NOTE: I won't be back until New Year's Day. I'll be out of town for Christmas. I can't believe 2017 is almost over with, although good riddance, really.
Yeah, I'll get into The Last Jedi (no spoilers, I promise) a little later. Monday through Wednesday were pretty boring for me; I mean, the “highlight” of that time period was going to the local Kmart; talk about a depressing place to visit. The entire chain is not long for the world which is regrettable as many times when I was a kid I was taken to the local Kmart in town and most of us have been there on plenty of occasions. That store in my city is never busy & the prices are not great but their movie selection has plenty of cheap oddities and sometimes a decent deal. I could carp about how the lady at the checkout needed help with the giftcard I got but I don't want to be rude.
Thursday, I ended up in Orlando for something and after I was done with that, I returned to the place known as BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse. I hadn't been there in awhile and they do make good food... and drink. Friday, I returned to Orlando for something else and after that was Star Wars: The Last Jedi. I have not delved into the Extended Universe of the franchise so I am not a superfan but the original trilogy I saw often and loved as a kid... and still do. The prequels, those were pretty bad. I rate The Force Awakens and Rogue One high, despite both being flawed. I was hoping I would love this too, even after hearing that some hated the film. I knew it was “different” from the usual Star Wars so what I saw wasn't quite so unexpected. Regrettably, my opinion is not hatred; “disappointment” is a better term.
I'll avoid any spoiler talk from those that haven't seen it yet; I'll be real vague. I had problems with the story; there were some plot holes and stupid moments but what ruined things for me was an increase of a certain element which was present in the other movies but was way stronger and more prevalent here; not only was it not needed at all, it was not even done that well. Most people had issues with other things but that was what put a bad taste in my mouth. At least the sold out screening I was at turned out fine and did not have the unforgettable moment of the first time I saw The Force Awakens: some guy had what I presume was a seizure during the opening crawl and as the movie was stopped, he freaked the F out as they tried to get him on the stretcher and out in an ambulance. What an awkward 10 to 15 minutes that was. Anyhow, if you want more details about it, if you so desire you can look at this review I did at: https://letterboxd.com/blairrussell/film/star-wars-the-last-jedi/
Saturday I thought about doing something but instead I stayed home and did nothing. Friday was a poor day even before I saw The Last Jedi (as typical, it was people acting stupid which was a big reason why) and I felt real tired so relaxing was the better alternative. In addition, traffic this month has been absolutely brutal. I've seen the aftermath of two wrecks and there have been many who have been driving recklessly. Sunday, all I did was go to Target and that went as expected. From the last time, I never mentioned that I did not see the Chicago Bears actually dominate an opponent (in recent years this is a rare phenomenon) as they dismantled the Cincinnati Bengals. Nor did I watch their game this past weekend when they were their usual selves and lost to the Detroit Lions.
The rest of the year I don't have much planned aside from the trip out of state. When I am back two weeks from now hopefully I'll only have good things to discuss.
Monday, December 18, 2017
Monday, December 11, 2017
Glory Days Grill, Gourmet Soda & My (Non) Relative Kurt
The preceding week only had a few highlights but that's alright. Monday the 4th was dull so I'll skip ahead to Tuesday the 5th. I went to the local Walmart to pick up a few random items. That went as expected so let me get to Wednesday. I hadn't been to the Lakeside Village outdoor mall in Lakeland in at least half a year, so that's where I went. I went to a few stores and purchased a few items (such as gourmet soda & candy from the Rocket Fizz store) and I then ate at a sports bar in the area I had never been to before: Glory Days Grill. They are mainly a Mid-Atlantic chain which does have a few locations in Florida. They are a standard sports bar, which worked for me as the place was fine and I wish I would have tried them out sooner.
Thursday through Saturday I did nothing at all. That was OK to me because I knew I would be going out on Sunday, despite what is considered by Florida standards to be chilly weather. Plus, I did not have to deal with Florida traffic, which is as terrible as ever. I'll mention one thing that exemplifies my point: on Wednesday I was headed to Lakeland and it required being on some rural roads. I was at the last stoplight I would be seeing for awhile and it's a typical 2 land road. Suddenly, a pickup is honking its horn repeatedly as it passes in the other lane and goes right through the red light. I doubt it was done because he had to attend to a serious emergency (and I don't mean “he has to sit on his toilet at home”) and instead I'll presume something like “he was high on meth at the time”; you can see why more and more I enjoy staying at home.
Anyhow, what I did on Sunday was make a pretty rare weekend appearance at a theme park. I went to Epcot to see what they do each holiday season, which is a Candlelight Processional. A celebrity narrator tells the story about the birth of Christ as there are lights and an ever-changing backdrop... oh and also a choir and orchestra. A few years ago I saw Sigourney Weaver do it and that was pretty awesome, but I could not turn down the chance to see Kurt Russell (no relation, unfortunately) as the narrator. While at Epcot I noticed they had some booths set up selling holiday-related food & drink; yes I did have some of that, which did include alcohol. Kurt as the narrator was great, but the orchestra and choir they have each year is always great. Thus, I had no problem with being in what was chilly weather by Central Florida standards.
When I return next Monday, it won't just be Star Wars: The Last Jedi that I'll be talking about (don't worry, no spoilers), but it will be a big topic of discussion.
Thursday through Saturday I did nothing at all. That was OK to me because I knew I would be going out on Sunday, despite what is considered by Florida standards to be chilly weather. Plus, I did not have to deal with Florida traffic, which is as terrible as ever. I'll mention one thing that exemplifies my point: on Wednesday I was headed to Lakeland and it required being on some rural roads. I was at the last stoplight I would be seeing for awhile and it's a typical 2 land road. Suddenly, a pickup is honking its horn repeatedly as it passes in the other lane and goes right through the red light. I doubt it was done because he had to attend to a serious emergency (and I don't mean “he has to sit on his toilet at home”) and instead I'll presume something like “he was high on meth at the time”; you can see why more and more I enjoy staying at home.
Anyhow, what I did on Sunday was make a pretty rare weekend appearance at a theme park. I went to Epcot to see what they do each holiday season, which is a Candlelight Processional. A celebrity narrator tells the story about the birth of Christ as there are lights and an ever-changing backdrop... oh and also a choir and orchestra. A few years ago I saw Sigourney Weaver do it and that was pretty awesome, but I could not turn down the chance to see Kurt Russell (no relation, unfortunately) as the narrator. While at Epcot I noticed they had some booths set up selling holiday-related food & drink; yes I did have some of that, which did include alcohol. Kurt as the narrator was great, but the orchestra and choir they have each year is always great. Thus, I had no problem with being in what was chilly weather by Central Florida standards.
When I return next Monday, it won't just be Star Wars: The Last Jedi that I'll be talking about (don't worry, no spoilers), but it will be a big topic of discussion.
Monday, December 4, 2017
Titanic, Coco, Stargazers, Supermoons & Annoying Snowmen
Here's what I've done in the preceding week. Monday and Tuesday I did nothing at all, which suited me fine. The only thing of note is something that happened with UPS which has happened to some people I know. UPS claimed they tried to make a delivery but were unsuccessful because no one was home... which was poppycock. Several items were ordered from Amazon, including something for a parent. The parent was not happy about this, even when the package finally was delivered the next evening.
Wednesday, I went and saw Coco. Shamefully, I haven't seen all of Pixar's movies, not by any means. I have no good explanation as all three Toy Story flicks and they are very good or better. At least I saw Coco and that is also very good; the 21 minute Frozen short that played beforehand that was originally made for television, not so much. The hatred many have for that snowman Olaf suddenly became obvious... I saw it at the new Dolby Cinema they have at AMC's Disney Springs location. Like the one in Altamonte Springs, it is very impressive both in sound and picture quality. When you have two laser projectors working in tandem, the image is worth paying the extra money for a ticket.
Thursday, I did nothing of note but Friday was another interesting day; I went to the other Dolby Cinema at AMC (this one in Altamonte Springs) to see Titanic, which received a special release this week on only those screens. I know people will be shocked but I had never seen it before, despite being old enough at the time where I could have gone to seen it on the back screen back in December of 1997. I just wasn't interested as I preferred my James Cameron movies to be something like The Terminator, T2, or Aliens. 20 years later I realized this was the best time for me to watch. As for the film, the story isn't exactly original and I did roll my eyes at times at the cliches, the two leads were great on their own & w/ each other and the ship sinking was quite memorable, so it's not a movie I regret checking out, even if it was over 3 hours long. By the way, for some reason on Twitter my comments about Titanic got some traction, mainly from random people I did not know. Odd, but I appreciated the attention nonetheless.
Saturday night, I returned to Disney Springs. I walked around and sat at some places to see parts of the big college football games on TV. As I've mentioned before, the Cask & Larder Working Man's Porter (available at The Polite Pig) is well worth getting if you like the style. Also, for the first time I went in Stargazers, the open-air bar attached to Planet Hollywood. It's standard for an open-air bar at Disney. Some dumb people were around Disney Springs on this night but again that is standard. Sunday... you got it, I did not watch the Chicago Bears game. Even though they were playing another terrible team in the San Francisco 49ers I expected the Bears to lose in an atrocious game and well, I heard it was poor and Chicago did in fact lose. I am glad I did not waste my time. At least last night I got to see the Supermoon, which was an impressive sight.
When I return a week from today, I will have a few interesting things to discuss.
Wednesday, I went and saw Coco. Shamefully, I haven't seen all of Pixar's movies, not by any means. I have no good explanation as all three Toy Story flicks and they are very good or better. At least I saw Coco and that is also very good; the 21 minute Frozen short that played beforehand that was originally made for television, not so much. The hatred many have for that snowman Olaf suddenly became obvious... I saw it at the new Dolby Cinema they have at AMC's Disney Springs location. Like the one in Altamonte Springs, it is very impressive both in sound and picture quality. When you have two laser projectors working in tandem, the image is worth paying the extra money for a ticket.
Thursday, I did nothing of note but Friday was another interesting day; I went to the other Dolby Cinema at AMC (this one in Altamonte Springs) to see Titanic, which received a special release this week on only those screens. I know people will be shocked but I had never seen it before, despite being old enough at the time where I could have gone to seen it on the back screen back in December of 1997. I just wasn't interested as I preferred my James Cameron movies to be something like The Terminator, T2, or Aliens. 20 years later I realized this was the best time for me to watch. As for the film, the story isn't exactly original and I did roll my eyes at times at the cliches, the two leads were great on their own & w/ each other and the ship sinking was quite memorable, so it's not a movie I regret checking out, even if it was over 3 hours long. By the way, for some reason on Twitter my comments about Titanic got some traction, mainly from random people I did not know. Odd, but I appreciated the attention nonetheless.
Saturday night, I returned to Disney Springs. I walked around and sat at some places to see parts of the big college football games on TV. As I've mentioned before, the Cask & Larder Working Man's Porter (available at The Polite Pig) is well worth getting if you like the style. Also, for the first time I went in Stargazers, the open-air bar attached to Planet Hollywood. It's standard for an open-air bar at Disney. Some dumb people were around Disney Springs on this night but again that is standard. Sunday... you got it, I did not watch the Chicago Bears game. Even though they were playing another terrible team in the San Francisco 49ers I expected the Bears to lose in an atrocious game and well, I heard it was poor and Chicago did in fact lose. I am glad I did not waste my time. At least last night I got to see the Supermoon, which was an impressive sight.
When I return a week from today, I will have a few interesting things to discuss.
Monday, November 27, 2017
Auto Shows, Planet Rock, The Message, & College Basketball Tournaments
Thank heavens this past week was less chaotic and stressful than the one I had preceding this. Monday the only thing I did was go to Walgreens to pick up some random items, and Tuesday was boring. Wednesday evening, I went to CityWalk at Universal Studios as I hadn't been there in a few months. Traffic was pretty rough there and back, but then again that has seemingly been the case for all of November. CityWalk was largely the same as usual; I went to the NBC Sports Grill & Brew as I liked it there. I had a drink... or two as I watched random sports on TV. The next time I am there I'll get something to eat, likely as a late dinner.
Thanksgiving, that went fine; as always I have the big meal with some family so I can't complain. Friday, I did my typical day after Thanksgiving tradition. No, I don't experience the hoards of lunatics who are trying to score a deal on Black Friday; instead I attend the Central Florida International Auto Show at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando. Each year, many different manufacturers bring many if not all of their models on display, plenty of which you can look at up close, as in enter the vehicles to sit in them. It's nice seeing what's there, including new and refreshed models. It's always nice seeing such sweet rides as a Mustang and a Corvette right in front of you. The best thing you could see so close (but not enter) was two different Aston Martin DB11's, new models and as it's Aston Martin, they looked incredible. Of course you had ogres paw all over it when you weren't supposed to and seeing greasy handprints all over such beautiful quarter of a million dollar cars was disheartening. At least they had the Acura NSX there for everyone to sit in. As it's a snazzy vehicle and the original NSX from the past is a cult favorite, no surprise that got a lot of attention. In person, it made me wish I had an extra $200,000 or so in spare change so I could own one.
Saturday I did nothing after that tiring Friday, but Sunday I went somewhere for the first time. No, it was not to see the Chicago Bears play. I had no reason to see them as they were against the best team in the NFL in the Philadelphia Eagles. From what I heard, Chicago looked even worse than usual as they lost 31-3. Instead, I returned to Disney. Each year Walt Disney World holds a 8 team college basketball tournament on its grounds at what is known now as the ESPN Wide World of Sports area, which is a large complex that holds a plentiful amount of amateur events involving both kids and adults. They have an intimate arena I hadn't been in before but it holds a few thousand people, and that is where the former Old Spice Classic (now Advocare Invitational) is held. I saw a pair of games: the 7th place game then the championship.
The first was Marist vs. Oregon State. Oregon State won by 19 points and it was an acceptable-enough contest. Business definitely picked up for Missouri vs. West Virginia. The fans who were there made plenty of noise; of course there were some cretins around (including one tool who wasn't too far from me, albeit for only the first half) but at a sporting event I expect to run into those drama queens so I was prepared for it. Then again, the event organizers not only had a condescending windbag act like a total D-bag a few times as he “interviewed” fans but at halftime of the second game there were a pair of WHITE RAPPERS and that was something I did not need to hear. Even then, I was glad I went to this event. The championship game was pretty exciting as West Virginia was losing big before making an improbable comeback and winning 83-79.
One last thing: I did hear some actual worthwhile music in the past week. At the auto show they had an area devoted to Jeeps driving around an obstacle course and I'll give props to the people that decided to associate Jeep with 70's and 80's R&B (and even Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five's The Message) as I thought that was dope. On the way home I was at a stoplight and someone was bumping.. the 80's rap song Planet Rock, which I also approved of. At the games they played some wacky remixes, including a throbbing dance version of... the Tetris theme!
I'll return a week from today and I know I'll have a few things to discuss.
Thanksgiving, that went fine; as always I have the big meal with some family so I can't complain. Friday, I did my typical day after Thanksgiving tradition. No, I don't experience the hoards of lunatics who are trying to score a deal on Black Friday; instead I attend the Central Florida International Auto Show at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando. Each year, many different manufacturers bring many if not all of their models on display, plenty of which you can look at up close, as in enter the vehicles to sit in them. It's nice seeing what's there, including new and refreshed models. It's always nice seeing such sweet rides as a Mustang and a Corvette right in front of you. The best thing you could see so close (but not enter) was two different Aston Martin DB11's, new models and as it's Aston Martin, they looked incredible. Of course you had ogres paw all over it when you weren't supposed to and seeing greasy handprints all over such beautiful quarter of a million dollar cars was disheartening. At least they had the Acura NSX there for everyone to sit in. As it's a snazzy vehicle and the original NSX from the past is a cult favorite, no surprise that got a lot of attention. In person, it made me wish I had an extra $200,000 or so in spare change so I could own one.
