Friday, November 30, 2012

The Blog Where I'm Back In The Saddle Again

Yep, I've returned, sooner than expected. I won't say much about the whole process of dealing with that little car crash thing, except that thankfully I am fine health-wise and I do have another vehicle to drive around; what sort of car it is... that isn't important as of now.

Here is a recap of what I've done since my last blog, meaning the last half of this month. Friday the 16th, I and someone else went to Steak & Shake, also known as the place where I was going to when that wreck happened. The food there was fine but their chocolate peppermint milkshake was pretty great. Interestingly, as me and that person were walking in, we passed by a family leaving, and (of course) in a Southern drawl I heard the dad tell his young kids, “I reckon, if I had the choice, I'd give you roadkill for dinner!” I am not making this up.

Saturday, I managed to catch all of the UFC pay per view at home; nevermind how, but I did. It was something I did not want to miss, as big star Georges St. Pierre was returning to fighting for the first time in 19 months (he tore his ACL) and that main event was quite good. The show itself had its ups and downs but at least ended on a strong note.

Sunday was dull so let me skip ahead to Monday night and the big Chicago Bears game against the San Francisco 49ers. Chicago had to start a backup quarterback and there really isn't much I'd like to say about the game, except that the 49ers won 32-7. Nothing happened until Thanksgiving, where I had a nice meal at home and despite the drama of earlier in the month it was still a nice-enough day. Other people certainly have it worse than me and my immediate family is doing well; that's the most important thing.

The next few days I don't have much to say. I decided not to go to the Central Florida Auto Show nor go out anywhere to see the Bears play. While I do enjoy that auto show and looking at various new cars, it has lost its luster in recent years with not as many auto makers sending cars there so missing it one year isn't too big of a deal, even if there is some vehicles there I wouldn't have minded seeing, mainly the models just introduced. As for the Bears, I had no idea what to expect from the team; the starting QB came back from injury and I did not know how he would play. Turns out, the Vikings have faded and even though a surprising number of Chicago players got hurt during the game, the Bears won 28-10. It sounds like a game that wasn't the best so it's no big loss to not see it. I do plan on watching their next game, which is against a tougher opponent (the Seattle Seahawks).

This week, I started driving around again; I haven't gone far but it was nice to be back on the road again. I haven't been too skittish and I've felt mainly normal about being behind the wheel. Monday, I went to Winter Garden Village where I got some things from Best Buy then Barnes & Noble; I also went to Planet Smoothie where I had a limited edition Nutella drink; believe it or not, I had never tried Nutella in any form before. Not bad. Tuesday, I went to Walmart to get some items, and that's really it in terms of places I went that are worth mentioning.

I'll be back on Monday the 10th so that I can return to posting when I normally do. I'll be able to talk about two Bears games and I am sure I'll get into some adventures worth writing about.

Friday, November 16, 2012

My Last Blog Post For Awhile

In case you missed the news, I was in a car accident late Monday afternoon. Of course I won't be saying much about that whole thing except that everyone ended up fine. Considering that I will be laying real low until this whole matter is settled, this will be the last blog I will do for awhile. Not much to talk about, you know. Once things are back to normal I shall return. During the meantime I will still be writing about various things that happen so once I do return it may be a jam-packed blog. I will still be on Facebook and Twitter, making comments when appropriate. And I will still be talking about movie at my movie reviews blog at: http://blairreviewsmovies.blogspot.com/

Hopefully no one worries too much about me. I'll be fine. Being in a car accident is no fun-I had never been in one, as a driver or passenger-but I'll manage the situation.

Now, onto what I did this week. Well, Monday was a wash. Tuesday I stayed at home. Wednesday, the one thing I did that was not crash-related was go to the dentist. It was a simple cleaning and thankfully, nothing bad was found so I don't have to go back there until May of next year. Thursday was another quiet day and later today I am getting a ride from someone and we will be going to the local Steak & Shake, where ironically I was driving to on Monday when the wreck happened. I am sure I'll enjoy being there.

