I'll start this off in an unusual way: by noting that this is the last one of these I'll post for this year. Next Monday I'll be in Kansas, as I've been doing for the past few Christmases. I'll be back on Monday, January the 2nd. I'll have plenty to talk about then, I am sure.
Honestly, I am ready now to be in Kansas, even if the drive there and back is a long, tiring experience. I don't talk about my personal life aside from the random things I do... but I do have to tell this tale. Around 2 months ago me and some young lady started talking online. The particulars aren't necessary; I'll just say she lives hundreds of miles away in another state so it's not like I'll ever meet her. Things were always fine and we chatted for a decent amount on a daily basis. This was an online only thing, as that is how I preferred it. Suddenly, things changed as of late and she treated me differently. I have no idea why, but she did. I got mad about it... from there it did not turn out well. Who knows what'll happen with me and her in the future, but since she doesn't want to talk anymore... I'll try to remember the nice chats we had but it'll be something that will take me awhile to get over, and I'll probably never know why she did this 180. It's not a good feeling to have.
I wish it didn't happen when it did, as I had other things on my mind at the time; I won't talk about the particulars there either, except that right now I feel a change of scenery (even if only for a week) is much-needed. Me being very different compared to most people and thus being an acquired taste, that is one thing. People in general acting like you're repulsive and not even caring what you have to say when you try to speak... I'll never fully be accepting of that. At least I still know plenty of people who are OK with knowing me, even if it's distantly and we rarely-if ever-chat. But I am sure that once things are back to normal and I can get a full night's sleep again, I'll have a rosier disposition. At least starting from today until I leave for Kansas in a few days, things shouldn't be so hectic for me. I don't need to get a lot ready and packed, thankfully.
Here's what I've done since last Monday. Monday the 12th, I went out and about. I was looking for an item in particular, but I stopped at a Walgreens first to get something else. Turns out, what I was looking for was there so after that, I was gonna to go a new place to chill for a bit. But, on the way there I decided to honk at a driver who flew by me as they were going at least 20 miles an hour over the speed limit. Well, this punk got all indignant about it and wanted to start trouble with me. I honked at them some more, then at a stoplight I was able to get away from them by going the opposite direction of where I was headed. I drove around aimlessly and stumbled upon a brand new Walmart. For a Walmart it's pretty nice, and also quite large. I got some miscellaneous items then left. In the future I'll have to do some actual shopping there. Stumbling upon it was a happy little accident, to quote the late painter Bob Ross. Tuesday, I went to the local Applebee's with someone. The service wasn't always the best but at least the food tasted good so I can't carp too loudly.
Wednesday I did not do a thing so onto Thursday. I was in Orlando to do a minor task I won't get into. After that, I was off to Daytona Beach. I went there to try out a new movie theatre that opened just earlier this month. There are no shortage of screens in the Central Florida area, that is for sure. Hopefully they all do well and none of them close, but you never know... this new one is Cobb Theatres. I've been to some of their other properties before, but this one they are billing as “luxury”, meaning those now-hip leather reclining seats, a curved screen, fancy sound systems, and even a restaurant you can eat at independently of seeing any film there. I was curious so why not see Rogue One: A Star Wars Story there?
While I wish that my burger would have been “medium well” as advertised instead of “burned to a crisp”, the place was nice, from the concessions to the auditoriums. But as there are nice places closer to me... as for the movie, I am not unbiased as I've been a Star Wars fan since I was a kid. Yet I thought that it was awesome and I am glad it was different from the norm when it came to the franchise. While I think there were a few too many one-liners and some of the CG was “eh”, otherwise I can't complain. I was glad it was different. I know that many were underwhelmed at best but that's understandable. Like I said I found it to be pretty dope.
The drama happened on Friday night. I'd rather not say much about my Friday to Sunday night. I was out and about (meaning dealing with incredibly awful traffic), I did not get much sleep... one interesting thing was visiting a new Whole Foods. I only go there rarely, as the whole organic thing is overblown. Yet once in a blue moon I'll get some random food & drink there; they also have a nice craft beer selection. Sunday, that was a day to forget. I actually went out and saw the Chicago Bears play. I went to the Friendly Confines sports bar/restaurant as they have tasty food. Their several locations aren't close to me but it's nice to visit infrequently. The Bears were getting whipped by their biggest rival (the Green Bay Packers), then came back to tie it, only to blow it at the end in a rather inept way. Between that ending and the number of loud bellowing cretins around... I don't mind not going out to see the team play, as it means I don't watch poor quality football and I also avoid the obnoxious idiots and knaves.
Like I said, I won't be posting anything here until Monday, January the 2nd. I cannot believe that 2016 is almost over with, not to mention Christmas is less than a week away. As everyone thinks, Praise the Lord that 2016 is almost over with. 2017 should hopefully be better for everyone.
Monday, December 19, 2016
Monday, December 12, 2016
Spirited Away, Earl's Kitchen + Bar & Terrifying Traffic
Here's what I've done since last Monday. Monday the 5th I ended up at Disney Springs. I went to the AMC Theatres there (which now has reserved seating. I must be in the minority here... most of the time I'd rather not have it. It reminds me of high school and its assigned seating, for crying out loud) and saw Spirited Away. I've only seen a small amount of Studio Ghibli, let alone Miyazaki. Everyone loves the film so I figured I might as well see it this way. Well, the animation was beautiful and the music was great... sad to say, the characters and story left me completely cold. I was not charmed, unfortunately. After that I walked around Disney Springs for a bit before driving home. I'll spare the details but for a minute or two I had to deal with a driver who had to be impaired in some way. I was actually chased by this lunatic for a minute or two before that cretin finally went away. Of course I never had the chance to get his license plate tag once I needed it.
Tuesday, I did nothing but Wednesday I ended up at a K-Mart for the first time in a few years. I typically have no need to go there; considering their struggles, many people feel that way now about the chain. I got some random items. Wow is their movie section not spectacular. There was only a few Blu, for starters. Then, much of it was from cheap DVD labels. No wonder why K-Mart is not doing well. Thursday, I went with someone to Hurricane Grill & Wings for the first time in almost a year. The way there and back is down to one lane for the most part so that is why. Highway 27 south from where I live was awful when all the lanes were open, mainly due to the low intelligence of the average person on that stretch of road. Now, it's pretty brutal. On the way back, someone in front was acting like something was mentally wrong with them; I have no idea why they were so slow or why they randomly stomped on their brakes one time. When they finally got off the road, I did not care that someone else was with me, I honked at that Troglodyte, as it was greatly deserved. At least the food at the restaurant was as good as usual.
Friday, I went to a restaurant I found out about the night before. I returned to the Mall at Millenia. I never went to the Blue Martini but awhile back they closed; now there is a mainly Western Canada joint. It may not sound upscale with a name like Earl's Kitchen + Bar; it actually is. It looks “hip” and you can decide for yourself how much that means to you. I sat at the bar and had my “almost always” of a burger and fries, which were admittedly real good. As the place looked nice too, it was a nice choice on my part. I went to a random place or two before making it back home. Saturday and Sunday I did not do a thing; I preferred relaxing at home. As the temperature finally dropped, not doing anything also seemed like a good idea for that reason. The Chicago Bears, they played against the Detroit Lions and I expected them to lose. My expectations were correct. The Lions won 20-17. Once again they had an opportunity to win but they blew it. I was glad I did not go out to see this somewhere in person.
When I return a week from today, I know I'll be talking about Star Wars. After that, who knows... but who needs anything else?
Tuesday, I did nothing but Wednesday I ended up at a K-Mart for the first time in a few years. I typically have no need to go there; considering their struggles, many people feel that way now about the chain. I got some random items. Wow is their movie section not spectacular. There was only a few Blu, for starters. Then, much of it was from cheap DVD labels. No wonder why K-Mart is not doing well. Thursday, I went with someone to Hurricane Grill & Wings for the first time in almost a year. The way there and back is down to one lane for the most part so that is why. Highway 27 south from where I live was awful when all the lanes were open, mainly due to the low intelligence of the average person on that stretch of road. Now, it's pretty brutal. On the way back, someone in front was acting like something was mentally wrong with them; I have no idea why they were so slow or why they randomly stomped on their brakes one time. When they finally got off the road, I did not care that someone else was with me, I honked at that Troglodyte, as it was greatly deserved. At least the food at the restaurant was as good as usual.
Friday, I went to a restaurant I found out about the night before. I returned to the Mall at Millenia. I never went to the Blue Martini but awhile back they closed; now there is a mainly Western Canada joint. It may not sound upscale with a name like Earl's Kitchen + Bar; it actually is. It looks “hip” and you can decide for yourself how much that means to you. I sat at the bar and had my “almost always” of a burger and fries, which were admittedly real good. As the place looked nice too, it was a nice choice on my part. I went to a random place or two before making it back home. Saturday and Sunday I did not do a thing; I preferred relaxing at home. As the temperature finally dropped, not doing anything also seemed like a good idea for that reason. The Chicago Bears, they played against the Detroit Lions and I expected them to lose. My expectations were correct. The Lions won 20-17. Once again they had an opportunity to win but they blew it. I was glad I did not go out to see this somewhere in person.
When I return a week from today, I know I'll be talking about Star Wars. After that, who knows... but who needs anything else?
Monday, December 5, 2016
Arrival, Championship Football & Large Intoxicated Men
Monday, I did something out of the ordinary. I went to the Tampa area. Among the things I did, I returned to a restaurant I went to once before this past spring, called Ford's Garage; its name is a long story, but they do have it licensed from Ford. They make some tasty burgers, that is for sure. Being able to build your own burger and having “pretzel bun” being one of the options: pretty dope. I went to a movie, then had a drink at the World of Beer in Brandon. It was only one, as there were too many annoying tools there, and the staff is not exempt from that description. I went to a brand new theatre in Riverview. It's a new group called Xscape; they only have a few locations across the country. They are part of the hot in 2016 idea of auditoriums having leather reclining seats. The groups that own cineplexes are trying all sorts of things to get people to attend, as attendance has dropped in recent years. I blame it on “Hollywood making a lot of bad movies” and “too many rude people acting rudely during screenings” more than the seats and being able to recline while watching a film... streaming and such things as 4K televisions don't help there either, but I guess putting in new seats is about as much as those people can reasonably do to try and fix that problem. As for Xscape in Riverview, it is nice, although there are also nice places closer to me too. Heck, even older places are putting in those leather seats.
Anyhow... what I saw was Arrival. I heard so many positive things about it, I figured it was time to check the film out. Turns out, I do rate it highly myself. I can't go into specifics as that'd result in massive spoilers. I'll just say that the surprises the movie has were well done and not seen by me beforehand, it was filmed well, and the cast is swell, with Amy Adams outstanding. Tuesday, I did not do anything and Wednesday I went to the local Chick-fil-A for dinner (note that this is not necessarily any endorsement for the chain's conservative Christian values) so onto Thursday.
Thursday, I went to a few places. I will mention that I got some German beer bottles from Total Wine & More and also a big can of Kirin Ichiban beer, as it was on sale. I've had several different styles and they typically are interesting... hefeweizen has a banana & clove taste and the appearance is cloudy. It's pretty good. There are variations of that like dunkenweizen (more a roasted malt) and kristalweizen (which is less cloudy), and there are others that vary from a little to a lot. Some I do prefer to others. I probably should drink more things like dunkenweizen or the darker doppelbock. Anyhow, after that I walked around the ritzy Mall at Millenia. I had some mall food for dinner. Friday I did not do anything but Saturday...
Saturday I did something I was not planning on until a few days prior. A big college football conference championship game (for the ACC, specifically) was going to be played in Charlotte but because of the law commonly known as either “The Bathroom Bill” or “The Transgender Act” where people of a different sexuality won't be protected by law, that game went elsewhere, as did plenty of other events originally scheduled for North Carolina. The game moved to Orlando at the stadium I'll always call the Citrus Bowl but technically is “Camping World Stadium”. The ticket brokers must have had a tough time selling tickets, as I was able to find on Seatgeek a fifth row ticket in the end zone for only 20 bucks, which was like 1/3 its original price. The attendance ended up being fine, all things considered.
I ended up parking at a random business on Orange Blossom Trail that was offering up spots. Considering its OBT, it was not a guarantee that my vehicle would be there when I returned, or that it'd be damage-free, but thankfully it was. The game had the sort of nonsense that still makes me “meh” in general on major college football but otherwise it was exciting. Clemson defeated Virginia Tech 42-35 in an expected result. There were more Clemson fans present, that is for sure, although my section happened to have more Tech fans. In the area there for various activities for all fans to participate in, which was nice. I didn't do any of that, though. I did enjoy the view and was thankful that I had no problems where I sat.
Plus, there was an incredible moment. After the game started, some people moseyed in and one of them was a large young man; he was highly intoxicated. I did not notice this due to him smelling like a brewery when I got first whiff of him... nor how he was barely intelligible when he spoke... nor how he was double-fisting large Bud Light cans... nor even his I (heart) BEER hat. No, it was all that + him passing out for most of the second half. No kidding. When literal fireworks went off before the 4th quarter, this was not enough to stir him awake. I know he was not deceased because he was up by the time the game ended. As it was an evening game, who knows how many hours of drinking he did beforehand. I can say that never was a hat and wearer more appropriate than in this case.
Sunday, I did not do a thing. I decided not to go out to see the Bears play, even though they played an even worse team in the San Francisco 49ers. The Bears easily won, but it was in ugly snow and freezing rain weather; beforehand I was expecting it to be among the worst games in NFL history and it may have been. Seeing some highlights at home and knowing that it took until midway into the second quarter for either of the two teams to even complete a pass... I am glad I did not go to a bar or restaurant and see such garbage. When I return a week from today, I do have a few ideas as to what I'll be discussing.
Anyhow... what I saw was Arrival. I heard so many positive things about it, I figured it was time to check the film out. Turns out, I do rate it highly myself. I can't go into specifics as that'd result in massive spoilers. I'll just say that the surprises the movie has were well done and not seen by me beforehand, it was filmed well, and the cast is swell, with Amy Adams outstanding. Tuesday, I did not do anything and Wednesday I went to the local Chick-fil-A for dinner (note that this is not necessarily any endorsement for the chain's conservative Christian values) so onto Thursday.
Thursday, I went to a few places. I will mention that I got some German beer bottles from Total Wine & More and also a big can of Kirin Ichiban beer, as it was on sale. I've had several different styles and they typically are interesting... hefeweizen has a banana & clove taste and the appearance is cloudy. It's pretty good. There are variations of that like dunkenweizen (more a roasted malt) and kristalweizen (which is less cloudy), and there are others that vary from a little to a lot. Some I do prefer to others. I probably should drink more things like dunkenweizen or the darker doppelbock. Anyhow, after that I walked around the ritzy Mall at Millenia. I had some mall food for dinner. Friday I did not do anything but Saturday...
Saturday I did something I was not planning on until a few days prior. A big college football conference championship game (for the ACC, specifically) was going to be played in Charlotte but because of the law commonly known as either “The Bathroom Bill” or “The Transgender Act” where people of a different sexuality won't be protected by law, that game went elsewhere, as did plenty of other events originally scheduled for North Carolina. The game moved to Orlando at the stadium I'll always call the Citrus Bowl but technically is “Camping World Stadium”. The ticket brokers must have had a tough time selling tickets, as I was able to find on Seatgeek a fifth row ticket in the end zone for only 20 bucks, which was like 1/3 its original price. The attendance ended up being fine, all things considered.
