The Word Of Jeff

When Tribune Media Services called a halt to their foray into hyperlocal blogs, the website I posted to was taken down. But I still retained all the document files of my posts, so I’ve collected them here as an archive.

Please keep in mind that there may be references in the posts to photos or graphics that are not present, since I chose to concentrate on retaining the words that were written.

You may also notice an occasional format error, a strangely phrased group of words or even a rare misspelled word. I kept all those mistakes intact because it reminds me that this was my first professional writing and, while I still have a long way to go, I have also come a long way since those first published words.

So take a little trip down memory lane and enjoy!

Previous MAT archive

July 1, 2005

Hurricane ReLEAF Adopt-A-Tree

Almost a year ago, on August 13th (a Friday, for the superstitious), Hurricane Charley slammed into Orlando with winds of almost 100 mph and torrential rains. In my neighborhood some two dozen fully grown trees were uprooted and left blocking streets and filling yards. All across the city hundreds, if not thousands, of trees were destroyed by Charley, then cut into manageable pieces and taken to sites to be mulched or burned. I’m finally beginning to get used to the completely different view when I drive into my neighborhood, where streets used to be canopied with thirty foot trees and now are not. Jeanne and Frances later wreaked more damage on area trees, though thankfully less severe than Charley.

To help restore that view in the future, the Orange County Cooperative Extension is holding it’s second Hurricane ReLEAF Adopt-A-Tree session tomorrow (Saturday) morning for Orange County residents from 9am to 12pm at the Orange County Cooperative Extension office located at 2350 E. Michigan Street. While intended to help restore what was lost, the session will also educate homeowners on how to maintain their properties and reduce the chances of such damage in the future. After attending a 15 minute learning session, residents may “adopt” up to two 3-gallon native trees to plant on their property. Available tress will include Live Oak, Sweet Gum, Redbud and Native Plum.

Attendees will learn proper tree-planting and maintenance practices that will help to prevent future losses of our urban tree canopy when these adopted trees reach their full growth, and how to prevent unnecessary damage to homes, cars and other personal property when severe weather such as a hurricane strikes again.

The session and the trees are free, there is no registration or fee required to participate. Orange County residents can provide a driver’s license, State I.D. card or utility bill accompanied by a photo I.D. to establish proof of residency and register on location when they arrive.

Trees will be “adopted” on a first come, first served, basis, so make your plans to arrive early for the best and widest choice of available trees.

If you have any further questions, the Orange County Cooperative Extension’s office phone number is 407.836.7570.

Here’s hoping lots of Orange County’s residents will “adopt” some trees and provide some ReLEAF to Orlando and it’s surrounding communities.

Hope to see you next time,

Man About Town

July 5, 2005

Fashion Square Mall-New 14 Screen Theater

Hey O-Town, did ya have a Happy Fourth of July? I hope those of you who attended fireworks displays will leave a comment on what you thought of whichever fireworks show you attended. I know some of them were rained out on Monday night, and in my neighborhood some of the local boys with their illegal fireworks were forced to duck indoors when they got soaked by the sudden thunderstorm.

My weekend was busy and a lot of it was spent visiting friends around town. On Saturday night I decided to catch a flick and thought I would check out the brand spanking new movie theater at Fashion Square Mall in order to see the animated film, “Madagascar”. The film was amusing and Chris Rock’s character steals the show. But you can read reviews of the movie anywhere, I want to talk about the new 14 screen theater run by Premiere Cinemas, a new contender in the Orlando movie theater market.

A little over a year ago, construction began on the second level of Orlando Fashion Square Mall between Dillard’s and J.C. Penney. Stores like Coliseum of Comics, Finish Line, Waldenbooks and Inland Ocean Surf Shop, among others, had already been successfully moved from their former locations to make room for the theater and the “Under Construction” signs went up on the plywood covering the old storefronts.

This was welcome news to moviegoers in that part of town. The AMC theater across the street next to Toys R Us was the only first-run theater in the area and was old, dirty, suffered from a lack of normal maintenance and employed a staff that acted like they couldn’t care less if you watched movies there or not. Over the past three years or so, my friends and I had attended fewer and fewer movies there because seats were broken, the floor was dirty, the theaters were sometimes smelly and parking was very limited. I thought it would become a “Dollar Theater” eventually, but it actually closed up completely when the new theater in the mall opened. I’ve been looking forward to seeing what the new theater was like for many months.

So, Saturday night I parked my car near the mall entrance, took the escalator up to the second level (both the escalator and the elevator conveniently drop you right in front of the theater entrance, lol) and approached the ticket window. Some teenage skateboarders were in line trying to decide what to see and figuring out their money, and they very politely stepped to the side and, “Go ahead, we’re still thinking”. I thought that was nice. The ticket price was a reasonable $6.50, less than I expected to pay but not by much. I took my ticket and stepped through the entrance into the main lobby.

At first, I thought I was at a carnival. Everything was bright, with flashing lights and the colors were borderline gaudy. Not that what the lobby looks like is of any importance to me, I’m not usually in one long enough for it to matter. But I thought I’d grab a drink and a snack and check out their prices on refreshments. My large Coke and box of Raisinets set me back $5.75, which is on par with most theaters in Orlando, but which is also why I seldom make use of the snack bar unless I’m on a “movie date”.

Madagascar, which has been out for a little while, was showing in one of the smaller of the 14 theaters in the megaplex. The theater was clean (in spite of being used mostly by children, since that’s who the movie was marketed to), and smelled clean. The seats in all the theaters are stadium style plush high-back rockers, with retractable cupholder armrests, and were very comfortable with one common exception. Everyone, from theaters to airplanes, trains, buses, etc. are trying to get as many seats (and thus paying customers) into a limited area as is possible. Typically, this means that the space between rows is reduced to an almost uncomfortable distance for someone like myself who is 6’4″ tall. DTS Surround Sound provides great audio and for those who need it, Assistive Listening is available.

The 41,336 square foot theater is part of an expansion of movie theater screens in the next few months that will see Orlando add some 110 first-run movie screens. After several years of declining theaters and screens in the area, Orlando will see it’s total number of movie screens raised to 465 by next Summer. Additionally, the Fashion Square Mall theater is the first foray into Florida by Texas-based Premiere Cinema Corporation. With the exception of one theater in Alabama, all of their previous theaters have been established in their home state of Texas. Now, with their Orlando location, they are expanding their borders into one of the fastest growing theater markets.

So the next time you’re in that part of town and want to catch a movie, give the Premiere Cinema at Fashion Square Mall a try. I think you’ll be pleased with your movie-going experience.

Hope to see you next time,

Man About Town
July 8, 2005

Hurricane Dennis
Ah, Hurricane Season. For Floridians, it is the annual rite that most of the time fails to impress. At least it was that way until last year. Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne all saw to that. Now the mere mention of a small tropical depression sends residents of The Sunshine State scurrying to Home Depot, Lowe’s and Wal-Mart for supplies and equipment. But I can guarantee you that if we manage to dodge the bullet this season, next year most of us be just as complacent as we were before. We’ll keep building condos on the beach like they were ducks in a shooting gallery and we’ll keep living in manufactured housing that can go airborne like Dorothy’s house in The Wizard of Oz. We’ll keep paving over land so that rainwater has no place to runoff and our risk of flooding will increase exponentially with every mile of rain-absorbing property we build over.

At the moment Dennis is on a track that makes it no threat to Orlando, other than the wind and rain that will come from it’s eastern edges as it plows past us in the Gulf of Mexico. That, at least, is the forecast path. As we saw with Charley last year when it decided to take a sudden right turn into the Port Charlotte area, these storms can have a mind of there own. Within a 12-24 hour period we could find ourselves sitting under a massive hurricane with 100-120 mph winds uprooting trees and ripping off roofs. With a storm this powerful in the early part of the Hurricane Season, I’m not so sure it won’t just go wherever it pleases.

But right now it is our fellow statesmen to the south and north of us who need to be concerned. Even as I write these words, citizens of the Conch Nation who chose to remain in the Florida Keys are feeling the northern edge effects of Dennis as it passes over Cuba, bringing possible minimal hurricane strength winds of 74 mph and pounding rain into Margaritaville. Florida’s Department of Emergency Management and the Federal Emergency Management Agency are already in the area preparing for the aftermath with supplies cached in staging areas just outside the zone of the storm for immediate delivery as soon as Dennis passes.

In the panhandle area of the state the same preparations are underway. Last year Ivan practically destroyed cities and towns on the coast, leaving a path of almost total destruction in it’s wake. Now, less than 10 months since Ivan made landfall, the panhandle of Florida is still struggling to rebuild what was lost. Because the storm destroyed such a large portion of the housing resources in the area, many, many families are still living in FEMA issued travel trailers and mobile homes. Today, those living in low lying areas were evacuated out of those travel trailers and mobile homes and moved to shelters that are already set-up in anticipation of Dennis’ projected landfall and 130 mph winds and rain.

I talked to a friend on the phone today who lives in Pensacola. She is planning on evacuating, like many residents of the area, to a part of the state where Dennis is not expected to hit. She’s planning on driving over to the Jacksonville area and staying with family there. Last year Ivan destroyed an entire section of eastbound Interstate 10. Now there is a single lane temporary road in place, which was clogged with vehicles today. She’s planning on waiting to leave until about 3am Saturday morning, hoping to avoid heavy traffic in the Pensacola area and on the single lane of the Interstate.

For those of us here in Orlando, if the projected path remains the same, our biggest threat will come from the danger of flooding. We’ve already had the second highest rainfall amount ever recorded in June. Some lakes in our area, especially those near residential developments, are now anywhere from 2 to 6 feet above their normal levels. Heavy and sustained rain is only going to raise those levels even higher and back up storm drains all across the Orlando and Orange County area, causing streets, yards and possibly residences to flood. Some of those sandbags from last August may still be of use.

Finally, since we’re in the full swing of Hurricane Season, I thought you might like to know how hurricanes (at least out of the Atlantic) are named. This is from Infoplease, where you can also see a list of hurricane names for the next 6 seasons.

Because hurricanes often occur at the same time, officials assign short, distinctive names to the storms to avoid confusion among weather stations, coastal bases, and ships at sea. Since 1953, Atlantic tropical storms have been named from lists created by the National Hurricane Center and now maintained and updated by the World Meteorological Organization. The lists featured only women’s names until 1979, when men’s and women’s names were alternated. Six lists are used in rotation. Thus, the 2004 list will be used again in 2010. A storm is given a name once its winds reach an intensity of 40 mph. In addition to the Atlantic list of names, there are ten other lists corresponding to other storm-prone regions of the world.

Drop me a comment and let me know your feelings about Dennis and the rest of the Hurricane Season.

Hope to see you next time,

Man About Town
July 10, 2005

Dennis, Barack and Bill

First I’d like to provide the answer to both CK and AnnMarie’s comments in my last post regarding hurricane names being retired. They are both correct in that hurricanes that cause much destruction are indeed retired and for the very reason they mentioned; the memory of the storm’s impact on both personal lives and that of the country it affected. But there is a caveat. Here’s what the NOAA website states regarding the retirement of hurricane names:

” Whenever a hurricane has had a major impact, any country affected by the storm can request that the name of the hurricane be “retired” by agreement of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). Retiring a name actually means that it cannot be reused for at least 10 years (emphasis mine), to facilitate historic references, legal actions, insurance claim activities, etc. and avoid public confusion with another storm of the same name. If that happens, a like gender name is selected in English, Spanish or French for Atlantic Storms.”

Which means that, theoretically, we could have another hurricane named…oh let’s say “Andrew”, since it was retired after devastating the Bahamas, South Florida and Louisiana in 1992, 13 years ago.

I first heard of Barack Obama when I was watching last year’s Democratic Convention. At the time he was running for one of the Senate seats in Illinois. I listened to him give one of the best speeches of the entire convention and, though I could not vote for him in Illinois’ election in November, hoped that he would win in his efforts. He did. The scuttlebutt in political circles is that one day we’ll be seeing him as either a vice-presidential or presidential candidate in our national election.

This past Saturday Senator Obama came to the Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church in Eatonville to join Florida Senator Bill Nelson in the last of his series of across-the-state town-hall meetings. Eatonville is the country’s first town of African-American residents to become incorporated, back in August of 1887, and is just 6 miles north of Orlando. It is a town with a rich heritage. Approximately 500 people attended the meeting, giving Sen. Obama a standing ovation when he stepped to the stage and asking questions of both he and Sen. Nelson during the hour-long gathering.

I have a feeling we’ll be seeing Senator Obama in our state and city again in the future, probably on a national ticket.

Dennis passed by us and left only some rain and the spotting of a couple of funnel clouds, at least in the Orlando area. Other locales north and west of us saw heavier rain and some tornadoes touch down. And of course at 2:25pm CST today, Dennis struck the panhandle area of the state. Early reports indicate that the storm had slowed somewhat in wind speed as it approached land and that, coupled with the early preparations by residents and emergency personnel, may have mitigated the damage. We’ll get a better idea on Monday when the skies over the area have cleared and workers can assess the damage.

Hope to see you next time,

Man About Town
July 12, 2005

The Herb Society of Central Florida

“Herbs are the friend of the physician and the pride of cooks.” – Charlemagne

Here’s what I know about herbs; some of them make food taste better, I knew a guy in college who was named Herb, and Herb Tarlik of the TV comedy series “WKRP in Cincinnati” was a pretty funny guy. That’s it!

So, when my friend Glen told me about the monthly meeting of The Herb Society of Central Florida this past Monday night where he would be giving a short talk on the herb “Rosemary”, I asked if I could go and see what this group was all about. Glen is a gardener of many years as was his father and many of his ancestors, including his great-grandfather who was the royally appointed gardener of Windsor Castle in England. So if pedigree counts, Glen’s got loads of it with some to share.

The meetings take place at Leu Gardens, usually on the first Monday of each month but this month’s was pushed back a week due to the fourth of July holiday the previous Monday. Leu Gardens graciously allows the Society to meet in one of the rooms in the main building, which has several such meeting rooms, some observation rooms looking out on the grounds and lake, as well as a gift shop. If you enjoy beautiful flowers and plants. Leu Gardens is one of the best places to go in Orlando for a little of that “back to nature” mojo.

The meeting opened with Michelle Hamilton, the owner of Ancient Essence from Clermont, Florida who spoke on the benefits of Frankincense and Myrrh. In her presentation she touted the medicinal and cosmetic qualities of the two essential oils including treatment for sore throat, food poisoning, allergies, asthma, bronchitis, indigestion, flatulence (better give me TWO bottles!), laryngitis, sciatica, and a whole host of other ailments, as well as being used as a beauty treatment and a mosquito and pest repellant.

She also explained that Frankincense comes from a tree and when pressed out it is a thick resin from which the oil is extracted and that Myrrh comes from a bush and is also a resin when pressed out, but is thicker than that of the Frankincense tree. The plants grow in Somalia and Eastern Africa and Arabia and she said that satellite photos of the region show the famous trading route/trail from those areas to Egypt where the precious substances were sold and traded in the ancient world.

After an interesting question and answer session, Ms. Hamilton offered discounted prices on the essential oils sets she had brought with her to those attending the meeting.

Then it was Glen’s turn. He had brought with him a fairly large (to me, but what do I know?) Rosemary plant in a pot, as well as several smaller pots of the same herb that he donated for the fund-raising raffle that is held at the end of the meeting. He began by pointing out that Rosemary was touted by ancient author, scientist and philosopher Pliny as a cure for bad eyesight, jaundice, and miscellaneous wounds. and that Shakespeare mentions it in Hamlet;

“There’s rosemary, that’s for remembrance…”
– Shakespeare’s Hamlet to Ophelia
As the quote above indicates, Rosemary is a symbol of remembrance and friendship, and was often carried by funeral mourners as a sign of remembrance of the departed and by wedding couples as a sign of love and fidelity. Rosemary also has a calming effect, both in it’s scent when touched and in teas made from it’s leaves. Regarding it’s leaves, Rosemary is an attractive evergreen shrub with pine needle-like leaves and it’s trusses of blue flowers will last through spring and summer in a warm, humid environment. It will grow to a height of between 3 and 5 feet and can be either upright like a shrub or prostrate like a fern. Plants can be grown from either seeds or cuttings, but growing from seeds can take quite a while. They like full sun and well irrigated soil best, and can be grown in pots, hanging baskets or in the ground.

Rosemary is mostly thought of as a cooking herb and is commonly used on meats and in sauces, soups and stews to enhance flavor and, as mentioned above, in teas, which have a calming effect and are said to enhance memory. Some folks have found that it aids in treating stomach aches and headaches, and the oil is sometimes used in perfumes and cosmetics.

All in all, it was an educational evening. If you have any interest in growing herbs or in using them, you should look into attending one of the monthly meetings. They are held on the first Monday of the month at 7pm in the main building of Leu Gardens. For more information call 407-628-1504.

Hope to see you next time,

Man About Town
July 15, 2005

Camille’s Sidewalk Cafe

I noticed a new sidewalk cafe opened recently in my neighborhood, so Wednesday night I met up with Cindy, AnnMarie, and Mikey and we dropped in around 6:30pm to see what it was like.

It’s called Camille’s Sidewalk Cafe, but most of the seating is inside. Outside there were 4 round tables with 4 chairs at each, within a wrought-iron fence enclosed area with 2 of the tables under the cover of the front entrance roof and 2 of them in the open air. One of the tables under the cover was occupied by an (I assume) off-duty employee in uniform and another individual. The other tables were empty.

We stepped into the restaurant portion of the cafe and found it equally devoid of human life, save for the 3 employees behind the counter that ran almost the entire length of the left side of the dining room. I use the term “life” guardedly because there was little movement on their part and none of it was directed at us. I’m not sure if they thought the echo of greeting us would reverberate dangerously around the empty dining room or if they were just upset that we had invaded their silent sanctuary, but either way no one acknowledged the entry of 4 hungry people stepping into their food-serving business.

The wall behind the service counter sports giant versions of their menus and they offer a nice variety of wraps (even breakfast wraps), sandwiches, panini, salads, and smoothies. The combinations of ingredients in each item sounded delicious. Cindy was the first to decide what she wanted, but it was the ingredients of a sandwich item that she wanted in a wrap instead. We all agreed that there should be no problem in asking them to put the same sandwich ingredients into a wrap. So Cindy approached the order area and the young lady who would take our orders stepped over to the register. Here’s how the conversation went,

Cindy: “Can I get the Camille’s Club, but in a wrap instead of as a sandwich?”

Counter girl: “No”

Cindy: “Oh, ummmm is that because they’re pre-made?”

Counter girl: “No”

(Are you sensing a trend here?)

Cindy: “Ummmm ok…so I can’t just get them to make a wrap with the club ingredients?”

Counter girl: (Sighs and looks at a button on her register) “I guess I can do that.”

Cindy: “Thank you.”

The counter girl pushed a multitude of buttons on her register and then asked what I would like. After observing her difficulties with anything out of the ordinary, I opted to order something exactly as it was on the menu, as did AnnMarie and Mikey. One of the male employees at the food prep area began making our order and the counter girl informed him he was making the first order wrong. that it needed to be a wrap instead of a sandwich, so I guess the button pushing didn’t help. I paid and she asked me for my name to put on the order, which I thought strange since we were the only customers in the entire restaurant.

After getting our drinks, we took a seat in a booth by the window. The decor of Camille’s is an eclectic mix of 50′s diner meets Japanese lanterns meets…lots of things. The floor, booths and tables are reminiscent of 50′s diners with their vinyl coverings and curved back chairs. Hanging from the ceiling are lights that are covered by colored paper shades like Japanese lanterns, only bigger, and other lights that are cords with Perrier bottles hanging from them with bulbs inside. Culture clash was evident. That may have explained the paucity of people eating there. Still, except on special occasions, the atmosphere of an eating establishment is of much less importance to me than is the quality of the food.

After about 10-12 minutes our order was ready and the counter girl dutifully called my name over the PA system. I looked around to make sure there was no one else with my name waiting for an order (Nope, we were still the only customers in the place) and picked up our order. Here’s what we got:

Cindy – Camille’s Club: Ham, turkey breast, bacon, Swiss, Provolone, lettuce, tomatoes, bacon-tomato dressing, mayo (In a wrap!).

AnnMarie – The Quesadilla: Jalapeno-cheddar tortilla, grilled chicken breast, bacon, pepperjack, sour cream, salsa.

Mikey – Grilled Cheese Sandwich.

Man About Town – Chicken California: Herb-garlic tortilla, grilled chicken breast, Provolone, Romaine, tomatoes, black olives, carrots, honey-mustard dressing.

All the sandwiches and wraps come with a side of tri-colored tortilla chips and fresh salsa.

We each began eating and soon we were mumbling around our mouthfuls of food, “This is good, how’s yours?” “Mine’s delicious!” “This is VERY good!” And so forth. I took note that the tortilla chips were probably the freshest I have ever eaten. Much too quickly our tasty repast was gone from sight, sitting in our satisfied tummies. All the ingredients were fresh and flavorful and we were happy diners.

Camille’s Sidewalk Cafe is named for one of it’s co-founders, Camille Rutkauskas, and the first restaurant opened in October of 1996 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Camille’s serves a variety of beverages, including gourmet coffee, import beers, soft drinks and juices. You can get your order as a dine-in or to go and they offer catering services for your party needs. They currently have 2 locations in the Orlando area, one near Orlando International Airport located at 6125 South Semoran Boulevard in Suite 108 (right next door to Miller’s Ale House) and one on the corner of Sand Lake Road and South Orange Blossom Trail near The Florida Mall at 1700 West Sand Lake Road, Suite D120. Their respective phone numbers are 407-852-1100 and 407-859-7277 and it’s suggested you call for hours of operation.

If it weren’t for the abysmal lack of customer service on this visit, we would have all had nothing but good to say about Camille’s. The restaurant was clean and the food was superb, so I hope they’ll work on improving the service aspect, at least at the location we patronized.

NOTE: I wanted to give them another chance to see if maybe we just hit them on a bad night or something, so this evening I stopped in by myself and got a wrap to go so I could eat it at home and watch TV. I have to say the customer service level was very good on this visit. I purposely ordered a sandwich as a wrap and there was no hesitation whatsoever in accepting my request. The counter girl (same one as we had Wednesday night) was very friendly and even asked if I wanted some cookies because, as she said, “I made them myself”.

Maybe the secret is that I should go by myself from now on. LOL.

So I’m happy to report that the delicious food coupled with an improved level of customer service makes Camille’s Sidewalk Cafe a place that the Man About Town would heartily recommend for diners in Orlando.

Hope to see you next time,

Man About Town
July 16, 2005

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Release Party

I have read all 5 of the previous Harry Potter novels and enjoyed each and every one of them, but I have never wanted to get my hands on any of them so quickly that I would attend the release parties that were held for each of them in the past. I still would have been content to pick up a copy of the 6th novel sometime today, but I thought it was probably time that I checked out some of the festivities that are held in bookstores around the world to mark the latest release, especially since the next one in approximately 2-3 year will be the very last one as the series comes to the author’s promised end.

Like most bookstores in the greater Orlando area, the Borders bookstore on Sand Lake Road was holding a release party beginning at 9pm, with the book being available for sale at 12:01am. Since the bookstore is pretty close to my home and because I know Rhonda, who works there, and her roommate/best friend ZenGrrl who would also be there, I thought this would be a good release party to attend. Adding even more fun to the mix would be the fact that friends and fellow Potter fans Rebecca, Lise, Amanda and CK all wanted to attend also. It’s good to be the Man About Town, lol.

Everyone else wanted to arrive at 9pm, but CK and I opted to make a grand entrance at 10:30. Fortunately for us Rebecca picked up the tickets we would need to claim a copy of the book when she arrived at 9, since there were approximately 200-250 people already in the store by the time CK and I got there. Her foresight kept us from having to be there even later to pick up a copy when our number was finally called. I’ve been to this particular Borders many times and different times of the day and night, and this was the most crowded I have ever seen it, a testament to the drawing power of J. K. Rowling’s characters and stories.

Right outside the entrance were some owls that the Back To Nature Wildlife Refuge brought for display in conjunction with the release party, an appropriate animal to bring since owls play a part within the Harry Potter stories. I plan to do a blog in the near future about BTN and their worthy goals, but for now I will just say that they are located at 18515 East Colonial Drive in Orlando (6.5 miles east of Alafaya Trail) and are open 7 days a week from 9am to 4pm. Their phone number is 407-568-5138 and they do excellent work treating injured wildlife and returning them to the wild or permanently housing those who are too injured to be released. The owls they brought were a big hit with kids and adults alike.