As if losing Mako's and my vehicle wasn't bad enough... Hostess is now going out of business! Leave the memories alone. At least I'll return to this blog in hopefully a short amount of time.

Monday, November 12, 2012

007, Roseanne, & Saying Goodbye To An Old Friend

Sure, the “old friend” is a nightclub and not a human being, but I received a big surprise on Saturday night and it wasn't a good one. Details at the end.

Before I get into recapping the past week, I never mentioned in the last blog how I discovered only after I had gotten back from Paranormal Activity 4 the whole Lucas sold his company to Disney and there will be new Star Wars films; I was quite shocked by the news, like everyone was. I just hope the new ones are better than the prequels. As for what I did on Monday, the only thing of note is something I'll mention for comedy's sake; if you want to laugh at me, go ahead. I checked out a movie I had taped off of Lifetime (yes) and referenced in the last blog. Of course, I would do such a thing if the movie starred Rachael Leigh Cook. It's known as Left to Die and it's (unfortunately) a true story about how a woman's mother ended up jailed in Ecuador via drugs being planted in her bags and the woman has to work for almost two years to get her out. It's the type of movie appropriate for that network, as there's drama with the woman's brother, the mom is sick, there's an on-again and off-again relationship with a man... like I said, appropriate for the network. It's a standard TV movie but it wasn't bad. Plus, Rachael looked rather attractive so that was good.

Tuesday, I went and voted in the big election. Holy cow some of my fellow voters were stupid! They didn't know where to go from the very beginning (even though it was clearly a table where several people sat and depending on your surname told you which person to go to), they did not understand the ballot, they asked if they had to fill out all of the ballot... I was appalled and by now I am used to Floridian stupidity. I won't get into talking about who I voted as that is information I'll keep private. Although, I still laugh that a party I had never heard of before known as the Peace and Freedom Party elected ROSEANNE as their candidate and Florida was one of the ballots she got on. Hilarious, I say. No I did not vote for her.

I saw the early part of the election coverage at night but I decided I needed to relax for a few hours so I went to the local cineplex to check out a film, and I saw The Man With The Iron Fists. I had no idea what to expect as it seemed odd from the advertising and I heard some bad buzz. Turns out, it WAS rather odd and strange but if you have lowered expectations concerning everything, you might enjoy it like I did. I can't believe such a film was made and released by a major studio, but I am glad it did as I'd rather have that than the cookie-cutter crap you get from the major corporate bean-counter studios.

Wednesday and Thursday weren't eventful. I did get the car washed which was good as the next day it was taken in. Tuesday, a mysterious light came on and I looked in the manual; it was related to the alternator! I wasn't happy about it as those aren't cheap. The light came on but as the car gets heated up it would turn off. I won't bore you with the details but after an examination the best guess is that there's a component in the alternator which could go bad at any time, meaning it could be a month from now or five years from now. If it always stays on, that's when the trouble will start. I suppose I can't get mad about that happening given there's been little problem with the vehicle since I got it over 5 years and 89,000 miles ago. Believe me I have had issues with previous vehicles in the past, ones that were used and who knows how they were treated before I got them. They included a 1984 Lincoln Town Car, a late 80's Oldsmobile station wagon, and a 1996 Chevy Beretta that was received at 95,000 miles and lasted until more than 190,000 miles. Friday wasn't too exciting either. I knew Saturday would be action-packed (or at least that's what the plans were) so I decided to relax on Rebecca Black's favorite day.

In the newest installment of wacky spam e-mail, yesterday I received a pair which simply said, “So hard you can break an egg” and “grow a long and hard one”. Subtle.