I ended up parking at a random business on Orange Blossom Trail that was offering up spots. Considering its OBT, it was not a guarantee that my vehicle would be there when I returned, or that it'd be damage-free, but thankfully it was. The game had the sort of nonsense that still makes me “meh” in general on major college football but otherwise it was exciting. Clemson defeated Virginia Tech 42-35 in an expected result. There were more Clemson fans present, that is for sure, although my section happened to have more Tech fans. In the area there for various activities for all fans to participate in, which was nice. I didn't do any of that, though. I did enjoy the view and was thankful that I had no problems where I sat.
Plus, there was an incredible moment. After the game started, some people moseyed in and one of them was a large young man; he was highly intoxicated. I did not notice this due to him smelling like a brewery when I got first whiff of him... nor how he was barely intelligible when he spoke... nor how he was double-fisting large Bud Light cans... nor even his I (heart) BEER hat. No, it was all that + him passing out for most of the second half. No kidding. When literal fireworks went off before the 4th quarter, this was not enough to stir him awake. I know he was not deceased because he was up by the time the game ended. As it was an evening game, who knows how many hours of drinking he did beforehand. I can say that never was a hat and wearer more appropriate than in this case.
Sunday, I did not do a thing. I decided not to go out to see the Bears play, even though they played an even worse team in the San Francisco 49ers. The Bears easily won, but it was in ugly snow and freezing rain weather; beforehand I was expecting it to be among the worst games in NFL history and it may have been. Seeing some highlights at home and knowing that it took until midway into the second quarter for either of the two teams to even complete a pass... I am glad I did not go to a bar or restaurant and see such garbage. When I return a week from today, I do have a few ideas as to what I'll be discussing.
Monday, November 28, 2016
Moonlight, Thanksgiving, Auto Shows & Skipping Bad Football
Here's what I've done since last Monday. I did not do anything of note on Monday so let me skip ahead to Tuesday. I returned to Lakeland and it may be my last time in the area for at least a few months. I ate at the Florida chain Burger 21; they make decent food. I got some gourmet sodas from Rocket Fizz. Oh, and for the first time in a few years I saw a movie at the Cobb Theatres they have there. It was a heavily hyped movie I heard about on sites such as Letterboxd and other places on the Internet. It is called Moonlight and it is about a young black man in Miami; you see him at three points in his young life and while the themes include his sexuality, parts of it can be relatable to a lot of people. Sad to say, being an outcast and not being treated well due to being “different”, the way some cretins treated me from elementary through high school... those parts did hit pretty close to him for me. It's being predicted already to get some Oscar nominations, and for good reason as I also think that the movie is excellent. I am glad I saw it, and there was only one other random person in there at the screening.
Wednesday, all I did was get a much-needed haircut, so onto Thanksgiving. It was a typical Thanksgiving where not much was done aside from having the big meal with the parents, but I am OK with that. Staying in and relaxing is always fine with me. Friday, it's what I almost always do the day after Thanksgiving, which is attend the Central Florida International Auto Show at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando. Not all the companies that make cars for the American automobile market send cars here (many of the luxury ones skip this) but that is OK as there are still plenty of different vehicles you can take a close look at and many can be sat in, which is awfully nice. It is always neat sitting in something like a Mustang, a Corvette, or a Camaro. As typical, the “younger people” enjoyed such vehicles as the ones I just mentioned, while plenty of older folks enjoyed the large sedans. The brand new Lincoln Continental was very popular with them, and it is a sharp-looking ride. Personally, I am glad that unlike most of the times I am at the Convention Center, I did not have to walk a country mile from the parking lot to the building.
The weekend, it was another quiet one from me. I did not do anything of note. The Bears played against a mediocre team in the Tennessee Titans, but as the Bears are terrible, I figured they would lose so why go out to see them? Turns out, I was right. Chicago was down big early but behind a young (yet inexperienced) quarterback, they tried to make a comeback and they could have had a shocking win. As they were the 2016 Bears, they failed and I was glad I did not see such nonsense in person.
The next Bears game is against San Francisco, a rare team that is even worse; the game could be among the worst in NFL history, so who knows if I'll even feel like watching that slop. I imagine many people out there would like to see San Francisco quarterback-the much reviled Colin Kaepernick-get his clocked cleaned by the Bears defense. You'll have to see a week from today if I do watch this or not.
Wednesday, all I did was get a much-needed haircut, so onto Thanksgiving. It was a typical Thanksgiving where not much was done aside from having the big meal with the parents, but I am OK with that. Staying in and relaxing is always fine with me. Friday, it's what I almost always do the day after Thanksgiving, which is attend the Central Florida International Auto Show at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando. Not all the companies that make cars for the American automobile market send cars here (many of the luxury ones skip this) but that is OK as there are still plenty of different vehicles you can take a close look at and many can be sat in, which is awfully nice. It is always neat sitting in something like a Mustang, a Corvette, or a Camaro. As typical, the “younger people” enjoyed such vehicles as the ones I just mentioned, while plenty of older folks enjoyed the large sedans. The brand new Lincoln Continental was very popular with them, and it is a sharp-looking ride. Personally, I am glad that unlike most of the times I am at the Convention Center, I did not have to walk a country mile from the parking lot to the building.
The weekend, it was another quiet one from me. I did not do anything of note. The Bears played against a mediocre team in the Tennessee Titans, but as the Bears are terrible, I figured they would lose so why go out to see them? Turns out, I was right. Chicago was down big early but behind a young (yet inexperienced) quarterback, they tried to make a comeback and they could have had a shocking win. As they were the 2016 Bears, they failed and I was glad I did not see such nonsense in person.
The next Bears game is against San Francisco, a rare team that is even worse; the game could be among the worst in NFL history, so who knows if I'll even feel like watching that slop. I imagine many people out there would like to see San Francisco quarterback-the much reviled Colin Kaepernick-get his clocked cleaned by the Bears defense. You'll have to see a week from today if I do watch this or not.
Monday, November 21, 2016
The One Time I Had A Nondescript Week
Yeah, I was rather dull this past week, which was fine by my tastes. The next time I post I'll talk about Thanksgiving and the annual day after Thanksgiving tradition for me, attending the Central Florida International Auto Show. That will be more exciting than what I write about here. Monday through Thursday, the only thing I did on those days was on Wednesday, where I went to Walmart to get a few items (and met a neighbor there), stopped at a Barnes & Noble-where I got nothing-then I ate at Twin Peaks, where I had a tasty meal.
So I'll mention that for a few days I thought there was an issue with my credit card where it was compromised. I tried using it on Sunday at a gas station but it failed; I tried again on Wednesday at another gas station... same thing. The next day, phone calls were made... thankfully it wasn't identity theft-which has happened to me before. Rather, it was stupidity on the part of the credit card company, and I'll leave it at that. All my identity theft problems came during a bad time in my life... it was August of '09 through August of 2010. Besides that, the big thing was a grandparent dying. There were various issues that happened, including a major event I still won't reveal here (maybe one day I will), someone I know had surgery-they ended up fine-and all sorts of drama. I am glad that things have been fine since then, even with some hiccups along the way.
Friday, I went out somewhere; after I finished that task I ended up at Disney Springs. I confirmed that the credit card was working again, and I got some cheap clothing items from two stores. Part of it was... I wear boxer shorts as pajama wear until the weather is too cold, then I switch to lounge pants. I needed some new shorts for that task, as it still hasn't cooled off here yet. It was indeed busy in the area, as I suspected. On the way back someone almost switched lanes right into me but I saw it, blasted my horn, and sped away. This was at night, but it's not like I drive a small and low to the ground car like a Mazda Miata or a Porsche Boxster (although I wish I did) so I don't know how that fool didn't see me.
The weekend, I did not do much except go to for fast food on Sunday. Going out to see the Bears play, no thank you. Jay Cutler had a horrible game (even by his standards) last week and the pain of seeing that garbage live, it did not inspire me to see him play against a better team than Tampa Bay in the New York Giants. Well, like they did early this season, they led in the first half but fell apart in the second half, and of course in the end Cutler blew it. Not seeing it in full was the right decision on my part. When I return a week from today, I will have more to talk about, at least.
So I'll mention that for a few days I thought there was an issue with my credit card where it was compromised. I tried using it on Sunday at a gas station but it failed; I tried again on Wednesday at another gas station... same thing. The next day, phone calls were made... thankfully it wasn't identity theft-which has happened to me before. Rather, it was stupidity on the part of the credit card company, and I'll leave it at that. All my identity theft problems came during a bad time in my life... it was August of '09 through August of 2010. Besides that, the big thing was a grandparent dying. There were various issues that happened, including a major event I still won't reveal here (maybe one day I will), someone I know had surgery-they ended up fine-and all sorts of drama. I am glad that things have been fine since then, even with some hiccups along the way.
Friday, I went out somewhere; after I finished that task I ended up at Disney Springs. I confirmed that the credit card was working again, and I got some cheap clothing items from two stores. Part of it was... I wear boxer shorts as pajama wear until the weather is too cold, then I switch to lounge pants. I needed some new shorts for that task, as it still hasn't cooled off here yet. It was indeed busy in the area, as I suspected. On the way back someone almost switched lanes right into me but I saw it, blasted my horn, and sped away. This was at night, but it's not like I drive a small and low to the ground car like a Mazda Miata or a Porsche Boxster (although I wish I did) so I don't know how that fool didn't see me.
The weekend, I did not do much except go to for fast food on Sunday. Going out to see the Bears play, no thank you. Jay Cutler had a horrible game (even by his standards) last week and the pain of seeing that garbage live, it did not inspire me to see him play against a better team than Tampa Bay in the New York Giants. Well, like they did early this season, they led in the first half but fell apart in the second half, and of course in the end Cutler blew it. Not seeing it in full was the right decision on my part. When I return a week from today, I will have more to talk about, at least.
Monday, November 14, 2016
A Live Bears Game, Free Play Florida, & President Trump?
As I've said before I won't talk about my political beliefs in public as that can only lead to problems. Someone I know lost a friend on election night over whom they voted for. I can't believe that Trump actually won considering all the controversy he attracted. Then again, I know that Hillary had her share of controversy too... this election cycle has divided the country due to how ugly things became. I hope this country doesn't become more anarchic the next four years or we have some sort of catastrophe and I'll leave it at that.
Monday I did not do anything so let me skip ahead to Tuesday. I went to Epcot at Walt Disney World one last time to enjoy their Food & Wine Festival, which ended yesterday. I got some random food & drink and got some needed exercise. Some people were wearing political shirts, although most of those were for fictional characters, such as Forrest Gump, Mickey Mouse, Harry Potter & Weasley and my two favorite tickets, Beavis/Butthead and Picard/Riker. Wednesday I did not do anything but Thursday, I went with someone to the local Texas Roadhouse, which was an experience that went fine with no complications.
So, onto Friday. It was the return of a gaming weekend to Orlando; it is Free Play Florida, where you pay a flat fee and you get to play a bunch of old arcade games and pinball tables in a large conference room at a fancy hotel. It has always been a good time since I started going to those events a few years ago. It was another good time on this day. Some people I know were there but as they were busy playing games I wasn't able to say hello to them. It's all good, as I admit that playing games is much more important and interesting than chatting with me. One of my enemies was there too; he doesn't even deserve the dignity to be named. We ignored each other so that's all I'll say about that person. It was nice playing various tables for the first time, or returning to some old favorites. As before, the virtual pinball table was pretty neat too, as that literally gives you a few hundred tables you could play. If I had one at home, I'd never be seen in public again, but as those cost a few thousand bucks... maybe I should start playing the lottery more often.
Between real life and virtual, it was neat playing new and old tables... such as Ghostbusters (with the original characters, so don't freak out), The Walking Dead, the 1980's Rocky table, Back to the Future, Demolition Man, a surprisingly fun late 80's Monday Night Football table, and for laughter's sake, Johnny Mnemonic. Yes, they made a table based on that infamous movie. After I left there due to being hungry and exhausted, I had to try a few spots before I found a joint (Tilted Kilt) that wasn't jam-packed with people. It was not the best experience there between the rude/annoying people there and not so attentive service, but at least the food was good and I can wait a long while before returning due to all the food options that are within like a 50 mile radius of where I live.
Saturday, I did not return to Free Play Florida nor did I go out to see the big UFC pay per view, which because of stupid bureaucratic nonsense was held in a state (New York) that just legalized MMA earlier this year. Going to my second-ever NFL game and my first-ever Bears game meant that with a 1PM start, I better relax at home on Sunday due to having to leave in the morning. Being out late or being on my feet for hours would be a poor decision considering what I had to do on Sunday. So thus, that morning I made the drive over to Tampa to see the Chicago Bears play at the Tampa Bay Bucs at Raymond James Stadium, a place I had never been to before. The drive there was not as bad as expected, considering a good amount of it was on the much-reviled Interstate 4, which is known both for the number of wrecks that happen each day and how it's usually busy as heck. I appreciated the signs in Tampa warning of congestion and telling people going to the game which alternate routes to take to get there.
As for the stadium, it's been open for 18 years now so it's not uber-fancy like the most modern buildings but it does get the job done and the giant new video screens they added this year are pretty nice. I got the first parking spot I could find. It wasn't as expensive but boy, was the walk to the stadium and back rather lengthy. A free Bucs shirt was handed out to everyone, and I always appreciate such things. I sat in the upper deck and yet I can't complain as I still saw everything to a satisfying degree. The section I sat in was fine and I did not have to worry about idiots. I knew there would be plenty of Bears fans around but even I was taken aback by how many there were. I got a good idea when I walked around the parking lot and saw all those tailgaters. I also got a heck of a tan, as the sun was shining on me for hours on end.
As for the game... I wish I could have seen one where the Bears-ok, mainly quarterback Jay Cutler-didn't play awfully. Tampa Bay is a young team that could be pretty good in the future... Chicago made it awfully easy for them to score 36 points, and the Bucs won 36-10. Aside from one spectacular if lucky play and a few decent moments, the Bears looked pretty bad. Just minutes ago, one of the best players on the team (Alshon Jeffery) got suspended for the next 4 games for being caught taking performance-enhancing drugs. Well, this season I guess he needed to take more of those as he hasn't been great and hardly did anything in this game. This was something I was glad I could do so I can cross it off the proverbial bucket list, but I wish the Bears weren't so bad; if they win another game this season and end up at 3-13 instead of 2-14, I'll be surprised.
I left the stadium and as it's Florida, a car almost crashed into me. I did not get back on Interstate 4 as that'd be utter chaos. Instead, I ate at a Burger Monger restaurant in Wesley Chapel. That was my first time at the famous Tampa-area franchise. I tried to go to one two years ago but there was a snafu so it didn't happen. They do make good food; not the best I've ever had, but good. As for when I return a week from today, nothing is on the agenda yet and the week shouldn't be action-packed like this one was, but I'll figure out something to do.
Monday I did not do anything so let me skip ahead to Tuesday. I went to Epcot at Walt Disney World one last time to enjoy their Food & Wine Festival, which ended yesterday. I got some random food & drink and got some needed exercise. Some people were wearing political shirts, although most of those were for fictional characters, such as Forrest Gump, Mickey Mouse, Harry Potter & Weasley and my two favorite tickets, Beavis/Butthead and Picard/Riker. Wednesday I did not do anything but Thursday, I went with someone to the local Texas Roadhouse, which was an experience that went fine with no complications.
