Boise State, Candyman, Nathan's Hot Dogs & KN-95 Masks

Now I am finally caught up with whatever interesting events have happened to me as of late. I do have to note that I can't believe either the pandemic has gone on for 18 months; it's still being taken seriously by myself as just recently someone I know (not a family member) tested positive for the virus. At least I have enough masks to last for awhile, including a KN-95. Nothing more will be said about the pandemic or masks as some who possibly will read this are anti-mask and courting controversy is just not a good idea for myself.

On a happier note, the 2^nd of this month was the start of the college football season and for the first time I saw a game at UCF's stadium; it's been open since '07 yet the motivation only happened now. It was a big deal game against Boise State; Mom would have been real interested as she loved Boise's team for years—ever since they won a huge game in an upset as underdogs. Parking was a nightmare (the instructions the school gave for that was not entirely correct-always a good thing...) and due to lightning the 7PM kickoff did not happen until 9:45 but I was there the entire time and in an exciting bout, UCF won 36-31. Always nice was that I sat by random people who were not obnoxious idiots. As it took a long while to walk back to the car and the school's campus is on the East side of the Orlando metroplex area, it was not until almost 3 AM that I returned home! That said, it was a fun time and later in the year I plan on viewing at least one smaller-level football game in person sometime in the fall.

Movie-wise, I've seen a few. On Netflix I did see He's All That, which was a poor version of She's All That... but was not as awful as you may heard; it has nothing to do with the small role from Rachael Leigh Cook, I swear! On the big screen, The Protege was not a must-see yet was still a fun action film. Candyman, that was disappointing. For the original's flaws, at least it was a solid and interesting story which had nice scares. The new one had various story issues-especially in the final act-and possibly was anti-white... certainly it was anti-cop. Lord, it's also incredibly unsubtle. Restaurant-wise, I went or got food from some familiars-one that was new was in Kissimmee's Old Town: Nathan's Hot Dogs. As long as you go there during a non-busy time and parking is not an issue, Old Town is still pretty cool. Instead of a hot dog I had my “almost always” of a burger and fries—it was fine.

I will have more to discuss when the next one of these is done-which will be in a few weeks' time.

Jungle Cruise, Hyundai Santa Cruz, & The Delta Variant Blues

First off, apologies for not doing one of these much sooner; there just hasn't been enough motivation until now. However, I for sure will return a week from today-or perhaps in six days, on the 13th-as I will need another one of these to cover what I've done the last time I posted here. Presumably no one will fault for me for feeling blah in the latter half of the summer season... besides COVID still being a big deal down here & the Delta variant being a thing (nothing else will be said about that, for risk of getting someone upset in some way), July of last year was when Mom passed away and early August was when she was buried in the northern part of Illinois. I don't believe either that it's been a year since all of it happened; things not having changed too much since the beginning of 2020-at times 2021 seems like 2020 Part 2-does cloud one's sense of time. Thus, I'll try to be positive here; I won't talk about the snafu that resulted in me swearing off the restaurant chain Hurricane Grill & Wings forever-I used to like them...-or how Florida traffic hasn't improved, or how no matter the line of work in Florida, it is seemingly impossible for someone to return your phone call or e-mail as if they don't want your money...

Instead, there isn't too much to say in Part 1. At least the Olympics happened; while they weren't quite the same, it was still a nice diversion. The marquee sports were cool, although it was also nice to see niche events that otherwise are unable to be seen by me: archery, water polo, handball, field hockey, diving, etc. Movie-wise, I've seen some theatrically. That G.I. Joe Snake Eyes film was a total meh... just like all the other G.I. Joe live-action films. Jungle Cruise turned ludicrous and was rather blatantly patterned after the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, yet the charm of The Rock & Emily Blunt was a big asset so it wasn't something I hated. 

For restaurants, many were revisits and some I went with other people; at more than one it had loud obnoxious people and I've grown more tired of that... otherwise can't complain about revisiting Gator Joe's or exposing the people I was with to the tasty local seafood joint 145 Degree Seafood Boil. It was funny that one day there was discussion w/ me and someone else about the brand new Hyundai Santa Cruz, a slightly-raised crossover vehicle w/ a pickup bed that is the new El Camino. It was a shock to see a Santa Cruz in a parking lot just a few hours after that conversation. The only new place I visited was one I stumbled upon online one day: Kiwi's Pub & Grill in Altamonte Springs. While the New Zealand theming wasn't as strong as it could have been, otherwise it was a fine sports bar which had decent food & nothing to really carp about.

When I return in six or seven days time, I will have more to discuss: college & pro football, more movies, and perhaps another new restaurant to give quick thoughts on.