The previous week, it only really had one day of note but what a day it was. Last Monday the 22nd I did not do a thing, but the 23rd I went with someone to the local restaurant in town known as Lilly's on the Lake. I have talked about it a few times before; their food is fine so I try to go there at least once in a blue moon. Wednesday was boring but Thursday, I ended up in Orlando for something. Once I got done with that, I went to Winter Park, where I returned to the Rocket Fizz store and I got some random gourmet soda. I then ended up at the Altamonte Mall; I walked around and I had dinner at a random new food court joint known as Steak & Burger. Yes, it does sound like a place I would eat at. I had a burger, fries, and soft drink; it was fine.
As I did nothing Saturday or Sunday, before I close this out by talking about the big convention I went to on Friday, I will mention that what happened in Manchester was pretty awful. No one should be petrified of going to a musical concert. Roger Moore passing away was also sad; aside from seeing him in various movies over the years, all the charity work he did with UNICEF was very commendable.
Now, onto Megacon, the convention I have gone to one day a year for the past few years now. It's always a wild experience at a comic con, as they have all sorts of different merchandise set up and most of it is highly nerdy; this time I actually did not spend much once I got in... I just ate dinner, picked up a few random comic books as they were only 50 cents each, and picked up some random Japanese food & drink to consume at home on another day. I am becoming an old and frugal man. It was still neat seeing what was available.
In addition, looking at everyone's cosplay is always a blast. I may not always know what's being cosplayed, but I commend everyone who does it as I am too lazy to do so, and I understand they put in many hours coming up with a costume, putting it together, adding any necessary accessories, and sometime roleplaying too. You can guess what many of the popular outfits were... I saw plenty of women as Harley Quinn (typically the Suicide Squad version) and quite a few dudes were Star-Lord. I had heard of the game Overwatch... I haven't played it but I am familiar with some of the characters. There were a lot of people who dressed up as those characters; I did not know the game was that popular. I was more surprised to see a few women as Kiki... yes, of the Kiki's Delivery Service anime movie. Some of the costumes were pretty wild... there was someone as Daenerys from Game of Thrones and she carried on her shoulder a giant fake dragon (as opposed to a real dragon...) and it was pretty awesome. Then, there was a bipedal Sonic the Hedgehog who was dressed as HUGH HEFNER-complete with red lounge robe and sailing cap-and was walking around with several scantily-clad women. That is still astounding to me as it was outside the box thinking to come up with such an idea.
Megacon now has a convention in Tampa (that is in the fall) and as I always have a good time at these events and people are always friendly (complementing me on the shirts I have worn in the past, meaning either an XFL shirt or a Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon shirt... that's a wacky videogame, if you didn't know), I should probably go to that as I'd have a good time there, I am sure. At least I have time to decide. Also, at least the past few days were better for me than my Memorial Day weekend last year, when the air conditioning went out, and that was pretty miserable.
I won't be resting and relaxing on this day today, as I will be out and about a good amount of the day; you'll have to wait until next Monday to hear all the details.
Monday, May 29, 2017
Monday, May 22, 2017
Cloud Computing, Rural King, VIA|Port & Alien: Covenant
Here is a recap of what I've done in the past week. It was a dull week with some interesting moments. Monday the 15th, I had a nice day. I've known for months now that a PDQ restaurant would be opening right in the city I live in, and this happened early this month. I've talked about that quick-service place a number of times before, as I say this mainly-chicken joint has great food. They were doing great business when I was there and I enjoyed my combo of chicken tenders/fries/beverage. After that I went to a place I hadn't been to in over a year and a half: Leesburg, a city a little bit north of me. I ended up at the small VIA|Port Florida Mall, a place that still doesn't do good business and has many vacant lots. It is unfortunate. They do have a fancy-looking bar/bowling alley/arcade that I'll have to spend time in the next time I am up that way, which won't be another year and a half. After that I drove to Rural King, a name that says it all. As I've stated before, it's the type of place that sells NRA shirts, as they literally do sell NRA shirts. It's like Farm & Fleet for those reading this that live in the northern part of Illinois or the southern part of Wisconsin. I got some random food & drink while I was there.