So, onto Friday. It was the return of a gaming weekend to Orlando; it is Free Play Florida, where you pay a flat fee and you get to play a bunch of old arcade games and pinball tables in a large conference room at a fancy hotel. It has always been a good time since I started going to those events a few years ago. It was another good time on this day. Some people I know were there but as they were busy playing games I wasn't able to say hello to them. It's all good, as I admit that playing games is much more important and interesting than chatting with me. One of my enemies was there too; he doesn't even deserve the dignity to be named. We ignored each other so that's all I'll say about that person. It was nice playing various tables for the first time, or returning to some old favorites. As before, the virtual pinball table was pretty neat too, as that literally gives you a few hundred tables you could play. If I had one at home, I'd never be seen in public again, but as those cost a few thousand bucks... maybe I should start playing the lottery more often.
Between real life and virtual, it was neat playing new and old tables... such as Ghostbusters (with the original characters, so don't freak out), The Walking Dead, the 1980's Rocky table, Back to the Future, Demolition Man, a surprisingly fun late 80's Monday Night Football table, and for laughter's sake, Johnny Mnemonic. Yes, they made a table based on that infamous movie. After I left there due to being hungry and exhausted, I had to try a few spots before I found a joint (Tilted Kilt) that wasn't jam-packed with people. It was not the best experience there between the rude/annoying people there and not so attentive service, but at least the food was good and I can wait a long while before returning due to all the food options that are within like a 50 mile radius of where I live.
Saturday, I did not return to Free Play Florida nor did I go out to see the big UFC pay per view, which because of stupid bureaucratic nonsense was held in a state (New York) that just legalized MMA earlier this year. Going to my second-ever NFL game and my first-ever Bears game meant that with a 1PM start, I better relax at home on Sunday due to having to leave in the morning. Being out late or being on my feet for hours would be a poor decision considering what I had to do on Sunday. So thus, that morning I made the drive over to Tampa to see the Chicago Bears play at the Tampa Bay Bucs at Raymond James Stadium, a place I had never been to before. The drive there was not as bad as expected, considering a good amount of it was on the much-reviled Interstate 4, which is known both for the number of wrecks that happen each day and how it's usually busy as heck. I appreciated the signs in Tampa warning of congestion and telling people going to the game which alternate routes to take to get there.
As for the stadium, it's been open for 18 years now so it's not uber-fancy like the most modern buildings but it does get the job done and the giant new video screens they added this year are pretty nice. I got the first parking spot I could find. It wasn't as expensive but boy, was the walk to the stadium and back rather lengthy. A free Bucs shirt was handed out to everyone, and I always appreciate such things. I sat in the upper deck and yet I can't complain as I still saw everything to a satisfying degree. The section I sat in was fine and I did not have to worry about idiots. I knew there would be plenty of Bears fans around but even I was taken aback by how many there were. I got a good idea when I walked around the parking lot and saw all those tailgaters. I also got a heck of a tan, as the sun was shining on me for hours on end.
As for the game... I wish I could have seen one where the Bears-ok, mainly quarterback Jay Cutler-didn't play awfully. Tampa Bay is a young team that could be pretty good in the future... Chicago made it awfully easy for them to score 36 points, and the Bucs won 36-10. Aside from one spectacular if lucky play and a few decent moments, the Bears looked pretty bad. Just minutes ago, one of the best players on the team (Alshon Jeffery) got suspended for the next 4 games for being caught taking performance-enhancing drugs. Well, this season I guess he needed to take more of those as he hasn't been great and hardly did anything in this game. This was something I was glad I could do so I can cross it off the proverbial bucket list, but I wish the Bears weren't so bad; if they win another game this season and end up at 3-13 instead of 2-14, I'll be surprised.
I left the stadium and as it's Florida, a car almost crashed into me. I did not get back on Interstate 4 as that'd be utter chaos. Instead, I ate at a Burger Monger restaurant in Wesley Chapel. That was my first time at the famous Tampa-area franchise. I tried to go to one two years ago but there was a snafu so it didn't happen. They do make good food; not the best I've ever had, but good. As for when I return a week from today, nothing is on the agenda yet and the week shouldn't be action-packed like this one was, but I'll figure out something to do.
Monday, November 7, 2016
Saugatuck Blueberry Maple Stout, Portmanteaus Gone Wrong & The World Series
I won't go in chronological order this time. I have to talk about the Cubs winning the World Series first. Game 7 was Wednesday and as it was a historic deal, I decided to go out & about to see it. I was thinking of places to go and I realized that I need to go to Universal CityWalk, as the longwinded The Toothsome Chocolate Emporium & Savory Feast Kitchen recently opened, I was interested in checking it out, and with my schedule I wouldn't have a great chance to until late this month, so that's why I went to CityWalk rather than stop off at a traditional sports bar. After I walked around that joint and got two candy bars (the first of which I ate in the car before I drove back home. It's pricey but good) I went to the NBC Sports Grill & Brew to see the game.
The Cubs were the Cubs, so more than once they almost blew it and lost the game. It went back and forth, did not end until the 10th inning and there was even a 17 minute rain delay. But finally, they won the World Series for the first time in 108 years, and it was an amazing sight to see. I know and knew plenty of Cubs fans; some I haven't talked to in years and a few unfortunately have passed away; I did tip a glass to my late grandfather. I am happy for all those people. It was nice to do so while having a few beverages.
On Halloween, I did nothing of note, which was fine by me. I stayed in and chilled. Not a lot of trick or treaters came by, but that's typically been the case in recent years. More Halloween candy for me! The Bears played on this night against the superior Minnesota Vikings. I was expecting a game that was appropriate for the day, i.e. horrifying and terrifying to watch. Well, it was the usual NFL garbage that has pretty much made the game unwatchable, and to me it wasn't that pleasing to watch... and yet somehow, the Bears won 20-10. I can't explain it but I'll take the victory. The Bears don't play again until the 13th, at Tampa. Tuesday, what I did was go to my local bank to drop off something, then it was off to the Doctor Phillips area. Yes, I'll always laugh that there's an Orlando suburb called Doctor Phillips. I went to the World of Beer, where I had two beverages. I heard rave reviews about the German beer Kostritzer. It is a Schwarzbier. That beer is dark but is smoother than a porter or stout. I also had the Saugatuck Blueberry Maple Stout and it was as tasty as it sounds as it actually did taste like blueberries and maple.
Thursday, I didn't do anything; Friday was a different story. I went with some people to downtown of the city I live in; this is because the first Friday of each month they block off part of downtown and set up booths and food trucks. It's neat. In the future I'll go there by myself so I can have more time to wander around and I could also have dessert after dinner. I got food from a place that sold chicken bites. While it wasn't quite what I expected, it at least tasted fine so I am not complaining. They also had a burger truck, and I couldn't believe what I saw. On the menu they had displayed, I saw that each burger had its own name. They decided to do a portmanteau for the burger that is served between a pair of donuts. To me it sounds disgusting so I'll never eat it, but in this case they probably shouldn't have combined donut and burger; that is because...
They called it a DONGER. I am sure most can see why this is a problem; I'll just say that if they served hot dogs, that'd be a better place to use such a name! I can only laugh and marvel at how they are using the name and they must have no idea what it was that they did. Talk about incredible.
Saturday, I went to another World of Beer, this time the one right in town. I had a few different German beers, all in different styles and only one I had tried before. It does help in picking out what I should and shouldn't drink in the future. Sunday, it was yet another airport run for me. After I dropped them off, I stopped at a World Market on the way back as I hadn't been to one in months. Several items were purchased. When I return a week from today... I'll have plenty to talk about. It's actually a week where I wish that there weren't multiple things to do in the span of a few days. I still plan on seeing the Bears play live but there's other activities so it will be a hectic Friday through Sunday for me.
The Cubs were the Cubs, so more than once they almost blew it and lost the game. It went back and forth, did not end until the 10th inning and there was even a 17 minute rain delay. But finally, they won the World Series for the first time in 108 years, and it was an amazing sight to see. I know and knew plenty of Cubs fans; some I haven't talked to in years and a few unfortunately have passed away; I did tip a glass to my late grandfather. I am happy for all those people. It was nice to do so while having a few beverages.
On Halloween, I did nothing of note, which was fine by me. I stayed in and chilled. Not a lot of trick or treaters came by, but that's typically been the case in recent years. More Halloween candy for me! The Bears played on this night against the superior Minnesota Vikings. I was expecting a game that was appropriate for the day, i.e. horrifying and terrifying to watch. Well, it was the usual NFL garbage that has pretty much made the game unwatchable, and to me it wasn't that pleasing to watch... and yet somehow, the Bears won 20-10. I can't explain it but I'll take the victory. The Bears don't play again until the 13th, at Tampa. Tuesday, what I did was go to my local bank to drop off something, then it was off to the Doctor Phillips area. Yes, I'll always laugh that there's an Orlando suburb called Doctor Phillips. I went to the World of Beer, where I had two beverages. I heard rave reviews about the German beer Kostritzer. It is a Schwarzbier. That beer is dark but is smoother than a porter or stout. I also had the Saugatuck Blueberry Maple Stout and it was as tasty as it sounds as it actually did taste like blueberries and maple.
Thursday, I didn't do anything; Friday was a different story. I went with some people to downtown of the city I live in; this is because the first Friday of each month they block off part of downtown and set up booths and food trucks. It's neat. In the future I'll go there by myself so I can have more time to wander around and I could also have dessert after dinner. I got food from a place that sold chicken bites. While it wasn't quite what I expected, it at least tasted fine so I am not complaining. They also had a burger truck, and I couldn't believe what I saw. On the menu they had displayed, I saw that each burger had its own name. They decided to do a portmanteau for the burger that is served between a pair of donuts. To me it sounds disgusting so I'll never eat it, but in this case they probably shouldn't have combined donut and burger; that is because...
They called it a DONGER. I am sure most can see why this is a problem; I'll just say that if they served hot dogs, that'd be a better place to use such a name! I can only laugh and marvel at how they are using the name and they must have no idea what it was that they did. Talk about incredible.
Saturday, I went to another World of Beer, this time the one right in town. I had a few different German beers, all in different styles and only one I had tried before. It does help in picking out what I should and shouldn't drink in the future. Sunday, it was yet another airport run for me. After I dropped them off, I stopped at a World Market on the way back as I hadn't been to one in months. Several items were purchased. When I return a week from today... I'll have plenty to talk about. It's actually a week where I wish that there weren't multiple things to do in the span of a few days. I still plan on seeing the Bears play live but there's other activities so it will be a hectic Friday through Sunday for me.
Monday, October 31, 2016
Halloween, Deep Fried Twinkies & Southern Tier Warlord
I did not have the most exciting end of October, but that is OK. Monday, I ended up being out and about. I went to the Total Wine & More in Altamone Springs (where I did make a purchase), walked around the Altamonte Mall, then ate dinner at the nearby Denny's. Tuesday, the World Series began. It reminded me of how I wish my grandfather was still around to see this. Without going too much into detail about his life story, he was a watcher of the Cubs since he ended up in Chicago, early 1950's; he went to his share of games at Wrigley Field and watched the team on television. He passed away in 2009 and I know he would have loved to have seen them in the World Series. The Cubs lost , by the way. I am not one to usually complain about the length of baseball games but the ones in the World Series have been too long. I place a lot of blame on the Fox Network, as I usually blame a lot of things on them, as they are usually a pretty terrible network. The umpiring, it wasn't as bad as I heard from various people on Facebook... although there was a call or two that wasn't so good, to put it mildly. Then again I don't get as worked up over such things as most sports fans, as referees aren't as bad as most sports fans think.
Wednesday, besides the Cubs winning there was me and someone else going to Romano's Macaroni Grill. It's a place I should go once a blue moon; it's not the cheapest joint but they do make pretty tasty food. Thursday I did not do much of note but Friday, I ended up at Walmart. I got some miscellaneous items, including Deep Fried Twinkies, which is in the frozen food aisle and I had heard about from someone I know. You have to put them in the oven for a few minutes; that is what I did on this night; not bad. Saturday, I didn't do a thing but Sunday, I went to Wawa for some sandwiches; like I said, what a way to end October. At least the Cubs still have a shot at winning the World Series.
The only other thing I have to say is that I had some interesting beer in the past week; it included some pumpkin-flavored beer. The only one I'll go into detail on is Southern Tier Warlord. The brewery is in southwestern New York and I've had another one of their beers in the past. They are a fine brewery from my experience and hearsay. I had Southern Tier Warlord, which is an Imperial Stout mixed with pumpkin and it was pretty tasty. I need to try more of their brews.
When I return next Monday, I should have a little more to talk about. The Bears play tonight and they are the perfect team to see Halloween night; I am expecting a frightful and horrifying performance from them! I know that when I post two weeks from today, that will be quite eventful. November 11 to 13 will be quite busy for me as I'll be doing several activities, which I'll talk about next time.
Wednesday, besides the Cubs winning there was me and someone else going to Romano's Macaroni Grill. It's a place I should go once a blue moon; it's not the cheapest joint but they do make pretty tasty food. Thursday I did not do much of note but Friday, I ended up at Walmart. I got some miscellaneous items, including Deep Fried Twinkies, which is in the frozen food aisle and I had heard about from someone I know. You have to put them in the oven for a few minutes; that is what I did on this night; not bad. Saturday, I didn't do a thing but Sunday, I went to Wawa for some sandwiches; like I said, what a way to end October. At least the Cubs still have a shot at winning the World Series.
The only other thing I have to say is that I had some interesting beer in the past week; it included some pumpkin-flavored beer. The only one I'll go into detail on is Southern Tier Warlord. The brewery is in southwestern New York and I've had another one of their beers in the past. They are a fine brewery from my experience and hearsay. I had Southern Tier Warlord, which is an Imperial Stout mixed with pumpkin and it was pretty tasty. I need to try more of their brews.
When I return next Monday, I should have a little more to talk about. The Bears play tonight and they are the perfect team to see Halloween night; I am expecting a frightful and horrifying performance from them! I know that when I post two weeks from today, that will be quite eventful. November 11 to 13 will be quite busy for me as I'll be doing several activities, which I'll talk about next time.
Monday, October 24, 2016
The Exorcist, Shula Burgers, Bad Hombres & The Cubs!
You won't see me get political here; how I feel about that topic I'd rather keep private, as talking about it will only lead to problems. I know people who have all sorts of different beliefs and ideologies. I could not help but laugh that the phrase “bad hombres” was actually used in a Presidential Debate.
Last Monday and Wednesday were not days where anything of note happened, so let me skip ahead to Tuesday. I went and saw a movie. Before that I ate dinner somewhere. I was thinking about various places to go and I realized that I had driven by Shula Burgers on 192 plenty of times before without stopping there. Yes, it's one of a few different restaurants named after the legendary former pro football coach. I figured it was about time I went there; the food was pretty good, both the fries and the burger. I then went to Cinepolis to see The Exorcist; it was the Extended Director's Cut that it is on the movie's Blu-ray. I had never seen that version before; I hadn't watched the movie in years. Shame on me as I always thought it was excellent and it's still excellent now. Not a lot of people were in attendance and that is sometimes the case at the revival screenings I have attended at various locations in Central Florida. I wish more people would go to them, as I always want them around, you know.
