Here's a recap of this past week. I did not do a thing on Monday so let me mention something I do have planned for the fall months. Remember how I went to a small college football game down in Lake Wales between the colleges of Webber and Warner? Well, I wanted to go to more than one but it didn't work out. This year-unless unexpected things happen-I'll be going to more than one. There are several small schools which have started up football programs in recent years and to me it sounds like fun to support them by giving them a few bucks and checking out their games. I wrote down the home games for all the schools so it'll make things easy to figure out.
Tuesday, I went out and about. I finally decided to take advantage of the AMC Theatres promotion where this summer, Monday through Wednesday nights at 9:30 PM they are showing movies from like 6 months ago and tickets are only 3 bucks and all proceeds go to charity. That seemed like a nice idea so I chose the AMC at Universal CityWalk. I returned there sooner than expected, but it happens... Going there was a swell idea, as besides having an alcoholic concoction while watching the movie and having no issues with the (small) crowd-which has unfortunately happened at that location more than once before-some new places opened at CityWalk. I had a bite to eat at a place known as Bread Box. It's like a 50's diner... designed by damned hipsters. While the design is just odd, I enjoyed their food, which is mainly sandwiches. No kidding, I had a grilled cheese sandwich there and it was good. I'll return there sooner or later to try out some more of their food.
The movie I saw was the 300: Rise of the Empires which I wasn't too interested in before it came out as I always thought 300 itself was on the overrated side. Whatever merits it has, it also has a douchebag meathead fratboy vibe and that sort of thing isn't really for me. I then heard a lot of positive buzz and I changed my mind; getting a chance to see it on the big screen: I had to take it. I actually think the sequel is better; I enjoyed the story more and Eva Green as the main villain is great as the character is so crazy and she's perfect for the role.
Wednesday, I went out with someone to Olive Garden, as we hadn't been there in a long while. The food was fine. The real noteworthy thing is that in the parking lot was an Aston Martin Vantage convertible, red in color. It must be nice to have one... I think Aston cars are great, personally. Thursday, I did nothing so I'll mention how on this day it was made public that someone leaked a full copy of The Expendables 3 a few weeks before it even got released on the big screen. For awhile now I've had serious reservations about the film (and I really enjoyed the first two) for a variety of reasons. The fact that it's PG-13 is really stupid to me; why make the change now? I've heard a lot of bad buzz about the film and my fears about it appear to be true, sad to say.
Friday, I dropped off someone at the airport in Sanford; this was in the late morning. I decided to spend some time in Sanford before returning home. I went to a shopping plaza and visited a few stores, including a World Market; among other things they sell unique food and beverages; I got some of both, including a bottle from a Louisiana beverage known as Swamp Pop. They offered up a flavor known as Satsuma Fizz; I'll be honest and say I hadn't heard of that fruit before. I now know it's from Asia and it is popular in Louisiana. It's real good, so I'll have to get it again when I'm able to.
Saturday, I didn't do a thing, which was fine with me. I did see the UFC show on Fox and well, the last four fights were at least interesting to watch. Sunday, I went to Wendy's for the first time in awhile and besides noticing the location in town is completely remodeled, I had their new pretzel roll bacon cheeseburger. It was good. When I return next week, I don't know what I'll be talking about as nothing is on the agenda... yet.
Monday, July 28, 2014
Monday, July 21, 2014
Tales Of Funfetti Cake Batter Oreo Ice Cream & Beachin' Day Trips
To clarify, a Funfetti Cake Batter Oreo Ice Cream is not a concoction I actually had... unfortunately. It happened to be a trending topic on Twitter for a few minutes late one night, and seeing such a trend made me laugh so much I had to use it here. As for the preceding week, it wasn't too eventful aside from two days. Monday, me and someone went to Bob Evans, as the restaurant is real close by and that person had a coupon for the place. By the time we left it had stopped raining and was clearing up, which was good; so was the food.
Tuesday, I didn't do anything, so let me skip ahead to Wednesday. I had to go back to the dentist, but just for a minor thing. The coast wasn't minor, but alas... I don't have to return there until December for a check-up and to clean my teeth, so I am glad for that. After the dentist I went someone to have dinner and as I hadn't been there in a few months, I decided to return to Twin Peaks, the restaurant which is Hooters-esque except that it has a rustic theme. I do enjoy their food, and the scenery isn't bad either... as a Barnes & Noble was on the way I stopped there for a bit. I looked around but didn't get anything. The restaurant experience was fine; the food was tasty (along with the frosty cool beverage I had) and I tried my best to ignore the odious and loudmouth vermin who were there.
