The Written Podcast: New York (Part 7) – The Freedom Tower

After already being overwhelmed with Times Square, taking plenty of pictures, and having a browse around the shops when they opened two hours after I had arrived there, I went ahead and began the plan I had quickly put together back in my hotel room and go downtown to the Freedom Tower.

With a quick glance at Google maps, I discovered that it was too far away to walk, so a yellow cab was a necessity. I had a momentary flashback to yesterday afternoon when the yellow cab driver was weaving in and out of traffic and literally driving down the hard shoulder. Well, at least we didn’t crash, I guess. Either I walk to the Freedom Tower and take up a huge chunk of my day or I take a cab and utilise the whole day, there was only one logical option.

This brought up another flashback to a conversation I had with my mum a couple of weeks ago describing the time when she visited New York, how easy the cabs are to catch. “Stick your hand out and they’ll come to you,” she said. “It really is that easy.” And so that’s what I did, once I found a yellow cab without a passenger, which was surprisingly hard to do despite the incredibly high number of yellow cabs in the area at any one time. It took me a couple of minutes to find an unoccupied cab, and went for it. I stuck my hand out, he noticed me there, and nodded to say I was free to hop in. “Freedom Tower, please,” I said as I twisted around to grab my seatbelt whilst he punched the location into his satnav. And off I went, fully expecting another rollercoaster ride. It wasn’t; but instead a smooth ride all the way down. It was actually a relaxing ride, and one where I discovered a TV in the back which was playing some sort of chat show on.

What’s unique about this TV is it is playing an exclusive channel specifically dedicated to yellow cabs, called Taxi TV. You cannot watch this on any other TV except within the confines of a cab, and is there to keep the passenger(s) occupied on long journeys or if the traffic is truly so dense it takes a while to go from one play to another. I quite enjoyed that cab experience, mainly because it was a lot less terrifying. He deserved my tip instead of paying him just to so I can get away from him.

The Freedom Tower is the tallest building in New York City. It was a truly remarkable building. Built with the latest technology, it adds a revitalised and modern look to the city skyline. It was specifically designed to showcase moving on from what happened, to prove that they stuck to their word when they said they would rebuild and be better than before. The Freedom Tower captures that goal perfectly. Seeing it from the ground, looking up, it was spectacular.

Surrounding the area were the two memorials. Waterfalls built within the holes the twin towers once stood, and it was a sombre atmosphere, but one filled with respect. There have been numerous documentaries and books published detailing the events from beginning to end on that terrible day, but when you’re actually standing there, seeing where those towers once stood, you forget those documentaries and find yourself asking “what happened?” and “what must it have been like to be here on that day?” It doesn’t matter how many documentaries or books there have been or will be, no one will truly know, and I felt the unified respect of everyone around me as I watched both water falls whilst walking around the perimeter, reading everyone’s names who tragically lost their lives. The area was clean and tidy, there were no one trying to push the limits of what they can get away with, it was a dignified gathering of strangers, paying their respects. That was a powerful moment to feel and witness, and one I will forever remember.

The Freedom Tower had, understandably, a lot of security within, synonymous to that of any airport, so it took a few minutes to pass through and step into the elevator which would ascend upwards to the top floor. Stepping out, following the crowd around into the main area, my jaw dropped to the floor below. New York City was right there, in front of me.

I took so many photos whilst atop the skyscraper, the most notable was the one which involved the Empire State Building, the original most famous skyscraper in New York City, and the second tallest. Seeing the Empire State Building from afar, I thought it’d be nice to have a picture from atop of there, looking across to the Freedom Tower, so I’ll have one from each, looking out across to the other. And, from the 87^th floor of the Empire State Building, I’d be able to see a different perspective of New York City, most notably the entirety of Central Park, something I couldn’t see properly from the Freedom Tower.

Here is that picture looking out across to the Empire State Building.

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)

Film of the Week: Stuber

I’ve listened to a couple of people’s opinions regarding this film, and they’ve both stated that Stuber is basically a remake of Taxi, a 2004 film which itself is a remake of the 1998 French film of the same name. Having not seen Taxi, I had to take their word for it, and also believe how bad it is. As I’ve only seen Stuber and not Taxi (2004), I could only talk about the “wannabe remake” as one of the people I was talking to, described it as. Upon doing a little research and read the plot of Taxi (2004), I started to understand the parallels between Stuber and that film. I also took note of the reviews Taxi had received and then realised I was basically compiling an article focusing more on other people’s reviews about a different film than my own about Stuber – and considering I hadn’t seen Taxi (2004), I wouldn’t be offended if you told me I cannot disclose my opinion about something I haven’t seen. To make things worse and add insult to injury, I haven’t seen the original Taxi (1998), either.

This article wasn’t coming together as authentic as I had hoped, but it did get me thinking. Stuber is a remake of a remake, and if I hadn’t known that, this article probably would have been easier to write as it would have been solely about the film without bringing in anything I haven’t seen to the mix. But I now knew that it was a remake of a remake, I had unintentionally make myself understood the connections between this and Taxi (2004), there was no going back even if I sat down and re-watched Stuber again; that knowledge would change how I perceived it the second time round, without the already acquired knowledge of how the film’s storyline plays out inside my head.

