DVDeals 11/30 - 12/6

DVD Tuesday
I never saw Wanted, but it looks like a great special fx movie... one where the fx could save a bad story. It's the same price at Circuit City and Best Buy... $15.99 for the regular edition and $22.99 for the 2-disc special edition w/ digital copy. Prince Caspian will also be released this Tuesday and Circuit City wins the price war for the regular edition... $14.99. The special 3-disc edition is the cheapest by far at Amazon for $22.99.

Best Buy Deals
- Clone Wars for $13.99
- Forbidden Kingdom for $13.99
- Stargate: Continuum for $13.99

Circuit City Deals
- Unleashed for $6.99
- 2 Fast 2 Furious for $6.99
- Superman II for $6.99
- Troy for $6.99
- Bourne Identity for $6.99
- Bourne Supremacy for $6.99
- Jurassic Park for $6.99
- Van Helsing for $6.99
- Pan's Labyrinth for $6.99
- Rundown for $6.99
- Fast & Furious for $6.99
- Family Guy: Blue Harvest for $6.99

Thanksgiving

I was looking forward to Thanksgiving more this year than any other since we missed it last year. When I think back, that may have been the only year we didn't celebrate Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!

DVDeals for Black Friday

Because of the economy, we're seeing some Black Friday prices all week long in an attempt to get people shopping. Even some of the DVD prices for Friday aren't spectacular, but still good. Here's what I was able to gather from my usual stores:

Best Buy Deals
- 300 for $6.99
- Alien vs. Predator for $6.99
- Batman Begins for $4.99
- Beowulf for $4.99
- Doomsday for $9.99
- Family Guy: Seasons 1-5 for $14.99 each
- Fantastic Four for $4.99
- Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer for $4.99
- Ghost Rider for $4.99
- Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay for $9.99
- I Am Legend for $6.99
- Live Free Or Die Hard for $6.99
- Night At The Museum for $4.99
- Pan's Labyrinth for $4.99
- Rambo for $6.99
- Seinfeld Season 1 & 2 for $14.99
- Seinfeld Season 3-9 for $14.99 each
- Shrek 2 for $4.99

Circuit City Deals
- Beowulf: Director's Cut for $5.99
- Braveheart: Special Collector's Edition for $5.99
- Charlie's Angels: Unrated for $3.99
- Daredevil for $3.99
- Family Guy: Freakin' Sweet Collection for $2.99
- Family Guy: Seasons 1-5 for $14.99 each
- Fantastic 4: Rise Of The Silver Surfer for $3.99
- I, Robot for $3.99
- Mr. & Mrs. Smith for $5.99
- Riddick for $3.99
- Robots for $3.99
- Rocky IV for $3.99
- South Park: Seasons 1-4 for $9.99 each
- Spiderman 2 for $3.99
- Spiderman for $3.99
- The Happening for $9.99
- Transformers for $5.99
- Van Helsing for $3.99
- Vantage Point for $9.99
- X2 for $3.99
- X3 for $3.99

DVDeals 11/23 - 11/29

DVD Tuesday
Hancock will be coming out this Tuesday in 3 editions... regular, unrated & 2-disc unrated. The single disc editions are cheapest @ Circuit City for $14.99. The 2-disc set is the same price everywhere for $22.99.

Best Buy Deals
- Robots for $3.99
- Underworld for $3.99

Circuit City Deals
- Tomb Raider for $2.99
- Family Guy: Freakin' Sweet Collection for $2.99
- Planet of the Apes for $2.99
- The Saint for $2.99
- Rush Hour for $6.99
- I Am Legend for $6.99
- Ocean's Thirteen for $6.99
- 300 for $6.99
- Golden Compass for $6.99

Gallery Expresso

Original Dates: 1993-1997

I started going to Starbucks to use their wireless connection just for a change of scenery. It's an interesting atmosphere too... one that takes me back to the college days.

I would go to Gallery Expresso all the time to study for an art history class or to work on sketches. I enjoyed that place for the environment. It was an artist's coffee house. The lighting was dim, but enough to read a book. They had wood floors and brick walls. It always reminded me of an Edgar Degas painting... same mood... same colors.

I just looked up the place on Google and 2 addresses came up. The one on 6 E. Liberty St. seems the the right location. I lived on Liberty after my freshman year and went a lot more often. The other address that came up was 234 Bull St. I remember clearly that it wasn't on Bull St., but this owns the URL... www.galleryexpresso.com. So it's also possible that they moved into a larger space. Maybe some day I'll find out if I ever go back!

