Avatar: The Way of Water, Christmas & End of 2022 Thoughts

This will be shorter than I planned on it being; a movie I thought would be seen theatrically will be put off until the first week of ’23 as with all the college football bowl games on, that provided me enough entertainment. As typical, nothing of note will be done on New Year’s Eve; considering that I encountered dumb people while on the way to pick up pizza earlier in the day, there’s another reason to not go out.

BTW, traffic in Florida has not gotten any better since the last few times I brought it up. Besides today, there was me travelling somewhere on Christmas Day and in a rotary I was almost sideswiped! Thankfully I was wary of that vehicle seconds before but perhaps I should have been even more wary and made sure they passed by before proceeding… but otherwise Christmas was a nice day spent with family. While that day will never feel the same after Mom passed away, there’s still the lights, the family I still have and various ephemera to make me still like the end of the year. 2022 had even more ups and downs than usual (no specifics on the various negatives) so all I can hope for is a better 2023. I’ll return sometime in January and already planned is at least one theatrical movie and me visiting a new location or two.

I’ll close this out by mentioning that despite various story issues with Avatar: The Way of Water, I was still glad to see it on the big screen earlier in December. Like with the first film, the visuals carried everything else. All that said, at least the plot itself was better… not to mention relatable with the focus on family. The spectacle and action were all better, along with the technology that brought Pandora to life. Unlike in far too many movies in recent year, it wasn’t full of bad comedy or “humor” that just wasn’t needed in a scene. There are many ways to see the sequel; I chose a giant Dolby Cinema at AMC screen showing it in 3D, which meant it was also High Frame Rate. This meant that often the picture would switch between the standard 24 frames per second to 48; the latter makes it look clearer although for some it will never appear quite right. I never had any problem with it… until this screening where the action at 48 fps looked to be in fast-forward. As up to now I haven’t seen anyone else mention that, it was my brain telling me that and it was strange, although that aspect did not ruin the experience. 2022 was a year of movies that were disappointing, mediocre, or just plain bad… at least films like Avatar 2 and the Top Gun sequel were fun.

Nifty Nut House, Hog Wild Pit Bar-B-Q, Papa's General Store & Other Kansas Adventures

First off, I'll wish everyone both a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. At the very end of the year I'll discuss things I've done as of late in Florida (including seeing Avatar: The Way of Water, which I enjoyed more than the first, mainly for the visuals and 3D rather than the story) but now, I will talk about my time in Kansas. Unlike in years past when it was right before Christmas, due to high ticket prices I was in Wichita from Sunday the 11^th of this month through Friday the 16^th. Given the impact of the winter storm Elliott & brutally cold weather in Kansas this week, I was SO lucky things worked out this way. It still felt like Christmas when I was there so no complaints.

The flight there was another lucky break: I was in an aisle seat AND it was an exit row, so it was quite a bit more comfortable than the way back. Both flights were fine and I really can't complain. While in Kansas it was time spent with a sister, her beau and several young boys, which was as chaotic as always yet everyone was happy to see me, and likewise. The toddler that befriended me last year was still my buddy this year. In fact he was quite sad when I left; the feeling was mutual. I won't discuss all the activities done (including a birthday party) or the one restaurant experience that wasn't good... concerning the latter, it's more because I want to be nice during the holidays. I mean, I could mention the awful restaurant experience in Florida I had earlier in the month or make public my feelings of Schadenfreude by mentioning the place I ranted about last year being closed down recently due to sanitation violations... but I'll be cheerful right before Christmas so instead I'll mention the food I had while in Kansas.

It ranged from pizza at Wichita Brewing Company (it was actually food we picked up and brought back home), barbecue, chicken fingers from a place (Big Larry's) I ordered burgers from last year, and the night before I returned home, a Kobe Japanese Steakhouse. I hadn't been to one of those places since mom passed away; it was nice to experience that again. Speaking of old experiences, for the first time in perhaps 20 or so years I had a sandwich at a Schlotzsky's Deli. All those places I mentioned offered good food. In addition, one early afternoon candy was purchased from Nifty Nut House; the amount of nuts and different candy they had was incredible.

It was nice seeing everyone out there as it's always a nice tradition. When I return about a week from now I'll catch up on Florida events which will include the weather that is cold by Florida standards, movies such as the Avatar sequel and others, & what I did on Christmas day. One last thing: I realized on the flight to Wichita that this is the first time I had been on a plane without a mask in THIRTEEN years. There was a decade that passed between air travel and when I was on a place in '20 & '21, the pandemic was in full force.

Thanksgiving, Car Shows, Windermere & Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

Here’s a recap of what I’ve done since the last time I wrote one of these. For Thanksgiving, time was spent in the Fort Myers area; it was interesting to see what things are like down there since Hurricane Ian. Some places don’t look too bad although others are still devastated. The people I know down there are thankfully fine after Ian--I feel awful that many others are suffering weeks later. The one interesting thing I did down there was having lunch the day after at a Lenny’s Grill & Subs, which was fine.

On Tuesday, I saw Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery in the last night before it left cineplexes and will only be on Netflix starting in a few weeks. The first movie I enjoyed although I heard it has plot holes and maybe those will be apparent if that is ever watched again. The sequel is at least different and offered a decent amount of entertainment… shame that some running gags were bombs and the final 10 or so minutes were awful. They should have stopped the movie at an obvious spot instead of going on and giving us trite, laughable sentiments instead. At least the random woman who sat by me was a delight; there were some gasps when it came to the plentiful cameos and there were even several snort-laughs.

