Monday, March 25, 2013

White Whiskey, Pinball Videogames, & An Animatronic Woody Allen

As usual for me, not the most exciting week aside from a few moments, but at least I do have those moments to talk about.

Monday was pretty dull; my parent's pal, it was their last night here. The crew did not go out, though. Instead it was cheeseburgers made at home; yep, it was pretty good. Tuesday night, I had free time so I first went to The Fresh Market, a joint I mentioned a few months ago. It's similar to Whole Foods. I did indeed pick up some cheap items there, which made me happy. I then stopped at Pinkberry to have their monthly flavor for March, which was Key Lime; yep, it was as good as you'd expect. I then went to Lime Fresh Mexican Grill as I hadn't been there in too long and that's where I had dinner.

Wednesday was boring but Thursday at least I did go out and about. I needed a new pair of blue jean shorts (I know, I know...) as the one I wear the most I have had for quite a long time and recently I discovered that in the crotch area was a hole. Yes, insert any and all perverted crass comments if you wish. I went to Kohl's (one of my mom's favorite stores) as it is only a few miles away, and I did buy some shorts there along with a cheap t-shirt.

Friday, nothing happened so let me take some time to mention that I am still enjoying my Xbox 360 and I've been random as of late with what I've been playing. I can say that Red Dead Redemption is pretty great (hey, it's a Western, after all) and I enjoy playing games that don't require a lot of time in one setting, such as Mortal Kombat and something I got recently for the 360 but had it for the PS2. On the 2 I have Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection and Pinball Hall of Fame: The Gottlieb Collection. I know how it may sound but those games are a lot of fun and it does accurately capture the feel of actually playing a pinball table in real life. Gottlieb is on PS2 and the original Xbox, while Williams was on PS2 along with PS3 and the Xbox 360. Well, recently I found the 360 version and I got that as it has more tables than the PS2 version. I recommend those games along with Pinball Arcade from the same company, which you can download from the PS3 and 360 online stores. I downloaded that a few days ago and it's much of the same, which is a good thing.

Friday night for reasons unknown for me, I had a real bizarre dream. I was in what looked to be a classroom and there was... an Animatronic version of Woody Allen from the 70's! I have no explanation for that. I have only seen a few of his films and not in a long while. Sure, he impersonates a robot for a scene in Sleeper (a movie I like) so maybe that was it, but that was quite odd. I need to see more of his movies, for sure. His taste in women can be questioned (his adopted daughter? Ewww) but I won't question his talent.

Saturday, that was the highlight for me. In the evening I went to the east side of Orlando to go to Total Wine & More for the first time in a few months. I got some items (alcoholic and non-alcoholic) and soon I'll be able to try Budweiser Black Crown, as that has intrigued me for awhile now. After that I drove to... Ghost Bar & Lounge! Hey, I could have some alcohol, people watch, and also watch the college basketball tournament. I know, multiple times I've said that college sports sucks now for a variety of reasons and that's still true; but, I've at least partially watched the tournament for a long time now and for the environment it was a fine-enough diversion when it wasn't time for people watching. I had a good time there. Good music (at times it was 80's and 90's-riffic, which made me happy), good basketball action and such hilarity as drunken white buffoons attempting to dance in a hip and cool fashion. While I was there I had beer and a shot of white whiskey. That's right. It's more tolerable than regular whiskey to me. The reason why the joint advertises it is that it's Jacob's Ghost White Whiskey from Jim Beam, named after the guy who founded the company, and the name makes it appropriate for the bar & lounge.

While I was there, I wish that some ladies would have invited me over to hang out with them... and I wish those girls from my birthday night would have been there. Instead, some dude who was part of a group of guys I noticed earlier started talking to me and he wanted me to hang out with them. I felt rude declining their invitation, but the reason I did so... I noticed them earlier as they were douche-y fratboy types! No offense but I'd rather not hang out with those types. Plus, they were hanging out with each other and not with any females. Still, I had a good time there overall; who knows when I'll be there next, though.

