Autumn Events in New York City!

If you’re looking for some unique events to take in this fall, you’ll find them in the Big Apple. With street festivals, comic conventions, and more, the city that never sleeps is your ticket to fun. Here’s a look at some highlights:

New York Comic Con – New York’s biggest comic event returns to the Javits Center October 13th through 16th. Special guests include Mark Hamill, Kevin Smith, and Jason Mewes revisiting the roles of Jay and Silent Bob during a special live podcast, John Landis, Rose McGowan, and more. The event will also be in conjunction with the New York Anime Festival.

CMJ Music Marathon & Film Festival – From October 18th through 22nd, the world's most important platform for the discovery of new music, CMJ Music Marathon & Film Festival, invades New York City with over 1,300 artist performances and dozens of cutting-edge films. CMJ fills more than 80 of the city's greatest venues, nightclubs, and theaters with over 120,000 fans, music industry professionals, college radio tastemakers, bloggers, press, filmmakers, and musicians.

The Chocolate Show – From November 10th through 13th the largest show in the United States completely dedicated to celebrating all things chocolate comes to NYC. Sounds delicious!

Best New Fall TV: Comedies

Why not ease the transition from long summer days to cooler weather and shorter daylight hours with some good laughs? This season, settle down on your couch and get ready to crack-up at the fall’s funniest TV shows. Here are three exciting newcomers to the comedy airwaves:

Suburgatory, Wednesdays, ABC, 8:30 p.m.
This hilarious new show revolves around the humor and hell of everyday suburban life. A single father, played by Jeremy Sisto, moves his teenage daughter (Jane Levy) out of the city when she appears to be going down the wrong path. The show, packed with an all-star cast of comedians that includes Cheryl Hines and Alan Tudyk, chronicles the father-daughter team’s transition into their new suburban reality. Click here for a preview.

New Girl, Tuesdays, Fox, 9 p.m.
This show features the irresistibly quirky actress Zooey Deschanel playing an equally quirky leading lady. Heartbroken after being dumped by her boyfriend, she moves into a house with three male roommates who make a project of getting her back on her feet following the break-up. Hilarity ensues. Click here to see a preview.

I Hate My Teenage Daughter, Wednesdays, Fox, 9 p.m.
This comedy series chronicles the lives of two single-mom best friends as they raise teenage daughters who have turned out to be the kind of girls they once loathed (and secretly wished to be) in high-school – over-privileged, stylish, ultra-popular, and uber-cool. The mothers, played by Jaimie Pressley and Kate Finneran, want their daughters to change their ‘mean-girl’ ways – and the conflicts that arise will have you laughing all season long. Click here to watch a preview.

These are just some highlights of the many funny shows that are worth checking out this fall. Click here for more information about the season’s line-up of television comedies. What better way to greet the autumn than with good cheer and genuine laugher?

App Explosion: Learning About Smartphone Platforms

The days of having a phone that did nothing but make phone calls are long gone. Today’s smartphone is a multi-featured virtual assistant that does just about everything. If you’re on the market for a new phone, here’s a quick guide to the ins and outs of each brand so you can select the device that’s right for you.

-        BlackBerry, made by Canadian company Research In Motion, has been the leader in business applications for over a decade. Unlike many of the other phones on this list, BlackBerries traditionally use a keyboard interface instead of a touchscreen. There is a wide variety of productivity software available, and the Blackberry syncs with home or office computers effortlessly.

-        iOS is Apple’s software platform, featured on its extremely popular iPhone and iPad. iOS was the first smartphone solution to feature the “app store” model, where customers were given access to a large number of programs from gaming to personal improvement. This allows users to personalize their phone with exactly the widgets they need.

-        Android is Google’s mobile computing platform, used to power a variety of phones. Similar to iOS, Android has a robust and vibrant application development community. However, the Android Marketplace is much more open than the Apple store, leading to more diverse and interesting (and sometimes buggy) software.

-        Windows Mobile is Microsoft’s cell phone computing platform. The biggest benefit of selecting a phone on this platform is its top-notch integration with other Microsoft applications, including Outlook and Word.

Memo to Residents: Tropical Storm Warning

As you may know, a tropical storm is heading our way this weekend. The prolonged high winds and heavy rains represent potential hazards like: flooding, power outages and wind damage.

We strongly request that all residents properly prepare in advance, and below is a list of suggested actions:

• We are requiring you to secure all balcony/patio and yard furniture, as well as, all outside personal belongings (toys, planters, grills), preferably bring them inside.
   
