i left for haymarket around 11:00, hoping to get my cheap produce buying done early so i'd have the rest of the afternoon free. since my usual grocery getter has a wobbly temporary rear wheel, i opted to take one of my many other bikes instead. i went with the ross eurosport road bike because it has 2 collapsible rear baskets. it's the only bike i ride that has dropdown handlebars, which i'm still not very comfortable riding. because the brake levers are not very accessible (compared to upright handlebars with brake levers right by hand grips), i don't always feel like i have total control. it's fine for general riding, but in the stop-and-go rhythm of city traffic, i can definitely sense the danger. despite the heavy weight of the steel frame, the ross eurosport moves pretty fast, even uphill, and i never had to change gears (which is good, because stem shifters aren't the easiest to shift).
since it was still early, not all the vendors had arrived at haymarket and there were some noticeable gaps between the stalls. selection-wise, there was nothing particularly noteworthy. 
a few more vendors were selling kale now, at the typical $3/2. it seems to be the tail end of the cherry season, with a going rate of $2/lbs. there were no rainier cherries. i bought 5 lbs. worth of a particularly black variety. there were also grapes at $2/lbs., which isn't a great saving since they can be had for $1/lbs. when they're in season. i also bought a carton of blueberries ($1), a carton of raspberries ($2), and 2 boxes of strawberries ($2.50) (all berries kick). finally, 4 mangos ($3).
i came with my backpack, which i used to carry the mangos and cherries because they're more likely to get bruised during transit. i put the rest in the side baskets. i returned to cambridge via the charles river bike path. when i arrived at the cafe, the container of raspberries were all pulverized at the bottom (i should've carried them in my backpack); everything else was fine.
since it wasn't too hot today (low 80's), i did a load of laundry when i returned home. i put my clothes in the dryer before heading out again, this time to harvard AMC loews theater.
 |
 |
 |
the harvard AMC loews will be closing its doors after this sunday. parent company AMC said the reason was because such a small theater couldn't deliver the kind of name brand experience AMC is known for, with things like deluxe seating and suped up sound system. it sounds like a lame reason to close a theater that must still make good money, with the nearby collegiate market and suburban moviegoers. i can't remember the very first movie i ever saw at this theater. i do remember waiting in line to buy tickets to see tim burton's 1989 batman. anyway, with the theater soon to be history, i wanted to see one last movie there. what's more perfect than magic mike, that steven soderbergh directed film about male strippers?
originally i was suppose to go with bruce on wednesday, but i had to cancel in order to go to maine with my family. i felt a little self-conscious going to see magic mike by myself, but just a minor inconvenience. there was just a handful of people when i showed up at the screening room: a single man sitting by himself and a couple. the boyfriend was over-compensating for his discomfort at seeing a film about male strippers by stretching out his arms so it took up 2 more seats. he was also smoking an electric cigarette, which had no odor, but i kept on seeing a little by his face and every so often there'd be a puff of vapors. who smokes these anyway? nerds trying to look cool but failing miserably? soon the rest of the audience arrived, with more than a dozen women. one large group in particular seemed to be comprised of liberal-minded mothers and their young adult daughters. they were a bit obnoxious, clamoring with shouts of "naked men!" during the 20-minute long trailers introduction.
movies about female strippers are numerous, but when was the last time there was a movie about male strippers? one of the very first scenes of the movie is channing tatum walking out of bed completely naked. the mostly female audience gasped. it was going to be that kind of movie (although surprisingly very little to almost zero male frontal nudity). they left something for the guys as well, with a surprisingly topless olivia munn (munn's been bouncing around the entertainment circuit, it was only a matter of time before she did a nude scene, all it took was an oscar-winning director to ask her).
the first half of the movie was a great time, showcasing the camaraderie of men, in this case a group of male strippers. the dance numbers are pure cheese, but are still fun to watch. the strippers themselves run a spectrum, from the incredibly good-looking (alex pettyfer, joe manganiello), to the scary (i'm talking to you tarzan, whom i thought was mickey rourke for a while). all have an amazing body though, if you're into that sort of thing. alas, any film about strippers can't be all good; there's also a dark side to the industry, especially anytime you mix sex and money and add drugs to the equation.
after the movie, i retrieved my bicycle and went to the community garden to do some weeding and watering. new this week: a type of snapdragon i'd never seen before, that basically has every single snapdragon color represented: pink, red, orange, yellow, white.
 |
 |
 |
 |
it's been a week since my last visit, and the squashes continue their monstrous growth. i knew there were flower buds from my last visit, but those have long since blossomed - and some have even fruited! one immature cocozelle (they're supposedly ready to harvest in only 40 days from planting) and two immature zucchinis.
 |
 |
 |
i had my first shasta daisy flower. it doesn't look like much, but hopefully more will bloom, and supposedly they flower all summer. being perennials, i can expect plenty more daisies in the future.
 |
 |
 |
my latest order from awwyeah.com was waiting on my doorstep when i finally came home. just a spare inner tube and a rim tape for my new 26 x 1.75" wheel. it took a while to put on. at first i thought i got the wrong size because it seemed small, but it does stretch a little bit and i was finally able to get it on the rim. however, i wasn't paying attention and didn't align the valve hole so i had to do it again, carefully removing the strip with a metal tire lever. while i was at it, i decided to install the old inner tube along with the new tire. installation was relatively effortless, much better than with my old tire that seemed a size too small for 26". i did use a plastic tire lever to push in the final few inches of tire onto the rim. i pumped it up to 100 psi. i'll take it to belmont with my tomorrow, hopefully i can remove the freewheel from the old wheel and put it on the new one and then finally install it on my trek (a repair that's almost a month in the making).
for dinner i ate two boxes of leftover sushi i got from my parents' cafe.
watching the evening news, i heard that ray allen signed a deal with the miami heat. it wasn't about money, because he could've made more and the team was definitely willing to pay him. rumor has it that it's his personal beef with rajon rondo. fortunately the celtics signed jason terry earlier this week, who himself is a 3-point threat (though not of the calibre as ray allen). i'm not sure how i feel about the decision. any other team i can understand, but the heat? i hate the heat! i guess over time i'll learn to hate ray allen as well.