Yes, until this past Thursday I had never watched the movie in full. I swear this is true.
Here's what I've done since last Monday; as I did nothing of note on Monday the 20th, let me skip ahead to Tuesday. That evening, I returned to Disney Springs. I walked around and saw it was largely the same as my last time there a few weeks ago. I went to the AMC Theatres there and what I saw was not a movie but rather a sporting event. It was the Copa America Centenario soccer match between the United States and Argentina. Despite not being a huge soccer fan, the novelty of seeing it that way plus getting out the house was an enticing mix for me. It took some time for the people there to properly turn on the game for viewing but it finally was figured out. As for the game, even I could see the obvious difference in skill between the two teams. Argentina looked so much better and it was proven as they won 4-0. Messi's talent was also proven.
Wednesday, I did nothing to note so onto Thursday, which was an interesting day. I finally saw the movie Independence Day in full; that's right, I somehow never watched it in the 20 years it's been out. I saw some scenes and I did know Bill Pullman's epic speech, but that's about it. To be frank, the movie looked too dopey and ridiculous to me and well, it is quite dopey and ridiculous. I saw it in Orlando; places across the country had a double bill where on the big screen they played the original and then at 8PM it was Resurgence. It has its charms but I usually don't watch such things... as snobby as that might sound. As for Resurgence, despite what most everyone thinks, I actually liked it a little more; the fact that there weren't as many annoying/stupid characters helped in that regard. I saw it in 3D; as for most 3D movies of modern times, you can watch it in 2D and it's probably better that way.
Friday, I went with someone to the local Outback Steakhouse as the neither of us had been to one in ages. That went fine, and it provided a great comic moment where a woman pulled a Buford T. Justice from Smokey & the Bandit and walked out of the bathroom with toilet paper stuck to their foot. Saturday, the only thing of note is that late in the evening, something I ate earlier did not agree with me, and as I know no one wants to hear those details, I'll move onto Sunday. That evening, I made another airport run, this time to pick someone up in Sanford. They were delayed about an hour, but that only meant I left an hour later. On the way there I stopped in Lake Mary to get cheap gas then I went to a Tilted Kilt, as I hadn't been to one of those in ages. I had a Fire Rock Pale Ale beer from Kona Brewery in Hawaii, and from having a few of their beers, Kona makes quality brew. The trip back home was uneventful, which was nice as this past week I had to deal with some heinous traffic. I mean, even worse than usual. At times I had to let them know what I thought of what they were doing... even know I am sure that most of the time they are too dumb to know why I am angry at them.
I will be back a week from today even if it's the 4th of July. I do have an idea or two when it comes to activities.
Monday, June 27, 2016
Monday, June 20, 2016
Blueberry Cobbler Beer, Ali, Macarons & Orlando Strong
Here's what I've done since last Monday. On that Monday the 13th the only thing of note I did was go to a local wine store for the first time; it is called Wine Regions and while they had more of a selection of wine and hard liquor than beer, the beer they had at least was some nice choices. I got the Einstok Toasted Porter (it's from Iceland, actually; it's good) and the Queen Bohemian Rhapsody Lager. It's from the Czech Republic and it was fine. Tuesday, I returned to Universal CityWalk. I had no worries about being in Orlando after the events of the previous weekend... still, I never felt more glad that they use metal detectors. I had dinner at the Burger King Whopper Bar-that was fine-then saw a movie before having a drink at the NBC Sports Grill & Brew. The movie I saw was 2001's Ali; yes, they were showing it. As I had heard for years, that movie is good rather than great, although Will Smith in the title role was tremendous.
Wednesday, I did nothing so I'll just mention how horrible it was at Walt Disney World at a resort where someone I know used to work at, that a 2 year old boy was dragged into the water and drowned by an alligator. From Friday the 10th to Wednesday the 15th, what a stretch of time for everyone in this area... I mean, just awful. Thursday, I went with someone to the local Chili's restaurant; that went as expected, and our meals were fine. Friday, it was a different sort of day. I originally wasn't planning on seeing another Tampa Bay Rays game until later in the summer. However, the team announced that the game on this day would have all available tickets for only 5 bucks and all the money would go to a victim's fund for you know what massacre; while I haven't done any of the many nice things that people have done in this community to try and help those people (from blood drives to volunteering as translators), giving them a few bucks is the least that I could do. In a rare moment, Tropicana Field will actually be full of people instead of the typical small crowds that they almost always get. That's why I went and saw them play against the San Francisco Giants on this night, in the lower bowl of the stadium on the side.
The drive to Tampa was about the same as usual... meaning there were plenty of dumb people on the highway and rude behavior exhibited. I thought about places to go to before Tropicana Field, and I decided on the International Plaza, a high-end mall on the West side of Tampa. It was largely the same as before. I had a pair of macarons from a nice confectionery there and both were tasty. After that I drove to the stadium and got a decent parking spot. As I've said before, the crowds at Rays games usually don't even fill half of the stadium, so it was quite rare to be at a game which was announced as sold out. Not all the seats were filled but many were and that was a unique experience, along with all the nice ceremonies to pay tribute to the victims in Orlando; everyone who attended got a nice free t-shirt as well. I was glad I went there, even if some people were drunken buffoons and there were also some annoying kids. Both things are not so rare at sporting events, to be honest. The drunk young male who I saw macking on a random woman and embarrassed his friends... he mentioned something about driving his car there; I hope he wasn't being truthful there as he was quite intoxicated and he did not need to be behind the wheel.