Thursday, I returned to Disney Springs. This time I was with someone I knew. We walked around and went in a few stores. We then had dinner at Blaze Pizza, the place I mentioned early this month. I think they make very tasty food and my pal agreed. In the evening was the Thursday night football game the NFL has done each week during the season the past few seasons. Not to rant and rave, but those Thursday games are typically dreadful, as the Sunday to Thursday turnaround is not fair to anyone and the league cares more about money than the quality of those Thursday games and the league wonders why their ratings are down across the board this season... people are probably tired of all those players breaking the law, the league not caring about domestic violence, too many penalties (what a brilliant idea to crack down on “excessive celebration”... barf), and generally poor play. I certainly don't enjoy watching the NFL like I used to.
I mainly ignore those garish Thursday games... they should only be on the first week of the season and the traditional Thanksgiving Day tussles, that's it. However, the Bears played against their rivals in the Green Bay Packers, so I had to pay attention. Yes, the quality of play was abysmal, although that is typically how the Bears have looked the past few seasons and they looked the lesser of the two teams. Chicago had another quarterback get hurt, so no surprise to me they lost to Green Bay by the score of . I could comment on some of the penalties, but what's the use? Like I said, no wonder there are more people than just me and some relatives of mine who have the same “meh” feeling on the NFL now.
Friday through Sunday, there's not a lot to talk about. Friday night I went to ABC Liquors in town for the first time; it's nice and all, but for me nothing will eclipse Total Wine & More. Saturday and Sunday, the only thing I'll mention... the Chicago Cubs in the World Series. Pretty amazing. As of course I am from the northern part of Illinois, I know plenty of Cubs fans. They hadn't even been to the World Series since 1945. It reminds me of 2003 during my college days at Illinois State University; one day two people I knew (and know) decided to drive up to Wrigley Field to be amongst the crowd outside the stadium for a National League Championship Series game against the Marlins. It was a unique experience trying to follow a game from outside the stadium via the radio and portable televisions... man, were things different 13 years ago. No, it was not “The Steve Bartman game”; that would have been a miserable 2 hour plus car ride back to ISU!
When I return a week from today... I'll talk about the Cubs in the World Series, and more.
Last Monday and Wednesday were not days where anything of note happened, so let me skip ahead to Tuesday. I went and saw a movie. Before that I ate dinner somewhere. I was thinking about various places to go and I realized that I had driven by Shula Burgers on 192 plenty of times before without stopping there. Yes, it's one of a few different restaurants named after the legendary former pro football coach. I figured it was about time I went there; the food was pretty good, both the fries and the burger. I then went to Cinepolis to see The Exorcist; it was the Extended Director's Cut that it is on the movie's Blu-ray. I had never seen that version before; I hadn't watched the movie in years. Shame on me as I always thought it was excellent and it's still excellent now. Not a lot of people were in attendance and that is sometimes the case at the revival screenings I have attended at various locations in Central Florida. I wish more people would go to them, as I always want them around, you know.
Thursday, I returned to Disney Springs. This time I was with someone I knew. We walked around and went in a few stores. We then had dinner at Blaze Pizza, the place I mentioned early this month. I think they make very tasty food and my pal agreed. In the evening was the Thursday night football game the NFL has done each week during the season the past few seasons. Not to rant and rave, but those Thursday games are typically dreadful, as the Sunday to Thursday turnaround is not fair to anyone and the league cares more about money than the quality of those Thursday games and the league wonders why their ratings are down across the board this season... people are probably tired of all those players breaking the law, the league not caring about domestic violence, too many penalties (what a brilliant idea to crack down on “excessive celebration”... barf), and generally poor play. I certainly don't enjoy watching the NFL like I used to.
I mainly ignore those garish Thursday games... they should only be on the first week of the season and the traditional Thanksgiving Day tussles, that's it. However, the Bears played against their rivals in the Green Bay Packers, so I had to pay attention. Yes, the quality of play was abysmal, although that is typically how the Bears have looked the past few seasons and they looked the lesser of the two teams. Chicago had another quarterback get hurt, so no surprise to me they lost to Green Bay by the score of . I could comment on some of the penalties, but what's the use? Like I said, no wonder there are more people than just me and some relatives of mine who have the same “meh” feeling on the NFL now.
Friday through Sunday, there's not a lot to talk about. Friday night I went to ABC Liquors in town for the first time; it's nice and all, but for me nothing will eclipse Total Wine & More. Saturday and Sunday, the only thing I'll mention... the Chicago Cubs in the World Series. Pretty amazing. As of course I am from the northern part of Illinois, I know plenty of Cubs fans. They hadn't even been to the World Series since 1945. It reminds me of 2003 during my college days at Illinois State University; one day two people I knew (and know) decided to drive up to Wrigley Field to be amongst the crowd outside the stadium for a National League Championship Series game against the Marlins. It was a unique experience trying to follow a game from outside the stadium via the radio and portable televisions... man, were things different 13 years ago. No, it was not “The Steve Bartman game”; that would have been a miserable 2 hour plus car ride back to ISU!
When I return a week from today... I'll talk about the Cubs in the World Series, and more.
Monday, October 17, 2016
Shin Godzilla, Prime Pantry, Tiffany & Dreadful Football
Here's a recap of what I've done since last Monday. That Monday was uneventful so let me skip ahead to Tuesday. I not only went to Brick House Tavern & Tap for a meal (as I hadn't been there in a long while; it was a tasty meal) but I also went to the Cinemark at the Festival Bay Mall for the first time in months to see a certain movie. It was Shin Godzilla, also known as either Shin Gojira or Godzilla: Resurgence. It's the new Godzilla movie made by Toho. It was neat finally seeing a Japanese Godzilla flick on the big screen. This one is different from the norm; there's plenty of political talk and focus on how a country would manage such a disaster and how you'd still get that damned bureaucracy even when a giant bipedal lizard is about to destroy your country. I am sure the movie will be polarizing; I loved it, personally... although the 2014 American Godzilla movie is still more polarizing... and I loved that too.
Wednesday, it was another airport run. This time it was to Orlando International Airport. Both the trip there & back and my stop at the nearby Larry's Giant Subs were uneventful experiences. Thursday I did not do anything, so onto Friday. I'll just say that when someone who almost causes you to crash your car probably isn't the worst person you saw driving a vehicle on that day... what a month October has been, and I mean that in a bad way. Too many blah days in half a month. Maybe November will be better... I returned to Walt Disney World, Epcot in particular. At least once I entered the park, things were fine. I briefly got rained on but it wasn't like my last time there where I got drenched. I had more random food & drink and the retro musical act performing there this weekend: Tiffany! From listening to part of the performance, I know that she has a new album out. Yes, she's still making music. I suppose it's better than appearing in atrocious films for The Asylum such as Mega Piranha and Mega Python vs. Gatoroid. Yes, those are actual movies she starred in.
As a random aside, I am an Amazon Prime member, at least at the moment. A few years ago, I wouldn't have predicted that I would use Amazon as much as I do now. I stream various movies, order Blu-ray films, and also get the likes of books, electronic items, etc. As a one time only thing (at least, maybe) I tried out Prime Pantry; you can even get groceries from Amazon, if you didn't know. The main thing was getting a 12 pack of Ecto Cooler, and it'd be a lot cheaper to do it via Prime Pantry. You get to fill up a big box and you have hundreds of options; it includes other items you'd find at a grocery store, such as paper towels and napkins. I got a variety of items and the price wasn't too bad.
Saturday and Sunday I was happy to stay at home and relax. Sunday, I was able to watch the Bears play without leaving he house as they were on the local CBS station. They played another poor team in the Jacksonville Jaguars. I actually thought the Bears had a decent shot at winning this game. Well... they lost 17-16. They were winning 13-0 going into the 4th quarter and still lost the game. I guess I'll give the Jaguars credit but the only other thing I'll say is: the game was bowling shoe ugly. When I said that the Bears won't win often this season, I wasn't kidding. Thank heavens I did not go out someone to see such garbage.
When I return a week from today... a week without calamity or frustration would certainly be nice, wouldn't it?
Wednesday, it was another airport run. This time it was to Orlando International Airport. Both the trip there & back and my stop at the nearby Larry's Giant Subs were uneventful experiences. Thursday I did not do anything, so onto Friday. I'll just say that when someone who almost causes you to crash your car probably isn't the worst person you saw driving a vehicle on that day... what a month October has been, and I mean that in a bad way. Too many blah days in half a month. Maybe November will be better... I returned to Walt Disney World, Epcot in particular. At least once I entered the park, things were fine. I briefly got rained on but it wasn't like my last time there where I got drenched. I had more random food & drink and the retro musical act performing there this weekend: Tiffany! From listening to part of the performance, I know that she has a new album out. Yes, she's still making music. I suppose it's better than appearing in atrocious films for The Asylum such as Mega Piranha and Mega Python vs. Gatoroid. Yes, those are actual movies she starred in.
As a random aside, I am an Amazon Prime member, at least at the moment. A few years ago, I wouldn't have predicted that I would use Amazon as much as I do now. I stream various movies, order Blu-ray films, and also get the likes of books, electronic items, etc. As a one time only thing (at least, maybe) I tried out Prime Pantry; you can even get groceries from Amazon, if you didn't know. The main thing was getting a 12 pack of Ecto Cooler, and it'd be a lot cheaper to do it via Prime Pantry. You get to fill up a big box and you have hundreds of options; it includes other items you'd find at a grocery store, such as paper towels and napkins. I got a variety of items and the price wasn't too bad.
Saturday and Sunday I was happy to stay at home and relax. Sunday, I was able to watch the Bears play without leaving he house as they were on the local CBS station. They played another poor team in the Jacksonville Jaguars. I actually thought the Bears had a decent shot at winning this game. Well... they lost 17-16. They were winning 13-0 going into the 4th quarter and still lost the game. I guess I'll give the Jaguars credit but the only other thing I'll say is: the game was bowling shoe ugly. When I said that the Bears won't win often this season, I wasn't kidding. Thank heavens I did not go out someone to see such garbage.
When I return a week from today... a week without calamity or frustration would certainly be nice, wouldn't it?
Monday, October 10, 2016
Hurricane Matthew, Rampant Stupidity & Skyway Jack's
Here's what I've done since last Monday. On Monday the third, I went out and about and I'll leave it at that. I will say it was not a good day. It was not one big thing; rather, it was little things throughout the day. It was just dealing with stupid and loathsome people all throughout the day. It was people treating me like crap and stating that I have to follow non-existent rules; I don't even want to get into it. I just want to forget about the day. Unfortunately, Tuesday I did not do anything special and it was STILL a not so hot day. I still managed to deal with stupidity (it was online, naturally) then there was the wonderful time where the Internet, phone and cable all were out and they were out from 7:20 PM until almost 11:30 PM. This month just started off on a bad note and I was praying things would finall-y get better. Threats of Hurricane Matthew possibly coming over Florida did not help matters but not a good start for the week.
Wednesday, while I had to deal with awful behavior on the road that including multiple people weaving in and out and someone almost crashing into me, it was at least an improvement. Note that it included me walking around in pouring rain, soaking my clothing and necessitating washing them with a few other items before I put the pile in the dryer. This is because I went to Walt Disney World, Epcot in particular. I enjoyed the annual Food & Wine Festival, even if at times the rain was really coming down. I had some random food & drink, which did include some alcohol. I heard earlier in the year that Kurt Russell was releasing several wines. Well, two of them were there. I had the Chardonnay and it was pretty good. For the first time I got from the Japan booth the garlic shrimp, which included white rice. I now wish I would have tried it in years past. At least I'll be going back there once or twice more before it is finished the middle of next month.
Thursday and Friday... it was all about preparing then enduring Hurricane Matthew. Plus, there was the deal of how on Saturday I had to make another airport run, this time dropping someone off at Orlando International. Needless to say, Thursday an e-mail was sent to this person from United Airlines saying their flight was canceled. Thankfully, United then presented a link where for no charge they could fly out of another airport, and that was what was done. Now I had to drive them to Tampa International in the wee hours of the morning. Thursday was just rain and some wind. Friday, Hurricane Matthew did not do much of anything where I live. There was only some wind that gusted once in awhile and a few times we got a little rain; that was it. Being overcast was otherwise the worst part of the weather. Technology-wise, the cable went on the fritz Thursday night and Friday morning, the phones and Internet also went bust. All things considered, I can't complain. Not losing power was definitely a good thing.
The wee hours of Saturday morning, I made that drive to Tampa and its major airport. That journey went fine, at least until reaching Tampa and having to deal with Troglodytes driving way over the speed limit. The way back it was much, much worse. I had to deal with a whole lot of atrocious driving: more people weaving in and out, plenty of rude behavior, and tailgating for good measure. I did in fact make it rather clear to a few people what I thought of their behavior! Even on a Saturday morning, the infamous Interstate 4 has the most atrocious traffic. At least after leaving the airport, I did not head straight home. Oh no, I instead went to a famous local establishment in St. Petersburg. I've heard about it from people I know and this was finally a great opportunity to visit Skyway Jack's, named after the nearby Skyway Bridge. It's been around for years and I understand it's usually busy. Even in the 6 AM hour there were people around. It's a colorful hole in the wall place, where I saw some wacky characters (including the two waitresses, who freely cursed aloud) and I did have some pretty tasty pancakes. Even if I only go there on very rare occasions, I am glad I tried out Skyway Jack's.
Sunday, I stayed in and did not go out to see the Chicago Bears play. They did battle with another lousy team in the Indianapolis Colts and relaxing at home seemed like a more prudent decision. As the Bears lost 29-23 in a game that looked ugly from the highlights I saw, my choice was a good one. When I return a week from today... oh Lord please let this month of October improve for me.
Wednesday, while I had to deal with awful behavior on the road that including multiple people weaving in and out and someone almost crashing into me, it was at least an improvement. Note that it included me walking around in pouring rain, soaking my clothing and necessitating washing them with a few other items before I put the pile in the dryer. This is because I went to Walt Disney World, Epcot in particular. I enjoyed the annual Food & Wine Festival, even if at times the rain was really coming down. I had some random food & drink, which did include some alcohol. I heard earlier in the year that Kurt Russell was releasing several wines. Well, two of them were there. I had the Chardonnay and it was pretty good. For the first time I got from the Japan booth the garlic shrimp, which included white rice. I now wish I would have tried it in years past. At least I'll be going back there once or twice more before it is finished the middle of next month.
Thursday and Friday... it was all about preparing then enduring Hurricane Matthew. Plus, there was the deal of how on Saturday I had to make another airport run, this time dropping someone off at Orlando International. Needless to say, Thursday an e-mail was sent to this person from United Airlines saying their flight was canceled. Thankfully, United then presented a link where for no charge they could fly out of another airport, and that was what was done. Now I had to drive them to Tampa International in the wee hours of the morning. Thursday was just rain and some wind. Friday, Hurricane Matthew did not do much of anything where I live. There was only some wind that gusted once in awhile and a few times we got a little rain; that was it. Being overcast was otherwise the worst part of the weather. Technology-wise, the cable went on the fritz Thursday night and Friday morning, the phones and Internet also went bust. All things considered, I can't complain. Not losing power was definitely a good thing.