• e a flashlight with fresh batteries on each floor of your home.
• Please use candles with extreme caution, and never leave a burning candle unattended.
• Have a battery-powered radio and clock available.
• Stay away from downed and loose wires and report them immediately to PECO and the Office if the wires are within the Community.
• If you lose power, move items from your refrigerator into your freezer to keep them cold as long as possible, and open your freezer and refrigerator as little as possible.
• Close your blinds and windows, and stay away from windows during the height of the storm.
• Generators are not permitted to be used at any time. This includes storing the generator on the patio or balcony for use inside the apartment.
• Consider placing a rolled towel at the bottom of patio on front entrance door if water intrusion is an issue, and keep the doors closed.
• Walk or drive cautiously. Debris-filled streets and pathways are very dangerous. Washouts may weaken road and bridge structures. Please be mindful, and observe any blocked out or taped off roadways and pathways.
• Stay indoors! Resist the temptation to watch the storm outside as the high winds may create projectiles that could put you at risk of injury.

Keep PECO’s emergency telephone number 800-841-4141 handy. The more customers who call to report an outage, the faster they may dispatch crews and restore your service. Restoring power is typically not a matter that our site Management team has any control over.

Some other important numbers to keep at the ready are:
The Police Department number is:
Our Emergency “On-Call” number is:

We thank you in advance for your patience. We expect that there may be problems and our staff is making every effort to plan accordingly. It takes a team effort to deal with storm related matters and clean-up after a storm. Should damage to the property occur, please report the matter to the Management Office and we will make an inspection to assess the damages as soon as possible. Repairs will be schedule in the order of severity.

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Forecasters project that Hurricane Irene will strike the North Carolina coast Saturday morning, then move northeast along the east coast. On Saturday and Sunday, states in the mid-Atlantic and New England will suffer torrential rain and hurricane force winds from the Category 2 storm. According to weather.com, Hurricane Irene has the potential to produce flooding rains, high winds, downed trees, and widespread power outages in and around cities like Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, and Boston. 

If you don't already have one, now's a good time to create a disaster preparedness plan for you and your family. You can read the National Hurricane Center's hurricane preparedness tips at www.nhc.noaa.gov/HAW2/english/disaster_prevention.shtml. The page offers tips on developing a family disaster plan, creating a disaster supply kit, and evacuation. 

Click here for weather.com's projected tracks for Hurricane Irene. 

Check weather.com, accuweather.com, or wunderground.com for up to date information about Hurricane Irene. 

And most importantly, be safe!

Java Jive: Coffee Brewing Comparisons

 

When you can’t make it down to Starbucks, you've always got the option to make your own coffee at home. But with so many different ways to brew a cup of joe, which one's the best for your lifestyle? Here’s a quick rundown of some of the most popular methods.

Automatic drip coffeemakers are some of the most common appliances in American kitchens, but they are beginning to fall out of fashion. Their greatest advantage is consistency – their automatic heat and drip settings create quality coffee every time. Unfortunately, many of them feature a warming plate under the pot that can make coffee taste bad if left too long.

One of the more popular new trends in home coffeemaking is the single-serve “coffee pods” made with brand names like K-cups and Nestle’s Dolce Gusto. The advantage of these machines is that they brew only as much coffee as you want. Each pod makes a single cup very quickly. However, some people don't like that the pods are thrown out after use.

If you don’t have a power source nearby, a French press is a popular way of brewing coffee. This simple machine requires roughly ground coffee, which is poured into a glass vessel and covered with hot water. After waiting a few minutes, a wire mesh screen is pressed down, straining out the grounds and leaving rich, dark coffee behind. The French press's main drawback is that you must time how long the grounds are left to steep quite carefully. Otherwise, you'll get coffee that's too light or too dark.

Brewed coffee's acidity can be difficult for sensitive stomachs. But there's a way to make delicious coffee that makes it much less acidic. Cold-brewed coffee, where grounds are steeped in cold water for as long as 24 hours before being strained, creates a dense coffee concentrate that can be mixed with hot water, cold water, or milk for a fresh, tasty cup of java.

By Nevit Dilmen (Own work) [GFDL (www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], via Wikimedia Commons

An Easy Summer Dish: Corn, Avocado, and Tomato Salad

Here is an easy summer salad that can double as a salsa or relish. Loaded with fresh, chopped veggies, this Corn, Avocado, and Tomato Salad is the perfect dish to bring to a barbecue—eat it plain, scoop it up with tortilla chips, or spoon it over a piece of grilled fish. For an extra kick, chop up some jalapeño pepper and add it to the mix.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 1/2 cups fresh corn kernels (from about 5 ears)
1 1/2 cups diced avocado (1/2-inch pieces)
1 pint cherry tomatoes, quartered
1/2 cup finely diced red onion

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the olive oil, lime juice, cilantro, salt, and pepper.

