Apparently he's over apparently

This kid is such. a. riot. I wonder what the adult version of him is going to be like.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrIrbeoDkT0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CaafK0reVzs

Into the Wild

On September 6, 1992 the body of Christopher Johnson McCandless was discovered in a school bus on the Stampede Trail in Denali National Park, Alaska. Since Jon Krakauer first published a story about his journey in a 1993 issue of Outside Magazine, McCandless has been an extremely polarizing figure - either adored and revered as a brave, honest hero, or utterly despised for his hubris.



 

If you haven't read Into the Wild, do it.  Sean Penn's 2007 film adaptation of the story starring Emile Hirsch is good (mostly because of the Eddie Vedder soundtrack) but for a deeper look at the character of Chris McCandless, the book is a must-read.

Blackfish and Dollar Voting

Very happy to see the power of investigative journalism & dollar voting coming together in the case of SeaWorld. According to a second quarter earnings report released this week, SeaWorld shares have dropped 30% since 2013, a plummet directly attributed to the award-winning documentary Blackfish released last year by CNN Films.  I watched this film earlier this year and admit I was moved to tears.



From HuffPo:

"Revenue declined 1.5 percent to $405.2 million. Analysts expected $447.7 million.

SeaWorld shares dropped $8.41, or 30 percent, to $19.74 in midday trading. The stock is down 31 percent this year."

If you haven't seen the film, get in on Netflix and grab a big box of tissues.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_oLOePrjKo

Holsten's Ice Cream Floats: Fuhgeddaboutit

Last weekend, my bf, his sister, brother-in-law and I stopped in Holsten's during a trip back to our small hometown in the Garden State.  The restaurant, a joint confectionary and diner, is a little spot on the corner of Broad Street and Watchung Avenue in Bloomfield, New Jersey and has been something of an institution in the area for generations.

Since 1964, the 50's-looking eatery has been locally famous for homemade candies and ice cream, like this amazing, heaping scoop of vanilla chocolate chip in my root beer float:

[caption id="attachment_142" align="aligncenter" width="260"] Holsten's Root Beer + Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Float[/caption]

But in 2007,  it was Holsten's onion rings that stole the show and became world famous. In the final episode of  the HBO hit series The Sopranos, Tony & his family ate the onion rings here and listened to "Don't Stop Believing" by Journey, just before the screen ambiguously cut to black.



About a year ago, when James Gandolfini passed away, Tony's fans flocked to Holsten's to pay tribute to him.  In his memory, the restaurant famously reserved the spot where the actor sat during the filming of the last scene.

[caption id="attachment_149" align="aligncenter" width="570"] Holsten's tribute to James Gandolfini. Image via The Bloomfield Patch.[/caption]

We reminisced about the Sopranos and trips to Holsten's growing up while sitting in the booth next to Tony's.  We ordered the onion rings and liked them, but the ice cream floats? Fuhgeddaboutit.

[caption id="attachment_140" align="aligncenter" width="455"] Scott & I drinking an ice cream float from Holsten's.[/caption]