Stuber was only attempting to bring a film series that many people nowadays haven’t seen at all or completely forgotten after seeing the potential disaster that was the remake, into the modern age. Sure it has a different name, but Uber has become an incredible force within the Taxi world, so much so that regular taxi drivers have publically complained heavily about the destructiveness it’s having on the Taxi’s industry, so it’s only fitting that Stuber does the same with the film franchise Taxi. That’s the way the world is now working, whether we like it or not. Uber is not even mentioned on any of the Wikipedia articles about the Taxi franchise, another fitting nod to the disconnection Uber has with the Taxi business…

I then made a second realisation about how my article was going. Subtly ranting about an industry which doesn’t affect me and strictly speaking has nothing to do with the film itself, is not what I had expected.

With a strong cast, Dave Bautista (fresh out of the MCU might I add), and Kumail Nanjiani (who’s film career has increased rapidly over the last couple of years), playing Vic Manning and Stu, respectively, Stuber does offer good comedic timing – even if the jokes do go a little stale from frequent repetition. It’s a simple premise with a plainly clear plot and end goal. Sure, it’s an R-rated film, with plenty of swearing and blood and gore throughout, but it had the right amount to make sure that you are awake to process what’s going on at that point in the story, which is simple enough for you to catch up instantaneously so you don’t get confused and switch it off half way through.

In the end I realised my article far exceeded the 500 word goal I set myself with every film review and with not feeling 100%, I decided to just leave everything I had written in the article and release it onto my blog for you all to read.

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)

Mum's Monday: London by Edward Rutherfurd

This book is about London; I am surprised of how far back the history is written in this book. Right from the melting of the ice age and the formation of the river, we now know as the Thames that flows through London.

We now meet Segovax’s family amongst others living by the river in Londinos, as it was called in the past. It is interesting to read about the ups and downs of Segovax’s family life, but what does keep me reading is the threat that the Romans would invade. It is the case of when, so me as the reader is just waiting for the invasion to happen as we know from history they eventually do. There is a certain amount of tension and anticipation in the story. It is however, nice to see Segovax eventually sees the sea.

We now see that London is now becoming more built up by the Romans and that it is now called Londinium and it is interesting to read that the river Thames was then called by the name of Tamesis. It is fascinating to read that even back then London was an important place with a busy port. We now read that ‘Around the year 500’ the river Tamesis becomes named the river Thames, as it is called today. It is interesting and educational to read about all the other nations that invaded Britain to help make it as it is today.

Londinium has now become named Lundenwic. It is interesting to see all the name changes over the early centuries. Who’d have thought one place could have been called by so many names? I didn’t realise London had all these names. It is also interesting to read of how some of the London boroughs got their names.

We now read that St. Pauls exists but not how it is today. By the year 1066 we now read that London is now called London and Westminster Abbey has been built. It is educational to know the time line of when London became known as it is today.

London has grown, it is interesting to read that more and more recognisable places are being mentioned. I also like Alfred’s logic when he starts work as an armourer. It is also interesting reading the description of the chain mail armour and the way in which it is made as well.

Near St. Paul’s Cathedral as it was in the past it is mentioned that the London Mint’ is on the left, even back around 1066 London was becoming close to what we have today in 2019. I had no idea how long certain things have actually been around in, however many forms over the past years.

In 1078 we see the beginning of the stone structure that becomes the ‘Tower of London’. The ravens have been mentioned during this book so far. It is interesting to read that ravens have been a part of London for many more years than how long the stone tower has been built.

Most if not all have heard of the ‘Great fire of London’ which started in Pudding lane, but there was another big fire in 1087. Little is known about this one so it is interesting to read some new information about London in this book.

Around the year 1170 London has grown, it seems from what I read it is becoming more and more the way it is today with even more recognisable names being mentioned like Holborn for instance.

Something that is interesting is the reference to London being a ‘Commune’ with a Mayor. London and other places have Mayors but I have never heard of these places being referred to as a ‘Commune’. Stories that makes me consider looking up more information can only be a good thing, as you can learn a lot more from the snippets of the detail in this book. London still does have a Mayor today in 2019, but London is well known as the capital city of the United Kingdom, not as far as I am aware a commune. As I read on it is clear why London is not a commune, one it wasn’t wanted and two it is to do with the Tax system and the Magna Carter Charter. This book is certainly informative.

It is interesting to read even more recognisable names around London interweaved into the everyday lives of the characters in this book. One name that is mentioned is the ‘Savoy’. We now know it as the ‘Savoy Hotel’. Although the Savoy is not as it is in its present form in this book, the name is certainly older than I first thought it was. The same can be said for other places in London, another example being ‘Charing Cross’.

It is strange to read that a ‘True Londoner’ thought of London bridge as being the centre of the universe. It seems in and around the year 1357 Londoners had big ideas about London. It is good that we have since learned in 2019 we know it as only London bridge and just one of the bridges crossing the river Thames in London the capital of the United Kingdom.

What is an ‘Eye opener’ is to read that three centuries before the time of the Plague we know about in London it occurred then as well. I always thought there was only one occasion the ‘Black Death’ as it is also known as, but to read that it happened more than once is fascinating and proves you can potentially learn something new every day, especially from reading this book.

As I read it is mentioned that the river Thames is getting dirtier and a familiar named person, ‘Whittington’ ‘Richard Whittington’, the name Richard shortens to Dick, and in this book ‘Dick Whittington says that he will basically become the Mayor of London and clean up the river Thames. The story in history is the Dick Whittington does become the Mayor of London, but I still wouldn’t drink from the Thames and no one should, ever!

It is interesting to read in this book about the earth tremor in May 1382. This book has certainly been well researched. I am learning so much more about London history I didn’t know.

