Thanksgiving, Auto Shows, Voodoo Doughnuts & Metal Health (Bang Your Head)

This was another one of those weeks where not a lot happened but there still were some interesting moments. Monday, I went with someone to a Sam's Club in an Orlando suburb-they are a member, unlike me-and several items were purchased there. As I imagine not too many are interested in hearing how they changed their layout since my last visit, I'll skip ahead and mention how the person I was with wanted to eat dinner at a Five Guys Burger & Fries, so I obliged. That went fine and unlike the crowded joint I was at the last time I was at Five Guys, hardly anyone was there despite it being in the 5PM hour. Tuesday through Thursday, nothing to really talk about except that Thanksgiving was the customary meal that I have with some family members, and this time around my aunt was also present. It was a nice day... oh and the Chicago Bears also played early in the afternoon, against the Detroit Lions. The Bears won and this was without their first string QB playing due to injury. The Lions are so lousy they lost to a backup-Chase Daniel-who has hardly played at all during his time in the league.

Friday, I did what I've done pretty much every Black Friday since I moved down here and that was go to the Orange County Convention Center and experience the Central Florida International Auto Show; that is where many manufacturers bring their 2018 or 2019 models for people to look at up close. As always, vehicles like the Corvette and Camaro are pretty popular, and certain demographics love the giant trucks... some of those are outrageously expensive now, as in $70,000 or more! I ate dinner there and I sat by the area which Jeep set up that had a simulated off-road course, and I got to faintly hear some old-school R&B... that to me was a plus. On the way back I went to a Trader Joe's as I hadn't been there in awhile; I picked up a few random items. Also on the way back I heard the 80's heavy metal song Metal Health (Bang Your Head)-by Quiet Riot-twice on two different radio stations. That was a win to me; this may say a lot about my tastes considering I recently bashed Post Malone and here I am praising 80's heavy metal... but I have no regrets about that.

Saturday I did nothing; Sunday, that was interesting. I went to Office Depot to purchase a few items... after that I had a late lunch at PDQ as my last visit was long ago. In the evening, I returned to Universal Studios CityWalk for the first time in about three months. The only thing new there was that the AMC Theatres is now a Cinemark-I have known about that since the change was made in September. I had a drink at one of the bars... a beer was ordered but I received a cocktail instead. As the random thing I had tasted fine, I did not get mad at the bartender for the mistake. In addition, I finally tried out the Voodoo Doughnuts that opened there earlier in the year. The two doughnuts I got (an orange creamsicle and one with Cap'n Crunch) were very tasty. What an interesting place that was... and their two slogans say a lot. The first is “The Magic is in the Hole”-there is a good reason for me to snicker at that, and it is their other slogan. If you order a set of doughnuts they are put into a pink box and well... emblazoned in many different places is the phrase “Good Things Come in Pink Boxes.” No comment...

Next time around, nothing is on the agenda as of yet.

Zaxby's, Flanagan's, Typical Nonsense & Mountain Dew Merry Mash-Up

Even for me, not a whole lot happened this past week so this will be a little shorter than usual. This past Monday, I went to the local Zaxby's restaurant in town. I had been to other locations of that Southern chicken-focused before but for some reason I never had tried the one only a few miles away from me, even though I think it has been there for two years now, if not longer. That was a fine meal I got from there on this day so I should frequent the place more often. Tuesday and Wednesday, I did nothing of note, except that I stopped at a convenience store and purchased a 20 ounce bottle of the newest limited edition Mountain Dew: Merry Mash-Up, which is the odd-sounding combination of cranberry and pomegranate. It was actually not half-bad.

Thursday, that was a hectic day-I say that only due to how wretched traffic was. Two of the main drags I took to the Orlando-Sanford Airport to pick someone up ended up being traffic jams due to accidents. Thus, I had to take alternate routes to get to the random “sports pub” I stumbled upon online the night before. I saw high ratings for Flanagan's in Longwood so I gave it a shot. It was a smoking establishment-which was news to me-but while I am not a fan of cigarettes I was able to put up with that. Many states (including Illinois) has banned smoking in restaurants and clubs but not Florida. At least the food was good, the staff was fine, the music on the jukebox included the entirely of Rush's 20 minute song 2112, and some random guy even paid for my beer. I picked up that person from the airport and on the way back I not only passed by another wreck but some A-hole drove by me going AT LEAST 100MPH... regrettably he wasn't the one who later crashed and I was crestfallen a cop car wasn't around at the time.