As for the game itself, San Francisco won 5-1. Giants pitcher Jeff Samardzija is either pretty good or pretty bad on the mound; on this night he was an All Star, pitching the entire game and it was only a random home run that did not make it a shutout. The Rays aren't as good of a team now as they used to be; looking at the records of both teams, it's no surprise Tampa Bay lost.
Saturday and Sunday I stayed at home. I was OK with that arrangement. Saturday night I had a few more beers, including from Florida's Funky Buddha brewery, Blueberry Cobbler beer. While it does sound odd, it actually did taste good. Sunday, I have to say that Anton Yelchin's death was both unexpected and sad. Cleveland winning the NBA title... I am no fan of LeBron James by any means and I would have preferred Golden State; however, those poor Cleveland sports fans haven't had a major team in their city win a championship since the early 1960's, so it is nice for those people and I can't get too mad about it.
When I return a week from today, I do have some ideas in mind for what I'll be talking about.
Wednesday, I did nothing so I'll just mention how horrible it was at Walt Disney World at a resort where someone I know used to work at, that a 2 year old boy was dragged into the water and drowned by an alligator. From Friday the 10th to Wednesday the 15th, what a stretch of time for everyone in this area... I mean, just awful. Thursday, I went with someone to the local Chili's restaurant; that went as expected, and our meals were fine. Friday, it was a different sort of day. I originally wasn't planning on seeing another Tampa Bay Rays game until later in the summer. However, the team announced that the game on this day would have all available tickets for only 5 bucks and all the money would go to a victim's fund for you know what massacre; while I haven't done any of the many nice things that people have done in this community to try and help those people (from blood drives to volunteering as translators), giving them a few bucks is the least that I could do. In a rare moment, Tropicana Field will actually be full of people instead of the typical small crowds that they almost always get. That's why I went and saw them play against the San Francisco Giants on this night, in the lower bowl of the stadium on the side.
The drive to Tampa was about the same as usual... meaning there were plenty of dumb people on the highway and rude behavior exhibited. I thought about places to go to before Tropicana Field, and I decided on the International Plaza, a high-end mall on the West side of Tampa. It was largely the same as before. I had a pair of macarons from a nice confectionery there and both were tasty. After that I drove to the stadium and got a decent parking spot. As I've said before, the crowds at Rays games usually don't even fill half of the stadium, so it was quite rare to be at a game which was announced as sold out. Not all the seats were filled but many were and that was a unique experience, along with all the nice ceremonies to pay tribute to the victims in Orlando; everyone who attended got a nice free t-shirt as well. I was glad I went there, even if some people were drunken buffoons and there were also some annoying kids. Both things are not so rare at sporting events, to be honest. The drunk young male who I saw macking on a random woman and embarrassed his friends... he mentioned something about driving his car there; I hope he wasn't being truthful there as he was quite intoxicated and he did not need to be behind the wheel.
As for the game itself, San Francisco won 5-1. Giants pitcher Jeff Samardzija is either pretty good or pretty bad on the mound; on this night he was an All Star, pitching the entire game and it was only a random home run that did not make it a shutout. The Rays aren't as good of a team now as they used to be; looking at the records of both teams, it's no surprise Tampa Bay lost.
Saturday and Sunday I stayed at home. I was OK with that arrangement. Saturday night I had a few more beers, including from Florida's Funky Buddha brewery, Blueberry Cobbler beer. While it does sound odd, it actually did taste good. Sunday, I have to say that Anton Yelchin's death was both unexpected and sad. Cleveland winning the NBA title... I am no fan of LeBron James by any means and I would have preferred Golden State; however, those poor Cleveland sports fans haven't had a major team in their city win a championship since the early 1960's, so it is nice for those people and I can't get too mad about it.
When I return a week from today, I do have some ideas in mind for what I'll be talking about.
Monday, June 13, 2016
The One Time Where I Wonder What's Going On With Orlando
I figured I should start this off by mentioning what has been going on in Orlando since late Friday night; it makes me wonder if a portal to Hell suddenly opened in the area. Concerning what happened on Friday, I had heard of Christina Grimmie way back when but even if I hadn't, a singer being shot and killed at a meet and greet after performing is very sad. I've never been in the venue where it happened-although I have driven by it many times before-so I don't know how security is... I'd complain about how Florida is terrible and yada yada yada... I know it could have happened at any place. Saturday night, I was actually in Downtown Orlando; I had the itch to go there and despite it being in the back of my mind, I did not think that anything would happen. A tragedy two nights in a row... that seemed incomprehensible. My time in the area went fine and I'll explain where I went later... I will say that on the way back I almost literally had a brawl between two idiots knock me on my ass and I had to run to avoid them crashing into me. I have no idea what the fight was about but I thought that'd be the worst thing about the night. Oh no.
Imagine my horror when a few hours after arriving back home I hear about that shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, which was like 2 miles south of where I was parked and about 3 or so miles from where I ended up. Before the news I figured I was too old to be out in Downtown Orlando so that's why I figured I would only do it once in a blue moon. Now... I even have trepidation of doing anything in Orlando for the next who knows how many days... not that I am going to let some A-holes ruin what I want to do, as they would love for people to live in fear like that. But what a tragedy this past weekend has been in the area.