Saturday I did nothing after that tiring Friday, but Sunday I went somewhere for the first time. No, it was not to see the Chicago Bears play. I had no reason to see them as they were against the best team in the NFL in the Philadelphia Eagles. From what I heard, Chicago looked even worse than usual as they lost 31-3. Instead, I returned to Disney. Each year Walt Disney World holds a 8 team college basketball tournament on its grounds at what is known now as the ESPN Wide World of Sports area, which is a large complex that holds a plentiful amount of amateur events involving both kids and adults. They have an intimate arena I hadn't been in before but it holds a few thousand people, and that is where the former Old Spice Classic (now Advocare Invitational) is held. I saw a pair of games: the 7th place game then the championship.
The first was Marist vs. Oregon State. Oregon State won by 19 points and it was an acceptable-enough contest. Business definitely picked up for Missouri vs. West Virginia. The fans who were there made plenty of noise; of course there were some cretins around (including one tool who wasn't too far from me, albeit for only the first half) but at a sporting event I expect to run into those drama queens so I was prepared for it. Then again, the event organizers not only had a condescending windbag act like a total D-bag a few times as he “interviewed” fans but at halftime of the second game there were a pair of WHITE RAPPERS and that was something I did not need to hear. Even then, I was glad I went to this event. The championship game was pretty exciting as West Virginia was losing big before making an improbable comeback and winning 83-79.
One last thing: I did hear some actual worthwhile music in the past week. At the auto show they had an area devoted to Jeeps driving around an obstacle course and I'll give props to the people that decided to associate Jeep with 70's and 80's R&B (and even Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five's The Message) as I thought that was dope. On the way home I was at a stoplight and someone was bumping.. the 80's rap song Planet Rock, which I also approved of. At the games they played some wacky remixes, including a throbbing dance version of... the Tetris theme!
I'll return a week from today and I know I'll have a few things to discuss.
Monday, November 20, 2017
The One Time I Had To Call Out Several Entities
What an up and down week I had. Monday the 13th I did nothing of note, but Tuesday was a different story. I went to a Walmart to get a few items. That went fine, although even a simple trip like that resulted in me dealing with rather horrid drivers on the road... including one guy that obviously wasn't paying attention and almost crashed! Wednesday, I went with someone to a restaurant; I decided on Carrabba's as I hadn't been there in months. The place was surprisingly busy but that is OK, and we both enjoyed our food.
Thursday, that was not a good day; it started off on a bad note. It was a bunch of little things... as I've said before, there are plenty of people in Florida who are just incompetent and can't do their job correctly. There was more than one case of that on this day, and I was unhappy about that. I ended up in Orlando for something. After that I went to Disney Springs again, which wasn't the plan but that is OK. For the second time I ate at the new version of Planet Hollywood and that went fine as I also had a strawberry milkshake and that was a good choice. I then returned to that outlet mall I was at the week before. I did not purchase anything this time but at least I went into some stores I did not go in the first time so it was not a total loss.
Friday and Saturday... sadly they were also poor days, and that is quite unfortunate as there were pretty good moments involving the playing of games. I'll get to the positives after I mention all the negatives surrounding Free Play Florida, an event I've attended since they started doing them a few years ago. You pay a flat fee and you get to play a bunch of old pinball tables and arcade machines. I never have liked the location it is held at (DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Orlando at Sea World) for a number of reasons, some of which I've mentioned before. Having to pay for parking is always an issue, and as I don't care for most of the food options there... Friday I got mad because I ate at one of their bars. The food was fine but they were woefully understaffed. Idiots, it's not like this is the first FPF there so you had no idea how busy it'd be! Then again, the person working the bar wasn't too good at their job, to be frank. I tipped appropriately.
Saturday, what a day, and what a statement I was told. I paid for a weekend pass (even though I was only going to be there two of the three days) so I could help them out a tiny bit. Well, I had done that before and via a lanyard I was given, there was the proof I paid for the weekend pass. This year, on Friday I was given a wristband but that was fine with me; I'd just get another one on the other day I was there. Note that it is not something like Disney's Magic Band; rather, it's one of those cheap wristbands you have to wear if you go to, say, a club in downtown Orlando. Now, note that this year I had to pay SEVENTY dollars for the pass (no lie), so I was not too happy when I went to get a new wristband and the people there were absolutely indignant I still did not have Friday's wristband on.
Yes, apparently I wasn't supposed to use logic there and instead I was supposed to keep it on at all times! I was in disbelief, so much so that I did not tell them off as I really should have. I'd love to hear those bozos try to explain to me how I was supposed to take a shower with that on. I know I couldn't have been the only one either... I was irate at how stupid the whole situation was; I was lucky I was even allowed in. Between that and parking... in the past, if you attended the event you told the stooge at the gate this, and after paying 5 bucks you were allowed in. This year, no one was there on Friday and it was free. No one was there on Saturday when I arrived so I got a pass. On the way out a stooge was there and I stuck it into the machine to pay for it, and the ticket did not work. Not even the stooge could get it to work so I was allowed to leave without paying a cent. Good thing, too; I have no idea what I actually had to pay, except it could have been as much as EIGHTEEN dollars. I hope you can see with all that went down on Saturday, why as of now I plan on never going to Free Play Florida or that rotten hotel ever again.
All that is a shame, as even with the big issues and several little ones, I had fun playing the random pinball tables and some arcade ones. It's always different machines so that was nice. This year, there were some giant-sized arcade machines; I played a 1983 vector graphics version of Star Wars; it was cool. Via a conversation I overheard on Friday night while eating dinner, some of the 70's tables were quite rare, such as Strange World, Space Lab and Cybernaut. Even with the crowds it was fun, so Thursday through Saturday being three bad days in a row was quite unfortunate and I wish the days overall would have been solid.
Sunday, I paid no attention to the Bears game. I figured they'd lose to the Detroit Lions and I was correct. They're too inept, especially when it comes to coaching. As I did nothing on Sunday, the day went fine. When I return next week, knock on wood I won't have to deal with such shocking stupidity and incompetence; I do have some plans set in stone and barring catastrophe that won't let me down.
Thursday, that was not a good day; it started off on a bad note. It was a bunch of little things... as I've said before, there are plenty of people in Florida who are just incompetent and can't do their job correctly. There was more than one case of that on this day, and I was unhappy about that. I ended up in Orlando for something. After that I went to Disney Springs again, which wasn't the plan but that is OK. For the second time I ate at the new version of Planet Hollywood and that went fine as I also had a strawberry milkshake and that was a good choice. I then returned to that outlet mall I was at the week before. I did not purchase anything this time but at least I went into some stores I did not go in the first time so it was not a total loss.
Friday and Saturday... sadly they were also poor days, and that is quite unfortunate as there were pretty good moments involving the playing of games. I'll get to the positives after I mention all the negatives surrounding Free Play Florida, an event I've attended since they started doing them a few years ago. You pay a flat fee and you get to play a bunch of old pinball tables and arcade machines. I never have liked the location it is held at (DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Orlando at Sea World) for a number of reasons, some of which I've mentioned before. Having to pay for parking is always an issue, and as I don't care for most of the food options there... Friday I got mad because I ate at one of their bars. The food was fine but they were woefully understaffed. Idiots, it's not like this is the first FPF there so you had no idea how busy it'd be! Then again, the person working the bar wasn't too good at their job, to be frank. I tipped appropriately.
Saturday, what a day, and what a statement I was told. I paid for a weekend pass (even though I was only going to be there two of the three days) so I could help them out a tiny bit. Well, I had done that before and via a lanyard I was given, there was the proof I paid for the weekend pass. This year, on Friday I was given a wristband but that was fine with me; I'd just get another one on the other day I was there. Note that it is not something like Disney's Magic Band; rather, it's one of those cheap wristbands you have to wear if you go to, say, a club in downtown Orlando. Now, note that this year I had to pay SEVENTY dollars for the pass (no lie), so I was not too happy when I went to get a new wristband and the people there were absolutely indignant I still did not have Friday's wristband on.
Yes, apparently I wasn't supposed to use logic there and instead I was supposed to keep it on at all times! I was in disbelief, so much so that I did not tell them off as I really should have. I'd love to hear those bozos try to explain to me how I was supposed to take a shower with that on. I know I couldn't have been the only one either... I was irate at how stupid the whole situation was; I was lucky I was even allowed in. Between that and parking... in the past, if you attended the event you told the stooge at the gate this, and after paying 5 bucks you were allowed in. This year, no one was there on Friday and it was free. No one was there on Saturday when I arrived so I got a pass. On the way out a stooge was there and I stuck it into the machine to pay for it, and the ticket did not work. Not even the stooge could get it to work so I was allowed to leave without paying a cent. Good thing, too; I have no idea what I actually had to pay, except it could have been as much as EIGHTEEN dollars. I hope you can see with all that went down on Saturday, why as of now I plan on never going to Free Play Florida or that rotten hotel ever again.
All that is a shame, as even with the big issues and several little ones, I had fun playing the random pinball tables and some arcade ones. It's always different machines so that was nice. This year, there were some giant-sized arcade machines; I played a 1983 vector graphics version of Star Wars; it was cool. Via a conversation I overheard on Friday night while eating dinner, some of the 70's tables were quite rare, such as Strange World, Space Lab and Cybernaut. Even with the crowds it was fun, so Thursday through Saturday being three bad days in a row was quite unfortunate and I wish the days overall would have been solid.
Sunday, I paid no attention to the Bears game. I figured they'd lose to the Detroit Lions and I was correct. They're too inept, especially when it comes to coaching. As I did nothing on Sunday, the day went fine. When I return next week, knock on wood I won't have to deal with such shocking stupidity and incompetence; I do have some plans set in stone and barring catastrophe that won't let me down.
Monday, November 13, 2017
Murder on the Orient Express, Bears Football & Other Mysteries
A week of ups and downs, this was. Monday night the 6th, I went with someone to the local Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant. Wednesday I did nothing of note but Tuesday I went to a place for the first time. First I stopped at Disney Springs for a bit and I was looking for something but it could not be found. While there I found out about that great baseball pitcher Roy Halladay dying in a plane crash. I was sad as I remember him pitching and heck, he was only a few years older than me. Anyhow, Orlando and the suburbs have a few giant open-air outlet malls; I went to one I hadn't visited before, as it isn't in the most convenient location for me. Well, I should go there more often; their lineup of stores isn't too different from the norm but I had a burrito at a random Chipotle clone-it was good-I had dessert and right before I left I purchased a healthy drink consisting of water, ice, and fresh squeezed orange & lemon juice. It was good. Oh, and the main thing I bought was a new pair of jeans.
Thursday, I went and saw Murder on the Orient Express. The previous night I saw the 1974 version starring Albert Finney; it wasn't subtle but still, it was very good. This new version, it isn't any better than fine, although I heard that was the general opinion even before I viewed it. As for that day... it was not great overall. I won't go into too many details, except that it was such things as hellacious traffic and problems at the cineplex I went to. Let's see, there was 3 cop cars outside afterwards interviewing a few people about something (thank goodness it wasn't a situation where I had to stick around, but I wish I knew what it was about) and during the screening, there were issues with the trailers... there was a few minute delay before they started and some things played twice.
I guess I shouldn't complain since there was only a minor hiccup during the film itself and otherwise it played fine but as there are literally a few dozen different theatres in like a 75 mile radius of me (just 50 or so miles there's still plenty) there's no shortage of options for me to go before I ever think of frequenting them ever again. It wasn't all bad... beforehand I ate at a local eatery and the main highlight there was some garlic knots; it was a wise choice on my part.
Friday and Saturday I did nothing; Sunday I thought about going somewhere to see the Chicago Bears play against their hated rivals the Green Bay Packers; Green Bay's star quarterback is injured and the Packers had been bad since then, so while the game may be a travesty in terms of aesthetics, Chicago could actually win. Well, I got a poor night's sleep so I stayed in and tried to catch up on sleep. What I saw of the game, I would not have been happy if I had gone out to see it in full. The Bears lost because they did some really stupid things; I don't even feel like going into details. I'd say it's a mystery why Chicago is so disappointing, but really it's not. In the evening I did go to McDonald's to try their new buttermilk chicken tenders. I remember the days when they had regular chicken tenders for a short amount of time, and those were only alright. Well, so is this new good. I guess I am spoiled by such things as sit down restaurants and the local Florida chain PDQ.
I actually do have plans for the upcoming week so when I return I should have more engrossing topics to discuss than fast food and lousy movie theatres.
Thursday, I went and saw Murder on the Orient Express. The previous night I saw the 1974 version starring Albert Finney; it wasn't subtle but still, it was very good. This new version, it isn't any better than fine, although I heard that was the general opinion even before I viewed it. As for that day... it was not great overall. I won't go into too many details, except that it was such things as hellacious traffic and problems at the cineplex I went to. Let's see, there was 3 cop cars outside afterwards interviewing a few people about something (thank goodness it wasn't a situation where I had to stick around, but I wish I knew what it was about) and during the screening, there were issues with the trailers... there was a few minute delay before they started and some things played twice.
I guess I shouldn't complain since there was only a minor hiccup during the film itself and otherwise it played fine but as there are literally a few dozen different theatres in like a 75 mile radius of me (just 50 or so miles there's still plenty) there's no shortage of options for me to go before I ever think of frequenting them ever again. It wasn't all bad... beforehand I ate at a local eatery and the main highlight there was some garlic knots; it was a wise choice on my part.
Friday and Saturday I did nothing; Sunday I thought about going somewhere to see the Chicago Bears play against their hated rivals the Green Bay Packers; Green Bay's star quarterback is injured and the Packers had been bad since then, so while the game may be a travesty in terms of aesthetics, Chicago could actually win. Well, I got a poor night's sleep so I stayed in and tried to catch up on sleep. What I saw of the game, I would not have been happy if I had gone out to see it in full. The Bears lost because they did some really stupid things; I don't even feel like going into details. I'd say it's a mystery why Chicago is so disappointing, but really it's not. In the evening I did go to McDonald's to try their new buttermilk chicken tenders. I remember the days when they had regular chicken tenders for a short amount of time, and those were only alright. Well, so is this new good. I guess I am spoiled by such things as sit down restaurants and the local Florida chain PDQ.
I actually do have plans for the upcoming week so when I return I should have more engrossing topics to discuss than fast food and lousy movie theatres.
Monday, November 6, 2017
The World Series, More Stranger Things & Tropickles
Would you believe that at Walmart they sell pickles that are combined with... FRUIT PUNCH? I swear this is true. Personally, it sounds so bizarre, and yet I can't imagine it tasting any good. Thus, don't expect me to ever have one.
The preceding week had some interesting moments. Monday the 30th was me returning to Epcot to enjoy the Food & Wine Festival once again. I was hoping to return there sooner but other things got in the way so it took until this day. It was a cool Florida day-relatively speaking-so I was hoping the place would be sparsely attended... I was wrong. It was quite busy. That is OK as I still walked around, had some food & drink, and I discovered that a segment of the population still loves Hanson; yes, they are still around and they were one of the retro acts who played the festival. Halloween, I did nothing, and that was the plan. I watched TV and relaxed.