Insert Owls

Rhonda and ZenGrrl were just getting ready to leave as we arrived so I was glad we didn’t get there any later and miss them. Poor Rhonda had been there all day working until 8pm, so you know she was tired. We got to talk for a few minutes and make some plans for getting together next Friday before ZenGrrl leaves town for a month. She also generously offered to share the picture below with me so that I could share it with you. She took this excellent picture of members of the Harry Potter Book Club before the release party began. The book club meets at Border’s weekly, so if you are looking for some people you share your love of all things Harry, this would be the perfect club to join.

Insert picture book club

The inside of the store was filled with staff members and fans who dressed in the spirit of the release party, and there were various activities taking place all over the store including face painting, Professor McGonagall’s class and photo opps with characters, as well as people sitting in chairs, on the floor and leaning against walls awaiting the release.

Insert prof mcG picture

I walked around for about 45 minutes taking pictures and picking up a magazine and the last copy they had of a book I wanted, then found an empty spot on the floor and sat down to read for a bit to pass the time. The store was steadily filling up as the clocked ticked toward the witching hour (pun intended) and by the time they began asking the first 100 people to line up at 11:45, there must have been close to 500 people in the store. I took a picture of the line, but there was no way to see the end of it because it stretched back so far to the rear of the store. It did afford us the opportunity to get seats at a table in the snack bar through, as we awaited our turns.

Then at 11:55pm they began rolling out the carts and dollies filled with boxes of the most anticipated book in the past 2 years. Here’s a shot of a still-smiling Borders employee bringing a cart loaded with boxes to the front register.

Insert picture

Sales began promptly at 12:01 and the 250 people who had the foresight to reserve their copies made their purchases in about an hour with 5 checkouts open. Observing the line from our seats in the snack bar, it appeared that everyone was polite and courteous and the line moved at a steady pace. At approximately 1am our numbers were called to get in line and by 1:10 we were walking out of the store with our copies of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

According to Amazon.com, they filled 1.5 million orders for the book on the first day, breaking the record held by the 5th book in the series when they sold 896,000 books in the first day in 2003. Scholastic Inc. is printing a record 10.8 million books because sales are expected to exceed those of “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix”, which sold 5 million copies in the first 24 hours.

Now I just have to avoid seeing or hearing any reviews which give away the story until I get the chance to start reading my copy.

I’m not sure I would do this again, but it was an interesting experience nonetheless. Still, who knows, I might just do it again if I get the chance for the 7th and final installment in the series. I have a feeling that one will blow the doors off most bookstores with fans and their anticipation to see how author J. K. Rowling ends this popular set of novels…if she indeed does.

Hope to see you next time (unless I disapparate).

Man About Town

July 17, 2005

EPCOT-Mission:Space

The Mission:Space simulator ride has been open at EPCOT for almost 2 years now, yet I’ve never ridden it in my many visits to Walt’s World. Somehow I just never had time while out there to give it a shot, either because the lines were too long or because I was interested in some other part of the park’s attractions.

So this morning when I went to EPCOT with my Danish friends Christian and Amanda, I decided that it would be fun if we all tried it out for the first time together. The simulator ride offers guests a one-of-a-kind experience that launches visitors into a simulated space adventure with a pulse-racing lift-off followed by the experience of weightlessness in outer space and a landing on the surface of Mars.

As you approach the pavilion (which replaced the former “Horizons”) you will see in the plaza outside the building four planets. The middle the planet Earth, which has the “Mission Space” Logo with a Space vehicle appearing to be taking off in front of it. The one to the left of Earth is a scale model of our moon, which has different colored markers that indicate the 30 landing sites of missions to the moon between 1959 and 1976 that were flown by all countries of Earth. The red planetary object to the right of Earth is Mars, and the largest, multi-colored planet, is Jupiter and serves as the entranceway into the building.

Along the outer entrance walls of the Planetary plaza area are plaques featuring quotes from famous people involved in space flight through the years, leading you into a queue area that represents the futuristic International Space Training Center of 2035. Multiple warning signs indicate that anyone with known heart, neck or back conditions, pregnant or possibly pregnant mothers, those under 44 inches in height or people who suffer from high blood pressure or motion sickness due to bumpy or spinning rides should NOT enter this ride

Upon entering the attraction you are brought into a queue area that is supposed to represent a futuristic International Space Training Center. Suspended on one of the walls is a huge Gravity Wheel along with a number of International flags hanging from the ceiling, giving an appropriate “international” feel to the training center. As you advance along the switchback queue, ostensibly to receive training for your space mission, you are in a large warehouse-like training area similar to one that might be found at nearby Kennedy Space Center. Included in the displays are a scale model of the space station and a genuine Lunar Rover on loan from the Smithsonian.

From there you pass into the Command Room, where, on the right, command team members sit behind a glass wall and man multiple computer stations. On the wall to your left are plaques commemorating real outstanding “firsts” in space travel — First Man in Space, First Man on the Moon, etc., up to the obviously fictitious “First Family in Space” and “First Deep Space Mission.” At the end of this second queue, you are standing in front of the color-coded Ready Rooms, into which you will be dispatched in teams of four. You are given the roles to assume during the training mission — commander, pilot, navigator or engineer. As you wait for your assignment you can view the astronaut uniforms displayed on the walls, and watch a video from CapCom which features an apparently-out-of-work-as-an-actor-in-the-future Gary Sinise as your CapCom leader.

You then move through the doors to wait in front of your assigned modules, watching the solid hydrogen fuel cells fill on a display while Gary Sinise explains that you will be taking off and experiencing “high G’s”, then weightlessness, then more high G’s as you are whiplashed around the moon to slingshot your vehicle toward Mars. The trip will take 3 months, so you will be put into “Hypersleep”, but you’re told not to worry because, “it will seem like only a second or two” until you wake up. Anyone who wants to back out is given a chance to do so at this point.

Then the doors open and you make your way into the simulator modules. In the earlier briefing you’ve already been warned to sit back, keep your head against the headrest and, after pulling down the restraints, not to move your head forward or look to either side at your fellow crew members as you will almost certainly suffer from motion sickness with those actions. Heads should be back and eyes forward on your command board and view screen. Then comes the coolest part of the whole ride, at least to me. On your viewscreen the shield lowers and you’re looking at a blue sky with some white clouds as a bird lazily flies across your view in the distance. You hear the countdown begin, the roar of the engines as they begin to vibrate the module and plumes of exhaust roll up into view on your screen from the engines when command says “Ignition”. You then hear “Liftoff” and you feel yourself begin to push slightly back into your seat while you see the clouds coming closer in your viewscreen as the vehicle rises from the ground and begins roaring into the sky. You’re moving faster and higher and you feel yourself pushed even further back into the seat when you hear CapCom order booster separation and you feel and hear the explosion of the solid rocket fuel containers blast away from the ship and the blue sky gradually turns black and full of stars.

Man, it is THE absolutely best part of the whole experience, because it seems like that is exactly what astronauts on the Space Shuttle flights must see and feel during liftoff.

Honestly, after that the rest of the ride is similar to many other simulator rides in theme parks around the area, at least in execution. Your vehicle zooms past the moon, slingshots around it and you catch one last glimpse of Earth before going into “Hypersleep”. True to Gary Sinise’s word, it only seems like a second or two and then you are ordered awake because you’ve run into a meteor shower as you’re approaching Mars. After several harrowing flight adjustments that find you zooming right, left, up and down to try and avoid crashing into the space rocks, you’re on path to land at Mars’ station. But since your pilot received crappy training before the flight, lol, you’re coming in too fast and you overshoot the runway and barriers to find yourself crashing through sand dunes across the Martian landscape. Just as you come to a stop, the ground beneath you cracks and you fall (shades of the Arctic North ride at Sea World) into a canyon where your engines fire up just in time for you to escape certain death at the bottom, but now you have to fly through the maze of canyon walls then out and up to arrive safely back at Mars’ station. Mr. Sinise and the CapCom crew applaud your safe arrival on the viewscreen, the doors of your vehicle open and you exit into…the gift shop. What did you expect?

All in all, it was fun. I suffered some slight nausea and an even slighter headache, but really the ride did not seem all that violent to me.

If you’ve ridden Mission: Space I hope you’ll share your experience and what you thought of it by commenting below.

Hope to see you next time.

Man About Town
July 20, 2005

Downtown Disney-Earl Of Sandwich

Some 240 years ago the first written record of the word sandwich appeared in 1762 when English author, scholar and historian Edward Gibbons wrote in his journal his observations of some of the land’s noblest and wealthiest men gathering at a gentlemen’s club of the day:

“I dined at the Cocoa Tree….That respectable body affords every evening a sight truly English. Twenty or thirty of the first men in the kingdom….supping at little tables….upon a bit of cold meat, or a Sandwich.”

The generally accepted origin of the food item is that it was named after John Montagu (1718-1792), the Fourth Earl of Sandwich, He became First Lord of the Admiralty and was patron to Captain James Cook (famed explorer of New Zealand, Australia, Hawaii, and Polynesia). Captain Cook originally named the Hawaiian Islands after Montagu, calling them the Sandwich Islands. Montague was a hardened gambler and usually gambled for hours at a time at London’s Beef Steak Club restaurant, sometimes refusing to get up even for meals. It is said that he ordered his valet to bring him meat tucked between two pieces of bread. Because Montagu also happened to be the Fourth Earl of Sandwich, others began to order “the same as Sandwich!” The original sandwich was, in fact, a piece of salt beef between two slices of toasted bread.

In America in the 1900′s, the sandwich became very popular in the national diet when bakeries started selling pre-sliced bread, (now you know where the phrase “best thing since sliced bread” comes from, lol) thus making sandwiches very easy to create. Sandwiches became an easy, portable meal for workers and schoolchildren alike.

When it comes to a love of sandwiches, I’m a lot like the comic strip character Dagwood. I can eat a sandwich at almost any time of the day. Sometimes I like them cold, most times I prefer them toasted. But anything from a simple cheese sandwich to a mixture of meats and cheeses on some kind of flavored sub roll will set my mouth to watering.

So, it stands to reason that one of my favorite eating places would be a restaurant with not only the word “Sandwich” in its name, but one which features that culinary creation as its main menu offering. And that would mean the Earl of Sandwich restaurant located in the Downtown Disney Marketplace.

In March of 2004, Earl of Sandwich opened its first fast-casual sandwich restaurant in Downtown Disney as a test for a possible franchise roll out across the nation. Robert Earl, of Hard Rock Cafe and Planet Hollywood fame, invested nearly $2 million in the concept back in 2001. Though you might imagine the “Earl” in Earl of Sandwich is a reference to him, it is in fact named for John Montagu, the Eleventh Earl of Sandwich, a member of Parliament’s House of Lords and a direct descendant of the Fourth Earl of Sandwich mentioned above and the founder of the restaurant concept.

Earlier this week, I picked up Cindy and we went out to Downtown Disney just to walk around and have a bite to eat at the Earl of Sandwich. We arrived around 11:30am so we were just in time to beat the lunch-time rush. The restaurant makes good use of it’s space with the dining area making an “L” and the sandwich preparation area in the middle where the lines intersect. The also have a spacious outdoor dining area with cafe style tables and chairs.

We both ordered The Earl’s Club which is roast turkey, bacon, swiss cheese, lettuce and tomato on a sub roll and toasted, then we moved down the line picking up 2 bottles of water, along with a bag of chips and a homemade brownie to split. Prices are extremely reasonable, especially in reference to the size of the sandwiches and the fact that the eatery is located in a tourist area where all prices are notoriously inflated. The entire meal was less than $20 for both of us!

Here’s their toasted sandwich menu:

The Original – fresh roasted beef, cheddar and creamy horseradish sauce

Beef n’ Bleu – roast beef, bleu cheese, lettuce and tomato

The Earl’s Club – roast turkey, bacon, swiss cheese, lettuce and tomato

The All American – roast turkey, buttermilk ranch, cranberries, cheddar cheese, lettuce and tomato.

Hawaiian BBQ – Hawaiian BBQ ham with fresh pineapple and Swiss cheese

Cannonballs – meatballs in a rich tomato sauce with provolone and mozzarella cheese

The Scuddeto – salami, capacola, ham and mortadella with fresh sliced mozzarella, roma tomatoes and marinara

Tuna Melt – albacore tuna and swiss cheese

The Full Montagu – roast beef and turkey with cheddar and swiss cheese, romaine lettuce, tomato and English mustard sauce

Le Frenchy – ham with creamy French brie and dijonaise sauce

The Caprese – sliced mozzarella, roma tomatoes, fresh basil and drizzled virgin olive oil

The Florentine – grilled chicken, creamed spinach, mushrooms and parmesan cheese

Caribbean Jerk Chicken – grilled chicken with a spicy jerk sauce and roasted red peppers

They also offer cold sandwiches (either kind of sandwich is $4.95) as well as salads, desserts, a kid’s menu, breakfast foods and a variety of beverages including freshly made smoothies and their signature drink, The Earl’s Grey Lemonade – fresh lemonade infused with freshly brewed Earl Grey Tea.

The sandwiches are a great value and are delicious as well. Though we were both enjoying the flavor of our Earl’s Clubs, Cindy and I ended up eating only half of ours and taking the remaining halves with us for a later meal or snack.

Earl of Sandwich is open from 9am to 10pm 7 days a week and is located on the north end of the Downtown Disney Marketplace in Lake Buena Vista. If you’ve been to Earl of Sandwich, I hope you’ll share your experience by leaving a comment below.

Hope to see you next time.

Man About Town

July 23, 2005
Mad Cow Theatre – Our Town

“Choose the least important day, it will be important enough.” Mrs. Gibbs to Emily
The Mad Cow Theatre in downtown Orlando closed out its 8th season with the production and presentation of Thornton Wilder’s masterpiece “Our Town”, an iconic look at life, love, marriage and death, set in the small town of Grover’s Corners, New Hampshire in the early 20th century years of 1901 to 1913.

“Our Town” is perhaps America’s most read and most produced play. Nearly every high school drama department and community theater group across the country has presented this “slice of life” play in which Wilder presents everyday life in all its informal, intimate and compelling human drama. In spite of the widespread proliferation of various productions of this play, it is one that I have never seen and I thought I should remedy that omission.

So, Thursday night AnnMarie, Glen, Kay and I arrived at Mad Cow around 7pm to pick up our tickets, then sipped wine and chatted in the lobby until the doors opened to the main theater (they have 2, one larger and one smaller) and we took our second row seats. Proving I am as coordinated as a bull in a china shop; when I sat down I bumped my arm and consequently spilled wine all over the seat next to me. I was profusely apologetic to the staff as they came with spray cleaner to try and clean the stains off the upholstered seat, but they were more than gracious and, as it turned out, told me kindly that the seat would be empty for the evening’s show anyway, so I felt some better.

But still embarrassed.

“Our Town” opens with the Stage Manager/Narrator (portrayed by Peg O’Keef) standing on a mostly empty stage describing the setting of Grover’s Corner on an early morning in 1901 while the entire cast of the play stands at the outer edges of the stage. “Up here is Main Street … Here’s the Town Hall and Post Office combined … First automobile’s going to come along in about five years; belonged to Banker Cartwright, our richest citizen … lives in the big white house up on the hill.” Soon, a train whistle is heard and then from the edges of the stage come the milkman and the paperboy making their early morning deliveries, pantomiming the tossing of the paper onto porches and the pulling of “Bessie” down the street to set milk bottles on the kitchen steps. We’re introduced to the 2 main families in the play who live side by side, Dr. and Mrs. Gibbs and their 2 children, George and Rebecca and Mr. and Mrs. Webb and their 2 children, Emily and Wally as they all begin their day. Mr. Webb is the editor of the local newspaper.

Act 1 focuses on daily life and in small, yet poignant, scenes shows the fathers working at their jobs and the mothers working all day around the house while the children go to school, and then the day ending with George and Emily beginning to see that they are falling in love with each other by the light of the moon as they sit at their windows and talk across the space between their homes.

I suppose my favorite scene in the first act was Dr. Gibbs talking to his son George about the responsibilities of growing from a boy to a man. At first he is harsh with George because he has not been helping his mother and during the day the father found his wife chopping wood that George should have done earlier. He points out to George that his mother is up from before dawn until late at night cooking so he can have hot meals and washing, ironing and mending so that he has clean clothes to wear, and yet George is content to play baseball with his friends rather than do chores to help his mother. Then he softens and explains that he will be doubling the boy’s allowance from 25 cents to 50 cents a week because “You’re growing up and I know you must have things you want to spend money on”.

Act 2 opens 3 years later on a similar early morning, except that this morning is the day of the wedding of George and Emily. George exhibits all the ignorance of most young first time husbands-to-be and Emily is at once excited and frightened, as most young first time brides-to-be are. Their is an amusing conversation between Mr. Webb and George regarding the relationship of a husband and wife as the future father-in-law says, “A man looks pretty small at a wedding … all those women standing shoulder to shoulder making sure that the knot is tied in a mighty grand way.” He then shares with George the advice his father gave him when he married when he told him to keep his wife in line and show her who’s in charge. George is puzzled until Mr. Webb goes on: “So I took the opposite of my father’s advice and I’ve been happy ever since.”

The Stage Manager interrupts the play at this point and dismisses all the actors and explaining that she wants to show the audience how this began. The stage empties and 2 chairs are placed back to back and a board laid across them to indicate the counter at an ice cream shop. We’re taken back 2 years to the end of a school day and see George and Emily coming out of school and going into the “ice cream shop” where the Stage Manager has taken on the persona of an elderly man who is the shop owner. In pantomiming motions he scoops and serves the couple ice cream while, through the typical words and actions of those who first fall in love, we see them struggle to express their feelings for each other and finally, to realize and share with the other how they feel. The act ends with time returning to the present and the wedding taking place.

Act 3 opens 9 years later and we’re looking at the town cemetery. Some of the characters we’ve seen earlier, like Mrs. Gibbs and the church organist Mr. Stimson, are portrayed as having passed on by sitting in chairs and smiling up into the sky. Soon we find out that Emily has died while giving birth to her second child. As she is brought to the cemetery with a broken-hearted George, she recognizes her mother-in-law and others. They encourage her to “rest” but she somehow realizes that if she wants to she can go back to the living for one day. They tell her she can but that she should not, for it will not give her happiness. That instead, she should stay and rest and soon she will be at peace. But she is insistent and states that she will go back to “the most unimportant day” in her life, the day of her 12th birthday. She is transported back and soon realizes that even the most unimportant day is full of happiness and love and special things that she never even noticed while living. She cries to her mother: “Just for a moment we’re happy. Let’s look at one another. . . ” but her mother can hear nothing more than the words of a 12 year old and not the words of a departed Emily. Actress Sarah French, who portrays Emily, takes a scene and monologue that could have been almost ridiculous in its execution, and turns it into the most touching scene in the play and makes you see the entire point that Wilder was trying to get across. That her life, just like the lives of her family members and Grover’s Corners neighbors, was never fully savored either. It came, was lived in self-centeredness and petty preoccupations, then swiftly departed – all quite meaningless because none of them stopped to savor each moment.

Unable to endure this re-lived day, Emily hurries back to her body’s resting place. There she finds George weeping by her grave. Now she understands, although too late, that our time on earth is an irreplaceable gift, one to be treasured and relished every moment and that life is a fragile gift to be cherished and noticed, not taken for granted.
In “Our Town” Wilder creates types rather than individuals. You recognize the type and say to yourself, “Yes, I know someone like that. He’s just like so-and-so,” or “I know what he is feeling. I’ve felt that way myself.” This sense of “recollection” permeates the play to both thrill and haunt us with reminders of our own lives. In using minimal scenery and props, Wilder reinforces that our hopes and despairs and loves begin and end not with things, but in the mind and the soul, as our lives unfold through one another. The commonplace is not really so common, if you recognize the specialness of each life. Wilder’s play motivates the audience to treasure the common, everyday life just as it is.

Mad Cow chose an excellent season ending production in Wilder’s “Our Town” and the actors were all excellent in their portrayals. Special kudos to Peg O’Keef (Stage Manager), Sarah French (Emily Webb) and Mark Edward Smith (Doc Gibbs) for their outstanding work in bring their characters to life on the stage and in the hearts and minds of the audience.

The 9th season of Mad Cow Theatre begins September 22, 2005 with the musical “Urinetown”, a fitting title since they just ended with “Our Town”. You can get all the details on the upcoming season by going to their website and requesting their newsletter.

If you’ve been to see Mad Cow’s production of “Our Town” I’d love to hear your opinions in the comments below.

Hope to see you next time.

Man About Town

July 24, 2005

Downtown Disney – Rainforest Cafe

Rainforest Cafe is always a fun and interesting place to eat. If there is a long line waiting to get in the restaurant you can check out the branded merchandise shop, watch the fish in the many floor-to-ceiling aquariums, or just watch the people who, like yourself, are milling about waiting to eat. Like most eateries, the time of day that you choose to patronize them can make all the difference in the world as far as how long you have to wait to eat. For a popular place like Rainforest, that wait can sometimes be very long.

Friday evening I picked up CK and we drove to Downtown Disney Marketplace to meet Michelle and Rhonda for dinner at the Rainforest Cafe. We arrived around 7:15pm to discover an estimated wait time of 2 1/2 hours! Fortunately for all of us, Michelle is a member of The Safari Club and one of the benefits is “Priority Seating” which cut our waiting time to 30 minutes. I’ve GOT to get me one of those!

We hung around the front of the restaurant for a few minutes, then decided to step across the walkway to the Goofy’s Candy store. My sweet tooth was awakened by the sights and smells of a multitude of candy products; some prepackaged and some handmade before your very eyes. Chocolates, confectionary creations, candy apples dipped in a variety of toppings, sour candies, giant Pez dispensers and so many more candy items that I could never describe them all. After a few minutes we decided it was just torture to hang out in there while we were waiting to eat dinner (“No dessert until you finish your meal, young man!”) so we went back to wait at the entrance and gift shop of Rainforest.

Our wait turned out to actually be about 40 minutes, but we weren’t complaining because some people were going to be in line a LOT longer than we had to be. While waiting, the girls were all talking girly things so I had the opportunity to watch the 2 young ladies who were calling up guests with assigned numbers (like ourselves) when their table was ready. They had a standard spiel they had to use which went like this: “Number 376, party of 5, please approach the purple elephant, your wild adventure is about to begin.” Now, I have the feeling that management, or whoever created that line, expected it to be spoken with a certain amount of excitement, some kind of verve that would communicate to the party about to go to their table that they were going to enter a jungle atmosphere and there was no telling what might happen. Instead, the line was recited in a rote manner with all the enthusiasm of someone walking to their death. I’m sure they were tired and worked over pretty good by the throng of hungry diners assaulting them, but if you’re going to recite a line like that as if you’re too bored to even speak the words, then maybe you shouldn’t bother at all.

We finally got our table and Mark was our server. If you’ve never been to a Rainforest Cafe, the atmosphere is one in which you feel like you are literally dining in the middle of a jungle. You’re surrounded by trees, plants, and animatronic animals which periodically come to life by moving and making their respective noises. You’ll hear elephants, birds and gorillas, though I can’t recall hearing any lions or tigers. Maybe those are too scary to the younger diners. Our table was right underneath a clearing in the jungle canopy of trees, which allowed us to see a beautiful night sky with moon and stars shining down upon us. Occasionally, the room would darken and then we would see flashes of “lightning” and hear rumbles of “thunder” as rain fell into areas of the room (you don’t get wet) before the lighting would return to it’s normally dim state in the “jungle”.

Rainforest Cafe has a varied menu of appetizers, salads, entrees, desserts and beverages, which means you’ll find something for everyone in your party. CK and I shared a Rumble in the Jungle Turkey Wrap – Shaved turkey breast, Roma tomatoes, crisp bacon and Romaine lettuce tossed with Caesar dressing, wrapped in a tasty flour tortilla and served with cole slaw (we substituted ranch dressing for the Caesar), because we had both had late lunches that day and weren’t hungry enough to eat an entree apiece.

Michelle ordered the Caribe Chicken – Golden fried chicken tenders served with a coconut curry sauce along with a side of fries and Rhonda decided to have Flying Dragon Pepperoni Pizza – Chunky pizza sauce, pepperoni and a four cheese blend.