Friday through Sunday I really did nothing at all, unless people want to hear about my trip to Walmart to get some miscellaneous items. At least there were things I could do at home, like watch LivePD and halfway pay attention to football... even the Sunday night Chicago Bears game against the Minnesota Vikings. Chicago won 25-20 as they finally faced better competition. There was the typical nonsense that has ruined the NFL and it had an impact on the game, but at least the Bears won.

When I return a week from today, I should hopefully have more to discuss; at least I know of a few things I'll be doing.

The Oviedo Mall, Overlord, Die Hard & Pretentious Twaddle

The preceding week had some interesting moments along with days where I did not do much of anything at all. Monday the 5^th I went to two stores in my town. The first was Walmart to pick up a few items; the second was Winn-Dixie. I hadn't been to a W-D in years as I did not feel like it. What inspired me to finally return was that online I randomly stumbled upon news that they remodeled the local store. Once I went there, I discovered this to be true. My trips there will be at least once in a blue moon to purchase random products. Tuesday, after I voted I went to a movie theatre to watch a motion picture. Now, in the past I've talked about the late 70's European horror film Suspiria. That has many fans; even they can admit that the storytelling and logic isn't always great, but the colorful visuals and musical score are great. As I mentioned last fall, I got to see it theatrically and that was a fun experience.

Now, there is a remake of it, but they only took the basic plot synopsis and went in other directions. Many film fans love it but me... pretentious claptrap is my opinion. The movie brags about having “six acts and an epilogue” and it's 2 ½ hours long. Most of the added material was superfluous and pointless; while not everything about the movie is bad, what made me ultimately hate it was that after a laughable finale (one of a few times where there are pretty gruesome moments that become silly because they go on for WAY too long) the epilogue bored me to tears and it just would never end. IMO, stick with the original Argento movie.

Wednesday I did nothing but Thursday, I had to make yet another airport journey; this time it was dropping off someone in Sanford; on the way back I stopped at the Oviedo Mall as I hadn't been there in years. The place was different since my last visit but to be honest, I will only make it out that way once in a blue moon as there aren't too many reasons for me to make that long drive-not to mention pay all those tolls. One eatery I like to try in the future but I will talk about that another time, once they are open. Friday and Saturday were nondescript, unless people want to hear about me going into town to pick up pizza. Veterans Day was more interesting for me. The Chicago Bears beat the Detroit Lions 34-22 (as they should have) then I went to Disney Springs to see two movies.

The first one was Die Hard, a personal favorite of mine; this was not the first time I've been able to see that theatrically. Even thirty years later I still say the movie is incredible so I am glad I had another opportunity to partake in it... this time it was presented by TCM and Fathom Events. I then left that AMC to walk around Disney Springs a bit (where I enjoyed the holiday decorations they have up) before returning and seeing Overlord. That was the B movie I expected it to be; it is silly yet fun as it delivered plenty of gore and violence. Also, what a movie to see on Veterans Day, something about D-Day... and Nazis doing evil experiments to create super-soldiers.

When I return a week from today, I have a few ideas in mind as to what I'll be discussing.

Post Malone, Halloween, Broken Strings Liquid Vinyl & Flintstones Vitamins

Yes, for once I'll talk about modern popular music. For a long while now I've thought that most modern popular music is just terrible so I don't even bother trying to follow it. Post Malone... first off, he's a white rapper so points off right away. What he calls “music” is manufactured nonsense AND all he does is Autotune garbage. I only need to hear snippets from a few songs to have my mind made up... actually, to be honest I mostly had my mind made up after first viewing his repulsive physical appearance! 

