Monday, August 29, 2016

Studio Movie Grill, German Restaurants & Troglodytes

What an interesting past week I had. Monday the 22nd, I did not do a thing; Tuesday was more interesting. I went with someone to a Logan's Roadhouse for dinner. That place is just about to enter bankruptcy so we figured they could use some cash. The one located by Sam's Club that I had been to a few times before is one of the locations that closed due to their financial woes; I'll be going there less often than I used to only due to convenience's sake. My burger and fries were fine; the person I was with loved their half rack of ribs, and I am glad they felt that way.

Wednesday, what a day that was. I went to Tampa for an adventure. I went to a few new places. The Westfield Citrus Park mall is pretty nice. I ended up at the University Mall by the University of South Florida, and that wasn't so nice. The only reason I was there was to see something at the Studio Movie Grill. It has like 20 different locations all across the country. It is one of those places that tries to be upscale and serves you food as you're watching a film. Unfortunately, it is located in an odd spot and it was a real hassle just trying to figure out where to park so you're by the main entrance, as the mall gives little help there. Then, late at night in a dark lot, it wasn't easy even trying to figure out how to get back on the highway. So that was not a good start, although I blame it on the mall. A bartender in the fancy lounge area not serving me (for reasons unknown) and the place forcing you to make some assumptions you shouldn't have to make as things should be a lot clearer... I can blame that on the entity itself.

So, when Train to Busan (a South Korean action thriller about a fast zombie apocalypse happening throughout Korea and it ends up on a train) began I was already in a not so great mood; when several Troglodytes acted incredibly rude during the movie, that cemented in my mind how unlikely it'll be that I'll return to this place. In fact, a couple who acted the worst, I almost had a confrontation with them... and I am not the type who gets into confrontations. It is probably good for me that they left as soon as the end credits started; the guy honestly looked like he had about an 80 IQ and is probably the type who solves all his problems with his fists... to think that the parents who brought their two young kids to the show caused zero problems. The movie is great, worthy to be compared to the best that has come out from Korea in the past 20 or so years. Thankfully this wasn't graphic and explicit like some of the movies you get from there... you know, like I Saw the Devil or Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance. Little kids don't need to see that. Anyhow, after the film I briefly stopped at a random World of Beer in the area before driving back home.

Thursday and Friday, I decided to stay in and relax after the chaos of Wednesday. Saturday-even though I was dead tired due to not getting a great night's sleep-I went up to Sanford to attend a birthday party of someone I know. It's the annual late August tradition, that's what it has become; a bunch of people go up to a popular German restaurant to eat food and also a cold beverage or two. Sunday, I had to return to Sanford for yet another airport run. I wish that airplane would have come in on Saturday as it would have worked out perfectly for me but alas... I stopped at the World of Beer in Lake Mary to kill time. Leaving there and driving to the airport, a sedan flew by me... with most of its bumper sheered off but it was still hanging on by a thread and it was dragging on the ground. Right after that, a cop turned on his lights and went to pull him over. Unfortunately I had to turn off that road but it was clear the cop realized the obvious, which was that this dope was more than a little impaired. I wish I could have seen how they did such damage to their own car and end up being oblivious about it.

I'll be back on Labor Day; I do have some ideas of what I'll be talking about.

Monday, August 22, 2016

Hell Or High Water, Waffle House, Blood Father & Handball

Once again not the most exciting week for me, but alas. On Monday the 15th, I did do something in the evening. I returned to CityWalk at Universal Studios. Besides walking around there and noting that sometime soon the new (and long named) The Toothsome Chocolate Emporium & Savory Feast Kitchen will open-I will be real interested in checking that out-I saw a movie there. It was the only Orlando location for a film that most will see direct to video or on the streaming sites: Blood Father, starring Mel Gibson. It's a standard action movie about him trying to protect his teen daughter after she does some pretty bad things w/ some pretty bad people. While not revolutionary, it is fun, especially for old-school action fans. Note that me watching this is NOT an endorsement of Gibson's controversial actions or the beliefs he's stated in the past. After that, I got a snack from a Cinnabon, as I hadn't eaten anything from one of those in a real long time.