Michelle and Rhonda had ice water with lemon, CK got some kind of “foo foo” lemonade and raspberry smoothie drink and I had a bottle of Heineken. We all enjoyed our food and drinks and spent a lot longer than we thought talking about digital cameras, comic books, Photoshop and different attractions around Orlando. By the time we looked down at our cell phones to see what time it was, we were startled to see it was after 9:30. Time flies when you’re having fun with friends.

Besides the dining experience, Rainforest Cafe also features a full bar under the Magic Mushroom, where the seats are carved to look like ( I kid you not, here’s the photo to prove it) the backends of various animals. As I pointed out earlier, they have a well stocked merchandise shop and don’t forget The Safari Club that I mentioned. $15 gets you a permanent membership with a long list of benefits at ALL the Rainforest Cafe’s around the world including a standard 10% off your meals, merchandise discounts and of course that Priority Seating benefit.

Afterward we stopped into a few stores (including the candy shop, lol) around the marketplace and then CK and I took our leave of Michelle and Rhonda while they were browsing through Basin, a bath and beauty shop.

Rainforest Cafe has 2 locations in the Orlando area, and both of them are on Disney property. The one in Downtown Disney Marketplace is located near the north end of the complex and the other one is located near the entrance to Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park. Hours for the Marketplace location are Sunday through Thursday 11:30am to 11pm and Friday and Saturday 11:30am to midnight. Hours for the Animal Kingdom location are typically 7 days a week 8:00am to 1 1/2 hours after Animal Kingdom closing, usually 7:30pm. It would be a good idea to call ahead first to be sure, 407.938.9100.

If you’ve been to either Rainforest Cafe location I’d love to hear your opinions in the comments below.

Hope to see you next time.

Man About Town

July 24, 2005

School Sales Tax Holiday

In two short weeks Orange County students will be returning to school, causing parents to rejoice and children to bemoan another 9 months or so of books and lessons. This past Saturday something else caused parents to smile when the “almost” annual School Sales Tax Holiday kicked off, resulting in malls and retail outlets being jammed with bargain hunting buyers looking to save a little extra by not having to pay sales tax on certain items.

On June 20, 2005, Florida Governor Jeb Bush and the Florida Legislature approved House Bill 101, which provides that the 2005 Tax Free Days for Sales Tax would begin at 12:01 a.m. July 23, 2005, and end at midnight July 31, 2005. Lean state budgets knocked the tax holiday off the calendars back in 2002 and 2003.

House Bill 101 mandates a sales tax holiday on:

* Clothing and related items with a sales price of $50 or less
* Books with a sales price of $50 or less
* School supplies with a sales price of $10 or less

But that list is not as simple as it appears. In fact, it can be so confusing to retailers and buyers alike that Florida has prepared a guide to what is and isn’t eligible under the sales tax holiday. For instance, a raincoat under $50 is eligible, but an umbrella is not. If you purchase a desk set consisting of a stapler and a pair of scissors, the scissors would normally be exempt but since they are paired with a stapler, which is not exempt, the entire set is taxable.

However, judging by the way stores and malls filled this past weekend with shoppers, most are apparently figuring out what they can and cannot purchase under the sales tax holiday guidelines. Research indicates that a typical family spends about $250 on back-to-school-clothes and supplies, so in Orange County that would mean a tax savings of $16.25. Not much, but perhaps it would purchase another clothing item or a book. And some parents have indicated that the combination of sale items and the sales tax holiday means they will shop at more upscale stores and malls, rather than discount retailers like Wal-Mart, Target and K-Mart.

Then there are people like my friends Dawn and AnnMarie, who shop for bargains throughout the year. The 9 day sales tax holiday does not directly influence them to shop during that time frame because they have been spreading their shopping and saving across many months, rather than a few select days. Sort of like the people who purchase many of their Christmas gifts in January when the sales are on and throughout the year as bargains appear, rather than running through the malls screaming like I do on Christmas Eve.

The State of Florida Revenue Department estimates that the tax holiday will save consumers $31.3 million statewide this year. That is money that could fund more schools, build more roads or reduce taxes for ALL state residents, rather than just those with school-age children. Of course, some people will use the holiday for themselves to buy new clothes or office supplies, whether they have children or not.

I don’t have children to buy school clothes and supplies for, so here is my question to you Orlando; is the School Sales Tax Holiday worth it to you? Do you feel like you save a great deal of money? Would you give up the holiday in order to spread the savings around to all residents or pay for projects in your county and others? I hope you’ll leave your opinion in the comment section below.

The School Sales Tax Holiday extends through this coming Sunday night at midnight. If I did have school children to buy for, I think I would try and go after work during the week rather than on Saturday or Sunday which, judging by this past weekend, will be busy, busy shopping days.

Hope to see you next time.

Man About Town

July 27, 2005

The Blue Martini – Michael Andrew and Swingerhead

Back when I first started writing Man About Town, I mentioned that “My musical tastes are pretty eclectic…” and one style of music that I enjoy listening to (listening, because I can’t dance worth a flip) is “swing”, a form of jazz which harkens back to the 1930′s. And when you’re talking Swing Bands in the Orlando area, you’re just not going to get much better than Michael Andrew and Swingerhead, who were performing last night at The Blue Martini Lounge in the Mall at Millenia.

Back in 1990, Michael Andrew formed “The Michael Andrew Orchestra” to perform “big band” music in the style of 1940′s big bands and singers like Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett and Mel Torme. From 1993 to 1995 he was the headlining singer in New York City’s famous Rainbow Room. In 1998 he created the “Swingerhead” band and they became the house band at the former Rat Pack’s on the Avenue in downtown Orlando, which was where I first heard them perform with several friends of mine.

Tuesday night though, I was all alone. I arrived just about 10 minutes before the band was to hit the stage and there were no tables open in the main stage area, so I took a seat at the bar which is right in front of the stage. This afforded me a great view of the band, so it wasn’t too bad, but I usually prefer to sit in the background. Swingerhead is composed of two sax men, two horn men (one on trumpet and flugelhorn and one on trombone), a drummer, a bass player, a rhythm guitarist and, of course, lead singer Michael Andrew. Tuesday is “Blue Tuesday” at the Blue Martini, so Andrew was decked out in a blue suit and shirt.

The band opened with “I’ve Got The World on a String” and it only got better for the duration of the first set. They proceeded to get seats moving in chairs and bodies on the dance floor with songs like “Is My Baby Still My Baby?”, “Cheek to Cheek”, “I Get a Kick (Out of You)”, a nice slow song in “Unforgettable”, “Angel Eyes”, “Goody Goody” as well as the theme song from Dick Clark’s Bandstand TV show, “Bandstand Boogie”, and instrumental that gave Andrew a few minutes to come down and mingle with the crowd and say “hello” to some obviously familiar faces in the bar.

Before closing their first set, they treated everyone to the title track of their latest CD, “Destination Moon” and if the title song is any indication, I think I’ll have to look for it soon to add to my collection.

Michael Andrew is a man of varied talents. He sings, writes music, produces records (as well as a “hi-fi, sci-fi” musical comedy, ‘Mickey Swingerhead & The Earthgirls’), performs with the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra as well as local orchestras across the country, and is a voice coach. You may also remember a review I wrote back in May when I went to see “Archy & Mehitabel” which starred Michael Andrew in one of the title roles, showing he could act as wonderfully as he sings.

The band performed their first set from 7:30 until 8:30 and the Blue Martini was getting even more crowded when they took their first break, so I took that as my cue to call it a night before the bar got uncomfortably filled. But I did get to spend a pleasant hour or so listening to one of the best swing/jazz bands in the Central Florida area, Michael Andrew and Swingerhead.

If you’ve seen Swingerhead perform or listened to their music, I’d love for you to tell us your opinion by leaving a comment below.

Hope to see you next time.

Man About Town

July 31, 2005

Tijuana Flats

“No freezers, no microwaves, no lard…outrageously fresh!”

If you like your Tex-Mex food fast, fresh and inexpensive, prepared and served by some of the nicest people while dining in an irreverent atmosphere, then Tijuana Flats is the place to go! And that’s not even mentioning the hot sauces!!

Sunday afternoon around lunch time found my sometime dining companion Cindy and I downtown and looking for a place to eat. As we drove down Central past Lake Eola we decided to make our way to Tijuana Flats, located on the corner of Central and Magnolia, right across from Heritage Park, the Historical Center and the main branch of the Orlando Public Library. We parked in the downtown parking garage on Central and strolled down a half block to the Flats.

Several outdoor patio tables and chairs are located right outside the front window and a couple of them were occupied, but we were in the mood for the air-conditioned comfort of the indoor restaurant and not the high temperatures and humidity that were causing the patrons outside to down the “buckets of beer” special in attempt to keep from melting out of the chairs.

Stepping inside is almost like stepping into a frat boy’s idea of a cool place to eat. That’s not surprising, since founder Brian Wheeler is a former UCF and UF student. Wheeler opened his first Tijuana Flats on University Boulevard in November of 1995, just down the street from UCF. A decade later there are 26 Tijuana Flats restaurants in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Kentucky and Indiana. The first thing you see is a life-size cartoon cutout of a guy with his pants down and a big red handprint on one cheek of his butt. That’s to advertise their hottest hot sauce, “Smack My Ass and Call Me Sally!”. The trash receptacles are covered in hilarious bumper stickers, the walls and even the window frames have framed pictures, sayings and art hanging on them, the ceiling tiles are painted with different kinds of art like smiley faces, cartoons, outdoor scenes, etc. and the chairs at the tables are like pieces of art. We spotted Spider-Man on a chair at a table across from us and Wolverine on one near the order area, along with various Andy Warhol pop-art kinds of paintings and different designs and sayings on others.

We chose a table in the corner by the window so we could laugh at the people outside and began looking over the menu. You’re supposed to go to the order area to place your order, but an attractive young lady with her lower lip pierced came over and very nicely asked us if we needed any help or if she could go ahead and get our drinks for us. We both ordered Cokes and continued to peruse the menu, while being constantly distracted by our surroundings. This location seats 47 inside and it was about one-third full when we arrived and everyone was talking and enjoying themselves as they ate.

Some people LOVE spicy hot foods or sauces. My father used to sit and eat red hot chili peppers (the fruit, NOT the band) with tears streaming down his face as he choked out, “Man, these are good!” I never inherited that enjoyment of spicy hot foods and it has served me well through the years by not having teardrops landing in my meals. But, one of the big draws at Tijuana Flats is the variety of hot sauces they offer at their “Hot Bar”, covering the spectrum from “Mild” to “”Smack My Ass and Call Me Sally!” which is said to be THE hottest sauce in existence. Here’s what the press release says about it:

This sauce is the hottest product ever created. It is strictly a food additive and should not be used as a condiment. It is made from capsaicin (pepper extract) and measures in at an unbelievable 1.5 million Scoville Units. It is 700 times hotter than Tabasco pepper sauce!! Should be used only by people who are experienced at handling chilies.

Well, I’m not and my baby mouth would have me drinking gallons of water even with the mild, so I did not take advantage of the Hot Bar and Cindy chose not to either.

I went to the order area and ordered the regular sized Blackened Chicken Burrito, a great hand-rolled toasted tortilla filled with lettuce, tomatoes, onions, jalapenos (hold those, please) and sour cream for myself and the Beef Taco Salad for Cindy. The salad comes in a large crispy bowl-shaped tortilla shell filled with Romaine lettuce, black beans, grilled corn, tomatoes, onions, jalapenos (hold hers too, please), cheese, sour cream and guacamole with Ranch Dressing on the side. Our food and drinks came to less than $19.00.

You noticed I ordered the regular? I’m glad I did. Their sizes are Regular, Tijuana and Megajuana and I expected my “regular” to be about the size of a burrito from their “run for the border” competitors. Instead, I found out that they mean it when they ask, “Can we roll you a fat one?” (heh heh, no not THAT kind). I mean, take a look at the size of this monster. I cut that toasted baby open and the aroma had me salivating all over the table. Cindy reached across with her napkin and wiped my chin and I dug in.

When they say “outrageously fresh” it’s not some line of ad copy. The lettuce was crisp, the tomatoes juicy and tasty, the onions gave a nice flavor and the chicken, oh my god the chicken was like you just took it off the grill; hot, juicy full of flavor and some of the best white meat chicken breast I’ve ever tasted. The contrast of the toasted tortilla with the soft, juicy insides added to the enjoyment of eating this creation.

Meanwhile, Cindy was raving that this was the absolute best Taco Salad she had ever eaten, knocking out her former first place choice, the Quesadilla Explosion salad from the restaurant with the pepper name. I took a bite and thought it was delicious as well. Both of us ate all of our servings, but agreed there was so much that we could have each taken some home for snacking later.

There are 11 locations in the Orlando/Central Florida area and information about locations and hours for each of them can be found on their award-winning website, which is a work of art. Seriously, it’s one of the best uses of Flash on a website that I have ever seen. They serve appetizers, salads, quesadillas, chimichangas, enchiladas, burritos and taquitas and offer soft drink beverages and iced tea in cups with shaved ice, as well as a variety of beers and sangria. The bucket of beers is a great deal, with 5 bottles in a metal bucket filled their famous shaved ice for just $10! Soft drink and tea refills are free. There’s a “Little Lizards” kid’s menu which includes a small burrito, taco, quesadilla or chicken fingers with chips, a drink and Pez candy for dessert. I was tempted to get one just to have the Pez candy!

If you’ve eaten at Tijuana Flats, I’d love for you to tell us your opinion by leaving a comment below.

Hope to see you next time.

Man About Town
August 2, 2005

Record Heat-Record Electricity Usage

Orlando is a record-setting city! July was the hottest month on record for The City Beautiful with an average temperature of 84.7, which is 2.3 degrees higher than normal. But that record breaking month did not translate into any higher than normal temperatures during the day, as Orlando only reached an already established high of 95 on its hottest day. Still, heat indexes made that 95 degrees feel more like 103 or so.

National Weather Service spokesmen said those high daytime temperatures, combined with evenings that were humid and warm from hot air blowing in off the Atlantic Ocean worked to help us reach that record-setting month. Without cooler evenings to allow the heat to dissipate, we just kept building toward the hottest month ever. Those hotter than normal winds blowing in off the ocean may be the result of global warming and, according to one researcher from MIT, are responsible for and lead to more powerful hurricanes than we have seen in the past, though today NOAA scoffed at such a conclusion.

Whatever is causing the increased heat, one sure thing it has lead to is a record setting increase in electricity consumption, mostly by residents in an attempt to stay cool in the oppressive temperatures. According to news releases from OUC, KUA and Progress Energy, those utility companies set new all-time records for energy consumption last Wednesday with OUC delivering 1,132 megawatts, an amount which broke the record set earlier in the month on July 7th of 1,120 megawatts. Due to continuing building of facilities, none of the utility companies anticipate any difficulty in meeting the increased demand.

But some people have no choice but to be out in the heat, either because they must work in it or because they are playing in it. Tuesday is the day my lawn care service comes and I got to wondering how these guys work in this heat every day. Or what about kids who are out of school for the summer and like to play outdoors? What about all the tourists at the theme parks?

Here’s some tips on how to avoid getting overheated or suffering from a heat stroke.

1. If you don’t have air-conditioning or keep your thermostat high to reduce your electric bills, go to a mall, store, library or any other public building that is air conditioned.

2. If you have children that are playing in the heat, remember that children have a larger surface area in relation to body mass so they often gain heat faster than adults and their bodies are not yet as efficient as an adult’s in dealing with that heat.

3. If you must be in the heat the number one rule is to drink fluids, preferably water or one of the sports drinks that are available, such as Gatorade (Go Gators!). Caffeinated drinks like teas and sodas, or alcoholic beverages like beer, though they may taste delicious, will actually promote dehydration in the body. If you’re going to be in the heat for extended lengths of time, drink whether you are thirsty or not. By the time you’re feeling thirsty, you’re already on the way to being dehydrated. And while pouring water over your head may feel good, it won’t really do anything to reduce your core temperature. You need to put fluids in your body to accomplish that.

Wear light colored and loose-fitting clothing, get to shade to rest if you can and take those shade breaks as often as you can. If it’s possible, schedule outdoor activities in the morning hours of the day when it’s cooler. If you can, wear a hat or use an umbrella. And though, as was pointed out earlier, dowsing yourself with water will not lower your core temperature, skin comfort levels can be raised by employing the best-selling item in local theme parks during the summer; the waterspray bottle with fan.

To avoid dehydration, adults need 17 to 20 ounces of fluid before beginning activity in the heat, as well as an additional 7 to 10 ounces every 10 to 20 minutes during activity. Your fluid needs don’t stop when your activity is over — you should consume 24 ounces of fluid within the first two hours after activity in the heat.

Children need 4 to 8 ounces of fluid before beginning activities in the heat and 5 to 9 ounces every 20 minutes while they are in the heat (whether active or not). Once kids return from play or activity in the heat, they also need to consume 24 ounces of fluids within the first two hours after they stopped their activities.

And just so you know, one adult-size gulp of fluid equals one ounce of fluid, and one child-size gulp of fluid equals one-half ounce of fluid.

Signs and symptoms of dehydration are:

Dry lips and tongue.
Headache.
Weakness, dizziness, or extreme fatigue.
Concentrated urine that appears darker than normal.
Nausea.
Muscle cramps.

If you get so hot that you progress beyond dehydration you could very well find yourself suffering from heat stroke. This occurs when a person becomes dehydrated and can not sweat enough to cool their body causing their internal temperature to rise to dangerously high levels.

Although each individual may experience symptoms differently, signs and symptoms of heat stroke are:

Headache
Dizziness
Disorientation, agitation or confusion
Sluggishness or fatigue
Seizure
Hot, dry skin that is flushed but not sweaty
High body temperature
Loss of consciousness
Rapid heart beat
Hallucinations

One more cautionary note about the heat; it seems like every summer, there are news stories about babies accidentally left in cars who die before someone remembers they were there. The most recent tragic occurrence took place right here in Orlando when a father discovered his 5 month old baby daughter had been left in the back of a car long enough that she died from the heat. I cannot even begin to fathom what her parents must be going through. Please, if you have children, especially infants who may fall asleep and not make any noise to remind you of their presence, keep them foremost in your mind and thoughts as you go through your busy hectic day. There is nothing more important in your life than that little life.

As we leave July and enter August, we may well find ourselves setting another heat record here in Orlando. Take steps to make sure that you deal with the heat in a healthy way, for you and your loved ones.

Hope to see you next time.

Man About Town

August 3, 2005

Dangerous Roads For Drivers and Pedestrians

Orlando, it would seem, is a dangerous place in which to walk or drive.

Back in 2002, Mean Streets released their State Report Fact Sheet for Florida covering the years 2000 and 2001 and Orlando was ranked as the third most dangerous metropolitan city in the state for pedestrians with a 79.3 percentage Pedestrian Danger Index. Only Ft. Myers with an 89.4 and Ocala with a 100 score surpassed The City Beautiful in the PDI ratings. Orlando actually had more pedestrian fatalities than the other 2 cities combined for both years, but population and other factors helped to mitigate the Danger Index.

Just this morning another pedestrian fatality occurred on South Orange Avenue near Michigan when a driver hit a man who was inexplicably lying in the road. However that scenario is a rare one. Most pedestrian fatalities happen when someone tries to cross a busy street or even, on occasion, Interstate 4. If you drive on Semoran Boulevard or Colonial Drive, you will see so many locations where housing is on one side of the 4 to 6 lane street and retail or grocery locations are on the opposite side, creating a multitude of instances where individuals, groups or parents with children and/or strollers are trying to dodge traffic to make their way across and back.

The other night I was in my car westbound on Pershing at Semoran waiting to turn left. It was pretty late and pretty dark. There was a man, a woman, 2 children in tow and the man was pushing a stroller as they tried to cross from the east side of Semoran to the west side at the light in the crosswalk. Yet they had to stop and then run in some places as they tried to cross because cars could barely see them. While it was not their fault that the area was dimly lit, they also weren’t wearing any kind of reflective clothing or even light colored clothing that would make them more visible. And they were using the crosswalk at the light to cross as they should, but some drivers obviously were not paying attention. Happily any kind of tragedy was averted and they made their way across to the grocery store, but I wondered if it would work out as well on the return trip later.

Today the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety released a survey that ranked the greater Orlando area as having the third-highest traffic death rate of 50 major metropolitan cities across the nation, when population is factored in. Only Nashville, Tennessee with 18.8 deaths per 100,000 and Riverside-San Bernardino, California with 18.2 deaths per 100,00 ranked worse than Orlando’s 17.6 deaths per 100,000. Those rankings come from the 2003 statistics, which are the most recent available.

In 2004 The Orlando Sentinel ran a series of articles focusing on traffic deaths in the greater Orlando Area, citing AAA studies which showed that the intersection of Semoran and Colonial was one of the most dangerous in the area, but it was by no means the only dangerous road or intersection in Central Florida. As a result of the articles, local law enforcement and the Florida Highway Patrol stated that they stepped up traffic enforcement in the problem areas. Those efforts are being credited with the current traffic fatality count for the year, which is down by 7 from last year at this time.

I hope that truly is the case. But I have to say that I have not noticed any increase in the presence of police or in the number of enforcement situations in my time on the roads during this past year. I drive a fairly busy stretch of road and it is rare for me to see police, deputies or highway patrol cars. Just this afternoon a guy raced up my tail, passed me on the right and then ran through a red light, narrowly missing another car that was making a legal left turn. That is precisely the kind of aggressive driving that is supposedly being targeted, yet I see that kind of driving every day and no law enforcement presence to abate it.

What’s your experience with traffic been here in Orlando? Have you noticed an increase in enforcement or even just police presence? Do aggressive drivers make you want to just stay home or use mass transit? I encourage you to share your feelings or ideas by leaving a comment below.

Hope to see you next time.

Man About Town

August 5, 2005

First Friday – The Jennifer Wrobleski Trio

Last year The Mall at Millenia, in cooperation with Smooth Jazz WLOQ, began a monthly event called “First Friday”. On the first Friday of every month from 5pm to 8pm, a free concert is offered. Usually its held outside the main entrance, but for the months of July, August and September they move it indoors to avoid the heat and regularly scheduled thunderstorms we have every afternoon here in Central Florida.

So, this evening, the first Friday of August, I headed over to the Mall to listen to The Jennifer Wrobleski Trio, who were performing in the Orangerie Cafes, which is located just inside the main entrance in the center of the food court. It’s a good thing this was scheduled inside because around 4:30 that part of town was practically swamped by a fast-moving line of thunderstorms that had lightning bolts striking like machine gun fire in rapidity and enough rain to flood the streets and send everyone looking for cover. By the time I arrived the worst of the storm had passed, but it was still warm and humid outside, so the air-conditioned comfort of the Mall was a welcome respite.

I entered the Mall to find several of the event’s sponsors set up at tables. Lake Nona Golf & Country Club, Discovery Cove, P.F. Chang’s China Bistro and others were arrayed and staffed with helpful people. There are perhaps 500 seats in the area around the food court surrounding the performance area and roughly 3/4 of them were taken. The band was just about to take the stage as I arrived.

The Jennifer Wrobleski Trio is comprised of a vocalist and a three-piece jazz ensemble consisting of piano, upright bass and horns. The group’s music plays tribute to the legendary songwriters and songs throughout the history of jazz. Jennifer Wrobleski, the group’s beautiful young vocalist, is gaining widespread acclaim for her outstanding singing ability and talent. From what I could hear while taking photos and enjoying a Greek salad for dinner, the accolades are well-deserved. Unfortunately, the sound system being used did not do her voice justice and there were many times I found it difficult to understand lyrics.

The group performed several “smooth jazz” style songs, ones that were easy to listen to and enjoyable to hear. Then they mixed in some nice instrumental pieces to showcase each band member’s forte and some nice slow dance songs which got many of the listeners up on the feet and into the arms of their partner while they glided across the small dance area that was in front of the stage.

In the meantime, models from Lisa Maile Image Modeling and Acting were showcasing fashions from the Mall’s leading clothing retailers. These attractive young women were strolling around the performance and seating area wearing various dresses, suits and outfits from apparel stores, while holding little signs with the name of the store who had the clothing they were modeling. I knew a girl who used to go to Lisa Maile that was trying to prepare herself for a run at the Miss Florida title. Though she never accomplished that goal, she told me that she learned some invaluable lessons at the school.