Thursday and Friday I didn't do a darn thing. Really. I didn't feel like doing anything and while the weather finally improved and it stopped raining, staying at home and doing random things there. At least Saturday was a noteworthy day. I was thinking of things to do and I realized that I hadn't been to any sort of beach since November of '11, when I went for a night with my parents to a timeshare owned by a friend of theirs; it was on the beach a little south of Cocoa Beach; I hadn't been in Cocoa Beach on my own since like at least a year before that, so I thought it was about time I did that.
The drive to Cocoa Beach started off fine, aside from the expected idiots in traffic. I took a shortcut to get there (which required driving in a rural area for like 15 miles) and it was then I realized I maybe was cutting it awfully close with making it to town before I ran out of gas. It got to the point where I did start to worry, and finding a random Chevron station out in the middle of nowhere was a relief. I hadn't gotten gas from a Chevron or Texaco station due to a kerfuffle that happened back in '10. Maybe one day I'll tell some tales I haven't told of the bad time in my life from August of '09 to August '10, but not now. It was just a bad time overall. Anyhow, after I pumped gas, I did realize I came too close to comfort to running out of gas. While pumping, some bros on Japanese bikes (what I like to call “crotch rockets”) came in, and one of them... did a gratuitous wheelie! I always laugh when I see in older movies when characters on dirtbikes or sportbikes from Japan do wheelies out of nowhere because it looks “cool”, even if they're chasing someone or being chased. Seeing one in person was hilarious to me.
After that I went to Cocoa Beach and I found a space to park that was right by the two stores known as Ron Jon Surf Shop and Cocoa Beach Surf Co., which are places I always visit whenever I am in the town. I got a shirt from the latter. I then spent a decent amount of time on the beach, whether it be in the water or sitting on the beach towel. There's no wacky stories to tell, but it was a nice time there. I left and tried to find a local place by the beach, but all were busy so I decided to head home and hope to find something on the way. In Merritt Island I saw a Hooters along the road and as I needed to eat something immediately, I decided to eat there. It was exactly how you'd expect things to be at that establishment. I did see they had new fries in addition to their curly fries; these ones are known as the Big Dipper, due to how they are shaped. They were tasty.
Sunday... I'd like to say it was a dull day where nothing happened, but real life got in the way. It's always very sad to me when someone I knew from my old home area up in Belvidere, Illinois, pass away at way too young an age. When it's happened before-no matter how it happened-it made me sad and unfortunately I got the news on this day that someone who graduated with me passed away. I had talked to him before, had him in some of my glasses and I was even over with some other people to where his family lives, so even though I hadn't seen him in years I was still upset when I heard the news.
Hopefully when I return next Monday to blog again, I don't have to talk about any awful news such as that. Nothing is on the agenda as of yet so I really don't know what I'll be writing about in general.
Tuesday, I didn't do anything, so let me skip ahead to Wednesday. I had to go back to the dentist, but just for a minor thing. The coast wasn't minor, but alas... I don't have to return there until December for a check-up and to clean my teeth, so I am glad for that. After the dentist I went someone to have dinner and as I hadn't been there in a few months, I decided to return to Twin Peaks, the restaurant which is Hooters-esque except that it has a rustic theme. I do enjoy their food, and the scenery isn't bad either... as a Barnes & Noble was on the way I stopped there for a bit. I looked around but didn't get anything. The restaurant experience was fine; the food was tasty (along with the frosty cool beverage I had) and I tried my best to ignore the odious and loudmouth vermin who were there.
Thursday and Friday I didn't do a darn thing. Really. I didn't feel like doing anything and while the weather finally improved and it stopped raining, staying at home and doing random things there. At least Saturday was a noteworthy day. I was thinking of things to do and I realized that I hadn't been to any sort of beach since November of '11, when I went for a night with my parents to a timeshare owned by a friend of theirs; it was on the beach a little south of Cocoa Beach; I hadn't been in Cocoa Beach on my own since like at least a year before that, so I thought it was about time I did that.
