LOST: CAPTAIN AMERICA; FOUND: GREEN BLOB

Many years ago, I saw the movie The Pursuit of Happyness, starring Will Smith, on an airplane.  I think it was a return trip from Asia, so many hours on the plane, I could only sleep so much and eventually decided to watch a movie to pass the time.  I didn't see the whole movie, probably started watching a quarter of the way in.  I knew that Will Smith's character was homeless and got stuck with a son, tried to go to job interview, slept in homeless shelter etc.  I didn't catch the ending either but there was a scene that made me sad.

Supposedly Smith's character, Chris Gardner, was trying to get to a homeless shelter in time for something, maybe dinner, maybe curfew, but he was in a rush.  He dragged his son along and when they were hurriedly crossing the street the little boy dropped an action figure of Captain America in the middle of the road.  There was no time to turn back, they had to move along so the kid was crying the whole time.  Or at least that's what I recall, I haven't seen the movie again since then.  The toy meant a world to the little boy and it was gone.

Yesterday, as I was out CityStriding, near the end I crossed Flatbush Avenue Extension near Dekalb Market, from the L.I.U. side to City Point.  Coming from the other side of the street, there was a group of women each with a kid or two.  Some kids were in strollers, others were held by the hand by the, supposedly, mothers.  One of the walking kid dropped a green blob toy, probably one of those that you can get from a toy vending machine.  For 50 cents, or maybe $1 now, you get this toy that comes in a half-dome, maybe with a folded paper teaching you how to play it, or not to eat it.  The kid immediately shouted but the mother just went on crossing the street with the group, pulling the boy along.  I quickly scooped up the toy and made a U-turn to give the toy to one of the woman in the group, then turned again to continue my trip.  I think the boy was happy to get his toy back.  He may have a lot of other toys at home but at that time, that little green blob was his favorite.

FREE OUTDOOR MOVIES

For the longest time I wanted to attend one of those free outdoor movie showings.  Chances are the movies are old but it's the experience that matters more.  The viewers are not limited to a particular indoor space, the sky is overhead, sitting may not be most comfortable but that's beside the point.  The free admission helps too.  I believe the very first instance I knew of such showing is that at Bryan Park in Manhattan, behind the New York Public Library's Research Library.  It's been so long I cannot remember why I never attended the movies at Bryan Park.  Maybe it started too late in the evening, such that even though I worked in Manhattan I would have to hang around the city a few hours after work just to wait for the movie to start.  Maybe it always showed on a certain day of the week that I normally scheduled to pick up my girlfriend from college.  Whatever the case, I never went.  Years passed and I learned of more similar showing, in particular the Flicks on the Beach series in Coney Island.  I've lived near Coney about fifteen years now but I finally went to a beach movie this week.  Coney itself I didn't explore until many years after moving into the area.  I recall when I first moved here I heard that it's possible to walk to Coney Island.  Only in recent years when I started to get serious with the sports of outdoor running that I actually visited Coney regularly.  The People's Playground, you have beach, the boardwalk, famous rides, but all these years I didn't visited it.  Better late than never.

The movie was Men in Black 3.  I went with my son and a nephew.  Before the movie we bought dinner from Nathan's.  Also parked the car in a lot for $10.  Nephew and son each spent about $20 at the arcade in Luna Park.  I definitely did my part in supporting the local economy.

It was a beautiful evening, not hot and not cold.  My son's feet felt cold near the end of the evening but I felt fine.  In the car we happened to have two beach towels, courtesy of TD Bank from some event, and they served the three of us just fine.  Some people had beach chairs, others just sat on the sand, then there are others who came complete with blankets and pillows.  By the time I arrived many people already settled down, but there were room to walk about, at least from the middle to the back.  The screen was not as big as I thought it would be but it did the job.  Being inflatable, it introduced curves to the images on the film but after a while you get used to it.  The audio system was good, except, lucky me, I sat near some motormouth woman who yapped constantly during the movie, something about some other woman or man she didn't get along with.  Sheesh, if you want to whine, why not do it in the comfort of your home and not bother the people at a beach movie.  Other annoyances with the setting include wafting cigarette smokes, vendors hawking their wares (snacks, beach seats), and people in the front getting up to leave.  Oh yeah, some idiot briefly shone a laser dot onto the screen.  Just minor annoyances that cannot be helped when a big group of people is involved.  Overall it was orderly, as far as I can tell.  When it was time to leave, it didn't take us too long to get past the boardwalk onto the street and back to the car.

I enjoyed the experience very much.  The movie itself was so-so, time travel and the usual jokes in the Men in Black franchise.  Good screen, good audio, good scenery, although next time I plan to bring a beach chair, plenty of food and drink nearby available for purchase, unless you are too lazy to get up and decide to patronize those vendors who snake their way among the crowd shouting and interrupting the show.  The nearest restroom was that in Luna Park but the relatively new public ones, on columns above the beach, are not far away.  I am thinking of catching Fame in two weeks, but for that I would have to go by myself as I don't know anyone else in the family who would want to watch it.  I just love the music, not care much about the story.  Better yet, I plan to go see Huey Lewis and the News, for a different free series, but also in Coney Island, on August 15.

Flicks on the Beach, with help from Rooftop Films etc.

Beautiful runner's toes, no missing nails, yet!

Happy Daddy!

Wonder Wheel!

Guess the Famous Movie Scene

Growing up in Viet Nam, even though my family was considered middle-class, I was taught to be frugal and make the most of what we had. I had enough toys to play with but I also made use of found objects. A neighbor gave me some wood blocks, probably leftover pieces from a carpentry task, and I played with them for so long the blocks became smooth. I also had small paper boxes for use as furniture and buildings. I don't recall ever throwing away toys or ignoring them after a few days of playing.

It pains me these days to see my son lose interest in his playthings so quickly. One week it is little green plastic soldiers, the next week it is building paper structures like Capitol Hill and Statue of Liberty. This week it's Thumb Wrestling Federation and its associated papery toys - masks, decals, belts, even a wrestling ring - but who knows what next week's favorite toy be. What to do with all the forgotten toys?

I don't watch too many movies but I try to catch a classic one every now and then. Or at least those that are cultural phenomenon or cult classic. In the photo above, I tried to re-create a famous ending scene. A shirtless man on his hands and knees pounding the floor. A woman sit on an animal that can pass for a horse. (I am not sure if the actual scene has the woman sitting on the "horse" or standing near the animal.) In the background, we have a famous statue somewhat titled to one side, somewhat hidden behind a mountain. Name the movie!