Yesterday was interesting; for the first time in several years I attended the Central Florida International Auto Show at the Orange County Convention Center. Way back when it was always during Thanksgiving weekend but that hasn’t been the case for awhile now. When I was there yesterday, it was not as busy as in past years and a few major auto manufactures (Honda, Mazda) weren’t present. That said, it was still nice to see many different models-including some electric cars-and getting to sit in them. I had an early dinner there, which was… acceptable and that’s it.

On the way back I stopped in Windermere, a ritzy town which nevertheless still has a quaint downtown and I’ve never spent a lot of time in besides driving through it on many occasions. I wish the downtown event they had wouldn’t have had deafening music because otherwise it was nice to see some food trucks and trees covered w/ lights. That’s alright, as I had some great ice cream from a local establishment: Allen’s Creamery & Coffee House. There’s a place I highly recommend.

I’ll be back… sometime shortly before Christmas.

Tropical Storm Nicole, Mountain Dew Fruitquake, Crumbl Cookies & Welsh Albert Finney

Here's a recap of what I've done from the beginning of November right up to Thanksgiving. In about a week I'll talk about Thanksgiving to present time. By now, Tropical Storm Nicole seems but a distant memory even though it was just a few weeks ago. Thankfully it only caused a rainy, windy night and not much more.

I'd heard of it beforehand but during November I had the new holiday flavor from Mountain Dew known as Fruitquake; that's because its flavor is... fruitcake! As I've never HAD a fruitcake before I can only surmise that the flavor is accurate. The taste is uncommon yet not bad. Anyhow, early in November I was in Sanford one night; not only did I stop at a Bojangles (it'd be nice if one was closer by; they have some tasty food) a trip was made to the Seminole Town Mall for the first time in several years. Yikes has that place fallen on hard times; I don't think it even has half-occupancy so it may not be long before it becomes a dead mall. On a brighter note, another day I was on the east side of Orlando; for the first time I had some Crumbl Cookies. While not cheap, they do taste quite good. Afterwards I stopped at a random pizza place (Lazy Moon) which was fine although it did have a “youthful” aesthetic so I'm sure the students at the nearby UCF love it.

The last night I'll discuss was when I spent time having dinner at a Longhorn Steakhouse; I hadn't been there in ages although it was a place mom liked. The food was good but what a collection of people I ran across. Besides having brief words with a mother/daughter combination, there was a man who looked a lot like the late actor Albert Finney, although I overheard him say he was Welsh rather than English like Finney was. The oddest person was a highly religious lady who started talking to a stranger and besides bemoaning “witchcraft” and “crystals”, she decided to give a prayer to the stranger... which was a bizarre free-form thing that lasted for at least 5 minutes and still was going on when I left! I am NOT offering any opinions on her religious beliefs; I am only commenting on how awkward the whole thing was, as if it's something you'd see on an awkward drama-comedy on TV or in a cinema. I'm unsure if the stranger was moved by the prayer; hopefully so as that'd make it all the more uncomfortable if it wasn't.

Like I said, around this time next week will be a new one of these.

Tales of Halloween Ends & Webber International University Football

Since I last wrote, there isn’t too much to write about; I haven’t gone to too many new places or had too many worthwhile experiences unless people want to hear me about getting food from Hardee’s for the first time in a few years so instead I’ll mention a few things on this day that I’ll always have fond memories of-due to childhood and those chilly nights spend trick or treating in the neighborhood. Sigh… yet I know no one wants to hear me act melancholy either so instead, what I saw two weekends ago.

That was when I saw Halloween Ends. Already by that time I heard all the bad buzz and how mad it made most people, although some others did love it. Me, my reaction was more “meh”. Of course this movie would have been better as the middle of a trilogy rather than its conclusion and there still were some dumb moments, it was not a film I loathed. Heck knows there are some actual horrible movies in that franchise.

Two days ago I saw what is likely the only live college football experience this year; as I’ve done in the past it was local lower division football. I went to the campus of Webber International University to see them play against the Virginia University of Lynchburg. I’ve seen Webber before but just recently they opened a small stadium on campus; while it doesn’t have much in the way of seats and those are portable bleachers, at least their games aren’t in random municipal and high school stadiums in the area. VUL, meanwhile, isn’t in any division of the NCAA or NAIA (Webber’s the latter) and instead are something else but their games still count in the standings. VUL hasn’t won any games this season yet all their opponents were much better so the outcome of this was in doubt for me beforehand.

Turns out, it was competitive at first but the Webber Warriors pulled away and ended up defeating the Virginia University of Lynchburg Dragons 38-20; yes, afterwards I heard someone utter the phrase “slaying the dragon”. It was a nice quaint experience in what looked like a nice quaint little town of Babson Park. Admittedly you’d have to drive 5 to 10 miles to do much of anything but I was glad to finally visit the campus. The concessions were either a Kona Ice snow cone truck or a group of people under a tent grilling food & selling Great Value soda.

Last night I went to a Walk-On’s Sports Bistreaux for food & drink in what may have been the first time in over a year. I’ll be back sometime in November.

Hurricane Ian, San Diego Padres, Barbarian & Irish 31

I apologize for not putting out one of these when I said I was going to then delaying it until now... but that's minor compared to Hurricane Ian and its aftermath. Thank goodness no one I know was adversely affected by the storm yet there still was flooding and damage done to the Orlando area, let alone the sheer destruction that happened around Fort Myers. I was just in that area 3 months ago so it was sobering to see how catastrophic the damage was. It's only good fortune that once again where I live did not suffer any damage of note. I was down by that and other things as of late, although I'm starting to feel more myself again.

