryce’s character. There are a number of interesting callbacks to the original film, but the film is one big “ACTION!” film. It’s not the smartest film, and there is some cheese to the storyline. However, if you keep your expectations low, and think about how much you like to see dinosaurs in action.

Oh, and eat a lot of popcorn, and make jokes to laugh with your friend. Then you’ll be fine.

Jurassic World (2015)

Jurassic World (2015)

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Joel’s review of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014)

Posted on July 8, 2015 by Joel
Caesar

Caesar

To be honest, I had never watched any of the original 70’s / early 80’s Planet of the Apes films. Of all the stuff I watched growing up, the Planet of the Apes series wasn’t one. Go figure. In 2001, I did watch the Tim Burton Planet of the Apes remake with Mark Wahlberg and Estella Warren, but that was fairly bad.

A few years ago, I watched the 2011 film Rise of the Planet of the Apes directed by Rupert Wyatt. Starring James Franco, Andy Serkis, Freida Pinto, and John Lithgow (among others), that was pretty amazing. The apes were the stars of the show, with heartfelt performances, and a intriguing story.

The sequel, Dawn of The Planet of the Apes, came out in 2014, but I only watched it recently. Directed by Matt Reeves, the story follows up on Caesar and his liberated apes 10 years later in 2026 in what was formerly the San Francisco area of the United States. Caesar has forged a healthy community of maybe 100 apes still living in the Muir Woods. They’ve built a home, go hunting, and are seemingly thriving. They haven’t seen humans in a decade. As the film’s intro tells us, the Simian Virus spread across the globe, decimating the human population. We do find humans living holed up in a partially constructed residential tower in San Francisco. Eventually both sides meet, and are shocked to find each other. Specifically:

  1. Humans still exist.
  2. Apes can speak.

The tension builds among both sides because of mistrust and fear, and also desperation among the humans. The human camp will run out of gasoline in two weeks, and are desperate to repair and restart a hydroelectric dam in ape territory. At the same time, Koba (a Bonobo chimp from the first film, scarred from repeated human experimentation) doesn’t trust the humans. In fact, Koba believes the only good human is a dead one.

It’s a clash within the humans, within the apes, and between both groups. At the same time, there are individuals within both camps trying to work together for peace. With all that going on, to watch the emotions and drama among the apes….. just wow.

Excellent film. I couldn’t say that enough.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014)

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014)

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The July 4th 2015 Road Trip to Michigan Extravaganza

Posted on July 7, 2015 by Joel
The Ipes excited for our latest road trip to Michigan.

The Ipes excited for our latest road trip to Michigan.

We recently finished a nearly 1500 mile road trip to Michigan. Yah, haven’t done that since January 2014 MLK weekend. This time, we planned out the trip in more detail, and friends Doug & Kathy would also fly out to be there that weekend.

The big issue for us was how to get there and back logistically. Oh, we knew we had to drive — too expensive to fly four people round trip. The question was Josh had Cub Scout Camp that week, Lily had camp activities, July 4th was happening that Saturday, and we had to get back to work on Monday. It’s pretty much an all day 670-mile drive one way, so how do you make it work without killing ourselves in the process?

In the end, we decided to drive out Thursday night after work and all camp activities. We had paid through Fri 7/3 for Josh’s Cub Scout camp, but oh well. No way we could drive out at 3 pm Fri, arrive early Saturday, and leave Sunday morning again. No way. The plan was:

  1. We would pack Wed night.
  2. As soon as camp was over Thursday, we would drive the fully packed car to pick him up, and get on the road.
  3. Stay overnight at the Holiday Inn in Donegal, Pennsylvania.
  4. Arrive in Michigan Friday around lunch.
  5. Hang out and watch fireworks Saturday.
  6. Leave Sunday.

Yeah, that didn’t happen exactly to plan, but that’s okay. You gotta roll with it, sometimes.

Thursday

We never got to finish packing Wednesday night. As soon as I got home, we continued to pack. I picked up Josh from camp and came back. We loaded up the car. We had to stop by Pearle to pick up Josh’s new eyeglasses since apparently they were ready. Nums took the car for a last-minute oil change, but why was the oil maintenance light still on after the oil change?

We got on the road officially by 6:30 pm. A far cry from 4 pm, but that’s life sometimes. We just had to make it up on the road. I had mapped out a route to a Holiday Inn in Donegal PA (4.5 hours and midpoint) but who knew if we could make it there that evening? As of that morning, they still had room, so we had to try. We didn’t hit traffic at all, and I made some seriously good time along the 300+ mile journey. We stopped for a quick bite at a service area.