The Trio ended their first set after about an hour to a rousing round of applause. By this time practically every seat was taken and a large number of people were standing around listening, both in the food court area and in the outer fringe around the food court. If I had the time to spare, I would have stayed for the next set. I hope I get to hear The Jennifer Wrobleski Trio in a more intimate setting soon because I think they a great sound and style and would sound even better in a different venue, one more suited to their talents.

Next month, First Friday falls on September 2nd and features Beautiful Bobby Blackmon indoors at the Orangerie Cafes in the Millenia Mall. The Mall is located at 4200 Conroy Road, Orlando and can be conveniently accessed from an I-4 interchange at Conroy Road (Exit 78). In addition to plentiful (5,500), free parking spaces around the Mall, convenient valet parking is also available. Daily shopping hours are Monday through Saturday from 10:00am until 9:00pm, and Sunday, Noon until 7:00pm, with many Mall restaurants open through midnight. You can phone the Mall for further information at 407-363-3555.

Hope to see you next time.

Man About Town
August 6, 2005

Royal Thai Restaurant

Lately I’ve been trying to expand my epicurean horizons and explore some heretofore mysterious meal opportunities. I’ve always enjoyed American, Italian, some Mexican and some Chinese style foods, but that’s been about the extent of my palate’s proficiency and I decided it was time to remedy that limited experience.

Lots of my friends are always talking about enjoying Thai food, so I thought I might start my journey into the gastronomical twilight zone with some sustenance from this Southeast Asian country. After all, one of my favorite songs is “One Night in Bangkok” by Murray Head. That makes sense, right? My friend Glen suggested I try Royal Thai restaurant and since he was kind enough to make the recommendation I invited him to accompany me to lunch there this afternoon. I drove over to his place and we rode to the restaurant in his new truck, which he loves to drive.

We arrived around 12:30 to find most of the lunch rush either already over or not yet started. Both the parking lot and the restaurant itself were about half full, but that worked out well as we were offered a window table in the outer dining room which is “L” shaped. There is also an inner dining area which sits as a square inside the “L” and is a darker, more subdued atmosphere. Our host seated us and gave us menus, informing us that the lunch menu was in the middle, but that we could order anything off the entire menu for lunch if we desired. Glen, who’s been to Thailand, offered me some tips on which items to avoid as he knows I have a “baby mouth” when it comes to spicy hot foods.

Our server arrived with something I’ve gotten used to not seeing in most restaurants unless asked for; glasses of iced water. Believe me, the heat that we experienced just walking from the parking lot into the restaurant made those glasses of water a welcome sight. After we spent a couple of more minutes fine tuning our choices, our server returned to take our orders and answer a few questions I had. The menu offers a variety of rice, noodle, vegetable and sauce combinations to which you may add either beef, chicken or pork (or leave as a vegetarian dish, if you wish) for $5.95, as well as shrimp for an additional $1. I felt the prices were very appropriate for lunchtime dining and the service was very prompt.

Glen ordered the pork stir fried rice with egg and assorted vegetables along with a glass of Thai iced tea. When the tea arrived it looked like it had some kind of milky or creamy substance in the top of the glass, which would have given me pause but Glen took a big swallow and said it tasted good. I asked our server what was in the Thai iced tea and she told us it was unsweetened tea to which they add half and half cream and sugar. As we ate, Glen was pleased with his dish and cleaned his plate as we talked back and forth.

I ordered the chicken in sweet and sour sauce with sauteed cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, snow peas in pods and bell peppers with a regular iced tea. The chicken was all white meat, but where I was expecting either chunks of meat like Glen’s pork or “pulled” strips, I found instead that the meat looked like it had been pounded flat and striated with grooves. The chicken and the vegetables (which all tasted very fresh) were swimming in a thin sweet and sour sauce that surrounded an island of white rice. The chicken, vegetables and sauce were all delicious and nothing was spiced too heavily on this dish.

Although my lack of experience keeps me from being able to authoritatively compare the food to any other Thai restaurant offering (and that will change now that I’ve gotten my tongue wet, so to speak) I can say that I enjoyed my meal and the service at Royal Thai. The ambience of the restaurant is pleasing and the cuisine is affordable. If you’re like me and have never tried Thai food, this might be a good place to start. It was for me.

Royal Thai restaurant is located at 1202 North Semoran Boulevard, right on the corner of Semoran and Old Cheney Highway. Lunch is served Monday though Friday from 11:00am to 2:00pm and Saturday and Sunday from Noon until 3:00pm. Dinner hours are Monday through Thursday from 5:00pm to 9:30pm, Friday from 5:00pm to 10:00pm, Saturday from 3:00pm to 10:00pm and Sunday from 3:00pm to 9:00pm. Keep in mind that there is a $7 dinner order minimum. They accept all major credit cards and cash and you can phone them at 407.275.0776 during hours of operation.

If you’ve eaten at Royal Thai and would like to share your experience or if you have another Thai restaurant you’d like to recommend, please leave a comment below and let Orlando know what you think.

Hope to see you next time.

Man About Town

August 7, 2005

BOOM BOOM!!

If all goes well, that is the sound that will jar us out of our beds here in Orlando tomorrow morning (unless, like me, you’re already up and awake watching the landing on TV and the Internet) and it will be music to our ears. Those twin sonic booms will signal that the Space Shuttle Discovery has returned home safely as the first shuttle flight since the Columbia tragedy on February 1, 2003. Back on July 26th I stood outside a building on Sand Lake Road near Orange Avenue and cheered with friends as we watched Discovery launch successfully from pad 39B. I’m hoping to do the same in the privacy of my home when she touches down without incident tomorrow.

Discovery is scheduled to land at the Kennedy Space Center at 4:46am EDT tomorrow morning after spending 13 days in space; 8 of them at the International Space Station. While at the station the crew resupplied the outpost’s permanent 2 man staff, picked up a little over 3 tons of the station’s trash and conducted 3 spacewalks, one of which was a history-making event that repaired some tile filler problems near the Shuttle’s front landing gear. While at the station, Discovery crew members each gave spoken tributes to the crew who perished in the Columbia disaster a little over 2 1/2 years ago.

STS-114 also paid tribute to the fallen crew of Columbia with their Mission Patch. According to NASA, “It signifies the return of the Space Shuttle to flight and honors the memory of the STS-107 Columbia crew. The blue Shuttle rising above Earth’s horizon includes the Columbia (the dove) constellation of seven stars, echoing the STS-107 patch and commemorating the seven members of that mission. The dominant design element of the STS-114 patch is the planet Earth, which represents the unity and dedication of the many people whose efforts allows the Shuttle to safely return to flight.”

If the 4:46am landing is successful, it will be the 15th night landing to take place at Kennedy Space Center, but will be the first to use a new landing flight path approach that was designed by NASA to take the Shuttle over the most sparsely populated area possible in the wake of the breakup of Columbia over parts of Texas. Commander Eileen Collins and Pilot Jim Kelly will bring the Shuttle in over a small portion of Central America, the Western tip of Cuba and sections of southern Central Florida, but the majority of it’s approach path will be over water. Acknowledging that debris from a catastrophic breakup raining down on populated areas could cause injuries or death, NASA has sought to minimize that possibility as much as the landing protocols will allow.

This graphic illustrates the path that Columbia was on during it’s approach in 2003 across populated areas of the United States, and the proposed path that NASA will have Discovery take, as well as the possible path area that was considered for potential approaches. You can see that there is very little land mass or areas of population, in the U.S. or other parts of the world, under the path that was ultimately chosen for the approach.

This aerial photo shows the runway at Kennedy Space Center’s Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF). In the foreground is the parking apron with the orbiter mate/demate tower, the hangar and other storage facilities, and the tow-way stretching from the runway to the lower right. The control tower is located in a grassy area farther north, near the runway’s midpoint. At 15,000 feet long and 300 feet wide, the SLF is larger than most commercial runways. For comparison, consider this: the longest runway at Orlando International Airport is 12,005 feet long and 150 feet wide, 2,995 feet shorter and 150 feet narrower than the SLF. Although used by military and NASA pilots for cargo flights and training purposes, the SLF was designed specifically for end-of-mission Shuttle landings. In it’s initial landing approach, the Shuttle is in a glide slope of 20 degrees, 6 times steeper that the typical 3 degree slope of a commercial airliner, and the Orbiter’s wheels touch down on the SLF at a speed of 213 to 226 miles per hour.

If something prevents Discovery from landing on their first attempt at 4:46am, they will have a second opportunity at KSC at 6:21am EDT, followed by two additional opportunities at Edwards Air Force Base in California at 7:52 am and 9:27 am EDT. However, weather predictions call for clear skies, very little wind and no rain, so it looks good from that aspect. If everything else goes as planned, there should be no problem executing a safe landing the first time out.

Here’s to the good thought that fate and the Shuttle Discovery will bring this brave crew home safe and sound for their families and friends, as well as for those of us who dream that we are with them on each and every flight. If you’re planning on being up to watch the landing, or you’re reading this afterward and you were up to watch it, drop a comment below and let Orlando what you think.

Hope to see you next time.

Man About Town

August 9, 2005

Upcoming Events

Here’s a rundown of some upcoming events in Orlando and the surrounding area.

SCW Wrestling – Saturday, August 13th – Enjoy a night of spectacular entertainment in the squared circle with Southern Championship Wrestling this Saturday night at the Veterans of Foreign War Post #8093 located at 351 S. Highway 17-92 in DeBary. The action begins at 7:30pm, and the card features 8 matches, including former WWE and WCW star Larry “The Living Legend” Zbyszko, 2 Championship matches and regular SCW stars Vordell Walker, Dagon Briggs, The Heartbreak Express, Chasyn Rance and much more! Ringside tickets are an affordable $10 and you can call 407.474.4453 if you need more information. Whatcha gonna do, brotha?

Sister Hazel – Saturday, August 13th – Local (so to speak) boys make good. These 5 guys from Gainesville, Fl (Go Gators!) hit it big back in 1997 with All For You. They’re in concert this Saturday night at the House of Blues in Lake Buena Vista. The doors open at 7:30pm and the show begins at 8:30pm. Tickets are $15 in advance and $17.50 at the door. If you need more information, call 407.934.2583 or 407.839.3900.

Bruce Campbell and his “Make Love the Bruce Campbell Way” Book Signing Tour – Tuesday, August 16th – Bruce Campbell, the star of “Evil Dead”, “Army of Darkness” and 60-something other movies, “The Adventures of Brisco County Jr.” TV series star, and currently appearing in “Sky High” (at theaters now) will be signing his new book “Make Love the Bruce Campbell Way” at Coliseum of Comics in the Fashion Square Mall! He’ll be signing from 5:00pm on Tuesday, August 16th until all books are signed. In addition, the premiere of his latest release “Man With The Screaming Brain!” will be showing at 8pm and 10pm at the Premier Movie Theater next door to Coliseum. Admission to the book signing is FREE! Theater admission is usually $6.50

Diversity Job Fair – Wednesday, August 17th – Need a new job? Want to explore your options? The Diversity Job Fair is a great opportunity for anyone who desires to improve their job situation or advance their career. Sponsored by The Employment Guide, this job fair will be held at the Central Florida Fairgrounds, 4603 W Colonial Drive, Orlando from 10:00am until 2:00pm. Admission is FREE and if you need more information you can call 407.673.3466.

Popcorn Flicks in Central Park Featuring “Sixteen Candles” – Thursday, August 18th – FREE MOVIE! Here’s a date movie anyone can afford. From 1984, Director John Hughes’ hit “coming of age” movie that launched the careers of several of the performers who came to be known as “The Brat Pack”. Stars Molly Ringwald, Anthony Michael Hall and John Cusack, among others. This free movie is showing Thursday night at 8pm in Central Park, located at the corner of Morse Boulevard and Park Avenue in beautiful Winter Park, Fl. Call 407.629.0054 for more details.

11th Annual August Stomp! – Saturday, August 20th and Sunday August 21st – You’ll feel just like you’re in Italy when you join in the grape stomping fun at the 11th Annual August Stomp! In addition to getting grape pulp between your toes, you can enjoy music, food and free samples of some of Lakeridge’s finest wines. Admission is only $2 and the festival is open Saturday from 10am to 5pm and Sunday from 11am to 5pm. Lakeridge is located at 19239 U.S. 27 North in Clermont, Fl. Call 1.800.768.WINE (9463) for directions and more details.

Hootie & the Blowfish – Saturday, August 20th – Go hear the songs that shot this band to the top of the charts, with hits such as “Hold My Hand”, “Time” and “Let Her Cry” at Cypress Gardens Adventure Park in Winter Haven, Fl. Reserved seats are $15.00 each and are on sale now. Call 863.324.2111 and choose option 2 to order your reserved seat tickets. You can also bring your own lawn chair or enjoy the complimentary bleacher seating for the concert that is included in the price of regular park admission. Park hours are 10am to 10pm and the concert begins with opening act Ingram Hill at 7pm. Regular park admission is $38.95. Call 863.324.2111 for more information.

An Evening with Carl Hiaasen – Saturday, August 27th – Bestselling author, award-winning children’s writer, former investigative reporter and columnist for The Miami Herald, Carl Hiaasen will be appearing at the Downtown Branch of the Orlando Public Library, located at 101 East Central Boulevard Orlando, Fl. At this special fundraising event, Hiaasen will offer his insight into the creative process and talk about fiction and stranger than fiction truths. This imaginative and entertaining evening will help support educational programming efforts by the Orange County Library System. There will be a Question and Answer session and Hiaasen’s books will be available for sale and signing. Tickets are $50 per person and the event kicks off at 7pm. You can call 407.835.7481 for more information.

WWE Raw Live – Sunday, August 28th – All the star-studded action of WWE Raw comes to the T.D. Waterhouse Arena in Downtown Orlando Sunday night, August 28th at 7pm. A match card has not been released, but WWE’s RAW brand features such great performers as John Cena, Kurt Angle, Hulk Hogan (who lives in nearby Clearwater), Shawn Michaels, Edge and some guy named Matt Hardy. Ticket prices range from $20 to $40. Call 407.839.3900 or 407.849.2020 for more details.

Hope to see you next time,

Man About Town

August 14, 2005

Top 10 Safest Communities

There’s no doubt that the terrorist attacks on our nation almost 4 years ago caused a drastic change in the mindset of most Americans. One of the biggest changes was our attitude of “It can’t happen here”, a mantra that most people thought or spoke aloud when viewing similar acts in other nations around the globe. After all, it had been 40 years since the last threat just off the coast of own state caused school children to be taught to hide under their desks while their parents were cautioned not to look directly at the light of an atomic blast. By September 11, 2001, that long ago “crisis” was simply another historical point on our country’s timeline and the fear it generated was no longer a part of our national thought process. 9/11 caused us to realize it COULD happen here and it galvanized many to examine our personal and communal safety.

Recently, Family Security Matters, a “non-profit, nonpartisan communications initiative formed by a group of passionate women” whose “mission is to inform, organize, and mobilize women to help protect their families, their communities and their country…” published a list of the 10 safest communities in the country. The City of Orlando was ranked number 6. Here’s what the ranking pointed out;

6. Orlando, Florida

Manuel Soto, Emergency Manager

www.cityoforlando.net

Manuel Soto, the Emergency Manager for the city of Orlando, realizes that thee is a lot at stake for this Florida city. In addition to the 196,000 permanent residents, there is a weekly tourist population of 1.3 million, mostly to neighboring Disneyworld (sic). This potential terrorist target, coupled with the area’s vulnerability to natural disasters, has prompted the emergency services to be very well prepared. To date, they have conducted numerous small and large-scale exercises, including last years ‘triple threat’ mass exercise. This involved three simultaneous incidents, one chemical, one hostage situation and an explosion incident in the area of Orlando and Orange County. Another exercise is planned for this summer. In addition to the rigorous training by the emergency services, residents are encouraged to volunteer as much as possible. “We provide the citizen with a one-stop shop”, says Manuel Soto, “where (those) who wish to get engaged in community preparedness…can enroll in one or multiple training.” Orlando offers multiple training programs for volunteers, including CERT, Neighborhood Watch, Citizens on Patrol and many others. Anyone who completes four or more courses is awarded the status of Homeland Security Volunteer. So far, more than TK have been handed out. This is the type of scheme which illustrates the high level of preparation in the city of Orlando.

And no, I don’t know what “TK” is. If you do, please share with us by leaving a comment. I’m thinking they meant to say “Ten K”, as in “Ten Thousand”, but that’s just a guess.

By the way, next month is National Preparedness Month across the nation. Briefly, here’s what it’s all about according to their website:

During September, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the American Red Cross and the National Preparedness Month Coalition will urge all Americans to take some simple steps to become better prepared for emergencies including:

Get a Kit – Get a kit of emergency supplies that will allow you and your family to survive for at least three days in the event an emergency happens.

Make a Plan – Plan in advance what you and your family will do in an emergency.

Be Informed – Learn more about different threats that could affect your community and appropriate responses to them.

Get Involved – After preparing yourself and your family for possible emergencies, take the next step: get training in first aid and emergency response and get involved in preparing your community.

Good advice!

Most people, myself included, have felt that Orlando was one of those “soft target” cities that would be attractive to someone plotting a terrorist attack because of our huge numbers of tourists, both domestic and international. What better way to demoralize our way of life, while affecting thousands of people the world over, than by attacking our city and surrounding areas? We all saw what a devastating impact the attacks four years ago had on our state and local economy, and those attacks were hundreds of miles away. Imagine the havoc terrorists could wreak with an attack in the heart of our state while it is teeming with tourists. There’s no doubt we are a viable target. We always have been.

Frankly, I haven’t felt any safer (or less safe, for that matter) in the last four years here in Orlando. Other than bag checks at the area theme parks and government buildings that are open to the public, and I’ve been through them enough to know they’re nothing more than cursory and not really serious checks, I haven’t noticed any bona fide measures taking place that have made me feel more secure. Maybe that’s the point, Maybe we’re not supposed to be aware of them. But I think it might be helpful, if the idea of the measures is to ease our troubled minds and make us feel safer, to publicize as much as is safely possible what those measures involve.

So, I’m wondering; do you feel any safer? Am I missing the boat on this ranking, or are there people in Orlando who truly feel safer now than they did four years ago? And if you do feel safer, why? What has happened, or what have you seen or observed that has made you feel like Orlando is a safer place? Please leave a comment below and share with Orlando what you think. Safer or not?

Hope to see you next time.

Man About Town

August 15, 2005

In Orlando, Piccadilly No More

The last Piccadilly Cafeteria in Orlando closed this past Saturday night for the final time. The closing was scheduled for 6pm, but the cafeteria on East Colonial Drive ran out of food an hour before that. For it’s many regulars, there would be no stopping in for lunch after church this past Sunday. Or ever again.

The Piccadilly on Colonial used to be known as Morrison’s Cafeteria and as Driftwood Cafeteria before that and has been there for 40 years, outlasting it’s sister cafeterias in downtown Orlando and at the Fashion Square Mall. But time, and developers, wait for no man, so Saturday saw the last meals served at one of Orlando’s oldest and favorite eating spots, especially for our more mature citizens, ones who had grown up on the cafeteria’s fare.

Piccadilly, I’m told by those who know, was the last true cafeteria style restaurant in Orlando. Yes, you could get great meal combos for a single price, as you can in every other restaurant. But at Piccadilly, you could also order every food item ala carte, just like in a traditional cafeteria. Out of the endless varieties of entrees, sides, desserts and drinks, you could create an infinite number of your own personal or favorite combinations to enjoy.

I ate once at the Fashion Square Mall location before it closed a few years back. And I ate once at the Colonial location maybe 2 years ago. I think I discovered that I was not a cafeteria food person, at least not enough of one to ever return.

But there were many, many loyal customers of Piccadilly’s who were sorry to see them go. They are the people who ate there at least once a week, if not more often, or who were there every Sunday after church like clockwork. I’m told the white church members would get there first, as their services got out usually right at noon, and they would be followed shortly thereafter by the black church members whose services lasted a little longer. A typical Sunday afternoon lunch crowd would find the dining rooms filled with diners enjoying the food and the service of the attentive staff, some of whom had been there for many, many years.

The Mid-Florida Mustang Club used to have their monthly membership meeting at Piccadilly and various business groups would routinely hold meetings at the cafeteria so the members could linger over dessert or coffee while talking.

Back in October of last year, an Orlando businessman bought the lease and the property where Piccadilly sits. His plan is to put a Dollar Tree store in the cafeteria building and then to build a Kobe Japanese Steakhouse restaurant in the adjacent parking lot. Judging from the emotional reactions of Piccadilly’s regular customers, I doubt he’ll get any business from them at the new restaurant.

Hope to see you here next time.

Man About Town

August 20, 2005

Lakeridge Winery – August Stomp! 2005

“Wine is bottled poetry” – Robert Louis Stevenson

When you think of Wineries and Vineyards, you generally think of Napa Valley, California, Italy, Spain, Germany or Chile. But if you limit your thoughts to those locations, you’ll miss out on a hidden jewel in your own backyard.

The Lakeridge Winery and Vineyard is located in the gently rolling hills of nearby Clermont, just a short 45 minute drive from Orlando. This weekend is their annual August Stomp!, a 2 day event celebrating the end of this year’s grape harvest. I was able to convince Kay and Cindy to accompany me today to see what a real, live winery and vineyard here in Florida would be like.

We arrived shortly after the 10am opening and beginning of the festivities. Were it not for the decorative stone walls bracketing the entrance to the long, winding driveway up to the winery, you might think you were entering someone’s palatial residence, that is until you see the vineyards in the back of the 2 story, 28,000 square foot facility as they slope downward to Schoolhouse Lake. As we parked and exited our car, we could hear the strains of the live band playing on the opposite said of the building in the picnic area, and we joined the small group of newly arrived guests in walking to the entrance.

Our first stop was the wine tasting “gauntlet”, which ran the length of the storage and fermentation tanks that ring the inside of the building. The tasting stations began with the dry and ended with the sweet, which turned out to be a very palate pleasing arrangement. We grabbed our tasting cups at the first station and slowly made our way through each successive area as the attendants explained the history and composition of each sample we tasted. Cindy’s favorite was the Chablis. Kay’s the Sunblush and mine the Southern Red. As you finish up the wine tasting run the route brings you right into the Gift Shop, just like all the area theme park attractions!

The biggest difference, of course, is that this gift shop isn’t just trying to hawk souvenirs to its guests (though there are certainly plenty of those and I did indeed purchase a T-shirt commemorating the August Stomp! 2005 event) but also has every type of wine they produce and almost every type of wine related accessory you could imagine. From bottle resealers to corkscrews to picnic sets to chillers to an amazing variety of different products that are also produced from the grapes in the vineyard such as jams, sauces, juices and candies, this gift shop had it all if it had some connection to grapes and/or wine.

After looking around a bit we headed up the stairs to the second floor to take the tour and hear the history of the vineyard. While waiting for the video presentation to begin in the theater, we strolled around looking at the awards Lakeridge Winery has won for its various wines through the years. Then our tour guide “Justin” (who sounded Australian but said he was from England) let us know that the tour was about to begin.

During the video presentation in the theater we learned that Lakeridge Winery opened in Clermont in 1989 and has a sister winery in St. Augustine. In Florida, because of the weather, only 2 varieties of grapes are able to be grown with any success; the native Muscadine, which produces the fruity tasting wines and the Florida Hybrids which produce the dry wines. Every attempt to grow a non-native grape that would produce a drinkable wine has failed, ever since the first vineyards were started in the northeast part of the state almost 150 years before the first California vineyard was established.

From the time the first vine is planted until it yields its first drop of juice, 3 years will pass. Harvests take place during May, June and July and they use a machine with beaters to go up and down the rows removing grapes and depositing them into carts for transportation to the wine maker. Fermentation will take 4-6 weeks and then bottling will take place anywhere from 4 to 12 months later, depending upon the wine. The usual alcohol content will be about 12 percent. Red wines obtain their color by having the grape skins added to the mix during fermentation and then are filtered out before bottling. Because it is not possible to have cool, damp cellars in Florida, the wine is aged in 5,000 gallon stainless steel tanks with temperature controls to keep the wine at a constant temperature while fermenting. The stainless steel tanks mean that no other flavor beyond the grape’s will be present, which is excellent for the fruity and sweet wines. For the drier wines, which normally have the flavor of the oak barrels they are fermented in as a balance, Florida wineries will add a mesh bag of oak chips into the tank for 3 to 4 months during fermentation to impart that slight oak flavor to the wine.