Sunday, I stayed in. That is for good reason, as in the afternoon there was some time where it was real nasty weather, with heavy rain blowing all over, and there was even hail; that is rare for where I live. I'll be back a week from today with a new blog. It will be April 1st but I won't be making any lame and stupid April Fools jokes.

Monday, March 18, 2013

Wolf Tickets, Jeff Foxworthy's Grit Chips, & A Giant Banana Vehicle

Unfortunately, an illness got in the way of me doing some things I was hoping to do. Still, I do have some things to write about. First, let me talk about what I listened to last night. Earlier in the year I was at Downtown Disney and I was leaving when I saw a huge line of people lined up at the House of Blues; I had no idea who was performing. I later found it was a bunch of bands I had never heard of before, the main one being some choades known as Imagine Dragons. I did not check out any of their songs until last night when I stumbled upon their tune Radioactive; it's so terrible it'll give you radiation poisoning! I know, I've thought for a long while that most modern popular music was real bad but it seems to be getting more and more true. I much prefer the unrelated song Radioactive from 80's supergroup The Firm, with Jimmy Page and ItPaul Rodgers.

Anyhow, late last week I started to feel not so well and was less than 100 percent (I now feel almost completely healthy), so I was not able to make it out to Megacon, a convention for geeky people where you get to dress up as your favorite fictional characters (no matter how obscure), you can buy all sorts of bric-a-brac, and get autographs from fantasy/science fiction/horror people. I've never been to one of those before; I've seen plenty of pictures to know it would be quite the experience. Maybe next year... at least I saved some money as going there isn't cheap.

At least I still have a few things to mention, as a parent has a friend down here from the Midwest; the friend has been here a few times before. That has allowed for me and them to go to a few different restaurants. Monday night, it was a trip to the Red Lobster. A coupon made it a wise choice to go there. I had chicken strips, mozzarella sticks, and some skewered shrimp. Pretty tasty. Tuesday night it was off to the Longhorn Steakhouse and I had my almost always of a burger and fries. Thursday night, we went out to the Benihana restaurant on I-Drive. While I could have done without the annoying bratty kids we had to sit by, otherwise it was of course a very tasty meal; it better be, for the price.

As I have free time, let me explain what a “wolf ticket” is. I had never heard of the term before an MMA fighter used it while talking about his fight on the UFC show this past Saturday. The guy is insane and is usually illogical, by the way. It means a verbal insult so to sell one is to run your mouth to bluff or threaten them, and to buy one is to accept their bluff. As for Jeff Foxworthy's Grit Chips, yes this is a legit product. I have never had grits before as I only moved down here to the South from the Midwest almost 9 years ago, as amazing as it is to me it happened back in '04. I have a feeling I wouldn't like them, whether in regular form or as chips from a bag. Anyhow, I discovered that the product just sponsored a NASCAR race; talk about living up-or down-to stereotypes. And speaking of the UFC pay per view, I was able to watch it all. It had its ups and downs but I was happy with how the main fights turned out so I can't complain.

As I have more free time, let me mention that I am still getting plenty of spam e-mail. Only some of which as of late has been real noteworthy. For example, the totally random phrase “Natalie Portman Heads To Paris To Search For The Perfect Wedding Gown”, but there's also been the typical vulgarity, such as “Have The Pecker Of Her Dreams”, which sometimes does make me laugh.

Yesterday, I felt well enough to go to the open air mall known as Winter Garden Village. I went to a few places, including good old Planet Smoothie. As I walked there I experienced another incident that I swear could only happen to me. They had a PS corporate vehicle there, a car that visits locations all across the country. Thing is... the vehicle was turned into a giant banana! Yes. It is an open-air automobile you can drive around. As I was in there, the driver came in-he wore a safari hat, because why not?-and he explained that an employee could ride with him in the giant banana, which indeed did happen and that was an amazing sight.

I'll be back a week from today. As I don't have to deal with the illness any longer, I should not have anything that will impede my plans. While I don't have anything planned yet, I'll stumble into more than one thing as I always do.