It's just that I haven't had too much to discuss. I went to Walt Disney World once, returned to various restaurants (such as visiting an Uno's on I-Drive mainly because it wasn't busy on a Sunday afternoon; thankfully the food was fine. Another was visiting the Miller's Ale House that just recently opened in Clermont) and did some other things that aren't really worth mentioning yet they were still nice to do despite the typical terrible Florida traffic... instead I'll mention a few things. It's been fun watching sports as of late, whether it's baseball-it's fun seeing the underdogs like the Padres, Phillies & Guardians win big games-or college football in Tennessee defeating Alabama. The NFL, let's not discuss that or how the Chicago Bears are as bad as they've always been for years now.

I did go to Oviedo a few days ago; mainly, it was to use the toll roads while the tolls were still suspended-it wasn't until yesterday that they were reinstated and I'm unsure why they weren't collected for so long after Ian hit. The main place I visited there was a restaurant I only heard of the day before I went there: Irish 31. It's a nice Irish-themed sports bar which has a nice ambiance and good food; I wish it was closer by so future visits won't be more than once in a blue moon. The one movie I'll mention I went and saw theatrically was Barbarian; I heard good things online so the journey was made one night and my knowledge of what it was beforehand was quite minimal. It started off good, but then devolved to utter nonsense and became worse the longer it went on and it revealed what The Big Bad was; what a letdown it was overall. It was bizarre, but not in a fun way like last fall's Malignant was.

This time, I will be back sometime around Halloween and there are a few things on the agenda; real soon I'll be viewing Halloween Ends, something I've heard many bad things about yet I've watched the other two in that trilogy done solely based on the original Halloween...at least the original Halloween will always be a classic.

Coca Cola Dreamworld, Jaws, Shohei Ohtani & Cincinnati Chili

First off, the NFL season has started for most teams today; what I saw of the Chicago Bears game, it was the same old same old for them: a bad offense saved by a quality defensive performance. The game vs. the San Francisco 49ers was also played in pounding rain so I'm sure it wasn't aesthetically pleasing in any way; still, the Bears won 19-10.

I've already had Mountain Dew's newest edition of their Halloween season Voodoo flavor but I'll talk about that next time (which should hopefully be in a few weeks). For now I'll mention Coca Cola's Dreamworld, which is also recent. I heard someone describe that flavor as “Yellow Tic Tacs”, which I'll go with. How that is “the taste of dreams” is unknown by me.

Not too much to discuss now; at least there's two new restaurants to mention, which will be done so at the end. I went and saw Jaws on the big screen. I actually saw it that way once before-like a decade and a half ago-but this time it was via IMAX, so it was in a huge way. The movie's pretty awesome so it was a great experience. To mention an anecdote, long ago mom told me about how when she saw Jaws back when it came out in 1975, it was so popular that at the screening, there were people sitting in the aisle-way; imagine that happening now...

As I am sure people don't want to hear about me going to the new Publix that opened in town-it's small by Publix standards yet at least it had everything I needed-or how I bought a new pair of tan-colored shorts, or how I got a haircut that of course was much-needed, I'll talk about the biggest day I had: traveling to St. Petersburg to view the Tampa Bay Rays play against the Los Angeles Angels. I purchased the tickets in a flash sale a few weeks before the game so it was just a coincidence that it was the day after the owner of the Angels announced he wanted to sell the team. As LA has two of the best players in the game (Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani) there is no excuse for them to have an under .500 record yet that's what they've been for a few years... they do need a new owner, in other words. Watching those players was a big reason why I chose that opponent when I had the option of a few different ones.

Tropicana Field is largely the same as it was last year; the game itself was 0-0 until the 8^th inning then suddenly it was a lot of fun up to the 11^th inning, where the Rays won 4-3. Ohtani didn't do anything of note but Trout did hit a home run. I'm glad this was the one game chosen for a live appearance this year. Later in the fall I'll watch a college football game or two live; it's been a lot of fun this season watching the games on TV. The first restaurant to be talked about was in Clearwater before the Rays game. Queen City staple Skyline Chili actually has a few locations in Florida although this was this closest one to me. Cincinnati Chili isn't really chili per se... it's rather a Meditteranean-themed dish where spaghetti noodles are covered by a meat sauce then a huge glob of shredded cheddar cheese-along with beans and/or onions if you wish but of course I didn't have it that way. It was a delicacy I hadn't tasted before; while I do prefer spaghetti w/ marinara sauce, Cincinnati Chili was fine.

I'll close this out by mentioning that the other new restaurant I went to was one that just opened in Orlando. At ICON Park was the Carolina chain Brother Jimmy's BBQ. Their food was also fine, and it had a nice atmosphere. When I hopefully return by the end of the month... nothing's on the agenda yet but I'll stumble into something interesting.

Ford Lobo, Dave's Hot Chicken, E.T., Fall & Orphan: First Kill

Since the last time I've written one of these, a few films on the big screen have been watched, along with other anecdotes. In terms of the Ford Lobo, that's what they call the F-150 in Mexico; they are quite similar although not exact. I mention that as the last time I was at Walt Disney World, I happened to park right behind one. From the license plate bracket, I know that the vehicle traveled from a border town across from the deep south of Texas to Florida-what a long drive.

The one interesting restaurant I tried out for the first time was Dave's Hot Chicken, a California staple... or rather, a small popular chain from out there which has opened up franchises in Florida. One will eventually be in Altamonte Springs but for now I had to go to the eastern part of Orlando-in fact, near UCF-to try it out. The menu is rather bare bones yet it worked for me; the chicken did have heat although it wasn't unbearably so. Two odd things happened on that day:

On the way to the restaurant, I saw a young teen male on a skateboard. Note that it was rainy weather and he had on no protection. That was a problem as he wiped out in front of me! Someone else did stop to check on this person who ended up lying on a patch of grass but I hope “concussion” was the worst injury he suffered rather than something far more serious.