Tuesday I did not do anything so let me mention what I did on Wednesday: WAFFLE HOUSE. I hadn't been to one of those in at least a few years. I went with someone who hadn't been to one in a very long time, as in “over a decade.”  The food is never great at a Waffle House but at least it's made quickly and it tastes fine. This was the case when we were there. Thursday was another boring day, so onto Friday; I was thinking of going out somewhere and seeing a movie, but due to circumstances beyond my control, that changed. It is OK as it was a change for the better, and I won't bore you with the specifics why. Instead I went to Winter Garden Village to pick up something I needed from Staples, purchased a tasty beverage from Planet Smoothie, then ate dinner at a Jersey Mike's Subs. Saturday was yet another day where I stayed in and relaxed. I did not care about Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz fighting each other back in March, am still baffled that so many idiot UFC fans DID care, and cared even less about those two having a rematch on this night, so no way was I going out to see that pay per view. Instead, I spent time doing what I mentioned the last time I wrote, which was stream various niche (at least in the United States) Olympic events; I am talking about such things as archery, field hockey and handball. I wish those sports were as popular here as they were elsewhere around the world, but alas... also as I said recently, while Rio was not the best hosts at least the sporting events were fun to watch and it was a nice diversion.

At least Sunday was more interesting. In the evening, I went to the Safeway grocery store to pick up a few items; as they had several things at a discount if you purchased a few of them... yeah, I was roped into getting more than expected, but it's OK. After that I went to the AMC at the Altamonte Mall, where I saw Hell or High Water, a crime drama set in West Texas and starring Chris Pine, Ben Foster, and Jeff Bridges. It's great. If you enjoy things like No Country for Old Men, then this is a must-see. I enjoyed seeing a mature drama instead of the usual garbage that plays theatrically in the summer. When I return a week from today, I actually have a few ideas about what I'll be discussing. I'll be out and about, both doing things for the first time and meeting people I haven't seen in far too long.

Monday, August 15, 2016

Crystal Pepsi, Operation Chromite, Applebee's & Soarin'

I thought about mentioning in the title how I got a spam e-mail a few days ago that advertised “Viagra Super Force”, but I did not want to give anyone who just glanced at the title the wrong idea... so that's why I am mentioning it here. I did not do anything on Monday the 8th so let me skip ahead to Tuesday. On that way I went with someone to an Applebee's; what is notable there is that this particular location just opened in town a matter of days ago. I'll excuse the less than great service on that. At least the food & drink were still pretty good. Wednesday, I went to Walt Disney World, EPCOT in particular. Not to brag but I renewed my annual pass. I also went on the new Soarin' ride, which now takes place all across the world, and an incredible thing happened.

I was waiting in line to get on the ride, and suddenly one of the people working there were asking if there were any single riders to fill one last spot. No one else did so I made it be known that I was a single rider. Thus, I got to cut in front of line. Apparently that made someone pretty angry. That dumbass probably didn't realize I could hear him, but I certainly did hear him call me a “motherf...”, well, you know, an MF'er! Really. I was more amused than offended. To get that upset over having to wait in line a little longer than I did... what a clown. Oh, and Soarin' is a real nice ride.

Thursday, I did not do anything, so onto Friday. I went to Disney Springs, the AMC Theatres there in particular. I went and saw an obscure movie I only discovered existed a few days beforehand. It's a South Korean movie called Operation Chromite, about the Battle of Inchon during the Korean War. Yes, I actually have seen the infamous early 80's bomb known as Inchon, which has the likes of Toshiro Mifune, Richard Roundtree, and Laurence Olivier as General Douglas MacArthur. This movie is thankfully better than that; in a supporting role as MacArthur was... Liam Neeson! Yeah, that was the reason why it even got any kind of release in the United States. I'd love to see more Korean movies on the big screen. Not all of them that I've seen I have loved (this includes some popular titles among film fans) I can say that from the lighter fare like The Host or The Good, the Bad, the Weird to rather explicit things like I Saw the Devil or The Man From Nowhere... they make some quality motion pictures which thankfully aren't cliché like what we get from homogenized Hollywood. After the movie, I ate at the T. Rex Cafe as I hadn't been there in a long while. The high price is the reason why I go there infrequently, as I think their food is quite good and the atmosphere is great. I then went into the new Uniqlo store; to think that Disney Springs now has two famous Japanese clothing stores on their property; earlier in the summer I went in the Superdry store; both are nice and offer cool clothing. I don't have any Superdry shirts but because they were cheap I got two from Uniqlo.