Tuesday, I did nothing but Wednesday, I was out & about and got fast food for me and someone I know. Thursday, I drove to the northern part of Lakeland to their Cinemark movie theatre to see a film. I was hoping that traveling on mainly rural roads would mean I did not have to deal with piss-poor traffic... I was mistaken. But instead of hearing me gripe about that, let's talk about me going there because it was the debut of Alien: Covenant on a giant screen. That was a good idea as with Prometheus, the movie looks and sounds great. As for the franchise, Alien and Aliens are amazing, Alien 3 is fine, Resurrection isn't too good, the two AvP travesties are pretty awful and Prometheus is more like ProMEHtheus because the idea of the movie and its themes are great... but it's really stupid. Covenant is something I enjoyed better, even if it still has some dumb moments and it's not as ambitious as Prometheus. That and Prometheus has divided film fans; I have seen all sorts of opinions about both. As is, not a lot interests me in terms of movies this summer (then again that is typically the case with me) so I doubt I'll be at the cineplex that often. I do know that I'll see War of the Planet of the Apes, as Rise was pretty good and Dawn was great.
Friday I did nothing, and the same goes for Sunday. Saturday, I saw the big horse race and was amused that Cloud Computing won. I am a nerd so I know what cloud computing is. I also went to a Walmart I only frequent once in a blue moon so I could pick up a few random items. The only other thing I'll mention is that we finally got some rain in the past week. That is noteworthy as there hasn't been too much of that in 2017 so far; the area has only gotten about 25% of the rain
When I return on Memorial Day, I do know I'll have one very eventful day in this coming week.
Tuesday, I did nothing but Wednesday, I was out & about and got fast food for me and someone I know. Thursday, I drove to the northern part of Lakeland to their Cinemark movie theatre to see a film. I was hoping that traveling on mainly rural roads would mean I did not have to deal with piss-poor traffic... I was mistaken. But instead of hearing me gripe about that, let's talk about me going there because it was the debut of Alien: Covenant on a giant screen. That was a good idea as with Prometheus, the movie looks and sounds great. As for the franchise, Alien and Aliens are amazing, Alien 3 is fine, Resurrection isn't too good, the two AvP travesties are pretty awful and Prometheus is more like ProMEHtheus because the idea of the movie and its themes are great... but it's really stupid. Covenant is something I enjoyed better, even if it still has some dumb moments and it's not as ambitious as Prometheus. That and Prometheus has divided film fans; I have seen all sorts of opinions about both. As is, not a lot interests me in terms of movies this summer (then again that is typically the case with me) so I doubt I'll be at the cineplex that often. I do know that I'll see War of the Planet of the Apes, as Rise was pretty good and Dawn was great.
Friday I did nothing, and the same goes for Sunday. Saturday, I saw the big horse race and was amused that Cloud Computing won. I am a nerd so I know what cloud computing is. I also went to a Walmart I only frequent once in a blue moon so I could pick up a few random items. The only other thing I'll mention is that we finally got some rain in the past week. That is noteworthy as there hasn't been too much of that in 2017 so far; the area has only gotten about 25% of the rain
When I return on Memorial Day, I do know I'll have one very eventful day in this coming week.
Monday, May 15, 2017
Tampa Bay Rays, Cask & Larder Working Man's Porter & Salt Crackers
This past week... it has shown me that the way people drive in Central Florida has never been worse. Bold words, yet true. I saw so many reckless drivers, the aftermath of multiple wrecks, one wreck affecting my journey to a destination... and this was just in the preceding 7 days; it's been just as bad for most of 2017 so far. It made me glad I did nothing at all on Saturday or Sunday.
Back to being chronological... Monday the 8th I went and got a haircut; I am glad the Sportclips in town is still open, considering it's rarely crowded there. A little later, I had dinner at the local Bob Evans with someone I know. The triple cheese burger is something I recommend. Tuesday I did nothing of note but Wednesday was different. I suddenly realized that due to various things on my schedule in the future (which I won't share as they are private things) if I didn't go and see the Tampa Bay Rays play on this date, I wouldn't have the opportunity to for maybe the next two months; henceforth, this is what I did. Before I made it to Tropicana Field, I ended up in Clearwater Beach for a bit. I walked around a pier for a bit then I ate at a cool restaurant known as Salt Cracker Fish Camp. I say that there are plenty of salt crackers in Florida! Regrettably, I had to deal with some of those at the game...