Here's what I've done since last Monday. That day I stayed in as doom & gloom were predicted what with Tropical Storm Colin traveling in the northern part of Florida. Well, Monday night we got some wind and rain but otherwise it was not as bad as people thought it was going to be. I know people who got hit worse by the storm, so I don't want it to sound like I am bragging. Tuesday, I ended up getting a haircut and it was at a new place. For a long while now I've had it done at the Sportclips in Winter Garden but via a mailing advertisement I discovered there was a new Sportclips right in Clermont, only a few miles from where I live. That's definitely more convenient for me. That went fine and best of all, that aforementioned advertisement had a coupon for a free haircut for anyone to use for their first time there.
Wednesday, I went with someone to the local Cracker Barrel restaurant. I had a decent time there, as my Maine Blueberry Pancakes meal was good. Thursday, I went out and about. The traffic there and back was pretty bad but “Typical Florida” is what I should probably say about it. For the first time in years I saw a movie at Regal Cinemas The Loop; I've been to The Loop outdoor mall occasionally but the cinema not so much; there are other closer venues for me to see films. What I watched on this day was a double bill of the two The Conjuring movies. I rate both highly as they are great at what they do. I am not sure if Ed & Lorraine Warren have done everything that they said they did when it comes to the paranormal and the events of 2 are rather hard to believe as being what could realistically have happened... I still enjoyed it. Afterwards I had a late night bite to eat at the nearby BJ's Brewhouse and Restaurant. For the first time I tried their home brew Hefeweizen and Porter; I enjoyed both. I am thankful that in the past few years my tastes when it comes to beer has expanded and now I am fine with drinking more than just pilsners or lagers. I think I should drink more Porter beers, as the ones I've had tended to be good, and that applies to the one at BJ's.
Saturday night, drinking more beers made in the Porter style is what I did. I accomplished that feat by returning to Downtown Orlando; it's been a very long time since I went there on a Friday or Saturday night to visit a club and have a good time. I did see that there's now a German-themed place in the building that once housed the legendary Mako's; what an incredible bar/club that was, and I'll always cherish the good times I had there. I did not walk by there but I understand the Ghost Bar & Lounge (the place I went to after Mako's went out of business) is out of business themselves and a different bar now occupies that space; I'll have to try both out one day in the future. I instead went to the World of Beer that's by Lake Eola, meaning I had to do some walking to get there and back. It was a typical WOB and I had no issues to speak of... except that I wish they would have had two of the Porter beers they advertised that they had. I had to go with the Breckenridge Vanilla Porter, Funky Buddha Nib Smuggler, and JDub's Bell Cow Milk Chocolate Porter. All three were good in different ways and the last two were from Florida so at least I was supporting local small breweries. A random multi-ethnic reggae band from Jacksonville played and they were fine; most of the crowd there didn't seem to care about the band and that was unfortunate; they deserved more respect than that.
Sunday, I did not feel like doing anything, for understandable reasons. When I return a week from today... this area returning to normal would be nice; it'd be refreshing to only have to complain about nincompoops on the highway rather than be disturbed by incidents from terrorists who commit horrific acts way too close to home. As is, not much is on the agenda as of now.
Imagine my horror when a few hours after arriving back home I hear about that shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, which was like 2 miles south of where I was parked and about 3 or so miles from where I ended up. Before the news I figured I was too old to be out in Downtown Orlando so that's why I figured I would only do it once in a blue moon. Now... I even have trepidation of doing anything in Orlando for the next who knows how many days... not that I am going to let some A-holes ruin what I want to do, as they would love for people to live in fear like that. But what a tragedy this past weekend has been in the area.
Here's what I've done since last Monday. That day I stayed in as doom & gloom were predicted what with Tropical Storm Colin traveling in the northern part of Florida. Well, Monday night we got some wind and rain but otherwise it was not as bad as people thought it was going to be. I know people who got hit worse by the storm, so I don't want it to sound like I am bragging. Tuesday, I ended up getting a haircut and it was at a new place. For a long while now I've had it done at the Sportclips in Winter Garden but via a mailing advertisement I discovered there was a new Sportclips right in Clermont, only a few miles from where I live. That's definitely more convenient for me. That went fine and best of all, that aforementioned advertisement had a coupon for a free haircut for anyone to use for their first time there.
Wednesday, I went with someone to the local Cracker Barrel restaurant. I had a decent time there, as my Maine Blueberry Pancakes meal was good. Thursday, I went out and about. The traffic there and back was pretty bad but “Typical Florida” is what I should probably say about it. For the first time in years I saw a movie at Regal Cinemas The Loop; I've been to The Loop outdoor mall occasionally but the cinema not so much; there are other closer venues for me to see films. What I watched on this day was a double bill of the two The Conjuring movies. I rate both highly as they are great at what they do. I am not sure if Ed & Lorraine Warren have done everything that they said they did when it comes to the paranormal and the events of 2 are rather hard to believe as being what could realistically have happened... I still enjoyed it. Afterwards I had a late night bite to eat at the nearby BJ's Brewhouse and Restaurant. For the first time I tried their home brew Hefeweizen and Porter; I enjoyed both. I am thankful that in the past few years my tastes when it comes to beer has expanded and now I am fine with drinking more than just pilsners or lagers. I think I should drink more Porter beers, as the ones I've had tended to be good, and that applies to the one at BJ's.