The drive to Cocoa Beach started off fine, aside from the expected idiots in traffic. I took a shortcut to get there (which required driving in a rural area for like 15 miles) and it was then I realized I maybe was cutting it awfully close with making it to town before I ran out of gas. It got to the point where I did start to worry, and finding a random Chevron station out in the middle of nowhere was a relief. I hadn't gotten gas from a Chevron or Texaco station due to a kerfuffle that happened back in '10. Maybe one day I'll tell some tales I haven't told of the bad time in my life from August of '09 to August '10, but not now. It was just a bad time overall. Anyhow, after I pumped gas, I did realize I came too close to comfort to running out of gas. While pumping, some bros on Japanese bikes (what I like to call “crotch rockets”) came in, and one of them... did a gratuitous wheelie! I always laugh when I see in older movies when characters on dirtbikes or sportbikes from Japan do wheelies out of nowhere because it looks “cool”, even if they're chasing someone or being chased. Seeing one in person was hilarious to me.
After that I went to Cocoa Beach and I found a space to park that was right by the two stores known as Ron Jon Surf Shop and Cocoa Beach Surf Co., which are places I always visit whenever I am in the town. I got a shirt from the latter. I then spent a decent amount of time on the beach, whether it be in the water or sitting on the beach towel. There's no wacky stories to tell, but it was a nice time there. I left and tried to find a local place by the beach, but all were busy so I decided to head home and hope to find something on the way. In Merritt Island I saw a Hooters along the road and as I needed to eat something immediately, I decided to eat there. It was exactly how you'd expect things to be at that establishment. I did see they had new fries in addition to their curly fries; these ones are known as the Big Dipper, due to how they are shaped. They were tasty.
Sunday... I'd like to say it was a dull day where nothing happened, but real life got in the way. It's always very sad to me when someone I knew from my old home area up in Belvidere, Illinois, pass away at way too young an age. When it's happened before-no matter how it happened-it made me sad and unfortunately I got the news on this day that someone who graduated with me passed away. I had talked to him before, had him in some of my glasses and I was even over with some other people to where his family lives, so even though I hadn't seen him in years I was still upset when I heard the news.
Hopefully when I return next Monday to blog again, I don't have to talk about any awful news such as that. Nothing is on the agenda as of yet so I really don't know what I'll be writing about in general.
Monday, July 14, 2014
iPod Touches, Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes & Roddy Piper Bubblegum Soda
The first half of the week was indeed very dull, and yet I was OK with that. Monday, I did not do a damn thing; it was nice to relax. Tuesday, an issue arose with my cable; it wouldn't work properly. Sparing everyone the details, it was something that required going into town to get it resolved. Thankfully the issue is fixed now. Oh yeah, and on that day I was greatly amused that Germany destroyed Brazil 7-1. I don't usually talk about my heritage here but the main two nationalities are English and German. Wednesday was another day where nothing noteworthy happened. That is good as during all these days it was overcast and at various points it rained... which happened all throughout the week.
At least this second half of the week things were more interesting. Friday the 11th I relaxed but the day before I finally got out and about. I returned to Winter Park and I first went to the gourmet soda shop known as Rocket Fizz. They have locations all across the country but this is the only Florida one. I had read recently in a messageboard thread that those stores now carry a Rowdy Roddy Piper All Out Of Bubblegum Soda, which is a reference to a classic line in the great 80's film known as They Live. I had to have it. Thankfully they did have it and I got it along with other unique beverages. I then went to the nearby Winter Park Village outdoor shopping plaza for dinner then movie watching. I had dinner at the sandwich shop known as Crisper's. As there is one in my town, I am not sure why I hadn't eaten there in months as they make decent food.
Even though it was another rainy day, I stuck around and I watched a pair of movies in a double bill. I saw Rise then Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. Rise is quite entertaining and better than you'd expect, especially considering how I understand how bad the Tim Burton remake with Marky Mark is. But Dawn is great and it'll be one of the top films I see this year, even at the end of December and with all the films from this year I see from now till then. I give it my highest recommendations and it's notably better than Rise. And thankfully the small crowd there ended up being fine and there was no big issues.