It is a surprise to read about the famous ‘The Canterbury Tales’. It came as a shock to just read the name out of the blue. It has now become a household recognisable name from the humble beginnings I read in this book.

This story doesn’t cease to surprise as the Plague returns for the second time, it is strange that only the one in the 1600’s, the third one, is the most well-known and not two outbreaks of it before.

Also the Canterbury Tales mentioned in this book, it seems are not the ones known today. It is however, unclear of how the ones today did come about.

It is interesting to read that William Shakespeare had a brother called Ned, which is something I previously didn’t know. In this part, London is growing and the theatre scene is becoming popular.

It is interesting how that in an extremely cold winter in London where the river Thames froze over helped to be of use to the origin of the theatre called the ‘Globe’

As shown in this book you cannot have a story about London and not mention the ‘Gun powder plot’ on the Houses of Parliament, although this is mentioned it is rather skipped over in just one paragraph.

It is nice to see London under Charles the Second now in a lighter mood after being under a more serious rule. Sadly, as with good times and the such like they don’t last forever, as now the plague has hit London again. The description of both types of the plague, which are Bubonic and Pneumonic forms. This part is tragically interesting to read also kept me in suspense as to who would catch the plague next.

As history has shown us following the plague came the ‘Great fire of London’, in this part with having the characters in the book in amongst the terrible event, it somehow humanises the fire, where it is shown real people were obviously affected by the tragedy. This part is again well written and researched.    

It is interesting because I feel that it has been well researched, to read the beginnings of ‘Greenwich Mean time’ and why it came to be.

The rebuilding of London after the fire is advancing extensible. This includes the rebuilding of St. Pauls Cathedral, as I read this book/story, it seems the familiar famous dome was initially frowned upon for the reasons of a religious nature. Religion was and played a huge part in London over the past for years.

The research about the ‘Great fire of London’ monument is well done and shows that the author must have visited it. As it does show visiting a place during research can really enhance your written description knowledge of something in a story. The monument can be found in Pudding lane which is a lane off of Lower Thames St the A3211 the closest underground station is Monument station on the yellow Circle line and the green District line.

Chapter fifteen was a mix of bad and good, I don’t agree that the true heir wasn’t recognised but I am glad that it worked out for the Baker Isaac Fleming thanks to the church of St. Brides. This church can be seen in London on St. Brides Avenue off Bride lane off of Fleet street. The nearest underground station is Blackfriars on the yellow Circle line and the green District line.

Reading further jumping over the years it is interesting to read about the Cutty Sark, how the London underground trains came to be electric amongst other things in London, and now ‘Jack the Ripper’ has been mentioned. I had forgotten about when he had carried out his infamous murders, so it came as a surprise and I now know an inevitable reference would have to be included as part of London history.

Reading through the campaign for ‘Votes for Women’, some of this is controversial as a character in this story involves a child, I will stay neutral, I just try to make sure I vote as so many women fought for us females to have it. Now I can only guess at the newspaper headline on a spring day in April 1912, as it is sadly around the time the Titanic sank, and this story only mentions seeing a headline nothing else.

Now as I read on, you cannot have a book about London history without mentioning the Blitz during World War Two. It is a shock and sad, what happened to Jenny, the good thing is she didn’t suffer.

It is brilliant how the story circles around back to the river Thames. I would have summed up this story myself but this is really well done using one of the characters, who is an Archaeologist digging a site in London recapping essentially the whole book. This is an amazing well thought out clever ending to a book about London.

I did wonder on what event/year this book would end and it is actually the year 1997.

The Written Podcast: New York (Part 6) – Overwhelmed

At first I was overwhelmed; I was overrun.

Kept thinking how incredible it was to be standing in New York.

But then I spent a few minutes soaking it all in and calmed myself down.

And I grew confident.

And I learned how to go about.

The first morning of the first full day hit me immediately. After a decent night’s sleep my body clock had adjusted and was functioning correctly. I’ve woken up in many hotel room’s beds before, but I haven’t woken up in New York City before, and I especially haven’t slowly become aware that I was on my own in New York City. I knew at that moment, that fact about me being on my own would be difficult to fully contemplate. Adrenaline pumped through my body just by the mere mentioning of going outside and exploring the city, especially seeing the sights from atop the Freedom Tower. My plan was to go the furthest distance away and work my way up back to the hotel instead of darting about here, there and everywhere. That meant the Freedom Tower first.

But, the little research I did do beforehand showed me that Times Square was only but a mile away, or in other words, walking distance from my hotel. But, the little exploration I did last night showed me there was a twenty-four-hour diner just outside my hotel; and upon looking at the time I noticed it was only half-five in the morning. So before I go to the Freedom Tower, I must get some breakfast and then take a walk down to Times Square, is what I established in my head. I also sensed that the overwhelming sense of actually being in New York City was already getting to me, purely for the fact that I was actually there, and this wasn’t a dream.

I gathered myself together by checking out the directions on how to get to Times Square from my hotel, and getting myself ready to go out for the day. Showering and freshening myself up helped me adjust and calm down. Today was going to be a big day, there was no other way of believing it. And when I say today is going to be big, I wasn’t expecting literally everything to be big. The breakfast in the diner was humongous. I ordered French toast with Scrabbled egg and sausage, and it came on two plates, one for the toast and one for the egg and sausage. That I was not expecting. But it was absolutely delicious. I’m not one for big breakfasts, but I ate the lot with no difficulty. I felt incredibly full afterwards, but what I had planned throughout the day would surely burn it all off.

