Today, On top of the Rock, Found the Force

Our first stop this morning was the Today Show outside spectator area.  We grabbed coffee and a bagel on the way there instead of doing a formal breakfast arrangement.  When we first got there we were trying to get a picture into the studio from the sidewalk that is right next to it.  There was a very persistent police officer that insisted you were not allowed to stop in front of the window at all.  I guess they don’t want somebody flashing a moon to a national morning show audience.  We stepped across the street and used the camera zoom to at least get a half decent picture.

We then decided to try to get into the formal crowd around the outside area where the cast shoots various spots from.  We had to walk up and around the block to the far side to get into the entrance where they give you a quick wanding to make sure you aren’t carrying any weapons.  When we first got in there the back section of gated area was pretty empty which is where we stood for a little while.  It was pretty far away from the action however.

It started to rain at a decent clip.  About half of the people that were packed around the other side, close to the studio, left the area.  Cindy used it as her opportunity to get us close.  We made our way to the closer fencing and Cindy actually managed to get herself right up front.  We were there too late to catch any of the cast back out on the street but we were clearly on the crowd pan shot that went down right around 9AM.  We have the DVR running at home recording the Today Show so we can check it. After the 9AM pan shot they close down the spectator area for the rest of the show.

We went in the NBC gift shop briefly next door so Cindy could pose with cardboard cut outs of her favorite morning show.  We decided to do the Top of the Rock tour since we were right there.  We sat for a few minutes in a common area.  My lower body and lower back just feel all kinds of tight after Sunday’s IronLoo workout.  I just can’t stay upright for that long without being in a lot of discomfort.

The light rain and overcast skies dampened the view from the top of the Rockefeller Building but it still was very impressive.  Looking down on the huge expanse of urban engineering is something you really have to see first hand to appreciate.  It can realign your perspective on things and give you more appreciation for the quiet and simple things, if that is what you value.

After thoroughly checking out the view from the building from every perspective we had to decide what we wanted to do next.  The shitty weather made the idea of doing a lot of walking outside not sound like a great idea.  Cindy suggested we should catch an early Star Wars showing, something I dismissed earlier in the trip but now made good sense.  The weather sucked, I was looking to sit, and going around lunch time on a Tuesday, even in NYC meant we could probably see the movie without being overly crowded.  We made out way to the AMC theater in Time Square who was playing the movie every half hour in 2D or 3D all day long.

This was a multi-level theater, we rode the elevator to the 5th floor to get to our showing.  We got in shortly after the previews started and had no problem finding a seat up high in a row by ourselves.  We seemed all ready to have an enjoyable movie experience, until THEY showed up.  They, (a black guy and girl) walked in front of us with their phone light on full force, illuminating the row so they could take a seat on the left side of the theater, maybe 3 rows down from us and a total of maybe 20 feet away.  They were talking as they walked by us and they continued to talk, non-stop, once they sat down.  It was still the previews so I held out hope they had the common sense to shut the fck up.  Of course, they didn’t.

For the first 15 minutes of the movie I just sat there annoyed before I commented to Cindy about it.  She thought that maybe if she asked them “nicely” they would realize they were being inconsiderate.  She asked them to please be quiet.  She told me later she got a look from the girl like she wanted to kill her.  Cindy’s nice request was of course ignored and they continued to talk non-stop.

So now I had to decide how I wanted to handle it.  I could ask them to shut up in a not nice manner, make a scene, and if that didn’t work I would have to track down theater personnel to tell them to either shut up or get out.  But I really just wanted to just watch the damn movie and not miss a big chunk of it dealing with inconsiderate assholes.  Cindy and I looked around the far side of the theater for alternative seating out of earshot of these idiots.  We got up and headed down the steps.  I stopped and told the irritating couple I didn’t appreciate them talking the entire time and it was extremely rude of them.   They said nothing in return, I almost wish they did.  We found lower seating on the opposite side that was at least less irritating.  Nobody around was talking much but the people behind Cindy had a hard time not bumping the seat.  Why are people such assholes….

So finally we could turn our attention back to the movie.  I have to say I thought it was nearly impossible for Star Wars to live up to all the hype.  People have been dying for redemption for the generally shitty prequel trilogy that Lucas made in the 90’s.  Well they finally got it.  I thought the movie was great.  It finally delivered the same feel of movie as the originals.  I thought they did a great job of tying the old characters together with the newcomers in such a way that felt natural and as it should be.  I can hardly wait for the next installment.  Kudos to JJ Abrams for knocking it out of the park.  Hell I would go see it again if I could guarantee to do it without a symphony of morons surrounding me.  A+ all day, see it.

After the movie we found a tiny little place to eat lunch.  I enjoyed my first falafel sandwich while Cindy and I sat by the window, watching NYC happen outside.  We decided to head back to the room to give us a much needed breather.  Once it gets dark out I think we will do our Empire State tour we already paid for to see the high view at night and contrast it with what we saw this morning.

The temps today have been MUCH better than the first two days. It has been 50+ degrees all day, requiring no extensive clothing precautions.  Tomorrow we have a good chunk of the day left to explore before we take public transportation back to JFK, where we fly back tomorrow evening.

This trip has been awesome as we expected but it will also be one of those vacations that a few days to recover from will be a good thing.

Oh I forgot, on one of the video boards they were playing an ad encouraging people to vacation in the Naples area.  It seemed incredibly ironic we stumbled upon it at just the right time.