I had decent seats at the game (sadly it was sparsely attended, even for a Rays game; the attendance was less than 10,000 and I do feel bad for the team. I say that Tropicana Field is not THAT bad) and Tampa Bay beat the tar out of the Kansas City Royals by a score of 12-1, but the rest of section 130 let me down. You see, some drunken buffoons showed up (2 big meatheads who didn't exactly look like Chris Evans but they were hanging out with three women) and aside from being loud ogres, too often they would use foul language. If they would have been in front of me, alerting security by texting or finding one would have been done. As they were behind me... how security would have handled those clowns and if realized what I had done... I know that “violence” would have been their answer-that explains why I did not go up to them and tell them exactly what I thought of them being A-holes- and hell, I was at the game by myself. I am disappointed that no one else in the section complained about those ogres, as there were children around. Sigh... those people were definitely salt crackers.
Anyhow, Thursday was a day for me to relax. Friday I had to go to Orlando to take care of something-it was minor-then I headed to Disney Springs. The way people drove on this day was especially bad. I had to partially take another way there to avoid a traffic jam; at least I was able to fill my nearly empty gas tank during all that. At Disney Springs I had some Blaze Pizza then I ate at a new place known as The Polite Pig. I am not a big BBQ guy but they not only have a large bourbon selection, but also a selection of mainly local craft beers; that was right up my alley. I had the Cask & Larder Working Man's Porter and that was very good. Cask & Larder is a brewery in an Orlando suburb.
This weekend I relaxed and after all the chaos on the road, I was happy to do not a thing. Unfortunately, in the past week a pair of local Florida wrestlers passed away. One was middle-aged and the other was only 29; the latter is especially sad due to his age and how he suffered several heart attacks. RIP to both.
When I return a week from today, hopefully things will be less chaotic all around.
Back to being chronological... Monday the 8th I went and got a haircut; I am glad the Sportclips in town is still open, considering it's rarely crowded there. A little later, I had dinner at the local Bob Evans with someone I know. The triple cheese burger is something I recommend. Tuesday I did nothing of note but Wednesday was different. I suddenly realized that due to various things on my schedule in the future (which I won't share as they are private things) if I didn't go and see the Tampa Bay Rays play on this date, I wouldn't have the opportunity to for maybe the next two months; henceforth, this is what I did. Before I made it to Tropicana Field, I ended up in Clearwater Beach for a bit. I walked around a pier for a bit then I ate at a cool restaurant known as Salt Cracker Fish Camp. I say that there are plenty of salt crackers in Florida! Regrettably, I had to deal with some of those at the game...
I had decent seats at the game (sadly it was sparsely attended, even for a Rays game; the attendance was less than 10,000 and I do feel bad for the team. I say that Tropicana Field is not THAT bad) and Tampa Bay beat the tar out of the Kansas City Royals by a score of 12-1, but the rest of section 130 let me down. You see, some drunken buffoons showed up (2 big meatheads who didn't exactly look like Chris Evans but they were hanging out with three women) and aside from being loud ogres, too often they would use foul language. If they would have been in front of me, alerting security by texting or finding one would have been done. As they were behind me... how security would have handled those clowns and if realized what I had done... I know that “violence” would have been their answer-that explains why I did not go up to them and tell them exactly what I thought of them being A-holes- and hell, I was at the game by myself. I am disappointed that no one else in the section complained about those ogres, as there were children around. Sigh... those people were definitely salt crackers.
Anyhow, Thursday was a day for me to relax. Friday I had to go to Orlando to take care of something-it was minor-then I headed to Disney Springs. The way people drove on this day was especially bad. I had to partially take another way there to avoid a traffic jam; at least I was able to fill my nearly empty gas tank during all that. At Disney Springs I had some Blaze Pizza then I ate at a new place known as The Polite Pig. I am not a big BBQ guy but they not only have a large bourbon selection, but also a selection of mainly local craft beers; that was right up my alley. I had the Cask & Larder Working Man's Porter and that was very good. Cask & Larder is a brewery in an Orlando suburb.
This weekend I relaxed and after all the chaos on the road, I was happy to do not a thing. Unfortunately, in the past week a pair of local Florida wrestlers passed away. One was middle-aged and the other was only 29; the latter is especially sad due to his age and how he suffered several heart attacks. RIP to both.
When I return a week from today, hopefully things will be less chaotic all around.
Monday, May 8, 2017
Long Cubs Games, Guardians Of The Galaxy & Mountain Dew S.A.