Anyhow, a few days ago on Twitter I retweeted a Washington Post article where a music critic just eviscerated Malone and modern popular music in general after a festival appearance. Many colorful phrases were uttered and I thought it was great. Well, someone I know did not like the article and gave some reasons why. I am not going to argue with him about it as I know no one's opinion will change after a tete-a-tete so it would be a waste of time. Why he and millions love that “music”, I'll just never understand; the fact that afterwards both Malone and his dad became real butthurt about the article and started harassing the writer... “trash” is the word that comes to mind. I am much happier listening to old tunes I am already familiar with or exploring songs from the past that are new to me. Now, back to business: 

Last Monday, I went with someone to the local Applebee's. Regrettably, things did not go great there. The service was fine and I can't complain about my meal, but the someone tried the riblets and hated them; to me they did not look too appetizing. Plus, when we first walked in, some ghetto (and terrible) modern music was playing; eventually they changed it to a station playing older tunes but it suddenly became LOUD and again, like the previous week I wasn't a fan of that. Tuesday I did nothing and Wednesday was Halloween; unlike in the past few years, a decent amount of trick or treaters came around and that was good. I will always have fond memories of going around the neighborhood with my two sisters and mom each Halloween season when I was a little kid... oh so many years ago. On that night I had a locally made drink that was supposed to make you not as hungover... I had it before I consumed some alcoholic beverages. I am not sure if it had any effect but amazingly, it tasted just like the orange Flintstones Vitamins I had when I was a real little kid. Even after a few decades I still have not forgotten such a distinctive taste. 

Thursday, I went to what is now known as ICON Orlando 360, which is the area around the ICON Orlando 400 foot tall Ferris wheel. It'd been awhile since I roamed around there; I ate at the Yard House, a place I had been before. Dinner was consumed and so was some craft beer. The one I'll mention is the local concoction known as Broken Strings Liquid Vinyl, which is a dark IPA. Sounds odd, but it was fine. I also went into Shake Shack for a shake... wise decision on my part. Friday, I will not mention all I did but I will bring up the visit to the nearby Twistee Treat... it is outdoor buildings shaped like ice cream cones and as someone I know had a 2 for 1 coupon about to expire, we went there. Getting rained on while waiting for the treats was no fun, but at least said treats were tasty.

The weekend I did nothing at all; Sunday was a rainy day so being at home was A-OK. At least the Chicago Bears easily defeated the Buffalo Bills... sure, the Bills are now terrible and had to start a terrible quarterback, but it is still a blowout victory. When I return a week from today, hopefully I'll have more to discuss... and there will be less in the way of salty takes.

Free Solo, 4DX, Pumpkin Ales & Eighteen Inning Baseball

Not the most exciting of weeks, but alas. Monday through Wednesday I did a few things. This included a visit to Wal-Mart, time spent at Disney Springs and yet another airport trip. The Disney Springs sojourn was to see a film called Free Solo; it was a documentary made by National Geographic about the free solo climber Alex Honnold. Free solo climbing is when you do mountain climbing without any safety equipment at all. He is great at that activity yet he had the crazy idea to try and climb El Capitan at Yosemite National Park; I was there as a kid and what he did was go 3,000 miles straight up a vertical granite face with little in the way to grab on to. It was an insane thing to attempt so it was natural that such a guy was profiled. He was indeed a little weird but once you see him try it... talk about breathtaking. Wednesday I made the airport journey, this time to Orlando International; beforehand I killed time at a BJ's Brewhouse & Restaurant, where I had a pumpkin ale. The drive there and back was especially bad traffic-wise, both due to the number of cars & the number of maniacs and clueless bozos on the road.

