A Night In New York

Friday was the opening of Underworld: Evolution, the sequel to the vampire/werewolf movie Underworld. Some friends and I decided to go see it, but unfortunately it was sold out for the show time we had selected. We swore that we would Fandango these things from now on, and bought tickets for the next showing: 10:55. We had several hours to kill, so we set off to aimlessly wander the streets of NYC.

We got our bearings using the tallest building in the area: the Empire State Building. It was all lit up and rocketing high into the air, and we decided that a great way to kill time is to go to the top. I had never been before, and was very excited to go. It costs $16 to go to the 86th Floor observatory (there is a 102nd floor option, but its $14 more, and hardly worth it from what we saw) so we paid the teller and walked through the deserted pathway to the elevator. After traveling 860 feet into the air, we went outside to see the view. It was a clear night, and the sights were incredible. We identified many familiar landmarks, and really took our time. It was pretty deserted, and so we horsed around in the gift shop knowing that no one would care.

We finally left the skyscraper, and went in search of a Starbucks. They are on every corner in NYC until you actually want to find one, then they go into hiding. We wandered around and made our way into a Game Stop. They had an Xbox 360 set up and we decided to try out the new system. I am not an Xbox fan, but I am willing to give anything a try once. We looked through the demo and decided to play King Kong. The controls were a little tricky to figure out, and we died a few times, but once we had the hang of it we really began to appreciate the game. It's a very beautiful game and it plays very smoothly from what we saw. If you have an Xbox 360 and haven't tried it, I'd recommend you check it out.

The Game Stop was closing, so they kicked us out, and we resumed our search for the Starbucks. Soon, we happened upon one and went in to get some coffee. I'm not much of a coffee drinker, but I wasn't paying so I gladly ordered a Mocha. I hope that's how its spelled, because I never go to Starbucks and I never have to order. It was tasty, and you could taste the espresso in the drink, so I was satisfied.

We discussed plans for spring break to kill time, and more or less sat around and bullshitted about power rangers and other relics of our youth. As the 10:55 showtime drew near, we set off again for the movie theater. We climbed to the top floor only to find a giant line for the film awaiting us. We moved to the back, just as people began to file into the theater. We worried that our seats would suck, but once in the theater, we found numerous open rows and sat down front and center.

The theater filled to capacity and the movie was a hit. There is nothing like watching a movie in a full theater. The audience reactions give the experience that special something that I so often miss at home. While predictable, the movie had that "badass" air to it, and proved to be all that we expected. I would recommend you see it, its really lots of fun.

As we joined the crowds to head to the lobby, we noted the mass of people going down the escalator. Being impatient and excited after just watching such a kick ass movie, we weasled our way through the crowd and bounded down the "up" escalator. It's a lot of fun, and a little dangerous, and without question against the rules, but there is nothing like racing against the rising stairs and beating the line all at the same time.

It was a great evening, an like most of our NYC fuck-ups, it turned out better than if everything had gone as planned in the first place.