Soon I was heading down to Times Square. It was still fairly early in the morning. About half 6 if I recall correctly, and I was walking down the road. New York City has been commonly associated as the city that never sleeps, and with it being early in the morning, the streets were still as busy as they were in the evening. Hundreds of people were walking to and fro and the traffic was consistently at a steady pace each vehicle navigated all around the city. That part of the city’s life certainly doesn’t sleep, but there weren’t a lot of businesses open at half 6 in the morning.

Swinging by a quick tangent – Time Square has been heralded as one of the “crossroads of the world,” and, “the centre of the Universe.” It is one of the busiest pedestrian area in the world, and can be seen for quite a distance away. The gleaming lights from the massive advertisement boards could immediately be seen the moment I turned a corner. However, it did take me a couple of streets to fully establish that it was indeed Time Square, and that’s when the illusion started to kick in. With the way New York City is laid out, you can see a long way down the roads, and with it being so built up, the tall buildings appear to be closer than they actually are, so it appears that you’re walking a long way but not actually getting any closer until you’re practically at your destination, which was Time Square.

And what a place it is. It was truly overwhelming. The staggering amount of advertisements bombarding you from every angle, the tall buildings enclosing you wherever you turn, the ocean of people navigating their way to the best spot to recreate as many iconic shots of Times Square as possible for their own personal records, the zigzagging vehicles going every which way as they circumnavigated the crossroads. It only took a minute before I was truly overwhelmed from the excitement of seeing Times Square with my very own eyes and not via a photograph. I took so many photographs just to capture the incredible place from as many angles as possible.

What surprised me the most was that the shops don’t open until 9AM. I at first thought it strange seeing shops closed whilst walking down to Times Square, considering we’re in the city that never sleeps. It was confirmed to me that New York City is a city that does in fact sleep. One of the most recognisable and visited places on the planet having an opening time for the shops all around the perimeter was curious. Considering it is frequented by millions of people a year, shops sleeping is certainly one I never thought would happen. How much money do you think they’d make if they remained open 24/7? New York City does in fact sleep, just the shops whereas the vehicles and people do not. It does sleep, but makes sure to keep one eye open at all times.

I arrived at Times Square at 7AM, and the shops wouldn’t open until 9AM. I had two hours to drink in the fascinating place. Since it was only a mile down the road from my hotel, I instantly knew it was going to be a place I’d be visiting the most, so I didn’t spend too much time at Time Square considering I wanted to head downtown to the Freedom Tower.

TO BE CONTINUED IN THE NEXT ARTICLE…

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)

TV show of the Week: The Mandalorian – Episode 1

When Disney announced they were making another trilogy of Star Wars films, and subsequently disclosing how they’re denouncing the extensive amount of lore that’s built via TV shows, games, and graphic novels and only focusing on what’s been said and done in the films only – that avoided the writers and directors of the new trilogy crumbling under the immense amount of pressure which would undoubtedly be put upon them, because if they hadn’t abandoned the lore, one slight contradiction would cause major uproars across the internet. By only staying within the confines of the films, it’s harder to fall into the continuity trap. That being said, it hasn’t stopped Disney from expanding the Star Wars universe anyway with their own films and TV shows, focusing on explaining a couple of mysteries that not even the expansive lore hasn’t explored yet, such as how the plans to the Death Star was acquired, Hans Solo feat of making the Kessel Run in less than 12 Parsecs.

Star Wars’ lore is one of the biggest fictional universes in popular culture, whether you treat it as cannon or not, you have to admit the amount of information available is almost limitless and will continue to expand along with the new TV shows and comic books being made and published. Enter The Mandalorian, a brand new TV show set after the events of episode 6, when the empire fell and before the new order began. The Mandalorian focuses on a brand new character, a bounty hunter, tasked with bringing in the most valuable asset, and the most curious character for fans of Star Wars, a baby Yoda. Of course not specifically the younger version of Yoda, just a younger version of a member of his race.

As the first episode, it’s full of action and sets up a decent amount of story and mystery to keep me intrigued as to what happens, but not enough for me to rush towards the second episode, but instead just enough to entertain me whenever I do get round to watching the second episode.

The Mandalorian made sure to keep it within the confines of the movies so to avoid any contradictions and continuity issues with the lore it now believes to not be part of that universe anymore; therefore, it’s not bogged down with too many references and Easter eggs, but instead is just good old-fashioned Star Wars – a simple premise, simple characters, epic action sequences. It reminisces that of the original trilogy with handmade models of ships, whilst also bringing into the modern age with updated technology to round of any rough edges here and there. It’s classic Star Wars, today.

It’ll be interesting to see where this show goes, which of the famous characters will appear, if any, but if it keeps purely enclosed in its own story without paying any homages, I’ll be happy with that because we all know it’s set within the Star Wars universe, and the first episode proves that, that’s all we need.

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)

Mum's Monday: The Cockfields

The first episode, you can see that mum, Sue (Sue Johnston) and step dad Ray (Bobby Ball) mean well. They have really big hearts and yes they are ‘Sweet’. The program is realistic but, only, it seems they have tried to put every scenario of an awkward family get together into one series.