Saturday, I went to a gas station out in the boonies in the hope that they they had some Crystal Pepsi, and they did. Sure, it was a gas station which somehow ran out of gas (on a Saturday afternoon! The prices were the same as everywhere else) and the service was poor, but as I actually did have it back in the day and yet did not remember anything about its taste, I waited in line. Once I got home, I discovered that it's fine, I guess... it's not my favorite, though.

Sunday, I did nothing. I'll mention that in the past week I did see some of the Olympics on television. The coverage on the NBC Networks has not been good and between the incompetency and Olympians being robbed, Rio has not been made to look good which is a shame for the first South American Olympics. Yet, the actual action from the sporting events has been entertaining, and the online streaming is fine, when it works, that is. I have checked out more obscure things that way, like archery and field hockey, as when would I otherwise be able to see such things? When I come back a week from today, I have an idea or two as to what I'll be talking about.

Monday, August 8, 2016

The Olympics, Square 1 Burgers & Bar, And Left Hand Milk Stout Nitro

Here's what I've done since last Monday. On Monday the 1st I went to my bank; someone gave me a check and it needed to be deposited in my account; yes, a check in 2016. Recently I saw someone at a store use a check, as if it was still 1982 here. That was as exciting as my Monday and Tuesday got, so onto Wednesday. I decided to go to the Total Wine & More in Orlando proper and I got my share of darker beers, both porter and stout. I then went to the nearby Orlando Fashion Square Mall, a place I rarely go to due to location and it being smaller than the other malls in the area. I think there are plenty of people who feel the same way, as the place isn't doing as well as it used to. I likely won't be back there for a long while, as to be honest there isn't much there for me to do that I couldn't do at another mall. As for the beer, the one I'll mention is Left Hand Milk Stout Nitro. I wasn't sure what to expect, but it was very good.

As a random aside, I talked before about the Florida traffic this year and how this year is worse than it's ever been down here. Well, that's still true; 2016 Florida traffic is just as bad as 2016 has been for the world in general... meaning real bad. I haven't mentioned all of the issues I've had this year with that; I could go on and on with what I dealt with this past week, where some lunatic followed me for awhile before I got away from him, all because I let him know I thought his behavior behind the wheel to be awful, which he then immediately verified-or the other things that happened. I honk my horn at people-among other things-even though they probably are too dopey to realize why I am mad at them. I realize that someone could retaliate in a very serious way, but that has not happened, at least not yet. Even after being down here for 12 years plus now, I still once in awhile see incomprehensible things behind the wheel that I have no logical explanation for. At this point, staying in instead of going out seems like a swell idea in general as it means not always being aggravated behind the wheel. I'll just hope that this madness ceases soon.

Thursday, that was another interesting day. I went to Lakeland as I hadn't been down there in a long while. I ended up at an outdoor mall (one I've been to a good number of times now); I got some random sodas at Rocket Fizz and some random books at Books-A-Million. I then made a few mile drive to a restaurant known as Square 1 Burgers & Bar. It is a Central Florida only thing. Between their overuse of the word “awesome”, cheap small chandeliers hanging at the bar and some bench seating being covered in cowhide... I honestly don't know if they're being serious or sarcastic here. At least the food was tasty and the alcoholic cinnamon milkshake was the same. The last place I went to was nearby; I got a shake from PDQ and while not alcoholic it just happened to be a cinnamon milkshake made with Cinnamon Toast Crunch and sea salt caramel; really, and it was very good.