Monday, March 11, 2013

The Blog Where I Wonder If I Am The Grumpy Cat In Human Form

Yes, I am referencing the meme of the cat which happens to always have a sourpuss expression. Here's what I have done in the past week, including an event or two that may make some think I am just like the grumpy cat.

Monday, the only thing of note was going to Burger King. Yeah, I complained about them last year, but I had a coupon for 50 cents for four of their Not Chicken McNuggets; I got that along with a Whopper. Their Not Chicken McNuggets taste better than before but I still will always long for their Chicken Tenders. Before that I stopped at the Taco Bell for their cinnamon twists and their Baja Blast Freeze. Overall, a tasty lunch. Tuesday was boring so let me mention that on Wednesday I went to Staples and among the items I got was an external hard drive. I figure it would be a wise investment in order to save data from various computers and make sure that certain data doesn't get lost if any of those computers go haywire.

Thursday, I had free time so I went back to Walt Disney world and again I parked at Downtown Disney and I used their bus service. This time I did not have any set destination in mind. I ended up at a place I never have been at before, the Fort Wilderness Resort and Campground, not to be confused with the resort at WDW known as Fort Wilderness Lodge. Fort Wilderness was rather scenic and pretty, as it's out in the woods and it just looks nice. Unfortunately they have no quick service spot to eat at so I went back to Downtown Disney to eat at the Earl of Sandwich, a place that offers some good and relatively cheap food.

Friday was dull so let me skip ahead to Saturday; oh what a day it turned out to be. Originally, I was going to go to downtown Orlando to see a wrestling show then go back to good old Ghost Bar. The wrestling promotion is actually from the Northeast and has a cult following across the country. They are known as Chikara and they have many masked wrestlers and you'd think that I would enjoy a wacky federation; but, they do things to make wrestling look extraordinarily fake; for example, out of nowhere for a minute or two, all the wrestlers and the ref will start moving as if they're in slow motion. Yes, pretty stupid and nonsensical. The thing is, the wrestlers they have in the fed I have seen elsewhere and they are usuallly quite talented and fun to watch, so I decided to check it out for that reason and hope I wasn't too offended by the stupidity.

I arrive at the building, which is a building I have been to a number of times before and it's literally on the outskirts of the ghetto! It is right by where the old Amway Arena was before it was torn down. I had to eat dinner at home earlier than usual as the doors were supposed to open a 6:30 for a 7 PM start, which is quite early for an evening show put on by an independent wrestling company. Well... they were like a typical independent wrestling company in that the show did not start on time. I have dealt with that for years and back in the day when I went to those shows regularly I was able to tolerate it. Now, though... it was after 6:30 when I heard that the ring was still being hauled into the building to be constructed! It was nearly 7 when I was standing in a long line (mainly filled with people I have never seen before and mainly filled with totally hipster-looking people) and no sign of anyone being let in... I gave up and left! These days I am fed up with such things and don't have the patience any longer for such incompetence and promotions treating their fans like crap.

Instead, I went to Orange Street early. I parked in a parking garage and I noticed that a little bit north, they had some blocks blocked off for a free event known as Blues-B-Q; the name says it all. I walked up there, had some food (which was pretty darn good) and listened to some local bands play blues/R&B/jazzy sorts of songs. The main event was actually a famous group: Robert Randolph & The Family Band. Yes they are still around. I actually haven't heard too much of their music which is surprising given my tastes. They are a loud band for sure but also a quality and entertaining act, with fun music to listen to and there were plenty of dorky drunk white people attempting to dance to the tunes, which did amuse me. I left before they were finished playing but it was getting chilly by that time and I was anxious to go to the Ghost Bar & Lounge; hey, the last time (i.e. first time) I was there it was the night of my birthday and I got to meet people from the past and have six ladies invite me over to hang out with them.

