Coca-Cola Y3000, Stetson Hatters, Lazy Dog Restaurant & Bar, A Haunting in Venice & EPCOT

It was time to do one of these again; in part, it was because last time (due to discussing a few deaths) I neglected to mention a few details I should have. Thus, I have a lot to say but at least now I will be caught up. To speak chronologically, I visited EPCOT last month chiefly to use my new MagicBand. It works and at least lights up when you're admitted, but one of the few uses for MagicBand+ is scanning it by some gold statues which subsequently plays a small snippet of audio... except that I learned from others that you have to wave your wrist around like a buffoon for it to even register! Perhaps that's why there aren't more uses for a MagicBand+ yet... Also last month I went to a new restaurant in Kissimmee called Lazy Dog Restaurant & Bar. There needed to be more people working at the bar itself but otherwise I can't complain about the joint.

Now, onto my September. The most interesting event of that month so far was my attending a live football game. It was in DeLand to see the Stetson Hatters play against the Webber Wildcats. I'd seen Stetson play before... albeit the last time was way back in 2017. Since then their municipal stadium that they share with the city's high school had been renovated and for certain it is an improvement. The first half was dominated by Stetson yet in the second Webber played better (or maybe it was also that Stetson played worse) so the final score was 38-28. In hindsight I should have returned there much sooner.
 

I haven't visited any new restaurants this month, although at least I went to one or two I hadn't been to in months. As for movies, I saw some theatrically. The Equalizer 3 was a good time; I've liked all three in the franchise even if none of them were even 4 star films, let alone 5. At least they were all fun. The same goes for all the Kenneth Branagh Hercule Poirot movies. A Haunting in Venice was perhaps the best of the three as it was a darker more introspective tale; in the trailers they played up the horror elements, which were only a small part of what was otherwise a standard mystery tale. The Nun II was a fun time; I liked the first more than most, in large part due to its strong Gothic vibes. The sequel doesn't have as strong vibes although at least the scares were better. It became nonsense, but fun nonsense.

Finally, I tried two limited edition sodas that came out a few days ago. It is now a tradition for Mountain Dew to release a VooDEW flavor around Halloween. This time around the company announced the flavor is tied to a specific candy. Having tried it and reading scuttlebutt elsewhere, it's not a candy I necessarily tie to trick or treating but maybe I'm mistaken; at least it tastes fine. The same goes for Coca-Cola Y3000. As with their other flavors this year, it is rather out of left field tastes; as for the bizarre name, it is tied to AI, of all things. The flavor was “co-created with AI”, which could mean a lot of things. I know the artwork on the can was created w/ AI; that's controversial now but I'd rather not open that can of worms.

Anyhow, I'll return sometime in October. Not much is on the agenda... yet.

Terry Funk, Bray Wyatt, Jimmy Buffett, The Last Voyage of the Demeter & Colbie's Southern Kissed Chicken

During this Labor Day weekend, I have to discuss some deaths but at the end will be some more positivity. Sadly, last night I heard that someone from my old hometown-who happened to be in my high school class and I chatted with before-passed away; that was a shock.

As for pro wrestling, there have been quite a few old personalities who have passed away in recent times. However, Bray Wyatt was a stunner; he was only 36. What little I saw of him I just never got his persona and his Fiend character was something I loathed. That said, he had several young children so it was still awful. Terry Funk, he is beloved in wrestling and many say he was their all-time favorite. I got to see him AND briefly chat with him in 2003. I still lived in Illinois at the time but was in Florida on vacation. I attended an MLW show in Orlando where he wrestled another legend, Abdullah the Butcher. I bought a shirt and took a picture with him; I need to find the latter as I want to post that on social media. Him passing away in his late 70's wasn't an eye-opener as he had been ill for awhile. Jimmy Buffett, that did surprise as who knew he was sick? I only know some songs but he knew how to make money via branding and I do like his Margaritaville restaurants.

Speaking of restaurants, a new one was tried last weekend. In the Northeast they have a few places known as Colbie's Southern Kissed Chicken; one in Kissimmee was opened a little while ago yet it's in an inconvenient spot for me so that explains the delay. It is rated as less than 4 out of 5 on Google and I would have preferred the music in there not to be so loud. That said, I'm not sure why the rating isn't that high as the food actually was pretty tasty.

The one film I saw theatrically was The Last Voyage of the Demeter. The film definitely had some flaws & did not need to be a hair under 2 hours long. That said, it had a nice atmosphere, was Gothic at times & there were some decent scares. September, I'll go to a few theatrical movies; otherwise there isn't much on my agenda... yet.