Where-To-Go Wednesday - Amazon Fulfillment Tour

What: Amazon Fulfillment Center Tour 

Where: LGA9 

             2170 Lincoln Highway (Rte, 27)

             Edison, NJ

            (For other Amazon Fulfillment Center tour locations, go to 

            www.amazontours.com/na/onsite)

Who: Ages 6 and Up Only

Amazon is currently giving free tours of its fulfillment centers in numerous locations worldwide, including in the U.S, Canada, Italy, and the U.K. These extremely structured tours are free, run approximately one hour long, and must be signed up for in advance. The tours seem calculated to improve consumer attitudes toward the company because you are given a survey regarding your attitudes toward Amazon when you sign up and again after you complete the tour. They also function as a recruiting tool since the benefits of working for the company are carefully laid out. However, they don't try to paint an overly rosy picture either. They are honest about downsides, too, including the long hours, particularly during the holidays. 

However, despite any ulterior motives on the part of the company for offering the tours, they are still worth taking. It is interesting to have the opportunity to learn a little bit about the huge behemoth. The inner workings are both more and less organized than you would imagine. It's also nice to have an opportunity to ask questions about the company and how it works.

While on the tour, you may see some of Amazon's robots at work. The type of robots on site varies depending on where you are because they do not have the same robots at all locations. Still, the robots are one of the highlights of this fascinating inside look at a company we all love and hate.

And that's our view. For more about Amazon Fulfillment Center Tours or to sign up for a tour near you, visit www.amazontours.com/na/onsite. If there is not a tour available near you or you would prefer a virtual tour go to events.amazontours.com/na/virtual

Tune in tomorrow for Theater Thursday.

All pictures used in this post are our own. If there is a problem with any image, contact us here and we will look into the matter.

Tips for Tuesday - Books: Nobody's Fool & The Other People; Movie: Layla

We may have been given complimentary copies and/or access for review purposes to any books, products, and/or any other visual or audio media mentioned below. Any and all opinions expressed here are our own.

Bools: Nobody's Fool & The Other People

Today we recommend Nobody's Fool by Harlan Coben. This book is a sequel to Coben's previous book, Fool Me Once, which is also a Netflix mini-series however, you don't have to read the earlier book or see the mini-series to enjoy or understand what is happening in this book. The plot revolves around disgraced former detective, Sami Kierce. Years ago, in Spain, he woke up with a bloody knife in his hands and an allegedly dead girlfriend next to him and immediately fled the country.  Now, a woman who looks just like the dead girl, Anna, shows up in the class he's teaching but runs away before he can talk to her.  At the same time, Sami is dealing with the fact that due to his own misconduct, the convicted murderer of his former fiancee has been let out of jail.

This is an intriguing mystery with some exciting and unpredictable twists and turns. Unlike in some mysteries, character development is not sacrificed to plot development.  The characters in the story are so skillfully developed that their actions are believable even when they are not necessarily morally or legally right. There are only one or two characters who are just pure evil while most have shades to their character making them more relatable and helping draw the reader into the story. 

Today we are recommending The Other People. This book is about a group of people who somehow end up in a house together allegedly to find and save a missing girl and then start mysteriously getting killed in different ways, It is a compelling mix of Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None and Clue with a little bit of a variation of The Picture of Dorian Gray thrown in. It is also quite riveting and really holds the reader's attention throughout. However, it is hard to keep track of the characters with the constantly changing point of view which only lets you get little glimpses into a character's mind before switching to another character. 

The resolution of the story is a complete shocker which while exciting doesn't completely make sense  While this takes away a little from the overall enjoyment of the book, it is still quite a unique and proactive story. 

Movie: Layla

Today we talking about Layla. This is the story of a drag queen torn between his family and his life as a drag queen. When they begin dating a marketing executive named Max it adds yet another layer to their complicated life until it all becomes unmanageable, and the relationship is doomed to failure. It is hard to root for Layla because it seems like Max makes much more of an effort in the relationship than them and Layla's problems mostly have to do with their own family. Thus, the ending of the story seems somewhat unsatisfactory and sad. 

Layla will be released digitally this Friday, March 28. 

Tune in tomorrow for Where-To-Go Wednesday.

All images except film images used in this post are our own.  Film images have been sent to us from publicists, artists, and/or  PR firms. If there is a problem with the rights to any image, contact us here, and we will look into the matter

More Theater Monday - The Last Call

We received complimentary tickets to Last Call for review purposes. Any and all opinions expressed here are our own.

What: Last Call

Where: New World Stages

             340 W. 50th St.

             New York, NY

Who: Recommended for Ages 13 and Up

When: Through May 4, 2025

Last Call is the story of the relationship between American, Leonard Bernstein and Austrian, Herbert von Carajans. The two men were celebrated conductors as well as bitter rivals. While it is known that they met for the last time in 1988 in the Hotel Sacher bar in Salzburg, Austria, the play dramatizes what their final meeting may have been like. 

In the play, the two men are played by women. Allegedly, the director chose to cast women in the roles to prevent people from spending the whole show comparing the performers to their real-life counterparts. However, that being said, Helen Schneider does a terrific job of channeling Bernstein. The way she talks and moves, and everything about her demeanor seems reminiscent of the great composer. The costume and the wig greatly add to the effect. 

Lucca Zuchner is great in the role of Von Karajan as well. However, since most people are less familiar with him, it is not as easy to tell how close her portrayal is to the real person.

The third member of the cast is Victor Petersen playing the bartender/waiter. He is fine in that role, but that performance is nothing compared to his brief transformation into another role. A turn which is as unexpected as it is astonishingly good. 

The set and lighting are both terrific. They really contribute to making you feel like you are a hotel bar. You almost want to go up to the bar and order a drink. 

The show is interesting. However, it is mostly just two men having a conversation which can be hard for some to sit through for an hour and a half straight. Even though, the two men do move around a little and the actors are very expressive with their whole bodies even when they are sitting at the table, it does a feel a bit draggy at times. Still, it is a fascinating portrait of two celebrated men. 

And that's our view. For more about Last Call or to order tickets, visit lastcalltheplay.com

Tune in tomorrow for this week's Tips for Tuesday.

Photo credits:

All Last Call production photos by Maria Baranova

Images used in this post have been sent to us from publicists, artists, and/or  PR firms and are used by permission. If there is a problem with the rights to any image,  contact us here, and we will look into the matter.