Francisco Ciatso, 7UP Tropical, Hangry Bison, & Manta Mirage

On Friday I'll post another update where I'll mention the other activities I've done so far in January 2024, but the main reason to write now is to mention an unexpected death in a world I used to be a part of: local independent pro wrestling in Florida. This past Friday night, one of its competitors died in his sleep at only the age of 48. I'd seen Francisco Ciatso (sometimes known as Frankie Capone) wrestle many times through the years; he was not someone I'd ever really talked to but that is irrelevant. A lot of people are upset by the news; I feel awful for all the people “in the business” he was pals with along with all the fans who knew him better than I did. 48 is far too young, to state the obvious.

To be more upbeat the rest of the way, one detail I should have mentioned last month was that when I was in Kansas, a soda only sold at Kroger was 7UP Tropical, which I was able to have. As Kroger only has that grocery delivery service and no actual stores, it was a brew unable to be sampled before. One late Sunday afternoon, I returned to the Hangry Bison in Winter Park for dinner. The only other time was almost 4 years ago; someone there claimed to recognize me, and that's probably true. There's no one out there who looks quite like me!

The other activity I'll mention in this installment: as customary, one day was spent at the Mecum Auctions in Kissimmee. Unlike typical, the day before there was heavy rainfall. That resulted in some rather muddy areas although thankfully the grass parking lot did not suffer that same fate. The variety was as expected; plenty of muscle cars from the 60's, supercars of all ages from Ferrari, Lamborghini, Porsche & the like, various oddities, etc. As wild as it is for car geeks to see a Ferrari F40 parked right next to a Ferrari Enzo (both are literally worth millions now), I can be amused by seeing a few Chrysler Crossfires-remember those?-and a 70's kit car w/ avant-garde styling (many may say “ugly”) based on a 60's race car known as the Manta Mirage. It apparently has performance like a race car so I couldn't imagine driving one.

Driving home from Mecum, I was able to stop at a place mentioned a few months ago: Colbie's Southern Kissed Chicken. It was even less busy there than the first time, making me wonder if I'll have the opportunity for a third visit. That'd be unfortunate, as they have decent food. It's not quite at PDQ level-which is an issue-but on that happy note... like I said, the next time will be four days from now.

Botanica, The Wichita Gardens, City Bites, Robot Servers & 25 or 6 to 4

Those that missed it, I posted something yesterday which discussed the theatrical films I saw in December. Now, the other activities I did during the month. A few days I was rather ill but otherwise I can't complain about how 2023 concluded. As for why I quoted a famous Chicago song, I just saw an ad for Prime which used it; there's a tune not heard in a long time by me.

As always, the highlight of each December is heading on out to Wichita to see one of my sisters and the rest of her brood. Everyone there is doing fine; another “as always” is that three pre-teen boys is a handful and there is one of many reasons why it's a good thing I am not a parent. One night we went out to see Christmas lights at Botanica, The Wichita Gardens; those looked tremendous. Another night was dinner at a new Japanese hibachi restaurant known as Umi; the place looked great and the staff was augmented by robot servers... the first time I'd seen such a thing in person. Unfortunately, the robots were more reliable than the rest of the staff and none of the food tasted as good as a standard Kobe's, let alone JMK Nippon in Rockford, Illinois. You live and you learn... however, City Bites (a sandwich shop w/ funky décor) and River City Brewing Company (w/ an explosion of Christmas décor inside) both had tasty food.

Overall, it was nice to spend a few days out in Kansas. The trip there and back was on the low-buck airline Allegiant; at least the prices were still acceptable when airline tickets in general are a lot more than the pre-COVID days. The trip out to Wichita was fine except that the plane left more than an hour late. The way back was fine also... but what an incident at the airport in Wichita. As I was dropped off, a sight you'd never want to see at an airport was present: cop cars, ambulances and fire trucks on the cargo runaway. It wasn't until arriving home that the full story was known: a plane traveling from Newark to Denver had to make an emergency stop due to engine problems. That isn't automatically a sign of something bad but this time it was: an engine fire happened on the ground! No one was hurt in all that calamity, which is the important detail.

Otherwise, December wasn't too exciting for me... I went out to see Christmas lights on more than one night; a random late Tuesday had me visiting the new Raising Cane's in Orlando. Probable even now that location is still slammed with customers most of the time; even at the late time the place was busy. The food was still delicious, thankfully. Just two nights ago I went to a new restaurant in my hometown of Clermont: Portillo's just opened a location here, sooner than expected. No complaints about the food there, either.

Sometime late in the month I'll return. There are a few places I plan on going so there should be plenty of activities to discuss.

