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.

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.

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?

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.

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.