Junkfood

There is strong competition among furniture stores in my area. The stores in Nashua all serve free food of some sort.

Jordan's Furniture serves free soda, coffee, hot chocolate, pellet ice cream, and freshly-baked cookies. They also used to have goldfish crackers and pretzels, but I'm not sure whether they still do. The pellet ice cream served is Dippin' Dots. (The two major brands of pellet ice cream are Dippin' Dots which has a 10% butterfat content and Mini Melts which has 14% butterfat.) They serve you from a counter in the front of the store. There are also free balloons for kids. The sales staff appear to work on some sort of shared-commission system, so they aren't aggressive.

Bob's Discount Furniture serves free lemonade, iced tea, coffee, popcorn, freshly-baked cookies, ice cream, and an assortment of penny candy. They serve you from a counter in the back of the store. Sugar-free penny candy is also available from behind the counter. Bob's also has a small video arcade with a Golden Tee machine, among others. The sales staff appear to take turns assigning themselves to people who walk through the door. My salesperson sort of followed me around the store, hoping to secure a sale.

Bernie & Phyl's serves free coffee, cookies, and lemonade. They have a good selection of kooky furniture, like chairs shaped like hands. The sales staff appear to work on some sort of shared-commission system, so they aren't aggressive. In fact, nobody spoke to me when I was touring the store (which was fine by me).

Furniture World serves just bottled water and coffee. However, the coffee served is Green Mountain coffee, brewed in individual Keurig K-Cups. The system is pretty neat. Inside the sealed K-Cup is coffee in a cone filter. In the machine, pressurized hot water is injected through the top of the cup and through the coffee and filter. The coffee comes out of the bottom of the cup. (http://www.keurig.com/AW/magic.html) The sales staff hang out watching the front door and take turns assigning themselves to people who walk through the door. However, they did not follow me around the store.

Through experimentation, I've found that you can write macros that override the default implementation by Roller. On comments pages, email addresses (or IP addresses, if no email is provided) and websites are displayed by default. I don't like this behavior, so I wrote a macro that overrides it. The macro gets added to the top of the Weblog file, just after the DOCTYPE line.

#macro( showCommentDetails $comment $showPermalink )
    $dateFormatter.applyPattern($text.get( "macro.weblog.datepattern" ))
    #set($email = $utilities.hexEncode($comment.email))
    <p class="comment-details">
    $text.get("macro.weblog.postedby")
    #if (!$stringUtils.isEmpty($comment.name))
        <b>$comment.name</b>
    #else
        <b>Anonymous</b>
    #end
    $text.get("macro.weblog.on") $dateFormatter.format($comment.postTime)
    #if( $showPermalink )
    <a href=
"${ctxPath}/comments/${userName}/${page.link}/${entry.anchor}#comment${velocityCount}"
       class="entrypermalink"
       title="$text.get( "macro.weblog.commentpermalink.title" )">#</a>
    #end
    </p>
#end

The macro is intended for use with Roller 1.0. I'm not sure whether it works with other versions.

The Hardee's burger chain introduced a new "Monster Thickburger" menu item:

• Two 1/3 lb. Angus beef patties
• Three slices of cheese
• Four slices of bacon
• Served with mayonnaise and on a buttered sesame seed bun
• 1,420 calories
• 107 grams of fat
• Costs $5.49 (and for the meal with fries and soda, it's $7.09)
• http://www.monsterthickburger.com/

I think that the nearest Hardee's is in Pennsylvania, near Harrisburg.

In Boston, there's a new interactive walkthrough game called Tomb. It's sort of an Egyptian-themed haunt where players have to solve puzzles and perform actions. It's from a new company with a stupid name spelled "5W!TS", and they anticipate having different shows in the future.

I visited on Saturday October 24, 2004-- they are in the Fenway district of Boston. When I got there, I discovered that someone I knew was also there by coincidence. His sister had recruited a group trip. The price was $16.80 (with tax), the weekend matinee price. Our group consisted of 11 people.

Without giving away any spoilers, I found Tomb to be interesting. Visually, the theming was very beautiful and realistic-looking -- you can almost imagine that you are in an Egyptian pyramid. The special effects and lighting were also really good. The audio was very clear-- no crappy haunt sound here. As for the puzzles and tasks, some were cheesy/easy and others were very difficult.

The replayability of this show is suspect-- I don't think that anyone would go more than once, unless you "die" and are unable to complete the game the first time. I seem to recall reading that if you "die" you might get a discount coupon for future visits. I recommend going with a group of people-- an intact group with no strangers. I believe that the optimal group size is 6-8 people, though I think that it will also work acceptably with a group of 4-10. It will also work best if there is no group waiting to go after yours, so you aren't as rushed. You'll probably want your group to be made up of friends and family, though it could be argued that the stress of the experience could be a friendship-breaker.

Because of the replayability factor, I have to question whether this company will stay in business long. The place seemed empty when I went, with the exception of our large group, and the staff looked bored. (However, my friend went by a few hours later and found the place to be crowded.) They have a year lease for this space.

