Monday, May 25, 2015

The One Time I Announced I Was Against Men's Rights Activists

Here's what I've done since last Monday; on Monday the 18th the only thing I did was go get a haircut, which was sorely needed by that point.  I was going to eat after that at the Chipotle literally next door but it was so busy I knew not to wait there and I ate somewhere else instead. Tuesday, all I did was go to Domino's. I know some people who hate that place but in the mail that day there was a flier from there and for only 10 bucks I got a large sausage pizza and cheesy bites. Both were tasty.

Wednesday, I went to a place I haven't visited in awhile, the World of Beer, where I had dinner along with some cider from across the world. It was nice to make my return there. On the jukebox were modern songs, many of which I had never heard of before. Having the SoundHound app to use was nice as it was able to ID all the tunes I wanted to ID. It also reminded me that a lot of music these days is mediocre so I am happy to only pay attention to older music. Thursday was a boring day so let me skip ahead to Friday.

Friday night, I returned to Walt Disney World-the Magic Kingdom in particular-as on that day the promotion returned where for 24 hours straight the park was open. Some people did all 24 hours and that is rather insane. Me, I went there late in the evening and I did not back home until 4:37 AM, which is late even for me and boy was I ever exhausted by the time I left there. It was definitely a bigger crowd there than when they did it last year. I still walked around, ate there, went on some rides, and even when it was rainy for a bit I dealt with it.

Saturday, in the evening I went to Universal Studios CityWalk. I could have done a number of things on that day but I decided to watch the latest UFC pay per view on the big screen, which ended up being a great idea as the pay per view portion was a quality event. I could have chosen several locations to see this but I chose CityWalk as I hadn't been there in awhile and I could have a late dinner before seeing the show. I chose the Burger King Whopper Bar they had there as I hadn't been there in years and I felt like having a Whopper with cheese and bacon, and that's what I did.

I do have to mention that while I was there I saw a dudebro, a real tool, who had on a pretty gross shirt. It was a black shirt with bright orange letters (already a bad sign there) and it said, “Your Makeup's Terrible”. What an A-hole. I highly doubt he was going to “get any chicks” by wearing such a shirt, so was he trying to impress the other D-bags walking around? I don't know but he has to be one of those women-hating trolls known as Men's Rights Activists, who I can't believe exist but they do. I think those individuals are pretty gross and it's just absurd there's men who think that women have too many rights and they feel so threatened by a gender that's still mistreated... how absurd. 

Sunday, I didn't do a thing so I'll announce that I'll be back a week from today. I have nothing planned yet but that is OK. Hopefully everyone has a nice Memorial Day.

Monday, May 18, 2015

The One Time I Am Even More Of A Contrarian Than Usual

Note that I do not actively seek out to be a contrarian; there have been many times where I wish I wasn't one. I am just a pretty unusual person in general and a definite “acquired taste” so it's no surprise I would think differently. But the thing that let me down is pretty crushing as I never thought I could not like it and yet it's true. I'll get to that later.

Last Monday all I did was go to Staples to pay an arm and a leg for printer ink. Tuesday was more interesting as I returned to the place that will eventually be known as Disney Springs but is still known currently as Downtown Disney. I walked around and saw what was new there, including the quite pricey joint known as The Boathouse. They have a store connected to it which sells t-shirts advertising the restaurant, because... well, because they wanted to, I suppose. I did not eat there. Instead I went somewhere I ate at once before, a few years ago. It's the outdoor bar connected to the Rainforest Cafe; it's known as Lava Lounge. I had a burger & fries, which were fine... and a tasty beverage also.

Wednesday, I went with someone to the Outback Steakhouse as the neither of us had been there for a long while. Again, that food was fine. The Aussie theme was appropriate as I rewatched the first three Mad Max films before checking out Fury Road. The first two are still pretty cool; Thunderdome, I don't think is that good at all. 

Thursday night I saw Fury Road on a giant screen and in 3D. I had real high expectations, as the fourth film has been rumored for many years and I heard the strongest of praise for it. Well... the action (which is plentiful) is quite great and it was awesome to see it on a giant screen and in 3D. As for the story and characters... I am sorry but I didn't like either at all so overall I felt massively disappointed with the film; just about everyone else who has seen it disagrees with me... that is OK. At least I have the first two movies to watch again and me not enjoying something I found to be off-puttingly weird, that is fine. Note that the movie being focused on the female characters has NOTHING to do with my criticisms of the movie. It is rather absurd there are such things as “Men's Right Activists” but there are and they hated the movie without seeing it because of alleged feminism present. I am more than fine with there being strong female characters; unfortunately I am in a very small minority in not liking the film in general.

I did see it in Lakeland at the Cinemark they have there I think is very nice; I saw it on the biggest screen they had there. Driving there and back mainly on middle of nowhere roads was nice too as it meant not dealing with awful Florida traffic. Friday and Saturday I did not do much of anything at all. Sunday, I had to go to the Orlando-Sanford Airport to drop someone off. I then went to a few stores (such as a World Market) in the area before driving home. Considering the traffic I had to deal with all of this past week (the capper being some Mensa member pulling out right in front of me and nearly causing me to wreck) I was glad to arrive home.

I will be back on Memorial Day; I have some ideas in mind as to what I'll be doing but nothing's in concrete yet.

Monday, May 11, 2015

Revisiting Restaurants, Animal Kingdom, & Mundane Events

Unfortunately this was another not so exciting week. At least there were some moments.

