The Apollo Theatre, Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. & The Super Mario Bros. Movie

It wasn't necessarily the idea to do one of these today. However, any plans for this random Sunday went awry; for the past several days, there's been intermittent minor pain in my right heel when I walk. I must be getting old; besides that happening to me, I can't explain how it first happened! This all turned out for the best—this afternoon I had an important phone call which was best taken at home.

I'll start with the sad news first. What shocking news it was that The Apollo Theatre in my old hometown of Belvidere would have its roof collapse during bad storms one night and unfortunately led to injury and even death. As a kid that place was driven by many times although my only time in there (once it was reopened as a venue) was an independent wrestling show in November of 2003, of all things. Seeing the photos of the devastation, it also reminded me of how little has changed downtown since I was a kid. As long as I can remember, Sam's Pizza and Lung Fung's Chinese Restaurant have been institutions so I'm happy to see they both are still in business.

Not too much has happened in the past few weeks; the restaurants I've visited were ones I've gone to before although typically not in a long while. This includes the Celebration Town Tavern, Dave's Hot Chicken and Cracker Barrel; the latter had food which wasn't as good as usual which is a shame as at least the service was quite good. Otherwise, there's been the viewing of various sports on television, whether it be football, NCAA basketball (last month I never could have imaged that one of the teams I saw live-San Diego State-would make it all the way to the finals before losing to Connecticut) or the start of the baseball season where there are some big rule changes and I'm undecided if all of them I approve of... yet.

To close this out-I may be back in a few weeks-I'll mention two recent theatrical experiences. Late last month was 2003's Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. That was a Fathom Event presented nationwide. While not even my favorite Godzilla movie of that era, it was still a good time, especially considering it was a first time watch. The other was The Super Mario Bros. Movie. Speaking of my childhood, those games were definitely played although the last one was in the 90's. There was still enough for me that I knew and while the plot was incredibly safe, that doesn't mean it was bad. In fact, the film was more entertaining and amusing than expected. It's perfect for kids and most adults shouldn't mind.