Thursday I did nothing except drink a pumpkin ale; it was a large bottle from Elysian and the brew was The Great Pumpkin. It was indeed good. Friday, I saw the movie It on the big screen. No, I did not travel back in time to last fall... and I saw the movie theatrically last year. No, those Regal Cinemas locations that have 4DX auditoriums have a special deal this Halloween week where they show a few different horror films a day. I presume most are not familiar with 4DX; it's a wacky gimmick (to be honest) where not only the seats move around to the action but there are other effects like wind blowing at you and from the seat-and sometimes from the side-rain falling on you (that can be turned off with a button push) and while it didn't happen in this film, other movies have a scent option. The experience was definitely different; at times it was distracting but 4DX wasn't something I hated so one day I will have to try it out with a new release. I mean, on Friday the main reason why I finally gave this a shot when it's been around for a few years now... tickets are even more expensive than for an IMAX screening, but for this week the price was half-off. Only a few other people were there but I presume it's usually more busy.. at least I hope so for this place's sake. Oh, and It is still very good; hopefully next year's Chapter 2 is just as fun.

Before that I ate at a nearby Hooters. I know, I know... I wish the music wouldn't have been so loud in there; otherwise I had no complaints, about the food or other things... the weekend nothing was done at all. Sunday, the Chicago Bears played against the New York Jets. It was not worth the effort to go somewhere to watch the contest in full. At least the Bears easily won, albeit over a not so good team. I did see parts of all five World Series games, including Friday night's game that went eighteen innings and did not end until after 3 in the morning Eastern time. I would have been more interested in the Dodgers winning as their last World Series was in 1988-those are the breaks. Nothing's on the agenda yet for my upcoming week-I know I'll stumble into an adventure or two.

Michael Myers, Citrus Swirl Floats, Smirnoff Ice Smash & Chicken Guy!

Monday through Thursday had only a few exciting moments. One day I went to the Magic Kingdom, because why not? I have an annual pass so it means I don't have to stay there for many hours if the place is hotter and more crowded than expected, which it was on that day. Still, I spent a few hours there, went on several rides, had a meal, and the treat I had was a citrus swirl float from the Sunshine Tree Terrace, which was a good decision on my part. One early morning I had to drop someone off at the airport... yes, again. After that I had a tasty meal at the nearby Denny's.

Thursday itself had me at Disney Springs. First, I ate at a new restaurant called Chicken Guy!... the exclamation is in the name. It's a quick service place and only after entering the place did I realize the Guy was referring to Fieri; he is not lacking for restaurants he has some ownership in. The food was pretty good, thankfully. After that I went into the AMC to see the new Halloween, and in the Dolby Cinema, no less. The original film from 1978 is still a classic; most of the sequels ranged from OK to pretty bad. This new film is good so it's one of the best entries, but considering all the high praise I heard I was hoping for something I would love... instead, I only like the film. Alas. I won't go into details as to why I feel that way, except that there are some pretty stupid moments.

Friday I went to a Walmart to get a few items, and that was the “highlight” of the day. Saturday I did nothing at all. I am not carping about this as at least I had other things to do, like watch Live PD. The episodes this past weekend and the weekend before: incredible. The number of insane people, car chases, suspects running on foot, drunken fools... tremendous entertainment, it is. I did have a drink that I purchased recently at Total Wine & More. It was a Smirnoff Ice Smash, which I will just presume is a big hit among the college kids as not only do I understand they still drink Four Loko but this is 23.5 ounces at 8 percent alcohol... I mainly purchased the drink for laughs and because it was a few bucks. I tell you, it goes down a lot easier than a Four Loko.

Sunday was interesting. I did not pay too much attention to the Bears game; they played against the New England Patriots and I expected a big fat L and that did happen, even though they only lost by a touchdown and were literally a yard and a kick away from tying it at the end. To me that's worse than them getting their butt kicked so I am glad I went nowhere to watch that. While I did go to the local Wawa for a sandwich and to pick up a Mega Millions ticket (how can I turn down a minuscule chance at winning a 1.6 billion dollar jackpot?), my entertainment was in the evening: first was the drive to a place I had been only once or twice before, called Gator Joe's; my parents dig it. It is in a middle of nowhere town called Ocklawaha, which does have a claim to fame... those that known the 20's and 30's criminals the Barker Gang-led by Ma Barker-that city was their final stand in a showdown with police back in 1935. Anyhow, that place has decent food so it was about time I returned there. On the way back I went to another place I hadn't been to in a long while: Rural King. As I've mentioned in the past, that place is exactly what you'd expect from the name-including NRA and Smith & Wesson shirts... think of that how you will. I purchased several items there, including really cheap jeans.