Once I arrived at Dave's, I ate the food outside as it was too noisy inside; what a sound I was “treated” to close behind me: a boy who was like 8 years old barfed right in front of a door to Five Guys, which was next door! I don't know why he didn't go inside Five Guys to use the bathroom or even a trash can in there... that did not ruin my meal, which was rather tasty.

The three films I saw theatrically as of late:

E.T.: That played on IMAX screens; it was great to see in such a huge way. Yes the movie was a childhood favorite and I still think it's great now.

Fall: It was a movie I only saw one teaser trailer for and that's it. It's about two daredevils (who also happen to be young ladies) who climb a 2000 foot TV tower about to be torn down. Of course things go wrong and they get stuck up there. It's rather absurd and there are some bad plot decisions made; it's a shame as the two leads are pretty good in the role and it was interesting how the movie was about grief & confronting it. Speaking of absurd...

Orphan: First Kill: The entire premise of this is absurd if you've seen the original film and know what the sequel is about. I shouldn't have been surprised that they went the bizarre wacky campy role yet it still did. Many probably will scoff at it although the end product was so weird I was entertained. The original Orphan definitely is better and should be watched if you're a horror fan.

I'll be back at the very end of the month as I have a few plans in mind.

Marshmello's Limited Edition Coca-Cola, Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, Nope & Rock Bottom

Since the last time I did one of these, I do have a few events to recap. First off, yesterday I had a new beverage from Coca-Cola named after EDM DJ Marshmello. His music is fine when it comes to the electronic dance genre, but he's still a Canadian dude who wears a giant helmet which looks like a marshmallow. The flavor isn't marshmallow (that's instead Coca-Cola Starlight); instead it's strawberry and watermelon which is... odd yet it isn't terrible.

Late last month I had to make a run to the airport so I decided to make the short jaunt to Daytona Beach; after a trip to Buc-ees I ate for only the second time ever at the unfortunately-named Rock Bottom restaurant chain. They do have tasty food. The only other restaurant to mention was when I was in The Villages one evening and I was part of a small group that went to Augustine's 1812 House; it was fine Italian food.

I saw a pair of movies on the big screen and talk about a contrast. For the first time in several years I went to the arthouse joint in the Orlando area known as the Enzian to view David Lynch's 1997 movie Lost Highway. The other Lynch movies I've seen I managed to enjoy but I was worried that this would be too bizarre for me. Thankfully it wasn't strange to the point of being incomprehensible or insufferable. There are a few explanations as to what happened which don't require too much thought; this late night journey was a good one for me.

A few days later I saw Nope; the one time Get Out was experienced, I did enjoy that... Us not so much. Nope was even worse for me: characters I couldn't stand, a movie that felt like 230 instead of 130 minutes, a laughably bad climax where me and some others scoffed at the same time, and a waste of what was from description a nice premise. The fact that I had to use Wikipedia to figure out why there was a subplot involving a killer chimpanzee and how that possibly related to the main story: not good. Why many people think Nope is great: beats me.

A few days ago I returned to Walt Disney World (Hollywood Studios in particular) and FINALLY after the ride having been opened back in December 2019, I was able to go on Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. It's quite the impressive technical achievement with all that the ride entails. Without going into spoilers, the first part requires you to stand and walk around for a bit, yet it is great immersive theming. After that is the now-common Disney ride trope of “the ride is in a vehicle that moves around a flat floor without being on a track” but it was still fun. No disappointment here after waiting all that time.

I will return by the end of August.

Tales of Elvis, Fort Myers & Many Restaurant Reviews

 To mention the elephant in the room right away, July 25^th is the day that Mom passed away, two years ago already. I will be doing things today (which I’ll talk about next time, which will be sometime in the first half of August) which will at least distract me and I won’t be feeling mopey all day.

Since the last time, I’ve gone to a variety of restaurants. Some were places I visited for the first time in many months or even years (the Lava Lounge connected to the Rainforest Café at Disney Springs, the local establishment Oakwood Smokehouse & Grill, and even Subway… which is still as average as I remembered it) and others were new. I’ll mention those now:

One night was spent at Boston Lobster Feast, a buffet that has several locations but we were at the ones in Kissimmee. I have no idea if 65 dollars is a fair price for all you can eat seafood or not; they also had a limited regular menu which is what we ordered off of. At least for me, it was fine… I guess…

The next day was 4 Rivers Smokehouse, which I know for certain was a decent quick service BBQ place.

Another night was a return to Celebration Town Tavern, a fine seafood establishment. One night I’ll be there on my own as it’s always neat to walk around Celebration.

Several restaurants have been located on a corner in downtown Clermont yet until recently I had never been to any of them. Now, it is a southern cuisine place known as The Southern on 8^th. Even with my “particular” tastes there was still something for me to eat.

Earlier in the month, I spent the weekend in Fort Myers. I’ll just say it was to help someone out, which I was able to do and I was happy to do so. Saturday night me and some others ate at Mel’s Diner… no, not the restaurant from the old TV show Alice but rather it’s a small chain in that part of the world. The food was tasty. The next day some time was spent at Sanibel Island, a very lovely place full of charm. Dinner was at George & Wendy’s Seafood Grille; for a place that was the first one found which wasn’t busy, it was a pleasant surprise.