Godzilla Minus One, Die Hard, The Abyss, & The Iron Claw

Sometime on New Year's Day I will post something lengthier where the other events of December will be discussed but before people (potentially) have plays for New Year's Eve that will begin soon, it was time for me to mention the films I saw theatrically this month. I did not get the best night's sleep last night; otherwise, this would have been all written out then posted a few hours earlier.

First, I went to a theater nearby I hadn't been to in a long while for a meal and a screening of Godzilla Minus One. The Cinepolis at Hamlin in the southern area of Winter Garden offers meals and they aren't the cheapest yet at least I had good food as probably the best Godzilla movie ever was shown. It was a serious version of Gojira which was set right after World War II as the focus was on a flawed young soldier turned civilian and his ragtag group of pals as Godzilla was an utterly terrifying & unstoppable monster. It was like a Hollywood blockbuster of old-meaning good, rather than the typical mediocrity or worse we get now-and actually is as good as you may have heard.

The Abyss was screened for one night only on a random Wednesday. I had never seen that 1989 James Cameron movie before. Partially it was due to how for unknown reasons, the best disc release that and True Lies have had is DVD. However, in March both those movies will finally come out on 4K UHD disc and this screening was a way to flex how the film looks & sounds remastered. As for the movie itself, I understood why I saw some comparisons to Christopher Nolan's Interstellar... except The Abyss was better than that. It was Cameron as his most sentimental & heartfelt as he presented an anti-war movie which was also a love story while also providing the expected thrills in a great underwater setting. There was no better way to experience a first-time viewing, in other words.

Die Hard was released across the country for 2 weeks; do you believe that came out 35 years ago? It may be my favorite film so even though it wasn't my first or even second theatrical experience, that had to be watched. It's still incredible.

The Iron Claw was a few days ago. As a giant pro wrestling buff who is pretty knowledgeable about its history, of course I need to check out a big release of the tragic Von Erich story. Those that don't know, the trailers will not fully prepare you for how full of tragedy it is. Now, the timeline was at times fudge but the one big inaccuracy: The Iron Claw is missing an entire brother, Chris. That decision was literally done to not make the movie even sadder but it's still not right to me. Otherwise, the movie did present many of the details big and small right... Kerry's major injury and how that was kept secret from the public for years was true, as absurd as it may seem for those that didn't know. Overall, it was very good and as long as you aren't averse to films that may make you teary-eyed, it's a strong recommendation.

Hopefully everyone has a nice New Year's Eve even if you're like me and the plans are to stay home & watch movies and/or YouTube videos. I always mention how the year flies by too fast & had its ups and downs. Well, 2023 was more of the same. Still, it wasn't a bad year and here's to hoping that '24 is even better.

Thanksgiving, Pollo Campero, Mountain Dew Game Fuel & Skyline Chili

The past few weeks actually weren't too terribly eventful, but that is OK. Thanksgiving (the holiday) was spent out of town; that went well and I was even happy to help someone out with something. Thanksgiving (the movie) was watched by me at an AMC as I liked the faux trailer that played during Grindhouse; can you believe that movie-well, pair of movies plus those fake trailers-came out way back in 2007? The movie could be nitpicked yet overall I was still entertained by this 80's-style slasher that just had an over-the-top amount of bloody gore. As that was exactly what I expected from Eli Roth, no complaints there. The crowd I saw it with also helped w/ the experience; they were a small yet boisterous bunch. Their reactions was what Roth would have wanted so that made it fun. After all, it's a movie that has a cat in a scene but thankfully does NOT kill the feline; in fact, the villain literally pets the cat then feeds it! Note that it was the cat of someone that they just killed...

One day I made the long drive down to Kissimmee; it was to try a fast food restaurant that was discovered via the “interwebs”; it was Pollo Campero, literally a chain from Guatemala. As I've known for years now, many Hispanics live in and around Kissimmee, so I had a long wait there before receiving my order. Thankfully, that food was quite good; if that location was closer... the chicken nuggets I had looked quite similar to Chick-fil-A, except they tested better than at the place always closed each Sunday. Another restaurant visited was a Skyline Chili; last year I ate at one in Clearwater and since then sometimes purchased their version of chili that can be found in the freezer aisle of some grocery stores. No complaints about the new location that just opened at Flamingo Crossing; it's a shopping plaza a mile west of an entrance to Walt Disney World property. Speaking of Disney, one day I spent it at a crowded Magic Kingdom. OK, I wasn't there that long but still had a good time despite occasional rainy weather.

There otherwise isn't too much else to share. I was glad that Mountain Dew's limited edition Game Fuel returned (this time to advertise two different videogames) as I always enjoyed the Citrus Cherry flavor and the new Mystic Punch flavor is also pretty good. As most probably hold zero interest in my opinions of soda, I'll bid adieu now, but not before mentioning that the plan is to write something at the end of 2023. December will be more eventful than November... there will be more than a few theatrical experiences, among other items for discussion.

