For all the things I don't care for in my new "neighborhood" (for lack of a better word, one which would translate to "living situation in extended-stay hotel surrounded by empty lots and something which looks like it could have been a dried-up river bed, where no sidewalks or corner stores or trees exist"), one thing I really like is the fact that I can walk to the Palms in just a few minutes. The Palms is a casino, much like every other higher-end casino in town, though it definitely appeals to the MTV-set more than, let's say, the Wynn casino (which appeals to the $500-round-of-golf set). It's home to the world's only Playboy Club (bunnies working the turntables--sweet!) as well as the world's largest underwear party (I don't know what that means exactly, but it says so on their billboard). It's a favorite hangout of celebs such as Britney and Justin and that guy who plays Hurley on "Lost" (well, maybe not a favorite hangout of his, but I saw him there a few days ago). I shared an elevator with Suge Knight on New Year's last year, which accounts for one of my closest celeb encounters. Yes, The Palms is the place to be for many young hipsters. And I am certainly not one of those. So why do I like being so close to this casino, when I don't gamble, don't drink, and am not looking for a random one-nighter? Because two of my favorite things are there: a 14-screen movie theatre with IMAX; and a kick-ass sushi restaurant.
Last night, Alex and I saw "The Dark Knight" on IMAX. Flippin' sweet, yo! I'd seen it about a month ago, while I was visiting my friend Mark up in Windham, NY. Mark and I had planned on going to the drive-in to see it (yes, drive-in theatres still exist!), but they changed the schedule and we would have had to sit through "The Clone Wars" first, which excited neither of us. So we went to the local 2-screen theatre, which is also the Subway, the ice cream parlor, the gift shop, the video rental place. Mark had been boycotting this theatre for some time, as he finds the $9 ticket price to be outrageous for an old 60-seat theatre with a crappy sound system. But it was either cough up the money or sit through another Lucasfilms attempt to live up to the greatness of the original films. No thanks. And since $9 is a cheap movie price in Manhattan, I paid so Mark could hold fast to his refusal to support their extravagant pricing. And it was worth every over-priced penny! We both highly enjoyed the movie (though Mark had some questions regarding who killed Bruce Wayne's parents, but it didn't spoil the fun). I felt bad for Alex, as he had wanted to see it but spent 7 days a week all summer glued to a computer and didn't get to do fun things like visit friends in the Catskills or see movies or leave the apartment. And as much as I enjoyed the film, I felt like perhaps I might enjoy it even more with a huge screen and a killer sound system. I was right, it was SO much better on IMAX! There were moments when I felt like I was on a roller coaster, and I loves me some roller coaster. How cool to have movies so close to home?
And sushi...Alex started raving about Little Buddha a few years ago, and almost every time I visited him included a trip to Buddha. Best sashimi I've ever had, and they do good rolls. Plus it's a good atmosphere. There's a DJ spinning, the decor is all red and black, and I must admit, I look good in the dark. Plus, we get it all comped! Well, we try. Thursday night, Alex's buddy George took care of most of the tab, as Alex blew through most of his comp points there last week. Unfortunately, he hasn't been betting as much at Palms this year, so the comp points are running low. Must rectify that. (Someday, I'll write a whole post about the beauty of casino comps, the dream that is RFB--RoomFoodBeverage--and how people as poor as me and Alex sometimes get to live like we have money.)
Yes, I miss my New York neighborhood. I miss having sidewalks, I miss having parks and a river nearby, I miss having newspaper boxes on the corner rather than sexpaper boxes. But I sure do love walking to sushi and movies. And getting it all for free!
2 comments:
I STILL maintain that they're re-writing the script. In the original Tim Burton Batman, Jack Napier killed Bruce Wayne's parents in the alley, saying as he did "You ever dance with the devil in the pale moonlight?" And then, later, when Batman first encounters the Joker, he says the same thing, leading Batman to discover that it was the Joker who, as a young man, killed his parents.
Now, I should say, this didn't diminish my enjoyment of "The Dark Night." In fact, Heath Ledger's batman was far scarier and better than Jack Nicholson's, in my opinion. However, they are DEFINITELY changing the story!!!
PS, I now see all my movies in Hunter. They have an art cinema. For seven bucks. Suck it, Windham Theatre.
Way to stick it to the Windham Man!!
And perhaps the story has changed from the Tim Burton script, but what about the original comic???
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