Sad to say those ladies weren't there and who knows if I'll ever run into them again... still, I had a pretty good time there. Early on it wasn't too busy but eventually there was a nice crowd. At least in those early stages I got to watch some college basketball on the TV's... and see a near-fight happen. I have no idea what it was about but the pals of one of the guys (or maybe friends of both) had to step in to prevent any brawling from happen. Yep, people got kicked out. They had the same cover band there from the last time and it was nice to see them again. Once it got busier I usually sat on a cushioned seat and watched such things as more drunk white people attempting to dance to the music. Good times. I had fun there but who knows when I'll be able to return.

Once I got home I decided to continue the party... and that's when things get hazy! Sunday, I did not feel good at all. I was embarrassed. I must be getting old if my body can't handle such things anymore. I'll know what not to do the next time. Eventually I felt better and I am back in the saddle again today.

The next time I post a blog a week from today I do know I'll be watching the latest UFC pay per view and also I'll be getting some free dinners, as my mom has a friend coming down from Illinois and I should be tagging along a few times for free meals at local restaurants.

Monday, March 4, 2013

The Blog Where I Dream About 70's Cars & Mexican Wrestlers

The reason why this is up a little later than usual is that today my dad bought a laptop. He won't even start using it for a few weeks (he's going up to Illinois on Wednesday) but I still had to set it up and get it going; you know, get Windows 8 updated, install Firefox, and all that. I also had to learn how to use Windows 8, which is good as my mom will use the laptop at least once this month so I'll have to teach them how it works, and I'd better learn it first! But now I know why I've heard complaints about 8; it seems like they complicated what used to be pretty simple, and for no real good reason.

As for the title of this blog, I am referring to a rather odd dream I had Saturday night. The first thing I remember is me back at my old home in Illinois, and I was driving a 70's Oldsmobile convertible for some reason. My first car was an Oldsmobile, but it was a station wagon from the 80's. I end up in some random city and suddenly I was chased around by a Mexican luchador, i.e. wrestler! I have little explanation for any of this. No, the Mexican wrestler wasn't anyone like El Santo or someone known for wrestling in the United States like Rey Mysterio or Sin Cara.

This definitely isn't the most exciting blog from me. By the weekend the weather in the central area of Florida was chilly, at least by Florida standards so I did not do much those two days. Would you want to go out if you were in Florida and the high was 50 and it was windy? It was not as action-packed as the last blog where I talked about my eventful birthday weekend, and thankfully the two photos that some Asian guy took and put on his lifestyle in Orlando website were put up so I took them and I got a new cover photo for Facebook and Twitter, along with a profile pic for the former. At least I did do a few interesting things.

Monday through Wednesday were boring, except for one of the nights when I went to Walmart and man were there plenty of examples of people that wouldn't feel out of place on the People of Walmart website. I tried to laugh at those people instead of getting mad at their boorish behavior; I was able to purchae the items I wanted.

Thursday, I did do something I hadn't done in a long while. I went to Downtown Disney and via their bus service I went to one of the hotels. This time I went to the new Art of Animation resort, which has obvious theming based on some Disney animated films of the past 25 years or so. Having been at a variety of the hotels on the property, Disney does the theming of their places quite well. It's pretty cool. If only most of those places weren't do damned expensive... someone I know knows someone who works at one of the hotels and not surprisingly, the budget-value places at Walt Disney World are doing pretty well but otherwise the hotels and their attendance isn't so hot. Anyhow, I walked around that resort for a bit then went next door to their Pop Century resort (there's theming based on a few different decades) and I ate at a quick service location at the former. I was able to handle the crowded bus back to Downtown Disney. It was nice to do as something different from the norm.

Friday, I decided that it was the time to get a haircut. I did not need one when I went to the usual spot I go to (Sport Styles, formerly a part of the Sportclips chain) and they were out of business. I knew that there was a Sportsclips in Winter Garden so that is where I went. Thankfully they had plenty of people working so there was no wait for me. As I was a new customer there I got for free the post-haircut journey to the back of the joint where your hair gets shampoo'ed and washed. I've had it done a few times before and it's actually a great feeling. This time I did it and there was an added massaging chair; I enjoyed it!

That's really about it for this blog. I am pretty sure that the next one I do-which I'll post a week from today-will be more entertaining than this one. The reason why... you'll just have to wait to find out.