Mountain Dew Summer Flavors, Run Lola Run, In a Violent Nature & Pinocchio Village Haus

Now I should finally be caught up. One thing I've enjoyed so far this summer is the THREE new Mountain Dew flavors that for me unexpectedly appear at the grocery store; of course I enjoy Liberty Chill (formerly Liberty Brew, which combines FIFTY flavors), the raspberry/strawberry Star Spangled Splash and the peach lemonade Freedom Fusion. Also good are both Pepsi Peach and Pepsi Lime along with the coconut-flavored Dr. Pepper, most of which I mentioned previously. By the way, I just learned that there is yet another new flavor, this one only at Speedway & 7-11 stores: Infinite Swirl, which sounds awfully similar to the old Typhoon flavor as it's also strawberry-pineapple. That will have to be discussed next time.

One activity I did a few days ago: return to Walt Disney World, the Magic Kingdom in particular. Thankfully it wasn't too unbearably hot or too unbearably busy. Tiana's Bayou Adventure-the replacement for Splash Mountain-will open in a few days; looking at the exterior, I noticed that a tree now partially blocked the popular view of people going down the hill... even more peculiar is that as of now, there are only small signs noting this new attraction. Why isn't there a giant sign at the entrance like there was w/ Splash Mountain? Disney has baffled me along with many others in recent years; maybe a sign will go up by the time it opens on Friday. At least for dinner I ate at Pinocchio Village Haus, a restaurant in Fantasyland which has decent food.

Regardless, I'll close this out by mentioning the two films I've watched on the big screen. First was Run Lola Run; yes, the German film from the late 90's that was 4K restored and released mainly at AMC Cinemas due to a lack of new movies. I had never seen it before. In 2024, the late 90's electronic music throughout most of the runtime tickled me pink but its unique plot/format still felt fresh now-I was glad to have finally given it a shot.

My opinion of the horror movie In a Violent Nature is far less glowing. It's a Canadian independent production which is designed to be like an 80's slasher out in the woods where the perspective is from the killer that's a blatant ripoff of undead Jason Voorhees from Friday the 13^th. Unfortunately, this means plenty of walking around doing nothing, a switch in perspective at times that belies the gimmick, insufferable characters all over the place, it was shot in a modern style, and gore so absurdly over the top it's just stupid. I HATED the movie and how the conclusion included a random 5 minute soliloquy from a new character which meant absolutely nothing. Yes, this was pretentious also & tried to “subvert expectations”, which usually really upsets me after experiencing how The Last Jedi followed that exact same formula. Naturally, many “film fans” dig it but Lord did I not.

When I return sometime in July, I should be discussing better films than that.

Oakland Athletics, Hogan’s Hangout, Eaton’s Beach, Red Lobster & TGI Friday’s

As has become customary now, this is Part 1 of what I’ve done in the past month, with Part 2’s posting to occur in around 24 hours. I’ll start with the negatives first. Several people I know (no, not immediate family) have had health issues as of late, which have included major surgery in one case. They are all fine now. However, someone I met a few times years ago—he unexpectedly died earlier in the month. The fact that he was only a few years older than me… in addition, Donald Sutherland passing away bummed me out too.

Now, onto my usual frivolity. Late in May I had the opportunity to visit the St. Petersburg area one afternoon/evening. First, I went to Hogan’s Hangout in Clearwater. Yes, that’s as in Hulk Hogan; long ago he used to have a standard restaurant in Tampa attached to a hotel but that closed. Now, he has a beach dive bar/restaurant which is as grungy as you’d expect but they did have pretty tasty shrimp. No, The Hulkstar wasn’t in attendance. Afterwards was the drive to Tropicana Field to see the Tampa Bay Rays lose to the Oakland Athletics 3-0. Not the most exciting game yet it was still fun; furthermore, due to a flash sale I had good seats for not a lot of cash. Neither team is full of superstars but that is OK.

Otherwise, nothing too extraordinary as of late. Several restaurants old to me were revisited for the first time in awhile; this includes Eaton’s Beach Sandbar & Grill in Weirdsdale w/ family, a Miller’s Ale House, Red Lobster (a shame what happened w/ them), and a TGI Friday’s where there was more staff than customers but the food was decent & the jukebox played 80’s hits… including Gerald McMann’s Cry Little Sister, as famously heard in The Last Boys! I also visited the likes of Citywalk one night and the Florida Mall one afternoon for the first time in months. Finally, a few days ago I went to Walt Disney World… the Magic Kingdom in particular.

I’ll definitely have more to say tomorrow, from movie reviews to new soda flavors.