There wasn’t much else I did in July, at least as of now or is important enough to mention. The next few weeks I do hope to do more despite how oppressively hot it is now; I can’t complain as everyone is experiencing sweltering heat right now. There will be at least one theatrical experience, a few new restaurants, and a return to Walt Disney World.

I’ll close this out by talking about the one theatrical experience I had: Elvis. It’s a movie I heard mixed reviews on but Elvis the person was definitely fascinating and I dug his music so it was worth a shot. Believe it or not it was my first Baz Luhrmann movie in full; I know people around my age would be horrified but in the late 90’s I saw parts of his Romeo & Juliet and that was enough for me. He definitely is still flashy and over the top; overall I’ll say the movie was good. At times the editing was exhausting yet Austin Butler was great as the lead. Tom Hanks, though… I don’t know what was going on there; I’m not even certain if the real Col. Tom Parker spoke with an exaggerated Dutch accent or not. It was a bizarre performance, I know that for certain.

Like I said, my return will be in the front half of August sometime.

Top Gun: Maverick, Lightyear, The Northman, Jurassic World Dominion and RRR

 As promised the last time, here are the movies I’ve seen on the big screen since the middle of February, when I saw Blacklight… which was worse than the typical random Liam Neeson doing action as an old man film.

I saw the 50^th anniversary screening of The Godfather and while that’s been watched a decent amount of times by me before-including theatrically-it is always a joy to check it out on the big screen.

The Outfit: It’s a 1950’s tale involving gangsters and a tailor I wouldn’t have known about it if it wasn’t for the trailer I saw theatrically. It was a pretty good time-despite its flaws and how it should have really left out the final plot twist-as Mark Rylance was great as the lead.

RRR: It’s an Indian movie and while I’ve watched a few of those before-all of which were bonkers-this went to another level. It was a THREE hour extravaganza which probably got a wide release because it has some names familiar to “The West” (Ray Stevenson & Alison Doody) and thus that’s how it managed to break out into a cult hit (now on Netflix) when others before it hadn’t. Also, it DID present perhaps the most bombastic motion picture I’ve ever experienced as everything was over the top, including the plot and the numerous action scenes.

The Northman: I get why many were nonplussed by it and even I thought it was pretentious a little too often… even then it was an interesting Viking saga I enjoyed watching.

Top Gun: Maverick: Even if more than once I wish it wasn’t such a “modern Hollywood movie” that felt like it needed moments of misplaced/unfunny humor, at least this wasn’t pretentious and it was a lot of fun. Speaking of pretentious:

Everything Everywhere All at Once: Many people apparently love this and its apparent popularity among the mainstream is absolutely baffling to me. As unpopular as it is to say online, I hated this movie, all its pretentions, vulgar 13 year old boy humor (if you love buttplugs and other sex toys…), nonsense plot and trite comments about getting along with your family… honestly, I’ve heard multiple people say they think this is among the greatest movies of all time! It was a movie I waited a few months to see theatrically as there was a chance I would not like its absurdist Adult Swim humor… but how angry it made me was a genuine surprise. Perhaps more than any other film ever, I’ll never understand its popularity or how I am such an outlier compared to “the popular opinion” of it.

Jurassic World Dominion: On a lighter note, this movie was a dumb mess like the other two Jurassic World movies yet I did note loathe it like I did those so “lousy” is at least better than “aggravated.”

Lightyear: It pales in comparison to the first three Toy Story movies but at least is better than 4. Lightyear was a fine generic animated action film and that’s about it.

I’m not really sure what I’ll see theatrically the rest of the year but hopefully there will be some gems. I should be back in a week or so.

Mountain Dew Purple Thunder, Fishing, Ratatouille, Rich Strike, The Commodores & Freshfields Farm

So... it has been awhile-far longer than expected-since I've done one of these. Quite frankly, I've had various ups and downs this year and it's just now that I've felt the motivation to do one of these. During the long weekend coming up will be a separate posts where I mention the various theatrical movies I've seen since late February, as there definitely have been quite a few of those. But, the only negative I'll mention here (besides all the drama still going on in the world, especially since late last week) is that during Mother's Day weekend I did feel rather blue. On that Saturday was the Kentucky Derby and as mom always loved horses, that was a race she looked forward to each year. She would have been quite excited that the ultimate underdog Rich Strike won the race.

I only have a few highlights to share but at least they are worth mentioning. I went to Walt Disney World more than once; the most interesting occasion of those was when I was in Epcot experiencing the annual Flower & Garden Festival. Those always provide scenic beauty and for about a half hour was an aural delight as performing in the concert area was The Commodores. Sure, it was only one of the original members of the band but it still drew a big crowd. The songs played were what you'd expect... except for Brick House, unsurprisingly. Also on that day I visited the new area of the France pavilion that had a new Ratatouille ride. It was a 4D experience and even if the rides that Disney does now seem familiar in design to each other, this one was still fun. A few weeks later I actually saw the Ratatouille movie for the first time and while it's not necessary to enjoy the ride, the context does improve the experience. For such an odd premise it was a very good film.

Late in April I actually hung out with family, some of whom I hadn't seen in years or hadn't met period. They were visiting from across the country, you see... the meet-up was in Vero Beach, a city I hadn't been to in 15 years. A night was spent at a quaint pleasant little resort (I mean, it only had 17 rooms) then the next day a few hours were spent on a boat. It was a neat experience as besides hanging out w/ family, dolphins and manatees were spotted and while I was literally handed a fishing pole out of nowhere to fish for a bit (nothing was caught), even that was fun.

