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.

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.

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.

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.

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.