Family Visits, Clearwater Beach, Coca Cola Ultimate, Extraction 2 & The Flash

On this lazy Sunday afternoon, there is enough for me to share my activities in the past week plus. In the most interesting few days I've had in several months, one of my sisters and her beau came down here for a few days. I picked them up at the St. Pete/Clearwater airport (after killing some time at the International Plaza shopping center in Tampa) on Saturday the 17^th and from there headed on over to Clearwater Beach. Mainly due to its location right on the beach, a late lunch was had at Palm Pavilion Beachside Grill & Bar, attached to the hotel of the same name.

The shrimp was on the salty side and it took a few minutes to receive the check but by 2023 restaurant standards, it was still a good time w/ a great view. After all, two nights later the family went out to a local restaurant and while my food was tasty, otherwise it was a rotten experience so bad that it turned everyone off. They flew back on the 21^st but on the 20^th, time was spent at Walt Disney World, from the morning to the early evening. Three of the parks were visited and while busier than what we would have all liked, it at least wasn't boiling hot as it usually is in June (after not much of a winter, there's been some milder than usual days this month) & overall, it was a lot of fun having them down here. For the first time in probably two years I was on Disney's Skyliner cabs, which was neat. Sometime in July I'll return to WDW on my own.

Otherwise, not too much else to mention. Recently I purchased Coca Cola's new limited edition flavor, Ultimate; it's based on the League of Legends videogame. Apparently, “Laffy Taffy” is what you're supposed to think when thoughts drift towards that game; that flavor profile was stolen from someone else but that is not an inaccurate description of Ultimate's flavor. Anyhow, I do have two movie recommendations to make, both on Netflix. Extraction 2 is as much fun as the first and even at three hours, the Arnold documentary-yes, about Schwarzenegger-was great. As for a film I don't recommend...

Last Thursday evening I went and saw The Flash; that is despite my distaste of how Warner Brothers Discovery have operated this year, my tremendous disinterest in superhero movies AND what a gigantic creep star Ezra Miller is. Yet I was sold a bill of goods by a YouTube reviewer who overhyped the film. Yes, it was neat seeing Michael Keaton as Old Man Batman but the story squandered the multiverse concept (expect for a great cameo literally years in the making) and had AWFUL humor. The most effective scene involved the lead character and his mom; the plot is that he wants to go back in time to save her-I understand the feeling-and a moment at the end did “get me in the feels”. Otherwise, there was no need for me to have that theatrical experience. Then again, this upcoming week I'll be checking out the new Indiana Jones and that is something I fear will actually be bad.

My return will be sometime next month.

Kandahar, Sisu, Orlando Wetlands Park, The Iron Sheik & Milk: The House of Cereal

Catching up, I first have to mention that it was sad to hear that pro wrestler The Iron Sheik passed away last week; what a fascinating life he had (if quite sad at times) and I actually got to meet him once at a wrestling show like 15 or so years ago... he was one of a few legends present for an autograph signing so somewhere I have an autographed photo of him.

I've only seen two movies theatrically since late April; Sisu was insufferable and was not as fun as you'd expect from the premise of “a Finnish dude kills many Nazi villains in Lapland during World War II” but at least Kandahar was fine... even if it was a movie filmed in Saudi Arabia so I had to figuratively hold my nose while watching it. The rest of the summer, there's a few films I plan on checking out theatrically; that includes the new Indiana Jones, which I am incredibly wary of but I really hope that is not as dreadful as it could be.

One day last month I went on over east of Orlando to the Orlando Wetlands Park; it was a place I discovered in a Facebook ad. It's a pleasant scenic area which not only has a wide variety of animals to see (birds, turtles, and alligators) but there is a new boardwalk which goes over part of the marshland which presents great views of wildlife. It was a neat thing to do once... as was this past Saturday returning to the Dezerland complex in Orlando. Yesterday I got a Groupon for usage later in the summer, and that will be at The Pinball Palace; however, the novelty place I ate at on Saturday was the amusingly named Milk: The House of Cereal. That is one of those cereal bars that have started becoming hip; you pay a few bucks for a bowl of cereal and milk; I had lemon frosted Cheerios. That was a first-time try and those were pretty good.

Otherwise, nothing important to mention about life the past month and a half or so. I'll be back in a few weeks and I know there will be more to discuss.

Bad Restaurant Experiences, Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers & the Toronto Blue Jays

My bad for not doing one of these in May; this post and one I'll make tomorrow evening will have me all caught up with what I've done since April 30. It hasn't been too terribly eventful—unfortunately, the main thought in my head is that in 2023, there have been far too many poor restaurant experiences. No specific examples will be given but a long while ago I heard from somewhere the idea that the pandemic decimated the entire restaurant landscape... meaning that many of the best left the field during the time so what we get now is totally lousy at best: keeping the building clean, the quality of the food, the service, and a lack of employees in general.

Whether it be new places or ones I've revisited after a long while, too many have just let me down or at the very worst, angered me. That's why I was relieved that at some places (like local chain Oakwood Smokehouse & Grill or the T-Rex Cafe at Disney Springs) it was a huge relief that those places had no issues to speak of. Heck, me and two people went to a Golden Corral on I-Drive (their idea) and for as busy as they were, there were no complaints to be complained about.

One day I went to St. Petersburg to see the Tampa Bay Rays play against the Toronto Blue Jays; the Rays have done surprisingly great so far this season. In an exciting game that Tampa Bay almost choked away at the end-not the only time that's happened this season-and it was good times. So was visiting a Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers in Clearwater (they have two, believe it or not); it's a chain I first heard about online years ago so it was exciting to visit one around Biloxi, Mississippi back when I was in a vehicle being driven from Florida to Wichita, Kansas. They now have a few locations in Florida-one day they're supposed to debut in Orlando. It would have been preferable if that place didn't blast LOUD music or there had been some sort of snafu with my order... but at least the lady who took my order noticed I hadn't received it yet so she personally handled that and it was appreciated; so was the good quality of said food.

Otherwise, the rest of the highlights in the past 6 or so weeks will be discussed tomorrow; I would be remiss if I didn't mention that another decent restaurant experience was Ford's Garage in Kissimmee—thank heavens that place hasn't fallen.