Soda wise, I am glad that Mountain Dew has some new or returning limited edition flavors; the one I'll mention is Purple Thunder. “A berry plum flavor” was not something I was immediately sold on but it was fine. In terms of restaurants & food, not much to report there in terms of new places. Last week I was at the Mexican restaurant Los Magueyes in Wildwood which had fine food but the colorful décor was perfect for what food they offered. While at Disney Springs recently I had ice cream from the recently-opened Salt & Straw (nominally a west coast chain) and naturally that was rather tasty.

I'm sure there are minor experiences that aren't coming to mind right now—the last one I'll mention for now is that just this past weekend I went to a grocery store in the Southeast part of Orlando for the first time. Freshfields Farm is a local thing in a building shaped like a barn where product “directly” from farmers is sold-in this case that is produce, fruits and vegetables. It was interesting to look around at what was available and a few items were purchased. As you can see, I haven't done too much as of late; gas prices is one reason why. I realize the infrastructure is far from being practical for a lot of people but boy do electric cars suddenly look a lot more appealing... a dork that I am, I was excited to see some in the wild: the awesome retro-looking Hyndai Ioniq 5 compact SUV, the Rivian R1T pickup truck (made in Normal, Illinois at the place where they used to build Mitsubishi cars) and the Lucid Air luxury sedan.

As I promised-and this time the promise will be kept-during the 4^th of July weekend I'll talk about all the theatrical movies I've experienced for the past 4 plus months.

Green Mountain Scenic Overlook & Trailhead, Blackbear Kitchen & Orange Blossom Candies & Cream

At first I was certain that I wouldn't have much to say this time; once I started writing, though... I realized the error of that opinion. The next time I do one of these in early May, I know I'll have a unique experience or two to discuss. Anyhow, the first part of April has been rather quiet, which is fine. Not everything has gone to plan which I'm never a fan of. Still, there are times when that happens where I wonder if it's fate telling me that I'm better off not doing the activity I had planned. I do try to make the best of it when that happens-which includes last night, where I at least went to a store I hadn't been to in ages and made a small purchase. In fact, I'll be positive and not bury a restaurant like I promised I would last time despite them having low-quality food. Considering that place had a limited menu AND their pizza oven was not operational despite the place just opening, there's always the chance they won't be in business for that long anyhow.

I am excited that the baseball season has started up again. I'll be back at Tropicana Field to see the Tampa Bay Rays New to me is that on my TV I will use the MLB app. Besides having highlights of each game, it will be an easy way to catch up on the daily results. Speaking of sports on diamonds, earlier in the year I had two encounters w/ collegiate softball teams that play in Clermont, as they do each other. At a restaurant I sat by some coaches from St. Ambrose University in Iowa. The previous month, when I was at Wal-Mart and saw the entire UW-Platteville team in uniform walking around. Besides that being quite the sight, I've actually been on that campus before-that's where the Chicago Bears used to have their training camp in the late summer way back when.

For the sake of doing something different & being on my feet doing exercise more often, for the first time I visited the Green Mountain Scenic Overlook & Trailhead; that is in Lake County a little bit northwest of Monteverde, the small town best known for having an expensive private school that for years has had one of the best boys high school basketball teams in the country. The trail was in a scenic rural setting & while it's a trail that doesn't have as much wildlife as some others I've been on, it was still nice scenery plus I heard plenty of birds chirping, not to mention some butterflies. Plus, I made it all the way to a pond which had an alligator visible. It was tiring yet a rewarding stroll nevertheless. After that I ate in Monteverde for the first time. Blackbear Kitchen was a small place w/ a small menu where at least what I had was tasty; it was the “healthy” option of macaroni and cheese combined w/ grilled cheese. While the place was noisier than expected, otherwise I can't complain. Afterwards I walked on over to the mother/daughter operation known as Orange Blossom Candies & Cream. Besides it looking charmingly quaint, the mom was working there & was very friendly. Oh, and the ice cream I had was great; I'll be back there sooner rather than later.

Like I said, I'll post another one of these in early May, where I will have a few unique experiences to share.

 

Coca Cola Starlight, Nitro Pepsi, Duck Donuts & Mongolian Grills

I am doing this a few days later than expected; that is OK as besides having more to discuss, I can mention such news items as what happened at the Academy Awards (a WTF moment which was also the only footage from the awards show I even saw) and the sad Bruce Willis news... for a few years now he has appeared in low-budget movies-terrible ones, too, and I know this as I saw one of them last year-where he was only on set for a day or two and his dialogue was fed to him via earpiece; I only heard the scuttlebutt that he had memory-related issues last month but I am sure that's been a problem for a long while now. It's a bummer for me as Die Hard is one of my personal favorites and Aphasia does not sound like the best way to spend the rest of your life.

On a lighter note, I'll mention two new sodas I recently had. Coca Cola Starlight is rather peculiar; they say it is “space flavored”; o-kkkaayyy. It all sounds pretentious; the taste to me is “burnt marshmallows” so don't ask me why that is an “outer space flavor.” I imagine it pairs well w/ graham crackers and a piece from a Hershey's chocolate bar... I also had Nitro Pepsi, which is made the same way that they do nitro beer. There's far less carbonation so it is strange; while not “stale Pepsi” as I heard one reviewer remark, I do prefer that style be applied to stout beers rather than soda. Still, both are outside the box ideas that aren't terrible.

I could make an analogy to ANOTHER terrible restaurant experience I had recently but I'll save it until next time (sometime the first half of April) as I want to be more positive here. Yesterday I went to a restaurant for the first time despite both my parents having gone there a few times before and both liking it. Another bummer is not being able to tell Mom that I also enjoyed bd's Mongolian Grill in Lakeland. That's on me as it was not until recent times that I discovered the place wasn't what I presumed it was. The way the food is made is different: you pick out various items from a buffet (everything's raw) and put it in a bowl. You then walk up to a giant circular grill and someone cooks it for a few minutes before it's given back to you for consumption. There's chicken, steak, and shrimp-so that was enough for me right there. It was actually pretty tasty so shame on me all around for not even giving it a chance years ago. That was indeed a positive restaurant experience.