The second episode, in the first episode Simon (Joe Wilkinson) and Donna (Diane Morgan) said about going to Ventnor the next day, but as with best laid plans and a family like the Cockfields, even the carefully worked out plans rarely, if ever get carried out. I can see why Simon got angry. If he hadn’t the situation, I don’t think would have been realistic enough. The program is actually believing it or not is getting more and more awkward. It is well done that it makes it interesting to watch. There are two life lessons here. One, you shouldn’t cut down your neighbour’s hedge and two, you shouldn’t interfere in the parenting of your neighbour’s children. This episode ends nicely.

The third and final episode, it is the day of Simon’s 40^th birthday party, the reason for the family get together. the day gets off to a cringingly awkward start for Donna and doesn’t stop. The mix of people around the table has been well worked out to make a full impact, so this program is interesting and realistic. However, just when I thought it couldn’t get any more awkward, there is the small matter of the gardener Andre (Jeff Mirza) and the wardrobe, but to top that, we find out how Simon’s dad Larry (Nigel Havers) met Melissa (Sarah Parish). Also as I watch on Melissa should really just stop talking. After a dark dip in the storyline, things turn around to a heart-warming ending.

Overall, these three episodes have been well written, well casted, well-acted and interestingly realistic. Brilliant.

The Written Podcast: New York (Part 5) – What You See Is What You Get

I made it to the Hudson hotel. I was in New York City. I was on my own. That was a truly new feeling. And one I wasn’t at all scared of. The excitement that I made it to New York on my own was enough to pump enough adrenaline through my body to keep going even after go back in time. New York is 5 hours behind so I was reliving the afternoon once more. The first thing I did when I stepped foot in my room was sit down and have a few minutes to relax, to gather myself together before heading out.

I had a lot planned and I didn’t plan any of it. I knew what I wanted to do, but had not a clue where to begin. I spent those few minutes putting together a brief itinerary. Since I only had the afternoon it’ll be best to not attempt to do anything big, especially considering jetlag was going to hit me in a few hours’ time from being awake for nearly 24 hours straight (I know I could have slept on the plane ride over here, but having done so would have thrown my body clock completely out of synch as it would have had to adjust going during the day, something I haven’t done in years).

When I say I didn’t know where to begin because I didn’t prepare anything before hopping on the plane, it was strictly true as I did a little bit of research, but only to see what within the area surrounding the Hudson hotel. I discovered there was a 7-Eleven about 8 minutes down the road, and I’ve always wanted to go there to purchase myself one of those Big Gulps the convenience store has become well known for selling. I made it my mission to make that store my first stop of the holiday. With a quick glance at Google maps via the free WIFI supplied by the hotel, I mapped out where to go, sorted out my belongings and stepped back out into the hotel’s corridor.

Stepping back outside, I could fully contemplate New York City. Drink it all in, and my first impression was, incredibly built up. New York is a place where what you see is what you get. I’ve seen many movies and TV shows that feature New York City, and that phase has been uttered by almost everyone who’s been there, even mentioned in some books my mum has read over the years – and my first impression was understanding what that phase truly meant. You see a built up city; you get a built up city. You see busy roads; you get busy roads. You see crowded footpaths; you get crowded footpaths.

I may have mapped out where the 7-Eleven was, but the first time I stepped out of my hotel, I forgotten everything. The sensation of actually being in New York City kept me rigid for a minute or two as I just admired my surroundings before coming back down to Earth with a bump in a city I’ve never been in before, and a craving for the biggest drink I’m ever going to have the pleasure of drinking (non-alcoholic of course)

As I navigated around the area of Hudson hotel in search of a 7-Eleven, scrambling through my short-term memory to find the directions needed to get to the famous convenience store, I found another iconic American store, Dunkin’ Doughnuts. I know even less about Dunkin’ Doughnuts that I do 7-Eleven, but I do know they do absolutely gorgeous doughnuts, and so I had to try it out. As my body had not much chance to process the food I had on the plane from sitting still for 7 hours straight, I decided it’ll be best if I come back and pick up a doughnut in the evening, maybe after having a proper meal first. I continued on toward the 7-Eleven store, and was met with an incredible image.

New York is built in blocks. Unlike the random assortment of buildings in London, New York was planned before being built, which means if you’re at the right angle, you can see one street stretching so far down it disappears below the horizon. All the time I was walking down the street (the one where I knew the store was on), I was staring into the distance, looking as far as I could, watching dots of cars and people move this way and that, but not jaywalking.

One of the first things I was warned about by my parents when announcing I was going to New York was not to jaywalk. It’s illegal. You will get a ticket if you’re caught doing it. In England, you’re free to jaywalk anywhere you want. If you’re too impatient to wait for the lights to turn red given you freedom of walking across the road without the threat of being hit by a moving vehicle, then jaywalk to your hearts content, just do not do it in America. I’m sure there are many people who do it, but I surely didn’t notice anyone attempting to play leapfrog with the vehicle, and there’s good reason for that. It’s practically impossible to do so, and it would be unnecessary to do so, considering the absolute magnitude of zebra crossings available for you to cross over with. There are so many zebra crossings, even on my first few minutes walking through the city, I noticed so many cars waiting at the lights whilst people crossed. Not only that, but there are so many vehicles on the road at any one time, attempting to jaywalk would’ve been a fool’s errand anyway, as there are hardly any breaks in the traffic to attempt to weave through. It became immediately apparent to me that it’d be quicker to wait at the zebra crossings than it would be to jaywalk across the road.