Here
is what I've done since last Monday. That day and Tuesday were both
quite dull, which was fine by me. Wednesday was more exciting: I
returned to Walt Disney World, Epcot in particular. I enjoyed more of
the Flower & Garden Festival, even though that day featured
pretty hot weather; I know many won't have sympathy for me there. At
least I got some exercise and ate some tasty food. Thursday was more
interesting. I had to be in Orlando for something, but after that I
went to the AMC at the Altamonte Mall (as it was the most convenient
location for me to end up at) so I could see a double feature in 3D
of the first Guardians of the Galaxy then its sequel, back to back.
Believe
it or not I had not seen the first Guardians before; in general I
just don't watch comic book movies. I've only seen a few of the many
that have come out in the past 10 years; they aren't for me. However,
I can say that the original Guardians film was pretty entertaining. I
am glad I finally saw it. The sequel wasn't as good but I can say
it's fine. I just wish that some of the humor would have been better.
The crowd there seemed to love it so it'll still make an obscene
amount of money no matter my opinion of it. Friday, it was the return
of food trucks to the downtown area of where I live. It's nice as
there's always a variety of different trucks there each time so I can
order different items whenever I partake the first Friday of each
month.
Otherwise,
this was a pretty quiet week for me. I did nothing during the
weekend, but considering that as of late I was almost sideswiped
while driving and I had to blast my horn before I was backed into by
some dope in a parking lot, staying in may have been for the best. I
will mention two things before signing off. I heard online about a
limited edition Mountain Dew flavor known as S.A. I thought the name
was odd, then I realized that it was Mountain Dew S.A.... it's a bad
pun as the drink combines Code Red, White Out, and Voltage, which is
blue in color. While the taste is awkward, it's still drinkable. By
the way, I saw someone online claim that the drink contains stevia.
Looking at its label and what ingredients it has, this person is
sadly mistaken. Anyhow, last night, I did see parts of the Cubs game
against the Yankees. The Cubs lost... in 18 innings. A game that long
is pretty rare. And to think that game (at Wrigley Field) had a few
people I knew-independent of one another-in attendance.
When
I return a week from today, I should have more to talk about.
Monday, May 1, 2017
The Florida Film Festival, The Florida Fire Frogs & Other F Words
Here's what I've done since last Monday. On Monday the 24th, I only got gas-the tank was almost bone dry-and dropped off more clothing at Goodwill. Tuesday was more interesting. I figured that after all the years I have lived in Florida, it was about time I went to see a minor league baseball game instead of an MLB game at Tampa Bay or at Miami. In Kissimmee there is a new Advanced-A minor league team in the Florida State League (which is in its 98th season) known as the Fire Frogs. Wacky, but sometimes those small teams have the zaniest name, to get attention... and no kidding, they could have been the Florida Rodeo Clowns or the Florida Mud Kickers. As is, the stadium has no shortage of puns related to frogs or fire. The attendance there wasn't great but maybe in the future it'll improve. At least there were some people who made noise during the game so it wasn't like watching a baseball game in a public library.
The Fire Frogs played against the Palm Beach Cardinals; it was definitely an unusual game, even at that level of baseball. Florida beat Palm Beach 22-2! After the first inning it was 10-0. To state the obvious, on this night the pitching of the Cardinals was far worse. I did enjoy all the offense but that is not the only reason why I am sure I'll be back there later this year. There was plenty of entertainment in the game, including one moment where a Fire Frog was accidentally hit in the head by a pitch-thankfully he was fine-and well, he felt froggy and wanted to go after the pitcher. He was restrained, so no brawls happened.
Wednesday, I went with someone to a restaurant and we used a Groupon. Thus, not a lot of money was spent at the Friendly Confines restaurant that is on the western side of Orlando; it's not the one I've been to plenty of times before that is east of downtown Orlando. I could have done without some incredibly loud customers but otherwise the experience was fine. Being delayed a bit while driving home because Florida drivers are Florida drivers (meaning atrocious) was no fun... then again I am surprised I don't see the aftermath of wrecks more often. Thursday, it was the start of the NFL Draft. I won't say much about the Chicago Bears and what they did... most people laughed at them because they make some dumb decisions and it's hard to argue, at least now. Maybe that quarterback will be a star, but he's so unproven and a lot was given up to get him...
Friday, I went to the Florida Film Festival. I hadn't been there (nor the arthouse joint known as the Enzian) in years. I saw a midnight movie known as 68 Kill. It was a crazy low-budget thing that was at least fun with an audience. It just so happened that the female lead (AnnaLynne McCord) was in attendance. Afterwards she did a Q&A. She's someone I've never thought much about-to be honest-but her performance was the highlight of the movie so I should see more of what she does. As she used to be a model, I did not complain about seeing her up close.