As I stayed in on Sunday and I did half pay attention to the World Cup Final (I am glad Germany won, to state the obvious) let me talk about Saturday, which of course was another rainy day and I didn't want to do it so soon but the battery on my iPod Touch (the older 4th generation) got pretty bad and it was time for me to get rid of it. I discovered online that you could turn in those to Gamestop for store credit, which is what I did. I am glad I got 50 bucks for it, and I used it to get a card to add that cash to my Xbox account. I was sad to see it go as it rarely gave me problems and it was very handy for me on many occasions. On the way to my next destination I stopped at a Big Lots store in the area. I mainly only get food and beverages there, and that indeed was all I got this time.
I then went to the Florida Mall to their Apple Store to get a new iPod Touch. It was only 16 gigs but that is fine with me as I don't put music or games on it; I just use informative apps, such as weather, gas prices, movie times, that sort of thing. 16 gigs is more than enough for me. I got the red one, which is unique as part of the profits go to a fund to fight AIDS in Africa. I walked around the mall and peaked in a few stores to see what they were offering. I then drove home.
While this past week wasn't as exciting as the preceding week I had, I don't even have much of any plans for the upcoming one. I am sure that when I return next Monday some adventures will practically fall right into my lap and I'll have something to write about.
At least this second half of the week things were more interesting. Friday the 11th I relaxed but the day before I finally got out and about. I returned to Winter Park and I first went to the gourmet soda shop known as Rocket Fizz. They have locations all across the country but this is the only Florida one. I had read recently in a messageboard thread that those stores now carry a Rowdy Roddy Piper All Out Of Bubblegum Soda, which is a reference to a classic line in the great 80's film known as They Live. I had to have it. Thankfully they did have it and I got it along with other unique beverages. I then went to the nearby Winter Park Village outdoor shopping plaza for dinner then movie watching. I had dinner at the sandwich shop known as Crisper's. As there is one in my town, I am not sure why I hadn't eaten there in months as they make decent food.
Even though it was another rainy day, I stuck around and I watched a pair of movies in a double bill. I saw Rise then Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. Rise is quite entertaining and better than you'd expect, especially considering how I understand how bad the Tim Burton remake with Marky Mark is. But Dawn is great and it'll be one of the top films I see this year, even at the end of December and with all the films from this year I see from now till then. I give it my highest recommendations and it's notably better than Rise. And thankfully the small crowd there ended up being fine and there was no big issues.
As I stayed in on Sunday and I did half pay attention to the World Cup Final (I am glad Germany won, to state the obvious) let me talk about Saturday, which of course was another rainy day and I didn't want to do it so soon but the battery on my iPod Touch (the older 4th generation) got pretty bad and it was time for me to get rid of it. I discovered online that you could turn in those to Gamestop for store credit, which is what I did. I am glad I got 50 bucks for it, and I used it to get a card to add that cash to my Xbox account. I was sad to see it go as it rarely gave me problems and it was very handy for me on many occasions. On the way to my next destination I stopped at a Big Lots store in the area. I mainly only get food and beverages there, and that indeed was all I got this time.
I then went to the Florida Mall to their Apple Store to get a new iPod Touch. It was only 16 gigs but that is fine with me as I don't put music or games on it; I just use informative apps, such as weather, gas prices, movie times, that sort of thing. 16 gigs is more than enough for me. I got the red one, which is unique as part of the profits go to a fund to fight AIDS in Africa. I walked around the mall and peaked in a few stores to see what they were offering. I then drove home.
While this past week wasn't as exciting as the preceding week I had, I don't even have much of any plans for the upcoming one. I am sure that when I return next Monday some adventures will practically fall right into my lap and I'll have something to write about.
Monday, July 7, 2014
Snowpiercer, Trader Joe's, Road Rage & Danish Khan
Oh, what an eventful past 7 days I had. Last Monday I mentioned in my last blog what I did, which was go to the dentist. So, onto Tuesday. It was the birthday of someone I know (and I'll leave it at that) and the group decided to return to the local Cracker Barrel restaurant. I won't speak for everyone but my meal was good; I had breakfast by consuming some large pancakes.
