Midway, Pepsi Spire, Raspberry Magic, Walmart Drama & November Rain

The first event I'll mention is that real early Tuesday morning I had to make... yet another airport run. At least it was Orlando International so the drive wasn't as long, but even at that hour the airport is chaotic and everyone drives like they are clueless, in a variety of different ways. It was also foggy for part of the drive there and back. Tuesday night I streamed the 1976 movie Midway, w/ an all-star cast. That was a first time watch and it was entertaining. That was done because Wednesday night I saw the 2019 Midway, which wasn't as good yet because 2019 has been a terrible year for movies overall and the new Midway did not make me mad, I'll be kind and say it was fine. '76 is better overall and is focused on the commanders, while '19 is more about individual soldiers & their heroics.

The rest of the week wasn't that exciting, except for what happened on Friday night... which caused me to do nothing during the weekend except for one moment I'll mention at the end. Thus, I will mention a few random things first. The movie theatre I saw Midway at required a little bit of a drive and I hadn't been there in a few years. Well, it's completely remodeled and it does look nice, which I imagine you have to do in order to compete as a small independent chain. They had something I did not even know was a thing: Pepsi Spire. It's their version of Coca-Cola Freestyle; I wish it was in more locations as its main gimmick is adding a few different flavors to their regular sodas... thus that is how I was able to have a Mist Twist with cherry and vanilla. Before then I had a gas station dinner and it went about as “well” as expected... my error. Also, a few days this past week it rained, so it was appropriate that one time I heard November rain on the radio. The Orlando radio stations... all of them are terrible overall and their variety is quite limited in scope, so I try not to listen to them. The only thing of note is when one does a Friday night 90's deal as not only is it nostalgia, but the music sounds great compared to the Autotuned tripe we get now.

Anyhow... Friday night, things did not turn out well. I went to a Walmart (I know, some will say that this was my big mistake) to pick up a few items. I attempted to pay for it with a Walmart gift card I got the previous time I was in the store. I use the card to purchase items in the store and to fill up at their gas stations, whether it be Murphy USA or their proprietary branded gas. I say attempted as the woman at the cash register was dumb and couldn't get it to work despite multiple different attempts. I realized I have seen like 10 different ways that those cards have been scanned-including me having to swipe them at the credit card machine-but this clown couldn't have called over someone with a higher IQ to try and do it right. I couldn't raise a stink about it as people were behind me in line and I couldn't say with 100% accuracy the card actually had cash on it (it's Walmart so the cashier from the previous occasion might have screwed up putting money on it) so I just paid via credit card instead. Of course, I then went to the gas pumps to fill up... the card did have 100 bucks on it and that person was a blithering idiot. Figures.

Should people be surprised that I would be happy to stay in for the weekend to avoid the traffic and running into incompetents like that? The only thing I did was on Saturday, where I got dinner from Wawa; that went fine and I saw that the Freestyle machines had a limited edition “Raspberry Magic” flavor for Coca-Cola. I couldn't tell you how it differed from regular raspberry... at least it was decent and I'll have to try the Sprite Vanilla Frost. As for the Bears game against the LA Rams... it was not watched by me and that was the right decision as they lost 17-7 and I would have received more entertainment from watching paint dry for three hours straight.

Nothing's on the agenda for the upcoming week... yet.

Parasite, Earl of Sandwich, Cajun Food & Mountain Dew Merry Mash-Up

This week wasn't too terribly exciting overall, although it did have some moments. Monday I did nothing but Tuesday, that was a positive day. I was at Disney Springs (even with the weather turning into light rain) to see a movie and to have dinner. The movie was Parasite, from South Korea and director Bong Joon-ho; hardcore movie fans will know him for such things as Snowpiercer (which rubbed me the wrong way), The Host-which was pretty cool-and some pictures which I shamefully haven't seen yet, but he's been highly regarded for years now. Many other places before the United States got it so on certain sites and forums there has been plenty of hype for it. Finally, on this day I saw Parasite, and thought of it as tremendous. It's not entirely mainstream yet that is fine by my standards. It blends together a few different genres as a rich family and poor family are followed; the latter grifts the former because they are fed up with poverty, but of course things go wrong. It may be my movie of 2019, as a matter of fact. There are various movies from South Korea I've seen over the years and many were worthwhile, w/ some of them being great; this has to be the best one I've seen.

