Monday, August 07, 2006
WORDPLAY
After dropping off my sister-in-law and her fiancé at the Convention Center for Otakon on Saturday, a simple errand for which they were phenomenally grateful (I’m guessing they must have had several issues getting to and from the con in years previous), my wife and I decided to go see a movie at the Charles. We had just missed the first show, so bought our tickets for the next one, and walked around the Station North Arts District for a while. Not that there was a lot to see or do; I guess artists aren’t typically up and about before 2:00 p.m. on a Saturday. I was hoping to find a café where we could sit and chat, but aside from a McDonald’s or Dunkin’ Donuts around the corner, the closest restaurants that might have been open were further south on Charles than we wanted to go. (The two places next door to the Charles, Tapas Teatro and Sofi’s Crepes, were closed and packed respectively.) So we hung out in the Charles’ lobby and read the City Paper and the Urbanite until show time.
Like so many others, my wife and I have a ritual of solving the puzzle pages in the Sunday Baltimore Sun. We have developed quite an affection for the New York Times Crossword Puzzle, so when we heard there was a documentary being released about crossword puzzles, the Times puzzle in particular, and by extension its editor Will Shortz specifically, we knew we wanted to see it. It was interesting, well-made, invoked a decent amount of suspense when it focused on the annual National Crossword Puzzle Tournament, and while it may not have been as exciting as Pirates 2, it was certainly more satisfying.
After the movie, we stopped by Comics Kingdom in Hampden, and then went to Fells Point to hang out until we were called for a pick-up back at Otakon. We picked up some curtains and towels at one of the shops, and then sat down at Slainte to have a few beers while we waited. Of course, as soon as we sat down, the phone rang, so we chugged down our beers and left. Despite Saturday traffic, a Yankees game, and a disturbing number of emergency vehicles, we made it back to the Convention Center in ten minutes. We were originally planning on taking them to a local restaurant such as Pazo or the Thirsty Dog , but it was so late by then that we decided to just go home and pick up a bucket of chicken along the way. We spent the rest of the evening, catching up, watching videos, and introducing them to the Venture Brothers.
After dropping off my sister-in-law and her fiancé at the Convention Center for Otakon on Saturday, a simple errand for which they were phenomenally grateful (I’m guessing they must have had several issues getting to and from the con in years previous), my wife and I decided to go see a movie at the Charles. We had just missed the first show, so bought our tickets for the next one, and walked around the Station North Arts District for a while. Not that there was a lot to see or do; I guess artists aren’t typically up and about before 2:00 p.m. on a Saturday. I was hoping to find a café where we could sit and chat, but aside from a McDonald’s or Dunkin’ Donuts around the corner, the closest restaurants that might have been open were further south on Charles than we wanted to go. (The two places next door to the Charles, Tapas Teatro and Sofi’s Crepes, were closed and packed respectively.) So we hung out in the Charles’ lobby and read the City Paper and the Urbanite until show time.
Like so many others, my wife and I have a ritual of solving the puzzle pages in the Sunday Baltimore Sun. We have developed quite an affection for the New York Times Crossword Puzzle, so when we heard there was a documentary being released about crossword puzzles, the Times puzzle in particular, and by extension its editor Will Shortz specifically, we knew we wanted to see it. It was interesting, well-made, invoked a decent amount of suspense when it focused on the annual National Crossword Puzzle Tournament, and while it may not have been as exciting as Pirates 2, it was certainly more satisfying.
After the movie, we stopped by Comics Kingdom in Hampden, and then went to Fells Point to hang out until we were called for a pick-up back at Otakon. We picked up some curtains and towels at one of the shops, and then sat down at Slainte to have a few beers while we waited. Of course, as soon as we sat down, the phone rang, so we chugged down our beers and left. Despite Saturday traffic, a Yankees game, and a disturbing number of emergency vehicles, we made it back to the Convention Center in ten minutes. We were originally planning on taking them to a local restaurant such as Pazo or the Thirsty Dog , but it was so late by then that we decided to just go home and pick up a bucket of chicken along the way. We spent the rest of the evening, catching up, watching videos, and introducing them to the Venture Brothers.
# posted by Renfield @ 8:40 AM 