This past Thursday I made an airport run to Sanford. After dropping people off, it was off to Daytona Beach again as that wasn't too far away from there. Besides getting gas & food at Buc-ee's, I went to the outlet mall and surrounding stores literally across the street from Buc-ee's. It was the nicest outlet mall I've ever visited. While I didn't purchase anything from there, I did get food from Duck Donuts. I've heard of that Carolinas staple before and all the hype was well-deserved. That was another nice food experience and if one was closer to Orlando I'd be there more often.

Like I said I'll be back sometime in the next few weeks; I'll have at least one theatrical experience to discuss & have at least one restaurant experience to share.

Supercross, Daytona International Speedway, The Godfather & Restaurants to Avoid

I'll say more about the month of March when I return next weekend but unfortunately it was a bad experience last night (yesterday was pretty rotten in general) which precipitated the motivation to do one of these. I'll get the negative out of the way so I can end on a positive. Sadly, it looks as if the staff shortages that have ravaged many industries in the United States have done a number on the restaurant business, at least in Florida. Too often this month I've had major issues with that. It started on the 1^st, where right before I saw The Godfather on the big screen (at Disney Springs. Also, the movie is a classic I'm glad to have seen theatrically a few times now) I had dinner at Splitsville for the first time in a few years.

In the past I always liked it there between the food and atmosphere, even if the cost was rather high. This time, though... there was a LONG time between me sitting down and any staff member even acknowledging my presence. After that it was rather lousy service and unlike the tasty food I had before, what I ordered (chicken fingers) were not only mediocre, they only came out a few minutes after they were ordered. To me, it said, “Oh, here's your food... straight from the microwave!” I tipped the appropriate amount then left in a huff. Thankfully it did not ruin the experience of seeing a legendary movie.

Last night, I returned to a place I mentioned back in December: the poorly named Sickes Garage. They're a chain from the Midwest. Well, the first time went swimmingly well while last night was so poor there won't be a third time for me. I understand it'd be busy on a Friday night... apparently they didn't. A severe understaffing of people, it was. I sat at the back bar as it was the only spot for me, solo on this night. Imagine waiting FIFTEEN minutes for anyone to acknowledge I existed... yes, this happened, along with people nearby not being ignored. The only reason why I didn't left was that I needed food NOW and did not want to try and find somewhere not busy with the NCAA basketball tournament on their televisions. From there the service was atrocious; later on I had to explain to a family that arrived later why THEY were being ignored for 15 minutes straight! While the food I had wasn't bad, for the first time ever I left NO tip as that was truly what was deserved. What a lousy day yesterday was.

There was at least a quality restaurant experience; I ate at Yeoman's Cask & Lion, a place I've been at a few times before & never had a problem w/. What made it special: a random person paid my bill! I don't know why but they were certainly thanked by me.

I'll close this out by mentioning that for the first time ever I saw a Supercross race live in person and for the first time ever I went to the Daytona International Speedway, a place driven by a handful of times beforehand by me. Supercross is dirt bike racing done on dirt tracks; it is more fun in person. The speedway itself was certainly impressive: over 100,000 seats and as it's a 2 ½ mile oval, the structure is huge. It's a shame that not only were not enough concessions open, but the staff that operated these concessions were the dumbest, trashiest looking people! You wouldn't believe the length of the lines at each stand, or how long I had to wait for an average meal. I won't be back at the Speedway until at least March of next year, as NASCAR I have zero interest in. Thank heavens then that all the dirt bike races were a blast, or that it was a nice presentation. Also, the race was held during Bike Week in Daytona so literally a few hundred bikes were seen by me, along with plenty of amazing-looking human beings.

Like I said, next weekend I'll post another one of these and that should be more positive. The month of March hasn't been all bad, thankfully.

Spangles, Reebok, Taco Bell Cantina & Turning 41

Thankfully I now will have been caught up with everything important that's either happened in the past few months & I've neglected to mention before or the few things I did in the past week, including my 41^st birthday on the 22^nd. What has happened in the world since then hasn't been great but I don't want to worry about such things.

Instead, I will first mention two details concerning my trip to Kansas, which somehow was two months ago already. One early afternoon I had lunch at a place I've known of since '09 yet never had the chance to eat at beforehand. Spangles is a Kansas chain that's comparable in Steak 'n Shake in terms of style but they lean even harder into the 50's nostalgia. They had good food so I was happy to finally give them a shot. While I was in Kansas it was while wearing new Reebok shoes. I needed something sturdy for winter out there so via one of the outlet malls in Orlando for only 30 bucks, those were purchased. I'm unsure what that says about my fashion sense... I'm also unsure what people say about my hair but recently I had my hair cut—yes it was much-needed.

Earlier in the month, one weeknight I was in downtown Orlando. No, it wasn't like my other times in the area way back when, as fun as those nights were. I walked around to see what was the same & what has changed, then I was going to eat at a specific spot... however, being in there a few minutes and not receiving any sort of service made my say “the hell with them” and it's only me being nice that is why I won't specifically mention which place it was. I needed food NOW so instead of spending time trying to find something more worthwhile, I went with what was close by and that was Taco Bell Cantina. Those unfamiliar, it's supposed to be a more upscale version of the chain. Of course, it is still TACO BELL FOOD meaning that it's not high in quality or taste; it's not like they offer better product just because the place looked fancier and was downtown.

