Here's what I've done in the past week. Monday the 27th, I ended up going to Lakeland, a city about an hour south that I have been to plenty of times in the past. I went to a movie theatre to see the film Life (it was not the best film but I still found it to be entertaining) and I went to a few locations in that same shopping plaza, including a special express version of a Florida chain known as Beef O'Brady's... and I also got some unique gasoline. It's been a hot-button issue and there are many conflicting claims through the years, but I'll trust the EPA (I know, it's always risky to trust the federal government) when they say that E15 gasoline (not to confused with E85; if you put it in a car that isn't a flex fuel vehicle, you'll damage your vehicle) is fine for passenger vehicles made in the 21st century, so I filled up about half a tank with that fuel. While I had a car issue the next night, it was just a coincidence and my ride operated the same as before. “Because it's new in this area” is the reason why I tried it out, although it's only in a few random locations around the central part of Florida, so I only plan on infrequently filling up with that.
The car issue I had... the battery died! The local dealership confirmed that the battery going dead was the only issue, thankfully. It could have been something far more expensive to fix. It at least happened at a place where it could easily be jump-started and I could make it home. I was at Universal Studios to experience CityWalk, as I hadn't been there since early November. It was largely the same as before. I went in the Pat O'Brien's restaurant/bar, which I had never actually been in, even though I've been to CityWalk many times since 2003. It's a nice-enough place. I need to go there in the future so I can have a drink and also some food. It was when I got to the car and tried starting it that the battery went to hell. They have security guards in golf carts driving around the parking garages so I flagged one down; that young woman called in someone who had a portable jump-starter. They hooked it up and the car started. Thankfully I was able to make it home with no problem.
Wednesday and Thursday were dull as dishwater. Friday, though... as stated before this is Wrestlemania weekend, as this year the big show is in Orlando. Turns out, I did not go to Wrestlemania itself. The cost was too much and I could not find any freebie tickets. Then again, I have never been less interested in WWE and the card for the show does not really interest me. I mean, I did not even watch the show live on the WWE Network, that's how little I cared about it. Who knows when I'll get around to watching it. Because I had to be in Orlando Friday afternoon for something, that was why I decided to attend EVOLVE Wrestling, as it wasn't far away for me. As Wrestlemania crowds (they have those shows in football stadiums and while the announced attendances are greatly inflated, the legit attendances are always at least 60,000 people; last year at almost 100,000 was an outlier) are mainly people who come from out of town or state or country, many small independent shows like EVOLVE hold events. It's been a tradition for years now but this year it finally became oversaturation as there are too many shows and not enough people who want to see enough of them.
As for EVOLVE, I expected it to be a show where sometimes it went against my wrestling beliefs. I am a bitter old man when it comes to wrestling. I do prefer how it was done in the past compared to now, where it seems like it's more about big moves, death-defying moments, obviously choreographed segments and overkill rather than telling compelling stories or being thrilling without almost legit hurting your opponent. There is a segment of the wrestling fandom that digs it, though... all that said, it doesn't mean I can't enjoy it or be entertained by the spectacle. I did find it entertaining and it was nice to see some big names in that scene live and in person for the first time. I also saw some people there I knew from attending shows way back when; I only had the chance to talk to one of them. As for the type of fan that goes to shows like these... for a long while I thought they were annoying, but in recent years I gathered from looking at various websites and also Twitter that those people became downright smug and insufferable. This proved to be the case; I could have done without all the dumb tools there, but maybe that's just me. When I say that some of those people actually make ME look somewhat normal in comparison... if you attend shows like this, expect the crowd to be mainly filled with young adult males who may or may not be overweight, and may or may not be sported a natty beard.
Saturday and Sunday, I did nothing. I did not feel like attending any further wrestling shows. I felt like staying at home and relaxing instead. There are various local wrestling shows that I'll attend in the future (as they're local to Florida); it's just getting motivated to drive out to one in the future. The Wrestlemania show itself, from hearsay I am glad I did not spend 7 hours (no, the time is not an exaggeration) outdoors watching a meh show.... and because they are A-holes, WWE has done what WWE has done for the past several Wrestlemanias and had way too many of the seats have obstructed views due to poor staging and they obviously don't care about screwing over who knows how many thousands of fans (there was also an issue during a match where blinding lights were used for an effect, but it blinded most of the lower bowl of the stadium), so not giving them a lot of money is fine with me.
On another platform (hopefully) sometime soon, I'll talk more about wrestling and why I don't go to shows anymore, for those that care about such esoteric things. At least for the rest of the year I'll have enough dough to attend a variety of sporting and entertainment events, some of them maybe new to me. When I return a week from today, I should have a few things to talk about, but hopefully things won't be as chaotic as this past week was.
No comments:
Post a Comment