Wednesday, I did go somewhere to see Game 7 of the World Series. I was at a World of Beer, but not the one in town; it would close for the night before the game was finished. Instead, I was at another one. I had a late dinner and watched the game as I had a few drinks. That experience went fine. The contest wasn't as competitive as expected... that is life. I did not have a rooting interest in who would win the series. It'd be nice for Houston to win as for awhile there their team was really bad, and then there's the whole Hurricane Harvey thing. But the Los Angeles Dodgers had a great season, hadn't been to a World Series in almost 30 years and I know someone who is a huge fan of the team. Well, Houston ended up winning.
Thursday and Friday were boring days but Saturday, I went to a few stores in town. At Target I helped an elderly lady and gave her a cart; she asked for one. I also had a late lunch there. At Dollar General I looked for some Jolt Cola (as that's the only place which is selling it) and they did not have any but I got some other items instead. Sunday I stayed in; the Bears did not play this week so let me move onto one last thing:
I finished watching the second season of Stranger Things. The first season I did not love but I still thought it was pretty good. This second season, it was more of the same. I could nitpick about various things and yet it was pretty good. There was one episode (or chapter as the show calls it) which a lot of people hated; me, I say it did not turn out as well as it should have. But, the last two chapters were great and I am glad I have now seen both seasons. Most of the characters are quite enjoyable and I am relieved they chose the right actors for those parts, especially the little kid leads.
I realize the preceding week I had was on the boring side. I should have more to discuss when I return a week from today.
The preceding week had some interesting moments. Monday the 30th was me returning to Epcot to enjoy the Food & Wine Festival once again. I was hoping to return there sooner but other things got in the way so it took until this day. It was a cool Florida day-relatively speaking-so I was hoping the place would be sparsely attended... I was wrong. It was quite busy. That is OK as I still walked around, had some food & drink, and I discovered that a segment of the population still loves Hanson; yes, they are still around and they were one of the retro acts who played the festival. Halloween, I did nothing, and that was the plan. I watched TV and relaxed.
Wednesday, I did go somewhere to see Game 7 of the World Series. I was at a World of Beer, but not the one in town; it would close for the night before the game was finished. Instead, I was at another one. I had a late dinner and watched the game as I had a few drinks. That experience went fine. The contest wasn't as competitive as expected... that is life. I did not have a rooting interest in who would win the series. It'd be nice for Houston to win as for awhile there their team was really bad, and then there's the whole Hurricane Harvey thing. But the Los Angeles Dodgers had a great season, hadn't been to a World Series in almost 30 years and I know someone who is a huge fan of the team. Well, Houston ended up winning.
Thursday and Friday were boring days but Saturday, I went to a few stores in town. At Target I helped an elderly lady and gave her a cart; she asked for one. I also had a late lunch there. At Dollar General I looked for some Jolt Cola (as that's the only place which is selling it) and they did not have any but I got some other items instead. Sunday I stayed in; the Bears did not play this week so let me move onto one last thing:
I finished watching the second season of Stranger Things. The first season I did not love but I still thought it was pretty good. This second season, it was more of the same. I could nitpick about various things and yet it was pretty good. There was one episode (or chapter as the show calls it) which a lot of people hated; me, I say it did not turn out as well as it should have. But, the last two chapters were great and I am glad I have now seen both seasons. Most of the characters are quite enjoyable and I am relieved they chose the right actors for those parts, especially the little kid leads.
I realize the preceding week I had was on the boring side. I should have more to discuss when I return a week from today.
Monday, October 30, 2017
The Snowman, Stranger Things, Toasted, & Mountain Dew Game Fuel
Thank heavens this past week was better for me than the week before that. Monday the 23rd, I went to the local cineplex to see The Snowman, despite all the incredibly bad buzz I heard about it. The trailers were fine... well, the movie is as bad as you heard. 10 to 15% of the script was supposed to be filmed but wasn't; then there was the story being lame and unexciting, meaning even if everything was filmed, this would still not be good but what I saw was terrible in a mesmerizing way, with many baffling moments. I can't believe something with such talent and based on a book character known worldwide would turn out to be a dumpster fire.
Tuesday I had to make another airport run. It was Orlando International again and again, there was no shortage of cretins in the area I had to deal with behind the wheel. Before that I ate at a local place I only stumbled upon via Google Maps when I was hoping to find a different place to try out. It was called Toasted. I wish it would have been toasty warm in there but instead I felt like I was in a walk-in freezer. Things like that make me not want to come back there... a shame, as the burger & fries I had were good. Nothing happened on Wednesday so let me mention what I watched from the 22nd to the 24th: Stranger Things. Believe it or not, despite several people asking me to, I just now watched the series. It was not something I loved like many do... I can still say it's pretty good, with an interesting story and cool characters. I wish it wouldn't have had some cliché moments but I am nitpicking. Plus, the 80's setting of course I found to be enjoyable.
Thursday, I was at a Target to get a random item, which I got... along with the return of the limited edition Mountain Dew Game Fuel; it's now a yearly tradition for there to be two special flavors for a limited time and it's connected to a popular videogame. This time it's Tropical Smash and Arctic Burst; both are good. I also stopped at an Aldi's to pick up another random item. Friday... oh what a day Friday was. I had to go to the dentist to get some work done on my teeth. It was the sort of thing which took time. They discovered the nearby tooth needed a new filling so that was done also. It took some time to get that filling right so I was there for a long period of time. Being in the chair for so long wasn't ideal, to say the least. That evening, I had to go to the high-end Mall at Millenia in Orlando, because of reasons. That task was taken care of and besides walking around and looking at a few items in a few stores (without buying), I purchased something unusual, which was from Mrs. Fields in the food court: a chocolate chip cookie smoothie. It was good, thankfully.
As I had the hectic Friday and was exhausted on Friday night, I relaxed both Saturday & Sunday and did nothing at all. As for the Chicago Bears... there's a lot I could say but considering that a Chicago player (Zach Miller) suffered such a severe leg injury an artery was torn and there were fears about him losing his leg... him ever playing again is minor in comparison. I did not see the game in full and I am glad I did not; the Bears lost to the New Orleans Saints. I have watched at least parts of all the World Series games and both games 2 and 5 (the one last night) were quite crazy.
When I return a week from today, I do know I'll talk about the new season of Stranger Things; I am slowly but surely working my way through that and I'll finish it by then.
Tuesday I had to make another airport run. It was Orlando International again and again, there was no shortage of cretins in the area I had to deal with behind the wheel. Before that I ate at a local place I only stumbled upon via Google Maps when I was hoping to find a different place to try out. It was called Toasted. I wish it would have been toasty warm in there but instead I felt like I was in a walk-in freezer. Things like that make me not want to come back there... a shame, as the burger & fries I had were good. Nothing happened on Wednesday so let me mention what I watched from the 22nd to the 24th: Stranger Things. Believe it or not, despite several people asking me to, I just now watched the series. It was not something I loved like many do... I can still say it's pretty good, with an interesting story and cool characters. I wish it wouldn't have had some cliché moments but I am nitpicking. Plus, the 80's setting of course I found to be enjoyable.
Thursday, I was at a Target to get a random item, which I got... along with the return of the limited edition Mountain Dew Game Fuel; it's now a yearly tradition for there to be two special flavors for a limited time and it's connected to a popular videogame. This time it's Tropical Smash and Arctic Burst; both are good. I also stopped at an Aldi's to pick up another random item. Friday... oh what a day Friday was. I had to go to the dentist to get some work done on my teeth. It was the sort of thing which took time. They discovered the nearby tooth needed a new filling so that was done also. It took some time to get that filling right so I was there for a long period of time. Being in the chair for so long wasn't ideal, to say the least. That evening, I had to go to the high-end Mall at Millenia in Orlando, because of reasons. That task was taken care of and besides walking around and looking at a few items in a few stores (without buying), I purchased something unusual, which was from Mrs. Fields in the food court: a chocolate chip cookie smoothie. It was good, thankfully.
As I had the hectic Friday and was exhausted on Friday night, I relaxed both Saturday & Sunday and did nothing at all. As for the Chicago Bears... there's a lot I could say but considering that a Chicago player (Zach Miller) suffered such a severe leg injury an artery was torn and there were fears about him losing his leg... him ever playing again is minor in comparison. I did not see the game in full and I am glad I did not; the Bears lost to the New Orleans Saints. I have watched at least parts of all the World Series games and both games 2 and 5 (the one last night) were quite crazy.
When I return a week from today, I do know I'll talk about the new season of Stranger Things; I am slowly but surely working my way through that and I'll finish it by then.
Monday, October 23, 2017
Brass Tap, Mystery Oreos & A Very Melancholy Week
I hate to write something that will be a downer but I have to in this case. I alluded to it the last time I wrote... on Monday the 16th I found out that the night before, I lost my final grandparent. I had one who died before I was born and another who I only have a faint memory of as he passed away when I was a toddler; I am thankful that I had one grandfather and one grandmother who did not live that far away and thus I had the opportunity to see both on a frequent basis. The grandfather passed away in the fall of '09 and only a few months away from making it to 100 years old, my grandmother died. Those grandparents did love me and my siblings so losing them was and is upsetting. I am sure you can understand why I felt “blah” for much of the week and did not do too much, but I still did some things.
Monday through Wednesday, nothing of note happened except real early Wednesday morning I had to make another airport run. I was fine with that, even with it being at Orlando International Airport and the traffic there being busy, meaning plenty of rude behavior there; then again, I saw plenty of rude behavior on the roads outside of OIA; it was the usual buffoonery. On the way back, I ate at the prestigious restaurant chain known as... Waffle House. You can only imagine the denizens of that place in the wee hours of the morning. But I had no problems there and it was a small quick meal anyhow.
Thursday, I ended up in Orlando and after doing something, I stopped somewhere and it wasn't the original plan-yet I finally decided I should try out the Florida bar/restaurant chain known as the Brass Top. As they're all about craft beer, it's a given I would eventually end up there. That was a cool place; besides beverages I also had dinner, which was a personal sized pizza made with pretzel dough, which actually was good. Friday, it was not a good day. I won't go into why but at least I can still list a positive, as I got a haircut I really did need.
Saturday and Sunday, I won't say much about either. It was more “blah” for me and I'd rather not go into details as to why, except it was the usual story of the little things... I stayed home so I only saw parts of the Chicago Bears game against the Carolina Panthers. Once again I did not expect the Bears to win and well, I was once again incorrect. The score was Chicago 17, Carolina 3. The NFL this year is so unpredictable and I am not saying that in a good way; I've complained about the league enough as of late and this has already been too negative. Thus, I also won't complain how except for two big plays by one Bears player, the game sounded absolutely atrocious.
To mention two asides, the TV show LivePD returned recently and I was greatly amused when I found out that one of the counties they'd be following was Pasco County in Florida; that is just north of Tampa and I've been in there and through there many times before. No surprise there were plenty of interesting-looking and downright weird people already on there. I'd laugh... except that I also see characters like this closer to home, including at nearby Waffle Houses! Secondly, I did try the Mystery Oreo; a package was purchased. The first one I had, I thought it was a type of flavor; the second one, I figured out what it was. I will not spoil the mystery for those still waiting to try a cookie.
When I return a week from today... it being better than the week I just had is almost a given.
Monday through Wednesday, nothing of note happened except real early Wednesday morning I had to make another airport run. I was fine with that, even with it being at Orlando International Airport and the traffic there being busy, meaning plenty of rude behavior there; then again, I saw plenty of rude behavior on the roads outside of OIA; it was the usual buffoonery. On the way back, I ate at the prestigious restaurant chain known as... Waffle House. You can only imagine the denizens of that place in the wee hours of the morning. But I had no problems there and it was a small quick meal anyhow.
Thursday, I ended up in Orlando and after doing something, I stopped somewhere and it wasn't the original plan-yet I finally decided I should try out the Florida bar/restaurant chain known as the Brass Top. As they're all about craft beer, it's a given I would eventually end up there. That was a cool place; besides beverages I also had dinner, which was a personal sized pizza made with pretzel dough, which actually was good. Friday, it was not a good day. I won't go into why but at least I can still list a positive, as I got a haircut I really did need.
Saturday and Sunday, I won't say much about either. It was more “blah” for me and I'd rather not go into details as to why, except it was the usual story of the little things... I stayed home so I only saw parts of the Chicago Bears game against the Carolina Panthers. Once again I did not expect the Bears to win and well, I was once again incorrect. The score was Chicago 17, Carolina 3. The NFL this year is so unpredictable and I am not saying that in a good way; I've complained about the league enough as of late and this has already been too negative. Thus, I also won't complain how except for two big plays by one Bears player, the game sounded absolutely atrocious.
To mention two asides, the TV show LivePD returned recently and I was greatly amused when I found out that one of the counties they'd be following was Pasco County in Florida; that is just north of Tampa and I've been in there and through there many times before. No surprise there were plenty of interesting-looking and downright weird people already on there. I'd laugh... except that I also see characters like this closer to home, including at nearby Waffle Houses! Secondly, I did try the Mystery Oreo; a package was purchased. The first one I had, I thought it was a type of flavor; the second one, I figured out what it was. I will not spoil the mystery for those still waiting to try a cookie.
When I return a week from today... it being better than the week I just had is almost a given.
Monday, October 16, 2017
Dragon Breath, The Foreigner and Big Top & WOB SRQ PB&J Pale Ale
Now is not the time for it, but when I return a week from today I'll explain why today is a pretty blah day for me, to put it mildly. I don't mean to leave everyone on a cliffhanger... you'll find out what I am referring to in a week's time.
Monday the 9th, I was originally going to do something else. Circumstances dictated that I do something else instead. It's nothing to shed a tear about-the change in plans was for the better. I ended up at the Florida Mall. I walked around and saw that some new stores were open. The only items I purchased was a meal and something that was a one time only thing, but it was pretty wacky. There was a stand known as Dragon Breath and I saw what looked like large corn puffs in jars. That was put into a giant bowl and liquid nitrogen is poured on it. It creates quite the party trick: those are put into a cup and as you eat it with a pick, steam comes out of your mouth and nostrils. It was different, for sure. In the evening, I watched the Chicago Bears play. They did not play the day before as they were on Monday Night Football against the Minnesota Vikings. The Bears started their new rookie quarterback; they ended up losing but that's what I expected. The second half had some excitement, but the first half was among the worst football I've ever seen on any level; it was appallingly bad.
Tuesday I did nothing but Wednesday I ended up in Orlando. While it was not the original plan, I ate dinner at O'Charley's. They make good food and it's more location (at a busy intersection) than anything else which is why I don't frequent there more often. I had dinner... and a margarita. I rarely drink those but it was only a few bucks on this night. I even had dessert; I tell you, it was an excellent decision to have a small slice of frozen strawberry lemonade pie. Thursday, I went somewhere to see The Foreigner. It was nice seeing Jackie Chan on the big screen again. It wasn't so nice how the audience experience wasn't the greatest and once again I had to stare at some people as I left the auditorium at movie's end. Yes, it was the usual atrocious behavior. I'd love to do more than that to those ogres, but getting into an altercation like that wouldn't have turned out well for me. Especially in this case, where the perpetrators did not look like MIT graduates, to put it bluntly. Oh yeah, I should mention that The Foreigner was good; not great, but still good and I was entertained. It actually relates to the IRA; hopefully the “younger” people reading this remember the IRA. If not, that'll make me feel real old.