In conclusion, Tomb was an interesting experience, and I'm glad I went. I do recommend it, with some reservation.

http://www.5-wits.com/

Summary: It's okay. Polar Express is not a good movie, but it is a visual spectacle worth seeing if (and only if) you can see it in an IMAX 3D theater.

You could tell that the movie was intended to be viewed in 3D. Most of the "camera" angles and shots were 3D-centric, and because of this the movie probably will look a bit strange in a regular theater. If you've ever seen a 3D movie on a 2D screen (like seeing Jaws 3 or Friday the 13th Part 3 on television) you'll know what I mean. Some of the sound (mostly rumbling of the train) also seemed to have been designed for IMAX theaters. For these reasons, I think that the movie is worth seeing only in an IMAX 3D theater.

The story itself was dull, and the movie seemed to be made of unrelated action sequences strung together. Parts of the plot didn't make sense. Visually interesting, but soul-less. I guess it is what comes of trying to turn a 29-page picture book into 2-hour movie.

Some people have said that the movie is scary for kids, but I didn't think so. It's not as bad as Wizard of Oz or Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It's true that Santa is somewhat stern and unsmiling, but it's nothing compared to the Santa in City of Lost Children.

Even though the movie isn't that great, it is a visual spectacle worth seeing, and I suspect that Polar Express will become a movie that families go to see every year at the IMAX.

I saw Polar Express in the Jordan's furniture store in Reading on Saturday [November 20, 2004]. I was able to get a walk-in ticket to the 10:00am show, but by noon all of the other showings, except for the 10:00pm show, had sold out. I noticed on the ticket web site, that by Saturday night all of Sunday's shows had also sold out, except for the final, 8:30pm show. If you are going to see it on a weekend, I recommend advance ticket purchase.

Update: I saw Polar Express again last Saturday, accompanying someone who had not yet seen it. So, even though it isn't that great a movie, the IMAX 3D version is something that can be enjoyed multiple times, like a theme park roller coaster.

This year's Taste of Boston is this weekend, Saturday and Sunday, September 18-19, 2004. It will again be held at City Hall Plaza, from 11am to 6pm on Saturday, and 12pm to 6pm on Sunday.

This is the event where you purchase tickets for $1 each and use them to buy food from restaurants and vendors who set up booths. Prices are from 1 to 5 tickets, depending on the menu item. The proceeds go to charity, the Greater Boston Food Bank. Other attractions include local celebrity chefs giving cooking demonstrations, free concerts, and kids activities. General admission is free.

Last year's best food and biggest surprise was Bickford's Pancake House which was promoting their new seafood menu by serving samples of lobster roll. Amusingly, according to their web site, Bickford's has now re-branded itself as "Bickford's Grille", an upscale family restaurant concept.

The Taste of Rhode Island is also the weekend after, September 25-26, 2004, in Newport.

http://www.tasteofboston.com/
http://www.bickfordsrestaurants.com/
http://www.newportfestivals.com/Taste_of_RI/

Restaurant Week in Boston is next week, August 23-27, 2004. It's a good opportunity to sample some of the best restaurants in the area, with special, prix-fixe menus of $20.04 for lunch and $30.04 for dinner.

http://www.bostonusa.com/visitor/resdet.php?seqnum=9680&type=event

At the Market Basket there were some fruit called Pluots which I had never heard of before, so I decided to try some. It turns out that Pluot is a trademark for a patented fruit owned by a company called Zaiger's Genetics. It was created as a hybrid between a plum and an apricot. As I understand it, when you cross a plum and an apricot, you get a fruit called a Plumcot. When you cross a Plumcot with a plum, you get the Pluot. And, when you cross a Plumcot with an apricot, you get another trademark fruit called Aprium. (My descriptions are just an approximation and are not 100% scientifically accurate.)

I'm not sure what variety I bought (there are quite a few), but my Pluots looked like large, purple plums. The flesh was firm, and the pit was small and came out of the fruit readily. It was very sweet and tasty, with only a bit of sourness near the skin. I recommend this fruit over regular plums.

I went to see The Lord of the Rings Motion Picture Trilogy: The Exhibition which is currently at the Museum of Science through October 24, 2004. It is a traveling exhibit that previously appeared in New Zealand, London, and Singapore. This is the only stop in the United States. It travels to Sydney, Australia next. I met some people from Minneapolis who traveled to Boston specifically to see this exhibit.

This is a exhibit with artwork, models, props, and costumes from the movies. It had a focus on the science behind the movies (special effects, prop making, etc.). They had a lot of stuff. There were video clips that showed interviews with the movie makers and explanations of how certain things were done. They also had The One Ring on display (encased in lucite) that I found myself strangely drawn to, going back repeatedly to gaze at it.