I could once again complain about traffic this past week; I won't because it's something done by me all the time but one moment I do have to bring up: on Sunday while in a town I was passing a car (it was a four lane road) and out of nowhere a minivan started to pull out right in front of us! Both horns were blown and both vehicles slammed on their brakes before I swerved around that fool, who stopped in the middle of oncoming traffic. Things like this happen all the time in Florida, no kidding. Hopefully in the upcoming week there will be no further near-misses for me to discuss.

First Man, Spruce Lager & Realizing The NFL Is Truly Unwatchable Now

Here is what I've done since this past Monday. On Columbus Day (or Indigenous Peoples Day, depending on which you prefer) I ended up in the Altamonte Springs area, where I first stopped at a Total Wine & More to pick up some beer (including something from Sam Adams known as Spruce Lager; yes, beer made with spruce tips. Odd, yet not bad), then ate at a WingStop, a place I hadn't been to in awhile. It'd have been better if that WingStop wasn't approximately 50 degrees inside but at least their food is fine. That was the highlights of what I did on this day, where because of occasional rain I saw even worse Florida traffic than usual-such as the aftermath of a few accidents-and even when it was clear out there were a number of morons who were driving dumb in several different ways. As I did nothing on Tuesday and Wednesday, I'll mention two things: the Conor McGregor fight that happened on the 6^th of this month and its aftermath, it reminded me why I don't really watch the UFC or MMA in general anymore. It'd take way too long to explain all the reasons but I am glad I did not see a second of that fight. As for Hurricane Michael, I live a few hundred miles away from the Florida Panhandle so there was only some rain and wind where I live but that storm caused such catastrophic damage I feel awful for anyone that lives in the region.

Thursday, I went to the Florida Mall; I walked around and saw that some stores were new. Not a surprise, as I hadn't been there in awhile. Friday, it was a lame day overall as there were too many annoyances that piled up throughout the day. One highlight was going to the AMC at Altamonte Springs and as I am still an avid user of the AMC A-List app, that made it all the easier to see the new movie First Man on an IMAX screen... appropriate, as a few minutes near the end were shot with IMAX cameras. I understand why some were not fans of the film as it's focused on a man who was usually pretty stoic; it worked for me as I was never bored and as far back as I can remember I've enjoyed outer space so the topic seemed made for me anyhow. Friday and Saturday I did nothing of note; that was fine as it meant I did not have to deal with traffic, which was an issue throughout the week. There were amazing episodes of Live PD on and that captivated me.

Sunday, the Chicago Bears... they played at Miami against the Dolphins. I did not make the drive down there for the game; between being gone from the early morning until late at night, the exorbitant cost of a ticket and how the NFL has become even more unwatchable than it has the past few seasons (honestly, I am half expecting a new rule next season that all quarterbacks must be covered in bubble wrap to further protect those dainty little men)... thank goodness I did not make that long journey. Plus, the Bears lost right at the end of overtime and Miami had in a second string quarterback as the first string guy was injured; this result should not have happened. I did make a journey to see the game... I hadn't been to the Friendly Confines sports bar in a long while so why not return? At least I had a nice lunch and was able to bring home a nice dinner for someone else. But note that as I left this Chicago-themed place, some clowns were crowing about how their Dolphins won and trash-talking Chicago fans. They were ignored by me as honestly, I am better than those losers!

I'll close this out on a somber note. While I never got to talk to this individual personally, early last week someone who wrestled in Florida at local shows passed away due to a long illness they had. I will not mention their birth name but his wrestling persona was Navy Seal. On social media, many people in the scene were broken up over his death and had many different nice things to say about him; I regret not knowing someone so highly regarded but I still feel sad that he passed away.

When I return a week from today, I hope to be in a cheerier mood and much more importantly, I hope no further tragedies happen.