The wee hours of Saturday morning, I made that drive to Tampa and its major airport. That journey went fine, at least until reaching Tampa and having to deal with Troglodytes driving way over the speed limit. The way back it was much, much worse. I had to deal with a whole lot of atrocious driving: more people weaving in and out, plenty of rude behavior, and tailgating for good measure. I did in fact make it rather clear to a few people what I thought of their behavior! Even on a Saturday morning, the infamous Interstate 4 has the most atrocious traffic. At least after leaving the airport, I did not head straight home. Oh no, I instead went to a famous local establishment in St. Petersburg. I've heard about it from people I know and this was finally a great opportunity to visit Skyway Jack's, named after the nearby Skyway Bridge. It's been around for years and I understand it's usually busy. Even in the 6 AM hour there were people around. It's a colorful hole in the wall place, where I saw some wacky characters (including the two waitresses, who freely cursed aloud) and I did have some pretty tasty pancakes. Even if I only go there on very rare occasions, I am glad I tried out Skyway Jack's.
Sunday, I stayed in and did not go out to see the Chicago Bears play. They did battle with another lousy team in the Indianapolis Colts and relaxing at home seemed like a more prudent decision. As the Bears lost 29-23 in a game that looked ugly from the highlights I saw, my choice was a good one. When I return a week from today... oh Lord please let this month of October improve for me.
Monday, October 3, 2016
Blaze Pizza, Left Hand Milk Stout & The Western Bulldogs
This past Monday, I decided to make my return to Disney Springs despite it being rainy weather in the area. Thankfully, by the time I got there, it was only sprinkling and it wasn't long before it stopped entirely. I went to Blaze Pizza, a chain I hadn't heard of before but from searching I now know they have locations across the country. You order pizza and it's cooked at such a hot temperature it only takes like 5 minutes, if that. It was pretty good, so I can recommend that. Tuesday, I went with someone to the local Red Robin restaurant as we hadn't been to one in a long time. That place was remodeled since we last were there so that was a surprise. The changes were for the better. The food does taste as good as usual.
Wednesday and Thursday I did not do anything of note so onto Friday. I was in Orlando and among the things I did, I returned to Twin Peaks for dinner. I tried to ignore the incredibly loud idiots there (a few were in that category) as I had a tasty dinner and an ice cold beverage to wash it down. Late at night, I watched some Australian Rules Football... the AFL Grand Final, to be exact; it's their version of the Super Bowl, the championship game of the season. Sydney (familiar to the Grand Final in recent years) against Western, who hadn't even been in a Grand Final since 1961. While I rarely mention it anymore I do still watch the AFL. It was an exciting game that the Western Bulldogs won 89 to 67; the game was close until the very end. It was a nice story as Western won their first title since 1954.
Saturday, I returned to the World of Beer. This one was in Dr. Phillips. I had a tasty dinner there along with some darker beers. The one in particular I wanted they claimed they did not have... even though it was listed on their site and app. I got something else instead. The best drink was Stone Coffee Milk Stout. I did get to see some exciting conclusions of college football games. I did not even get mad when a Tennessee fan kept on shrieking at the end of the game vs. Georgia, as how Tennessee won was so unexpected yet it happened. I then drove home and much of the drive was through pounding rain. I was fine, as due to traffic and there being standing water on the roads I had to drive quite carefully.
Sunday, I went to another World of Beer, this time right in Clermont to watch the Chicago Bears play against another lousy team in the Detroit Lions. The Lions often had miscommunication on plays where not everyone was on the same page concerning which play was being run... and Chicago still barely won. Still, I'll take that victory. Unfortunately, there were too many stupid and annoying people at WOB for my tastes; some were incredibly loud also. At least I had a tasty waffle lunch and some more dark beer. The highlight there was the fabled Left Hand Milk Stout.
When I return on what is known as Columbus Day (but some call Indigneous Peoples Day, and I don't blame anyone for feeling that way), I do have an idea or two as to what activities I'll be doing.
Wednesday and Thursday I did not do anything of note so onto Friday. I was in Orlando and among the things I did, I returned to Twin Peaks for dinner. I tried to ignore the incredibly loud idiots there (a few were in that category) as I had a tasty dinner and an ice cold beverage to wash it down. Late at night, I watched some Australian Rules Football... the AFL Grand Final, to be exact; it's their version of the Super Bowl, the championship game of the season. Sydney (familiar to the Grand Final in recent years) against Western, who hadn't even been in a Grand Final since 1961. While I rarely mention it anymore I do still watch the AFL. It was an exciting game that the Western Bulldogs won 89 to 67; the game was close until the very end. It was a nice story as Western won their first title since 1954.
Saturday, I returned to the World of Beer. This one was in Dr. Phillips. I had a tasty dinner there along with some darker beers. The one in particular I wanted they claimed they did not have... even though it was listed on their site and app. I got something else instead. The best drink was Stone Coffee Milk Stout. I did get to see some exciting conclusions of college football games. I did not even get mad when a Tennessee fan kept on shrieking at the end of the game vs. Georgia, as how Tennessee won was so unexpected yet it happened. I then drove home and much of the drive was through pounding rain. I was fine, as due to traffic and there being standing water on the roads I had to drive quite carefully.
Sunday, I went to another World of Beer, this time right in Clermont to watch the Chicago Bears play against another lousy team in the Detroit Lions. The Lions often had miscommunication on plays where not everyone was on the same page concerning which play was being run... and Chicago still barely won. Still, I'll take that victory. Unfortunately, there were too many stupid and annoying people at WOB for my tastes; some were incredibly loud also. At least I had a tasty waffle lunch and some more dark beer. The highlight there was the fabled Left Hand Milk Stout.
When I return on what is known as Columbus Day (but some call Indigneous Peoples Day, and I don't blame anyone for feeling that way), I do have an idea or two as to what activities I'll be doing.
Monday, September 26, 2016
The Magnificent Seven, Cheddar's & Dolby Cinema
This week wasn't so exciting but that is alright by me. Monday, I was out and about in the evening doing “things” (and I'll leave it at that); I ended up returning to the Chicago-themed bar and restaurant known as the Friendly Confines to see the Monday Night Football game between the Chicago Bears and the Philadelphia Eagles. I expected the Bears to lose and guess what, they once again looked piss-poor as they lost. Several players also suffered serious injuries so I was glad I had beer along with my late dinner. I have a feeling wins will be pretty rare for Chicago this season.
Tuesday, I decided to go to a restaurant I had been to before but it was in other states, including way back when there used to be one in Rockford and also in Wichita, Kansas. I went to Cheddar's (the one in Kissimmee) and I wish the experience could have been better. The person who waited on me was just not good at their job. My simple order somehow got screwed up (looking at the bill, it wasn't the kitchen's fault) and she did plenty of things wrong; despite the food still being edible, I think that if I go to the restaurant in the future, it'll be at one of the two other locations around Orlando. At least afterwards I returned to Disney Springs and went in a few stores. I noticed some new eateries are now open so real soon I need to try those out. The day wasn't a total loss, even if I had to deal with more than one incredibly rude person.
After that, the next few days I did nothing (aside from going to Walmart Thursday evening to get some miscellaneous items; that was an experience not out of the ordinary; Friday, I got tasty food from Culver's; I am glad there is one only a few miles from where I live. The pumpkin spice shake I got was a wise choice on my part) so onto Saturday. I could have done one of a few things. I had to do something in Orlando on Saturday morning. Not ideal but I had no choice in the matter. I decided to do something else after I completed my business since I was already in the city.
Recently I was at the AMC Theatres in Altamonte Springs and saw they were constructing a new auditorium but I was not sure of its purpose. Friday night I discovered it was for Dolby Cinema at AMC. Yep, it's another deal most of the chains are doing where they put in giant screens and have fancy sound systems and sometimes real nice seats in an attempt to get more money during a time where American box office is down... especially this year. All of them are nice, although they are not created equal. I heard great things about Dolby Cinema from others so this was something I was looking forward to and I was there the first day they had it open. As an aside, I am lucky in that I live in such a populated area (the central part of Florida) there are many different chains down here. By my count, through the years in Florida I've been between the chains and the independents, probably close to 20 different companies that show movies, and it's probably more than two dozen different theatres I've been at. I definitely appreciate the wide selection, even if there may be an oversaturation through central Florida.
As for the movie I saw, it was The Magnificent Seven remake. It's no 1960 movie by the same name, and it definitely isn't the Akira Kurosawa classic The Seven Samurai; yet, it was still enjoyable for what it was. Dolby Cinema is something worth paying a few bucks extra to enjoy. The sound and picture were great, and the rumbling seat gimmick is at least amusing. Sunday, I was saddened to hear that talented Miami Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez and two other people passed way in a boating accident; he was only 24 and he could have been a star for many years in the future. Arnold Palmer dying was also sad, although that wasn't as unexpected. As the Bears played in the evening, I stayed at home and did nothing. Chicago lost to the Dallas Cowboys 31-17 in a game I won't say anything else about; it was not as close as the score would indicate. Like I said, wins will probably be rare for Chicago this season.
When I return on October 3, I do in fact have some ideas for what I'll be doing in the coming week.
Tuesday, I decided to go to a restaurant I had been to before but it was in other states, including way back when there used to be one in Rockford and also in Wichita, Kansas. I went to Cheddar's (the one in Kissimmee) and I wish the experience could have been better. The person who waited on me was just not good at their job. My simple order somehow got screwed up (looking at the bill, it wasn't the kitchen's fault) and she did plenty of things wrong; despite the food still being edible, I think that if I go to the restaurant in the future, it'll be at one of the two other locations around Orlando. At least afterwards I returned to Disney Springs and went in a few stores. I noticed some new eateries are now open so real soon I need to try those out. The day wasn't a total loss, even if I had to deal with more than one incredibly rude person.
After that, the next few days I did nothing (aside from going to Walmart Thursday evening to get some miscellaneous items; that was an experience not out of the ordinary; Friday, I got tasty food from Culver's; I am glad there is one only a few miles from where I live. The pumpkin spice shake I got was a wise choice on my part) so onto Saturday. I could have done one of a few things. I had to do something in Orlando on Saturday morning. Not ideal but I had no choice in the matter. I decided to do something else after I completed my business since I was already in the city.
Recently I was at the AMC Theatres in Altamonte Springs and saw they were constructing a new auditorium but I was not sure of its purpose. Friday night I discovered it was for Dolby Cinema at AMC. Yep, it's another deal most of the chains are doing where they put in giant screens and have fancy sound systems and sometimes real nice seats in an attempt to get more money during a time where American box office is down... especially this year. All of them are nice, although they are not created equal. I heard great things about Dolby Cinema from others so this was something I was looking forward to and I was there the first day they had it open. As an aside, I am lucky in that I live in such a populated area (the central part of Florida) there are many different chains down here. By my count, through the years in Florida I've been between the chains and the independents, probably close to 20 different companies that show movies, and it's probably more than two dozen different theatres I've been at. I definitely appreciate the wide selection, even if there may be an oversaturation through central Florida.
As for the movie I saw, it was The Magnificent Seven remake. It's no 1960 movie by the same name, and it definitely isn't the Akira Kurosawa classic The Seven Samurai; yet, it was still enjoyable for what it was. Dolby Cinema is something worth paying a few bucks extra to enjoy. The sound and picture were great, and the rumbling seat gimmick is at least amusing. Sunday, I was saddened to hear that talented Miami Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez and two other people passed way in a boating accident; he was only 24 and he could have been a star for many years in the future. Arnold Palmer dying was also sad, although that wasn't as unexpected. As the Bears played in the evening, I stayed at home and did nothing. Chicago lost to the Dallas Cowboys 31-17 in a game I won't say anything else about; it was not as close as the score would indicate. Like I said, wins will probably be rare for Chicago this season.
When I return on October 3, I do in fact have some ideas for what I'll be doing in the coming week.
Monday, September 19, 2016
2001: A Space Odyssey, Blair Witch, ECTO COOLER & Dr. Loki Skylizard
It was in the past week that I heard from elsewhere that there's actually a doctor named Loki Skylizard; I used Google and not only was this true, the name came about because... he was 8 and HIS PARENTS ALLOWED HIM TO CHANGE HIS NAME TO WHATEVER HE WANTED. I swear this is true. Obviously, the smarts required to become a MD did not come from his parents... as for the reason why I have ECTO COOLER capitalized, I finally got to have the 2016 version of it. It was a long time coming. As a kid the Ecto Cooler juicebox was a frequent item in my lunchbox during elementary school, along with a sandwich and a light snack. I'll explain later how I finally was able to drink it again. I know there's controversy over if it was the exact same formula and taste as what it was back in the day (I have no idea; after all, I hadn't drank it in over 20 years). I can say that the 2016 version is good.
My Monday through Thursday wasn't too exciting. Aside from going with someone to a local restaurant in town known as Oakwood Smokehouse & Grill (I've mentioned it before; I just hadn't been there in at least a year) for a tasty meal, things have been quiet. Tuesday was the only real interesting day, and not just for when I was on the road and on a two lane highway someone saw me on a curve and yet pulled out right in front of me and then they actually creeped along real slowly. I thankfully only had to wait seconds to (legally) pass him and I let him know what I thought of his A-hole ways... and he got mad at me! He did not try chasing me (if he would have, he'd get a great look at my brake lights) but there wasn't even anyone behind me so he couldn't wait 5 seconds to go by him... thus, the gesture I gave that cretin was rightfully deserved. What was I going to say... oh yeah, I was on the road so I could return to Cinepolis, this time to see a classic film they were only showing once. I have seen 2001: A Space Odyssey before but the last viewing was years ago. I tell you, it's the sort of movie best experienced in a theatre. The soundtrack, the still great visuals, the scope of everything... it's an excellent motion picture, even if it's on the odd side. If only a larger crowd had shown up to a great opportunity such as this.
Friday, I went and saw Blair Witch. It shouldn't be a surprise to people that during high school, when The Blair Witch Project came out, I heard various comments about it, mainly from “haters”. They weren't any more clever than “The Blair Witch's your mom!” so it wasn't a big deal. Having watched BWP again a few months ago, I appreciate it more now than I did back then. To me it is amazing how it wasn't announced until relatively recently that the movie originally known as The Woods was actually Blair Witch. As an aside, never watch Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2. That was a not so bad idea done poorly and the studio that produced it interfered way too much also.
As for Blair Witch, I went to the Cinemark in Lakeland to check it out. That Cinemark is real nice but I hadn't been there in almost a year; it was due to distance and also them being dumb and not having enough people around for concessions during the Back to the Future Marathon they had last October; somehow they must have though it would not be a popular event, when it actually was. Well, this time things were back to normal there. Plus, this was where I got the can of Ecto Cooler. I picked it up after the film. The movie itself.. when I left I was thinking it was fine and I thought the same when I had dinner at the nearby Buffalo Wild Wings, where I had boneless wings with the Music City Fire sauce. It's limited edition and for those that enjoy pretty hot sauces, I imagine you'll dig it. I thought it was good, although I usually stick with the more mild sauces. Anyway, when I got home I realized that Blair Witch was only about average; it has a lot of faults and dumb mistakes.
Saturday and Sunday, I actually stayed in and did nothing. It was fine with me. After all, on Friday I had another case where I had someone pull out right in front of me. Not going out and thus avoiding such things was A-OK with me. The Bears play tonight and also play this upcoming Sunday night so when I return next Monday, I'll be able to talk about two of their games.