Jollibee is COMING SOON!

I mentioned last year, during my Philippines visit that Jollibee probably didn't really break into the American market (except California) because of a difference in taste that may not be appealing to the overseas crowd. I was always surprised that there was no New York location though. Every cuisine seems to find it's place in this diverse city. There's a large Filipino community in Woodside and I always thought Jollibee would also match the Latino tastes.

After dinner at SriPraPhai the other night, Emily & I came across a construction site on the way to the 61st St. station. Jollibee posters were plastered all over the wooden boards covering the building being renovated. That's right... Philippines' #1 fast food chain is finally coming to NY! After 33 years in the business, it's finally happening. Better late than never!


I couldn't find an official opening date announced anywhere, but it seems like late 2008. They already posted available positions (above), so it could be any time now.

Aladdin

A True Classic

Every month in church, the priest plans out a Children's lesson. This was a new thing starting last month. He would talk about a popular children's movie and connect the moral of the story to something in life or a Bible teaching. Today's choice was Aladdin and how the title character learned to trust and believe in himself. What actually amazed me was the movie choice and how all of the kids in mass were able to answer the priest's questions about the movie's characters and plot. Why? Aladdin was released in 1992 and was a huge hit. And now, 16 years later, every kid still knows it.

Back in 1992, I was a junior in high school and bought the collector's edition of Aladdin because I was starting to study animation. At the time, it, along with Beauty and the Beast were revolutionary in American animation. They were smooth, multi-layer and made use of computer graphics. I'm glad this classic story and important part of computer art history is living on in the next generation.

DVDeals 11/16 - 11/22

DVD Tuesday
Disney's Wall-E is the only worthy new release this coming Tuesday. The regular edition is $14.99 everywhere. The 3-disc edition is $27.99 @ Circuit City, $2 less than Best Buy. It seems like they're charging a premium for the 3rd disc... a digital copy. Special editions are normally $20-22.

Best Buy Deals
- Matrix Quadruple Feature for $9.99
- Steven Segal Quadruple Feature for $9.99
- Sylvester Stallone Quadruple Feature for $9.99
- Superman Quadruple Feature for $9.99
- Batman Begins for $6.99
- Troy for $6.99
- Spiderman for $6.99
- Underworld Evolution for $6.99
- Family Guy: Stewie the Untold Story for $6.99

Circuit City Deals
- Kung Fu Panda for $14.99
- Iron Man for $14.99
- The Happening for $14.99
- South Park Movie for $6.49
- Team America for $6.49

SriPraPhai

Location: 64-13 39th Ave., Woodside, NY 11377
Cuisine: Thai
Hours: SUN-TUE & THU-SAT (11:30am-9:30pm); WED (closed)
Phone: (718) 899-9599
Prices: about $20/person
Credit Cards: Cash only

Food: 8
Service: 4
Value: 7
Environment: 8

Frequency: Unique

We all met up this month to celebrate Charlotte & Marites' November Birthdays. This time, we went with SriPraPhai, one of the best Thai restaurants in the city. I got there around 7pm to get a table as the place was packed. They handed out numbers that were displayed on an electronic sign when a spot freed up. We got in at about 7:25, which was perfect timing because Jeff & Ben got out of work late. So everyone was there when they called our number.


The food was great. It's definitely up to par with the Thai restaurants on 9th Avenue. I didn't get to compare my "test" dishes because I was reeled in by their soft-shelled crab offerings, but their coconut rice is the best I've had. I'll even put it above Sentosa's.

The service was pretty bad. Initially, they got 3 out of the 8 orders right. I also ordered an iced coffee that was overwritten my the ice tea order that came after me. The bill was also had to decipher. There were a bunch of note papers written in Thai and the receipt didn't have the item listings on it. When thinking back on this, I'm pretty sure they padded the bill.

The value was good. The individual items were fairly cheap, but one look at their menu will have you ordering many things!

The environment was very nice. They just recently expanded to the space next door, doubling their seating capacity. It was surprisingly pleasant to eat there despite the full house. The restroom was clean and very sanitary. They had an electronic toilet seat cover that changed itself by activating an infrared sensor. I think every restaurant should install one of these.

I'm sure I'll be back at this place again. There are many other things to try out and a good chance for them to improve their service rating. Charlotte said that they're not normally as bad as tonight. It was busy and they had a lot of new staff members.

For more comments and descriptions of the gathering, check out the individual photos I uploaded to Picasa.