Friday the 13th, I did watch a Jason Voorhees movie (I've seen them all) and it happened to be the silly 8th one where it was advertised as him being in Manhattan but that's only the final act. In the evening I went and picked someone up from the airport. It was the one in Sanford so on the way there I killed time at a World of Beer. One of the drinks I had was a ::takes a deep breath:: Big Top & WOB SRQ PB&J Pale Ale, which is a very long name for a brew made by Big Top Brewing Company out of Sarasota. It has peanut butter and strawberry flavor, which sounds odd but it was good. Despite it being a rainy night, I had no issue when it came to picking up that person and bringing them to their destination.
The weekend, I did nothing. The Bears played again but I decided not to go anywhere to see the game in full as I expected them to lose to the Baltimore Ravens. Well, the Bears were inept but Baltimore was even worse so somehow Chicago won in overtime. The way the Bears almost blew the game was atrocious... I mean, even by their standards. At least it's a win.
Monday the 9th, I was originally going to do something else. Circumstances dictated that I do something else instead. It's nothing to shed a tear about-the change in plans was for the better. I ended up at the Florida Mall. I walked around and saw that some new stores were open. The only items I purchased was a meal and something that was a one time only thing, but it was pretty wacky. There was a stand known as Dragon Breath and I saw what looked like large corn puffs in jars. That was put into a giant bowl and liquid nitrogen is poured on it. It creates quite the party trick: those are put into a cup and as you eat it with a pick, steam comes out of your mouth and nostrils. It was different, for sure. In the evening, I watched the Chicago Bears play. They did not play the day before as they were on Monday Night Football against the Minnesota Vikings. The Bears started their new rookie quarterback; they ended up losing but that's what I expected. The second half had some excitement, but the first half was among the worst football I've ever seen on any level; it was appallingly bad.
Tuesday I did nothing but Wednesday I ended up in Orlando. While it was not the original plan, I ate dinner at O'Charley's. They make good food and it's more location (at a busy intersection) than anything else which is why I don't frequent there more often. I had dinner... and a margarita. I rarely drink those but it was only a few bucks on this night. I even had dessert; I tell you, it was an excellent decision to have a small slice of frozen strawberry lemonade pie. Thursday, I went somewhere to see The Foreigner. It was nice seeing Jackie Chan on the big screen again. It wasn't so nice how the audience experience wasn't the greatest and once again I had to stare at some people as I left the auditorium at movie's end. Yes, it was the usual atrocious behavior. I'd love to do more than that to those ogres, but getting into an altercation like that wouldn't have turned out well for me. Especially in this case, where the perpetrators did not look like MIT graduates, to put it bluntly. Oh yeah, I should mention that The Foreigner was good; not great, but still good and I was entertained. It actually relates to the IRA; hopefully the “younger” people reading this remember the IRA. If not, that'll make me feel real old.
Friday the 13th, I did watch a Jason Voorhees movie (I've seen them all) and it happened to be the silly 8th one where it was advertised as him being in Manhattan but that's only the final act. In the evening I went and picked someone up from the airport. It was the one in Sanford so on the way there I killed time at a World of Beer. One of the drinks I had was a ::takes a deep breath:: Big Top & WOB SRQ PB&J Pale Ale, which is a very long name for a brew made by Big Top Brewing Company out of Sarasota. It has peanut butter and strawberry flavor, which sounds odd but it was good. Despite it being a rainy night, I had no issue when it came to picking up that person and bringing them to their destination.
The weekend, I did nothing. The Bears played again but I decided not to go anywhere to see the game in full as I expected them to lose to the Baltimore Ravens. Well, the Bears were inept but Baltimore was even worse so somehow Chicago won in overtime. The way the Bears almost blew the game was atrocious... I mean, even by their standards. At least it's a win.
Monday, October 9, 2017
Suspiria, Tom Petty, Blade Runner 2049, & Loaded Capri Suns
Yea, I am posting this earlier than usual, because of reasons. What a lousy day Monday the 2nd was between the tragedy in Las Vegas and the news that Tom Petty was dead, then suddenly not dead, then hours later actually was dead. It takes me only like 35 minutes to drive from where I live to downtown Orlando and I've been by the Pulse Nightclub before; I did not think something worse than that would happen. While I mainly only know Petty's popular tunes, I enjoy listening to those songs so I was saddened he passed away. At least something not bad happened on this day, something I could enjoy on an otherwise sad Monday: I went and saw the classic 1977 giallo horror classic Suspiria, from Dario Argento. A boutique label is releasing it soon in a special edition and the print was scanned in 4K; for those of you who don't know such nerdy movie-restoring talk, that means the movie looks and sounds great. As the film is so much about the colorful aesthetic and an awesome soundtrack from the band Goblin... it was awesome seeing it that way. I enjoy the movie even if it isn't the most logical story... which is typical for giallo films anyhow.
Tuesday, I went with some people to The Villages; yes, I returned to that area. We ate at an a restaurant connected to one of the country clubs in the area. They had the food offered on “German/Hungarian Night” and they weren't big fans of said food. I had something else and the main dish was alright although at least the fries were good and I thought their pretzel rolls were real good. Wednesday I did nothing but Thursday, I went and saw Blade Runner 2049. I've seen the original a few times and it's great. I went to the AMC Altamonte as seeing it in the largest/best format was a must, and it did indeed look and sound tremendous on a Dolby Cinema at AMC screen. If the auditorium is like that one and has speakers on the ceiling, all the better as those are used often in the film. I wish I loved the movie like most already do... but it's only fine. I won't even get into why I am not over the moon about it as I don't want to ruin a single thing for those about to see it soon.
Friday and Sunday, nothing happened. Saturday, though... what a night I had. For the first time in like half a year, I returned to downtown Orlando to have a good time. Like the last time, I went to the wacky location known as Frosty's Christmastime & Lounge, where it's December 25 all the time and sometimes there is even fake snow. While there I randomly met a group of people. Initially it was a random dude with two young ladies. I talked to those ladies and without going into details, I figured out the dude wasn't going out with either of them. Things went fine; I was invited to go with them to another place; I eventually made my way there after finishing my drink. When I got to this second place, things went sour. I won't go into all the details but two other people in that party lied to me and I caught them in that lie... it took me forever to get my drink, and the women in question were briefly there but then vanished and without that one guy. I was not happy with how the night turned out; among other things, I wanted to talk to them more. As is, I'll be shocked if I see any of those people again, and it does disappoint me. Even if the feelings aren't reciprocated, I enjoyed meeting that party... especially those two ladies.
I won't even mention the name of the place I went to after Frosty's, as it was a real dive and they don't deserve the minuscule amount of attention my name-dropping them would create. Still, I do have to mention a unique beverage they offered. It was Capri Sun drink pouches... except that it contained booze. Was it impregnated by a needle? I can only assume so. At least it tasted fine. After I left that place, I felt like going home, so that's what I did. On the way back, I was on the 408 and for those not familiar with Orlando, that toll road ends at the Florida's Turnpike but there's a big curve in the road as the 408 ends and you get on the Turnpike. Well, thank heavens no other vehicles were by me as this idiot (likely heavily intoxicated) hit the curve in the road way too fast and he spun out; somehow, I was not hit and he did not even crash into the guardrail, despite spinning around several revolutions. I was relieved this palooka did not hit me-for obvious reasons-nor wreck, as if they would have, I'd have to stop, see if they were alright, call 911, wait for the cops to show up... what a hassle that'd be.
When I return next Monday, I hope things aren't as much a hassle for me.
Tuesday, I went with some people to The Villages; yes, I returned to that area. We ate at an a restaurant connected to one of the country clubs in the area. They had the food offered on “German/Hungarian Night” and they weren't big fans of said food. I had something else and the main dish was alright although at least the fries were good and I thought their pretzel rolls were real good. Wednesday I did nothing but Thursday, I went and saw Blade Runner 2049. I've seen the original a few times and it's great. I went to the AMC Altamonte as seeing it in the largest/best format was a must, and it did indeed look and sound tremendous on a Dolby Cinema at AMC screen. If the auditorium is like that one and has speakers on the ceiling, all the better as those are used often in the film. I wish I loved the movie like most already do... but it's only fine. I won't even get into why I am not over the moon about it as I don't want to ruin a single thing for those about to see it soon.
Friday and Sunday, nothing happened. Saturday, though... what a night I had. For the first time in like half a year, I returned to downtown Orlando to have a good time. Like the last time, I went to the wacky location known as Frosty's Christmastime & Lounge, where it's December 25 all the time and sometimes there is even fake snow. While there I randomly met a group of people. Initially it was a random dude with two young ladies. I talked to those ladies and without going into details, I figured out the dude wasn't going out with either of them. Things went fine; I was invited to go with them to another place; I eventually made my way there after finishing my drink. When I got to this second place, things went sour. I won't go into all the details but two other people in that party lied to me and I caught them in that lie... it took me forever to get my drink, and the women in question were briefly there but then vanished and without that one guy. I was not happy with how the night turned out; among other things, I wanted to talk to them more. As is, I'll be shocked if I see any of those people again, and it does disappoint me. Even if the feelings aren't reciprocated, I enjoyed meeting that party... especially those two ladies.
I won't even mention the name of the place I went to after Frosty's, as it was a real dive and they don't deserve the minuscule amount of attention my name-dropping them would create. Still, I do have to mention a unique beverage they offered. It was Capri Sun drink pouches... except that it contained booze. Was it impregnated by a needle? I can only assume so. At least it tasted fine. After I left that place, I felt like going home, so that's what I did. On the way back, I was on the 408 and for those not familiar with Orlando, that toll road ends at the Florida's Turnpike but there's a big curve in the road as the 408 ends and you get on the Turnpike. Well, thank heavens no other vehicles were by me as this idiot (likely heavily intoxicated) hit the curve in the road way too fast and he spun out; somehow, I was not hit and he did not even crash into the guardrail, despite spinning around several revolutions. I was relieved this palooka did not hit me-for obvious reasons-nor wreck, as if they would have, I'd have to stop, see if they were alright, call 911, wait for the cops to show up... what a hassle that'd be.
When I return next Monday, I hope things aren't as much a hassle for me.
Monday, October 2, 2017
Expedition Everest, American Made, & New Glarus Brewing Company Spotted Cow
Here's what I've done since last Monday. Monday the 25th was pretty boring, but the 26th was more interesting. In the evening I went to the Animal Kingdom at Walt Disney World. Only recently have they started having the park open when it's dark out. One of the reasons why is the new Pandora world, which I've raved about as being amazing aesthetically, which it is. While it doesn't look as impressive with low lighting, it looks neat in a different way as it's lit up in a bioluminescent way, although it's mainly a faux look. I was able to go on a few rides, even. It is always neat going on Expedition Everest, as it's a roller coaster. It was a neat Tuesday, in other words. Wednesday was dull except for a trip to Chiptole, but Thursday...
Thursday night, I only saw the first half of the Chicago Bears game against the Green Bay Packers. Yes, I did not watch all of the game despite the Bears somehow winning last weekend and the contest being against their hated rivals. Like I said the last time, it has nothing to do with the whole kneeling/protests thing; rather, it's the poor quality of NFL play in general (it's usually not that fun to watch anymore) and especially how poor the play is on Thursday, as the players are not rested enough to where they can play at 100%. The NFL knows those games are typically comparable to diarrhea and yet they care more about money than anything else, so that makes me not really care about the National Football league. As for the game itself, oof.
I saw only the first quarter of the game, as there was a long lightning delay. That was more than enough for me as Chicago looked even worse than usual; they ended up losing 35-14. I watched that at the local Cinepolis (in Davenport), as I was going to watch American Made late at night. Incidentally, they are going to open one closer to me sometime late this year. I watched the film on a giant IMAX screen and I wish it was only me in there. More often than I wanted to, I had to turn around and stare daggers at more than one group of people who were being cretins and Troglodytes; they were doing the expected odious behavior at a movie theatre. I wasn't happy, as American Made was pretty good. I always hate those moments but when it happens during a movie that's pretty good to great, that especially is infuriating. Anyhow, that movie is “based on true events” (even though plenty of what you saw was made up) and is about Barry Seal; I've heard of him but I should read at least one book about him to get the true story, which I understand was as crazy as what you saw in the film.
Friday and Sunday I did nothing. I thought about doing something, but as I'll be doing things this upcoming week that I only found out about recently, I might as well save some cash and relax when I could. Saturday, I went and got food from Wawa. That was it for highlights, so let me mention one last thing: recently someone I know from the Midwest came down here and they brought down a case of beer from New Glarus Brewing Company, of New Glarus, Wisconsin. Way back when I was a kid, I was in that town a few times. It looks exactly like an old Swiss village, which is pretty neat. It was a sampler pack with 4 different beers; I only had the Spotted Cow brew, as I know some people who rate it quite highly. It's a cream ale and yeah it was good.
What happened in Las Vegas last night... awful. I hope I don't have to write about any more unspeakable tragedies when I return a week from today.
Thursday night, I only saw the first half of the Chicago Bears game against the Green Bay Packers. Yes, I did not watch all of the game despite the Bears somehow winning last weekend and the contest being against their hated rivals. Like I said the last time, it has nothing to do with the whole kneeling/protests thing; rather, it's the poor quality of NFL play in general (it's usually not that fun to watch anymore) and especially how poor the play is on Thursday, as the players are not rested enough to where they can play at 100%. The NFL knows those games are typically comparable to diarrhea and yet they care more about money than anything else, so that makes me not really care about the National Football league. As for the game itself, oof.
I saw only the first quarter of the game, as there was a long lightning delay. That was more than enough for me as Chicago looked even worse than usual; they ended up losing 35-14. I watched that at the local Cinepolis (in Davenport), as I was going to watch American Made late at night. Incidentally, they are going to open one closer to me sometime late this year. I watched the film on a giant IMAX screen and I wish it was only me in there. More often than I wanted to, I had to turn around and stare daggers at more than one group of people who were being cretins and Troglodytes; they were doing the expected odious behavior at a movie theatre. I wasn't happy, as American Made was pretty good. I always hate those moments but when it happens during a movie that's pretty good to great, that especially is infuriating. Anyhow, that movie is “based on true events” (even though plenty of what you saw was made up) and is about Barry Seal; I've heard of him but I should read at least one book about him to get the true story, which I understand was as crazy as what you saw in the film.
Friday and Sunday I did nothing. I thought about doing something, but as I'll be doing things this upcoming week that I only found out about recently, I might as well save some cash and relax when I could. Saturday, I went and got food from Wawa. That was it for highlights, so let me mention one last thing: recently someone I know from the Midwest came down here and they brought down a case of beer from New Glarus Brewing Company, of New Glarus, Wisconsin. Way back when I was a kid, I was in that town a few times. It looks exactly like an old Swiss village, which is pretty neat. It was a sampler pack with 4 different beers; I only had the Spotted Cow brew, as I know some people who rate it quite highly. It's a cream ale and yeah it was good.
What happened in Las Vegas last night... awful. I hope I don't have to write about any more unspeakable tragedies when I return a week from today.