My Monday through Thursday wasn't too exciting. Aside from going with someone to a local restaurant in town known as Oakwood Smokehouse & Grill (I've mentioned it before; I just hadn't been there in at least a year) for a tasty meal, things have been quiet. Tuesday was the only real interesting day, and not just for when I was on the road and on a two lane highway someone saw me on a curve and yet pulled out right in front of me and then they actually creeped along real slowly. I thankfully only had to wait seconds to (legally) pass him and I let him know what I thought of his A-hole ways... and he got mad at me! He did not try chasing me (if he would have, he'd get a great look at my brake lights) but there wasn't even anyone behind me so he couldn't wait 5 seconds to go by him... thus, the gesture I gave that cretin was rightfully deserved. What was I going to say... oh yeah, I was on the road so I could return to Cinepolis, this time to see a classic film they were only showing once. I have seen 2001: A Space Odyssey before but the last viewing was years ago. I tell you, it's the sort of movie best experienced in a theatre. The soundtrack, the still great visuals, the scope of everything... it's an excellent motion picture, even if it's on the odd side. If only a larger crowd had shown up to a great opportunity such as this.
Friday, I went and saw Blair Witch. It shouldn't be a surprise to people that during high school, when The Blair Witch Project came out, I heard various comments about it, mainly from “haters”. They weren't any more clever than “The Blair Witch's your mom!” so it wasn't a big deal. Having watched BWP again a few months ago, I appreciate it more now than I did back then. To me it is amazing how it wasn't announced until relatively recently that the movie originally known as The Woods was actually Blair Witch. As an aside, never watch Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2. That was a not so bad idea done poorly and the studio that produced it interfered way too much also.
As for Blair Witch, I went to the Cinemark in Lakeland to check it out. That Cinemark is real nice but I hadn't been there in almost a year; it was due to distance and also them being dumb and not having enough people around for concessions during the Back to the Future Marathon they had last October; somehow they must have though it would not be a popular event, when it actually was. Well, this time things were back to normal there. Plus, this was where I got the can of Ecto Cooler. I picked it up after the film. The movie itself.. when I left I was thinking it was fine and I thought the same when I had dinner at the nearby Buffalo Wild Wings, where I had boneless wings with the Music City Fire sauce. It's limited edition and for those that enjoy pretty hot sauces, I imagine you'll dig it. I thought it was good, although I usually stick with the more mild sauces. Anyway, when I got home I realized that Blair Witch was only about average; it has a lot of faults and dumb mistakes.
Saturday and Sunday, I actually stayed in and did nothing. It was fine with me. After all, on Friday I had another case where I had someone pull out right in front of me. Not going out and thus avoiding such things was A-OK with me. The Bears play tonight and also play this upcoming Sunday night so when I return next Monday, I'll be able to talk about two of their games.
Monday, September 12, 2016
Morgan, The Chicago Bears & The Nottingham Creampie
For those that don't know... a “creampie” does not refer to any sort of pastry dish! Instead it refers to something too vulgar for me to say here. “The Nottingham Creampie” was the title of a spam e-mail I got recently. That was one of the cleaner e-mail titles I have received as of late.
Monday and Wednesday were boring days so let me skip ahead to Tuesday. It wasn't the original plan but I ended up going to two different spots. I first ended up at the Mall at Millenia as it had been awhile. A few things were different but otherwise it was the same old same old. It included me window-gazing at the section for millionaires; that's what I call the area which has stores from the likes of Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Cartier, Rolex, Armani, Versace, etc. After that I returned to the rustic bar/restaurant known as Twin Peaks. I actually hadn't been there in about 2 months so I figured it was a good place to have dinner at. I was correct. I always enjoyed their food so I had a pretty good dinner plus something ice cold to wash it down. In addition, for the first time in like 4 months I saw a certain employee there. I mentioned her back in late April where she got pretty angry at the kitchen for them screwing up my dinner order and I'll always appreciate that. She also seems like a very nice person too. I was happy to see her again.
Thursday, I returned to the Cinepolis movie theatre, mainly so I could get a ticket for a classic movie they are showing this upcoming Tuesday night; the next time I post I'll talk all about that. They do that reserved seating garbage I do not care for but seemingly a lot of people are fans of, so that's why I got a nice seat while I could. I also saw a movie there that early evening. I mainly saw Morgan because I felt bad it has done so badly at the box office. The movie is average but with the people involved it should have been better. The similar movie from last year known as Ex-Machina is a lot better. I give my highest recommendations for Ex-Machina, as a matter of fact.
Friday I did nothing and Saturday, I had a “prior commitment” I won't deep dive into except to say that it's nothing bad. That thing did prevent me from meeting up with some people I know (I know this group from the days way back when I attended local wrestling shows in Florida); we hadn't seen each other in a few years. Hopefully pretty soon it'll work out where we can meet again. Then again, I could barely make the prior commitment; I am not quite sure what I ate on Friday but something gave me food poisoning and trust me, you don't want me to go into detail here. Instead, let me mention that I did not see this night's UFC pay per view, which from what I understand was a good call on my part. Former pro wrestler CM Punk (a guy I literally saw wrestle plenty of times before he went to the WWE) did about as well in his MMA debut as you'd expect, meaning “not well at all”. I was happy that Illinois State University upset Northwestern University in football in a bowling shoe ugly game; Northwestern is in a division above ISU so it was a big win for ISU. In the evening I did see parts of the special game on TV between Tennessee and Virginia Tech. It was in a small but famous racetrack and the circumstances were to where it was such a hot ticket, both fanbases had a white-hot desire to see it and they shattered all football attendance records and there were almost 157,000 people in Bristol Motor Speedway. If I lived anywhere near Bristol, Tennessee I would have been there but as I live in lame Florida...
Onto September 11. I am flabbergasted it happened 15 years ago. To think that I found out about it in 2001 back in college when I had the TV on to see what the weather would be before I went to a morning class. Anyway, it was the first game of the season for the Chicago Bears as they played at the Houston Texans. Houston was definitely the better team so I was expecting them to win. Still, I returned to Twin Peaks to see the game and all the others going on at the same time. That certain employee wasn't there but it's OK as the women who work there are pretty much always nice so it was definitely not an issue. The Bears did not look so bad in the first half; the second half, they stunk the field up and Houston won the game. On the way there and back... the traffic was pretty horrendous. I mean, I encountered a few people who I swore must have been impaired somehow. I had to not exactly follow all the traffic laws to get away from them but honestly, it felt like the right thing to do when you're so fearful of them causing you to get in a wreck, probably with them. Yes, this is the “fun” of living in a state like Florida.
When I return a week from today, I do have a few ideas of what I'll be discussing.
Monday and Wednesday were boring days so let me skip ahead to Tuesday. It wasn't the original plan but I ended up going to two different spots. I first ended up at the Mall at Millenia as it had been awhile. A few things were different but otherwise it was the same old same old. It included me window-gazing at the section for millionaires; that's what I call the area which has stores from the likes of Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Cartier, Rolex, Armani, Versace, etc. After that I returned to the rustic bar/restaurant known as Twin Peaks. I actually hadn't been there in about 2 months so I figured it was a good place to have dinner at. I was correct. I always enjoyed their food so I had a pretty good dinner plus something ice cold to wash it down. In addition, for the first time in like 4 months I saw a certain employee there. I mentioned her back in late April where she got pretty angry at the kitchen for them screwing up my dinner order and I'll always appreciate that. She also seems like a very nice person too. I was happy to see her again.
Thursday, I returned to the Cinepolis movie theatre, mainly so I could get a ticket for a classic movie they are showing this upcoming Tuesday night; the next time I post I'll talk all about that. They do that reserved seating garbage I do not care for but seemingly a lot of people are fans of, so that's why I got a nice seat while I could. I also saw a movie there that early evening. I mainly saw Morgan because I felt bad it has done so badly at the box office. The movie is average but with the people involved it should have been better. The similar movie from last year known as Ex-Machina is a lot better. I give my highest recommendations for Ex-Machina, as a matter of fact.
Friday I did nothing and Saturday, I had a “prior commitment” I won't deep dive into except to say that it's nothing bad. That thing did prevent me from meeting up with some people I know (I know this group from the days way back when I attended local wrestling shows in Florida); we hadn't seen each other in a few years. Hopefully pretty soon it'll work out where we can meet again. Then again, I could barely make the prior commitment; I am not quite sure what I ate on Friday but something gave me food poisoning and trust me, you don't want me to go into detail here. Instead, let me mention that I did not see this night's UFC pay per view, which from what I understand was a good call on my part. Former pro wrestler CM Punk (a guy I literally saw wrestle plenty of times before he went to the WWE) did about as well in his MMA debut as you'd expect, meaning “not well at all”. I was happy that Illinois State University upset Northwestern University in football in a bowling shoe ugly game; Northwestern is in a division above ISU so it was a big win for ISU. In the evening I did see parts of the special game on TV between Tennessee and Virginia Tech. It was in a small but famous racetrack and the circumstances were to where it was such a hot ticket, both fanbases had a white-hot desire to see it and they shattered all football attendance records and there were almost 157,000 people in Bristol Motor Speedway. If I lived anywhere near Bristol, Tennessee I would have been there but as I live in lame Florida...
Onto September 11. I am flabbergasted it happened 15 years ago. To think that I found out about it in 2001 back in college when I had the TV on to see what the weather would be before I went to a morning class. Anyway, it was the first game of the season for the Chicago Bears as they played at the Houston Texans. Houston was definitely the better team so I was expecting them to win. Still, I returned to Twin Peaks to see the game and all the others going on at the same time. That certain employee wasn't there but it's OK as the women who work there are pretty much always nice so it was definitely not an issue. The Bears did not look so bad in the first half; the second half, they stunk the field up and Houston won the game. On the way there and back... the traffic was pretty horrendous. I mean, I encountered a few people who I swore must have been impaired somehow. I had to not exactly follow all the traffic laws to get away from them but honestly, it felt like the right thing to do when you're so fearful of them causing you to get in a wreck, probably with them. Yes, this is the “fun” of living in a state like Florida.
When I return a week from today, I do have a few ideas of what I'll be discussing.
Monday, September 5, 2016
Hurricane Hermine, Don't Breathe, Blazing Saddles & Lewd Street Names
This past week turned out better than expected. Monday the 29th, I did not do anything. The only thing I'll say is that I was saddened to hear about Gene Wilder passing away. Of course I've seen some of his movies before, including as a kid. Tuesday I did not do anything either so onto Wednesday. On that day I finally used the free pass I got from Epic Theatres back last December when I saw The Force Awakens for the first time and right as the opening crawl began, some young guy apparently had a seizure then had a major league freakout before he finally calmed down. Due to all that, everyone in the crowd got a free pass and it was just now that I returned there and used it. I got to see Don't Breathe for free. A lot of people loved it but me, I thought it was disappointing. The story was crap and the blind villain comes across as Daredevil too often in what he is able to do despite being blind. Then again, I wasn't a big fan of the director's previous film-the Evil Dead remake-so perhaps my reaction was to be expected.
Thursday, the only thing I did was get a much-needed haircut. The weather cooperated enough to where only it was a little bit rainy as I drove the few miles to the barber. What became Hurricane Hermine was predicted to bring really bad weather to the region but thankfully it turned North so while plenty of rain was received and it was windy at times, overall it was not too bad here. I did feel bad for those who were hit hard. Friday was another one of those days where there is nothing to report, so onto an interesting weekend.
Saturday, I decided to attend a college football game, as a new season is starting up. I saw Stetson play back in 2014 but it was an away game. Finally, on this night I saw a game at Stetson; while I wish that they would have made it clearer where you are supposed to park then once you get in the stadium where people are supposed to sit, otherwise I have little complaint with seeing an event there. Stetson played against Sacred Heart University and despite SHU being in Connecticut, a surprising number of their supporters showed up to the game. I've seen only a handful of football games in person in Florida and all the other ones were either not competitive or were poorly played; thankfully this was intriguing the entire time. Sacred Heart won 18-14, but I expected SHU to win by more than 4 points so I can't complain. Maybe they'll be halfway decent this year. I wasn't sure about the weather up there, but there was no drops of rain to be felt. There were plenty of sweat drops from me, though; it was never not humid.
I drove there and back via a rural back way; I couldn't avoid rude people on the highway, although that's what I expected. On the way, I passed by a short road with quite the name: CUMMER ROAD. No further comment is needed.
Sunday, I went to Disney Springs, despite it being rainy from the time I left home to the time I returned home. It was because something different was showing at their AMC Theatres. Saturday and Sunday they showed Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory then Blazing Saddles. I went there to see the latter. I have watched the movie a handful of times in my life, including once on the big screen back in 2013. I wanted to see it again for obvious reasons and so did a lot of other people; they showed it in their largest auditorium that does not have an ETX screen, and the over 500 seat auditorium was definitely more than half full. It was nice to see a funny movie that way. I was concerned when a young couple w/ an infant girl that was like 6 months old showed up and sat close to me; thankfully that tyke hardly made any noise at all. To think that she and some elementary school kids at other recent screenings acted better than those asshats at that screening for the South Korean movie Train to Busan acted a few weeks ago.
When I come back a week from today, I do have a few ideas of what I'll be talking about.
Thursday, the only thing I did was get a much-needed haircut. The weather cooperated enough to where only it was a little bit rainy as I drove the few miles to the barber. What became Hurricane Hermine was predicted to bring really bad weather to the region but thankfully it turned North so while plenty of rain was received and it was windy at times, overall it was not too bad here. I did feel bad for those who were hit hard. Friday was another one of those days where there is nothing to report, so onto an interesting weekend.
Saturday, I decided to attend a college football game, as a new season is starting up. I saw Stetson play back in 2014 but it was an away game. Finally, on this night I saw a game at Stetson; while I wish that they would have made it clearer where you are supposed to park then once you get in the stadium where people are supposed to sit, otherwise I have little complaint with seeing an event there. Stetson played against Sacred Heart University and despite SHU being in Connecticut, a surprising number of their supporters showed up to the game. I've seen only a handful of football games in person in Florida and all the other ones were either not competitive or were poorly played; thankfully this was intriguing the entire time. Sacred Heart won 18-14, but I expected SHU to win by more than 4 points so I can't complain. Maybe they'll be halfway decent this year. I wasn't sure about the weather up there, but there was no drops of rain to be felt. There were plenty of sweat drops from me, though; it was never not humid.
I drove there and back via a rural back way; I couldn't avoid rude people on the highway, although that's what I expected. On the way, I passed by a short road with quite the name: CUMMER ROAD. No further comment is needed.
Sunday, I went to Disney Springs, despite it being rainy from the time I left home to the time I returned home. It was because something different was showing at their AMC Theatres. Saturday and Sunday they showed Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory then Blazing Saddles. I went there to see the latter. I have watched the movie a handful of times in my life, including once on the big screen back in 2013. I wanted to see it again for obvious reasons and so did a lot of other people; they showed it in their largest auditorium that does not have an ETX screen, and the over 500 seat auditorium was definitely more than half full. It was nice to see a funny movie that way. I was concerned when a young couple w/ an infant girl that was like 6 months old showed up and sat close to me; thankfully that tyke hardly made any noise at all. To think that she and some elementary school kids at other recent screenings acted better than those asshats at that screening for the South Korean movie Train to Busan acted a few weeks ago.
When I come back a week from today, I do have a few ideas of what I'll be talking about.