Killers of the Flower Moon, Silver Moon Drive-In, Soarin' Over California, Auto Shows, & Halloween

In the past several weeks, there's been some interesting experiences for sure. One day I was at Epcot; the main reason for returning there was that for the time being as part of Disney the company celebrating its 100^th anniversary (believe me, they are making it a big deal), the Soarin' attraction brought back its original gimmick of Soarin' Over California, where they only show footage from that state instead of around the world. I shouldn't say “nostalgia” but that's what it was as it's been around 8 years since I had that experience. Otherwise, a lot of my time was returning to various locations, restaurants or otherwise. People likely don't want to hear about me having dinner at a Hooters one night so I won't dwell on that. Instead, I'll first discuss movies.

One long event was spent w/ Killers of the Flower Moon. It certainly was long and by the end my body was a little restless. Otherwise, it's a great movie about a topic I knew hardly anything about; as everyone else says, Holy Cow, what a performance from Lily Gladstone. Another night I was at Pointe Orlando. I had dinner at a British pub creatively named The Pub; I'd been to their Tampa location years ago and the food was pretty good. After that I saw The Nightmare Before Christmas in 4DX. That's a wacky gimmick where the seats move around and there are various effects all around you timed to the action on screen. There are reasons why I've rarely gone to it but it was fun to see the movie that way and in 3D to boot. One afternoon I was at an outlet mall—the Orlando Vineland Premium Outlets, to be exact. I hadn't been there in ages; afterwards I ate at the nearby Saltgrass Steak House, a place where I've always had tasty food.

A LONG night I had was on October 20^th. For the first time since 2018 I was at the Silver Moon Drive-In, located in the outskirts of Lakeland. They showed 5 classic Universal Horror films in a row. They were:

The Bela Lugosi Dracula

Frankenstein

The Bride of Frankenstein

The Wolf Man

Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man

All but the last one I had viewed in the past. It was wild to see those movies in such a setting, where an employee was dressed as Claude Rains in The Invisible Man. I got there at 7 as the event began at 7:30. It did not end until 2:30 in the morning, so yes most left by the time the final movie ended and heck, a good amount left after Bride. It was a great experience.

Halloween itself wasn't too eventful, although Spooky Season is something I've grown to appreciate even more in recent years. The last event I'll mention is this past Saturday; it was only the previous weekend I even knew that's when the Central Florida International Auto Show was being held at the Orange County Convention Center. Various auto manufactures (although not all by any means) bring some-although not all-of their new models for people to look at. It was nice to sit briefly in some of them, like a Ford Mustang or a Ford Bronco, and for the hardcore auto fans, the one model BMW presented that wasn't an electric vehicle (I see what they're focusing on in the future) was an Alpina version of an SUV. Think of Alpina like their version of Mercedes/AMG... both were separate companies who mainly modified a particular brand then that brand purchased them.

I'll return... sometime. It may not be until December, but it will depend on how the rest of November goes.

Expend4bles, Stop Making Sense, The Exorcist: Believer, The Creator, Smoke & Donuts, & Spirit Halloween

Before I discuss what films I've watched theatrically as of late, my activities on Friday the 13^th will be mentioned. Dinner was had at Smoke & Donuts, a low-frills establishment in Orlando which combines BBQ and donuts... that is one heck of an idea. Both were good; I then was going to stop somewhere else before heading home but plans changed so instead I went to the Oviedo Mall for the first time in ages. They have some unique stores yet it's still not a place I'll visit often due to the distance & tolls. 

That said, one of those places is a used media store which is going out of business so I picked up some CD's for only a buck each. That includes Jim Croce, The Doobie Brothers and a 2 disc best-of from Jimmy Buffett; the latter I was surprised was still available. Also, for the first time ever I went into a Spirit Halloween store. It amused me; in case anyone knew & wondered, yes I did see last year's Spirit Halloween: The Movie because it co-starred Rachael Leigh Cook! It was average but if you have tween kids like those who were the leads in the movie, it should be a fine gateway horror film until they can watch the more visceral genre efforts in the future.

Speaking of tweens, while at the mall (which has a Regal Cinemas) I chuckled when I saw a quartet of young girls obviously excited, dressed in a particular way, about to enter the Regal; it was obvious what they were going to see. I imagine they had a grand old time but I knew beforehand that was going to do such boffo business, I saw all my movies before that came out. To do this in chronological order:

Stop Making Sense: This was the 1984 Talking Heads concert film from Jonathan Demme. It got re-released this year after getting restored. I knew various songs from the band yet had never seen it before; now, I understood why this was such a blast, between seeing it on an IMAX screen, the presentation, the songs, and the stage show where David Byrne especially was sweaty w/ all the gesticulating he did.