2. Add the corn, avocado, tomatoes, and onion and toss to mix. Serve at room temperature. Serves 4 to 6.

Recipe courtesy of FamilyFun Magazine. See the full recipe online here: http://familyfun.go.com/summer/summer-recipes/summer-salads/corn-avocado-and-tomato-salad-686786/

Should You Take a Daily Multivitamin?

Scientific evidence as to whether multivitamins have demonstrable health benefits is mixed, to say the least. While advocates argue that the body needs a portion of a number of key substances to run at optimum health, sources such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have released reports stating that no benefits have been observed in the general public.

There are, of course, some people who should definitely take multivitamins— pregnant and nursing mothers, most notably—but for most of us, it’s just a matter of personal preference—and how much your diet provides all the nutrients you need. For example, if your rarely eat fruits and veggies, a daily vitamin can only help you get the nutrients that those foods would otherwise offer.

The majority of commercial multivitamin formulas are pretty much interchangeable, with slight differences in the ingredients depending on the target market. If you’re going to take a multivitamin, choose an established brand like Centrum or One-A-Day, which come in special varieties for men, women, and anyone age 50 and over. If you’re vitamin swallowing averse, try One A Day’s VitaCraves—vitamins in gummy form.

5 Great Tasting Granola Bars For On The Go

The bar has become one of the most common kinds of food for people in a hurry, but with so many different brands crowding the market, how can you find the best one? Try out one of these energy-packed favorites.

Luna. These are bars nutritionally balanced for women, so slightly lower on calories and proteins, slightly higher on vitamins and minerals. They come in a number of flavors, none of which are overly sweet.

Clif. Designed for outdoor athletic use, Clif bars have a more natural feeling than some other bars, which can seem hyper-processed. A decent calorie count and good protein make these handy to pack, and they’re also not terribly dense.

Kashi. The all-round natural grains company makes excellent low-calorie bars that are high in fiber, working to aid digestion as you snack.

LaraBars. These are dense, flavorful bars that are balanced more for taste than nutrition, with delicious combinations like cashew and ginger.

Fiber One. These are the best chocolate granola bars on the market, with a real dark chocolate bite that works well with the other ingredients.

Buy a Pair of Tom’s Shoes, Donate a Pair to a Child in Need

Now here is a great excuse to buy shoes.

Ever heard of Tom's Shoes? Once a contestant on The Amazing Race, Blake Mycoskie founded the company in 2006—inspired by a trip to Argentina where he viewed the extreme poverty that existed in the country. Determined to help, he came up with a simple premise: For every purchase of a pair of Tom's Shoes, the company would donate a new pair of shoes to a child in need. The shoes, slipper-like kicks known for absolute comfort, now come in a range of styles and colors, and have been bought by millions of people all over the world—so that's millions of shoes for children who need them.

To find out more about the company and to see all of the killer styles available, visit www.toms.com.

Easy Ways to Green Your Life

Doing your part for the environment is easier than you think. A few simple changes in your lifestyle can help Mother Nature and save you money. The following tips will help you to live greener, richer, and feel better about the future.

Stop using paper towels. If possible, convert old clothes or bath towels into rags, or visit big box stores like Costco to buy an inexpensive supply of microfiber towels.

Stop drinking bottled water. Investing in a tap water filter and a stainless steel water bottle can save you hundreds of dollars a year, and it keeps all that plastic out of the environment!

Grow a vegetable garden. Even if your space is limited, growing veggies in a square foot or container garden can put yummy, organic food on your table. If you can’t start a garden, consider buying locally-sourced produce.

Start a compost pile. Pile leaves, grass clippings, fruit/vegetable waste and pet waste in a corner of the yard or plastic storage container. This reduces landfill strain and creates incomparable food for your garden.

Use compact fluorescent light bulbs. CFL bulbs are still more expensive than regular bulbs, but they can often be bought on sale.  They last for a long time and use little power, so they end up paying for themselves.

Bring re-useable bags to the grocery store. Most large grocery stores offer canvas bags for $1, or even give them away for free.  Some even offer discounts for bringing your own bags.

Enjoy those savings. Mother Nature thanks you!

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