Monday, August 29, 2016
Studio Movie Grill, German Restaurants & Troglodytes
What an interesting past week I had. Monday the 22nd, I did not do a thing; Tuesday was more interesting. I went with someone to a Logan's Roadhouse for dinner. That place is just about to enter bankruptcy so we figured they could use some cash. The one located by Sam's Club that I had been to a few times before is one of the locations that closed due to their financial woes; I'll be going there less often than I used to only due to convenience's sake. My burger and fries were fine; the person I was with loved their half rack of ribs, and I am glad they felt that way.
Wednesday, what a day that was. I went to Tampa for an adventure. I went to a few new places. The Westfield Citrus Park mall is pretty nice. I ended up at the University Mall by the University of South Florida, and that wasn't so nice. The only reason I was there was to see something at the Studio Movie Grill. It has like 20 different locations all across the country. It is one of those places that tries to be upscale and serves you food as you're watching a film. Unfortunately, it is located in an odd spot and it was a real hassle just trying to figure out where to park so you're by the main entrance, as the mall gives little help there. Then, late at night in a dark lot, it wasn't easy even trying to figure out how to get back on the highway. So that was not a good start, although I blame it on the mall. A bartender in the fancy lounge area not serving me (for reasons unknown) and the place forcing you to make some assumptions you shouldn't have to make as things should be a lot clearer... I can blame that on the entity itself.
So, when Train to Busan (a South Korean action thriller about a fast zombie apocalypse happening throughout Korea and it ends up on a train) began I was already in a not so great mood; when several Troglodytes acted incredibly rude during the movie, that cemented in my mind how unlikely it'll be that I'll return to this place. In fact, a couple who acted the worst, I almost had a confrontation with them... and I am not the type who gets into confrontations. It is probably good for me that they left as soon as the end credits started; the guy honestly looked like he had about an 80 IQ and is probably the type who solves all his problems with his fists... to think that the parents who brought their two young kids to the show caused zero problems. The movie is great, worthy to be compared to the best that has come out from Korea in the past 20 or so years. Thankfully this wasn't graphic and explicit like some of the movies you get from there... you know, like I Saw the Devil or Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance. Little kids don't need to see that. Anyhow, after the film I briefly stopped at a random World of Beer in the area before driving back home.
Thursday and Friday, I decided to stay in and relax after the chaos of Wednesday. Saturday-even though I was dead tired due to not getting a great night's sleep-I went up to Sanford to attend a birthday party of someone I know. It's the annual late August tradition, that's what it has become; a bunch of people go up to a popular German restaurant to eat food and also a cold beverage or two. Sunday, I had to return to Sanford for yet another airport run. I wish that airplane would have come in on Saturday as it would have worked out perfectly for me but alas... I stopped at the World of Beer in Lake Mary to kill time. Leaving there and driving to the airport, a sedan flew by me... with most of its bumper sheered off but it was still hanging on by a thread and it was dragging on the ground. Right after that, a cop turned on his lights and went to pull him over. Unfortunately I had to turn off that road but it was clear the cop realized the obvious, which was that this dope was more than a little impaired. I wish I could have seen how they did such damage to their own car and end up being oblivious about it.
I'll be back on Labor Day; I do have some ideas of what I'll be talking about.
Wednesday, what a day that was. I went to Tampa for an adventure. I went to a few new places. The Westfield Citrus Park mall is pretty nice. I ended up at the University Mall by the University of South Florida, and that wasn't so nice. The only reason I was there was to see something at the Studio Movie Grill. It has like 20 different locations all across the country. It is one of those places that tries to be upscale and serves you food as you're watching a film. Unfortunately, it is located in an odd spot and it was a real hassle just trying to figure out where to park so you're by the main entrance, as the mall gives little help there. Then, late at night in a dark lot, it wasn't easy even trying to figure out how to get back on the highway. So that was not a good start, although I blame it on the mall. A bartender in the fancy lounge area not serving me (for reasons unknown) and the place forcing you to make some assumptions you shouldn't have to make as things should be a lot clearer... I can blame that on the entity itself.
So, when Train to Busan (a South Korean action thriller about a fast zombie apocalypse happening throughout Korea and it ends up on a train) began I was already in a not so great mood; when several Troglodytes acted incredibly rude during the movie, that cemented in my mind how unlikely it'll be that I'll return to this place. In fact, a couple who acted the worst, I almost had a confrontation with them... and I am not the type who gets into confrontations. It is probably good for me that they left as soon as the end credits started; the guy honestly looked like he had about an 80 IQ and is probably the type who solves all his problems with his fists... to think that the parents who brought their two young kids to the show caused zero problems. The movie is great, worthy to be compared to the best that has come out from Korea in the past 20 or so years. Thankfully this wasn't graphic and explicit like some of the movies you get from there... you know, like I Saw the Devil or Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance. Little kids don't need to see that. Anyhow, after the film I briefly stopped at a random World of Beer in the area before driving back home.
Thursday and Friday, I decided to stay in and relax after the chaos of Wednesday. Saturday-even though I was dead tired due to not getting a great night's sleep-I went up to Sanford to attend a birthday party of someone I know. It's the annual late August tradition, that's what it has become; a bunch of people go up to a popular German restaurant to eat food and also a cold beverage or two. Sunday, I had to return to Sanford for yet another airport run. I wish that airplane would have come in on Saturday as it would have worked out perfectly for me but alas... I stopped at the World of Beer in Lake Mary to kill time. Leaving there and driving to the airport, a sedan flew by me... with most of its bumper sheered off but it was still hanging on by a thread and it was dragging on the ground. Right after that, a cop turned on his lights and went to pull him over. Unfortunately I had to turn off that road but it was clear the cop realized the obvious, which was that this dope was more than a little impaired. I wish I could have seen how they did such damage to their own car and end up being oblivious about it.
I'll be back on Labor Day; I do have some ideas of what I'll be talking about.
Monday, August 22, 2016
Hell Or High Water, Waffle House, Blood Father & Handball
Once again not the most exciting week for me, but alas. On Monday the 15th, I did do something in the evening. I returned to CityWalk at Universal Studios. Besides walking around there and noting that sometime soon the new (and long named) The Toothsome Chocolate Emporium & Savory Feast Kitchen will open-I will be real interested in checking that out-I saw a movie there. It was the only Orlando location for a film that most will see direct to video or on the streaming sites: Blood Father, starring Mel Gibson. It's a standard action movie about him trying to protect his teen daughter after she does some pretty bad things w/ some pretty bad people. While not revolutionary, it is fun, especially for old-school action fans. Note that me watching this is NOT an endorsement of Gibson's controversial actions or the beliefs he's stated in the past. After that, I got a snack from a Cinnabon, as I hadn't eaten anything from one of those in a real long time.
Tuesday I did not do anything so let me mention what I did on Wednesday: WAFFLE HOUSE. I hadn't been to one of those in at least a few years. I went with someone who hadn't been to one in a very long time, as in “over a decade.” The food is never great at a Waffle House but at least it's made quickly and it tastes fine. This was the case when we were there. Thursday was another boring day, so onto Friday; I was thinking of going out somewhere and seeing a movie, but due to circumstances beyond my control, that changed. It is OK as it was a change for the better, and I won't bore you with the specifics why. Instead I went to Winter Garden Village to pick up something I needed from Staples, purchased a tasty beverage from Planet Smoothie, then ate dinner at a Jersey Mike's Subs. Saturday was yet another day where I stayed in and relaxed. I did not care about Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz fighting each other back in March, am still baffled that so many idiot UFC fans DID care, and cared even less about those two having a rematch on this night, so no way was I going out to see that pay per view. Instead, I spent time doing what I mentioned the last time I wrote, which was stream various niche (at least in the United States) Olympic events; I am talking about such things as archery, field hockey and handball. I wish those sports were as popular here as they were elsewhere around the world, but alas... also as I said recently, while Rio was not the best hosts at least the sporting events were fun to watch and it was a nice diversion.
At least Sunday was more interesting. In the evening, I went to the Safeway grocery store to pick up a few items; as they had several things at a discount if you purchased a few of them... yeah, I was roped into getting more than expected, but it's OK. After that I went to the AMC at the Altamonte Mall, where I saw Hell or High Water, a crime drama set in West Texas and starring Chris Pine, Ben Foster, and Jeff Bridges. It's great. If you enjoy things like No Country for Old Men, then this is a must-see. I enjoyed seeing a mature drama instead of the usual garbage that plays theatrically in the summer. When I return a week from today, I actually have a few ideas about what I'll be discussing. I'll be out and about, both doing things for the first time and meeting people I haven't seen in far too long.
Tuesday I did not do anything so let me mention what I did on Wednesday: WAFFLE HOUSE. I hadn't been to one of those in at least a few years. I went with someone who hadn't been to one in a very long time, as in “over a decade.” The food is never great at a Waffle House but at least it's made quickly and it tastes fine. This was the case when we were there. Thursday was another boring day, so onto Friday; I was thinking of going out somewhere and seeing a movie, but due to circumstances beyond my control, that changed. It is OK as it was a change for the better, and I won't bore you with the specifics why. Instead I went to Winter Garden Village to pick up something I needed from Staples, purchased a tasty beverage from Planet Smoothie, then ate dinner at a Jersey Mike's Subs. Saturday was yet another day where I stayed in and relaxed. I did not care about Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz fighting each other back in March, am still baffled that so many idiot UFC fans DID care, and cared even less about those two having a rematch on this night, so no way was I going out to see that pay per view. Instead, I spent time doing what I mentioned the last time I wrote, which was stream various niche (at least in the United States) Olympic events; I am talking about such things as archery, field hockey and handball. I wish those sports were as popular here as they were elsewhere around the world, but alas... also as I said recently, while Rio was not the best hosts at least the sporting events were fun to watch and it was a nice diversion.
At least Sunday was more interesting. In the evening, I went to the Safeway grocery store to pick up a few items; as they had several things at a discount if you purchased a few of them... yeah, I was roped into getting more than expected, but it's OK. After that I went to the AMC at the Altamonte Mall, where I saw Hell or High Water, a crime drama set in West Texas and starring Chris Pine, Ben Foster, and Jeff Bridges. It's great. If you enjoy things like No Country for Old Men, then this is a must-see. I enjoyed seeing a mature drama instead of the usual garbage that plays theatrically in the summer. When I return a week from today, I actually have a few ideas about what I'll be discussing. I'll be out and about, both doing things for the first time and meeting people I haven't seen in far too long.
Monday, August 15, 2016
Crystal Pepsi, Operation Chromite, Applebee's & Soarin'
I thought about mentioning in the title how I got a spam e-mail a few days ago that advertised “Viagra Super Force”, but I did not want to give anyone who just glanced at the title the wrong idea... so that's why I am mentioning it here. I did not do anything on Monday the 8th so let me skip ahead to Tuesday. On that way I went with someone to an Applebee's; what is notable there is that this particular location just opened in town a matter of days ago. I'll excuse the less than great service on that. At least the food & drink were still pretty good. Wednesday, I went to Walt Disney World, EPCOT in particular. Not to brag but I renewed my annual pass. I also went on the new Soarin' ride, which now takes place all across the world, and an incredible thing happened.
I was waiting in line to get on the ride, and suddenly one of the people working there were asking if there were any single riders to fill one last spot. No one else did so I made it be known that I was a single rider. Thus, I got to cut in front of line. Apparently that made someone pretty angry. That dumbass probably didn't realize I could hear him, but I certainly did hear him call me a “motherf...”, well, you know, an MF'er! Really. I was more amused than offended. To get that upset over having to wait in line a little longer than I did... what a clown. Oh, and Soarin' is a real nice ride.
Thursday, I did not do anything, so onto Friday. I went to Disney Springs, the AMC Theatres there in particular. I went and saw an obscure movie I only discovered existed a few days beforehand. It's a South Korean movie called Operation Chromite, about the Battle of Inchon during the Korean War. Yes, I actually have seen the infamous early 80's bomb known as Inchon, which has the likes of Toshiro Mifune, Richard Roundtree, and Laurence Olivier as General Douglas MacArthur. This movie is thankfully better than that; in a supporting role as MacArthur was... Liam Neeson! Yeah, that was the reason why it even got any kind of release in the United States. I'd love to see more Korean movies on the big screen. Not all of them that I've seen I have loved (this includes some popular titles among film fans) I can say that from the lighter fare like The Host or The Good, the Bad, the Weird to rather explicit things like I Saw the Devil or The Man From Nowhere... they make some quality motion pictures which thankfully aren't cliché like what we get from homogenized Hollywood. After the movie, I ate at the T. Rex Cafe as I hadn't been there in a long while. The high price is the reason why I go there infrequently, as I think their food is quite good and the atmosphere is great. I then went into the new Uniqlo store; to think that Disney Springs now has two famous Japanese clothing stores on their property; earlier in the summer I went in the Superdry store; both are nice and offer cool clothing. I don't have any Superdry shirts but because they were cheap I got two from Uniqlo.
Saturday, I went to a gas station out in the boonies in the hope that they they had some Crystal Pepsi, and they did. Sure, it was a gas station which somehow ran out of gas (on a Saturday afternoon! The prices were the same as everywhere else) and the service was poor, but as I actually did have it back in the day and yet did not remember anything about its taste, I waited in line. Once I got home, I discovered that it's fine, I guess... it's not my favorite, though.
Sunday, I did nothing. I'll mention that in the past week I did see some of the Olympics on television. The coverage on the NBC Networks has not been good and between the incompetency and Olympians being robbed, Rio has not been made to look good which is a shame for the first South American Olympics. Yet, the actual action from the sporting events has been entertaining, and the online streaming is fine, when it works, that is. I have checked out more obscure things that way, like archery and field hockey, as when would I otherwise be able to see such things? When I come back a week from today, I have an idea or two as to what I'll be talking about.
I was waiting in line to get on the ride, and suddenly one of the people working there were asking if there were any single riders to fill one last spot. No one else did so I made it be known that I was a single rider. Thus, I got to cut in front of line. Apparently that made someone pretty angry. That dumbass probably didn't realize I could hear him, but I certainly did hear him call me a “motherf...”, well, you know, an MF'er! Really. I was more amused than offended. To get that upset over having to wait in line a little longer than I did... what a clown. Oh, and Soarin' is a real nice ride.
Thursday, I did not do anything, so onto Friday. I went to Disney Springs, the AMC Theatres there in particular. I went and saw an obscure movie I only discovered existed a few days beforehand. It's a South Korean movie called Operation Chromite, about the Battle of Inchon during the Korean War. Yes, I actually have seen the infamous early 80's bomb known as Inchon, which has the likes of Toshiro Mifune, Richard Roundtree, and Laurence Olivier as General Douglas MacArthur. This movie is thankfully better than that; in a supporting role as MacArthur was... Liam Neeson! Yeah, that was the reason why it even got any kind of release in the United States. I'd love to see more Korean movies on the big screen. Not all of them that I've seen I have loved (this includes some popular titles among film fans) I can say that from the lighter fare like The Host or The Good, the Bad, the Weird to rather explicit things like I Saw the Devil or The Man From Nowhere... they make some quality motion pictures which thankfully aren't cliché like what we get from homogenized Hollywood. After the movie, I ate at the T. Rex Cafe as I hadn't been there in a long while. The high price is the reason why I go there infrequently, as I think their food is quite good and the atmosphere is great. I then went into the new Uniqlo store; to think that Disney Springs now has two famous Japanese clothing stores on their property; earlier in the summer I went in the Superdry store; both are nice and offer cool clothing. I don't have any Superdry shirts but because they were cheap I got two from Uniqlo.