Saturday night, drinking more beers made in the Porter style is what I did. I accomplished that feat by returning to Downtown Orlando; it's been a very long time since I went there on a Friday or Saturday night to visit a club and have a good time. I did see that there's now a German-themed place in the building that once housed the legendary Mako's; what an incredible bar/club that was, and I'll always cherish the good times I had there. I did not walk by there but I understand the Ghost Bar & Lounge (the place I went to after Mako's went out of business) is out of business themselves and a different bar now occupies that space; I'll have to try both out one day in the future. I instead went to the World of Beer that's by Lake Eola, meaning I had to do some walking to get there and back. It was a typical WOB and I had no issues to speak of... except that I wish they would have had two of the Porter beers they advertised that they had. I had to go with the Breckenridge Vanilla Porter, Funky Buddha Nib Smuggler, and JDub's Bell Cow Milk Chocolate Porter. All three were good in different ways and the last two were from Florida so at least I was supporting local small breweries. A random multi-ethnic reggae band from Jacksonville played and they were fine; most of the crowd there didn't seem to care about the band and that was unfortunate; they deserved more respect than that.
Sunday, I did not feel like doing anything, for understandable reasons. When I return a week from today... this area returning to normal would be nice; it'd be refreshing to only have to complain about nincompoops on the highway rather than be disturbed by incidents from terrorists who commit horrific acts way too close to home. As is, not much is on the agenda as of now.
Monday, June 6, 2016
Muhammad Ali, Safeway, The Magic Kingdom, & Magic!
Here's what I've done since last Monday; on that Memorial Day, where I live was a sweathouse. I tried to make do the best that I could. It was no fun and it made me feel real listless. At least in the evenings I could open the windows and use a box fan that may be almost as old as I am (no kidding) to blow in cool air and that helped a little. That evening I got food from Culver's, and I appreciated the tasty meal. Tuesday, the air was finally fixed in the morning and it was much appreciated. It was not as expensive as I expected, at least; putting in a capacitor is not a difficult task, apparently. In the evening I went to the PDQ up in Sanford and as always I enjoyed the food. I still wish there was one closer to where I live. The reason why I was up there was to make another airport run, this time to pick up both of my parents. On the way back, part of the drive was through a monsoon... sort of like how the weather was supposed to be in this area today, only we have gotten just some wind and some rain and it isn't anything but a random ugly rainy day. I drove more carefully; I don't need to say that there were plenty of people who didn't drive carefully or that the traffic is as bad as ever down here, with there being a time or two where I wonder if someone was impaired or if they really were that stupid.
Wednesday, I had free time so I returned to Walt Disney World. The Magic Kingdom was packed with people but what was a bigger hindrance was it being as hot and humid as the surface of the sun; I was sweating like a Kardashian or Jenner in church! It was a day where at the park several things did not work, and I did not enjoy that. Eh, at least I got some exercise, had lunch there (and a little later, ice cream) and I saw that the place was largely the same as the last time I was there, which was months ago. I will end up going back to a WDW theme park this summer as Epcot has some new attractions opening this month and in August I have to renew my pass (the pricing scheme for the parks is completely different now; I understand that the best option for me is the pass where only a few dates a year are blocked off and they are the busiest dates of the year that I wouldn't want to be at anyway); I tend to try and avoid the parks during the summer, for obvious reasons.
Thursday I did not do anything but Friday I went to a restaurant I hadn't eaten at in months: Uno's. Thankfully aside from one horrible night where a few hours after I had eaten there I got the worst case of food poisoning in my life, I have had little in the way of problems there, aside from the portions not being as large as before. By the way, do not ask why I know for certain why it was the worst case, as you don't want to hear the details! That time there went fine, and an amusing moment was when an older couple asked about a musical act performing before a soccer game and it took multiple people and Google to figure out it was the band Magic! I had heard of them before and I tried to forget about them after hearing the song Rude as it was lame white people trying to do reggae, but then again for I don't know how many years now I don't even pay attention to Top 40 radio and I only hear a small percentage of those songs and I am OK with that. Anyhow, I had no idea that band was still relevant in the middle of 2016. Late that night I heard about Muhammad Ali passing away. Boxing still isn't my favorite sport but it doesn't mean I wasn't saddened by the news.
Sunday, the only thing I did was be ticked off by the incompetence and stupidity of others. I won't go into the details except that people being dumb and not being able to get things working right caused me unneeded stress and frustration. Saturday, as I felt like doing something before the bad weather rolled in, I went to the Total Wine & More up in Altamonte Springs and I got some beverages. I then went to a new grocery store in the area: Safeway. I had heard of them before but I never had been in one before. It's a nice-enough place and there were nice touches like the aisles being named after local streets. I did not go and see that night's UFC PPV, and I am OK with that, despite some surprising results. I was planning on seeing UFC 200 on July 9 even before the shocking announcement that Brock Lesnar is making a one time only return... now I know that will be an insane show and an insane night at Twin Peaks or wherever I go to see it.
When I return a week from today, I do know of some activities I'll be doing, so that is always good and hopefully it will be more relaxing and less taxing for me as well compared to this past week.