After the video presentation, Justin took us out on the catwalk the runs above the tanks and then out to the back balcony viewing deck area which overlooks the 127 acres of vineyards, then back inside to the warehouse where we could see thousands of cases of various wines boxed and ready to be shipped. Our tour ended back at the Gift Shop, where we each bought our favorite bottles of wines and a few other items. We then took our purchases to the car and then returned to the picnic side of the facility for some lunch while we watched the grape-stomping competitions and listened to the music of Jay Owens and The Pocket on the outdoor stage.

The grape-stomping was fun to watch. They took half barrels, filled them with grapes and gave contestants 3 minutes to see who could stomp out the most juice into a jug underneath the barrel. The winners would get a free T-shirt and very messy feet, but never fear, there were water hoses nearby to rinse the pulp and juice off the contestant’s feet. By the way, both the pulped grapes and the juice from the stomping are not used in any of the wines. Instead both of those by-products are used in the compost for the grape vines.

There were a few different food and beverage vendors set up in the picnic area, so Cindy had a huge hot dog and coke, while Kay and I each enjoyed a vegetable wrap and Sprite for lunch while we waited for the band to come back on stage. SHortly after the band began playing Cindy and Kay escaped the increasingly hot weather by returning to the air-conditioned gift shop while I sat and listened to a few more tunes, then we all left around 12:30 before it got unbearable outside.

The August Stomp! continues tomorrow, Sunday, August 21st from 11am to 5pm. Admission to the picnic area is only $2, while the tasting and tour are free of charge. Lakeridge Winery and Vineyard is located at 19239 U.S. 27 North, Clermont, just 3 miles South of the Florida Turnpike exit 285. If you need further details you can call Lakeridge at 1-800-768-WINE. They also have events featuring wine, food and music coming up each month in September, October, November and December, so if you can’t make the August Stomp!, you can shoot for one of the other upcoming events. And of course there are complimentary tours with wine tastings and video presentations available 7 days a week Monday-Saturday, 10am – 5pm and Sunday, 11:00am – 5pm.

I heartily recommend a trip to Lakeridge Winery and Vineyard for any Orlando resident who enjoys a good wine or wants to learn more about the art and practice of wine-making.

Hope to see you here next time.

Man About Town

August 21, 2005

This n’ That

Here’s a hodgepodge of recent news occurrences in the Orlando area that I found interesting and thought you might too.

Congratulations to the Maitland All Stars Little League team on making it into the Little League Baseball World Series and for winning their first two games! This is the Maitland team’s first appearance ever in the Little League Baseball World Series and they are playing excellent ball. Their next game is tomorrow (Monday, August 22nd) at 3pm against West Oahu. The last time a local team was in the Series was back in 2001 when Apopka won the U.S. Championship. Although Florida teams have played in the Series 20 times and reached the Championship games 8 times, no Florida team has ever won the Little League Baseball World Series. Here’s wishing the Maitland team all the best with the hope that these local kids will become the first Florida team to win the World Series Title.

I was reading the August 11th issue of Rolling Stone Magazine (with a great cover story on the early days of Jimi Hendrix in London) when I came across their annual rankings of school and colleges across America. I was pleased to see that on page 27 they ranked Full Sail Real World Education in the top five “Best Music Programs” category. Additionally, in it’s just released book; Schools That Rock: The Rolling Stone College Guide, Full Sail was recognized as having one of the country’s top three music/entertainment business departments, which is quite an important ranking coming from the music industry’s premiere publication. Full Sail has been in O-Town for many years and has experienced phenomenal growth. The school is also highly ranked by Electronic Gaming Monthly for it’s Game Design School. Like most residents in Orlando, I know people who have graduated from Full Sail and even know a couple of the instructors. Way to go Full Sail!

Recently, Intel’s 3rd Annual “Most Unwired Cities” survey was released and Orlando was ranked number 49 out of 100 in the U.S. for wireless Internet accessibility. This in spite of the city’s announcement in June that they would be pulling the plug on the free wi-fi experiment that provided no charge access to the Internet due to high cost and low participation. I was particularly interested in this survey because in the near future I will be upgrading to a new laptop with wi-fi capability and I’ve already started scoping out locales around town where I can get access.

Well, we never got to hear the “BOOM BOOM!” a couple of weeks ago because weather concerns forced the Space Shuttle Discovery to land in California, but it finally returned to the Kennedy Space Center today, riding atop a modified 747 and making a picture perfect landing on runway 15. I’ve seen this happen many times before and I am still amazed every time I see that Orbital Craft sitting on top of the plane and flying across the country and then landing here. It just doesn’t look like it should be possible. Last week NASA announced there will be no further Shuttle launches before March of 2006. I think most people who support the Shuttle Program, though saddened by the news, would prefer that engineers get the tile problem fixed in a definitive way before attempting any further launches.

Hope to see you here next time.

Man About Town

August 26, 2005

Back To Nature Wildlife Refuge
When our parents and grandparents were growing up, they had the “3 R’s” of Reading, Writing and (A)rithmetic ingrained in them as they attended school. In East Orlando there is an organization that practices the “4 R’s” of Rescue, Raise, Rehabilitate and Release when it comes to helping wildlife that has been injured, abused, abandoned or disabled. CK and I visited this organization one Saturday morning and saw firsthand the work that is being done to help these animals that otherwise would die.

Back To Nature Wildlife Refuge was founded approximately 25 years ago by Carmen Shaw, Curator and is the largest wildlife refuge in the Central Florida area. The goal of the refuge is to rehabilitate injured or orphaned animals for release back into the wild and they take all “critters” except common household pets like cats and dogs. An average year will see some 1,500 to 2,000 different animals come through their gated sanctuary and be returned to the animal’s normal environment. Though their goal is to release all the animals that come to them back to the wild, there are some that, for various reasons, will have no choice but to live out their lives under the care of the Refuge’s dedicated staff of volunteers.

The stories of most of those animals is a sad commentary on their treatment by “mankind”. From the fox who was abandoned by it’s owner, but not before he cut off the fox’s tail as a souvenir, to the porcupines and raccoons that people tried to domesticate before they finally decided those animals would not make the kind of “unique” household pet they imagined. From birds and other creatures that have been poisoned and sickened by pesticides to birds that have been wounded by BB guns and bullets, these animals are a testament to man’s abuse and uncaring attitude.

There are also some animals in the refuge that were born in the wild with disabilities or even just differences that would have seen them killed by other members of their own species had they not been rescued.

CK and I arrived around 10am with 2 big bags of old sheets, towels and blankets that we had each gathered as a donation (it gave me an excuse to purchase some new towels, lol) which we left at the main office building and then we proceeded to take the self-guided tour around the refuge and see the work that the Back To Nature folks are involved in with the various animals.

Our first stop was at the cage of “Makai” (a Hawaiian name that means “going to the water”) a wolf-hybrid that was born in 1991 and was purchased by a man in the pet trade business who thought he would make a good pet. At the age of 4 months Makai got out and was running loose in a mobile home park for a few months before the Humane Society in Brevard County picked him up. Makai was held by the Society for about 3 months before the Florida Game and Freshwater Fish Commission called Back To Nature asking if they could possibly provide a home to the frightened pup. Makai will never be able to return to the wild because he is a hybrid and has been raised in captivity. He is dependent on people to care for him, so he will remain at Back To Nature and help educate the public as to why wild animals are not meant to be pets. CK was so taken by Makai that she “adopted” him later in our visit when we we’re talking to one of the volunteers by pledging a monthly support donation for Makai.

We then saw “Zema”, a cougar who had been a pet of a man involved in the illegal trade of endangered animals in South Carolina. After being held as “evidence” for 6 months, the State of South Carolina called Back To Nature asking if they could take Zema. Since Zema had never been in the wild, the only choice for him has been to be housed indefinitely at Back To Nature. We also saw “Pookie” the Bobcat and “Joey” the Jungle Cat who had similar stories.

Father along we came upon “Whizzer” a Red-Tailed Hawk. Whizzer came to Back To Nature in 1989. As a young bird he had been taken to the Florida Audubon Society’s Bird of Prey Center because he had been shot in the eye with a BB gun. During his recuperation there, Whizzer developed avian pox, which is a virus that is contagious to other birds, so he had to be kept quarantined from the other birds at the center. While recovering from the virus, Whizzer fell from his perch and broke his left leg, which caused circulation problems and the necessity of amputating 3 of his talons. Since hawks need their eyesight and the use of talons on both feet to hunt for food, Whizzer will never be able to be returned to the wild and serves as a permanent education ambassador at Back To Nature. There was also a beautiful American Bald Eagle, but there was no story posted on his cage. It looked like he had a bad wing, but we weren’t sure and forgot to ask later when talking to the volunteer.

If I described all the animals that the Refuge keeps in permanent residence this would be a 3 part posting, but we also saw a Florida White-Tailed Deer, Screech Owls, a Great Horned Owl, a Barred Owl, an Iguana, a Spur Thigh Tortoise, Prarie Dogs, a goat, an ostrich as well as dozens of baby animals and sick creatures in their medical center.

Donations are the lifeblood of the Refuge, both monetary and of needed items. Donations are tax deductible. Here is a partial list of items that are needed: Clean used towels, sheets, blankets, T-shirts, heating pads, stuffed animals, bleach, dish detergent, paper towels, bird seed, dry or canned dog or cat food, raisins, cracked corn, pet carriers, cages, hand tools, yard tools, jarred baby food, 45+ gallon trash bags and gallon sized Ziploc bags. You can also help by purchasing some of the Refuge’s clothing items and I can attest that the T-Shirt I purchased is of very good quality.

The Back To Nature Wildlife Refuge is located at 18515 East Colonial Drive in Orlando, about 5 miles from the 408 Expressway overpass on the left (North) side of East Colonial Drive next to Maxim Crane. The Refuge is open 7 days a week from 9am to 4pm except for New Year’s Day, Easter, Fourth of July, Thanksgiving and Christmas when it is closed for those holidays. Admission is free, but donations are always welcome and guided tours for groups of 10 or more are available for a requested donation of $3.00 per person. The Refuge makes special appearances at various venues (like the Harry Potter Book Release Party I wrote about here) and has their own special events as well, such as the Christmas with the Critters Open House coming up on Saturday, December 3, 2005 from 3pm to 8pm featuring Santa Claus, activities for the kids, crafts, food, raffles and lots of fun. For more information about any of the Refuge events, call 407.568.5138 and tell them the Man About Town sent you.

Hope to see you here next time.

Man About Town

August 28, 2005

WWE RAW Comes To O-Town

Kurt Angle. John Cena. Edge. Matt Hardy. The Big Show. Ric Flair. Shawn Michaels. If those names are familiar to you, then you probably know at least a little about professional wrestling and the biggest promoter of that “sports entertainment” product, the WWE. Sunday night, the WWE brought their headliner show, Monday Night RAW, to the T.D. Waterhouse Centre for a 7pm show.

AnnMarie and I have been wrestling fans for a few years, so as soon as we heard the WWE was coming to Orlando we snagged our tickets and ended up with floor seats right next to the ramp where the wrestlers make their entrances and exits, which thrilled AnnMarie to no end as she was hoping for a chance to just touch the WWE Champion, John Cena.

We arrived at about 6pm to find people still waiting outside the doors waiting for the staff to open the doors and let everyone in. You can observe a pretty good cross section of people who enjoy watching half-naked grown men (and women) who like to put each other in holds, wrap their arms around each other or kick and stomp each other for entertainment purposes. There were bikers, moms and/or dads with their kids, old people, young people, professional people, blue collar people and some who looked like they could have been wrestlers themselves. Professional wrestling holds an appeal for a multitude of people from all walks of life and in greater numbers than non-fans might think. That was evidenced by the nearly full arena we encountered once we got our refreshments and made our way to our seats.

These days, most people (except maybe for the one middle-aged guy sitting in front of us tonight who was apparently allowed out by his mom so she could have a quiet night at home) are fully aware that professional wrestling matches are staged; that is that the outcome is known in advance and that the wrestlers practice their moves on each other and work out the logistics and flow of the match they will have. That’s not to say that the physicality of the match is “fake” because many wrestlers do get hurt in the course of matches. But the best wrestlers learn how to make their moves look good and “sell” the moves of their opponent so that fans are drawn into the in-ring battle with them.

Sunday night’s card began with Tyson Tomko facing Eugene. Tomko is the “heel” or bad guy and Eugene is the “babyface” or the fan favorite. Unfortunately for Eugene, Tomko knocked him unconscious in the opening seconds of the bout with a big booted foot to the head. As Tomko was strutting and referees were attending to the knocked out Eugene, Viscera, a mountain of a man with a blonde mohawk haircut and white pupils in his eyes (contacts) came up the ramp, into the ring and kicked Tomko’s tattooed tush all over the ring, finally pinning him for the win even though he was not the scheduled opponent. Eugene was carried to the back by referees, Viscera strutted back in victory and Tomko left the ring in defeat.

Then the hated General Manager of RAW, Eric Bischoff, came walking the aisle in his charcoal gray suit and got into the ring, taking a microphone and ranting at those in attendance as being nothing more than “theme park freaks and rejects”. Now you might think this is a strange attitude for a businessman to take toward his “customers” but don’t worry, this is Bischoff’s job; to draw “heat” from the fans so they will boo him and cheer for any wrestler who opposes him. Tonight that would be the WWE Champion and fan-favorite (for now anyway, because these players change as called for by the script) John Cena. Cena climbs into the ring, tells Bischoff he “wants to do what’s good for the company, and THIS is good for the company” as he picks Bischoff up and slams him to the mat while the crowd jumps to their collective feet and cheers. Cena struts during his exit while Bischoff staggers through his.

Next up, musclebound Chris Masters makes his way to the ring and says that since he’s from L.A. (which for some reason elicits boos from the audience) that he will issue his $10,000 “Master Lock Challenge” to someone from the East Coast. This brings Val Venis out in his towel (Venis’s original “gimmick” was that he was a porn star turned wrestler, so he always enters the ring with a white towel around his waist, whips it off to reveal his tights and then throws the towel out into the audience) and after a few back and forth holds and moves, Venis is rendered unconscious by the Master Lock hold.

That match is followed by a WWE Tag Team Title match, pitting challengers who call them themselves “The Heartthrobs” against champions The Hurricane (perhaps a bad name choice in this state) and Rosie, the Super Hero In Training. The champs left the ring with their titles intact. The next bout finds Japanese superstar Tajiri in a match against Kerwin White, the former Chavo Gurrerro who has decided he wants to be a preppy white male instead of a Mexican. White prevails in this match,

It wouldn’t be WWE without a Diva or two, so the next match is Victoria versus Torrie Wilson with local DJ “Buckethead” from Real Radio 104.1 serving as a “guest” referee. Buckethead gets to count 1, 2, 3 to give Torrie the win as she pins Victoria. In direct contrast to the two lovely ladies, the next match features “The 8th Wonder of the World, 7 foot, 500 pound Big Show against one of the biggest, ugliest guys you’ll see in quite a while, Gene Snitsky. After about 10 minutes of back and forth moves and holds, Big Show chokeslammed Snitsky for the pin. The funniest part of this whole match took place when Snitsky was walking back up the ramp and a guy next to me at the railing called out to him that he was a loser. Snitsky stopped, looked at the guy, seemed to think real hard for about 15 seconds and then said, “Hey, Krispy Kreme called and they’re missing a dozen donuts, you fat ass.” We all got a laugh out of that, except we were laughing AT Snitsky for such a lame comeback.

After an intermission it was time for “Carlito’s Cabana” which features Puerto Rican wrestler (and son of the famous Puerto Rican champion, Carlos Colon) Carlito interviewing wrestling personalities. Tonight it was former GoDaddy Super Bowl commercial star Candice Michelle. Carlito asked her if, since they were in Orlando and the home of Walt Disney World, she would like to go “…with me tonight to Pleasure Island” which made the crowd groan. Candice said “no” and an angered Carlito was about to cause her bodily harm when 16 time World Champion Ric Flair ran down the aisle, jumped in the ring and beat up Carlito, finally throwing him over the top rope to the roaring approval of the crowd.

The next match is a grudge match featuring Matt Hardy against Edge and Hardy’s former girlfriend Lita. Not really a match, but more like a fist fight that found them spending maybe 3 minutes in the ring and the rest of the short-lived battle out in the crowd and then through a draped exit. There’s a lot of debate going on by fans as to whether there is real animosity between these two (three if you count the girlfriend) or if this is a well-worked angle. Maybe one day, when one of them writes their autobiography, we’ll find out for sure.

Finally it’s time for the main event; a Triple Threat WWE Championship match pitting champion Cena against Olympic Gold Medalist Kurt ANgle and The Heartbreak Kid, Shawn Michaels. When Cena came down the ramp, AnnMarie got her wish and touched him as he passed by, high-fiving all the fans that he could. After about 15 minutes, Cena emerged the victor and still champion after executing his signature move, the “F’U” on former WWE champion Kurt Angle.

Two and half hours after the show started, we left the Arena tired from shouting but with smiles on our faces after enjoying a good show. The performers seemed to give their best and put on a very entertaining event for the nearly full arena of fans.

Also got to give a shout out to Chris and Brandy, whom we met last night. They sat behind us and at one point Brandy was kind enough to allow me to slide in next to her at the railing for a picture I was trying to get. Thanks!

Hope to see you here next time.

Man About Town

August 29, 2005

Movie Review – “Must Love Dogs”

I don’t generally review movies here at Man About Town because they’re not usually exclusive to Orlando and the surrounding Central Florida area. But, because one of the things I try to do is provide information about places to go or things to do, I thought I would include this one.

If you’re looking for a good “date movie” to go see, “Must Love Dogs” would fit the bill perfectly. To me, a good date movie covers both gender’s view of a situation (usually romance and relationships), has several “Oh, I know that feeling” moments and concludes with a happy ending. As my friend Cindy and I discovered when we went to see the movie early Sunday afternoon, “Must Love Dogs” has all those and more.

“Must Love Dogs” begins with 40-something pre-school teacher Sara, who has been divorced for 8 months, enduring an “intervention” by her widowed father, brothers and sisters as they ply her with photos, names and business cards of eligible men they know in an attempt to get her dating again. At the same time Jake, who builds hand-crafted wooden boats, has just had his divorce finalized by his attorney and best friend who is also urging him to “get back in the game”.

Jake is a guy who personifies the kind of man most women say they are looking for; he’s kind, considerate, polite, honest and not afraid to show his emotions (though, thankfully, not so much as one of the guys Sara dates who bursts into tears at the drop of a hat) and Sara is a woman in search of her knight in shining armor, though with a bit more realistic picture in mind than younger women.

In one of the funnier scenes in the movie, Sara agrees to answer an Internet add placed by a man who says he will meet her at a certain location and will be carrying a yellow rose. Her sisters practically melt at the thought of how romantic this man seems. When Sara arrives at the restaurant it turns out that the man with the yellow rose is…her dad. After that embarrassing encounter, Sara shies away from answering any more ads.

Without her knowledge, Sara’s sister places Sara’s picture and dating profile along with her high school yearbook photo (cap, gown and all) on an Internet dating site called “Perfect Match”, only telling her about it after she has received 18 responses. Knowing her sister’s love for their brother’s dog Mother Teresa, and dogs in general, she adds the line “Must love dogs”.

Meanwhile, Jake’s friend has finally convinced him to look at some ads on Perfect Match and he answers the one from Sara and arranges to meet her at a local dog park. Sara brings Mother Teresa and Jake brings his friend’s dog.

The “date” goes downhill for Jake who is nervous enough that, without meaning to, he keeps saying all the wrong things. Further complicating matters is that Sara has become attracted to the father of one of her students, even though she knows he is being divorced by his wife because “he’s incorrigible when it comes to women.”

I don’t want to give away all the movie. After several more funny and touching ups and downs that will keep you laughing and saying “Awwww”, there is the requisite happy ending. They even borrow a page from another good “date” movie, “When Harry Met Sally”, by having little snippets at the end of various characters recounting their stories of “when we met” while the credits are rolling.

“Must Love Dogs” stars Diane Lane, John Cusack, Elizabeth Perkins, Dermot Mulroney, Stockard Channing, Christopher Plummer and 6 month old twin Newfoundland pups Molly and Maeve as Mother Teresa!

Hope to see you here next time.

Man About Town

August 30, 2005

Potpourri

pot·pour·ri – 1. A combination of incongruous things. 2. A miscellaneous anthology or collection. 3. A mixture of dried flower petals and spices used to scent the air.

A week or so ago I was discussing wireless access around Orlando. Verizon has announced that they have expanded wireless broadband access at 65 airports around the country, including Orlando International Airport and Orlando Sanford International Airport. Now while you’re waiting for your overdue flight to board, you can stream video right to your laptop to your heart’s content.

And if you’re a user of Orlando’s mass transit bus line service Lynx, you might want to know that they’ve quietly started offering wireless access on selected routes, with plans to expand the service in the future. They view it as an incentive to people who would not normally ride the bus. So hop on the bus, Gus and you can surf the Internet highway while riding the highway in Orlando.

I imagine by now most of us have seen pictures and video of the massive destruction Katrina brought to Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. For most of us, it is a reminder of what we suffered through in Florida and right here in Orlando last year. Indications are that Katrina has wreaked more damage alone than the 4 hurricanes that hit our state combined. If you remember having to cut up trees that were blocking the streets into pieces so that cars could get through or watching parts of your roof fly off in the high winds, then you can sympathize even more with the folks who have lost their homes entirely to winds or flood waters. Here in Florida there are some areas that have not recovered a year later, so it is obvious that our neighbors to the Northwest will be in a very long recovery period, most likely lasting years.

Volunteers and charitable organizations are en route or on the ground as you read this, trying to assist those who have been devastated by one of the deadliest and costliest natural disasters in the history of our country. You may say, “I can’t go” and you probably can’t, but we can all make donations of some type to our preferred charitable organization so that help can be provided. Food, water, shelter, supplies and various other types of help can be offered through your donation. Whether you choose a national charity relief organization like the Red Cross or a smaller regional relief agency, your giving can help those in need.

If you like your news with some life in it, you’ve probably watched “The Daily Buzz” on WKCF, Channel 18, here in O-town. You may know that “Daily Buzz” is locally produced, but you may not know that the 6am to 9am morning news show is broadcast in 140 markets nationwide. This past week they added 3 UPN affiliate stations in Atlanta, Boston and Detroit to the list. “Daily Buzz” aims for the younger adult demographic that wants news but not in the typical, network morning news style.

You may recall that I went to the WWE wrestling show this past Sunday night. It was held at the Arena and parking was $5. I mentioned to my companion that if the Centroplex officials had their way the cost would double to $10 in the near future. Those officials are trying to erase a $1 million deficit in the Centroplex’s operational budget as well as make improvements in lighting and lot striping. After a loud protest by local Arts groups and those who attend such productions, the City Council wisely voted to defer consideration of the proposal and to investigate other possibilities. I mean, c’mon, even Disney only charges $8 to park!

Hope to see you here next time.

Man About Town
September 2, 2005

Aid For Victims Of Katrina

First let me say “Welcome” to everyone who has come here by way of the new Orlando Sentinel link. I hope we’ll become regular interactors with each other. Thanks for reading and your comments are always welcome.

Second, many thanks to Carmen who pointed out something my head knew but my fingers forgot; namely that “Buckethead” is, of course, not a DJ for Real Radio 104.1 but rather a DJ for WJRR, Real Rock 101.1 radio. My apologies also to Mr. Head.

Can I point out something that makes me feel extremely good about Orlando? In spite of our complaints and grumbling and moaning about skyrocketing gasoline prices (and those increases deserve to be complained, grumbled and moaned about), I have watched and listened as a groundswell of support has appeared for sending as much help as possible to victims of Katrina’s destruction and perhaps our own government’s incompetence. While we are all impacted in a negative way by the prices at the pumps, there is still a heartbeat of concern and help for those who are so much worse off than we are at this moment in time. Way to go O-Town!