Dinner was had at Earl of Sandwich, as I hadn't been there in many months. That went fine and I got the amusement of seeing some people not understand the different way you order food there (the meal is ordered at one spot, and no matter if you order any sides or drinks at the second spot, that is where you pay for it all) despite a huge sign hanging up above the first spot explaining the process. Believe it or not, nothing interesting happened between Tuesday and Sunday, unless people want to hear about such things as trips to Walmart (I purchased the returning Mountain Dew Merry Mash-Up, which is a nice limited edition cranberry/pomegranate drink), idiots creeping along on rural roads, or getting a meal at Zaxby's. Thus, let me skip ahead to Sunday, where the Chicago Bears were not watched as I did not expect them to defeat the Detroit Lions and well... Chicago actually won, albeit barely defeating a Lions team that at the last minute had to start a mediocre backup quarterback.

Instead, I went to several different places, including the Mall at Millenia-where among other things, I saw a feral cat roaming the crowded parking lot-and Rocket Fizz in Winter Park, where I picked up both food & drink. In between that was a stop at a place new to me: Tibby's New Orleans Kitchen. A few days previous I chatted with someone I know from Louisiana & the conversation turned to food. It made me realize that Cajun food isn't in my wheelhouse so I should try one of those places. The Tibby's in Winter Park is not in the largest space yet while busy was not overly crowded and the theme was executed well, whether it was all the murals or the New Orleans soundtrack. I had the Shrimp Creole; even with me wanting a little more shrimp, I cannot grouse about the meal overall... or the giant goblet of Abita Beer I had. It is always nice for me to try out new experiences & discuss them here.

There may be no new experiences in the upcoming week... but I should have a little more to talk about.

Doctor Sleep, Terminator: Dark Fate, Coca-Cola Cinnamon & Pumpkin Spiced Madness

Let me catch up and start this off by talking about Friday, October 25th. On that day, I went with someone to the local brewery in town, Suncreek Brewery. It opened earlier in the year but on this day I finally tried them out. The food did taste fine although I was tremendously turned off by one thing: someone thought it was a good idea to have not only loud music, but different loud music playing loudly at the same time. Such things give me a headache and it may be a long while before I return there, despite the extra special bitter beer I had being alright.

Sunday, I had free time so I went to a Total Wine & More to purchase some alcohol, specifically pumpkin-flavored beer; amazingly that location did not have much in that category, but I got what I could. I then tried some place for the first time ever: Tropical Smoothie Cafe. There I got a pumpkin-flavored beverage, along with a sandwich and both were good. The food took some time... it's not the fault of the employees as there was only 2 of them and it was preposterous there wasn't more.

Wednesday, I went and saw Doctor Sleep; for those wondering how this happened when it's not going to be officially released in the United States until this upcoming Friday, the Fandango website presented an early screening of the movie on 400 screens across the country and as The Shining is a tremendous movie, I was hoping I would enjoy its sequel... and I did. It's not legendary like Kubrick's movie, but I wasn't expecting it to be and plus, talk about unfair expectations. All I'll say is that while the movie is highly dependent on The Shining, the movie does its own thing and isn't a rehash... I wish I could say the same thing about Terminator: Dark Fate but I can't; more on that in a bit. 

The only things I'll mention before I get to yesterday's activities: I say Pumpkin Spiced Madness mainly because it's a cool phrase, although it can be used to describe some of the traffic I experienced as of late. Friday, I did go to a Target and among other things, I discovered there was a new Coke product, Coca-Cola Cinnamon. The taste was exactly what you'd expect... which is not a bad thing. As for yesterday, I went and saw Terminator: Dark Fate. The first two in the series have always been incredible, and that can be confirmed by me as I've revisited both in the past year or so. I haven't even checked out all of the sequels, as after Judgment Day many people don't like any of them. Dark Fate, I did not have the highest of hopes based on the trailers, although to me many trailers these days aren't great as they don't always accurately show a movie so it's difficult to judge if a film will be any good. Personally, I thought Dark Fate was pretty bad. Part of it is modern Hollywood tropes that are present which I am sick and tired of... but besides that, the story is SO stale as it's the same old BS again and really, it is a crappy version of T2.