Friday through Sunday was nondescript. I did see parts of the Olympics on TV, even though Brazil did an atrocious job in setting them up, mainly because of sheer incompetence. The actual sporting action has been fine. NBC's coverage is not great, but honestly there's been way too many commercials with the Olympics for at least the past 20 years now and it's been a problem with television in general for probably longer than that. At least I can stream everything online for free if I wanted to. Sunday, I went to Burger King; I brought home food for me and someone else. Unlike what I typically experience at a Burger King in the area, there was no problem with the service, other customers, or anything else. I got the “5 for $4” deal and that was a very wise decision on my part. The small bacon cheeseburger, small drink, small fries, 4 chicken nuggets and chocolate chip cookies: a thumbs up I will give to it.

I'll be back next Monday; not a lot is on the agenda, at least as of yet.

Monday, August 1, 2016

The One Time I Had A Boring July

I wasn't planing on having a boring as heck July; that's just how it turned out. Monday through Thursday can be summed up rather quickly. Monday I went to Walmart and it was a standard trip there as I purchased a few items. Tuesday I did not do a thing. The same goes for Thursday. Wednesday, I went and not only dropped off some clothing at Goodwill, but I went to the local library as I hadn't been there in awhile. At least Friday was more interesting.

On that Friday night, Guns N' Roses performed in Orlando at the outdoor stadium I'll always know as the Citrus Bowl. While the thought did cross my mind to attend the concert, I'll be honest and say that for a variety of reasons, going to concerts is not my thing and I've only gone to several (I mean, less than a dozen) in my lifetime, including small time shows played by local bands in bars. Of course the cost was high and having to deal with meatheads there... as I literally saw part of this concert on YouTube, I am OK with my decision. To be honest, after the tour was announced and before it started, I wasn't even sure if it would be completed. Back in the day, the band (OK, mainly Axl) had a bad reputation for not starting on time, or doing a full concert. I am frankly astonished it has seemingly gone well so far with no issues, considering all the bad blood that broke up the band in the first place.

Anyhow, I did some other things instead. I went to Barnes & Noble; I am still miffed that the one which used to be only about a 15 minute drive away closed down; having to drive farther to go to one is lame to me. The only thing I got there was a random magazine. I then went to the nearby Noodles & Company. I had heard of the place before but never thought about going there until now. It did enter my mind after the story of how elsewhere at a location in Virginia, two employees refused to serve a police officer... then the employees got fired. By the way, don't expect me to talk about either politics or “Black Lives Matter vs. Blue Lives Matter vs. All Lives Matter” debate, as I know better than to cause such controversy. After that, I stopped at a nearby World of Beer, where I had two porter beers. The one I'll mention as being real good is Terrapin Liquid Bliss; Terrapin typically makes good beer but Liquid Bliss is an apt name as it's a chocolate peanut butter porter and it's real good.

Saturday, I stayed in; there was a UFC PPV but it didn't seem like something I needed to see. Sunday, I went to Winter Garden Village; I walked around and ended up at Target. I got a few items there and that went fine. My time there wasn't good; I'll just say it was dumb customers, dumb employees, and a dispute over the price of an item that made me swear not to return to any Best Buy for a long while and that is fine with me, as there are plenty of other places to visit in order to purchase films... not to mention the great resource known as Amazon.

July did not end well but August should be better, even if I only have a rough idea of what I'll be doing the first week of this month.

Monday, July 25, 2016

Star Trek Beyond, Huey Magoos & Cheeseburgers In Paradise

This past week wasn't as exciting as I expected, but that is OK. I did not do anything last Monday the 18th so let me move onto the next day. On the 19th I went to Universal Studios CityWalk; I did in fact walk around there and as I hadn't ordered food from Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville in a long time, that's where I ate at for dinner. Their appropriately named Cheeseburger in Paradise is always great. For the most part CityWalk is the same as it was the last time I was there. Wednesday, I went to Wawa to get a sandwich. The last few times I was at that particular Wawa, I've had issues between some of the service I got and the general annoyance of having to deal with some amazingly stupid customers. Maybe I should take a break from going there for awhile.

