UFO's, The Mongolorian, X & MagicBand+

To catch up and mention what else has happened in July, let me mention one event I should have brought up last time: the night that I was in Kissimmee at Joe's Crab Shack w/ that peculiar bartender, this was after I spent some time at the Mecum Auto Auctions event on the East side of town. It wasn't their big January event w/ several thousand vehicles but they've started doing a smaller July event that still has at least 1,000 vehicles so it it worth visiting. No vehicles that are worth seven figures but there still were some nice ones.

There's only a few new events to mention. Before that, I'll mention that July 25^th was a melancholy day; it doesn't seem like that it's been 3 years since Mom passed away on that date, but it's true. I dealt w/ that the best I could. As for me mentioning a UFO... for a few hours last Sunday I technically saw an object in the sky whose origins were unknown to me. It was a light flying slowly, then suddenly a big plume of smoke came out of the craft. It wasn't until a few hours later and I searched Google correctly that I knew what that object was: one of Elon Musk's rockets! I had no clue one of those would be launched Sunday night soon after the sun set; no comment on Musk himself, although Twitter changing its name to X makes me wonder if my theory of Musk buying Twitter to ruin it is a theory that has merit...

Anyhow, two days before that I was in Orlando; I visited a few places then ended up at a new restaurant: The Mongolorian. It was a place that had a long-delayed opening; so long that it was obvious the name came from when The Mandalorian was more popular than it was now. Yes, they serve Asian food; it's not like BD's Mongolian Grill, a place in Lakeland I've visited before. Instead, you order at a touchscreen and wait a bit before it's served to you. The dish I had was fine; none of the dishes were named after anything related to Star Wars. That's a wise idea, as Disney is still rather litigious.

Speaking of Disney, a few days ago I was at the Animal Kingdom. Besides not having been there in awhile, the chief purpose of the visit was to get a MagicBand+ to replace the old regular MagicBand I've had for a few years. The only reason for the upgrade is that what I had was literally starting to fall apart. That one featured Darth Vader; this time there was a far larger selection and it wasn't an easy choice. Ultimately, what I purchased was a gray + which celebrated 100 years of Disney. It featured Mickey & Minnie Mouse in suits... along with Chip & Dale, randomly. It also features an Art Deco design, which is pretty neat to me. + bands are ones you have to charge up as it has increased functionality, although most of it won't be of much use to me, to be frank. Maybe in the future there will be more—but who knows, with all the turmoil Disney in general has dealt w/ in recent years.

I may be back as soon as in about a week; if nothing else, a few movies would be discussed.

The Dial of Destiny, Dead Reckoning Part One, Mountain Dew Baja Blast & Jojo's Shake Bar

Since the last time a few weeks ago, there isn't too much to write about, but I'll manage. In terms of restaurants, most of the ones I went to were me returning to them for the first time in awhile. This includes the Texas Roadhouse and a Joe's Crab Shack, the latter of which was a location new to me in Kissimmee. That place had shrimp that was alright and the bartender was a little weird. That said, it was still an experience that wasn't bad (there WERE ones that were bad, but I won't talk about those) so no complaints.

Two places that were new: yesterday I went to the East side of Orlando to try out the Aussie Grill. That is a quick service place run by Outback so nothing too terribly fancy, yet the food was good. Earlier in the month, I one day went to Pointe Orlando-a place barren compared to what it used to be years ago-as it had a joint known as Jojo's Shake Bar. Get this: it has an 80's and 90's theme (including for some reason showing cartoons of 1980's British cartoon Danger Mouse) so the music was from early 80's through early 2000's; I was more than happy to hear that as I had a shake and-get this-a burger & fries. It was all good so I was happy to visit a place seemingly designed to appeal to me.

Speaking of good, a few weeks ago I purchased some Baja Blast, which is a summer tradition as I always get some when they offer it for a limited time. The two new flavors this year are Passionfruit & Guava. Curious, yet I do like both. Otherwise, things have been on the quiet side. The 4^th of July went fine and I actually saw random people shoot off fireworks near home so that served as entertainment. A few days ago I got a haircut; hold on to your hats but it was NOT needed. Rather, it was because I was e-mailed a coupon for a few dollars off and it expired today. Thus, let me close on the two movies I saw.

Late last month was Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. The original trilogy was a childhood favorite and I was actually taken to The Last Crusade by Mom as an 8 year old in '89. I think highly of that trilogy... Kingdom of the Crystal Skull less so. Yet, Crystal Skull doesn't look so bad in comparison to Dial of Destiny. It made Indy look like an old grumpy fool which wasn't what I wanted, the lead girl was rather insufferable, and the “adventure” was rather blah aside from the opening segment where Harrison Ford was de-aged. That was the only time it even felt like a proper movie. Admittedly, the movie took a risk in the final act; in recent years, risks that big just don't happen in big blockbusters. Unfortunately, it was just bonkers, really dumb and I couldn't even enjoy such lunacy. Then again, I had no expectations so I wasn't enraged by the end product... just disappointed.

In contrast, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One was a blast. The last few movies in that franchise I've really enjoyed but this may have been the most fun. While the action wasn't as incredible as in Fallout, it was still a blast. The story, it was the best (IMO) due to how modern it felt. Part Two-coming out a year from now-may drop the ball and really let me down, but that bridge will be crossed then. I loved it so much, the movie has been watched twice by me already, both on giant screens where the spectacle stood out. Tom Cruise as a person I don't love—him as a movie star is a different story. As I don't watch comic book movies or TV shows, this was my first time experiencing Hayley Atwell... what a fool I am for not seeing anything w/ her before! Yes, her physical beauty is appealing but it was the performance that was the highlight of the entire movie.

I should be back sometime in early August.