Sharks Take Buffalo By Storm

Location: Buffalo, New York, USA
Address:  420 Main Street
Date: July 2018
Website:  www.mainliberty.com

  As we traveled around Buffalo, New York we noticed that they have really embraced their city's name.  Everywhere we looked we saw American bison (aka buffalo).  There was this colourful mural on Hertel Avenue called Magic Buffalo (above).

  There was a buffalo sculpture outside of the Child & Family Services building near the airport.

  We enjoyed a very nice lunch at The Terrace at Delaware Park.  They had a well dressed buffalo painted on the wall inside.  There was a wedding in the rose garden beside the Terrace as we arrived.  This buffalo would have fit right in.  On second thought, the giant, furry head and horns may have made him stand out.
 

  There were buffalo in the artwork on the side of buildings.

  And finally, there was an actual American Bison at the Buffalo Zoo.  Of course.

  The only place we didn't see buffalo was at our hotel, Reikart House.  They had a little monkey bellhop called Jocko.  He was on our menus, coasters, writing pads and even hidden in the wallpaper.

 We were not looking for buffalo or monkeys.  We were looking for sharks.  We had heard there were some in Lafayette Square near the Soldiers & Sailors Monument.  Anyone who has been reading this far and thought this blog post was going to be about sports, we are sorry.  We do see how the title could have mislead you into thinking San Jose defeated the Sabres in a hockey game.

  2014 was a bad year for sharks in Buffalo.  Or a good year depending on how you look at it.  Sharknado 2 : The Second One premiered on July 30, 2014.  This was a made for TV movie based on the ridiculous premise of tornadoes pulling sharks out of the ocean and dropping them onto major cities.  In the original Sharknado, Los Angeles was under attack.  This time it is New York City.  Once again Ian Ziering, best known as Steve from Beverly Hills 90210, must save the day.

  When it came to filming the movie, a second crew traveled upstate and visited Buffalo to film a few scenes.  The extras grabbed pitchforks or anything else they could find in the trunks of their cars as the sharks fell from the sky.  You can see them running in the streets away from the Liberty Building (above).  In the previous photo you can see the small Statue of Liberty that sits on the roof of the building.

  Basically sharks rain down and it is either kill or be killed for these poor extras.  During filming we imagine they had no idea what they were fighting as the computer generated sharks were added later.

 An older, bearded man tosses three chainsaws up into the wind to fend off the sharks.  Yet another warning needed on chainsaws.  "Not to be thrown into a tornado."
 

  Finally, a Zevon Brothers Fireworks truck explodes right outside the H & R Block above.  The sharknado has been defeated for now.  The Last Sharknado is set to air in August 2018 and will be the sixth movie for the series.

  In August of 2014 a different kind of shark arrived in Buffalo.   Shark Girl appeared down at Canalside.  She came from Cleveland and was not flown in by the sharknado.

  Shark Girl is the creation of artist Casey Riordan Millard and she sits waiting for someone to join her on her rock.  We took a few photos with Shark Girl and she just sat quietly in her blue dress.

  In a city full of buffalo, it was fun to fish for a few sharks.  Oh, and we liked the monkey too!

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Map of Our World
Magic Buffalo , Child & Family Services Buffalo , Soldiers & Sailors Monument , Shark Girl
The Terrace at Delaware Park , Reikart House
Liberty Building
Buffalo Zoo
Sharknado (Buffalo)

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Post # 223

Meet Joe Black At Mike's PAPAYA

Location: New York City, New York, USA
Address:  132 E 23rd Street
Date: Nov 2014

  One of the most memorable scenes in Meet Joe Black is how Joe Black actually became Joe Black.  Susan (Claire Forlani) meets a young man (Brad Pitt) at a coffee shop and they are both smitten.  As they walk away each of them turns several times to say something but they never do.

 
  Brad stops once more in the middle of a busy intersection.  This is East 23rd Street in Manhattan.  He would be crossing in the far right crosswalk of the photo above. A car almost hits his bag and he steps back.  He bounces off a van and then again over a yellow New York City cab.   You will have to watch the whole movie to see if he survived.

  At the time of filming this scene, there was a pizza place we think was called the Gramercy Eatery.  For filming purposes it looks like they put up a brown banner to cover over the restaurant name. When we arrived to take our photos it was now Mike's PAPAYA and there was a slightly different green pizza sign mounted on the building.  This is now another lost filming location as the whole building has been torn down and replaced.

 
  The middle of the road where all the action took place is still there.  This is where Brad Pitt, a dummy and some CGI all worked to bring this scene together.  The building you can see down the street is the Metropolitan Life Tower located beside Madison Park. While you are visiting New York be very careful and never stop in the middle of a busy street.  Even if you thought you saw Brad Pitt, wait until you are safely on the curb before looking back.

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Map of Our World
Mike's PAPAYA

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Post # 211

Dead Zone Gazebo

Location: Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada
Address: Queen's Royal Park
Date: July 2016
Website:  www.notl.org/content/parks-recreation-faqs

   Niagara-on-the-Lake is a popular tourist destination.  The beautiful little town draws crowds year round.  One of the big draws is a gazebo that looks out over the lake from Queen's Royal Park.  The gazebo was actually built for the 1983 movie The Dead Zone and has remained in place ever since.  In the movie, Johnny (Christopher Walken) emerges from a coma to discover that he has the ability to see past and future events when he comes in contact with a person.