Also, there were four interactive exhibits:

1. They have a greenscreen set up where you and a friend can sit side-by-side in Gandalf's wagon. One person is scaled to be hobbit-sized and the other wizard-sized. It's free, and for $5.00 you can also have a souvenir picture taken.
2. Another greenscreen is set up so you can try motion capture technology. You hold two pieces of foam, and the computer maps your movement to control a CG warrior or elf on screen. One hand controls the movement of the shield/bow and the other controls the sword/arrow.
3. You can stand along a measurement wall, and a sensor will determine your height and tell you what Middle-earth race you could be. (I am as tall as an orc.)
4. In the final interactive exhibit, you can have your face scanned by a laser. A computer then maps your face using polygons, smoothing, and texture. The final image is your face as a stone statue. I think that this was used to model the Argonath based on Viggo Mortensen's face.

Some tips and hints for seeing the exhibit:

• Avoid wearing green clothing. You'll want to show up properly in the interactive exhibits that use greenscreen technology. (They'll lend you a blue shirt if you happen to be wearing green.)
• The exhibit is $19/17/16 for adult/senior/child. It includes a separate ticket for general museum admission, usable anytime within six months of purchase. For members, admission is $3.
• A limited number of tickets are sold for 15-minute interval entrance times. Once you go in, you can spend as much time as you want inside.
• It is conceivable that the day's allotment of tickets could run out. You may want to consider advance purchase, especially on holidays and weekends. I note that today (a Monday, not a holiday) at 11:00am tickets up to 12:45 were sold out, and at 2:38pm, tickets until 4:15pm were sold out.(I arrived at 9:00am on Saturday and had no difficulty purchasing a ticket for 9:00am.)
• There is a queue outside the exhibit, for ticket-holders to wait for their entrance time. However, I don't think that it is worth getting there early and waiting. This is because I can think of no benefit to being one of the first admitted within your time group. (In 15 minutes another group will be entering, anyway.)
• I spent 2 and 3/4 hours in the exhibit. I read just about every display and watched every video clip.
• There is no re-admittance to the exhibit once you leave. There are no restroom facilities in the exhibit.
• I recommend going early in the day. There are lines for the interactive exhibits, and I imagine that these might get to be long during the popular times. There were almost no lines from 9 to 10am.
• No cameras, strollers, bags, or mobile phones are allowed in the exhibit. No weaponry is allowed either for those people who attend in costume (and there were a few of them there).
• Like most museum exhibits, this one exits through a gift shop (which wasn't very impressive).
• The Green Line no longer goes to the Science Museum stop, due to construction. The museum advises visitors to catch a shuttle bus from Government Center (though the shuttle also stops at Haymarket and North Station.)
• If you park in the museum garage, the ticket gets inserted with the stripe on top and on the right. (I had trouble figuring this out.)
• Sean Astin (Sam Gamgee) is scheduled to visit the museum on October 15 and 16.

Lobster is on sale for $4.99 a pound at Market Basket this week. They can cook the lobster for you (they steam it), but if you do this in New Hampshire you'll pay an additional 8% meals tax. (There's no tax on live lobster.) These are "new shell" lobsters, which apparently means that they have less meat, compared to regular hard-shell lobsters.

The Maine Lobster Festival is this weekend. (http://www.mainelobsterfestival.com/). The Food Network recently showed (or re-ran) an episode of All American Festivals featuring it. There's a Food Network web page for the episode, along with links to recipes from the lobster cooking contest featured in the episode.

There are two all-you-can-eat lobster buffets in the area. Nordic Lodge in Charlestown, Rhode Island, is the older buffet. It is $65 (tax and gratuity included). Custy's International in North Stonington, Connecticut, is a more recently opened incarnation of a Custy's restaurant that used to be in Rhode Island. It is $62.95 (tax and gratuity not included). I've never been to either. I note that you could spend approximately the same amount of money and buy 12 pounds of lobster at Market Basket (approximately 7-8 lobsters).

Posted a forsale message to junk today:

Seabiscuit: An American Legend
The #1 New York Times Bestseller by Laura Hillenbrand

     This is the mass market paperback.  It's a nonfiction book about
a horse.  The book was recently made into a movie starring Tobey
Maguire.  I bought the book last week and read it once; the book is in
excellent condition, though the spine now has creases.

     I'm selling the book for $2.00.  Exact change only, please.  (The
cover price is $7.99, and I bought it at Target for $5.99.)

I should point out that Tobey Maguire does not play Seabiscuit in the movie. Instead, he plays a jockey.

Originally posted to junk 2004-07-22:

• A Bugaboo Creek is under construction at the Nashua Mall, where the Hoyts Cinema 4 used to be.
• Applebee's is now open on Daniel Webster Highway in south Nashua. It is between Circuit City and Old Navy, set back far from the road.
• There's a new Japanese Teppanyaki steakhouse named Mikata on 101A in north Nashua, next to the Saturn dealership.
• I've read that Matsuya is now closed, though I haven't confirmed it. It's the Japanese place that opened where Dry Gulch used to be.
• The proposed Olive Garden in Tyngsboro is getting closer and closer to final approval. (Lowell Sun URL deleted; zoning variance granted for sign)
• Kitchen Etc. is closing all their stores, and they are now having going-out-of-business sales. http://www.kitchenetc.com/