There are a multitude of ways to make a contribution to the victims of Hurricane Katrina, here are a few of them:

The American Red Cross. The Red Cross is accepting monetary donations and donations in the form of volunteer help. You can donate a monetary gift by clicking the “Donate Now” button on the site above, calling 1.800.HELPNOW (1.800.435.7669) or by going to these Official Red Cross Donation Sites in person to make your cash donation:

Best Buy Inc. – all stores nationwide are accepting donations
Coinstar coin-counting machines, located in 10,000 grocery stores nationwide are accepting donations for the Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund, just as they do 365 days per year as part of a long-time partnership.
Food Lion, LLC – has started a customer donation program in all 1,200 stores
Hard Rock Café, Inc. – all locations are accepting donations
JP Morgan Chase – all branches nationwide
Kash N’ Karry/Sweetbay Supermarkets – accepting donations in all Florida stores
Kroger Co. – accepting donations in 215 stores
Lowe’s Companies, Inc.- introduced a customer donation program in all 1,125 stores nationwide, matching donations up to $1 millions
OfficeMax North America, Inc. – 900 stores nationwide are accepting donations
Publix Corporation – accepting donations in all stores
Ross Stores – accepting donations in 700 stores nationwide
Winn-Dixie – began a customer donation program in all stores

Remember, at this time the American Red Cross is ONLY accepting monetary donations, so please don’t try to bring them food or clothing. With monetary donations, the American Red Cross is able to purchase exactly what is needed at any given moment and location and get it at a better price than you or I would.

If you live in Orlando and wish to donate your time or skills as a volunteer, you can go to this site or call the local chapter at
407.894.4141 to offer your services.

America’s Second Harvest – The Nation’s Food Bank Network. Second Harvest accepts donations of non-perishable food items and monetary donations, as well as donations of transportation to get the food items delivered onsite. You can donate your monetary gift online at the site above or make your monetary or food donation gift at their local Orlando Chapter:

Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida
2008 Brengle Avenue
Orlando, FL 32808
407.295.1066

If you’re a restaurant owner or grocery store manager, Second Harvest is an excellent way to donate extra or unused food so that others may eat.

Thanks to my friend Solonor for pointing out HurricAid on his blog today. This site is a treasure trove of resources to donate to and to receive help from with lots of links and lots of information. You’ll find scores of organizations that you can donate to if you prefer not to support the ones mentioned above.

While we’re on the subject of online sites and donating online; a lot of “entrepreneurs” have thrown up various Katrina sites on the web in the past few days hoping to cash in on the natural tendency of people to want to help. Most of these sites say they will forward your donation to agencies or disaster workers and ask that you send a donation to a PayPal account. Do so, and you’ll never know where your donation went or whether it was used to help or just used to help line someone’s pocket. Stick with the established agencies or ones that you know and trust,

People aren’t the only victims of Katrina, we’ve all seen the video on TV of pets who are wandering around the destruction, separated from their owners or farm animals that have been left to fend for themselves because their owners cannot return home at this time. Sadly many are dead and have become a danger when it comes to spreading disease.

The Humane Society of the United States – The HSUS has launched a massive relief effort to rescue animals and assist their caregivers in the disaster areas. They have highly trained Disaster Animal Response Teams in Louisiana and Mississippi coordinating a multi-state animal rescue and recovery effort. You monetary donation can be made online here or you can make your check out to HSUS Disaster Relief Fund and mail it to:

HSUS,
Dept. DRFHBM,
2100 L Street, NW
Washington, DC 20037

Locally, you can support the Orlando Humane Society by making an online monetary donation here or by going to their Orlando location at:

2727 Conroy Rd.
Orlando, FL 32839
407.351.7722

or their Seminole County location at:

2800 County Home Rd.
Sanford, FL 32773
407.323.8685

Both locations are offering to house pets of evacuees who have come to Central Florida and your donations can help cover that extensive cost.

PetSmart Charities is accepting monetary donations for use in the Hurricane Katrina disaster and any future disasters. Your donation will be used for supplies needed at the disaster site such as food, crates, litter, beds, medical supplies used for first aid to treat injured pets, vaccinations to displaced pets to prevent disease outbreak and repairs to shelters damaged by flooding, high winds, and fires.

There’s simply not enough space on this blog to list all the organizations that are in need of your donations to help them do their work during this massive disaster. But I hope this incomplete list will help. Please feel free to mention your favorite charity in the comments below.

Hope to see you here next time.

Man About Town

September 7, 2005
FEMA Failing?

“Louisiana is a city that is largely underwater…” Secretary of Homeland Security (and FEMA Director Michael Brown’s boss) Michael Chertoff at a news briefing this past Saturday.
A lot of people in Florida were not even aware of FEMA (thankfully, because the presence of FEMA means a disaster of some type has occurred) until last year when a majority of the state had to dig itself out of the rubble of 4 major hurricanes. The knight in shining armor that fed and housed victims who were left with next to nothing or worse, found its shine tarnished when residents in counties that had not even been touched by wind or rains were found to have received FEMA funds. As with any huge bureaucracy, some bad cases will slip through. It happens within the criminal justice system, it happens within the tax system and it happens within the political system. The simple fact is that the larger an operation, the more prone it is to the possibility of abuse. Newspapers and media across the state trumpeted the statements from FEMA officials that their intention was to house every person made homeless by the hurricanes before the holiday season and the agency was praised for its stated effort, but no one stopped to consider that some of those housed or funded might not deserve such support.

(The more cynical among us might have noted that the “house all by the holidays” goal corresponded nicely with a presidential election that involved a certain governor’s brother, but the goal was a worthy one and we hoped that the masses would not be influenced by such obvious ulterior motives. We were apparently wrong.)

Now the agency is being vilified for its role (or lack of one) in the disaster that was Hurricane Katrina. Or perhaps it would be more precise to say that agency officials are being vilified. You tend to invite that sort of reaction when you make statements which indicate that people who did not evacuate are responsible for their own deaths and being trapped, like FEMA Director Michael Brown did a week ago.

“Unfortunately, that’s going to be attributable a lot to people who did not heed the advance warnings,” Brown told CNN.

“I don’t make judgments about why people chose not to leave but, you know, there was a mandatory evacuation of New Orleans,” he said.

(By the way, that’s a statement that ranks right up there with Barbara Bush’s statement three days ago that planted her foot squarely in her mouth when she said, “And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this is working very well for them.” Right, this is working out so well for them to be sitting in a mass shelter instead of their homes while the former First Lady and current First Mother plays a very good Marie Antoinette. But I digress.)

Yes, some do bear a responsibility because there are always those who will not leave their homes, no matter what. But what about the majority who would have gladly evacuated the city if they could have? How do you expect people who are poor and have no transportation to evacuate a city? Should they carjack vehicles? Should they stand out on the Interstate with their thumbs in the air hitchhiking? Shouldn’t the Mayor of New Orleans have commandeered every city bus and loaded them with every resident who was willing but not able to evacuate? Why leave people who had no chance whatsoever to get out of the city under their own steam and then blame those very same people for their fate?

Of course you also invite the kind of criticism that Brown has drawn when you go on national television and reluctantly admit to Ted Koppel that, as head of the government’s emergency management agency, you had no idea the New Orleans convention center was full of evacuees for the past 4 days. That kind of statement does very little to inspire confidence in your leadership abilities.

It doesn’t help either when you’re Brown’s boss and you call the state of Louisiana a city as Homeland Security Secretary Chertoff did this past Saturday.

And if you can watch this and not feel your heart in your throat and your eyes sting with tears, then you’re probably not the kind of person I’d care to know.

But while FEMA is headed by Brown and overseen by Chertoff, it is the workers who labor everyday to help those in desperate situations and dire straits that make up the backbone of the agency, who ARE, in fact, FEMA. I happen to know several of them across the country. They left the comfort of their homes and came to Florida last year to help those of us who were devastated by a succession of hurricanes. Some of them even remained here and endured the last 2 big ones (Ivan & Jeanne) with us so they could respond in a quicker fashion. Some remained for almost a year before returning to their homes, only to find a few days later that they were needed in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. I also know several who live here in Orlando and I know how they are working extended shifts trying to provide support to victims of Katrina and their fellow FEMA workers who are deployed in the field of the disaster area. And ever day, from across the country, more FEMA workers stream into the disaster zone to give help and aid to those affected by Katrina. Because that’s what FEMA does and FEMA is not its officials, FEMA is it’s people.

I imagine there will be a regime change when this is all over. Most likely a resignation from Brown “to spend more time with my family” and perhaps even a move to restore FEMA to its cabinet level position rather than a department in Homeland Security.

But whatever happens, FEMA will not fail because it is made up of dedicated men and women who are willing to be sent all over the country on a moment’s notice to help those who are victims of disasters. And people like that do not accept failure as an option.

Hope to see you next time,

Man About Town
September 11, 2005

In Remembrance Of 9/11

In some ways it seems like yesterday that I watched in unbelief the image of the North tower burning due to an airplane crash and then horror as the second plane struck the South tower. In other ways it seems a lifetime ago. Even today, three years after the attack, it seems almost unbelievable. Were it not for images such as the one below, we could almost tell ourselves it was only a nightmare.

I was sitting at my computer in my home office switching between working on a database for a friend and a website design project, with the TV on and tuned to CNN’s Morning Show when the news anchor suddenly said that a small plane had crashed into a Trade Center tower. Within minutes broadcast cameras were trained on the burning tower as smoke and flames billowed from the upper floors of the building. As I sat almost mesmerized by the sight with my eyes now focused solely on the TV screen, another plane appeared in the frame and then flew into the South tower, erupting into flames. I think at that moment everyone realized that we were under some kind of attack.

Less than an hour later, an attack on the Pentagon would follow and then, a little over 30 minutes after that, brave souls on board United Flight 93 would storm the cockpit, attacking their hijackers and causing the plane to crash in an empty field in Pennsylvania, aborting the attempt to crash into either the White House or the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. Between all these events the World trade Center towers collapsed, first the South and then the North, killing some 3,000 people.

I do not know of any way to remember those events without my eyes welling up with tears, even three years later. The innocent victims, the brave passengers, the loved ones they left behind are all in my heart and on my mind. My thoughts and heart go out to all them in whatever comfort and honor I can bestow.
If you’re interested, there is a wealth of information and history at the September 11th Digital Archive.

Hope to see you here next time.

Man About Town

September 14, 2005

Saying “Goodbye” To The Neighbors From Hell

Some good news around the Man About Town homestead this week; my neighbors are moving out Thursday.

That would be the neighbors on the north side of me. The neighbors on the south side of me are pretty much ideal. They are a middle-aged woman and her middle school-aged daughter. They moved in 4 or 5 years ago and are usually quiet enough that you hardly know they are there. From the few situations that I’ve observed, mom is pretty strict and makes her daughter behave herself.

The neighbors to the north stand in direct opposition to that way of parenting. That couple moved in 2 years ago with 3 noisy, bratty, undisciplined children who looked to be about 5, 7 and 9 years of age, and those sterling aspects of their behavior have only increased over time. There were several times during their first year next to me that I had to question them about their understanding of common courtesy as it relates to playing in my front yard instead of their own, verbally encourage them in refraining from playing under my windows (which means they were on my property again) and explain to them in the kindest, gentlest way possible that if they teased my dog again I would let him loose from the fence to chase them down and bite them as many times as he was able to before I would call him back to me. His name is “Wolf” and it is not without good cause. Ok, that last part is an exaggeration, but they finally got the message and, while still incredibly noisy and lacking in the basest of manners, have remained in their own yard for the most part over the past year.

Please understand that I know kids are going to be kids. I don’t have a problem with that, I was a kid once too. But when they descend to acting like wild animals because their parents are either too lazy to parent or just don’t care, it’s pretty aggravating.

Not that mom and dad seemed to have much more going for them either. The only work the husband did was install car stereo sound systems, and for some reason he could only do that at night. I would leave in the morning for work and see him sitting in the front yard enjoying his morning bottle of beer and return in the evening to find him and several of his posse drinking more beer and trying to see how many windows on the surrounding houses they could shatter with the bass in a car audio system. After a few visits by local law enforcement they first moved their operation into the back yard (until code enforcement stopped by and cited them), then reduced their tests to a few seconds each which, while still disturbing, were an improvement.

I had words with the husband a couple of times (and when I say “I” had words I literally mean just me because he never spoke back); once when I asked him if the toys scattered in my yard belonged to his kids (he nodded, then stood there) and I had to politely tell him to remove them before I did it myself and threw them in the garbage and on another occasion when he didn’t seem to think there was anything wrong with backing a truck onto my yard so he could load a car engine (yes, a car engine) that he had on the side yard of his house into the truck. I went outside and told him to move the truck off my property and he just stared at me like I had spoken some alien language, until his wife told him and his buddy to move the truck. And last year, right after Charley came through, I was out in the midnight darkness checking on people in the neighborhood to see if they were alright. He and his family were sitting outside in their front yard and I called out asking them if they were ok; he just grunted. I know he can talk because I hear him talk to his friends, otherwise I would think he was mute.

Mom seems to rarely and sporadically work as a nurse and the extent of her filling the maternal role is to yell at the kids while they continue to do whatever she is yelling about. If her nursing skills are equal to her parenting skills, it’s a safe bet that I would run from any doctor’s office or hospital in which I found her working as a nurse.

So, happily they will be gone on Thursday and the house that they were renting is being sold by the owner. I’m really, really hoping the new neighbors aren’t like the old neighbors because Orlando is full of great people, Otherwise, it will be time to install a privacy fence down the length of the property line and prove Frost’s words true that “Good fences make good neighbours.”

Any “neighborly” experiences you’d like to share?

Hope to see you here next time.

Man About Town
September 17, 2005

Restaurant Review – Miller’s Orlando Ale House
First a warm welcome to Hänni (Haw-knee) and her blog Hännihaus.com as the latest reciprocal link to the Man About Town blog. When you get a chance, go check her out. If you’re like me, you’ll be delighted with what you read.

Friday was Cindy’s birthday (we’re not allowed to say which one, lol) so Jeremy, Amber, Nicole and I dragged her out for a birthday meal/celebration at the Miller’s Orlando Ale House near the Orlando International Airport. Jeremy and Nicole had been before, but for the rest of us it was our first time experiencing the food and atmosphere of a Miller’s Ale House. I’ve driven by the restaurant several times and have noticed that it is always busy. I kept telling myself to stop in and check it out but I always had somewhere else to be, however after going there last night for Cindy’s birthday (we’re not allowed to say which one, lol) it’s pretty easy to see why the place is so popular.

The first Miller’s Ale House was opened in Jupiter, Florida back in 1988 by Jack and Claire Miller as a casual dining restaurant and tavern. Today, they have 35 privately-owned restaurants across the state of Florida with 8 of them here in the Central Florida area. At this Airport location, when you walk in you’re greeted by a hostess and you’re on the side with the main dining area which consists of spacious wooden booths with large tables and padded bench seats which are great for 4 to 6 people. To your far right is an automatic sliding glass door that leads out to the outdoor bar and dining area (where I always see a lot of people and Friday night was definitely no exception). To your left is the indoor bar, with the kitchen behind it and a pass-through connecting them, that is surrounded by stools at the bar and smaller tables. Several pool tables fill out the remaining area of the room over to the far left and there are TV’s throughout broadcasting sports and news from several different cable channels.

Cindy and I arrived first, around 6pm, followed by Amber, then Jeremy and finally Nicole who was coming from farther away than the rest of us. Cindy started off by indulging in the “girlie” drink of the night, an Orange Crush; vodka, orange juice and triple sec in a cute little foo foo glass. She’s such a lightweight when it comes to alcohol that she was buzzed halfway through the drink. I was thinking “cheap date”, but was smart enough not to say that out loud. Amber arrived just as the Spinach Dip with tortilla chips appetizer arrived and the three of us polished that off before Jeremy arrived, so he ordered another one and we finished that one off before Nicole joined us. I wouldn’t want to be on a desert island with the 4 of us and 1 coconut to eat, if you get my meaning.

Finally, we all ordered our entrees when Nicole arrived looking so chic in her business suit with her hair pinned up, but not before our server got on the restaurant’s PA system and told everyone in the place to wish Cindy a “Happy 50th Birthday”, thanks to Jeremy who said he had to go to the bathroom but instead snuck over and told our server that she was celebrating her 50th birthday. She kept protesting to all who would listen that she wasn’t 50, but they kept coming by and saying how good she looked for her age. We laughed and laughed over it for several minutes until the visits died down.

Anyway, Cindy got the Breast of Chicken sandwich that is usually served on a Kaiser Roll, but talked our server into having it put in a wrap, along with fries. Amber, who loves hot sauces, had the new “Zinger” salad which is basically doused in your choice of “Mild”, “Hot”, “Fire” or “Mt. St. Helen’s” hot sauces. She chose “Hot”, but said later she’d like to try “Mt. St. Helen’s” on her next visit. Word to the wise; Don’t sit behind her if she does. Nicole, eating for her blood type, enjoyed a basket of fries. Truthfully, she had a late lunch and did not have much of an appetite. Jeremy got one of the new Angus Burgers with a side of Beer Battered Onion Rings. I chose the Big Red Fried Chicken sandwich with cheddar cheese, so named because they pour hot sauce all over it, with Beer Battered Onion Rings as well. I asked our server if they could leave off the hot sauce (at which point Amber quickly asked me to get it on the side so she could have it) and put mayo, lettuce and tomato on it instead and he assured me they could. When they brought my platter I looked on the bun and there was no mayo, but there was a small dish of what looked like a Ranch-type dressing so I poured that on both sides of the bun, took a bite and felt my mouth catch on fire. Turns out that was their “Fire-Ranch” dressing which, even though it was the “mild” version, made my baby mouth “burn baby burn”. I went ahead and kept the sandwich and toughed it out to show I was a man and about halfway through my mouth was so numb I couldn’t taste the hot sauce anymore anyway, so I was good to go.

For dessert we all shared a “Captain Jack’s Buried Treasure” which is a flavorful cake with ice cream, as well as a warm brownie with warm fudge sauce and vanilla ice cream on top. Even though I was full after my meal, I could not resist the brownie, fudge and ice cream dish and ended up eating about half of it myself. Sorry guys!

Our server was great, keeping us stocked on drinks and checking on us throughout our visit. The atmosphere was festive, but not overly noisy and everyone I saw looked pretty happy and to be enjoying themselves. The food is well-prepared and delicious as well as being varied enough to offer something for everyone’s taste buds. The bar serves over 75 different domestic and import beers, along with wine and mixed drinks.

Miller’s Orlando Ale House near OIA is located just off Semoran Boulevard (436) at 5740 Bent Pine Drive and is open from 11am until 2 am 7 days a week. You can call them at 407.856.7045 for further information or check the website for the other locations in the Orlando area.

If you’ve been to Miller’s Orlando Ale House, I’d love to read your impressions in the comments below.

Hope to see you here next time.

Man About Town
September 18, 2005

Orlando Downtown Library Fall Book Sale

Downtown Orlando in mid-September is still pretty warm and humid, though not nearly as much so as it is in July and August. Lots of people were out and about this weekend enjoying the slight cooling in the temperature while taking in the sights of Downtown O-town.

I know because C.K. and I went to the main branch of the Orlando Public Library in downtown Orlando this past Saturday to check out the Annual Fall Book Sale presented by the Friends of the Library in the bookstore on the second floor. This was a store wide selection of used books, magazines, recordings and more, all at half price! Special Fall feature items included encyclopedias, a large selection of children’s books and even new music CDs. Proceeds from the Fall sale benefited the Orange County Library System.

I’ve been in the bookstore (which used to be on the third floor) before, though not during a book sale. It’s usually a pretty deserted room that makes browsing easy. Not so during the Fall Book Sale. People were shoe-horned in, which is good for potential sales but not for those looking to see what they might like to buy.

The selection is pretty varied, ranging from fiction to non-fiction, computer books (though most were completely out-of-date, at least for people in the United States), travel books, cookbooks, bestsellers and not-so-bestsellers, encyclopedias (does anyone still really use printed encyclopedias?), children’s books, coffee table books and my favorite genre; science fiction, with which they were woefully under stocked. Seriously, there only about 20 science fiction books on the shelves. Of course the sale DID start Friday, so I may have missed out on books that were already sold.

And MUSIC! Tables full of new, unwrapped CD’s (as well as a table of LP’s for those who still have turntables) to choose from. I was in a retro mood and satisfied my desire for some old music by picking up the following CD’s:

Billboard Top Hits of 1985-1989 5 CD Boxed Set – 50 of the top hits from 1985-1989 for just $5.00!! Hits like “The Power of Love” by Huey Lewis and the News, “Walk Like and Egyptian” by The Bangles, “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now” by Starship, “Wild, Wild West” by The Escape Club and “Sowing The Seeds of Love” by Tears For Fears.

Billboard Top Hits of 1991 – 10 of the top hits from the year 1991 for just $1.50!! Not my favorite year, but I did enjoy “Gonna Make You Sweat” by C & C Music Factory, “Unbelievable” by EMF and “3 A.M. Eternal” by The KLF. They’ll make great dance songs for some parties

Atlantic Records 50 Years of Hits 2 CD Boxed Set – 26 Hits of the last 50 years of Atlantic Record label artists for just $1.50!! From hits in the 50′s like “Yakety Yak” by The Coasters to “Who Will Save Your Soul” by Jewel, this set also contains “Soul Man” by Sam and Dave, “Layla” by Derek and the Dominoes and “In The Air Tonight” by Phil Collins.

Entertainment Weekly The Greatest Hits of 1977 CD – 12 top hits of 1977 for just $1.50!! I bought this one mostly because it had one of my favorite oldie songs “Rich Girl” by Hall & Oates, but it also has “Easy” by The Commodores, “The Things We DO For Love” by 10CC and “I’m In You” by Peter Frampton.

I also stumbled across a book by an author that I had read before, Alex Kava and I remembered I enjoyed the book “Split Second” so much that I picked up this novel, “At The Stroke of Madness” to read when time permits. The book cost me a whole $2.50!!

I tell you this so that when they have their Annual SPRING Book Sale next year, you’ll be prepared to go down to the main branch and save big bucks on books, music and magazines. If you think you’ll probably forget about this before the sale happens next year (I know I would) you can always sign up for the Orlando Public Library RSS feed and have reminders of ALL the Library’s events automatically sent to your newsreader. Just stop by the website and sign up.

Hope to see you here next time.

Man About Town

September 19, 2005

A Mini-Guide To Orlando Webcams

I recently started using my webcam again (though truth be told I never used it very much before) and it got me to thinking about all the webcams that might be available in The City Beautiful. And though there are quite a few, there’s probably not as many as you might think. For instance, I would have thought webcams at the local theme parks would be a big hit, but it seems that most of them have been shut down. I wonder if it is a security issue, an expense issue or maybe something completely different, but there are no Disney cams (except for one near the Dolphin-Swan Hotel), no Universal cams (other than a wide shot of the front parking area and the earth logo), no Sea World cam, no water park cams, very few city street webcams and no Orlando International Airport webcams.

But there are still quite a few webcams of interest and I thought I’d share the ones I have found so far.

The Orlando area’s largest university has 7 webcam views of campus locations including the Student Union, the Library, the Fountain and others. If you’re on a PC you can go here and view that different cameras. For those who are MAC users, there’s a widget here you can install that will let you easily access those same 7 webcam views.

If you head over to the Channel 6 WKMG website, they have some excellent feeds of the 2 different views off the top of the SUn Trust building in Downtown Orlando and one live feed from the Channel 6 newsroom, whether they’re broadcasting or not. I think I saw someone eating their dinner at the on-air broadcast booth where the anchors sit.

One of the best sites is at Orlando Webcams where you can view a wide variety of webcams throughout Orlando including the few theme park feeds like Universal Studios parking lot, traffic views on most major highways around town, hotel pools (I saw the maintenance man cleaning the Hard Rock’s pool area after hours) and other views across Orlando. This one will keep you busy for quite a while looking at the different webcams.

Florida Hospital System has webcam views of hospital construction in East Orange County and Orlando, along with Emergency Room parking area views and hospital tower shots in Altamonte Springs.

The Nickelodeon Holiday Inn Family Suites Hotel has webcams set up at 2 of their pools, the Lagoon and the Oasis pools. If you’re staying there you can watch the kids play in the pool from the comfort of your room.

Want to see how busy it is in the Winter Park shopping district? Fire up this webcam view and you can tell if now’s a good time to hit the stores or if you should wait until traffic dies down a little. If you’re lucky, you’ll see a sale sign go up before anyone else.

Gatorland was the only theme park (so to speak) webcam I could locate that is operational. Several views of the park and it’s most famous residents, the alligators, as well as the Bird Rookery. Using Java makes it possible for you to control the view from your computer screen and move the camera around or zoom in and out as you watch.