Saturday, what a day of mixed emotions. I did not do anything until the evening. I decided to go into downtown Orlando to visit their theatre so I could watch Skyfall-a movie I heard many good things about, and that it was much better than a film I did not care for, Quantum of Solace-and then head on over to good old Mako's. I saw the film in a crowded theatre and turns out, it was as good as I heard. Even better than Casino Royale and it's definitely the most Bond-style film that Daniel Craig has done. After that, I walked back to the Mazda to change shirts and go in the club... only I noticed that it was closed! I had no idea. I decided to walk around downtown Orlando for a bit but I did not feel like going anywhere else to have a good time. I did pass by a pickup truck sponsored by Monster and they were handing out free drinks. I got their Rehab drink, which is tea mixed with lemonade. I am not a tea fan but that combo was better than expected. I only had a few sips of it then once I got home I put it in an empty Gatorade bottle to drink it on a different day. I looked online and this is scuttlebutt but apparently Mako's has new owners and they closed it down so once it opens back up it'll be under a different name and who knows if it will be the same or if it will be a more traditional club.

Sunday, the only thing I did was stay at home to watch the big Bears game in the evening against the Texans. The Bears lost 13-6 in a real battle where their QB got knocked out of the game and that was really it for the team (I'd rather forget about that rainy contest), so let me pay my final respects to Mako's. I had gone to it about two times before the summer of '07, but after that I went there often and for the most part I had at least a good time there if not a great time. Oh all the entertaining stories I've told here about that place, all the wacky events I saw there, all the attractive young ladies that were around... good times and great memories. Among the things that happened there:

Someone who says they were involved with casting with the show Beauty & The Geek (yeah, this was a long while ago) talked to me for about a minute; that's all it was. I did not have any further contact with that guy.

That drunk girl walking on the bar who was so drunk she fell off and splatted on the ground.

Several fights that happened in there.

A couple who were having sex right out in the open in the club.

The dirty dancing that I did with some random ladies.

The booty-shaking and dirty dancing that happened on their stage.

Back when you could pay a fee to go on their giant swing with a scantily-clad young seductress, I did that a few times and it was great!

And oh so much more. I know that some smartasses will comment on this situation and it'll be the usual idiocy from those idiots who have made comments about that old gal in the past. I'll ignore that and I'll say goodbye to that place. I will miss it and who knows when I'll go out again to party at some new place. Leave the memories alone, and this time I am being serious with that phrase and not sarcastic.

I'll be back a week from today. I do know that one day I'll have to be at the dentist to have my teeth cleaned and on Saturday night they are showing the pay per view portion of the big UFC event on the big screen so I'll be there, and I know I should have enough to talk about for that blog.

Monday, November 5, 2012

The Blog Where I Realize I Still Have Plenty Of Haters

I'll explain in a bit what I am referring to. This week ended up being more eventful than expected. Monday... it was not the best day. I won't get into it as it's my personal life. Don't worry it's nothing serious I need to say here. It's just that sometimes your best isn't good enough, you know. Let me instead mention that I did have dinner at a Five Guys (a quality place, as always) and after that I walked around for a bit at the nearby Altamonte Mall. That's all I really feel like saying. I don't feel like saying much more as I don't want anyone to feel depressed, you know. But hey, I don't want anyone to feel bad or worry about me. I'll be fine. Heck, compared to what all those people experienced in the Northeast a week ago, I should never complain.

Tuesday, I had free time in the afternoon so I decided to go to the local Epic Theatres and finally check out Paranormal Activity 4. It's probably a sign that I didn't go to see it as soon as I could like I did with the first three; in hindsight, boy am I glad I did not see it at its midnight debut. The two lead teenagers were actually good and you didn't hate them. The story, though, pure crap. There were massive plot holes and lapses in logic that ended up being infuriating. Then the ending was a total wet fart and not satisfying at all. Sure, the movie had creepy moments but overall it was wildly disappointing; I really liked the first three, so maybe the series is running out of steam doing the same old shit all the time.

Wednesday, it wasn't the most exciting of Halloweens. I stayed in and relaxed. I did watch some horror films, including the 2007 film Trick 'r Treat, which for some reason (probably drama-related in nature) was treated like crap by Warner Brothers and it deserved far better as it's a real good and fun anthology movie. I did discover that a wrestling fan who I had seen at local shows many times in the past (believe it or not, it's been almost three full years since I had gone to shows regularly; I have a hard time believing it myself) must follow me on Twitter as the day before I mentioned how PA 4 “left a bad taste in my mouth.” He replied to me and made the expected homosexual-related remark concerning what put a bad taste in my mouth. Cute, real cute. After all those years he's still MAD about me.