Wednesday, I had free time so I returned to Walt Disney World. The Magic Kingdom was packed with people but what was a bigger hindrance was it being as hot and humid as the surface of the sun; I was sweating like a Kardashian or Jenner in church! It was a day where at the park several things did not work, and I did not enjoy that. Eh, at least I got some exercise, had lunch there (and a little later, ice cream) and I saw that the place was largely the same as the last time I was there, which was months ago. I will end up going back to a WDW theme park this summer as Epcot has some new attractions opening this month and in August I have to renew my pass (the pricing scheme for the parks is completely different now; I understand that the best option for me is the pass where only a few dates a year are blocked off and they are the busiest dates of the year that I wouldn't want to be at anyway); I tend to try and avoid the parks during the summer, for obvious reasons.
Thursday I did not do anything but Friday I went to a restaurant I hadn't eaten at in months: Uno's. Thankfully aside from one horrible night where a few hours after I had eaten there I got the worst case of food poisoning in my life, I have had little in the way of problems there, aside from the portions not being as large as before. By the way, do not ask why I know for certain why it was the worst case, as you don't want to hear the details! That time there went fine, and an amusing moment was when an older couple asked about a musical act performing before a soccer game and it took multiple people and Google to figure out it was the band Magic! I had heard of them before and I tried to forget about them after hearing the song Rude as it was lame white people trying to do reggae, but then again for I don't know how many years now I don't even pay attention to Top 40 radio and I only hear a small percentage of those songs and I am OK with that. Anyhow, I had no idea that band was still relevant in the middle of 2016. Late that night I heard about Muhammad Ali passing away. Boxing still isn't my favorite sport but it doesn't mean I wasn't saddened by the news.
Sunday, the only thing I did was be ticked off by the incompetence and stupidity of others. I won't go into the details except that people being dumb and not being able to get things working right caused me unneeded stress and frustration. Saturday, as I felt like doing something before the bad weather rolled in, I went to the Total Wine & More up in Altamonte Springs and I got some beverages. I then went to a new grocery store in the area: Safeway. I had heard of them before but I never had been in one before. It's a nice-enough place and there were nice touches like the aisles being named after local streets. I did not go and see that night's UFC PPV, and I am OK with that, despite some surprising results. I was planning on seeing UFC 200 on July 9 even before the shocking announcement that Brock Lesnar is making a one time only return... now I know that will be an insane show and an insane night at Twin Peaks or wherever I go to see it.
When I return a week from today, I do know of some activities I'll be doing, so that is always good and hopefully it will be more relaxing and less taxing for me as well compared to this past week.
Monday, May 30, 2016
MovieStop, Megacon, Mass Effect, Memorial Day & Other M Words
Here's what I've done since last Monday; on that Monday the 23rd I decided to go to a MovieStop. I've mentioned that joint a handful of times before and it's a place I like going to and randomly searching for random movies. Well, I heard earlier in the day that come July, all the stores will close down as they are going out of business for good. That makes me sad... even if every time I went there, annoying people were always around. That includes this night, by the way; in fact, right after a particularly awful pair of ladies left, the employees talked crap about them as they always cause issues! I got some random Blu discs. A few hours later I went and drove a parent to the airport up in Sanford as they had a red-eye flight. On the way back I stopped at a Denny's for a bite to eat.
Tuesday, I went to Chipotle for dinner then stopped at a Staples to get an Amazon giftcard. Wednesday, I went to a Texas Roadhouse for the first time in a long while for my “almost always” of a burger and fries... and an ice-cold beverage too. Thursday, that was a day of annoyance; like many people in Florida, for reasons unknown Bright House had all their services down, which meant that where I live there was no phone, cable or Internet. I was as annoyed as you could imagine. It was not fixed until 8:30 PM; I can't really complain considering that I don't use Comcast so I know it could always be worse. I have heard many different horror stories from many different people about that corporation and how they are awful all around so Bright House is fine in comparison. Besides, I had worse issues to come... and I don't mean the traffic on the road, even though it was really bad the last half of this month and more than once I wondered if a driver was legit impaired or not.
Friday, it was Megacon time. This was my third year going to that convention. It has always been what you'd expect from a comic book convention, meaning that comics are by far the most offered item there, all the costumes are great (even if many of the cosplay, I do not know the reference as I don't read comics or watch anime) and it's a lot of fun as there's plenty of unique sights & sounds & experiences. I did a LOT of walking on this day so I was absolutely exhausted; still, I had a pretty good time there. Several people I know were there, but I only saw and briefly talked to one of them. I was careful with my money so I only got some random food & drink and the one big purchase was a Magnum PI shirt, as that is a show from my distant past. I never go there in costume, as I am lame. Like I did in '14, I wore an XFL shirt there, as it's funny as it was such a failure and I am glad I got it for a few bucks at a Spencer's Gifts shortly after the XFL went defunct. Like in '14 the shirt got some compliments.
The costumes were largely what you'd expect from a comic book convention; the properties which recently got attention or will this summer were especially popular. A common sight is seeing people take pictures of cosplayers; thankfully they are always asked first for permission then they do a pose, so it's not a creepy voyeur thing. Still, I was glad they had up large signs this year warning people not to be creepy or gross about such things, and it was OK to not wanting to have your picture taken. I never did that thing myself, just because. Sometimes I thought about it, like on this day when I saw a girl who looked a lot like early 80's Carrie Fisher as Slave Girl Leia. What tickled my fancy was seeing a Third Reich Trump and a Communist Sanders; they held up signs to explain the joke and thankfully it wasn't over the top as that would have been in bad taste.
