Furman Paladins, San Diego State Aztecs, Yalaha Bakery, Scream VI & Cocaine Bear

First off, my apologies for not doing one of these in way too long. In fact, by this time next week I expect to do a few more of these so I can properly catch up. Thus, I’ll be dispensing information in no particular order. This time, it will be the big event I did last Thursday, my trip to a local establishment and the two theatrical movies I’ve experienced since the last time.

Last Thursday was the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, a big deal for college hoops fans each year. This year some games would be played in Orlando at the Amway Center; as the tickets for the early games were relatively cheap (two games for barely over 20 bucks), I hadn’t been to the Amway Center in at least 5 years and I had a good time when the 2014 games were in O-Town, that’s what I did on that way. The second game was fun as the San Diego State Aztecs defeated the College of Charleston Cougars 63-57.

However, the first game was unforgettable. The Furman Paladins played against the Virginia Cavaliers. Virginia was heavily favored; among other things, the Paladins (named after the knights that guarded Charlemagne, which is pretty cool) hadn’t been to the tournament since 1980 and hadn’t won a game since Nixon was in office. Thus, many of their fans drove down from South Carolina for the game. Virginia was ahead most of the way yet Furman held on. Finally, it turned around near the end and how Furman won improbably was incredible.

The highlights that can be found on YouTube show what happen far better than my explanation of same. The Paladin fans lost their mind at the conclusion and that was great. They lost by quite a bit to San Diego State on Saturday but alas…I sat in the upper deck and while there wasn’t much legroom, at least the seats were padded so it wasn’t that uncomfortable. I need to visit the Amway a bit more often; at least I had a good time even if there needs to be more men’s rooms and getting out of the parking garage nearby took at least 10 minutes.

To mention another random activity, earlier this week I went to a German bakery that Mom liked & went to a few times yet until that time I had never visited the Yalaha Bakery. Yes, there’s a tiny town 20 miles away named Yalaha. I picked up a few times and had one; it was in fact quite tasty. After that I went to Montverde and for only the second time stopped by a great ice cream shop known as Orange Blossom Candies & Cream. As the main bridge into Montverde was finally fixed recently, my trips to Montverde will be more frequent.

Finally, the two theatrical experiences I had were for Cocaine Bear then Scream VI. CB, I mainly went as for years I’ve known of the real life story of a random bear in Georgia ingesting coke thrown out of an airplane by a drug smuggler. Of course the bear IRL OD’ed after likely a few minutes instead of going on a rampage as shown in the movie. As for the film, there were plenty of unfunny moments yet the wacky moments, actual tolerable child performers and Ray Liotta’s small role made it just fine. Fine is another word to use when talking of Scream VI. Then again, that’s also my opinion of last year’s Scream V, as it’s unofficially known as. VI had some nice moments-along with gruesome ones-although also some dumb ones, especially in the final act.

When I return real soon, I have quite a few interesting moments to discuss. Everything from new beverages and restaurants to visitors and a special trip on my 42^nd birthday.

Missing, Pathaan, EPCOT Festival of the Arts, Mammoth Oak Brewing Company & Deadwords Brewing

There isn't too much to say this time; however, as the rest of the month will be busy (for reasons I'll elaborate upon next time) I might as well mention the few things I've done in the past two weeks.

I'll mention two movies I saw. First was Missing; it was similar to Searching from a few years ago where the movie is focused on an investigation done by an amateur into the disappearance of a loved one, and the perspective is online sleuthing done on the Internet. This time the scope is broadened a bit but the idea is the same. Searching is a bit better yet both movies are quite interesting. Entirely different is the Indian movie-in the Hindi language-Pathaan; that part of the world usually has bonkers movies melding together various genres and being completely OOT. While not as awesome as RRR, Pathaan is like the 5^th to 7^th Fast & Furious films with some Mission: Impossible moments mixed in. Gleefully absurd and bonkers action scenes, yes... thus, I found it to be fun.