Monday, September 25, 2017
Tales of Lucky's Market & Not Watching Substandard Football
This for sure won't be as exciting as the last few posts I have made; I was OK with having a low-key week. Monday through Wednesday was quite dull, unless you want me to go at length about getting a chocolate shake from the local Culver's. I did feel bad when I heard about what Hurricane Maria did to Puerto Rico; those poor people in the Caribbean had to deal with two giant storms almost back to back. Thursday was more interesting; I went to a few stores. My time in a random Big Lots and a Walmart went as expected, but I went to a store for the first time. It was a Lucky's Market, which is best described as a competitor to World Market... a lot of niche things, organic items, etc. As typical I got various food & drink items, including alcohol. Things were simplified for me when I saw they also had a cafe and a deli, so I was able to have a turkey sandwich with a beverage and not have to worry about where I was gonna go for dinner as I made my way home. A LM is going to open up a few miles away from me... in at least a year's time. The place I was at was in the eastern part of Orlando, near the UCF campus, so I will only be there once in a long while, unfortunately.
Friday and Saturday I did nothing; Sunday had something to talk about. That Bears game... I did not even go out to see it. No, it has nothing to do with the now white-hot controversy revolving around the NFL, the national anthem, kneeling, and sometimes not even coming out of the locker room for the anthem. I won't give my opinion on that topic as I know only trouble can come from me making a comment. I will say that if people want to boycott the NFL, it should be due to the game not being as fun to watch anymore, which is mainly due to the rule changes they've made in the 21st century; there's a long topic that I may talk about another time. It's a big part why I am meh about the National Football League.
Anyhow, the Bears played against the Pittsburgh Steelers and I just presumed Pittsburgh would win because they were the better team. Well... Chicago got lucky and they won in overtime. Because of one play at the end of the first half, I am glad I did not watch the game in full. Pittsburgh attempted to kick a field goal; Chicago blocked it and a player tried running it the other way to the end zone, as that would have resulted in 7 points for the Bears. Well, this numnuts slowed down BEFORE the end zone so the ball was knocked out of his hands, and no 7 points. Chicago deserved to lose for a play that will go down in legend for being so bad.
I did do something in the evening, though. I returned to Disney Springs. I walked around and went in a few stores. I also ate at an old favorite, Splitsville. As I've said plenty of times before, I really enjoy their food. I saw parts of a few football games as I had dinner.
I'll end things here; I could remark how Florida traffic is as bad as it's ever been but I don't want to end things on a negative. Thus, I'll say that when I return next Monday, I should have more events to discuss.
Friday and Saturday I did nothing; Sunday had something to talk about. That Bears game... I did not even go out to see it. No, it has nothing to do with the now white-hot controversy revolving around the NFL, the national anthem, kneeling, and sometimes not even coming out of the locker room for the anthem. I won't give my opinion on that topic as I know only trouble can come from me making a comment. I will say that if people want to boycott the NFL, it should be due to the game not being as fun to watch anymore, which is mainly due to the rule changes they've made in the 21st century; there's a long topic that I may talk about another time. It's a big part why I am meh about the National Football League.
Anyhow, the Bears played against the Pittsburgh Steelers and I just presumed Pittsburgh would win because they were the better team. Well... Chicago got lucky and they won in overtime. Because of one play at the end of the first half, I am glad I did not watch the game in full. Pittsburgh attempted to kick a field goal; Chicago blocked it and a player tried running it the other way to the end zone, as that would have resulted in 7 points for the Bears. Well, this numnuts slowed down BEFORE the end zone so the ball was knocked out of his hands, and no 7 points. Chicago deserved to lose for a play that will go down in legend for being so bad.
I did do something in the evening, though. I returned to Disney Springs. I walked around and went in a few stores. I also ate at an old favorite, Splitsville. As I've said plenty of times before, I really enjoy their food. I saw parts of a few football games as I had dinner.
I'll end things here; I could remark how Florida traffic is as bad as it's ever been but I don't want to end things on a negative. Thus, I'll say that when I return next Monday, I should have more events to discuss.
Monday, September 18, 2017
It, Dartmouth, Irma Aftermath & Jefferson Airplane/Jefferson Starship/Starship
Here's a recap of the past week. I did nothing on 9/11, which seems like the best thing to do. I'll take this time to mention that once I got out of the house and drove around after Irma, I saw all the damage that was done. Trees were knocked down, stop signs were bent at a 45 degree angle, debris was all over the road... I realized how fortunate it was that there was only one minor thing that happened to where I live. People I know in Florida, it took a few days for them to even get their power back; yes, it was that bad down here. Heck, when I went out on Saturday-more on that later-I saw a bunch of power trucks out in the field; yes, there were people who haven't had power for almost a week; I feel bad for them. I won't go into details but I do have nice neighbors and that is always a good thing.
Tuesday, I returned to Walt Disney World, as I needed to get out of the house and do something. I ended up at the International Food & Wine Festival; Disney started that early this year as they aren't doing so well in terms of making a profit. I had some random food & drink (all tasty) and as it was not busy there, I also went on a few rides. An estimated 6 million Floridians fled the state before Irma hit, and it took time for them to return home. The act who played a short half hour concert there a few times during this day... Starship, or as they are known now, “Starship Featuring Micky Thomas.” There's a long and sordid history, explaining the differences between Jefferson Airplane/Jefferson Starship/Starship; to be brief, what I saw was the lead singer of Starship with random musicians who weren't in the band back when they were popular in the 80's. I did not hear their entire act; I imagine they played a Jefferson Starship song or two also, but what I listened to was Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now, Somebody to Love, and much to my delight, the hilariously cheesy We Built This City.
Wednesday, I went to a place I hadn't gone to in a few years (because of reasons) a drive-in. Yes, some of those are still around. I saw It then Annabelle: Creation. It was very good; the original 1990 miniseries is good and Tim Curry was great; yet, it definitely had its cheesy moments. This new movie, I approve of what was done. Creation was fine; that was definitely better than the first Annabelle. Plenty of people were there; I imagine many did not have power so itwas something to do. Thursday I did nothing but Friday, I went with someone to the local Chili's; that went as expected.
Saturday, I went to a college football game. It won't be my only live game this year, although I'll decide later what the other ones will be. Driving there was when I saw all those people working for various electrical companies trying to restore power. I was also held up for a few minutes because there was a particularly bad multi-car wreck where one of the vehicles was absolutely destroyed... I hope the worst did not happen there. I drove to DeLand to watch Stetson play against Dartmouth; yes, an Ivy League football team, a pretty rare sight down here. I don't want to be too harsh on Stetson, as it took them longer than expected to get back home from their last game due to Irma, their campus didn't have power last week, and one of their players passed away at a practice a few weeks ago.
Yet, I still have to say that the Stetson Hatters are not a good team. The first part of the game was “bowling shoe ugly”, to borrow a phrase. Finally, points were scored... most of them by Dartmouth. They won 38-7. As I expected the game to not be that competitive, the result was not a surprise to me. That said, I don't regret going as once the sun was covered by clouds then it later set, the weather was nice and there was little trouble with the typical annoying sports fan. Sunday, I realized what a great decision I made in NOT driving to Tampa to attend the Tampa Bay Bucs game where they hosted the Chicago Bears. Yes, it happened again this year after they played last November, a game I did attend and the Bears were blown out. I did not expect this contest to be any different and guess what, I was right. Chicago lost 29-7 and looked pretty pitiful. Seeing the college game live was a better choice, and definitely the cheaper one too. Of course, as a pro wrestling fan I was not happy with the news that Bobby “The Brain” Heenan passed away, but he was in pretty bad health for awhile there so it was not a surprise.
When I return a week from today... nothing is on the agenda, yet.
Tuesday, I returned to Walt Disney World, as I needed to get out of the house and do something. I ended up at the International Food & Wine Festival; Disney started that early this year as they aren't doing so well in terms of making a profit. I had some random food & drink (all tasty) and as it was not busy there, I also went on a few rides. An estimated 6 million Floridians fled the state before Irma hit, and it took time for them to return home. The act who played a short half hour concert there a few times during this day... Starship, or as they are known now, “Starship Featuring Micky Thomas.” There's a long and sordid history, explaining the differences between Jefferson Airplane/Jefferson Starship/Starship; to be brief, what I saw was the lead singer of Starship with random musicians who weren't in the band back when they were popular in the 80's. I did not hear their entire act; I imagine they played a Jefferson Starship song or two also, but what I listened to was Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now, Somebody to Love, and much to my delight, the hilariously cheesy We Built This City.
Wednesday, I went to a place I hadn't gone to in a few years (because of reasons) a drive-in. Yes, some of those are still around. I saw It then Annabelle: Creation. It was very good; the original 1990 miniseries is good and Tim Curry was great; yet, it definitely had its cheesy moments. This new movie, I approve of what was done. Creation was fine; that was definitely better than the first Annabelle. Plenty of people were there; I imagine many did not have power so itwas something to do. Thursday I did nothing but Friday, I went with someone to the local Chili's; that went as expected.
Saturday, I went to a college football game. It won't be my only live game this year, although I'll decide later what the other ones will be. Driving there was when I saw all those people working for various electrical companies trying to restore power. I was also held up for a few minutes because there was a particularly bad multi-car wreck where one of the vehicles was absolutely destroyed... I hope the worst did not happen there. I drove to DeLand to watch Stetson play against Dartmouth; yes, an Ivy League football team, a pretty rare sight down here. I don't want to be too harsh on Stetson, as it took them longer than expected to get back home from their last game due to Irma, their campus didn't have power last week, and one of their players passed away at a practice a few weeks ago.
Yet, I still have to say that the Stetson Hatters are not a good team. The first part of the game was “bowling shoe ugly”, to borrow a phrase. Finally, points were scored... most of them by Dartmouth. They won 38-7. As I expected the game to not be that competitive, the result was not a surprise to me. That said, I don't regret going as once the sun was covered by clouds then it later set, the weather was nice and there was little trouble with the typical annoying sports fan. Sunday, I realized what a great decision I made in NOT driving to Tampa to attend the Tampa Bay Bucs game where they hosted the Chicago Bears. Yes, it happened again this year after they played last November, a game I did attend and the Bears were blown out. I did not expect this contest to be any different and guess what, I was right. Chicago lost 29-7 and looked pretty pitiful. Seeing the college game live was a better choice, and definitely the cheaper one too. Of course, as a pro wrestling fan I was not happy with the news that Bobby “The Brain” Heenan passed away, but he was in pretty bad health for awhile there so it was not a surprise.
When I return a week from today... nothing is on the agenda, yet.
Monday, September 11, 2017
The One Time I Survived Another Hurricane
I'll start this off right away by talking about Hurricane Irma and how things were where I live. That was the main thing on my mind the past few days and I was hoping for the best there. Sunday, while it was windy and rainy up to 6 PM, things were fine. I was able to see the Chicago Bears play against the Atlanta Falcons as the game was on locally. Atlanta should have won the Super Bowl in February so I did not expect the Bears to win. I figured it was one of two things based on the last season or two: Chicago would have been blown out or it would be surprisingly close and they would be inept at the end and lose it; the second thing happened and they suddenly were bumbling buffoons and Atlanta were lucky to escape with a win.
As for the storm, I was worried about the people I knew in Tampa as that was where the storm was predicted to go for much of the weekend. When Irma suddenly went north and was going to come much closer to me, that was a cause for concern. Yet, I once again got lucky. I am not bragging, as people I know had it worse than me. But there was minimal damage to where I live and that was a relief; other places weren't so lucky. Streets in Central Florida flooded, transformers blew up, trees were uprooted... there was even a sinkhole. Both in appearances and how it sounded, Irma was more than a little scary. I am glad it's all over with. Amazingly, the only time the power went out was around 8:30 PM, and that was only for like 5 minutes. Again, I am lucky.
Back to speaking chronologically, Monday the 4th was Labor Day and I did nothing of note. Tuesday was more interesting. I went to a location for the first time. I ended up in the giant retirement community known as The Villages. I went to a movie theatre; as more than 50,000 people live in The Villages alone, no surprise there are three different theatres, and all are different as The Villages have 3 different shopping areas that have themes. I was in Brownwood Paddock Square, which has a “early 19th century Florida ranch” motif. I went to the Barnstorm Theater which yes, had a barn theme both with the front facade and the inside itself. Being in a lobby with various farm/ranch equipment was definitely a unique experience. I am glad the auditoriums were fine too.
What I saw was Good Time, an independent film definitely for “the youth”. No shock that I was the only one there. Robert Pattison plays a scumbag in New York City who has to help get his mentally handicapped brother out of jail and has a real long night. The film was well-done so I was glad to see it on the big screen; as there is a retrowave 80's-sounding synthesizer score, it was nice to hear it in a big way too. On the way home, I stopped at the local Walmart, to put money on my Walmart gift card, which I also use for the Murphy USA gas station adjacent to Walmart. Already, the place was swamped with people, and there was a huge line just for two packages of bottled water per cart. I was surprised at how busy it was. In hindsight, I am glad those people took the threat of Irma seriously and got ready for it early and picked up provisions (I had plenty of bottled water already so I did not need any more) and filling my gas tank was a good idea too; I had only a few gallons left anyhow; by Thursday night, many stations in the area completely ran out of gasoline.
The rest of the time, it was me waiting for Irma to get here; I just wanted it to be over with. Wednesday I did nothing but Thursday I went to Winter Garden Village for a bit and Friday I got food from Arby's. That was it for highlights. When I return a week from today... at least things won't be as chaotic.
As for the storm, I was worried about the people I knew in Tampa as that was where the storm was predicted to go for much of the weekend. When Irma suddenly went north and was going to come much closer to me, that was a cause for concern. Yet, I once again got lucky. I am not bragging, as people I know had it worse than me. But there was minimal damage to where I live and that was a relief; other places weren't so lucky. Streets in Central Florida flooded, transformers blew up, trees were uprooted... there was even a sinkhole. Both in appearances and how it sounded, Irma was more than a little scary. I am glad it's all over with. Amazingly, the only time the power went out was around 8:30 PM, and that was only for like 5 minutes. Again, I am lucky.
Back to speaking chronologically, Monday the 4th was Labor Day and I did nothing of note. Tuesday was more interesting. I went to a location for the first time. I ended up in the giant retirement community known as The Villages. I went to a movie theatre; as more than 50,000 people live in The Villages alone, no surprise there are three different theatres, and all are different as The Villages have 3 different shopping areas that have themes. I was in Brownwood Paddock Square, which has a “early 19th century Florida ranch” motif. I went to the Barnstorm Theater which yes, had a barn theme both with the front facade and the inside itself. Being in a lobby with various farm/ranch equipment was definitely a unique experience. I am glad the auditoriums were fine too.
What I saw was Good Time, an independent film definitely for “the youth”. No shock that I was the only one there. Robert Pattison plays a scumbag in New York City who has to help get his mentally handicapped brother out of jail and has a real long night. The film was well-done so I was glad to see it on the big screen; as there is a retrowave 80's-sounding synthesizer score, it was nice to hear it in a big way too. On the way home, I stopped at the local Walmart, to put money on my Walmart gift card, which I also use for the Murphy USA gas station adjacent to Walmart. Already, the place was swamped with people, and there was a huge line just for two packages of bottled water per cart. I was surprised at how busy it was. In hindsight, I am glad those people took the threat of Irma seriously and got ready for it early and picked up provisions (I had plenty of bottled water already so I did not need any more) and filling my gas tank was a good idea too; I had only a few gallons left anyhow; by Thursday night, many stations in the area completely ran out of gasoline.