However, I did take a picture this year. I saw two lovely ladies dressed up as Mass Effect characters. As that videogame trilogy is awesome (even if the ending of the third wasn't great, to put it kindly; a new game is supposed to come out next year), I was happy to see that, as I rarely see that at the event. For the game's fans, I'll mention that they went as the female version of the game's lead Shepard and Miranda. Them loving the game is appealing enough... one of the two ladies I found to be highly attractive... I complimented them on their outfits and I took their picture. Overall, a quality Friday. They always have some interesting celebrity guests there and that was the case this year... everyone from Stan Lee and Jay & Silent Bob to some of the Karate Kids cast, Christopher Lloyd and some Star Trek people. I never get any autographs/pictures from them as it costs extra.
Onto the weekend... Saturday I went to Walmart to get a few items. A little later, I realized it was pretty warm at home... long story short, I discovered the air conditioner wasn't working! A neighbor came over and helped diagnose the problem. Well, it's not something that I can fix by any means and as it's a holiday weekend... hopefully it'll be fixed tomorrow. With the fans going and the windows open at night, it isn't that miserable. In the day, it hasn't been pleasant. Sunday night, to beat the heat I returned to good old Twin Peaks. When they treat me pretty nice there... and on this night I was treated nice again, which I appreciated. It was quiet there but I was OK with that as I had a tasty dinner and some beverages. It may be some time before I go back, but only because I have plenty of other places I can go to for the first time or visit after a long absence.
On the way back I stopped at a gas station to get some milk, and I also got some alcohol for the future. One item I got for immediate use was FOUR LOKO. I had that once before (after they took out the caffeine after the product got so much heat) and it did not taste good. Well, I can say that it still doesn't take good, but it was 24 ounces and 12% alcohol... I don't know if I'll ever have it again. As for Memorial Day today, I'll likely go somewhere later to escape the sweatbox and get a bite to eat. Thankfully now I can sit outside and enjoy a not so hot breeze. When I return a week from today, hopefully things will go better and there are no more major calamities that happen.
Tuesday, I went to Chipotle for dinner then stopped at a Staples to get an Amazon giftcard. Wednesday, I went to a Texas Roadhouse for the first time in a long while for my “almost always” of a burger and fries... and an ice-cold beverage too. Thursday, that was a day of annoyance; like many people in Florida, for reasons unknown Bright House had all their services down, which meant that where I live there was no phone, cable or Internet. I was as annoyed as you could imagine. It was not fixed until 8:30 PM; I can't really complain considering that I don't use Comcast so I know it could always be worse. I have heard many different horror stories from many different people about that corporation and how they are awful all around so Bright House is fine in comparison. Besides, I had worse issues to come... and I don't mean the traffic on the road, even though it was really bad the last half of this month and more than once I wondered if a driver was legit impaired or not.
Friday, it was Megacon time. This was my third year going to that convention. It has always been what you'd expect from a comic book convention, meaning that comics are by far the most offered item there, all the costumes are great (even if many of the cosplay, I do not know the reference as I don't read comics or watch anime) and it's a lot of fun as there's plenty of unique sights & sounds & experiences. I did a LOT of walking on this day so I was absolutely exhausted; still, I had a pretty good time there. Several people I know were there, but I only saw and briefly talked to one of them. I was careful with my money so I only got some random food & drink and the one big purchase was a Magnum PI shirt, as that is a show from my distant past. I never go there in costume, as I am lame. Like I did in '14, I wore an XFL shirt there, as it's funny as it was such a failure and I am glad I got it for a few bucks at a Spencer's Gifts shortly after the XFL went defunct. Like in '14 the shirt got some compliments.
The costumes were largely what you'd expect from a comic book convention; the properties which recently got attention or will this summer were especially popular. A common sight is seeing people take pictures of cosplayers; thankfully they are always asked first for permission then they do a pose, so it's not a creepy voyeur thing. Still, I was glad they had up large signs this year warning people not to be creepy or gross about such things, and it was OK to not wanting to have your picture taken. I never did that thing myself, just because. Sometimes I thought about it, like on this day when I saw a girl who looked a lot like early 80's Carrie Fisher as Slave Girl Leia. What tickled my fancy was seeing a Third Reich Trump and a Communist Sanders; they held up signs to explain the joke and thankfully it wasn't over the top as that would have been in bad taste.
However, I did take a picture this year. I saw two lovely ladies dressed up as Mass Effect characters. As that videogame trilogy is awesome (even if the ending of the third wasn't great, to put it kindly; a new game is supposed to come out next year), I was happy to see that, as I rarely see that at the event. For the game's fans, I'll mention that they went as the female version of the game's lead Shepard and Miranda. Them loving the game is appealing enough... one of the two ladies I found to be highly attractive... I complimented them on their outfits and I took their picture. Overall, a quality Friday. They always have some interesting celebrity guests there and that was the case this year... everyone from Stan Lee and Jay & Silent Bob to some of the Karate Kids cast, Christopher Lloyd and some Star Trek people. I never get any autographs/pictures from them as it costs extra.