Speaking of crappy, I have not watched the Chicago Bears as of late; from all accounts they looked atrocious against both the Los Angeles Chargers and the Philadelphia Eagles; I was happy not to bother with that nonsense. When I return on Veteran's Day, I won't discuss viewing their next game vs. the Detroit Lions (as I suspect that will be yet another losing effort) but other things will occur and hopefully the week won't include any bad moments.

Joker, Pollo Tropical, Power Outages & The Worst Day Ever?

I will be doing something different; nothing is planned for the rest of the week and as I did something highly out of character on Tuesday due to me losing my cool, I might as well post this a few days early and I'll just go back to a regular posting schedule when I return on Monday, November 4^th.

OK, it is hyperbole to state that Tuesday the 22^nd was the worst day I've ever had, as in the past I've been in a car accident and some things have happened which I've never mentioned in public. However, Tuesday was the worst day I've had in a long while and as there's a lot to say, I'll begin by stating why that was so horrid; it includes me having to do something very uncharacteristic and something that will shock those who know me well. I finally went and saw Joker; superhero movies usually aren't my bag (so is comic book movies in general) but I am familiar with the character from what I've seen both as a child and adult & it mimicking the style of such things as Taxi Driver did interest me.

Traffic there and back was of course bad yet bad things happened throughout the day. For the first time I tried food at Pollo Tropical... and realized I'll never visit the location in Altamonte Springs again as that was a disorganized cluster**** where the food took way too long to make and the staff was full of buffoons. At least the food did taste fine. Now, the movie itself. I was NOT a fan of it at all; blasphemy to many but it was like an idiot trying to do Taxi Driver, the attempts to tie it in with Batman ruined the story and the main plot that resulted in the “shocking” climax... it was so devoid of logic and common sense, I totally rejected the movie and its “edgelord” attitude. I felt this way even before a bad incident happened in the auditorium where I got mad and actually YELLED at people while the movie was playing!

Bad audience experiences have happened to everything but thankfully only a few have been notably terrible; well, this was the worst I've ever experienced. A group of cretins were acting stupid and I never heard anyone tell them to shut their mouths. For some reason, they loudly left the auditorium but did not exit through the door; rather, they were in the hallway by the door where everyone could still hear them loudly talk and as no one was doing anything about it, I actually flipped out and for the first time ever, boldly confronted them. Like I said, actions like this are just things that I do not do; however, I was already rather peeved (to say the least) by a bad movie so I let them know they were being A-holes and among my quotes was, “Do you even care that everyone else can hear you LOUDLY talking?”

Of course, their response was “hurr... durrr...” (I am paraphrasing here) and they mouthed off to me. Regrettably, I could not bow up to them and further this situation; they looked and acted like ogres and as no one was beside me-whether I knew them or not-and they looked exactly like the type who would finish confrontations via physical violence... for the sake of my personal safety, I had to walk away. Naturally they did not leave right after that, and the only explanation I have as to why they did not leave right away: their IQ's had to be in the 80 to 85 range! Throughout the entire time they were in the auditorium, they proudly displayed their lack of intelligence and common sense. For hours afterward, I was full of adrenaline, not to mention the general feeling of anger over such a thing happening.

The cherry on top of the feces sundae that was Tuesday: the day ended when the power went out at home... for FOUR hours. That was simply a brilliant capper to a day I'll be happy to forget. When I do return on Monday, November 4^th... I will talk about what I just finished doing today, which (unfortunately) is another negative experience. However, I don't want Halloween time to be a bitter experience so with any luck, I will also be sharing positive experiences.

Rugby World Cup, .38 Special, Disney Skyliner & Pitiful Football

Monday through Wednesday I really did nothing of note; henceforth, let me talk about some sports that are considered niche in the United States but I have viewed in the past few weeks. Late last month was the Grand Final in the Australian Football League; yeah, I still once in awhile see Australian Rules Football. In hindsight, I am not surprised that Richmond defeated Greater Western Sydney in a massacre (114 to 25) yet I did hope for something more competitive. During this past week I saw a replay of the National Rugby League Grand Final (also in Australia) and it was rugby league; Sydney Roosters defeated Canberra 14-8; while low-scoring, at least it was more competitive. Finally, this month I have seen a few rugby union (they are big differences between that and rugby league... it'd take paragraphs to try and explain to someone who don't know) games as the Rugby World Cup is currently happening in Japan. That huge typhoon canceled a few games but much more importantly, not too many lives were lost and the person I know who actually lives in Japan is fine.