Finally, a fellow named Marcus has set up a webcam view of his backyard and one of his window where his cat apparently plays, since there’s a scratching post and cat gym in the shot.

I’m sure there’s more webcams out there broadcasting their feeds and views of life in Orlando to the world. If you know of any, or have one yourself, please leave a comment below and let Orlando know about it.

Hope to see you here next time.

Man About Town
September 20, 2005

Four Names and One Black Swan

Stan, Tammy, Vince and Wilma. That’s it, only 4 more names for hurricanes are available this season. If we use all 4 of those names we will have had a hurricane season of 21 named storms, since the letters Q, U, X, Y and Z are skipped because not enough names start with those letters. So what will we do if we have 5 or more named storms before one of the most active hurricane seasons in recent history ends on November 30th?

We’ll go Greek, of course!

I know a little Greek…he runs a restaurant in downtown Orlando. Ba da bump! Thank you ladies and gentlemen, I’ll be appearing all week. Be sure to tip your server.

Seriously, if we have 22 or more named storms this year they’ll be named after the Greek alphabet; Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Epsilon and so on. If you think about it, that would be kind of appropriate because hurricanes this year have been making Greek Salads out of various parts of our country. We’ve been chopped, tossed, sliced and diced, and we still have more than 2 months to go in this year’s hurricane season. It’s looking more and more like we might break the old 1933 record of 21 named storms in one season.

One of the things I like to do when I’m downtown, if possible, is to walk around Lake Eola. It’s usually a nice walk, with pleasing scenery, children playing, folks walking or having a picnic lunch, other folks riding the rental boats across the lake, the water shooting out of the fountain in the center of the lake and the graceful beauty of the swans that inhabit most areas of the lake.

But now there will be one less black swan at Lake Eola due to the currently inexplicable actions of a man who broke the neck of a swan Sunday night, and then threw it into the water to drown when it could not lift it’s head out of the water. At this point I’m less concerned with why it was done and more concerned with capturing who did it, since local police have yet to make any arrests. You have to wonder about a person who would commit such a cruel act against a helpless animal and it’s pretty obvious that you would not want that person loose in society. I hope that the investigation results in a valid arrest, and as quickly as possible.

I also note that, in every account of the story I have watched or read, there were witnesses to this heinous crime. Now, I wasn’t there so I don’t know all the details, but I can’t help but wonder why no one either a) attempted to stop him during the act or b) tried to stop him after he committed the act. Is it so easy to snap a swan’s neck that you can do it before anyone could intervene? I don’t know. But if so, what prevented at least one of the witnesses from stopping the man from leaving? Was he that intimidating to all the people around him? Were they too afraid of him after witnessing him callously kill such a beautiful creature? Did he threaten them in such a way that they were fearful for their own safety? Again, I don’t know. None of the accounts I have seen or read have touched on this part of the story. Could no one get to the swan as it was drowning in the water and pull it out to at least attempt to save its life? I don’t know that either; but I would like to know. I’m genuinely curious about why, seemingly, no intervening action was taken. Are we not hearing the whole story?

There’s a woefully small amount of beauty in this world as it is and cruel acts like this are doubly difficult to understand when committed against harmless creatures.

What do you think? Does this kind of act worry you? Do you have any idea about why there may have been such inaction on the part of witnesses? What’s your idea of a just punishment for this kind of person? I hope you’ll leave a comment below and let Orlando know what you think.

Hope to see you here next time.

Man About Town

September 26, 2005

Upcoming October Events – Part I

There’s a lot of things going on in Orlando and the surrounding communities during the month of October, so let’s get right to it!
EPCOT Food & Wine Festival

October kicks off one day early on Friday, September 30th at the Mouse House as EPCOT presents their 10th Annual Food & Wine Festival which runs through November 13th. There are daily FREE wine and culinary seminars (plan on arriving early to get a seat) and every evening you can “Eat to the Beat” at the America Gardens Theatre Stage with a line-up of concerts scheduled at 5:45, 7:00 and 8:15 pm. Here’s the featured performers and their appearance dates, but please note that entertainment is subject to change,

Kansas
Sept. 30 – Oct. 2

The Commodores
Oct. 3 – 6

Edgar Winter
Oct. 7 – 9

Kool & the Gang
Oct. 10 – 13

The Gap Band
Oct. 16 – 20

Arturo Sandoval
featuring Nestor Torres
Oct. 17 – 19

Starship featuring
Mickey Thomas
Oct. 20 – 23

The Beach Boys
Oct. 24 – 25

FamilyStoneExperience
Oct. 26 – 28

The Miracles Review
featuring Sydney Justin
Oct. 29 – 31

Chubby Checker & the Wildcats
Nov. 1 – 4

The Rippingtons
Nov. 5 – 7

Loverboy
Nov. 8 – 10

Three Dog Night
Nov. 11 – 13
Good food, wine and music make for a great combination and you can enjoy all 3 at the EPCOT Food & Wine Festival!
Halloween Horror Nights
Not to be outdone by their arch-rival, Universal Studios Orlando starts the month early as well on Friday night with the kick off of Halloween Horror Nights “Tales of Terror”, the first of 19 select nights between September 30 and October 31, beginning at 7:00pm The scheduled dates are September 30, October 1, 7-9, 12-16, 20-23 and 27-31. This is HHN’s 15th year of giving park visitors the scariest Halloween fun you can imagine, and a lot that you wouldn’t even dream of in your worst nightmares. If you scare easily or have a weak stomach, skip down to the next listing! These tickets sell out fast, especially for the nights closest to Halloween, so get yours in advance at www.halloweenhorrornights.com or by calling Universal at 407.363.8000.
Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party

If you have children (or your a wuss), then Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party at Walt Disney’s Magic Kingdom Park is the place to celebrate Halloween for you. On September 30, October 2, 6, 7, 11, 13, 16, 20, 21, 23, 25, 27, 28, 30 and 31, from 7:00 pm – 12:00am, you can enjoy a fun time and see Disney characters in their own special Halloween costumes, watch special Halloween parades, listen to music and “oooh” and “ahhh” over special fireworks displays, And, it’s the only time you can go to the Magic Kingdom and be in costume yourself, so how can you pass that up? You can buy tickets online here or by calling 407-W-DISNEY.

Orlando Fire Museum Reopening

On Saturday, October 1st, the Orlando Fire Museum celebrates their Grand Reopening at 10am. The museum, which is dedicated to preserving and interpreting the artifacts and history of Orlando’s fire service, is located at 65 E. Central Boulevard in downtown Orlando. Tickets are priced at $7 and you can get more information by calling 407.836.8500.
Parrots in the Park

Parrot owners and lovers flock to Downtown Orlando Farmers Market on Saturday, October 1st for Parrots in the Park. It’s a great opportunity for parrot owners and exotic bird lovers to meet, mingle and discuss their aviary interests. You can also see some of the most beautiful, intriguing and magnificent birds in the area. The gathering is from 11:00am until 2:00pm at Heritage Square, located just in front of the Orange County Regional History Center on Central in Downtown Orlando.

1st Saturday at OMA

The Orlando Museum of Art launches a unique family-oriented program on October 1, 2005 called 1st Saturday. It’s a fun, affordable opportunity for families with young children to explore art, music, stories and other activities together. The event occurs from 10:00am to Noon, before the Museum opens to the general public, and only costs $5.00 per family. The program is geared to children ages 3-5, but has activities for older children as well. The first 1st Saturday program is themed Go Figure! in connection with the Orlando Museum of Art’s special exhibition of M. C. Escher: Rhythm of Illusion. Planned activities will explore shape, pattern and rhythm in connection with the museum’s exhibits. It’s a great way to instill a love of art in your children.

Phil at Carr Series – Opening Night Artistry with Sarah Chang

The Orlando Philharmonic celebrates the Opening Night of its 2005 – 2006 Phil at Carr Series on Saturday, October 1st, with a program featuring one of classical music’s most captivating and gifted violinists, Sarah Chang. The concert, titled Opening Night Artistry: Sarah Chang, will be held at 8:30pm at the Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre, 401 W. Livingston Street, in downtown Orlando. Single tickets go on sale August 29, and are $12, $25, $35, $45 and $55. To purchase subscriptions and single tickets, phone the Philharmonic’s box office at 407.770.0071, or visit the Philharmonic’s website at www.orlandophil.org.
The Moscow State Circus

The Moscow State Circus, an animal-free circus with acrobats, clowns, aerialists and more, will be performing Sunday, October 2nd at the Silver Spurs Arena in Kissimmee with performance times of 2 and 6pm. Tickets are $24. For more information call 407.847.4052.
FSYO 49th Season Opening Concert

The Florida Symphony Youth Orchestra (FSYO) presents the opening concert of its 49th Season on October 2nd, 2005 at the Bob Carr Performing Arts Center, 401 W. Livingston St, Orlando. The concert at the Bob Carr will feature three of the five groups that make up the FSYO; the Prelude, Philharmonia and Symphonic Orchestras. The planned program will include the Menuetto of Mozart’s Symphony No 25, the first movement of Symphony No 20 by Hayden, the Poet & Peasant Overture by von Suppe, Vaclav Nelhybel’s Movement for Orchestra, Berlioz’s Overture to Le Corsaire and selections from West Side Story by Leonard Bernstein. The concert begins at 4:00 pm and single ticket prices range from $8.00 to $30.00. Subscriptions for three of the seasons concerts are also available. Contact the FSYO at 407.999.7800 or visit www.fsyo.org for more details.

Blues Traveler at House of Blues

Sounds like the theme is…BLUES! Blues Traveler, featuring John Popper, appears live and on stage at the House of Blues at Downtown Disney’s West Side on Sunday, October 2nd at 7:00pm. Doors open at 6:00pm and tickets are $25.00 in advance and $27.50 at the door, if available. For more information call 407.934.2583 or 407.839.3900.

Whew! That’s a lot of great events going on and we’ve only gotten to the first weekend!! Stop back by tomorrow for Part II of the Upcoming October Events so that you don’t miss anything.

Hope to see you here next time.

Man About Town

September 27, 2005

Upcoming October Events – Part II

We continue with a list of some great events taking place in Orlando and the surrounding communities during the month of October.
Urinetown – The Mad Cow Theatre Company continues through October 23rd their production of the Tony-winning musical comedy about a city where an evil corporation (Urine Good Company) has privatized all toilets and people must pay to… pee. Mad Cow is, in my opinion, an excellent venue for live stage productions with talented performers showing off their acting abilities. Performance times are at 7:30pm on Thursday, Fridays and Saturdays and at 2:30pm on Sundays. Tickets are $24 and the Theatre is located at 105 S. Magnolia Avenue in downtown Orlando. Call 407.297.8788 for more info.
Rock for Relief – Several local rock bands are performing for Rock for Relief, Wednesday, October 5th at the Dr. Phillips High School Football Field. This concert event will raise money for Hurricane Relief efforts going on along the southern Gulf States. Music starts at 7:00pm. A donation of $5.00 or the equivalent in clothes, food or school supplies is requested. Call 407.355.3201 for more info on this worthy charitable event.
1st Thursdays – Work in Progress This is your opportunity to watch the creative motion of 10 artists as they demonstrate their artistic processes during the Orlando Museum of Art’s (OMA’s) 1st Thursdays event, Work in Progress, on October 6th, from 6:00 until 9:00pm. You can also enjoy Jazz music with the Michael Petrovich Duo, listen to readings by the Orlando Poetry Troupe and interact with performance artists Carl Knickerbocker and Whitney Wolf. Authentic Vietnamese cuisine from Lac Viet Bistro and handcrafted beer from The Shipyard Brewing Company as well as wine selections from Premier Beverage Company are available at the cash bars. Admission is free fro OMA members and $9.00 for non-members. Parking is free. The OMA is located at 2416 North Mills Avenue in Loch Haven Park. Phone 407.896.4231 for more information.
A Lesson Before Dying – Opens Thursday night October 6th and runs through October 30th at the Mad Cow Theatre as they present Romulus Linney’s drama about two young black men, a schoolteacher and a man wrongly convicted of murder, in a 1940s Louisiana town. Performance times are at 8:00pm on Thursday, Fridays and Saturdays and at 3:00pm on Sundays. Tickets are $20 and the Theatre is located at 105 S. Magnolia Avenue in downtown Orlando. Call 407.297.8788 for more info.
First Friday at Mall at Millenia – The First Friday Hurricane Concert benefits The Salvation Army, Second Harvest Food Bank and SPCA of Central Florida on Friday, October 7th from 5pm to 8pm at the Mall’s main entrance. Guests are encouraged to contribute food, toiletry, pet and school items as well as monetary donations throughout the evening, while enjoying a soulful performance by Sunnie Paxson featuring Monique. A recommended donation of $5 to an organization earns the chance to win a $500 Mall at Millenia Gift Card. One winner will be selected at 8pm from each organization’s entry forms. Your contribution is welcome for the following:

* The Salvation Army- Cash and checks accepted
* Second Harvest Food Bank- Non- perishable items
* SPCA of Central Florida- Dry dog and puppy food
Mall at Millenia is located at 1-4 at the Conroy Road Exit (78) For more information phone 407.363.3555
La Fille Mal Gardée – The Misbehaved Daughter The Orlando Ballet launches their 32nd season on Friday October 7th with this full-length romantic comedy. Set in the countryside in eighteenth century France, this laugh-out-loud ballet tells the story of Lise, a young maiden who must choose between the handsome, penniless farmer Colas and the wealthy simpleton Alain whom her meddling mama wishes her to marry. The Company will give three full-length performances at the Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre in downtown Orlando with performance times of 8:00pm on Friday and Saturday and 2:00pm on Sunday. Tickets are priced at $12 to $65 and you can order tickets or get more information by calling 407.426.1739
Ricardo Montaner – Popular Latin pop sensation Ricardo Montaner will perform at Hard Rock Live in the Universal CityWalk on Friday, October 7th at 9:00pm. The Venezuelan heartthrob is an international star, selling millions of records worldwide. Doors open at 8:00pm and the show begins at 9:00pm. Tickets are $55 and $65 in advance and $65 and $72 at the door if available. Call 407.351.5483 for more information.
La Masquera di Avalon Auction – Saturday, October 8th at The Gallery at Avalon Island (corner of Pine and Magnolia). Hand-crafted masks donated by than 70 local artists competing for a $1,000 top prize will be auctioned at 7:30pm with proceeds benefiting Downtown Arts District Orlando. Patrons are encouraged to arrive masked. Tickets can be purchased at The Office of the Downtown Arts District, 27 S. Orange Ave., Orlando, FL 32801. Prepare your mask for a magical night you will not soon forget (MASK is required). $ 75.00/ person or $125.00/couple. The evening includes live entertainment, food, beverages and a juried mask competition for local artists with a silent mask auction to follow. For more information please call 407.648.7060

SeaWorld’s Halloween Spooktacular – SeaWorld competes with Disney and Universal for the month-long Halloween crowds with their Halloween Spooktacular opening Saturday night October 8th and running through the following dates: Oct: 8th & 9th, 15th & 16th, 22nd & 23rd, and 29th & 30th. Friendly and fanciful costumed characters haunt the park as children enjoy Halloween shows and festivities. Children of all ages are invited to wear their Halloween costumes to SeaWorld and gather heaps of sweets while they participate in safe holiday fun with trick-or-treating, bewitching shows and autumn harvest décor. I went to this one night last year (sans costume) and it was a lot of fun and not nearly as crowded as Disney or Universal. Hours are 9am to 9pm and you can call 407.351.3600 for m ore information.

Bill Maher of HBO “Real Time” and “Politically Incorrect” fame will be appearing and performing at the Bob Carr Performing Arts Center in downtown Orlando on Monday, October 10th at 7:30pm. Tickets are $36 to $46 and you can get more info by calling 407.849.2020
WMMO Downtown Concert Series – The Doobie Brothers Saturday, October 15th, head downtown to Orlando City Hall for the soulful rock sound of The Doobie Brothers. The Doobies hit the charts in the late 70s and early 80s with several memorable hits like Listen to the Music, Black Water, Takin’ it to the Streets and What A Fool Believes. Entertainment begins at 5:00pm, with an opening act at 7:30pm and The Doobie Brothers taking the stage at 8:30pm. The concert is free and I would advise you to get there early if you want a seat or a good location. I’ve been to a couple of these in the past when they were held on Church Street and it’s SRO in the performance area. Call 407.422.9890 for more info.

The Orlando Magic open their pre-season with three home games in October at the T.D. Waterhouse Arena. On October 19th they face Maccabi Tel Aviv, on October 22nd the Atlanta Hawks and on October 27th the Miami Heat. All game times are 7:30pm and ticket prices range from $10 in the nosebleed seats to $111 on the floor. Call 407.849.2020 for more information.
Popcorn Flicks In Central Park – The Ghost and Mr. Chicken Free movie in the park on Thursday, October 20th at 7:00pm in downtown Winter Park. This is a great movie for kids starring Don Knotts as a bumbling, small-town typesetter who spends a night in the haunted house while trying to solve a murder and prove he has what it takes to become a reporter. Call 407.629.0054 for more information.
Fall Jazz Moonlight Stroll – Saturday evening, October 22nd, from 7:00pm until 10:00pm, make plans to attend the Fall Jazz Moonlight Stroll at beautiful Leu Gardens in Orlando. Take in a romantic evening under the stars with luminaries lighting the way while great jazz is performed by Phillip Martin, the Dr. Otto Gomez Band and the Julie Lyon Quartet. We recommend you bring a dinner picnic basket and a blanket or chairs. Tickets go on sale October 10th and are $14 for members and $19 for non-members. Advance tickets only for sale, none sold the day of the event. Tickets are limited, nonrefundable and nontransferable. I’ve been to this once a couple of years ago and it can be very romantic with the right person. We took a light picnic-style dinner and a blanket and sat on the edge of the lake watching fireflies and stars while listening to some great light jazz music. Call 407.246.2620 for more info.
Neil Diamond World Tour 2005 – Neil Diamond, who has been entertaining audiences with his passionate singing since the 1960s, appears in concert live at the T.D. Waterhouse Arena in downtown Orlando on Sunday, October 23rd. His classic songs like Sweet Caroline, Love on the Rocks, September Morn, Forever in Blue Jeans, Heartlight and America are sing-a-long gems. The concert begins at 8:00pm and tickets are $42.50 to $75.00. Call 407.849.2020 for more information.
Nine Inch Nails – One of rock music’s most popular groups will perform live at the TD Waterhouse Centre in downtown Orlando on Tuesday, October 25th. Nine Inch Nails, fronted by Trent Reznor headlines with special guests Queens of the Stone Age opening up the show, this promises to be a concert that will blow the roof off the O-rena. The show opens at 7:30pm and tickets are priced at $37.50 to $45.00. Call 407.849.2020 for more information.

I think that wraps it up and it looks like there’s something for everyone to enjoy at some point during the month of October here in Orlando. If you have an event I didn’t list, shoot it to me in the comments below and I’ll see about getting it listed. Orlando’s a great town and there’s plenty to do, so head out on the town and you might just run into me, the Man About Town.

Hope to see you here next time.

Man About Town

September 28, 2005

Restaurant Review – Chipotle Mexican Grill

chi·pot·le A ripe jalapeño pepper that has been dried and smoked for use in cooking.

Those who know the Man About Town know that I enjoy Mexican cuisine. Heck, I’ll even enjoy some occasional TexMex or something completely Southwestern like Moe’s.

So the other day C.K. and I were driving around looking for a place where we could eat lunch. There we were, cruising down East Colonial past all the usual spots like Uno’s, Bennigan’s, Smokey Bones, Friday’s and Burger King. Past Fashion Square Mall and Ruby Tuesday’s in the mall and Denny’s on the opposite side of the street. Nothing was appealing to us. As we crossed Maguire I realized there’s something different about the side of the street where Target and Office Max anchor a small shopping area.

The old Peaches Music store (which has been closed for a while now) was sporting a new design and a new tenant, Chipotle, the Mexican fast food restaurant named after a jalapeño pepper. I had, of course, heard of Chipotle but had not yet had a chance to sample their south of the border fare. That was about to change.

Chipotle Mexican Grill operates more than 400 quick-service Mexican eateries in about 20 states. Customers can build a 1-1/4 pound burrito or taco from a lineup that includes chicken, steak, barbecue or free-range pork, as well as beans, rice, guacamole, and various other veggies and salsas. It also serves extras such as chips and salsa, beer, and margaritas. Chipotle was founded in 1993 by CEO and professional chef Steve Ells. Their menu is limited to burritos, fajitas and tacos, along with the few extras mentioned above because, as they like to say, “We only serve a few things, so we can concentrate on doing them very well.”

I ordered the chicken burrito fajita-style and C.K. decided to try the four crispy tacos with steak. The food is mostly prepared fresh although their are some items that are in heating trays, but obviously not for very long. The grilled chicken for my burrito was coming right off the grill when it as added and C.K.’s steak had been in the heating tray for only about a minute when it was placed in the taco shells. Although the burrito was indeed very large, I have to say I was disappointed that a good third of it’s contents was the cilantro-lime rice. Maybe it’s because I’m not a big rice eater, but I just felt like it was mostly filler that I would rather have had replaced with more beans and chicken. However, the chicken was moist and flavorful and the beans were tasty. C.K. enjoyed her tacos and in fact could only eat 3 of them, they were so filling.

There are 7 Chipotle locations in the greater Orlando area; Metrowest at 2850 S. Kirkman Road, Florida Mall at 1700 W. Sand Lake Road, South Orange at 2211 S. Orange Avenue, Winter Park at 525 South Orlando Avenue, Altamonte Springs at 400 West State Road 436, University of Central Florida at 11680 University Boulevard and the one we ate it, which is located at 2903 East Colonial Drive in Orlando.

As we ate I took a few minutes to look around the restaurant at the decor. As the website boasts, “Each Chipotle uses the same basic materials – wood, concrete, raw steel and metals – but no two look the same.” Since this was the only Chipotle I’ve been to I can’t speak to that last part, but I can attest to the use of steel and wood in this particular location. Metal chair frames with sort of a pressed wood seat and back are at metal tables. The waste disposal units have a pointed kind of brushed metal thing that extends up a few feet above the top of the waste cans. The whole look was rather spartan and “industrial” looking, neither of which I found pleasing while eating a meal.

Speaking of their website, it’s a pretty nice site although the design is almost as “bare bones” as the restaurant design. They do make excellent use of Flash throughout the site and as far as technology is concerned it is close to cutting edge.

I could not help comparing Chipotle to another Mexican “quick-service” restaurant I recently reviewed; Tijuana Flats. I had the impression the Chipotle was trying to be as irreverent and “hip” as TF is, even though technically Chipotle was on the scene first with TF following 2 years later when it was born right here in Orlando. While the food at Chipotle was good, the food, decor and service were all superior at TF. Even the TF website is better, having won awards for design and functionality.

Bottom line is that it’s very unlikely I’ll return to Chipotle.

But I know there must be folks out there who like Chipotle. In fact there’s a whole website dedicated to Chipotle Lovers. If you think Chipotle is one of the better Mexican fast food restaurants you’ve eaten at, I’d love to hear your impressions and why you like it. I hope you’ll leave a comment below.

Hope to see you here next time.

Man About Town

September 29, 2005

Marla Weech, News Goddess

The Man About Town is not happy. I was not happy 2 1/2 years ago when WFTV News Director Bob Jordan brought in Marti Salt to replace Marla Weech as Bob Opsahl’s co-anchor on the 5, 6 and 11pm news shows. Marla is a News Goddess, and for Jordan to unceremoniously remove her from the pedestal of daily weeknight viewing was blasphemous to this Weech Worshipper. But at least I could console myself that she was still on the air at 10pm every weeknight over on WFTV’s little sister station, WRDQ. I was angry because I felt like WFTV had just turned their backs on the most perfect female anchor to ever grace a newscast (at least locally). Yet still, as angry as I was I knew I could view her perfect visage and hear her sweet, assuring voice every night at 10pm. I could lay my head on my pillow and sleep like a baby after hearing her say to me, and me alone, “Good Night”.

Now, even that small bit of her Goddessness will be denied the Man About Town.