I found what I was looking for. A 7-Eleven convenience store, and I discovered that the Big Gulp is not the biggest cup they do, but the Double Gulp is, and so I realised that I had to go for that. I didn’t come to America just to purchase myself a Gulp from a 7-Eleven, but since I was there, I knew that if I am to make my holiday worthwhile, I needed to purchase myself a Double Gulp and enjoy the ludicrous size of it. I filled it right to the top with Gatorade, paid for it, and walked out with an incredibly large drink in my hand. I was on holiday.

TO BE CONTINUED IN THE NEXT ARTICLE…

TV Show of the Week: Rick and Morty – Season 4, Episode 1: Edge of Tomorty: Rick Die Rickpeat

It’s back, and it isn’t better than ever; it’s as good as it has always been, and that’s awesome. Rick and Morty loves having fun with the concept of infinite realities and possibilities, from the incredible to the incredibly creative angles that comes with the multiverse.

During a recent interview between the show’s creator, Justin Roland, he stated that this will be the perfect episode for new to people to be introduced to the show, without having the need to go back and catch up with the previous 3 seasons. Only do that if and when this episode has done its job and gotten you interested in seeing more adventures of Rick and Morty. You can easily binge all three seasons in one day, that’s for sure.

It certainly does what Justin stated and made sure this premiere wasn’t sewn together only with references from previous seasons, just a few handpicked ones to allow the experienced fans to swing from gratefully. To a new watcher, Mr. Meeseeks is a strange blue alien who appears when the button to a box is pressed and does any command you tell it to do, whereas to someone who has followed the show from day one will know exactly who Mr. Meeseeks is and remember the episode specifically dedicated to the helpful blue character – the one where Jerry literally broke Meeseeks’ spirit trying to cut his golf score down by a couple of strokes, and has popped up in the background of a couple of episodes here and there, since.

When the show explores the multiverse as it did in this episode, those are some of my favourite segments, purely because it shows just how creative Justin Rolland and Dan Harmon are, and the freedom can be had with a cartoon.

With Rick’s consciousness being transported across the multiverse, Morty is having an adventure himself, but on Earth, trying to make sure he doesn’t get killed in a humiliating way, but instead with the love of his life by his side. Morty has a crystal that lets him see how he is going to die dependent on which decision he makes at any given time, and so he specifically chooses only those decisions which will lead him to the death he wants. What’s crazy about this storyline aside from what I’ve just said is how wacky it gets. It appears to get further and further away from where he wants to go, and we’ll never know how it goes from being a part of some hideous alien tree-like substance in the desert which is somehow providing life-support to dying happily of old age with the love of his life by his side. But that’s Rick and Morty for you – it’s completely and entertainingly, intelligently, wacky in every way.

And to top it all, we get another reference to Rick having knowledge that he’s a character in a TV show, providing more evidence for that particular theory which I’m sure we all know is true but the show hasn’t outright confirmed yet.

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)

Mum's Monday: Nintendo DS More Brain Training from Dr Kawashima

How Old is Your Brain?:

Although you do play this, it is ultimately a set of activities to activate and stimulate certain parts of your brain.

Missing Symbols:

This is an activity, where you have to fill in the symbols to make the numerical sum come right. There are two settings normal and hard, on the normal setting there is just one symbol, examples plus or minus, to insert, but on the hard setting you have to insert at least two symbols in to some of them. For the first activity this is not an easy one to ease you in gently like the ones further on.

Masterpiece Recital:

This needs the sound on as it is playing music. There are two settings normal and hard, on the normal you get the letters of the notes you need to play, but on the hard you don’t. so you actually have to read music to play the hard setting. It seems that on each day there is a set song or piece of music to play, so it can repeat.

Word Scramble:

This is an anagram activity, the game recognises lower case letters and upper case letters when solving the puzzles, but be careful because if you don’t quite get the letter for the game to recognise, it will see it as another letter and it could take a longer time to solve or see it as a wrong answer.

Correct change:

This is an activity where you have an amount of money shown and an amount to deduct from it and by tapping on the coins shown you select the right ones to add up to the correct change. It is simple. Also you can make up the money any way but there is a limited amount of coins allowed.

Word Blend:

Again you need the sound for this because you have to work out the words that are being said. There are normal and hard settings. On the normal it starts with one word and then to a mix of two words and the last is you have to work out a mix of three words being said.

Memory Addition:

There are two settings, normal and hard, I definitely prefer the normal this is a hard activity without trying the hard one. you have to remember the number when you see it, to add to the next after it has been blanked out. This can be tricky unless you get two numbers the same, but you don’t always.

Days and Dates:

Because the game is set around training each day, it seems natural to have a calendar activity where you have to work out the dates from the question it asks you or the days. With this you have to be careful how you write because if the game recognises your attempted right answer as a wrong answer it can be annoying, as it can take longer or give you the 20 second penalty.

Finishing Position:

With this activity you really have to concentrate, so yes great for a Brain Training game. This is like the player being a lap scorer in a race, where the athletes change position during a race.

Determine the Time:

This is a mix of a conventional clock and digital clocks, they are upside down turned at odd angles and only random numbers from a clock inserted. This can be challenging but if you sometimes turn the game you can see the time. You also have to be careful how you write the numbers as you could attempt to write the correct answer but the game can recognise it as a different number and the wrong answer is registered.

Calculate the Height:

This has two settings normal and hard. The normal one starts a bit slow but the next three are good and then the fifth one is quicker. You have to concentrate on the boxes being dropped into the container especially as the container is blanked out and some doubles go across so leaves gaps going up the towards the top.