Thursday was definitely the most interesting/exciting day for me. I returned to Disney, Epcot in particular. It was nice to experience the Food & Wine Festival again and eat dinner there, but the big draw for me was the new Disney Skyliner gondolas. They opened late last month and not even a week into operation, the whole thing broke down and people were stranded for a few hours; there's not a good look for Disney. Thankfully there were no issues while I was on them. From the Epcot station I went to the end of that line at the Caribbean Beach resort. I then transferred to the line that took you to the Art of Animation and Pop Century Resort; I hadn't been there in ages but both have tremendous theming so it was nice to walk around there for a bit. Back at Epcot, the band performing on this night was .38 Special; I am not sure how cool it makes me to admit I happily listened to all their songs in that 35 minute set, but I'll admit it anyhow.

The rest of the week, the only noteworthy event was picking someone up from the Sanford Airport. After Saturday it should be awhile before I make another airport run. Due to traffic and other factors, I was happy to lay low and relax. The Chicago Bears game against the New Orleans Saints game was on locally so I... well, did not watch all of it; instead I saw small bits and pieces, which was enough for me. The Saints won 36-25, but note that until late the score was 36-10 and the Bears were totally humbled. After what happened last Monday night where the Green Bay Packers won a game against the Lions after some atrocious refereeing, it sort of is a relief that Chicago will be mediocre at best this season as that will make it easier to ignore the NFL in general and not have to watch the New England Patriots (probably) win it all yet again. I'll have better things to do with my time instead.

Next Monday, I am expecting to write about more events as the upcoming week should be at least a little livelier... that's the plan, at least.

The Thing, War, Gemini Man, 4D Experiences & HFR 3D+

The main aspect of the preceding week: viewing some movies theatrically. Monday evening, I went to CityWalk at Universal Studios; it was at the Cinemark, which was an AMC Theatres until September of last year. It largely looked the same as before although the auditoriums were remodeled and now have the “luxury recliners” that have been in vogue for a few years now, and in general are very nice. This Halloween season they have had “Fright Nights”, which is showings of old horror movies; if only 1985's Fright Night would have been one of them. Anyhow, it is a nice lineup of such classics as The Exorcist, Psycho and A Nightmare on Elm Street. Well, on this night I saw The Thing theatrically. I am talking about the movie from John Carpenter starring my (non) relative Kurt Russell. It's a tremendous movie so I was happy to see it that way and plenty of people were in the auditorium; thankfully there were no issues or bad/rude behavior.

Tuesday I did nothing but Wednesday was one of those days which wasn't good overall but did have one positive stretch. I went and saw another movie, this time one from India. Indian movies aren't hard to see in Florida, but picking one is the thing... the fact that all of them are over 2 hours long is the big thing. However, I heard that War was an insane action film in the best of ways, so even though it was 156 minutes in length I went and took a chance on it. Well, it was gleefully absurd so it was a good time... even if there was a screaming child in the audience and the auditorium was freezing cold... I suppose it was at times a 4D experience as part of the movie takes place in the Arctic Circle; but, freezing cold would have been better for The Thing screening. Anyhow, the traffic there and back was full of A-holes behind the wheel and my dinner wasn't as good as expected so other than the movie I'd rather forget about Wednesday.

Oh yeah, I should mention that War was about a super Indian agent who has to go against his mentor after he seemingly went rogue. The movie was amazingly homoerotic, to be perfectly frank here. Thursday I went and saw another movie about a great agent: Gemini Man. For a nerd like me the big draw was not director Ang Lee or even star Will Smith but rather the unique way the movie was shot: a higher than usual frame rate. I could write paragraphs about the whole process but I imagine many don't particularly care plus there are sites which can explain it better than me... the picture is for certain clearer, although the action does move differently so I know people whose brain just rejects high frame rate and it does not work for them. I imagine that is a big problem to HFR becoming a common thing. Anyhow, I saw it in HFR 3D+ (simply, that format in 3D) and on a Dolby Cinema screen, which was huge and had dual laser projection.