Wednesday, what a wacky day it was. I did quite a bit. Thankfully the rain wasn't too big of a factor with Hurricane Arthur being in the Atlantic region and thankfully not coming anywhere near Orlando. I went to two different Barnes & Noble stores to see which Criterion Collection discs they have. Yes, that's those fancy high-brow and/or foreign films (usually) and usually the discs are on the pricey side so when they are 50% off each July and November many people online are happy. I did get some discs; they're of obscure stuff, at least to the common person. I ate at a Wingstop, a restaurant I've been to a few times before. They make pretty decent food so I am happy to go there once in a blue moon. Indeed on this occasion it was a fine meal I had of boneless wings and fries.
The last time I was in the Winter Park area I noticed that they were building a Trader Joe's. I never saw word 1 about it on their website so I was actually did not fully believe it when someone told me they were going to build two around Orlando. Turns out that someone was right. It opened just last weekend and I rolled the dice and tried to go in it despite knowing it'd be a madhouse and real crowded. It only took me a few minutes but I did finally find a space. I went in and bought some items; yes it was a madhouse and crowded but not as bad as it could have been. I then went home. Oh, and there were two notable cases of horrible driving. I noticed some idiot driving rather rudely and poorly in general. Believe it or not for no real good reason he gave ME the finger. Later, I had to honk at someone; again he was driving poorly. That guy turned into a psychopath (he stuck his head out and yelled; he looked deranged!) and he almost rammed his car into mine. No kidding. I very well could have called the cops on him but he floored it and got out of there (this happened on Interstate 4) so I was nice and did not make the call.
Thursday and Friday were rather boring. I did not go out to see any fireworks. I've said this for years now but it isn't the same as when I was a kid and every 4th my family and I would go to a nearby town to see the night sky get lit up colorfully. I was actually worried for myself Thursday night as I misunderstood something and almost had a panic attack as I thought something got screwed up badly... but in actuality it didn't. I was embarrassed as this sort of thing rarely happens and this wasn't the first time this year. I can't explain it but I'll try not to worry about it. It's not like I'm losing my sanity... at least I don't think I am!
Saturday, I had a busy day. I left home in the mid afternoon to return to the Altamonte Springs area (I was just there on Wednesday) in order to see a foreign film, one that is highly regarded. It is the Korean film Snowpiercer, which has some Hollywood stars like Chris Evans, Octavia Spencer and John Hurt. Controversy happened when the American distributors wanted to edited it for American release. People got pretty mad about that. They didn't do that, but it isn't a wide release so there was only 3 theatres among all the theatres around Orlando which were showing it, and the best one was the AMC in Altamonte Springs, so there I went. There were definitely more people there than I expected for a film I didn't think that many in the general public knew about. Unfortunately, despite the popular online opinion of it being great, I thought it was pretty awful and insufferable, for the most part. I don't know how many people care for a detailed breakdown so I won't deliver one here but I just thought it was bad and it made zero logical sense.
After that I tried to go to a sports bar but it was too crowded so I found another one (the Ale House restaurant that is in Winter Park) and I had dinner and a beer, which were at least fine. What wasn't fine... the weather. It was like a monsoon. When it's pouring rain, you likely know what happens with signals from satellite dishes... by this point I just did not feel great and it wasn't just that movie. I said “the heck with it” as who knows how long they'd be experiencing those problems and I didn't want to drive around and try to find a place to watch it.
I just decided to relax at home and from what I heard, aside from a great main event and the Vine-length fight that Ronda Rousey had (which I actually did see after the fact) the show was weird and skippable, which is unfortunate as it was supposed to be one of their biggest shows of the year. Sometime in the future I will watch that main event.
Sunday was a day where I did nothing. That was satisfactory with me. I do have to mention two spam e-mails I found in my Yahoo Mail folder recently. The first one had a real vulgar plug for Viagra but it made me laugh. I quote, the subject line is “Viagra, The Quicker Dicker Upper”. Amazing. Unexpected was getting a message in Cyrillic. I used Google Translate and it was a Russian message asking for money. The translated name was Danish Khan, which did make me laugh.
Come to think of it, the past week for me wasn't so good. It was what I mentioned already and some little things; I don't want this to sound like a pity party so I know that when I return a week from today I'll have a cheerier happier blog. No way could I have two lame weeks in a row.