Unfortunately, the hotel no longer had room by 11 pm. I kept driving, and Namita kept searching for hotels. Eventually we found another Holiday Inn hotel in Monroeville PA just outside of Pittsburgh with two queen beds and free breakfast. We arrive just after midnight, checked in, unpacked just enough to fall asleep on the beds.

Friday

Friday morning, we had breakfast in the hotel, freshened up, repacked the luggage, loaded up the car, got some gas, and picked up some cold medication for me. Did I mention I was hacking up a lung? Never a full moment. It was a bright beautiful day, 10 am, and we were soon past Pittsburgh, and eventually entering Ohio. We stopped for lunch on the way, and finally arrived in Michigan and Paul & Biji’s house around 3 pm. A little later than planned, but good to be there.

Playing freeze tag with the kids on a beautiful Friday afternoon.

Playing freeze tag with the kids on a beautiful Friday afternoon.

We all spent Friday lounging around there house eating, drinking, and lighting fireworks on the street. I haven’t seen people do that since living in my old home town of Congers. Afterwards, we drove over to our friend Sean’s house, as his family would be hosting us for the weekend.

Saturday

Pool time with Josh, Lily, and Daniel.

Pool time with Josh, Lily, and Daniel.

On Saturday morning, we were up and ready for the day. Sean’s mother made us a traditional South Indian breakfast of appam and chicken curry (delicious), and eventually on our way to Paul & Biji’s house once again. We had lunch from Jimmy John’s, then got ready for the pool. I ended up hanging out with the three kids (Josh, Lily, Daniel), and we just played a lot in the water. Paul’s sister Paula nd her husband and kids were in the pool for a bit, but they were doing their own thing.

Afterwards, we went back to the Jacob’s house to shower and freshen up, then we went to see the fireworks at their church. Quite a show, I must say. We plunked ourselves on the lawn, and watched their fireworks show from a very close range.

After the fireworks show, we all grabbed a late dinner at a local Chili’s before they closed. We said our farewells and then drove to Sean’s house one last time.

Sunday

Lunch at Kings Family Restaurant in Pennsylvania

Lunch at Kings Family Restaurant in Pennsylvania

We were up early Sunday morning, dressed, packed, and ready to go. We hit the road around 8:15 AM, had breakfast at a local Panera, watched a deer walk around the neighborhood, and finally got on the way home around 9 AM. The drive home went mostly smooth, with some accident-related traffic along the way in Pennsylvania. Nums and I took turns driving every few hours, and we stopped every 2-3 hours for stretch and snack breaks. In contrast to the drive on Thursday & Friday, there were many speed traps set up all along the Ohio Turnpike. Luckily, we didn’t get busted once. A bit past lunch time, we made a pit stop just outside Pittsburgh again to grab a quick bite at a family restaurant. We eventually got home around 7 PM, safe and sound.

While the kids had a simple dinner, Nums and I went to get some chicken biryani to celebrate being home after a long day of driving.

So, was it worth it? Yes, I think so. It’s important to see your friends, to be there for the laughs and the in-person talks, even if you have to drive a long way to get there. I wish we could have spent more time, but everyone flights to catch, work on Monday, and driving to do the next day.

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Joel’s review of Inside Out (2015)

Posted on June 28, 2015 by Joel

We watched Inside Out (2015) recently, and it was damn interesting. Damn interesting, I say. We didn’t have time to see it opening week, but caught it the week after on a Friday night.

The film stars Amy Poehler, Phyllis Smith, Lewis Black, Mindy Kaling, and Bill Hader as Joy, Fear, Anger, Disgust, and Fear, respectively. These are the emotions in all of our heads supposedly in control at various moments in our life. Yes, your main characters are anthropomorphic emotions.

We start at the birth of Riley, a girl from Minnesota. The film introduces us to this little world in our heads as she grows up in Minnesota, but the plot takes off as she and her family move to San Francisco. Riley is older, and living in a new city, away from her friends, and in a new school. At some point, Joy (Poehler) and Fear (Smith) are lost, and the remaining emotions are in charge.

I’ll assume you’ve seen the trailers, know the plot, etc. We all really liked the movie. Extremely age appropriate and entertaining for the kids, though Josh thought the film was “too sad.” What I liked about the film were the multiples of jokes for the adults thrown in. My favorite running gag was Anger regularly reading newspapers with headlines about what’s happening with Riley, such as “First Day of School” and “No Dessert.”

Most of the film’s drama comes from this push-pull battle where Fear wants or needs to be involved, but Joy is attempting to always keep Riley happy.