Expend4bles: Talk about going from the penthouse to the outhouse! The first two films were a lot of fun while the third was lame. However, number 4 was just putrid. The story was embarrassing, although not as much as the “special effects” that looked atrocious. Megan Fox I've never understood the appeal of; she has had so much plastic surgery, she barely looks human now, which ironically also described her “performance.” I couldn't believe how bad that was. The same goes for...

The Exorcist: Believer: The original will forever be a classic, the second is at least a hilarious, bizarre sort of bad while the third is flawed yet has some great moments. Believer, though... what a mess the plot was. Worst of all, an Exorcist film wasn't even scary. It even made Ellen Burstyn look terrible.

The Creator: At least this was far more enjoyable. The plot is technically original, even if its ideas are familiar and there are more than a few cliches. It avoided many of the modern movie tropes I'm not a fan of and looked great for its relative low budget. I enjoyed the film more than many, to be honest; I'm happy to be in the minority here.

The rest of the month there isn't too much on the agenda. I'll return sometime between real late October and early November.

Local Pro Wrestling, Lingo's Fish & Loaves, The Knot, Dick Butkus & Mountain Dew Vibe

During the weekend I will post another entry where chiefly the theatrical films I've witnessed in the past few weeks will be discussed. For now, I will spend some time discussing professional wrestling. Way back when I was a big fan, watching it often & attending plenty of local independent wrestling events all around the area. Then, I suddenly stopped. It's a long story: among other things, the scene changed, some deranged people were involved w/ the local scene (still are, sadly) and it was best to just stay away from those mentally ill individuals, my life had some stressors at the time & by the time that was settled, I was happy to not attend as many shows.

I hadn't gone to an independent show in years but someone gave me an invitation to attend one that was literally down the road for me so I went. It was in an open-air (but covered) building at the new Showcase of Citrus attraction. Besides citrus groves and a store that sells a variety of items, other activities are available. That includes a petting zoo and other animals in an enclosed space. Even for me & some of the strange venues I've seen wrestling at, it was a first to pass by geese and llamas on the way to the show, and kangaroos & an emu on the way back to the car!

As for the show itself, it was almost all area talent with the one name being... the former WWE wrestler known then as Enzo Amore. He was fired due to allegations made by his ex, which he denied so who knows for certain. He was a fan favorite, at least. While I only knew some of the talent, the action was decidedly more retro than what you see on TV from either AEW or WWE. The bad guys worked the crowd so they would boo them, for example. I haven't watched modern wrestling aside from a match or two in ages; it's still followed by me online & in podcasts so I know what's going on. The WWE's product is stale, everyone wrestles the same and the presentation is just off-putting. AEW is chaos & “choreographed dance routines”... no, I'm not Jim Cornette (I don't hate short people or automatically reject most women's wrestling) but it does not appeal to me whatsoever. Thus, I was happy that this local pro wrestling show (literally called “Local Pro Wrestling”) wasn't that and instead was simpler and best of all, wasn't a marathon; another problem w/ modern wrestling is that all shows go on for way too long so it becomes an endurance test. This in contrast started on time and was only 2 hours & 15 minutes long.

I did not stick around for long after the show (that's on me and my “great social skills”) but it was still a fun time. Who knows when I'll go to another show period; however, eventually I'll go attend another & it won't be years until that happens. Otherwise, the past few weeks haven't been too eventful. I did get a haircut recently; yes, it was much-needed. I was saddened by the Dick Butkus news even if his playing days were long before I was born. I have hardly watched the Chicago Bears even when given the opportunity to as they've been atrocious for almost the entire past year. Before unexpectedly winning last Thursday, the team had a 14 game losing streak, after all.

As for food, no new places were visited & people probably don't want to hear about how w/ family we went to a Golden Corral one evening. I did attend my town's tradition of having food trucks downtown the first Friday evening of each month. I hadn't gone to one of those since Mom was still alive—it's been years. At Lingo's Fish & Loaves I ordered... the chicken tenders and fries, because I am me. Those were good, although the giant cheesy garlic knots I got at The Knot were pretty darn tasty. Finally, recently I made my way to a Which Wich; the last time was ages ago. None are that close to me anymore but I passed by one on the way back from something so the stop was made. Besides a sandwich that was fine, for the first time was their exclusive flavor Mountain Dew Vibe. It's lemonade-flavored; yeah, it isn't too different from regular Mountain Dew yet was still tasty.

To reiterate, in a few days I'll post something new and at that point I will be caught up with everything worth sharing in public.