What the issue was... back when I reviewed local shows I said some things about him... all those things I stand by. He is a big fat bald guy who acts like an ass and I mentioned that and he obviously still holds a grude about it. Me, I am like “yeah whatever, dude” about it. Back 5 years ago when me and him were at the same show he took an unauthorized photo of me and posted it online. Incredibly creepy, yes. I did retweet that crude comment he made about me to show I still have haters after all of these years and to show off the intelligence of said haters. And he isn't even one of the minions of Jared David St. Laurent either. I know I haven't mentioned those guys in ages so if you're relatively new to these blogs... I'll just say that Jared David is a guy with a severe mental illness who tries his damndest to try and ruin people's lives and he's a loathsome pile of crap. The people who worship him are just about as bad. I haven't really thought of that pathetic gang in months; I am sure that revelation will make them mad. As that is about as much attention as they deserve... it probably shouldn't be a surprise then why I don't feel like going to shows any longer. The fact that when I look at results the past few years more often than not I wonder what in the blue hell is going on with a various promotion in terms of booking the fed and storylines and such things; I feel befuddled by it, you know. Unfortunately the local wrestling scene isn't like how it used to be in the good old days, to sound like a bitter old man.

Thursday, I went to Walt Disney World; Epcot, to be exact. I had some food from the Food & Wine Festival I wasn't able to get to the last time. There was even more whiny bratty kids there and rude A-hole parents there than usual; I tried to ignore that the best I could. The old band that they had playing there a few times a day this time was... 38 Special. Awesome. They played some random tunes and also the three ones you hear on the radio stations, and I saw various older people getting down to their music. Tremendous. I don't know if this is just BS as in this person just made it up because the lyrics could be interpreted that way, but according to that anonymous messageboard person, their most famous song Hold On Loosely is actually about choking your chicken! It's possible...

Friday was another lazy day, but Saturday I decided to get more exercise as I certainly could use it. I went to that James A. Van Fleet State Trail (the same one I biked oh so many months ago) and this time I walked part of it. It was nice to get some fresh air. The only wildlife of note I saw was a tortoise. Still, at least I did something out of the norm. I did go to Burger King afterwards; I wanted to use their Coca-Cola Freestyle and plus I decided to go with their Wisconsin White Cheddar Whopper again, this time with bacon and lettuce. A fine meal it was. Strawberry Sprite mixed with Vanilla Sprite is also a fine decision.

Sunday was NFL time, so I went to Friendly Confines to watch the Chicago Bears go against the Tennessee Titans. The Titans aren't a very good team, I knew this already. However, I was caught off-guard by just how much of a massacre the game proved to be. Tennessee looked absolutely atrocious! They made numerous mistakes and allowed Chicago to make many great plays and no surprise then the Bears won 51-20 in a game that wasn't as close as the score would suggest. It was great watching Chicago so thoroughly dominate someone. The rest of the month, the opponents of the Bears will be a lot more difficult than the Titans. December won't be too easy either but November is awfully tough.

There isn't too much else to say about my time there. Thankfully there wasn't any loathsome behavior I had to deal with that raised my ire and dander. One thing I noticed is that after I parked the Mazda and I walked to FC, there was dried-up vomit in the parking lot! Obviously, someone had a great time at the sports bar the night before. Once I got home, things were going fine... then suddenly I developed a headache and did not feel well at all. I have no idea why. I ended up taping something I wanted to watch live; yes, I still use VHS tapes to do this. It still works for me.

For this upcoming week, I plan on seeing a movie or two on the big screen. I know for certain I'll see the new movie Skyfall as hey, it's Bond and this time it looks more like a traditional Bond film than the other two Craig movies. Otherwise, there's the big election on Tuesday, and it is on purpose that I haven't said a thing about it until now; I will NOT be touching that with a 39 foot pole. I am sure I will participate in other interesting activities no matter what they are.