Being from New York City, you would think I’d focus on other exhibits…but my goal on visiting here were The World Trade Center: Rescue, Recovery, Response exhibit, the Metropolis Hall and Fire Engine Hall.
Empire State Plaza and New York State Capitol
The plaza was already mostly turned off for the year, but the buildings themselves were beautiful, and the Capitol Building felt like a castle from the outside, and the grand staircases inside mirrored that image.
I went ahead and bought myself the Adventure Pass which included four items (first four below) and saved money on each one by buying them together.
The Pass also comes with a 48-hour WeGo Bus Pass allowing you to get around town easier. The buses run more frequently in the summer, and were slightly sporadic as I stood waiting for them.
Hornblower Cruises We all know the famous “Maid of the Mist” boat, but on the Canadian side it has been taken over by Hornblower Cruises. It’s the same trip, albeit slightly closer to the Horseshoe Falls, and was a lot of fun. You want to be on the left side of the boat as it goes out (as that will give you better views of the American and Bridal Veil Falls) but unless the boat is packed like sardines, you can generally find a place once the mist starts blowing and people move off the rails.
Once the water gets cold for the winter the mist gets to be biting.
Journey Behind The Falls
This takes you in the tunnels behind the Horseshoe Falls, and lets you walk out next to the falls. You may feel the spray of the Falls both at the tunnel mouths as well as on the deck, depending on the winds and force of the Falls (varies by time of year).
Niagara’s Fury
This is a short animated show, teaching the history of the Falls, including the creation and how it has moved miles over the years. It ends with you getting a 4D show of going through the rapids and over the Falls.
Don’t let the show fool you, make sure to wear that poncho!
White Water Walk
Honestly, this was the most fun part of my trip.
The walk takes you on a 1/4 mile walk down alongside the Class 6 rapids of the Niagara River. At the end of the boardwalk you can walk down right to the waterside, and feel the splash of the river as it blows by.
Casino Niagara
This one obviously isn’t child friendly, nor is it friendly to your wallet if you aren’t that good. But playing Poker and 21 at the tables there is a lot of fun, especially with the personalities of the dealers and the “regulars” at the table.
The Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, NY was the next stop in my recent travels.
The museum is open 361 days a year, and features lots of great pieces of glass.
I actually thought it would be a boring place, and that it would be a quick stop (although they recommend three-hours)…I was there just about all three.
They have a wide variety of glass throughout the ages, and from all over the world.
You can also watch demonstrations of all sorts, including Flameworking and Glassbreaking Demos. This is a monkey I watched made using Flameworking:
One can also make their own glass, or design on already made materials, using methods such as sandblasting (available same day) or other glass products like frames, nightlights, and sculptures, which can be picked up next day or shipped to your house.
I also made a stop in the gift shop…which was very dangerous, and I had multiple trips to the cashier. Whoops!
My recent trip started off at Yankee Stadium for the season finale of NYCFC. Unfortunately the playoffs were already out of reach, and the team showed exactly why they didn’t belong there, as they looked sloppy all over the place.
Before the game started there were some parachuters who flew into the stadium…or slightly missed it in the case of one of them.
I also managed to get on the big screen before the game 😉
Overall it was another fun experience, and I am gladly signed on for another year as a season ticket holder. On that note, if anyone wants tickets next year, you know how to get in touch with me!
Carrie Underwood released her fifth album today, and Storyteller is exactly what you’d expect it to be…Vintage Carrie pushing out another album that will hit the top of the charts.
Ranging from songs about college students and moms needing a smoke, Carrie reaches out properly to her target audience: Everyone.
While not grabbing the crowd with catchy Pop songs, like T-Swift might, her powerful vocals come across on almost every song, just like they did when she won the 4th season of American Idol 10-years ago.
All the Ajax in the world ain’t gonna clean your dirty laundry.
Carrie will please her usual audience, but is unlikely to grab new listeners with this album.
Overall it’s an 8 out of 10.
As driverless cars start to take over the streets in the next few years, are we going to approach the end of traffic accidents?
If every car is making calculated moves, and communicating to the cars around them (such as for lane changes and the likes), there is no reason two cars should ever touch each other.