Saturday, I returned to the FFF, to see another midnight movie. This time it was Bad Black, and what a movie it is. That and Who Killed Captain Alex are two of the most famous movies from a small village in Uganda, where various locals get together to make films and while they have to scrape by to make it possible and the special effects are charmingly bad, it's a blast to watch as it's clear those guys love movies and they do try their hardest with what they have. I could go on and on about it but I don't know how many would be interested, at least here. Someone from Bad Black (an American; he's lived with those guys for awhile now) was there to talk about how they make films and it was great insight. There were even props and various merchandise, which I did indeed purchase as I was more than happy to give them some money. I just wish that more people would have been at the screening.
Sunday night, I drove to Sanford to make an airport run. I went there the back way, hoping the traffic wouldn't be an issue. It was. There were too many cretins on the road. From Friday night through last night I had to deal with pretty atrocious drivers. People would bow up to me and try to start something, and for no reason at all. I saw plenty of clueless behavior and the aftermath of another accident. I stopped at the Hooters in Sanford for a drink and I was glad I was not there long. One of the employees was incredibly loud and incredibly annoying. It's not been a recent development, me not liking anyone who is too loud; it was unfortunately a problem this past week.
When I return a week from today, I am expecting things to be less hectic for me.
The Fire Frogs played against the Palm Beach Cardinals; it was definitely an unusual game, even at that level of baseball. Florida beat Palm Beach 22-2! After the first inning it was 10-0. To state the obvious, on this night the pitching of the Cardinals was far worse. I did enjoy all the offense but that is not the only reason why I am sure I'll be back there later this year. There was plenty of entertainment in the game, including one moment where a Fire Frog was accidentally hit in the head by a pitch-thankfully he was fine-and well, he felt froggy and wanted to go after the pitcher. He was restrained, so no brawls happened.
Wednesday, I went with someone to a restaurant and we used a Groupon. Thus, not a lot of money was spent at the Friendly Confines restaurant that is on the western side of Orlando; it's not the one I've been to plenty of times before that is east of downtown Orlando. I could have done without some incredibly loud customers but otherwise the experience was fine. Being delayed a bit while driving home because Florida drivers are Florida drivers (meaning atrocious) was no fun... then again I am surprised I don't see the aftermath of wrecks more often. Thursday, it was the start of the NFL Draft. I won't say much about the Chicago Bears and what they did... most people laughed at them because they make some dumb decisions and it's hard to argue, at least now. Maybe that quarterback will be a star, but he's so unproven and a lot was given up to get him...
Friday, I went to the Florida Film Festival. I hadn't been there (nor the arthouse joint known as the Enzian) in years. I saw a midnight movie known as 68 Kill. It was a crazy low-budget thing that was at least fun with an audience. It just so happened that the female lead (AnnaLynne McCord) was in attendance. Afterwards she did a Q&A. She's someone I've never thought much about-to be honest-but her performance was the highlight of the movie so I should see more of what she does. As she used to be a model, I did not complain about seeing her up close.
Saturday, I returned to the FFF, to see another midnight movie. This time it was Bad Black, and what a movie it is. That and Who Killed Captain Alex are two of the most famous movies from a small village in Uganda, where various locals get together to make films and while they have to scrape by to make it possible and the special effects are charmingly bad, it's a blast to watch as it's clear those guys love movies and they do try their hardest with what they have. I could go on and on about it but I don't know how many would be interested, at least here. Someone from Bad Black (an American; he's lived with those guys for awhile now) was there to talk about how they make films and it was great insight. There were even props and various merchandise, which I did indeed purchase as I was more than happy to give them some money. I just wish that more people would have been at the screening.
Sunday night, I drove to Sanford to make an airport run. I went there the back way, hoping the traffic wouldn't be an issue. It was. There were too many cretins on the road. From Friday night through last night I had to deal with pretty atrocious drivers. People would bow up to me and try to start something, and for no reason at all. I saw plenty of clueless behavior and the aftermath of another accident. I stopped at the Hooters in Sanford for a drink and I was glad I was not there long. One of the employees was incredibly loud and incredibly annoying. It's not been a recent development, me not liking anyone who is too loud; it was unfortunately a problem this past week.
When I return a week from today, I am expecting things to be less hectic for me.
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