On a random Thursday, I had to be in Leesburg for something; thus, dinner was had at a random small brewery with basic yet acceptable décor in a shopping plaza known as Mammoth Oak Brewing Company. The chicken & fries I had were fine. Another day I was in Orlando so food was had at Deadwords Brewing; the name refers to how recipes for beer were first devised in languages that don't exist anymore. If it wasn't apparent, the place is totally hipster in décor; after all, the bar is right in front of a bookshelf containing random bric-a-brac that doesn't just include books. Be that as it may, their “Neo-dough and cheese curd bites” were definitely tasty. Sure, the place is on OBT (Orange Blossom Trail) but it isn't the worst stretch of that infamous road...

Finally, I renewed my Annual Pass at Disney by visiting EPCOT, where their Festival of the Arts was taking place. The Food & Wine and Flower & Garden Festivals are of more interest to me yet it isn't bad by any means. Relatively new is their Connections Eatery (not to be confused with the Connections Cafe that serves Starbucks) so for the first time I had a meal there. I had two large slices of pizza for what wasn't a bad price, at least by Disney standards.

To reiterate, I'll be back later in the month and I should have more than a few things to discuss.

Babylon, M3GAN, New York Beer Project, IKEA & Root Beer Glaze Wings

In the first 21 days of 2023 I already have a few things to mention which I didn’t bring up a few days ago. On the 8th I finally saw the movie Babylon, which a lot of “online film fans” seemed to love but I know has a frostier reception among the public. My opinion: I know some things about that time in Hollywood and thus understand that at least there’s the reputation of wild hedonism; the movie went in that direction and all the vulgar crassness & F-bombs were not something I loved. I preferred the kinetic scenes and the examinations of how the sausage was made. There were some WTF moments-including the ending-yet overall I’ll say it was fine due to its positive attributes, such as the performances from the cast and its great score.

One night I went to a new area just a bit northwest of Disney which only has a few stores open as of now but there are plenty of buildings waiting to be filled. One restaurant that is open now is known as New York Beer Project; as expected they have two locations in the state of New York itself but this is the first place outside those confines. It has quite the ambiance (chandeliers and big fake trees) & the product I tried was good.

Another night was the movie M3GAN; the trailers promised campy fun and thankfully it delivered on that part. The crowd I was w/ ate it all up and laughed at all the funny moments which only improved the experience. The most (in)famous moment is the robot dancing before going on a murderous rampage. Turns out the reason for that was… there was no reason presented for M3GAN to do so aside from it being some sort of elaborate taunt!

In terms of restaurants, no new ones to mention although I plan on that changing by the time I do another one of these within the next few weeks. One night I ate at a Dave’s Hot Chicken, but not on the East side of town by the UCF campus. Rather, they recently opened another location in Altamonte Springs where a World of Beer used to occupy the space. Once in awhile I’ll get food there as what they offer is fine. Another night I was going to eat at a Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen but when me and some others sat at the bar (one person was already there so we knew it was open) and no one came around for a few minutes or even acted like we existed, I said “the heck with it” (or words to that effect) and instead went to a nearby BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse to originally have some pizza… until I saw that they had boneless wings with a root beer glaze. That sounded bizarre so I tried them; yep, bizarre yet still good.

On Friday I was gonna go somewhere yet my plans changed due to a presumed accident causing a traffic jam so as I didn’t have a plan B, the Mall at Millenia area was visited as it was nearby and I hadn’t been there in awhile. My time there included the mall itself, IKEA (a minor item was purchased) and a nearby Target where some groceries were purchased. Thus, a decent time was made out of ruined plans. The rest of the month not much is on the agenda… yet.

Stories of Splash Mountain & the Bad Moments of 2023 So Far

For the first thing I write in 2023 I wasn’t expecting to discuss various sad events yet that is what I have to do. There have been celebrity deaths that bummed me out-like Lisa Marie Presley & Jeff Beck-which bummed me out and what happened with Jeremy Renner was a shame. But others passing away have affected me more. I’ll be back by the end of the month to discuss the other events of 2023 so far, which will have more cheery stories to be told.