It’ll come down to human error if they take over the wheel, and of course bugs in the system to be worked out, but even if accidents were to happen, having the cars be computerized will let the police know right away which car was at fault, and it’ll also clear up congestion, as rubber necking wouldn’t happen (cars themselves won’t stop to look) and merging would be more seamless as the cars would alternate on their own.
I know many people are scared of a robotic future, but I await it with open arms, let Skynet and USR do their thing, as the future holds some awesome stuff.
Supermans’ cousin is flying onto your screens on Monday, and it’s going to be out of this world.
The story of Kara Danvers, aka Kara Zor-El, begins similarly to Clark Kent’s Kal-El, on a spaceship sent from their home planet of Krypton shortly before it exploded, but with him out and about, she’s never had to use her powers.
That all changes when her adoptive sisters plane starts to go down and she swoops in to save the day, slowly revealing herself to coworkers and friends while working at the (shockingly) local paper.
I embraced who I am and I don’t want to stop.
Melissa Benoist plays Kara, and does an outstanding job in a coming-of-age style show, with Supergirl rediscovering her powers, her way, and the dangers in the world of a superhero.
In a time where TV is overloaded with super hero shows (Flash, Arrow, etc.) including lots of really amazing ones (Gotham, Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) this show will do really well at standing out.
Rating 9.5 out of 10 – THIS RATING IS JUST FOR THE PILOT EPISODE.
Facebook in their ever growing attempts to tell us what we like, continues to push on our Newsfeeds the “Most Popular” posts, as determined by their algorithms and deep crawling spiders.
Yet while doing this they continue to bury new/fresh posts that people are putting out there.
On the flip side, Twitter is doing it right.
When I log in to the Mobile App on my phone, I experience Twitter how it is meant to be: A flowing timeline of what is being posted, in chronological order, most recent right at the top.
And when I haven’t logged in in more than a few hours, they throw a “Things You May Have Missed” at me, with four or five short tweets (as all Tweets currently, thankfully, are) of more popular posts, based on insights on the Tweets.
Speaking of insights, you are able to easily see activity on any Tweet you’ve put out there. From info such as “Impressions” (times people saw the tweet) and “Engagements” (interactions with the Tweet), which include profile clicks.
Mattel reported earnings last week, and unsurprisingly Barbie sales pulled their numbers down.
Barbies sales are down 4% bringing in approximately $300M last quarter, and I don’t think anyone should be surprised.
Since Barbie first launched, 55+ years ago, a lot of competition has entered the market, including American Girl Dolls (also now owned by Mattel), Lego’s girl themed toys, and recently Disney’s Frozen dolls.
The real question is: Is Mattel trying as hard anymore?
I know I don’t watch cartoons anymore, like I did as a kid, but I have seen less Barbie advertising in recent years than I used to see, and with the vast market out there why spend the $$ on an actual Barbie, when the kids don’t even know and appreciate the brand?
At this point I just see it as a sentimental buy for parents, reliving their childhoods and their Barbie Playhouse days.
In a last ditch effort, and following the lead of many others, there is talk of a Barbie Movie scheduled for a 2017 release. Will it be too little too late?
So the New York Mets are the talk of the town, and everyone suddenly seems to be a fan, but they won’t have an easy task of it, as they take on the Chicago Cubs in the National League Championship Series (NLCS).
Both these teams have outstanding pitching as Harvey, deGrom and Thor face off against Arrieta, Lester and Hendricks. But it will come down to the monster hitters….and I don’t think Yoenis and Murphy will be able to keep up with Schwarber, Rizzo, Soler and Bryant.
And don’t forget that Back To The Future II, in 1989, predicted the Cubs would finally win the World Series in 2015. Prediction: Cubs in 6
But I don’t think it’ll matter who wins the National League as the American League Championship Series (ALCS) holds this years champion.
The Kansas City Royals, who won the AL Pennant last year, faces off against the Toronto Blue Jays, who with a +221 point differential led the league, in what is going to be a fireworks of a series.
Toronto has what it takes to go all the way, but Kansas City is a team that needs to finish off what they started last year. Prediction: Royals in 7
Aviously 