Thursday, all I did was go to Pizza Hut and that wasn't out of the ordinary. Friday, I ended up in the Altamonte Springs area so I returned to the Safeway grocery store to get a few items. I also went to a new restaurant that's a local quick service thing and only has four locations, all around Orlando. It's known as Huey Magoos and I first found out about it as I drove by the Altamonte Springs location a few weeks ago, and I was curious. Turns out, for those of you living in the South, you'll understand it when I say that the place is in essence a clone of Zaxby's. I got some chicken tenders and to further drive home the comparison, they had the same style fries and also offered Texas Toast. At least it was good, and I was happy to support a local business.

Saturday, I stayed in and I was OK with that. When the Florida traffic in 2016 has been notably even worse than it ever has before and you're amazed you haven't witnessed any accidents happen (recently, I saw someone pull out right in front of someone else and like with me in the past year when the exact same thing happened, I can't explain how a wreck was avoided), laying low is a swell idea. Sunday night, I had a late dinner at Disney Springs. For the first time in awhile I had food from the fancy bowling alley known as Splitsville then went next door to see Star Trek Beyond in 3D on their giant ETX screen. I am not a hardcore Trekkie or Trekker but as a kid I saw episodes of The Original Series and watched the first six movies. The reboot movie was entertaining even if it had some dumb moments; Into Darkness was bad and not just for all the controversy over who Benedict Cumberbatch played and how it was billed up as being “a big mystery”. Thankfully, Beyond is a movie well worth seeing, despite some dopey moments and one moment that left me flabbergasted as I couldn't believe they went there. It at least is fun to watch, not so dour and feels more in line with The Original Series.

I'll be back next Monday, which is August the 1st. I am not sure yet what I'll be doing the last week of July.

Monday, July 18, 2016

Pokemon GO, Sprinkles, The Infiltrator, & Dr. Perfect Biotics

No I do not play Pokemon GO; heck, I've never played a single second of any Pokemon game. I just have to mention that I am amazed at how incredibly popular it's become. For some reason, that has gotten a lot of people bent out of shape and I really am not sure why; to me why is it even a big deal if it's a fad? It won't be too long before that fad dies down. I've heard it's helped people with depression issues by getting them out of the house. While some people have lost their jobs due to it... they were bound to lose them anyway if they would be so obsessed with it while on the clock. As for Dr. Perfect Biotics, that was the sender of one of the many spam e-mails I received in the past week, and it made me chortle. 

On the 11th, I was out and about. All I'll bring up is that I returned to Disney Springs. I was going to eat dinner there but plans changed and I ended up eating fast food at home. I did try out the Sprinkles confectionery and it was quite tasty. I ordered at the counter and not at the cupcake ATM (that's right) on the outside. I got some ice cream and a cupcake, the latter of which I had at home. Tuesday, all I did was go to Walmart to purchase a few items. Wednesday, all I did was spend some time up in Sanford and I had some delicious PDQ as a meal; as I've said several times before, I wish one of those restaurants was closer by me. 

Thursday, I went to a cineplex to see a movie. For the first time since last December I was at Cinepolis in Davenport, a little bit south of where I live. Aside from the first time I was there last summer, I hadn't had any problems with the place. I probably couldn't hide my befuddlement when I was told that the menus they have displayed may have food that they don't actually offer there because all of their locations have to display the same menu (?) but other than that... I went and saw The Infiltrator, as it sounded like something right in my wheelhouse, and it was. I know not everyone has loved it, but I do rate highly that based on a true story of a federal agent in the late 1980's going undercover and becoming involved with Pablo Escobar's drug trade. I laughed when I saw that a scene was set at the famed Tampa “adult establishment” 2001 Odyssey-yes, it's one of those places where women dance around and take off their clothing-even though I don't think that place was open at the time. I've driven by it before but never went in there... honest!

Friday through Sunday the only activities I did of note was make another airport run up to Sanford (this time to drop someone off; they will ride back in an automobile on the way back so I don't have to make another one of those runs for at least a few months), go to the Walmart up in Sanford in the wee hours of the morning, be forced to use a self-checkout lane-I am not a fan of those; they are too much of a hassle. Still, I got through it-and Saturday night I went to the high class establishment known as McDonald's to get some fast food to bring back home. It was a quiet weekend and I am OK about it.

When I return next Monday, it should be a more colorful week than the one I just had.