What I also appreciated was there was no overt villain to battle in the climax. It was a good story about these emotions working together, specifically Joy and Fear.

Very entertaining story that doesn’t drag, and it looks great on the screen.

image

Inside Out (2015)

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Dinner and dancing in West New York

Posted on June 22, 2015 by Joel

Saturday evening after we got home from Justin & Alicia’s wedding, we quickly changed clothes for our subsequent dinner plans. We also needed to get the kids packed and ready for a sleepover at the grandparents’ place.

Somehow, even though we were running late, we picked up friends Nicole & Brian 10 mins later than planned. I burned rubber up the NJ Turnpike on the way to West New York. A group of us at dinner plans at Rumba Cubana, a Cuban restaurant on Kennedy Blvd. They have two spots, but this one had the nicer view of the skyline.

It’s been quite a few years since I’ve been up this way. It still suffers fro. illegal immigration, crime, etc, but I saw a lot of recent multi-tenant housing construction, and it was all targeted at the luxury market.

Anyways, what with all the rubber tire burning, we arrive right behind the 2nd group of folks carpooling. I parked the car with the restaurant valet, we all got seated.

To summarize dinner, the sangria was endless, the laughs were great, and the food was tasty.

Back in the cars, and we were on our way to Son Cubano down near the water for drinks and dancing.

You know it’s a good night when you shut down both the restaurant where you had dinner, and the place you went dancing afterwards. Also, we found Danielle Staub, a one-time cast member Real Housewives of NJ. Go figure.

I was DD for the night, so around 2 am we finally got the cars from the Son Cubana valet, and drove everybody home in the pouring rain. 3:15 am, and we were home.

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Pictures from Justin & Alicia’s wedding

Posted on June 22, 2015 by Joel

Last Saturday, we drove out to Long Island to attend Justin & Alicia’s wedding. We knew Justin from my days where we all attended the same Church of South India congregation out in Westchester. I haven’t been to that church in over a decade, but we’ve seen the members from time to time at various events. We also see them via social media.

The wedding started at 9 am, but there was no reasonable way for us to be up and out the door by 7 am, in order to make it to the wedding. We decided to skip the wedding, and attempt to make it to the reception on time instead. The rest of my family, all coming from Central / South Jersey, decided on the same plan. Unfortunately, Manhattan and Long Island traffic on a Saturday had other plans. We all got stuck in traffic trying to get through Midtown, getting through the Queens Midtown Tunnel, and then battled the congested Long Island Expressway for three hours. Let me repeat: three hours. By the time we ourselves got there, it was way past appetizers and cocktails, and they were just taking the lunch selections. At least we made it to that.

It was nice to see a lot of familiar faces, and to briefly catch up. While my parents were seated at a separate table, my sister’s family, our family, and other friends, were all seated at our table. So we had some good company. We stayed for as long as we could, but then had to get on the road, in order to get home for the next set of activities planned for that night with friends.

Of course, we got caught in traffic on a completely different route on the way to the George Washington Bridge, and saw a pretty scary section of the Bronx, but we made it home in one piece.

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We have some new Green Belts

Posted on June 20, 2015 by Joel

Last Friday, the kids went in, tested, and earned their Green Belts. Not much to say really, but they’re really proud of themselves.  Now that they’ve become Green Belts, they want to start taking weapons classes. Nothing good can come of this, I say.

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Josh and I visit the Turtle Back Zoo

Posted on June 13, 2015 by Joel
Cutting the birthday cake

Cutting the birthday cake

Josh and I recently went to meet up with some friends at the Turtle Back Zoo in West Orange, NJ. We were meeting up with some friends for a nice day in the sun, to see some animals, and to celebrate some recent birthdays. The zoo was fairly easy to find, and I was happy that parking was not only close by, but also free that day. Small victories.

We were the first ones there, and everyone else was running very late. Josh and I took our time to walk around the zoo, seeing all the animals, and taking photos. It’s not a very large zoo, and we got through maybe 40% when some of our friends started to arrive. We cut the walk short, and headed over to one of the picnic areas. After a lengthy lunch, cake cutting, and a short water fight, Josh and I were running out of time before we had to leave for our next stop on the day’s itinerary (Cub Scout closing ceremony at 3pm.) So, we said our adieus, and made our way to see the Big Cat Country area.

Twenty mins later, we were done, and heading to the car. Good zoo, and we’ll have to go back some time to see the other half of it.

Note: Josh is slowly learning about photography. He took 25% of these photos. I thought he did well.

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