Onto the weekend... Saturday I went to Walmart to get a few items. A little later, I realized it was pretty warm at home... long story short, I discovered the air conditioner wasn't working! A neighbor came over and helped diagnose the problem. Well, it's not something that I can fix by any means and as it's a holiday weekend... hopefully it'll be fixed tomorrow. With the fans going and the windows open at night, it isn't that miserable. In the day, it hasn't been pleasant. Sunday night, to beat the heat I returned to good old Twin Peaks. When they treat me pretty nice there... and on this night I was treated nice again, which I appreciated. It was quiet there but I was OK with that as I had a tasty dinner and some beverages. It may be some time before I go back, but only because I have plenty of other places I can go to for the first time or visit after a long absence.
On the way back I stopped at a gas station to get some milk, and I also got some alcohol for the future. One item I got for immediate use was FOUR LOKO. I had that once before (after they took out the caffeine after the product got so much heat) and it did not taste good. Well, I can say that it still doesn't take good, but it was 24 ounces and 12% alcohol... I don't know if I'll ever have it again. As for Memorial Day today, I'll likely go somewhere later to escape the sweatbox and get a bite to eat. Thankfully now I can sit outside and enjoy a not so hot breeze. When I return a week from today, hopefully things will go better and there are no more major calamities that happen.
Monday, May 23, 2016
Disney Springs Town Center, New Restaurants, Poutine & Summer Shandy
Here's a recap of what I've done since last Monday. On Monday the 16th I decided to return to Disney Springs in the evening to see the brand new Town Center area; as rain was predicted for all of this week (it only rained a few days, but I wish I knew that ahead of time) I decided to roll the dice and go down there despite the weather where I was. Well... at least I had an always stylish clear poncho in the vehicle, put in there by a parent who probably purchased it years ago. It kept my clothing dry, which is the most important thing. As for Town Center, it's a place where some ritzy stores operate, like Zara, Kate Spade and Sperry. So I mainly just walked around. At least it looks nice. As typical with me, I am most interested in the food & drink and one day I'll visit one or two of those spots. The place selling cupcakes literally had a line going out the door so instead I went to a stand and had poutine for the first time. It was the Italian kind, as gravy is not my thing. It actually was good.
Tuesday, I went to Wawa to get food and since they had 50 dollar giftcards from Amazon I figured I would get two of those so I wouldn't have to go elsewhere to make that purchase. What a mistake that was! You wouldn't believe the rigmarole over such a simple purchase. I guess they don't want to make as much money as they should as I was actually told that I could only get the two cards if I paid debit; with credit I could only get one. I wanted to ask WHY, but I did not want to argue or possibly make a scene so I just got the one giftcard. I know now to stick to places like Staples to get those cards.
Wednesday, I went to the local UPS store to ship something; on the way there I saw the remnants of a turtle that got ran over. The less said about that, the better. Thursday, I went with someone to a restaurant, and that happened to be the local Buffalo Wild Wings. That went fine. I had the limited edition wing sauce known as Summer Shandy... yes, after the tasty Leinenkugel beer. It was definitely mild on my boneless wings, but it did taste good.
Friday, I returned to Disney Springs; this time it was sunny out and it was better for walking around and going to a new restaurant there, D-Luxe Burgers. The day as a whole was a “meh” experience, from the bad traffic to having to be around annoying people. The fact that the restaurant did not blow me away either did not help. My burger got burned to a crisp (it was another place where I got crap because apparently it's impossible for them to cook medium well... even though most joints can do that with no problem; believe it or not I've been told that BS excuse from an eatery about “it HAS to be either medium or well done”) and the fries were too hard and did not taste great. At least my chocolate shake was tasty but there are other places at Disney Springs I think are better and whether it's burgers or something else, I would prefer to eat at those eateries again, although one day I'll give this joint a second shot and maybe then I'll be more impressed. As for some of the people I encountered, they included a teenaged girl who loudly belched several times around her friend (yes, really; what a classy thing to do in public) and a guy with a long pleather trench coat that seemingly came in a time machine straight from 1996.
Saturday and Sunday I stayed in, which was an arrangement that I was satisfied with. When I return on Memorial Day, I do know of some activities I'll be participating in and hopefully there will be little of any nonsense that irritates me.
Tuesday, I went to Wawa to get food and since they had 50 dollar giftcards from Amazon I figured I would get two of those so I wouldn't have to go elsewhere to make that purchase. What a mistake that was! You wouldn't believe the rigmarole over such a simple purchase. I guess they don't want to make as much money as they should as I was actually told that I could only get the two cards if I paid debit; with credit I could only get one. I wanted to ask WHY, but I did not want to argue or possibly make a scene so I just got the one giftcard. I know now to stick to places like Staples to get those cards.
Wednesday, I went to the local UPS store to ship something; on the way there I saw the remnants of a turtle that got ran over. The less said about that, the better. Thursday, I went with someone to a restaurant, and that happened to be the local Buffalo Wild Wings. That went fine. I had the limited edition wing sauce known as Summer Shandy... yes, after the tasty Leinenkugel beer. It was definitely mild on my boneless wings, but it did taste good.