  Johnny touches the hand of a woman who has been murdered in the gazebo and suddenly he sees what has happened to her.  He sees the woman walking along the pathway that leads from King Street into the park.

  He sees the killer standing and looking out across the water towards Old Fort Niagara.  Old Fort Niagara is located in the United States just across the mouth of the Niagara River.  The fort has been there since the early 1700s.

  On a clear day, you can look across the lake and see the skyline of Toronto.  The distinctive CN Tower stands out above all of the other buildings.

  Johnny sees the killer call the woman up to the gazebo.  As the woman is attacked, Johnny tries to save her.  He is jolted out of his vision, but not before he sees the killer's face.  The killer is...

  We won't spoil the movie for you. You will just have to watch the David Cronenberg directed film or read the Stephen King novel on which it is based.  When you visit the gazebo you can be glad that it was only a fictional murder.  If that still makes you uneasy, you may also be glad to know that the original gazebo was replaced near the end of  2015.  What stands today is a much sturdier, wheelchair accessible replica.

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Map of Our World
Dead Zone Gazebo
Queen's Royal Park
Old Fort Niagara

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Post # 142

White Castle

Location: New York, New York, USA
Address: 89-03 57th Ave
Date: Jan 2009
Website:  www.whitecastle.com

  We went to White Castle and we got thrown out!  Oh no, that wasn't us, that was the Beastie Boys.  We went to White Castle because we had a craving.  It wasn't quite like the craving Harold and Kumar experience in the movie Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle, but we were hungry.  Harold & Kumar have a series of misadventures before finally getting their long awaited burgers.  We just hopped in the car with some friends and drove to the nearest location to pick up a Crave Case.

  A Crave Case is a cardboard suitcase filled with 30 of White Castle's signature burgers.  Their tiny steamed burgers made with onions and a pickle are the original slider.  White Castle was formed in 1921 and was the first fast food hamburger chain in the world.  After spending a cold, January day in New York, we polished off our whole case of burgers.  They really hit the spot. 

  The movie Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle was set in New Jersey, but in reality the building where Harold & Kumar lived is in Toronto, Canada. It is located just a few blocks south of St. Clair West and Avenue Road. There have never been any White Castle restaurants in Canada so for the full experience you would have to cross the border into the United States. The good news is that some grocery and convenience stores in Canada sell frozen White Castle burgers. That means you could pick up some burgers at the Longo's near Avenue and St. Clair and walk down to Edmund Ave. You could then enjoy your burger in front of the fictional apartment from the movie. That is if you can also find a microwave first.

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This location is near Summerhill subway. Visit other Toronto TTC stations.

Map of Our World
Mayfair Mansions
White Castle (Elmhurst, NY)

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Post # 131

Statue Of Liberty (Splash)

Location: New York, New York, USA
Address: Liberty Island
Date: Jan 2009
Website:  www.nps.gov/stli/index.htm

In the movie Splash, Daryl Hannah plays a mermaid who goes by the name of Madison.  Tom Hanks is Allen Bauer who was saved by a mermaid after falling out of a boat when he was a boy.  Years later Allen has another boating accident and is saved once again.  The mermaid finds his wallet and decides to travel to New York in order to locate him. 

When a mermaid is on land she has legs like a human, but when she enters the water her tail returns so she can swim away.  Madison arrives in New York on Liberty Island.  She climbs over the railing like the one in the first picture above and walks past a sign like the one in the bottom left corner of the second picture.  As she walks across the grass with the skyline of Manhattan in the background she causes quite a commotion.

  It seems that even though mermaids have legs when on land, they do not instantly become clothed.  As a result Madison appears naked on the island.  The movie Splash was actually the first Disney film geared towards adults under the name Touchstone Films.

  Madison is quickly ushered inside through the doors on the front right of Lady Liberty and away from the crowds.  She is then escorted by police boat from the island wearing an extra long "I Love New York" t-shirt.  This is one way to possibly get a free souvenir that we were unwilling to try.

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Map of Our World
Statue of Liberty (Splash)

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Post # 120

Neptune Diner

Location: Queens, New York, USA
Address: 31-05 Astoria Boulevard
Date: Jan 2009
Website:  www.menupages.com

  One of our favourite places to eat in Queens, New York is the Neptune Diner.  We have always been treated very well by the hostess who greets you when you enter the restaurant.  The restaurant itself is nestled under the elevated Astoria Blvd. subway station and along with regular diner fare it specializes in Greek cuisine.  It is open 24 hours a day so it is always there when you need it.

  If you stay on Astoria Blvd. heading east past the diner, you will find yourself headed towards the Robert F Kennedy Bridge or more commonly known as the Triborough Bridge.  It was called the Triborough because it connects the three boroughs of Queens, The Bronx and Manhattan.

  On the opposite side of Astoria Blvd. stands a statue of Italian explorer Christopher Columbus that was placed there in 1941.  The Neptune Diner, despite serving Greek food is also Italian based.  It is named after the Roman god Neptune who is the Italian version of Poseidon (God of the Sea).

  After enjoying our meal at Neptune we say our goodbyes and it is just a short run from the front door and up the stairs to catch a subway into Manhattan for more New York City adventures.  We know the diner will be waiting for us no matter how late we return.

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Map of Our World
Neptune Diner

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Post # 69