Wednesday, what a wacky day it was. I did quite a bit. Thankfully the rain wasn't too big of a factor with Hurricane Arthur being in the Atlantic region and thankfully not coming anywhere near Orlando. I went to two different Barnes & Noble stores to see which Criterion Collection discs they have. Yes, that's those fancy high-brow and/or foreign films (usually) and usually the discs are on the pricey side so when they are 50% off each July and November many people online are happy. I did get some discs; they're of obscure stuff, at least to the common person. I ate at a Wingstop, a restaurant I've been to a few times before. They make pretty decent food so I am happy to go there once in a blue moon. Indeed on this occasion it was a fine meal I had of boneless wings and fries.
The last time I was in the Winter Park area I noticed that they were building a Trader Joe's. I never saw word 1 about it on their website so I was actually did not fully believe it when someone told me they were going to build two around Orlando. Turns out that someone was right. It opened just last weekend and I rolled the dice and tried to go in it despite knowing it'd be a madhouse and real crowded. It only took me a few minutes but I did finally find a space. I went in and bought some items; yes it was a madhouse and crowded but not as bad as it could have been. I then went home. Oh, and there were two notable cases of horrible driving. I noticed some idiot driving rather rudely and poorly in general. Believe it or not for no real good reason he gave ME the finger. Later, I had to honk at someone; again he was driving poorly. That guy turned into a psychopath (he stuck his head out and yelled; he looked deranged!) and he almost rammed his car into mine. No kidding. I very well could have called the cops on him but he floored it and got out of there (this happened on Interstate 4) so I was nice and did not make the call.
Thursday and Friday were rather boring. I did not go out to see any fireworks. I've said this for years now but it isn't the same as when I was a kid and every 4th my family and I would go to a nearby town to see the night sky get lit up colorfully. I was actually worried for myself Thursday night as I misunderstood something and almost had a panic attack as I thought something got screwed up badly... but in actuality it didn't. I was embarrassed as this sort of thing rarely happens and this wasn't the first time this year. I can't explain it but I'll try not to worry about it. It's not like I'm losing my sanity... at least I don't think I am!
Saturday, I had a busy day. I left home in the mid afternoon to return to the Altamonte Springs area (I was just there on Wednesday) in order to see a foreign film, one that is highly regarded. It is the Korean film Snowpiercer, which has some Hollywood stars like Chris Evans, Octavia Spencer and John Hurt. Controversy happened when the American distributors wanted to edited it for American release. People got pretty mad about that. They didn't do that, but it isn't a wide release so there was only 3 theatres among all the theatres around Orlando which were showing it, and the best one was the AMC in Altamonte Springs, so there I went. There were definitely more people there than I expected for a film I didn't think that many in the general public knew about. Unfortunately, despite the popular online opinion of it being great, I thought it was pretty awful and insufferable, for the most part. I don't know how many people care for a detailed breakdown so I won't deliver one here but I just thought it was bad and it made zero logical sense.
After that I tried to go to a sports bar but it was too crowded so I found another one (the Ale House restaurant that is in Winter Park) and I had dinner and a beer, which were at least fine. What wasn't fine... the weather. It was like a monsoon. When it's pouring rain, you likely know what happens with signals from satellite dishes... by this point I just did not feel great and it wasn't just that movie. I said “the heck with it” as who knows how long they'd be experiencing those problems and I didn't want to drive around and try to find a place to watch it.
I just decided to relax at home and from what I heard, aside from a great main event and the Vine-length fight that Ronda Rousey had (which I actually did see after the fact) the show was weird and skippable, which is unfortunate as it was supposed to be one of their biggest shows of the year. Sometime in the future I will watch that main event.
Sunday was a day where I did nothing. That was satisfactory with me. I do have to mention two spam e-mails I found in my Yahoo Mail folder recently. The first one had a real vulgar plug for Viagra but it made me laugh. I quote, the subject line is “Viagra, The Quicker Dicker Upper”. Amazing. Unexpected was getting a message in Cyrillic. I used Google Translate and it was a Russian message asking for money. The translated name was Danish Khan, which did make me laugh.
Come to think of it, the past week for me wasn't so good. It was what I mentioned already and some little things; I don't want this to sound like a pity party so I know that when I return a week from today I'll have a cheerier happier blog. No way could I have two lame weeks in a row.
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