Friday, I returned to Disney Springs; this time it was sunny out and it was better for walking around and going to a new restaurant there, D-Luxe Burgers. The day as a whole was a “meh” experience, from the bad traffic to having to be around annoying people. The fact that the restaurant did not blow me away either did not help. My burger got burned to a crisp (it was another place where I got crap because apparently it's impossible for them to cook medium well... even though most joints can do that with no problem; believe it or not I've been told that BS excuse from an eatery about “it HAS to be either medium or well done”) and the fries were too hard and did not taste great. At least my chocolate shake was tasty but there are other places at Disney Springs I think are better and whether it's burgers or something else, I would prefer to eat at those eateries again, although one day I'll give this joint a second shot and maybe then I'll be more impressed. As for some of the people I encountered, they included a teenaged girl who loudly belched several times around her friend (yes, really; what a classy thing to do in public) and a guy with a long pleather trench coat that seemingly came in a time machine straight from 1996.
Saturday and Sunday I stayed in, which was an arrangement that I was satisfied with. When I return on Memorial Day, I do know of some activities I'll be participating in and hopefully there will be little of any nonsense that irritates me.
Monday, May 16, 2016
The One Time I Wondered Why A Car's Windshield Said, “I (Heart) White Girls”
True story, I ended up at the Altamonte Mall for a bit on Friday the 13th; on that day all I did that I'll mention here is that I was in Orlando for a few hours and the highlights there were getting food from Giraffas (that one Brazilian quick service place I had been to twice before) and before I went home I walked around the Altamonte Mall and for the first time in years I got an old school Orange Julius from the place known as Orange Julius-that was good-but the highlight of the day was that strange message I saw on the front windshield of a beat-up first generation Miata. I have a number of questions about this and I imagine some of them would have been answered had I known who the driver was, but I never got the chance.
To think that it wasn't even the oddest thing I saw this past week. Saturday night I returned to good old Twin Peaks. The one lady who I talked about the last two times I was there was not around, but that is OK as all the women there are pretty nice (honestly, they made a bigger deal out of me not getting my bread pudding quickly than I did; the concern was appreciated by me, though). I went there to see the UFC pay per view. This one was from a soccer stadium in Brazil so over 45,000 people were there and it was a nice lineup. Overall the show was pretty entertaining and my time there was uneventful; I could have done without some incredibly loud people there but I am used to such things. What completely caught me off guard was when I saw two young adult males walk in... dressed in SpongeBob SquarePants outfits! One dude was SpongeBob and the other was SpongeBob's friend Patrick. I have no explanation for this. If they would have been with someone and those dudes had lost a bet, then OK. But they were there by themselves and did not sit with anyone else. After awhile, they left. Were they just tools who thought that doing this would be funny? It's Florida, so perhaps.
To get back on the chronological kick, last Monday the 9th all I did was return to Winter Garden Village for the first time in awhile. I walked around and from Planet Smoothie, I got the Passion Fruit Pucker drink, which was pretty good. Tuesday, all I did was go to Walmart, and thankfully that was uneventful and the “typical Walmart crowd” wasn't thick as thieves and none of them were grossly irritating. Wednesday, I went with someone (a Sam's Club member) to Sam's Club and we got several random items in bulk (mainly food & drink) and after that we ate at a Denny's. I built my own Grand Slam Breakfast where I had pancakes, a biscuit, two sausage links and two strips of bacon; it was pretty tasty.
As I already talked about my Friday and Saturday, let me mention that I didn't do a darn thing on Sunday. I'll spare telling everyone about some of the really horrid traffic I experienced in the past week and instead mention that when I return next Monday, my schedule is pretty bare... but I know that'll change.
To think that it wasn't even the oddest thing I saw this past week. Saturday night I returned to good old Twin Peaks. The one lady who I talked about the last two times I was there was not around, but that is OK as all the women there are pretty nice (honestly, they made a bigger deal out of me not getting my bread pudding quickly than I did; the concern was appreciated by me, though). I went there to see the UFC pay per view. This one was from a soccer stadium in Brazil so over 45,000 people were there and it was a nice lineup. Overall the show was pretty entertaining and my time there was uneventful; I could have done without some incredibly loud people there but I am used to such things. What completely caught me off guard was when I saw two young adult males walk in... dressed in SpongeBob SquarePants outfits! One dude was SpongeBob and the other was SpongeBob's friend Patrick. I have no explanation for this. If they would have been with someone and those dudes had lost a bet, then OK. But they were there by themselves and did not sit with anyone else. After awhile, they left. Were they just tools who thought that doing this would be funny? It's Florida, so perhaps.
To get back on the chronological kick, last Monday the 9th all I did was return to Winter Garden Village for the first time in awhile. I walked around and from Planet Smoothie, I got the Passion Fruit Pucker drink, which was pretty good. Tuesday, all I did was go to Walmart, and thankfully that was uneventful and the “typical Walmart crowd” wasn't thick as thieves and none of them were grossly irritating. Wednesday, I went with someone (a Sam's Club member) to Sam's Club and we got several random items in bulk (mainly food & drink) and after that we ate at a Denny's. I built my own Grand Slam Breakfast where I had pancakes, a biscuit, two sausage links and two strips of bacon; it was pretty tasty.
As I already talked about my Friday and Saturday, let me mention that I didn't do a darn thing on Sunday. I'll spare telling everyone about some of the really horrid traffic I experienced in the past week and instead mention that when I return next Monday, my schedule is pretty bare... but I know that'll change.
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