Germ Buster:

This is a game where you can relax where you score points matching the colours of two halves of pills. You have to play at least one Brain Training activity to be able to play this. There are three settings. Easy, Normal and Hard, on the Easy just one pill is dropped on the Normal two pills are dropped after a few drops and the stack of pills already there is greater and the Hard has three pills dropped after a few drops.

Conclusion:

All these activities prepare you for doing the Brain age activity, one of the negatives about this game is the Brain age has a lower limit of age twenty. You cannot get lower than this age. The game can give you three random activities from a pre-set selection. Some are harder than others. You can get your Brain age down to a good lower age than you actually are or way above. There is also a Quick Play setting where you play like a warm up act and there are also little activities before you carry out an activity to help again warm up the brain. After you have carried out the activities above you can get a little message about how to enhance the Brain further, some of these can be weird but there must be a reason for it.

There is also a Sudoku game you can play, with settings of Basic, Intermediate and Advanced. You can choose to put the cheat mode on so although some puzzles can be a challenge it is light-hearted overall.

Another negative or positive, depending on your outlook, about this game is once you have played it for 365 days it re-sets and you lose all the data you have built up. This is disappointing if you have built up a good Brain age and a good score in the Germ Buster but if you have had a bad year then you can start again and get better results. Just be careful what you intend to write letters or numbers is what is registered.

The Written Podcast: New York (Part 4) – Road Rage Eat Your Heart Out

In England, specifically in the capital city, London, we have Black Cabs. They are everywhere. And they are a tourist attraction. It’s considered an experience to have a ride in one of them, even more so when discovered that the drivers have to take an extremely difficult memory test for the entirety of London. They have to learn how to singlehandedly navigate throughout London with the aid of a satnav. You can’t simply become a Black Cab Driver; you have to earn it.

New York has the yellow cabs. And they are also everywhere. And they are also a tourist attraction themselves. It is also considered an experience to have a ride on one of them, but the experience is considerably different to that of the Black Cab one. Most notably is they don’t have to memorise anything, but are allowed to use satnavs to get to your required destination. There’s nothing wrong with that, because whilst the yellow cabs are generally operating within New York City, you do see them about in other places. Stepping out of JFK airport, there was a long line of yellow cabs waiting for passengers who’ve either booked ahead or are just out to catch one.

They saw I was hunting one down and a cab pulled up. The driver stepped out of the cab and whilst placing my suitcase in the back, asked me where I wished to go. “Hudson Hotel, fifty-eight street, please,” I replied. If I had put forward my request to a black cab driver, they would have simply nodded and got on with driving, but this yellow cab driver got out his phone, opened the maps app, and inserted my request, confirmed with me that it was correct and then offered me to enter the cab.

This is where the experience starts, and what an experience it was. They’re two types of road rage: Angry and forceful. My cab driver went through both set of emotions during my trip to my hotel, and let’s just say I was on the back seat, wide eyed, legitimately wondering if we’re going to crash. Throughout the journey, he was literally weaving in and out of traffic at any opportunity he gets, cutting as many people up as possible to keep in front and moving. There was also a shade of hypocrisy when he pointed up ahead and started criticising another driver’s style, even though he was doing exactly what the other person was doing. This only happened when the other cab cut him up, so he pulled alongside, wound his window down and started yelling at this other driver for cutting him up. Full on yelling. I wondered if he had forgotten he’d got someone in the back at this point, because I was holding on for dear life. My knuckles went white from gripping the back seat with all my strength.

In England, it is illegal to follow an emergency vehicle through traffic. Traffic has to get out of the way of these emergency vehicles, and so if someone decides to follow them down in the hopes of avoiding the jam, that’s illegal and punishable by receiving points on their license, and a fine of a couple hundred pounds. In America, we were met with a traffic jam. The driver immediately swerved out onto the hard shoulder and drove down it, passing everyone who was stuck within the jam. An ambulance, blearing its lights roared up behind us, and to get out of its way, the cab driver dived in between two other cars; not waiting for a cap to open up, literally forced his way in. How the heck we didn’t either hit another vehicle or get hit by another vehicle, must have been a miracle.

The Ambulance then rushed passed us, and the driver pulled out behind it and started following it down. When he was driving on the hard shoulder before following the ambulance, I was worried about another vehicle pulling out in front of us in the hopes of doing the same, but luckily that didn’t happen. With the ambulance in front of us – and is should be noted he was driving close behind so no one could cut him up in the hopes of following it down as well – I did relax a little bit knowing no one could cut us up, but relax only a little bit, because we were going down the hard shoulder right behind an ambulance, something that’s considered to be highly illegal over here in England. It should also be noted that we were literally the only vehicle who done this, so of course there was a large part of me wondering if we were going to be get pulled over. Thankfully that didn’t happen, and I dare not think what would’ve happened if a Police officer did pull us over.

I’ve been a passenger to many lunatic drivers, but none can compete with the insanity of this yellow cab driver. It takes a lot to scare me as a passenger; I’m usually pretty calm, but he worried me. I was a foreign person, innocently taking a holiday in New York, so unintentionally finding myself stuck between a law breaker and a Police Officer is not how I had pictured my holiday going.

I entered New York City via a tunnel and came out of the other side with a spectacular view of the many skyscrapers, including the two most famous, the Empire State Building, and the newly constructed Freedom Tower. For a brief moment I had forgotten about the insane driving by taking in the epic view of New York City, only to then be thrown back into my car ride when the driver thrusted the cab to one side, pushing me up against the door.