The rest of the time, it was me waiting for Irma to get here; I just wanted it to be over with. Wednesday I did nothing but Thursday I went to Winter Garden Village for a bit and Friday I got food from Arby's. That was it for highlights. When I return a week from today... at least things won't be as chaotic.
Monday, September 4, 2017
Houston Astros, Westshore Pizza, BoxLunch, & Close Encounters Of The Third Kind
Here are my activities since Monday the 28th. On that day, I did nothing until the evening, when I had to make another airport run. Even though most of that journey was in rainy weather, I did not mind. On the way there I stopped at a place I hadn't been to in months... the Friendly Confines in Winter Park. I had a beverage there and things went fine. Tuesday, I returned to the dentist; it was a simple teeth-cleaning so nothing to report there. Wednesday, that was definitely more interesting. I did not say it the last time, but I always did feel bad for what's going on in Texas. I mean, the next time I write, I hope I don't have to talk about how Hurricane Irma has done a number on Florida. Because of drama reasons, instead of the Houston Astros vs. Texas Rangers 3 game series moving from Houston to Arlington, the series instead was played at Tropicana Field, where the Tampa Bay Rays play. Houston wanted to switch this series and a later series; Texas said no so that's how those games ended up here. The Rangers had a reason for doing so but talk about a tone-deaf move and a PR nightmare as they still look like uncaring A-holes while that part of Texas just experienced a catastrophe.
Anyhow, Wednesday I did go to St. Petersburg to see the Houston vs. Texas game. The drive there and back... the traffic was even more brutal than usual, but let me try to be positive here, even when it comes to me almost running out of gas. I was at the mall in Brandon for a bit and I went into a new national chain store known as BoxLunch. I can't explain the name but it's run by the Hot Topic people so yes, it's geeky pop culture, just without the dark goth stuff. After I left there, I went to a local restaurant chain for the first time. I do not know how I came across Westshore Pizza, but the location I went to (in South Tampa) was a nice hole in the wall kind of place. They sell a lot more than just pizza; I decided on boneless wings and garlic knots. They were both tasty.
As for the game itself, Houston lost 8-1. It is easy to understand why those players had much more important things to be concerned about than them playing well in this contest. As all the money from the paying customers went to relief efforts in Texas, I was happy to attend and see some action. I was also happy that unlike in May, I did not sit by the most nauseating drunken ogres. There was general admission seating so you sat wherever you found an open seat in the lower level; I was behind home plate about halfway up so I can't complain.
Thursday I did nothing but Friday was definitely different from the norm. First, I went with both parents to a restaurant about an hour's drive north of us (the brutal traffic played a part in how long it took) in Weirsdale known as Eaton's Beach Sandbar & Grill. It was another hole in the wall kind of place, and they did have tasty food. A few hours later-in the midst of stormy rainy weather-I went into Altamonte Springs to see a movie at that AMC's Dolby Cinema, which I have praised before for being great. As nothing new had a wide release this weekend, it allowed for the 40th anniversary of Close Encounters of the Third Kind not only to be on regular theatre screens, but also Premium Large Format screens like Dolby Cinema, Cinemark XD, Regal's RPX, and the like. I've seen plenty of Spielberg movies before and I really like or love many of them, and yet this was something I had never seen before, despite seeing plenty of Spielberg as a kid. I heard some things which prevented me from seeing it until just now.
Well, the print looked real nice; there's plenty of film grain, but it was supposed to as that was how it was back then. There were some moments, and parts of the ending were great in scope so I am glad I saw it on a huge screen, but overall I wasn't a fan of the movie. I know, most will vehemently disagree but it left me with a negative opinion overall. I was fine with the Francois Truffaut/Bob Balaban scenes, and the Melinda Dillon/toddler son stuff was OK with me too. I felt different when it came to seeing Richard Dreyfuss and his family. He was not very likable in the first scene, even before he sees the UFO; what a goofus that character was to begin with. After he becomes obsessed, it was not fun watching him and his annoying family. I wish I know why this was so popular back then and even now has many fans, as I'll never comprehend it.
My weekend was not too excited, but yesterday I did go to a part of department stores in town. At JC Penney I got a pair of shorts and at Belk I got another pair of shorts; I was able to throw away one pair that had become pretty ratty from years of near-constant use. When I return a week from today, hopefully I won't have to spend a lot of time talking about Irma, but who knows for certain.
Anyhow, Wednesday I did go to St. Petersburg to see the Houston vs. Texas game. The drive there and back... the traffic was even more brutal than usual, but let me try to be positive here, even when it comes to me almost running out of gas. I was at the mall in Brandon for a bit and I went into a new national chain store known as BoxLunch. I can't explain the name but it's run by the Hot Topic people so yes, it's geeky pop culture, just without the dark goth stuff. After I left there, I went to a local restaurant chain for the first time. I do not know how I came across Westshore Pizza, but the location I went to (in South Tampa) was a nice hole in the wall kind of place. They sell a lot more than just pizza; I decided on boneless wings and garlic knots. They were both tasty.
As for the game itself, Houston lost 8-1. It is easy to understand why those players had much more important things to be concerned about than them playing well in this contest. As all the money from the paying customers went to relief efforts in Texas, I was happy to attend and see some action. I was also happy that unlike in May, I did not sit by the most nauseating drunken ogres. There was general admission seating so you sat wherever you found an open seat in the lower level; I was behind home plate about halfway up so I can't complain.
Thursday I did nothing but Friday was definitely different from the norm. First, I went with both parents to a restaurant about an hour's drive north of us (the brutal traffic played a part in how long it took) in Weirsdale known as Eaton's Beach Sandbar & Grill. It was another hole in the wall kind of place, and they did have tasty food. A few hours later-in the midst of stormy rainy weather-I went into Altamonte Springs to see a movie at that AMC's Dolby Cinema, which I have praised before for being great. As nothing new had a wide release this weekend, it allowed for the 40th anniversary of Close Encounters of the Third Kind not only to be on regular theatre screens, but also Premium Large Format screens like Dolby Cinema, Cinemark XD, Regal's RPX, and the like. I've seen plenty of Spielberg movies before and I really like or love many of them, and yet this was something I had never seen before, despite seeing plenty of Spielberg as a kid. I heard some things which prevented me from seeing it until just now.
Well, the print looked real nice; there's plenty of film grain, but it was supposed to as that was how it was back then. There were some moments, and parts of the ending were great in scope so I am glad I saw it on a huge screen, but overall I wasn't a fan of the movie. I know, most will vehemently disagree but it left me with a negative opinion overall. I was fine with the Francois Truffaut/Bob Balaban scenes, and the Melinda Dillon/toddler son stuff was OK with me too. I felt different when it came to seeing Richard Dreyfuss and his family. He was not very likable in the first scene, even before he sees the UFO; what a goofus that character was to begin with. After he becomes obsessed, it was not fun watching him and his annoying family. I wish I know why this was so popular back then and even now has many fans, as I'll never comprehend it.
My weekend was not too excited, but yesterday I did go to a part of department stores in town. At JC Penney I got a pair of shorts and at Belk I got another pair of shorts; I was able to throw away one pair that had become pretty ratty from years of near-constant use. When I return a week from today, hopefully I won't have to spend a lot of time talking about Irma, but who knows for certain.
Monday, August 28, 2017
Solar Eclipses, Wind River, Terminator 2: 3D, Bulk Nation & Cribbage
Here
is what I've done since last Monday; on that Monday the 21st,
it was the much-ballyhooed solar eclipse and it would have been
interesting to have seen the partial eclipse where I was... except
that it was raining at the time. Eh, oh well; I did see total
eclipses on TV so it's no biggie. I went out and ended up in Lake
Mary. First, I went to Liam Fitzpatrick's Irish Restaurant, which is
also a pub; I had my typical meal there and it was tasty. After that
I walked to the nearby AmStar Cinemas 12; I only go there once in a
blue moon as it's not close by me and getting there requires being on
the infamous Interstate 4. They now have those fancy leather
recliners retrofitted in, as more and more places are doing nowadays.
It's fine but there are fine places closer by me. Oh, and I saw Wind
River. As it was written and directed by the dude who wrote Sicario
and Hell or High Water (both movies worth seeing) I was hoping I'd
dig the film, and I did. If you have seen the two movies I just
mentioned and enjoyed them, you will likely enjoy this too.
Tuesday
and Wednesday I stayed in and chilled. As it unexpectedly was pouring
rain late Wednesday afternoon into the early evening, that turned out
to be a good decision on my part. Thursday, I ended up at Disney
Springs again. I wasn't expecting to return so soon but it fit my
schedule the best and it not being far away was a positive too.
First, I returned to D-Luxe Burger for dinner; that went fine. After
walking around for a bit, I went to the AMC Theatres; this is the
only chain this upcoming week that you can see Terminator 2: Judgment
Day 3D. Of course I've watched the movie plenty of times in my life
and maybe in 2008 or 2009 I got to see it on the big screen, in a
beat-up legit film print. It was great watching it that way... a
fight almost breaking out because one guy thought he HAD to say
various lines of the film along with the character and some people
stated how mad this made them... not so great although definitely
memorable. Thankfully the audience experience was better this time
and there were no issues. A decent amount of people showed up too,
which was good. While the film did not need to be in 3D, at least it
still looked tremendous and the movie is still incredible. For the
record, it was the original theatrical cut that was shown, not the
longer version that is also included on all the disk releases of the
movie.
Friday,
it was another rainy day, so I was happy to stay in. Saturday... no I
did not watch “that one boxing fight”; I don't like the sport to
begin with and when it's a farcical matchup between an MMA fighter
with a tiresome persona and a woman-beating pile of feces... I have
no idea why anyone would even be interested in such mismatch or think
that the woman-beater wouldn't win in an incredibly boring fashion...
or there being a typical clownshow result you only get in boxing. I
thought all that beforehand so with how the fight turned out, “yawn”
is my reaction. Not seeing a second of it was fine by me. For all I
know, the bout was not “on the up and up” anyhow. I did other
things instead...
Oh,
onto my weekend in particular. Saturday I did go to a store for the
first time: Bulk Nation. That central Florida chain opened in town
recently. While some items are packaged traditionally, the gimmick is
that the store buys many different things in bulk and you put however
much you want into a plastic bag... and the cost is based on weight.
I got a few items and it was an interesting place. Sunday was dull so
let me state something that may be surprising: recently I decided to
try out the card game known as cribbage. It may make me sound like
“old lady” but at least it's not bridge... I've known of it for
years and on a lark I gave it a shot. It's actually interesting and I
don't mind playing it once in awhile; cribbage is easy to figure out
and I use one of a few apps out there to play it on my phone.
There
are other things I could say about the weekend, but I'll bite my
tongue. At least Saturday and Sunday still turned out fine for me.
When I return on Labor Day, I don't know what I'll be talking
about... at least not yet.
Monday, August 21, 2017
The One Time I Had A Day I Don't Even Want To Talk About
Yeah, Saturday the 19th was not a good day for me. I don't even want to go into details. Don't worry, nothing major happened; as typical, it was several little things rolled into a giant ball of... well, feces. It did in fact involve me driving somewhere, and the resultant traffic. The only thing I'll mention about Saturday was me buying some minor items from two stores. I was happy to say at home Saturday night and watch Live PD, and I did nothing on Sunday.
Monday the 14th was the definition of "boring", but Tuesday I returned to Disney Springs. It was the same old same old there. At least I got some exercise from walking around and for only the second time ever, I got food from the poutine stand they have. As before I had the Italian version as the other versions just aren't for my tastes. Wednesday, I went with someone to the Sam's Club in the western part of Orlando. I hadn't been to a Sam's in months. Several items were purchased and that experience was the same as usual. On the way back, that was different. In the past we used to eat at a nearby Logan's Roadhouse. However, that chain isn't doing so well so that location (along with plenty of others across the country) closed down. I was looking at Google Maps to see what was now in the area. I spotted a local restaurant known as Bates New England Seafood & Steakhouse, which is right by the West Oaks Mall. I hadn't been to that mall in years as it practically became a dead mall, although I understand they are not quite on dire straights anymore so in the future I need to return there.
Bates has only been open for like 6 months and I am already not sure how much longer they'll last. For whatever reasons, plenty of businesses in the area don't do well, and usually leave. When me and the other person were there, it was not busy at all; even worse, on the front door there was a sign noting that (to paraphrase), because business was so bad during the lunch hours, they will now not be open for lunch for four days out of the week. A shame, as they have a decent variety of food, and it tasted fine. Thursday, I spent some time in Orlando then returned to the Altamonte area. I first walked around the Altamonte Mall then I got food from a Wingstop. I only go there once in a blue moon and it was time for me to return. Their food, also fine.
As I stayed in on Friday, I'll close this out by saying I hope the upcoming week is better for me.
Monday the 14th was the definition of "boring", but Tuesday I returned to Disney Springs. It was the same old same old there. At least I got some exercise from walking around and for only the second time ever, I got food from the poutine stand they have. As before I had the Italian version as the other versions just aren't for my tastes. Wednesday, I went with someone to the Sam's Club in the western part of Orlando. I hadn't been to a Sam's in months. Several items were purchased and that experience was the same as usual. On the way back, that was different. In the past we used to eat at a nearby Logan's Roadhouse. However, that chain isn't doing so well so that location (along with plenty of others across the country) closed down. I was looking at Google Maps to see what was now in the area. I spotted a local restaurant known as Bates New England Seafood & Steakhouse, which is right by the West Oaks Mall. I hadn't been to that mall in years as it practically became a dead mall, although I understand they are not quite on dire straights anymore so in the future I need to return there.
Bates has only been open for like 6 months and I am already not sure how much longer they'll last. For whatever reasons, plenty of businesses in the area don't do well, and usually leave. When me and the other person were there, it was not busy at all; even worse, on the front door there was a sign noting that (to paraphrase), because business was so bad during the lunch hours, they will now not be open for lunch for four days out of the week. A shame, as they have a decent variety of food, and it tasted fine. Thursday, I spent some time in Orlando then returned to the Altamonte area. I first walked around the Altamonte Mall then I got food from a Wingstop. I only go there once in a blue moon and it was time for me to return. Their food, also fine.
As I stayed in on Friday, I'll close this out by saying I hope the upcoming week is better for me.
Monday, August 14, 2017
The Lion King, Ellen's Energy Adventure & Psychedelic Tri-Foam
I had some interesting moments in the past week. Monday the 7th, in the early evening I returned to a place I hadn't been to in awhile, Winter Garden Village. I got a random item from Best Buy then as I had time to kill I went to the Old Navy next door. As they had a surplus of a green and blue plaid shirt, I decided to do them a solid by purchasing the shirt; I am that kind of guy. Finally, as somehow the back of my ride was covered with spots of mud, it was time to get some gas then use that gas station's car wash. As I was going somewhere relatively far the next day, it was a good idea to do this. That Speedway gas station car wash used a clear coat and psychedelic tri foam; when it rained the next day on my way to Tampa and back, I was able to see fine even when it rained. I am sure I will use that particular car wash again in the future.