A family friend was down here for a week and a half; that was why recently I was at restaurants like the Ramshackle Cafe or Gator Joe's. Well, in the past week I returned to two places w/ this friend and dad: the day of my birthday we were at 145 Degree Seafood Boil, a tasty local establishment in town I've mentioned a few times before. Afterwards we had dessert at Bruster's Real Ice Cream as it was within walking distance. The next night was the Saltgrass Steak House on I-Drive. We thankfully all enjoyed our meals and it was nice for them to see the Orlando Eye Ferris wheel along with the Orlando StarFlyer. No I've never been on the StarFlyer myself... it's a swing ride where you go around in a circle... at almost 450 feet in the air! On my own I had to be in Leesburg for something; afterwards I drove a little north to Lady Lake for dinner and at at a Huey Magoo's; there's another local chain mentioned by me a few times before. They have rather tasty chicken so there's another recommendation.

It won't be many weeks until I return. While nothing is planned for March quite yet, I'll try to be a little more exciting than I have been in recent months.

Ramshackle Cafe, Mount Dora, Winter Olympics & Clermont Brewing Company

To catch up on the other things I've done this year so far:

I've been doing fine overall even though at the moment I still feel a little melancholy. Earlier in the month there were two different people connected to people I know (only one of which I had chatted with personally before) who unexpectedly passed away. Both were a few years younger than me so there are quite a few people I feel badly for. Meanwhile, last week I saw someone driving an Audi R8 Spyder and besides admiring that supercar because it's stunning to look at, it was a vehicle that Mom loved so I wish I could tell her I saw one... also, what would she have thought of the Winter Olympics, and specifically the fiasco that was the women's figure skating competition-what happened there was just deplorable. Other than that they were enjoyable to watch, especially events like luge and bobsled.

On a happier note, I did support a local business and early in January went to Clermont Brewing Company for dinner for the first time. They have fine pizza in a nice rustic building. There have been some eateries I've returned to for the first time in awhile (like a Hooters on I-Drive, Everglazed Donuts at Disney Springs or Shake Shack) but the only other new one was just a few days ago, when in Leesburg I finally ate at Ramshackle Cafe. Someone I know loves eating there and I've driven past the place literally a few dozen times on Highway 27 yet I never stopped to try their food. It was good so one day I'll return there on my own. I ate there with two people I know and before that went to Mount Dora, a town I've never actually spent any time in before. That's something I regret so later in the year I need to wander around on my own. While in Mount Dora we walked around Palm Island Park, a lovely nature preserve where many critters can be seen w/ various species of birds & alligators being the highlight.

Other than that, not too many other highlights. Sure, an annual pass was renewed at Walt Disney World but nothing new was at the Magic Kingdom, although it WAS nice to experience some attractions for the first time in years, like the Hall of Presidents or Mickey's Philharmagic. Early in January was the Mecum Auto Auction in Kissimmee but again nothing new was there that was worth discussing. Thus, as I am posting this later than I wanted to (because reasons) I'll instead note that I'll return a week from today and note that besides talking about my 41^st birthday-which I can't believe is only two days away-I'll mention some things from December of last year that I neglected to mention beforehand.

Ghostbusters: Afterlife, Nightmare Alley, Scream, Death on the Nile, Blacklight & Licorice Pizza

Once again I waited too long to do another one of these so once again it will be a two-parter, the second part to be posted tomorrow. So far in 2022, there have been ups and downs, but overall I've been fine. Also, somehow I'll turn 41 (!) on Tuesday. For today, I'll mention the theatrical movies I've seen; this will be shorter than what I post tomorrow.

Ghostbusters: Afterlife I saw basically because someone late last year asked me about it... this is what I did so I could say on Facebook that the movie was fine. It goes in hard on the nostalgia for the first film so it doesn't exactly feel fresh yet overall it's still good as it was charming enough & has enough heart for me. A few days ago I revisited Ghostbusters II for the first time in literally decades because director Ivan Reitman passed away. That was also fine.

Nightmare Alley was something I enjoyed; in fact, I liked it as much as I did the original 1947 film noir. Both are based on an old book I've never read but the new version of course has stronger violence and more time spent at the carnival, which was fascinating to me as the old carnival world was fascinating.

Scream was good-while not really necessary at least it was the best in the franchise since the second one and wasn't quite so ham-fisted like the last one was. At this screening was a vocal person-you know, the type to yell out, “No, don't do it!” during certain scenes. That was actually fine with me to have such reactions when watching a slasher movie.

Blacklight was not too good. Most of these Liam Neeson Old Man Action movies are fine-sure, they're generic but they're fine. Blacklight wasn't that; it was just lousy and totally forgettable instead.

Death on the Nile was another movie I'll say was fine; the same goes for Murder on the Orient Express. I saw Murder theatrically so mainly for that reason I figured to do the same with its long-delayed sequel which was shelved for so long that several people in the cast got in real life trouble for their behavior;what Armie Hammer is accused of, yikes.

Licorice Pizza wasn't my favorite Paul Thomas Anderson movie (it's no There Will Be Blood or Boogie Nights) but it was still very good. For those that were baffled w/ the title like I was, it used to be a chain of record stores in Southern California-you see, records have the taste of black licorice (hopefully they taste better...) and are pizza pie shaped, so there you go. Beforehand, I was surprised also at the age difference between the two leads; except for the ending shot I can't complain about that relationship. It was a movie in the early 70's where they engage in various adventures; it was fun and of course the soundtrack was great.

I'll be back tomorrow with the other highlights of 2022 so far.