I made it to my hotel in one piece. A little shaken, but in one piece. It’s customary to tip up to and including 15% of the total amount, and you’d be seen as an offender if you go against this custom unless you can defend yourself. If a black cab driver had requested a tip for that driving, I’d told him to forget it. However, being someone who really didn’t want to get on the wrong side of someone on my first day, I happily tipped him just so he could get back in his cab and drive away. After seeing another cab driver do the same as my one, I did wonder if every cab driver drove in the same style, and if they did, that’s something I’d have to prepare myself for, or attempt to walk as much as I can to my destinations.

In the end, I was just happy to get to my hotel, get checked in and sprawl out on my bed for a few minutes to gather myself together after a long flight and a hectic car ride. I was finally in New York. I finally made it to another country, and I was on my own. Let my holiday officially begin.

TO BE CONTINUED IN THE NEXT ARTICLE…

Film of the Week: Halloween (2018)

Bridging the gap between the original Halloween which was released in 1978 and even though it’s the eleventh film in the franchise, it disregards every film that had been made since the first. This is a direct sequel set 40 years later, with the only surviving character, Laurie Strode (played by the original actress, Jamie Lee Curtis), suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, and spent the entirety of the 40 years preparing for Michael Myers’ return.

We don’t get to see Michael’s true strength and power until an hour into a two-hour film; the first utilising setting up his escape back into the world from being locked up in an asylum for 40 years. Having not said a word, Michael’s mind increasingly intrigues that of the head psychiatrist, Dr. Ranbir Sartain (Haluk Bilginer), and it’s not made clear if Michael’s escape was intentional or was generally a mistake, but we do see Dr. Ranbir become psychotic himself in the hopes of understanding Michael even more. This was a surprising twist, but an understandable one. It made sense within the story, and even more sense when Michael instantly turned on Dr. Sartain as a way of getting his revenge for keeping him held captive for 40 years, without saying a word.

Michael’s infamy also gained the attention of two true-crime podcasters who want to study Michael and what happened way back in 1978. Upon Michael’s escape, his first port of call is to track down those who are diving deep into his life. The way the story was introduced with these two characters, it was to be believed they would get caught up in the main conflict between Michael and Laurie, but they were killed off. The two characters served their purpose of both introducing new people to the franchise and reintroducing fans of the franchise, and once the plot need not their services anymore, Michael hunted them down. It was a surprise to see them go, and a genuinely sad moment as well. These two podcasters innocently investigating a part of history being so brutally hunted by Michael.

Their two deaths also serve as an established means to showcase just how twisted and evil Michael Myers truly is. A character that has equally seeped into our own lists of iconic horror character, but in their world as well. This film explores the person behind the mask, whilst also pandering towards fan-service. A new avenue meets an old one, blended together to make a generally interesting film which I’m not trained to dive deep into.

But is it scary? It is to someone who’s not used to horrors. It is to someone who not used to the psychology displayed in the film. It isn’t to someone who unfortunately can see the clichés within, which can pull them out of the story. The most predictable moment was when two characters outright stated they were going to take a shortcut – within a horror movie. One of them is dead. But, that’s where the fan service comes in – it’s half a classic horror from the 1970’s and half a new horror from the 2010’s. To blend the two avenues together, both new fans and old fans have to agree and get along with each other. Then they would be able to enjoy the film equally.

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)

P.S. I'm aware this is a week late...

Mum's Monday: Should I be made to feel bad for not having a Smart Phone?

Earlier this year I booked tickets, over the phone for a show in London. They asked me when I booked “To download the Website App on my Smart Phone so they could send me the tickets”. I told them I didn’t have a Smart Phone capable of downloading said App. So they suggested that if I take my bank card and some form of I.D, which I opted to take my passport, then everything will be linked to that and basically, “my card is my ticket”.

Imagine my surprise when I then received an Email near to the Show date saying “Your tickets have been sent to your Smart Phone”. I panicked, where had they sent my tickets? And some venues don’t re-issue tickets once they have been sent out. So I phoned the number I had booked with. They proceeded to re-assure me “my card is my ticket”.

The day of the show arrived, although I changed bags and purse I was sure to slip my bank card, the information I wrote down while I was booking tickets, which included the Email conformation, and made sure I had my passport as well, into the handbag I took to the show.

I arrived excitedly at the venue and went to the box office, I showed them my Email and they couldn’t find my tickets. She then proceeded to notice on my Email and said “You can download the App” I look alarmed and said “I haven’t got a phone capable of that”. She then said “Your card is your ticket, all the information is linked to your card, that will get you in”. Yes, it was probably my mistake that I forgot this and went to pick up actual paper tickets, but I just wanted to get in to see the show.

After a tea time meal happily waiting to see the show, we went to wait in line for security bag checks and the like. When it got to the point where they swiped my card, as with technology, it isn’t always reliable, the message came up on the device that my card couldn’t be found.

After using another device, and still my card could not be found, the supervisor was sent for and he looked at my Email and was able to connect all my information to the reference number. My tickets were saved, printed out and it was an amazing show.

Sadly, technology is taking over. So where does it leave me and a few others who just want lovely night out and only have the nerve to just use their phones for texting and a few phone calls? In future I will pay extra to have my tickets printed out to be picked up at the box office. Yes, not using tech can be more expensive but peace of mind is great to have.

I just wish technology, the use off, even in leisure, would slow down and not make me feel like a dinosaur at an age of less than 50 years old.