I was in Tampa because I wanted to do something different, and I saw a pair of movies at AMC Veterans 24, where I hadn't been before. Before that I spent time at the Citrus Park Mall, where I had been at only one time before. It's a nice-enough place. I ate dinner at a Grimaldi's Pizza, which is thin-crust pizza. It tasted fine. I killed time at a Cold Stone Creamery before making it to Veterans. First, I saw The Lion King; yes. Some AMC locations will play older Disney animated movies (mainly from the 21st century) the rest of the year. The Lion King was something I saw on the big screen way back when it came out in the summer of 1994. I still think it's a great film, thankfully. After that, I watched a new Korean movie known as The Battleship Island. It's not a must-see like some movies from the country in the past two decades are (examples include I Saw The Devil, The Good The Bad The Weird and Train to Busan) yet I still enjoyed it for what it was... an embellished story based on the real life occupation of Korea by Japan during the last days of World War II. It thankfully was not a brutal watch like some Korean films are, although there are still gruesome moments and there is both violence & carnage. The small crowd was mostly Korean (naturally) and some of them were emotional during the final 10 minutes. Hopefully in the future I can see films like that more often theatrically.
Wednesday, I went with someone to a restaurant we hadn't been to in awhile: Cracker Barrel. Our food was tasty. Thursday, I went to Walt Disney World (Epcot in particular) because I knew it was less busy than the other parks. I had to renew my annual pass. That went fine, and unlike usual, I only stayed in the front part of the park as I went on a few rides, including the about to be closed Ellen's Energy Adventure at the Universe of Energy. Way back when I was a kid that ride used to be a charmingly quaint thing involving an info dump about energy along with a dark ride aspect where you are back in the time of dinosaurs. They managed to keep that with a new ride in '96 involving Ellen DeGeneres having a dream where she's on Jeopardy and it's all about energy and she's against her college roommate, played by Jamie Lee Curtis, and Bill Nye the Science Guy helps her out. The whole thing is silly but at least it is educational and you get to sit for 45 minutes through the whole thing, which is nice in the summer. I hadn't been on it in at least a decade, and I have no idea how popular it has been in recent years. It will be replaced by a Guardians of the Galaxy ride. I'll miss the “good old days” when Epcot was high on the nerd scale with their Future World attractions but I realize that doesn't sell many tickets anymore.
Friday and Sunday I did nothing but Saturday I went to the local Publix to get their famed sandwiches for me and someone I know. I had no problem with the sandwiches but even on what was like a 5 mile round trip at most, there was problems with traffic and no shortage of clueless buffoons, people who I will presume possess low IQ's. It's a constant problem and Saturday wasn't the only time I had that issue by any means. Hopefully that will not be as bad in the upcoming week, where not a lot is planned... yet.
I was in Tampa because I wanted to do something different, and I saw a pair of movies at AMC Veterans 24, where I hadn't been before. Before that I spent time at the Citrus Park Mall, where I had been at only one time before. It's a nice-enough place. I ate dinner at a Grimaldi's Pizza, which is thin-crust pizza. It tasted fine. I killed time at a Cold Stone Creamery before making it to Veterans. First, I saw The Lion King; yes. Some AMC locations will play older Disney animated movies (mainly from the 21st century) the rest of the year. The Lion King was something I saw on the big screen way back when it came out in the summer of 1994. I still think it's a great film, thankfully. After that, I watched a new Korean movie known as The Battleship Island. It's not a must-see like some movies from the country in the past two decades are (examples include I Saw The Devil, The Good The Bad The Weird and Train to Busan) yet I still enjoyed it for what it was... an embellished story based on the real life occupation of Korea by Japan during the last days of World War II. It thankfully was not a brutal watch like some Korean films are, although there are still gruesome moments and there is both violence & carnage. The small crowd was mostly Korean (naturally) and some of them were emotional during the final 10 minutes. Hopefully in the future I can see films like that more often theatrically.
Wednesday, I went with someone to a restaurant we hadn't been to in awhile: Cracker Barrel. Our food was tasty. Thursday, I went to Walt Disney World (Epcot in particular) because I knew it was less busy than the other parks. I had to renew my annual pass. That went fine, and unlike usual, I only stayed in the front part of the park as I went on a few rides, including the about to be closed Ellen's Energy Adventure at the Universe of Energy. Way back when I was a kid that ride used to be a charmingly quaint thing involving an info dump about energy along with a dark ride aspect where you are back in the time of dinosaurs. They managed to keep that with a new ride in '96 involving Ellen DeGeneres having a dream where she's on Jeopardy and it's all about energy and she's against her college roommate, played by Jamie Lee Curtis, and Bill Nye the Science Guy helps her out. The whole thing is silly but at least it is educational and you get to sit for 45 minutes through the whole thing, which is nice in the summer. I hadn't been on it in at least a decade, and I have no idea how popular it has been in recent years. It will be replaced by a Guardians of the Galaxy ride. I'll miss the “good old days” when Epcot was high on the nerd scale with their Future World attractions but I realize that doesn't sell many tickets anymore.
Friday and Sunday I did nothing but Saturday I went to the local Publix to get their famed sandwiches for me and someone I know. I had no problem with the sandwiches but even on what was like a 5 mile round trip at most, there was problems with traffic and no shortage of clueless buffoons, people who I will presume possess low IQ's. It's a constant problem and Saturday wasn't the only time I had that issue by any means. Hopefully that will not be as bad in the upcoming week, where not a lot is planned... yet.
Monday, August 7, 2017
Dunkirk, Atomic Blonde, Purple Squirrel & New Phone, Who Dis?
Yes, I am quoting a meme here but this past Friday I did get a new phone. It is a basic smartphone (a Samsung Galaxy although it's not an S8) and yet it's OK as I was happy to get an upgrade; as for “purple squirrel”, while I don't recall where I first saw the term, it's a phrase used in the job world... a candidate that somehow meets all the qualifications for a job is as rare as a purple squirrel, and the term does make me chuckle.
Thankfully this past week was somewhat interesting. Last Monday night, at sort of the last minute I decided to finally see Dunkirk, even though if it wasn't for Heath Ledger's performance in The Dark Knight then I would not like any of the Christopher Nolan movies I've seen; I haven't seen them all but the ones I've seen, almost all I was meh on at best. Yes, I don't like Batman Begins, The Dark Knight Rises, Interstellar, or Inception. All his films have major flaws and I don't know why critics, film fans and the general public loves him. It'd be fantastic if I could say that I enjoyed Dunkirk as much as most other people do but... I hated the way the story was done so despite it looking and sounding nice (even with an obtrusive score) I can only say it was about average overall.
I did nothing on Tuesday but Wednesday, I ended up in Orlando for something. After that task was completed, I spent time in the area, which included going to the Rocket Fizz store to not only pick up some soda, but also some obscure/foreign candy that is otherwise pretty difficult to find. I had to drive through some pounding rain but I survived. No surprise that even then there'd still be too many people on the road with no headlights on... it's the law in all the states to have it on when you're using your wipers, you bozos! Thursday, I got a haircut at SportClips, as I really needed one. Friday, the only other thing I did besides getting the new phone is watching Live PD, a show I mentioned a few months ago once I started watching it. The Friday night edition (8/4) had an epic 25 minute police chase which was insane and somehow the perp did not crash into anyone and he spun himself out. That was the nuttiest thing I've seen on the show for sure.
Saturday, I went to the Cinemark in Orlando, at the location known years ago as the Festival Bay Mall and then known as Artegon, before Artegon shut down out of nowhere early this year. I hadn't been to that area in like 9 to 10 months. I saw Atomic Blonde. I heard some mixed opinions but I was hoping I'd love it because the plot sounds like something made for me. I agree that the actual spy story isn't spectacular and yet I still liked it quite a bit. It ticked off a number of boxes so it was like the movie was made for me... from the incredible action to the 80's aesthetic, the great period soundtrack and the Cold War setting, at times the movie was seemingly made for me. I am glad it was not a disappointment. Sunday, I stayed at home and relaxed.
When I return a week from today, I should have a few things to talk about.
Thankfully this past week was somewhat interesting. Last Monday night, at sort of the last minute I decided to finally see Dunkirk, even though if it wasn't for Heath Ledger's performance in The Dark Knight then I would not like any of the Christopher Nolan movies I've seen; I haven't seen them all but the ones I've seen, almost all I was meh on at best. Yes, I don't like Batman Begins, The Dark Knight Rises, Interstellar, or Inception. All his films have major flaws and I don't know why critics, film fans and the general public loves him. It'd be fantastic if I could say that I enjoyed Dunkirk as much as most other people do but... I hated the way the story was done so despite it looking and sounding nice (even with an obtrusive score) I can only say it was about average overall.
I did nothing on Tuesday but Wednesday, I ended up in Orlando for something. After that task was completed, I spent time in the area, which included going to the Rocket Fizz store to not only pick up some soda, but also some obscure/foreign candy that is otherwise pretty difficult to find. I had to drive through some pounding rain but I survived. No surprise that even then there'd still be too many people on the road with no headlights on... it's the law in all the states to have it on when you're using your wipers, you bozos! Thursday, I got a haircut at SportClips, as I really needed one. Friday, the only other thing I did besides getting the new phone is watching Live PD, a show I mentioned a few months ago once I started watching it. The Friday night edition (8/4) had an epic 25 minute police chase which was insane and somehow the perp did not crash into anyone and he spun himself out. That was the nuttiest thing I've seen on the show for sure.
Saturday, I went to the Cinemark in Orlando, at the location known years ago as the Festival Bay Mall and then known as Artegon, before Artegon shut down out of nowhere early this year. I hadn't been to that area in like 9 to 10 months. I saw Atomic Blonde. I heard some mixed opinions but I was hoping I'd love it because the plot sounds like something made for me. I agree that the actual spy story isn't spectacular and yet I still liked it quite a bit. It ticked off a number of boxes so it was like the movie was made for me... from the incredible action to the 80's aesthetic, the great period soundtrack and the Cold War setting, at times the movie was seemingly made for me. I am glad it was not a disappointment. Sunday, I stayed at home and relaxed.
When I return a week from today, I should have a few things to talk about.
Monday, July 31, 2017
The One Time I Dealt With A Lot Of Ennui
Yeah, this won't be my most eventful review. I thought about doing various things but because of various reasons, I decided to stay in or remain low-key and visit some spots in town that aren't even really worth mentioning. I used the word ennui and it fits as I had that dissatisfied and listless feeling where I didn't feel like driving anywhere far or being outside in the hot humid Florida summer or dealing with any rain... hopefully the next time I post I'll have more exciting things to talk about; as is, this will be short compared to usual.
Monday through Wednesday, the only thing of note was on Tuesday, when me and someone went to the local IHOP restaurant. That went well for me as I rate their new cupcake pancakes pretty highly; regrettably, the person I was with had a problem with their eggs... yes, the restaurant found a way to screw up making eggs. Once that was fixed, at least they liked their food too. Thursday, I returned to the Florida Mall as I hadn't been there in awhile; I looked around and saw there were some new stores. I got a random shirt from the U.S. Polo Association store and got a random drink from Jamba Juice. It was nice to do some walking around in an indoor location, for sure.
Really late Friday night, I had to make yet another airport run. It was to Sanford; on the way back I stopped at a Denny's for a bite to eat. It was at Altamonte Springs, at a location I'd been to before. It was remodeled, and the food was what you'd expect. I'd like to say that driving home when it was almost 6AM meant I had no problems on the road, but I'd be lying. In the past I have had issues while on the highway at that time, and this time it was some jamokes passing me... I had the windows open since it was in the 70's at the time and one clown in the clown car literally yelled at me. Yes, yelled, then they sped off. I'll presume all the individuals in the clown car did not possess a high IQ; for certain, this was the first time such a thing happened to me.
Saturday and Sunday, the highlight there was going to Chipotle, so I'll close this out by saying that August should be more entertaining for me.
Monday through Wednesday, the only thing of note was on Tuesday, when me and someone went to the local IHOP restaurant. That went well for me as I rate their new cupcake pancakes pretty highly; regrettably, the person I was with had a problem with their eggs... yes, the restaurant found a way to screw up making eggs. Once that was fixed, at least they liked their food too. Thursday, I returned to the Florida Mall as I hadn't been there in awhile; I looked around and saw there were some new stores. I got a random shirt from the U.S. Polo Association store and got a random drink from Jamba Juice. It was nice to do some walking around in an indoor location, for sure.
Really late Friday night, I had to make yet another airport run. It was to Sanford; on the way back I stopped at a Denny's for a bite to eat. It was at Altamonte Springs, at a location I'd been to before. It was remodeled, and the food was what you'd expect. I'd like to say that driving home when it was almost 6AM meant I had no problems on the road, but I'd be lying. In the past I have had issues while on the highway at that time, and this time it was some jamokes passing me... I had the windows open since it was in the 70's at the time and one clown in the clown car literally yelled at me. Yes, yelled, then they sped off. I'll presume all the individuals in the clown car did not possess a high IQ; for certain, this was the first time such a thing happened to me.
Saturday and Sunday, the highlight there was going to Chipotle, so I'll close this out by saying that August should be more entertaining for me.
Monday, July 24, 2017
Tales Of Ale Houses & Cities With A Thousand Planets
Here's what I've done in the preceding week. Last Monday and last Wednesday were boring but on Tuesday, I went out to eat with someone. We decided on an Ale House restaurant, as I hadn't been to that Southeastern chain in months. We went to the new location they built in Winter Garden, which is convenient for us. It's not the largest location but overall it's fine and the food was good. I'll mention now that in the past I've sometimes made complaints about Apple and its products, as I've had a number of problems dealing with them and their products that are not intuitive at all to use. This actually started last fall but I had issues with some money I had on my iTunes account via some giftcards. It literally finally was fixed this past week-no kidding it took that long. I purchased some random older albums and it took some effort to figure out how to put it on my device so it can be used in the automobile as that was not intuitive either but I figured it out. I doubt I'll put more money on iTunes as I have zero faith the added cash would be immediately recognized.
Thursday, I was out on the town, so to speak. I spent time in the Orlando area. Among other things, I got some items from the Safeway grocery store, purchased a few beverages from Total Wine & More (more on that later) and because the weather was rainy at that time, I went to the AMC Theatres in Altamonte Springs early and I had dinner while sitting on a bench near the lobby-it was some flatbread pizza and it was good. What I saw was Valerian and the City of One Thousand Planets. Until the movie was announced two summers ago, even I hadn't heard of the old French comic book series Valerian & Laureline that it was based on. I just know it is or was popular in Europe, naturally. As it was an independent movie financed and directed and written by the guy who gave us The Fifth Element, I was hoping to be entertained.
I was entertained, although I definitely understand why a lot of people wouldn't love it, at least in the United States. For years now, many of the movies from Hollywood are quite homogenized and safe, which is why I don't go out and see as many of those as most others do. Even some movies I rate highly can be accused of having the homogenized and safe label. I was happy the new Planet of the Apes movies weren't like that (which is why I enjoyed all three) and yet this movie is pretty weird by any standard; I am not shocked at all that in the United States this won't make a lot of money. I admit the story isn't always the best, there's some hammy acting (including from the two leads) and some cornball dialogue. Yet I thought that and it being very weird was part of its charm and the movie is a marvel to look at. It looked amazing the entire time and was full of many bright colors, and the universe was full of wacky characters and unique alien races. Yeah, it'll naturally be a cult hit and I hope it makes money elsewhere around the world.