The movie itself, it was more about its appearance and the digital creation that was Young Will Smith rather than its story and dialogue, which typically was either OK or pretty bad. That digital creation usually looked fine, although the one time it was fully lit, its appearance was shockingly awful. If you can see it in HFR 3D+, do so: that picture blew me away due to its clarity and it was the best 3D I've ever seen. Aside from that Gemini Man is a rather generic movie which kind of wastes its unique clone premise. I saw this at Disney Springs so Thursday night when I wasn't at the movie I walked around the area, and enjoyed it dressed up for the fall season.

Friday through Sunday the only things I did was either go into town for food or relax at home. One night was Domino's Pizza, because there was a coupon in the mail for a large pizza and bread bites; to be frank, it was a deal which was more about quantity than quality. The next time, I'll talk about the sporting event I saw some games of on TV as of late... and other things, which are not set in stone as of now.

Pretzel Bacon King, Dollar General Market, Airport Treks & Sizzling Hot Takes

I have to start this out by talking about the weekend first, for an important reason. Saturday's plans went by the wayside, although it may be for the better considering that I left the house at Sunday morning at 3 AM (!) to drop someone off at the airport in Sanford. More on that in a bit. There was a local pro wrestling show right in the city I live in; it was only about a 15 minute drive to the building so it sounded like a nice deal; besides, I was invited on Facebook to attend. Well... back in the day when I used to go to these sorts of shows all the time, events starting late were unfortunately commonplace. Times are different now, I have far less tolerance for such things as the doors not even being open at 8PM when the show was supposed to start at 8PM... and I did not know anyone else in the crowd milling about outside, so... I left and went home, which at least was a short drive.

I know people will get mad at this but I have to be transparent here. Hopefully it won't be like what happened around 5 years ago or so, when another event did the same thing and was going to start real late so I just left... I got called either a liar or incompetent by someone who claimed “Why no, the show did not start that late!”, which was patently false. Pro wrestling these days... it has devolved for a variety of reasons so that's why I don't watch modern wrestling at all as how it used to be done was MUCH more entertaining. Anyhow, the trip to the airport went fine and on the way back I stopped at a Denny's, which was less zany than expected for the wee hours of Saturday night. Sunday I did not watch the Chicago Bears game that was in London. Now, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is brand new and looks nice at least from description and photos, but I am glad I did not bother due to the now-common unwatchability of the National Football League (this includes an atrocious call, and it went in favor of the Bears and I can admit it was hot garbage) & oh yeah, somehow Chicago lost to the much inferior Oakland Raiders.

Now back to chronology: the preceding week had some different sorts of events, along with familiar ones. Monday, I went and got a haircut; I know I say this all the time but it was much-needed. Tuesday, I went to Lakeland to visit more than one place, although the one I'll mention is The Brass Tap, located at Lakeside Village. I've literally parked next to the place plenty of times yet this was my first time inside the joint. I've been to a Brass Tap in Orlando before so I knew what it was all about. I had craft beer as I saw parts of the baseball Wild Card game where Milwaukee blew it late and lost to the Washington Nationals. The one brew I'll bring up is the pale ale with the awkward name Toppling Goliath XHOPS-Onyx; Toppling Goliath is an Iowa brewery and that drink had a strong fruity taste although that was fine by me. Before that I stopped at a Dollar General Market, as I had never been to one before and it was literally on my way to Lakeland. It is a grocery store and a standard one, except that the prices are pretty good, although the selection is naturally not as great as in a Publix or Winn-Dixie. I was in the rural Polk City so no surprise at the sight of a teen girl (w/ her mom) walking around the store barefoot!

Wednesday I saw the other Wild Card game at home, where the Tampa Bay Rays defeated the Oakland Athletics; I am glad they are doing well even if fans don't usually show up at Tropicana Field. Before that, I had the Pretzel Bacon King burger at Burger King. By modern BK standards that burger was fine, although the chain is not as good as they used to be, to be frank. They also had mozzarella sticks and yeah, don't get those as they are laughable compared to the ones you can find at many chain restaurants. In addition, a Mensa member ordered food after me at the counter and yet when order 90 was announced and the bag was on the counter, this jackass never looked at his receipt or even the receipt taped to the bag and instead start pawing in the bag before he realized his stupidity... Florida, everybody.

The only other event worth mentioning is that I actually had to make ANOTHER airport run, on Thursday; that was unexpected yet I was happy to do this task. When I return next Monday... I know that several theatrical films will be discussed.