Saturday, I went to a gas station out in the boonies in the hope that they they had some Crystal Pepsi, and they did. Sure, it was a gas station which somehow ran out of gas (on a Saturday afternoon! The prices were the same as everywhere else) and the service was poor, but as I actually did have it back in the day and yet did not remember anything about its taste, I waited in line. Once I got home, I discovered that it's fine, I guess... it's not my favorite, though.
Sunday, I did nothing. I'll mention that in the past week I did see some of the Olympics on television. The coverage on the NBC Networks has not been good and between the incompetency and Olympians being robbed, Rio has not been made to look good which is a shame for the first South American Olympics. Yet, the actual action from the sporting events has been entertaining, and the online streaming is fine, when it works, that is. I have checked out more obscure things that way, like archery and field hockey, as when would I otherwise be able to see such things? When I come back a week from today, I have an idea or two as to what I'll be talking about.
Monday, August 8, 2016
The Olympics, Square 1 Burgers & Bar, And Left Hand Milk Stout Nitro
Here's what I've done since last Monday. On Monday the 1st I went to my bank; someone gave me a check and it needed to be deposited in my account; yes, a check in 2016. Recently I saw someone at a store use a check, as if it was still 1982 here. That was as exciting as my Monday and Tuesday got, so onto Wednesday. I decided to go to the Total Wine & More in Orlando proper and I got my share of darker beers, both porter and stout. I then went to the nearby Orlando Fashion Square Mall, a place I rarely go to due to location and it being smaller than the other malls in the area. I think there are plenty of people who feel the same way, as the place isn't doing as well as it used to. I likely won't be back there for a long while, as to be honest there isn't much there for me to do that I couldn't do at another mall. As for the beer, the one I'll mention is Left Hand Milk Stout Nitro. I wasn't sure what to expect, but it was very good.
As a random aside, I talked before about the Florida traffic this year and how this year is worse than it's ever been down here. Well, that's still true; 2016 Florida traffic is just as bad as 2016 has been for the world in general... meaning real bad. I haven't mentioned all of the issues I've had this year with that; I could go on and on with what I dealt with this past week, where some lunatic followed me for awhile before I got away from him, all because I let him know I thought his behavior behind the wheel to be awful, which he then immediately verified-or the other things that happened. I honk my horn at people-among other things-even though they probably are too dopey to realize why I am mad at them. I realize that someone could retaliate in a very serious way, but that has not happened, at least not yet. Even after being down here for 12 years plus now, I still once in awhile see incomprehensible things behind the wheel that I have no logical explanation for. At this point, staying in instead of going out seems like a swell idea in general as it means not always being aggravated behind the wheel. I'll just hope that this madness ceases soon.
Thursday, that was another interesting day. I went to Lakeland as I hadn't been down there in a long while. I ended up at an outdoor mall (one I've been to a good number of times now); I got some random sodas at Rocket Fizz and some random books at Books-A-Million. I then made a few mile drive to a restaurant known as Square 1 Burgers & Bar. It is a Central Florida only thing. Between their overuse of the word “awesome”, cheap small chandeliers hanging at the bar and some bench seating being covered in cowhide... I honestly don't know if they're being serious or sarcastic here. At least the food was tasty and the alcoholic cinnamon milkshake was the same. The last place I went to was nearby; I got a shake from PDQ and while not alcoholic it just happened to be a cinnamon milkshake made with Cinnamon Toast Crunch and sea salt caramel; really, and it was very good.
Friday through Sunday was nondescript. I did see parts of the Olympics on TV, even though Brazil did an atrocious job in setting them up, mainly because of sheer incompetence. The actual sporting action has been fine. NBC's coverage is not great, but honestly there's been way too many commercials with the Olympics for at least the past 20 years now and it's been a problem with television in general for probably longer than that. At least I can stream everything online for free if I wanted to. Sunday, I went to Burger King; I brought home food for me and someone else. Unlike what I typically experience at a Burger King in the area, there was no problem with the service, other customers, or anything else. I got the “5 for $4” deal and that was a very wise decision on my part. The small bacon cheeseburger, small drink, small fries, 4 chicken nuggets and chocolate chip cookies: a thumbs up I will give to it.
I'll be back next Monday; not a lot is on the agenda, at least as of yet.
As a random aside, I talked before about the Florida traffic this year and how this year is worse than it's ever been down here. Well, that's still true; 2016 Florida traffic is just as bad as 2016 has been for the world in general... meaning real bad. I haven't mentioned all of the issues I've had this year with that; I could go on and on with what I dealt with this past week, where some lunatic followed me for awhile before I got away from him, all because I let him know I thought his behavior behind the wheel to be awful, which he then immediately verified-or the other things that happened. I honk my horn at people-among other things-even though they probably are too dopey to realize why I am mad at them. I realize that someone could retaliate in a very serious way, but that has not happened, at least not yet. Even after being down here for 12 years plus now, I still once in awhile see incomprehensible things behind the wheel that I have no logical explanation for. At this point, staying in instead of going out seems like a swell idea in general as it means not always being aggravated behind the wheel. I'll just hope that this madness ceases soon.
Thursday, that was another interesting day. I went to Lakeland as I hadn't been down there in a long while. I ended up at an outdoor mall (one I've been to a good number of times now); I got some random sodas at Rocket Fizz and some random books at Books-A-Million. I then made a few mile drive to a restaurant known as Square 1 Burgers & Bar. It is a Central Florida only thing. Between their overuse of the word “awesome”, cheap small chandeliers hanging at the bar and some bench seating being covered in cowhide... I honestly don't know if they're being serious or sarcastic here. At least the food was tasty and the alcoholic cinnamon milkshake was the same. The last place I went to was nearby; I got a shake from PDQ and while not alcoholic it just happened to be a cinnamon milkshake made with Cinnamon Toast Crunch and sea salt caramel; really, and it was very good.
Friday through Sunday was nondescript. I did see parts of the Olympics on TV, even though Brazil did an atrocious job in setting them up, mainly because of sheer incompetence. The actual sporting action has been fine. NBC's coverage is not great, but honestly there's been way too many commercials with the Olympics for at least the past 20 years now and it's been a problem with television in general for probably longer than that. At least I can stream everything online for free if I wanted to. Sunday, I went to Burger King; I brought home food for me and someone else. Unlike what I typically experience at a Burger King in the area, there was no problem with the service, other customers, or anything else. I got the “5 for $4” deal and that was a very wise decision on my part. The small bacon cheeseburger, small drink, small fries, 4 chicken nuggets and chocolate chip cookies: a thumbs up I will give to it.
I'll be back next Monday; not a lot is on the agenda, at least as of yet.
Monday, August 1, 2016
The One Time I Had A Boring July
I wasn't planing on having a boring as heck July; that's just how it turned out. Monday through Thursday can be summed up rather quickly. Monday I went to Walmart and it was a standard trip there as I purchased a few items. Tuesday I did not do a thing. The same goes for Thursday. Wednesday, I went and not only dropped off some clothing at Goodwill, but I went to the local library as I hadn't been there in awhile. At least Friday was more interesting.
On that Friday night, Guns N' Roses performed in Orlando at the outdoor stadium I'll always know as the Citrus Bowl. While the thought did cross my mind to attend the concert, I'll be honest and say that for a variety of reasons, going to concerts is not my thing and I've only gone to several (I mean, less than a dozen) in my lifetime, including small time shows played by local bands in bars. Of course the cost was high and having to deal with meatheads there... as I literally saw part of this concert on YouTube, I am OK with my decision. To be honest, after the tour was announced and before it started, I wasn't even sure if it would be completed. Back in the day, the band (OK, mainly Axl) had a bad reputation for not starting on time, or doing a full concert. I am frankly astonished it has seemingly gone well so far with no issues, considering all the bad blood that broke up the band in the first place.
Anyhow, I did some other things instead. I went to Barnes & Noble; I am still miffed that the one which used to be only about a 15 minute drive away closed down; having to drive farther to go to one is lame to me. The only thing I got there was a random magazine. I then went to the nearby Noodles & Company. I had heard of the place before but never thought about going there until now. It did enter my mind after the story of how elsewhere at a location in Virginia, two employees refused to serve a police officer... then the employees got fired. By the way, don't expect me to talk about either politics or “Black Lives Matter vs. Blue Lives Matter vs. All Lives Matter” debate, as I know better than to cause such controversy. After that, I stopped at a nearby World of Beer, where I had two porter beers. The one I'll mention as being real good is Terrapin Liquid Bliss; Terrapin typically makes good beer but Liquid Bliss is an apt name as it's a chocolate peanut butter porter and it's real good.
Saturday, I stayed in; there was a UFC PPV but it didn't seem like something I needed to see. Sunday, I went to Winter Garden Village; I walked around and ended up at Target. I got a few items there and that went fine. My time there wasn't good; I'll just say it was dumb customers, dumb employees, and a dispute over the price of an item that made me swear not to return to any Best Buy for a long while and that is fine with me, as there are plenty of other places to visit in order to purchase films... not to mention the great resource known as Amazon.
July did not end well but August should be better, even if I only have a rough idea of what I'll be doing the first week of this month.
On that Friday night, Guns N' Roses performed in Orlando at the outdoor stadium I'll always know as the Citrus Bowl. While the thought did cross my mind to attend the concert, I'll be honest and say that for a variety of reasons, going to concerts is not my thing and I've only gone to several (I mean, less than a dozen) in my lifetime, including small time shows played by local bands in bars. Of course the cost was high and having to deal with meatheads there... as I literally saw part of this concert on YouTube, I am OK with my decision. To be honest, after the tour was announced and before it started, I wasn't even sure if it would be completed. Back in the day, the band (OK, mainly Axl) had a bad reputation for not starting on time, or doing a full concert. I am frankly astonished it has seemingly gone well so far with no issues, considering all the bad blood that broke up the band in the first place.
Anyhow, I did some other things instead. I went to Barnes & Noble; I am still miffed that the one which used to be only about a 15 minute drive away closed down; having to drive farther to go to one is lame to me. The only thing I got there was a random magazine. I then went to the nearby Noodles & Company. I had heard of the place before but never thought about going there until now. It did enter my mind after the story of how elsewhere at a location in Virginia, two employees refused to serve a police officer... then the employees got fired. By the way, don't expect me to talk about either politics or “Black Lives Matter vs. Blue Lives Matter vs. All Lives Matter” debate, as I know better than to cause such controversy. After that, I stopped at a nearby World of Beer, where I had two porter beers. The one I'll mention as being real good is Terrapin Liquid Bliss; Terrapin typically makes good beer but Liquid Bliss is an apt name as it's a chocolate peanut butter porter and it's real good.
Saturday, I stayed in; there was a UFC PPV but it didn't seem like something I needed to see. Sunday, I went to Winter Garden Village; I walked around and ended up at Target. I got a few items there and that went fine. My time there wasn't good; I'll just say it was dumb customers, dumb employees, and a dispute over the price of an item that made me swear not to return to any Best Buy for a long while and that is fine with me, as there are plenty of other places to visit in order to purchase films... not to mention the great resource known as Amazon.
July did not end well but August should be better, even if I only have a rough idea of what I'll be doing the first week of this month.
Monday, July 25, 2016
Star Trek Beyond, Huey Magoos & Cheeseburgers In Paradise
This past week wasn't as exciting as I expected, but that is OK. I did not do anything last Monday the 18th so let me move onto the next day. On the 19th I went to Universal Studios CityWalk; I did in fact walk around there and as I hadn't ordered food from Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville in a long time, that's where I ate at for dinner. Their appropriately named Cheeseburger in Paradise is always great. For the most part CityWalk is the same as it was the last time I was there. Wednesday, I went to Wawa to get a sandwich. The last few times I was at that particular Wawa, I've had issues between some of the service I got and the general annoyance of having to deal with some amazingly stupid customers. Maybe I should take a break from going there for awhile.
Thursday, all I did was go to Pizza Hut and that wasn't out of the ordinary. Friday, I ended up in the Altamonte Springs area so I returned to the Safeway grocery store to get a few items. I also went to a new restaurant that's a local quick service thing and only has four locations, all around Orlando. It's known as Huey Magoos and I first found out about it as I drove by the Altamonte Springs location a few weeks ago, and I was curious. Turns out, for those of you living in the South, you'll understand it when I say that the place is in essence a clone of Zaxby's. I got some chicken tenders and to further drive home the comparison, they had the same style fries and also offered Texas Toast. At least it was good, and I was happy to support a local business.
Saturday, I stayed in and I was OK with that. When the Florida traffic in 2016 has been notably even worse than it ever has before and you're amazed you haven't witnessed any accidents happen (recently, I saw someone pull out right in front of someone else and like with me in the past year when the exact same thing happened, I can't explain how a wreck was avoided), laying low is a swell idea. Sunday night, I had a late dinner at Disney Springs. For the first time in awhile I had food from the fancy bowling alley known as Splitsville then went next door to see Star Trek Beyond in 3D on their giant ETX screen. I am not a hardcore Trekkie or Trekker but as a kid I saw episodes of The Original Series and watched the first six movies. The reboot movie was entertaining even if it had some dumb moments; Into Darkness was bad and not just for all the controversy over who Benedict Cumberbatch played and how it was billed up as being “a big mystery”. Thankfully, Beyond is a movie well worth seeing, despite some dopey moments and one moment that left me flabbergasted as I couldn't believe they went there. It at least is fun to watch, not so dour and feels more in line with The Original Series.
I'll be back next Monday, which is August the 1st. I am not sure yet what I'll be doing the last week of July.
Thursday, all I did was go to Pizza Hut and that wasn't out of the ordinary. Friday, I ended up in the Altamonte Springs area so I returned to the Safeway grocery store to get a few items. I also went to a new restaurant that's a local quick service thing and only has four locations, all around Orlando. It's known as Huey Magoos and I first found out about it as I drove by the Altamonte Springs location a few weeks ago, and I was curious. Turns out, for those of you living in the South, you'll understand it when I say that the place is in essence a clone of Zaxby's. I got some chicken tenders and to further drive home the comparison, they had the same style fries and also offered Texas Toast. At least it was good, and I was happy to support a local business.
Saturday, I stayed in and I was OK with that. When the Florida traffic in 2016 has been notably even worse than it ever has before and you're amazed you haven't witnessed any accidents happen (recently, I saw someone pull out right in front of someone else and like with me in the past year when the exact same thing happened, I can't explain how a wreck was avoided), laying low is a swell idea. Sunday night, I had a late dinner at Disney Springs. For the first time in awhile I had food from the fancy bowling alley known as Splitsville then went next door to see Star Trek Beyond in 3D on their giant ETX screen. I am not a hardcore Trekkie or Trekker but as a kid I saw episodes of The Original Series and watched the first six movies. The reboot movie was entertaining even if it had some dumb moments; Into Darkness was bad and not just for all the controversy over who Benedict Cumberbatch played and how it was billed up as being “a big mystery”. Thankfully, Beyond is a movie well worth seeing, despite some dopey moments and one moment that left me flabbergasted as I couldn't believe they went there. It at least is fun to watch, not so dour and feels more in line with The Original Series.
I'll be back next Monday, which is August the 1st. I am not sure yet what I'll be doing the last week of July.
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