I am glad I saw the movie on a Premium Large Format screen (you know, that's what they now call those giant screens such as the original IMAX, the smaller newer IMAX screens, Cinemark's XD, Regal's RPX, etc.), and that was why I went to that particular AMC as it has what I think is the best, Dolby Cinema at AMC. It was awesome watching it that way. Friday through Sunday, things were quiet. The only thing of note is that on Saturday night I returned to Walmart, where I got some items and things weren't as chaotic or as dumb as they were when I last visited that infamous chain.
When I return a week from today, I do have an idea or two as to what I'll be doing. It may very well include more theatrical experiences.
Thursday, I was out on the town, so to speak. I spent time in the Orlando area. Among other things, I got some items from the Safeway grocery store, purchased a few beverages from Total Wine & More (more on that later) and because the weather was rainy at that time, I went to the AMC Theatres in Altamonte Springs early and I had dinner while sitting on a bench near the lobby-it was some flatbread pizza and it was good. What I saw was Valerian and the City of One Thousand Planets. Until the movie was announced two summers ago, even I hadn't heard of the old French comic book series Valerian & Laureline that it was based on. I just know it is or was popular in Europe, naturally. As it was an independent movie financed and directed and written by the guy who gave us The Fifth Element, I was hoping to be entertained.
I was entertained, although I definitely understand why a lot of people wouldn't love it, at least in the United States. For years now, many of the movies from Hollywood are quite homogenized and safe, which is why I don't go out and see as many of those as most others do. Even some movies I rate highly can be accused of having the homogenized and safe label. I was happy the new Planet of the Apes movies weren't like that (which is why I enjoyed all three) and yet this movie is pretty weird by any standard; I am not shocked at all that in the United States this won't make a lot of money. I admit the story isn't always the best, there's some hammy acting (including from the two leads) and some cornball dialogue. Yet I thought that and it being very weird was part of its charm and the movie is a marvel to look at. It looked amazing the entire time and was full of many bright colors, and the universe was full of wacky characters and unique alien races. Yeah, it'll naturally be a cult hit and I hope it makes money elsewhere around the world.
I am glad I saw the movie on a Premium Large Format screen (you know, that's what they now call those giant screens such as the original IMAX, the smaller newer IMAX screens, Cinemark's XD, Regal's RPX, etc.), and that was why I went to that particular AMC as it has what I think is the best, Dolby Cinema at AMC. It was awesome watching it that way. Friday through Sunday, things were quiet. The only thing of note is that on Saturday night I returned to Walmart, where I got some items and things weren't as chaotic or as dumb as they were when I last visited that infamous chain.
When I return a week from today, I do have an idea or two as to what I'll be doing. It may very well include more theatrical experiences.
Monday, July 17, 2017
War For The Planet Of The Apes & General Monkeying Around
Here's what I've done since last Monday. My plans ended up changing due to circumstances beyond my control. Last Monday was dull, but Tuesday I ended up at Universal Studios CityWalk; it ended up sprinkling the entire time... that was OK. I ate dinner at Red Oven Pizza Bakery for the first time. Their food is in fact tasty. Late on Tuesday night (after I watched the baseball All Star Game on TV)... I had more Internet issues. No kidding. It was the modem and it was replaced on Wednesday. Having to deal with that caused me to alter my plans; originally on that day I was going to see, Rise, Dawn, then War for the Planet of the Apes in a triple bill. But, instead I saw War on Thursday night, which I'll get to in a bit. As I saw Rise again recently and I have that on Dawn on Blu-ray, I just watched Dawn at home Wednesday night.
Thursday night, I return to the eastern suburbs of Tampa; who knows when I'll be back there in the future but it's been a few months since I had eaten at the restaurant known as Ford's Garage, which makes some tasty food. I ate there, then moved onto the nearby World of Beer for a drink, then I went to the Xscape Theatres (which I had been to twice before) to see the new Apes film. I thought Rise was pretty good and Dawn was great; War is also great and I am glad that was not a letdown. I wish that the seats would have been properly cleaned so I did not have to go wipe down my seat with paper towels... and note that the family sitting by me got paper towels and a spray bottle (!) to clean their seats. No, I don't know why a pimply-faced member of the staff didn't go in there and use those items his or her self; not the best look for Xscape, although the movie played with no issues so it doesn't mean I won't return there in the future.
Friday I did nothing; Saturday, I went to a Walmart in the area. It was not a long journey and even then, the traffic... I expect it to be horrid on Interstate 4 (and it was on Thursday; on the way back, multiple people had their bright lights on, so having that in my rearview and side mirrors after I passed them... no fun) but on small 2 lane roads, I shouldn't have to deal with multiple issues, but I did. I shouldn't see a presumably young punk driving recklessly in an older pickup truck in that Walmart parking lot, but I did. The reason why I talk about such things often is that it's a constant problem down here. Sunday, it was a blah day in general. I won't get into the reasons why, except that the deaths of both George A. Romero and Martin Landau were sad. I've seen some of Landau's films before, and Night of the Living Dead is a classic... of course I've seen some other Romero flicks before too.
When I return next Monday, hopefully there are no changes in plans or calamities that pop up out of nowhere. Little is on the agenda... as of now.
Thursday night, I return to the eastern suburbs of Tampa; who knows when I'll be back there in the future but it's been a few months since I had eaten at the restaurant known as Ford's Garage, which makes some tasty food. I ate there, then moved onto the nearby World of Beer for a drink, then I went to the Xscape Theatres (which I had been to twice before) to see the new Apes film. I thought Rise was pretty good and Dawn was great; War is also great and I am glad that was not a letdown. I wish that the seats would have been properly cleaned so I did not have to go wipe down my seat with paper towels... and note that the family sitting by me got paper towels and a spray bottle (!) to clean their seats. No, I don't know why a pimply-faced member of the staff didn't go in there and use those items his or her self; not the best look for Xscape, although the movie played with no issues so it doesn't mean I won't return there in the future.
Friday I did nothing; Saturday, I went to a Walmart in the area. It was not a long journey and even then, the traffic... I expect it to be horrid on Interstate 4 (and it was on Thursday; on the way back, multiple people had their bright lights on, so having that in my rearview and side mirrors after I passed them... no fun) but on small 2 lane roads, I shouldn't have to deal with multiple issues, but I did. I shouldn't see a presumably young punk driving recklessly in an older pickup truck in that Walmart parking lot, but I did. The reason why I talk about such things often is that it's a constant problem down here. Sunday, it was a blah day in general. I won't get into the reasons why, except that the deaths of both George A. Romero and Martin Landau were sad. I've seen some of Landau's films before, and Night of the Living Dead is a classic... of course I've seen some other Romero flicks before too.
When I return next Monday, hopefully there are no changes in plans or calamities that pop up out of nowhere. Little is on the agenda... as of now.
Monday, July 10, 2017
Baby Driver, Orlando City SC, Froot Loops Shakes & General Buffoonery
I did do some interesting things in the preceding week. I did not go out on the 4th... then again I haven't done so in years. It's best just watching some fireworks on television; that is enough to make me feel satisfied. On Monday night the 3rd I went to a Regal Theatres to see Baby Driver; I picked that particular location as I could watch it on a giant screen. I know most people love the film... I don't. When you never like the lead character and have many problems with the story... I can't say I hated it as there were some memorable moments and the soundtrack was excellent, but I did not need a change of underwear after seeing it like the vast majority of movie-goers out there. Alas... afterwards I ended up at Disney Springs and had a bite to eat as I happened to drive by it on the way back home.
Wednesday, I went and saw the Orlando City SC Major League Soccer club play against Toronto FC. Orlando has a new stadium built just for them, and I wanted to check it out. It was pretty nice. It was pretty hectic in downtown Orlando on this night; in their old stadium (the Citrus Bowl) was a concert by... Metallica. Seeing SC play was certainly cheaper and Metallica would be best if I could travel back in time and watch a live concert in the late 80's to early 90's. Thankfully I managed to find a parking spot close to the stadium; right outside the grounds was some food trucks. I had no idea what the grub would be inside so I got something from there. I made a mistake; the food tasted decent but the experience of just trying to order the food was not good (don't ask) and in the future I'll stick to what they offer in the stadium as it looks like a nice selection and I imagine at least some of it is tasty.
As for the game itself, as Toronto is one of the best teams in the league, no surprise they won 3-1. As typical, I ended up sitting by some loudmouth fools, who were typical odious sports fans. They especially liked yelling at a Toronto player who happened to be pretty short (at 5 foot 4) but he scored two of their goals... plus those fans left before the match was even completed, so I don't have a high opinion of them overall. Even with all that, I was glad to finally visit a nice new stadium and see a sporting event which was not boring. The excessive heat and humidity was not enough to deter me from attending, and I hope it's not too much longer before I return to the stadium.
Thursday, I went with someone to the local Longhorn Steakhouse, which turned out fine as they make tasty food. Friday, I ended up at the local Walmart to get a few items, and that could have gone better. It would have been better if the person that checked me out wasn't a complete fool and had some sort of a clue; there were problems with the people in front of me, too. By the time that ordeal was finished, the line was real long. At least in the near future, I think I'll go to other Walmart locations in the area. Saturday, I got gas then I purchased dinner from Burger King for me and someone else. As it's Burger King, it means that the food was not as good as they used to make it “way back when”. But, I did try their Froot Loops shake; I am not sure why I didn't have it sooner as it sounded like something in my wheelhouse, and it was. It won't be as long until I try their Lucky Charms shake.
As I did nothing on Sunday, I will close this out by saying when I return on the 17th, I actually do have a few ideas concerning what I'll be talking about. Hopefully it's more good times than bad times.
Wednesday, I went and saw the Orlando City SC Major League Soccer club play against Toronto FC. Orlando has a new stadium built just for them, and I wanted to check it out. It was pretty nice. It was pretty hectic in downtown Orlando on this night; in their old stadium (the Citrus Bowl) was a concert by... Metallica. Seeing SC play was certainly cheaper and Metallica would be best if I could travel back in time and watch a live concert in the late 80's to early 90's. Thankfully I managed to find a parking spot close to the stadium; right outside the grounds was some food trucks. I had no idea what the grub would be inside so I got something from there. I made a mistake; the food tasted decent but the experience of just trying to order the food was not good (don't ask) and in the future I'll stick to what they offer in the stadium as it looks like a nice selection and I imagine at least some of it is tasty.
As for the game itself, as Toronto is one of the best teams in the league, no surprise they won 3-1. As typical, I ended up sitting by some loudmouth fools, who were typical odious sports fans. They especially liked yelling at a Toronto player who happened to be pretty short (at 5 foot 4) but he scored two of their goals... plus those fans left before the match was even completed, so I don't have a high opinion of them overall. Even with all that, I was glad to finally visit a nice new stadium and see a sporting event which was not boring. The excessive heat and humidity was not enough to deter me from attending, and I hope it's not too much longer before I return to the stadium.
Thursday, I went with someone to the local Longhorn Steakhouse, which turned out fine as they make tasty food. Friday, I ended up at the local Walmart to get a few items, and that could have gone better. It would have been better if the person that checked me out wasn't a complete fool and had some sort of a clue; there were problems with the people in front of me, too. By the time that ordeal was finished, the line was real long. At least in the near future, I think I'll go to other Walmart locations in the area. Saturday, I got gas then I purchased dinner from Burger King for me and someone else. As it's Burger King, it means that the food was not as good as they used to make it “way back when”. But, I did try their Froot Loops shake; I am not sure why I didn't have it sooner as it sounded like something in my wheelhouse, and it was. It won't be as long until I try their Lucky Charms shake.
As I did nothing on Sunday, I will close this out by saying when I return on the 17th, I actually do have a few ideas concerning what I'll be talking about. Hopefully it's more good times than bad times.
Monday, July 3, 2017
Avatar Flight of Passage, Golden Corral & Saippuakivikauppias
As I discovered in the past week, saippuakivikauppias is a Finnish word which happens to be the longest palindrome. Here's what I've done since Monday. Monday the 26th was an interesting day. I returned to the Animal Kingdom at Walt Disney World. I was lucky in that this time I was able to ride Avatar Flight of Passage. It definitely helped that right before you get on the actual ride there is a separate single rider line and I got in line right after they fixed it, but I was happy the whole ordeal was less than 90 minutes, as I was expecting to wait quite a bit longer. As for the ride itself, it's a 4D thing and you basically ride a fancy Jet Ski as you simulate riding the winged Banshee creatures; it's awesome and I highly recommend Flight of Passage.
Tuesday was boring but Wednesday I made yet another airport run. Before that I stopped at the World of Beer in Altamonte Springs to kill time. That was a good choice on my part. I'll take this time to mention that Florida will never stop being Florida. I will mention that as where my parents live, something wasn't working. It took two different people coming over at two different times to fix it, and at another time I had to fix it myself so it would finally work properly. In this state, plenty of people aren't great at their jobs. Then again, I guess I do have to note that at one of those times, the house was called to say that they would be a little late. I realize this will be hard to believe for those that don't live in this state, but when it comes to the sorts of jobs where people come over to perform a task (whether on a set schedule or it's a special call to fix something), pretty much people NEVER call if they are going to be late or even if they won't show up until another day. I realize how appalling it is, and yet I swear it's true. That is how awful things are in Florida; “common courtesy” is something you usually don't find anywhere. But anyhow...
Thursday I did nothing, but Friday I went to Orlando for something, and after that I was gonna eat dinner at Disney Springs. A deluge of rain changed that. No surprise that because I live in the state I do, even a small amount of rain causes accidents. When there's a good amount of it... I saw the aftermath of several wrecks. I instead had dinner at the Seadog restaurant in Orlando; I've talked about that place a few times before, and they make decent food. By the time I got done, it was only sprinkling so that was when I went to Disney Springs and walked around for a bit. The weekend, the only thing I did was on Saturday, when I went with two people to the local Golden Corral. It was exactly what you'd expect it to be on an early Saturday evening, with the exact kind of clientele you'd expect at that famed buffet chain.
When I return a week from today, I think I'll have more to talk about.
Tuesday was boring but Wednesday I made yet another airport run. Before that I stopped at the World of Beer in Altamonte Springs to kill time. That was a good choice on my part. I'll take this time to mention that Florida will never stop being Florida. I will mention that as where my parents live, something wasn't working. It took two different people coming over at two different times to fix it, and at another time I had to fix it myself so it would finally work properly. In this state, plenty of people aren't great at their jobs. Then again, I guess I do have to note that at one of those times, the house was called to say that they would be a little late. I realize this will be hard to believe for those that don't live in this state, but when it comes to the sorts of jobs where people come over to perform a task (whether on a set schedule or it's a special call to fix something), pretty much people NEVER call if they are going to be late or even if they won't show up until another day. I realize how appalling it is, and yet I swear it's true. That is how awful things are in Florida; “common courtesy” is something you usually don't find anywhere. But anyhow...
Thursday I did nothing, but Friday I went to Orlando for something, and after that I was gonna eat dinner at Disney Springs. A deluge of rain changed that. No surprise that because I live in the state I do, even a small amount of rain causes accidents. When there's a good amount of it... I saw the aftermath of several wrecks. I instead had dinner at the Seadog restaurant in Orlando; I've talked about that place a few times before, and they make decent food. By the time I got done, it was only sprinkling so that was when I went to Disney Springs and walked around for a bit. The weekend, the only thing I did was on Saturday, when I went with two people to the local Golden Corral. It was exactly what you'd expect it to be on an early Saturday evening, with the exact kind of clientele you'd expect at that famed buffet chain.
When I return a week from today, I think I'll have more to talk about.
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