Last Wednesday I was at Mecum in Kissimmee and as typical it was nice to see a few thousand different automobiles for sale on display, whether they be old muscle car, exotics (some will know how amazing it was that I saw both a Ferrari Enzo and a Ferrari F40), or niche vehicles that only some will appreciate. On the way back home I was on the Osceola Parkway heading West. Eastbound traffic was stopped and they were turning around. I then saw a corpse on the ground covered by a white sheet. Needless to say that was upsetting; all the time I’ve been in an automobile my entire life I don’t recall having experienced such a sight before. As there was no wrecked car around I figured out what happened; at home an article informed me that someone from Guatemala was ran over and killed after crossing that road. That section of the 4 lane toll road, I wouldn’t have suspected anyone to be crossing the road either but this will forever me on my mind whenever I am on the Osceola Parkway.

Tuesday night I was bummed out when I heard that a pro wrestler only 38 years old passed away in a car accident. For fans of independent wrestling all across the United States the past twenty years, they’ll know the wrestler Jay Briscoe, who teamed with real life brother Mark as The Briscoe Brothers. They were great even as teenagers; I saw them once in Illinois and quite a few times in Florida from ’06 through ’08. It was always a treat seeing them wrestle (even if I never talked to them in person) and they had many fans across the world. I have no idea why they were never in AEW as that would have been a perfect fit. There are rumors as to why (was it because Jay was once homophobic on Twitter years ago? He soon then apologized so I have no idea if that rumor has any basis in fact or not) but everyone in that world is just broken up about it. The fact that his two daughters were in the car and both were seriously injured themselves… tragic all around.

To end this on a better note, yesterday I was at the Magic Kingdom for the first time in awhile. Even if it was to experience an attraction one last time, overall I had a lot of fun there. After Sunday, Splash Mountain will be no more; next year it will be a reskinned ride, this time based on an animated movie I haven’t seen before-The Princess and the Frog. That is as controversial as you’d expect so no comment on my part, nor how it’s always been funny that Splash Mountain is based on animated segments in a live-action film which has aged so poorly that Disney is petrified to release it in the United States in any format since 1986. I’ve been fortunate to have been on Splash Mountain many times through the years but I had to do so one last time. My time at the Magic Kingdom was pretty pleasant: a nice dinner, going on rides I visit frequently (Space Mountain, the Buzz Lightyear attraction) along with others that aren’t as frequent, such as the Carousel of Progress, which will always be charming… especially the further along in the future we get and the dialogue in the final act remains the same. After all, that final act was last updated, written and voiced THIRTY years ago so it’s rather quaint to hear of CAR PHONES and LASERDISCS as “wow” gadgets.

While there’s no shortage of videos on YouTube of the entire Splash Mountain ride (both at Walt Disney World and Disneyland) it will never be quite like actually getting in the log flume and getting drenched after the big drop. This last time at least had a heartwarming moment which is the perfect way to close out what has otherwise been me recounting sad events of varying degrees. I paid for Genie + to get on that and Space Mountain; like everyone I prefer the old FastPass system but that’s another topic for another time. In the “Lightning Lane” there was a mom, dad and little girl right behind me; they ended up right behind me on the ride also. I’m glad they got to experience that ride once, especially the girl. After the big drop she giggled uncontrollably, that’s how good of a time she had. I’m glad to have had a good time yesterday after the Tuesday night news.

One last random note: one thing I did last night after arriving home: I stumbled upon a YouTube video of the Carousel of Progress in 1981 that some person filmed on a Super 8 camera or some sort of camcorder. Wow was it different, and not just the final segment which was amazingly 70’s. Many people in 2023 would likely proclaim “it’s full of sexism” but you can find that on YouTube if you’re interested. To use a phrase from earlier, it’s aged poorly.

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.