Here's a recap of what I've done in the past week. Last Monday the 4th I ended up getting food from a restaurant known as Crispers; among other things they sell sandwiches; I once in awhile eat there when I'm elsewhere but I haven't ordered from their location in Clermont in years. I am not sure why as I think their food is fine. Tuesday, me and someone went to a certain quick service restaurant. Back when I grew up in the Midwest I ate many times at the restaurant known as Culver's. I was happy when they came to Florida recently and once I heard they were coming right to Clermont, only about 3 miles from where I live, that made me quite happy. From what I heard and then saw in person, since they opened at the end of last month that place has been real popular. They make real good food so it was worth the wait, but I do not know when I'll return there.

Wednesday I didn't do a thing but Thursday, I had free time so I went to Walt Disney World again. It was the Animal Kingdom in particular and as I heard from someone, many parts of the park are under construction. It was still nice to walk around there and look at all the animals. Having a Dole pineapple whip was nice too! 

After that I was going to eat at another spot but complications happen so instead I ended up at International Drive, and right by the brand new attraction known as the Orlando Eye, which is a fancy 400 foot Ferris Wheel and around there is I-Drive 360, which has several attractions, stores, and restaurants. I'll go there at another time to see what that's like. Where I ate at was a place I hadn't been to in awhile, Brick House Tavern + Tap. I had the chicken & waffles... along with a cold beverage.

Friday through Sunday were laid back. I only went to some places in town, such as Walmart (I got some miscellaneous items) and the clothing store known as Belk, which I hadn't been to in awhile. As for Mother's Day that day turned out fine. When I return a week from today I hope to have more to talk about.

Monday, May 4, 2015

Unexpected Baseball, Uncle Denzel & Farcical Events

I was thinking this past week wouldn't be exciting at all and yet some things popped up. I did not do a thing on Monday so let me skip ahead to Tuesday. On that night I went to the Florida Mall as I haven't been there in awhile. I was able to walk around and see that by the end of the summer there will be some new additions to the mall. I will go back there then. Wednesday I went with some people to a now familiar haunt, Hurricane Grill & Wings, for dinner. Everyone enjoyed their meals. Thursday, the only thing I did was watch the NFL Draft, which also was held on Friday evening and Saturday afternoon.

Friday, though, was quite the interesting day. Due to all the chaos in Baltimore, their Major League Baseball team (the Orioles) had a bad week as they were supposed to play at home. The Monday and Tuesday night games were postponed and they played Wednesday afternoon... in an empty stadium as no one in the public was allowed to attend. The Rays were supposed to play there this weekend but the series got moved to St. Petersburg and as it was so last minute for all three games only the lower bowl of Tropicana Field was opened and every ticket is general admission so you could sit wherever the hell you wanted. I couldn't turn down such a deal.

Before the game I did other things. I drove to Tampa and avoided Interstate 4. The traffic I dealt with made me wonder if I made the right choice; I had to put up with such things as multiple tailgaters and other forms of reckless/rude driving. I went to a MovieStop on the west side of town where I made some purchases. I then drove to St. Petersburg and on the way ate at one of my favorites, PDQ. I then found a spot close to the stadium to park and in I went.

People were smarter than I expected and many were already there by the time I got there and I thought I arrived early. I sat in the upper part of the lower bowl along the first base line. I picked a spot by some old people as to be honest I figured they wouldn't cause problems and they didn't. While walking around the stadium I ended up being by an ogre dad who was being an A-hole to one of his daughters and I could have done without him being a dick to her because “she doesn't smile in photos” (really, he got enraged by that) but I am used to this state being full of ogres. As for the game, they tried to make it as neutral was possible, and Baltimore batted second. This year MLB has the half-inning breaks only about 2 minutes to try and make it shorter. Even if it wasn't for that this would have been a very quick game. It wasn't the most exciting but that is OK. It only took 2 hours and 20 minutes for Tampa Bay to win 2-0.

As for the attendance, it was only 9,945. Tampa's hockey team was playing in a playoff game at the same time so that didn't help but unfortunately the crowds for home games are always not good and it's quite unfortunate. There were plenty of Baltimore fans there and that's fine. Thankfully most of the fans treated the Orioles fine considering the circumstances. There always has to be some meatheads but most were nice.

Saturday was a huge sports day between the end of the draft, playoff games in the NBA and NHL, and “that one boxing fight” which I did not watch a second of. Besides me mentioning in the past that I just don't enjoy watching boxing in general, the fighter that's undefeated is a pretty awful human being, his repeated beating of women and never apologizing for it being the worst part of it all. Manny's the lesser of two evils so I preferred him winning. I did predict on Twitter that something stupid/funny/ridiculous would happen and it would make me go “LOL, Boxing”. I re-watched an old movie instead. 

From all the “rave” reviews I heard online, most people thought the bout was atrocious, with too much hugging, dancing and running away. So from that I did say, “LOL, Boxing”. However, those scumbags really got the last laugh with the way they gouged everyone and stole many millions of dollars for a real clownshow joke of a production, complete with Jimmy Kimmel, the (thankfully) retired Burger King mascots, and celebrities failing to sing properly. I know it's not nice but I do have a bit of schadenfreude from those people that paid so much money to a trash human being and to be honest, for a long while I was disgusted with how much hype this got and how organizations such as ESPN acted like an infomercial for the fight, drooling all over a repeated beater of women. Sigh... I guess I can at least laugh at all the comedy which came from the event, including Denzel Washington looking like “every black person's uncle”; note that is NOT my thought, just one I read from someone else. Those memes were quite amusing.

I did not do anything on Sunday, so I'll end this by saying I do not have much planned between now and when I return a week from today.