No, I am definitely not happy to learn that Marla Weech, News Goddess, is leaving the one small newscast I could count on and cling to for my daily Marla Mash. WRDQ has announced that her last appearance will be this Friday night at 10pm and I have already laid out my black mourning PJ’s. I’ve programmed my CD player to start up at 10:29pm so that as she says her last “Good Night” to me and me alone, the Hall & Oates hit, “She’s Gone” will start playing, and I know tears will well up in my eyes when I hear the chorus:

She’s Gone Oh I, Oh I’d
better learn how to face it
She’s Gone Oh I, Oh I’d
pay the devil to replace her
She’s Gone – what went wrong

They tell me that Marla is in her late 40′s. I think they lie. She looks as if she’s in her early 30′s at the most. But she’s been a local news anchor for 20 years, and I don’t think they would have let her work the 11pm broadcast when she was 10, so I guess they’re right. I’ve also heard that she is perfectly charming in person, but unfortunately I don’t know that from personal experience. Once, a few years ago, I was at a fair or festival or some kind of large public gathering and as I was walking along I suddenly saw her, sitting at a little table under a WFTV canopy, signing autographs and taking pictures. I stopped in my tracks so quickly that people behind me collided into my back. I didn’t even really notice. It was as if the heavens had opened up and a bright light shone all about the News Goddess as voices sang from the sky in worship. I thought, “This is your chance to actually meet, speak to and touch the News Goddess” and I haltingly stepped toward the canopied table and the object of my adoration. But a few short steps away I suddenly realized how unworthy I was to even be in her News Goddess presence and I simply bowed my head and walked on past the booth.

So I will have to be content with my little shrines around the house, her pictures cut from magazines and printed from websites with candles and incense surrounding them, her beautiful smiling face looking out at me from my computer monitor as my wallpaper, the looped sound bite of her saying, to me and me alone, “Good night”.

Oh Marla, we hardly knew ye.

Hope to see you next time,

Man About Town

September 30, 2005

Shoot First/Stand Your Ground

I’m planning a trip to Scotland in the Spring of next year. It will be my first visit to the land of the kilt and bagpipe, but I have some Scottish ancestry in my family tree and I thought it would be interesting to see the land of my forefathers.

Today, while perusing this Scottish website for some news direct from Scotland, I found an interesting article about a new advertising campaign directed at Scottish visitors coming to The Sunshine State to warn them about a new law that goes into effect tomorrow, October 1st.

The advertisement above is placed by The Brady Campaign to Control Gun Violence, based in Washington DC, which has pledged to educate and inform tourists by placing the ads in U.S. cities, and in key overseas markets such as Britain.

This past April the Florida State legislature enacted a change to Florida’s self-defense law. Previously, gun owners could only use their weapons if they could show that they had attempted to withdraw from a confrontational situation first with no success, or if threatening individuals were inside their home or on their property. The change in the law, which was sponsored and lobbied heavily by the National Rifle Association, allows gun owners to use deadly force if they reasonably believe that such use is required to prevent a crime or serious injury, whether to themselves or some other individual. The law also effectively prevents any kind of civil legal action by victims.

Critics of the new law call it “Shoot First”, as in “ask questions later”, but backers refer to it as “Stand Your Ground”, as in “against criminals”.

The Brady Campaign also plans to run ads in French, German and Japanese newspapers. Additionally, they intend to hand out leaflets on roads leading into the state of Florida that look like this one, warning visitors that nervous or frightened residents are authorized to use deadly force, so visitors should avoid any disputes, especially road rage type encounters. I’m wondering what locations they will hand these leaflets out at, since I doubt Florida’s Welcome Stations will allow them. In fact I wonder how many, if any, businesses will allow these kinds of leaflets to be distributed from their property.

Because, as expected, Florida Tourism officials are furious over the planned ad campaign and leaflet distribution. One tourism official stated, “It is sad that such an organization would hold the 900,000 men and women who work in the Florida tourism industry, and whose lives depend on it, hostage to their political agenda.” I would imagine that most businesses that depend upon tourism for their livelihood would feel pretty much the same way.

Here in Orlando, where the majority of our economy is based on tourism, such a campaign, if successful, may adversely affect the entire area. We all remember what it was like following 9/11 when tourism dropped like a rock. Tourists help pay for a lot of things around here with their gas taxes and resort taxes, not to mention the service industry personnel who make their living off all the people with Mickey ears on their heads.

On the other hand, most countries where The Brady Campaign plans to place these advertisements are countries with much stricter gun laws than our state or our country. Some people might feel it is only fair to warn folks, who may not be aware or accustomed to such an atmosphere, that life is different in a state where if a person gets into a dispute with you that he or she may feel threatened enough to shoot you.

So what do you think? Putting aside the question of whether or not the law itself is good or bad, right or wrong, what do you think about an ad campaign that may adversely affect Florida’s and Orlando’s tourism economy? Leave your comment below and let Orlando know what you think.

Hope to see you here next time.

Man About Town

October 3, 2005

Movie Review – “Serenity”

Once, a long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away a science fiction movie named Star Wars captured the hearts and imaginations of fans and non-fans alike. Watching “Serenity” this past weekend reminded me of the first time I watched George Lucas’ initial foray into the genre. It evoked the same feelings of excitement and satisfaction of a story well-told.

This past Saturday night ZenGrrl, Rhonda and I met for an early dinner at TGI Fridays (where we got to catch up on ZenGrrl’s recent travels to Vegas, BABY!, L.A. and the single most exciting state in the union, Wisconsin) and had a great time eating and visiting. Then we headed over to Loews Cineplex at Universal Studios for the 7:05pm showing of “Serenity”, the big screen version of Joss Whedon’s original TV series, “Firefly” which premiered 3 years ago and FOX managed to kill, at least on network television, in less than one season.

Whedon, the creator of hit TV series like “Buffy The Vampire Slayer” and “Angel”, shows his film director chops off very well in “Serenity” and makes me think there might be hope for a decent “Wonder Woman” movie from him in 2 years. I was never a big “Buffy” or “Angel” fan, but I always appreciated Whedon’s writing skills in the episodes that I did watch. In fact, my reluctance to watching much of those 2 series had more to do with my unhappiness with each series’ star (Gellar and Boreanaz) and their lackluster performances than anything else. My personal feeling was that the supporting cast ALWAYS outshined them in every episode.

We walked into a theater that was roughly 3/4 full, found our seats and settled in for the ride. ZenGrrl and Rhonda had already seen the movie the day before and enjoyed it so much they were more than happy to watch it again. ZenGrrl readily describes herself as a “fangirl” of the TV series, so she filled me in on a couple of questions I had during dinner. I had watched the first 3 episodes of the TV series before losing interest after FOX moved it hither and yon on the schedule; went weeks without broadcasting an episode and aired episodes out of order. So I had a basic understanding of the ship, the crew, the original TV storyline, etc. But some things I was a little rusty on and wanted to re-familiarize myself with before seeing the movie.

I need not have bothered. The movie works completely as a stand-alone story. If you were a fan of the TV series, the movie will delight you without boring you, as far as things you already know are concerned. If you are not a fan and have never watched the TV series, the movie will delight you without leaving you behind, as far as things you don’t know are concerned.

Here’s the bottom line: this movie is a solid 2 hours and you will not be bored once, not once, in that entire 2 hours. I can’t put it any better than ZenGrrl did when she said, “This movie is a perfect balance of story, action, humor, drama, special effects and performance”.

Perfect balance. She hit it right on the head. The movie drops you into the stream of the story, but you aren’t drowned or swept away by it. Instead you are carried along with it as it progresses, as the characters grow and change, as the story remains vibrant and compelling and you become a part of the experience. Which is what all good movies should aspire to, to tell a good story and pull you into the story.

Serenity is a beaten up old space ship with a crew of 5 who came out on the losing side of a battle for power in the rebellion wars. Now the known universe is ruled by the Alliance, and these people don’t like being ruled so they eke out what they can as cargo carriers, mercenaries and pirates. The ship is crewed by Captain Mal, who lost more people in the rebellion than he’d care to remember; his second officer, Zoe, her pilot husband, Wash, weapons expert Jayne, and engineer Kaylee. They are joined by a doctor, Simon, and his younger sister River, both seeking passage. But the sister is wanted by the Alliance, which brings down trouble on the ship and its crew. Eventually, in trying to evade the Alliance, the crew discovers a darker secret of the Alliance, a secret they MUST make known to the member planets of the Alliance. They are joined by the love of Mal’s life, Inara, a “companion” who fell in love with Mal. Together they brave some of the scariest enemies, as well as the Alliance, in an effort to reveal the awful truth and set River free in the process.

As stories go, it’s pretty pedestrian. But Whedon and this group of actors come together to make it an outstanding story and movie experience. There is not one wasted minute of story, dialogue, special effects or performance in this movie. You’ll find yourself laughing, crying, gripping the arms of your seat, loving the captain one minute and wondering what the heck is wrong with him the next. These aren’t black and white characters and neither is the story they tell. You can identify with some moral dilemmas and argue about others, but throughout all of it, you’ll be drawn into one of the best movie-going experiences you’ll ever have.

As you can tell, I loved the movie. I loved the characters, the storytelling, the plot, the performances, the special effects…all of it. The whole experience. It’s a DVD I’ll buy as soon as it is released, but I would urge you to be sure and see it in a theater to appreciate the full scope of the movie. You’ll be glad you did.

Go see this movie, if for nothing else than to see the breath-taking beauty of Inara. I hope there’s a sequel and I hope she’s in it!

If you’ve seen “Serenity” I’d love to hear your opinion of the movie. Did you enjoy it as I did, or was it disappointing to you? Do you think my review is accurate, or do you think I got it all wrong. Let Orlando know what you think by leaving a comment below.

Hope to see you here next time.

Man About Town
October 4, 2005

Dine For America

There are times I enjoy eating something at home where I can just sit and “veg” in front of the TV while eating or wolfing something down while I’m working on the computer, but I also enjoy going out to eat, preferably as often as I can. If I go alone I can enjoy some quiet time just eating and reading. If I go with someone I enjoy spending time with, I can be doubly pleased by the good food and good company.

Four years ago, in the wake of the 9/11 tragedy, “Dine For America” was born when restaurants around the country joined together to donate either all or a portion of a specific day’s receipts to relief efforts. Millions of dollars were raised when Americans across the country went out to eat on that specific day in order to have at least a portion of their meal’s cost donated to charity.

Tomorrow, October 5, 2005 will see the return of the “Dine For America” national fundraising effort to support the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund and other hurricane relief efforts. SOme restaurants, like Darden’s various chains of Red Lobster, Olive Garden, Bahama Breeze, Smokey Bones Barbeque & Grill and Seasons 52, will donate 100 % of their day’s receipts, while others will donate various amounts from 10% upward or have special donation collection points within their restaurants. Regardless of what is collected, 100% of the funds raised through “Dine for America” will go directly to the American Red Cross to help the survivors, victims, their families and the other needs arising out of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

So, here’s a relatively painless and usually enjoyable way to make a donation while dining at your favorite restaurant tomorrow. In fact, do like me and order your dinner (or lunch or breakfast) and then get something to go for the next day as well. You have to eat, right? And your eating can help those less fortunate to recover from the ravages of 2 of this year’s worst hurricanes.

Now, the Man About Town is planning on going to one of the Darden restaurants (probably Smokey Bones or Olive Garden) because they are donating 100% of the money spent on meals, but maybe you have your own particular favorite restaurant and want to know if it’s participating or maybe you want to think about trying a completely new restaurant, but don’t know how to pick one. If so I (and the National Restaurant Association) have the answer to your quandary.

You can go here and search for your favorite restaurant by name to see if they are participating or you can search by zip code to see the names and addresses of the participating restaurants closest to you. And if you don’t feel like dining alone, use the handy evite service that’s located on the “Dine For America” to invite family, friends, people you barely know or people you wish you didn’t. It’s all for a good cause!

Tomorrow, for breakfast, lunch or dinner, eat out to support “Dine For America” to support the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund and other hurricane relief efforts. You’ll have a good meal and feel extra good about it.

Hope to see you here next time.

Man About Town

October 5, 2005

Philly, New Orleans and Florida
I’m envious of a friend of mine who recently moved to Philadelphia, because in about a year that city will become the first, and largest, U.S. municipality to provide city-wide wireless Internet access to its residents. Following the marketing lead of other businesses, firms and products, perhaps the city will borrow an old song from the past, like Elton John’s “Philadelphia Freedom”. and make that its wireless network theme song. Because make no mistake about it, there will be elements of freedom involved in this. Both financial and social.

Well-known Internet access provider Earthlink was chosen by the city over 12 other competitors (including Hewlett-Packard) to build and maintain the approximately 135 square mile network, at a cost of between $10 to $14 million. The aim of the city in providing the wireless Internet access is “to encourage economic growth and give Web access to the city’s poorer residents.” Homes, businesses and schools will all have the availability of wireless Internet connections, some in areas where NO Internet access has ever been available due to the impossibility of laying wires and cables.

Philadelphia currently plans for the wireless access to be free in public areas like parks, which comprises about 10% of the city, but charge nominal monthly subscription rates of $10 to $20 outside of those areas. Estimates are that about 30%, or roughly 1.5 million residents, will qualify for the cheaper rate.

I’m hoping that this action by “The City of Brotherly Love” will encourage other cities (like Orlando) to move forward with any nascent plans they may have for making similar services available to the populace. In fact, one analyst estimates that at least 20 other cities are looking at offering wireless access. Please let Orlando be one of them! Can you imagine not having to search around for a “hot spot” or sit in a Starbucks or some other business with wireless access, just so you can check your e-mail, conduct business or do some research? In fact, if other cities follow suit, in 2 to 5 years the term “hot spot” could be a completely useless phrase because every “spot” within the city will be “hot”! You could be sitting in your car at Semoran and Colonial, waiting for that eternal red light to turn green, and check an online map for directions, answer a pressing business e-mail or get visual traffic updates. You could sit outside your favorite little cafe and e-mail or IM with business associates, family or friends around the world. Today’s world is a connected world and cities like Philly see that it benefits their city and its citizens to make that connectivity accessible to everyone.

Here’s hoping O-Town has that same vision.

While checking news feeds the other day I had to laugh out loud at a quote I read from a spokesman for the New Orleans Police Department as he was conducting a news conference about the “allegations” and the ‘video seen ’round the world’ of some of that city’s police officers stealing from businesses they were supposed to be protecting in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. In answer to one reporter’s question about officers looting businesses, department spokesman Marlon Defillo rejected the use of the term “looting” and said instead that authorities were investigating “the possibility of appropriation of nonessential items during the height of Katrina, from businesses.”

LOL, right, just like black people were characterized as “stealing” food but white people were described as “finding” food, the police officers weren’t “looting” but only “appropriated nonessential items”. And, despite evidence to the contrary, they would investigate the “possibility”, not the ‘see it with your own eyes’ proof in a newscast video.

Here’s a quick refresher; if it’s not yours and you take it, that’s stealing, looting, burglary, robbery, ripping off, larceny, thieving and committing a crime. It’s not finding, appropriating, liberating or any other innocuous term you can manufacture to try and minimize a criminal act. Especially when it’s done by someone who has sworn to uphold and protect the law.

Last Friday, The Agency for Workforce Innovation announced that effective January 1, 2006, Florida’s minimum wage would increase by 25 cents to $6.40 per hour. In November of last year, Florida voters approved a constitutional amendment that requires the agency to perform an annual recalculation in order to establish a new minimum state wage every year. The coming increase represents a 4 percent change in the federal consumer price index for urban wage earners and clerical workers in the South Region for the 12 month period prior to September 1, 2005. Tipped workers will, as usual, make less than the minimum but any hourly worker in the state must be paid the new minimum wage beginning January 1st. Florida’s new minimum wage will exceed the federal minimum wage of $5.15 by $1.25.

If you have thoughts on any of the above, please share them with Orlando by leaving a comment below.

Hope to see you here next time.

Man About Town
October 8, 2005

Restaurant Review – Taquitos Jalisco

My friend Dave lives in Winter Garden. Winter Garden is a nice, quiet little town west of Ocoee, which is west of Pine Hills which is west of Orlando. Winter Garden is such a nice, quiet little town that it’s not the first place I tend to think of when I’m contemplating “best” categories like best movie theater (don’t have any), best rave club (none of those), best jazz club (zilch), best singles bar (nada), or best arts/cultural center (huh?). But I’ll tell you what they DO have that’s the best in all of Central Florida; the BEST authentic Mexican Restaurant, Taquitos Jalisco!

Not that I’ve ever been to Mexico and sampled authentic Mexican cuisine, but it IS the best Mexican fare I have ever eaten. It reminded me of when I visited New York City’s Chinatown and dined in a little restaurant in a sub-basement and it practically ruined me for ever eating what people like to label as “Chinese” food again. There, below the street level in lower Manhattan, I felt like I could have easily been dining in China itself. Had it not been for all the “gringo” diners surrounding Dave and I, I would have had similar feelings as we sat and dined in this little gem of an eatery that is hidden away in the nice, quiet little town of Winter Garden.

Taquitos Jalisco sits in an old, many-times-over remodeled strip mall on the corner of Highway 50 and Dillard Street, next to a laundromat. I would have spent much more time trying to find it if it wasn’t for the fact that Dave had already been there many times before we dined there together a week ago Saturday. We arrived around 1pm and seemed to have hit the “lull” period between the noon lunch crowd and the later lunch crowd as we didn’t have any trouble getting a table. That wasn’t the case 20 minutes later when people were filling every table in the restaurant. Reservations are advised on weekend nights.

When you walk in you’re on the left side of the restaurant and the picture windows that look out onto the parking lot. Tables with actual tablecloths and wooden chairs are in front of you and to the right. If you went straight ahead you’d go through the door that leads to the kitchen. To the left of that door is a clay single-topped cabana bar with high-backed wooden chairs ringing its edge. Altogether, I would estimate the restaurant would seat about 100 people. I’m told that weekend nights can find a long line of folks waiting for an open table. The left, right and back right walls are sort of an adobe clay color and adorned with photos and Mexican art and sculpture. The floor is red 12 inch square ceramic tiles and the ceiling is a simple drop tile arrangement with several well placed fans circulating the air and the aroma of the food. The staff in the dining room are all women dressed in a variety of similar styled white peasant blouses and multi-colored “broomstick” type skirts with blazing white stockings and black “sensible” shoes. They’re friendly and tolerant of any mangling of the pronunciation of menu items that Anglos might commit. The menu offerings and the name of the restaurant are inspired by the proprietor’s home state of Jalisco, Mexico.

Dave ordered the beef burro loco without any sauce, which is a large, burrito type dish of cheese, poblano peppers, rice, beans and filled his plate when it arrived. I chose the chicken enchiladas with rice and the milder green sauce, as opposed to the hotter red sauce. I had heard that the wait is long between ordering and being served, but it didn’t seem to be an abnormal wait, though Dave an I were talking up a storm as we caught up on our lives with each other. Our server brought tortilla chips and salsa for us to snack on while waiting and I have to say the tortilla chips were so fresh I wondered if they had just whipped them up in the kitchen that morning. Our food arrived and Dave said his burro loco was delicious. My meal was also and the only thing I noted that was not perfect about the meal was that, while the chicken in the enchiladas was fresh, it was just a tad overcooked.

The cabana bar is a full service bar that features some great lesser-known Mexican beers as well. Because I had several other places to drive to that afternoon, we skipped the bar offerings and settled for iced tea. On weekend nights, a strolling mariachi band plays for diners and even takes requests.

This Winter Garden location is the original that opened years ago to serve migrant workers and has, over the years, drawn locals and not-so locals to its lunch and dinner offerings. Its address is 1041 S Dillard Street in Winter Garden and you can call 407.654.0363 for more information. A while back they opened a second location in MetroWest at 2417 South Hiawassee Road in Orlando and their phone number is 407.296.0626. Both locations are closed on Mondays and open Tuesday through Thursday and Sunday from 11:00am to 9:00pm, Friday from 11:00am to 10:00pm and Saturday from 11:00a, to 9:30pm.

Have you ever eaten at Taquitos Jalisco? If so, please share your impressions by leaving a comment below and let Orlando know what you think.

Hope to see you here next time.

Man About Town
October 9, 2005

Sunday Sediment

Playing Tag

My favorite Hokie (or is that HokieBird?) Hanni tagged me and I have to follow her instructions which are:
1. Go into your archive.
2. Find your 23rd post.
3. Find the fifth sentence (or closest to).
4. Post the text of the sentence in your blog along with these instructions.
5. Tag five other people to do the same.
Thus, for your reading and viewing pleasure I reprint the fifth sentence of my 23rd post, which was from June 5, 2005 and titled “Orlando International Airport To Offer Fliers A “Clear” Choice”
Clear is presented as the theme for their media advertising campaign and includes signage and kiosk design throughout the airport terminal.

Doesn’t that line just grab you by the throat and scream “BORING!”? Oh well, better luck next time.

To complete the tagging mission (or have all knowledge of myself and my tagging mission disavowed) I hereby tag Blog of A Mother, It’s Dawned on Me, Inneroutings, ZenGrrl and Solonor. Go get ‘em!
Local Nickolodeon-Themed Holiday Inn Named “Best”

Members of the InterContinental Hotels Group Priority Club Rewards loyalty program recently voted our own local Nickelodeon Family Suites by Holiday Inn as the “Best Holiday Inn North America” for the fifth year. The Orlando area hotel combines the Holiday Inn brand with the kid-friendly Nickelodeon brand, and is a popular hotel destination for families with children who are fans of the kid-centric cable TV network. I just wonder how the Holiday Inn brand reconciles it’s “No Surprises” marketing campaign with a place like Nickelodeon where you could be surprised by being slimed at any moment. Or don’t they do that anymore at Nick?

People Are Dying To Get In

City of Orlando officials thought that Greenwood Cemetery was almost full. Over the past decade or so couples who inquired about being buried side by side would learn that there were only some scattered single plots available. But news is spreading that, after some high tech digital scanning and surveying, hundreds, if not thousands, of plots will be available and released in stages over the next several years by the City Council.

Some 60,000 burials have taken place at Greenwood, among them city founders such as Samuel Robinson, C.A. Boone, James Delaney and J.H. Livingston, whom most of us would only recognize as street or school names. The Cemetery is 125 years old, having been first opened in 1880, just 5 years after Orlando first incorporated as a city.

Hope to see you here next time.

Man About Town

October 11, 2005

Walk This Way

Back on August 3rd, I posted an entry about how dangerous it is to walk or drive in Orlando. I cited some published statistics and pointed out that local law enforcement planned to step up patrols in an effort to curb the high rate of traffic-related pedestrian deaths.

Today, The Orange County Commission unveiled their safety awareness program that focuses on citizen awareness and a simple reminder to drivers and pedestrians to watch out for each other. The $75,000 campaign includes, bilingual billboards across the county, local radio Public Service Announcements and handouts of printed material.

I was driving my car this morning and heard the first PSA on the radio. I was paying such close attention to the radio spot that I almost hit a guy crossing the street.

As mentioned above, the campaign urges drivers and pedestrians to watch out for each other; reminding pedestrians to “Use Designated Crossing Areas” and drivers to “Stop For Pedestrians”, both of which I was taught in school and in driver education.

I think it comes down to the basic concept of “driving defensively” and in the case of pedestrians “walking defensively”. It’s a simple premise; try to be ready for anything another driver (or pedestrian) may do. Work out possible “what if” scenarios, such as “What if the car on my right suddenly has a blowout and swerves into my lane…can I move over to the next lane or median strip or even stop in my lane safely?” It’s sort of like Keanu Reeves’ character in the movie “Speed” where you’re constantly asking yourself, “What do you do…what do you do?”

A large unspoken component of that premise is what’s missing and the reason why so many accidents take place; to work out all those “What if”‘s you have to be paying attention to everything and everyone around you. Distractions such as deep conversations with passengers or on cell phones, eating, applying make-up, playing with the children in the back seat…all make you lose your focus and create a kind of “tunnel” vision that restricts your observations of what’s around you and reduces your attention to what is directly in front of you.

The same applies to pedestrians who do not pay attention to where they are walking, fail to use crosswalks or carefully watch vehicles and drivers around them. When I’m walking or biking my constant thought is that cars, trucks, even motorcycles are tougher than me. If they hit me I may put a dent in their bodywork, but they will injure or kill me, so I make it a point to watch out for them and always assume that the driver doesn’t see me. That way when a driver turns into my path or continues through a crosswalk or stop sign, I’m not so surprised that I find myself beneath its wheels on the ground.

Last year 40 pedestrians died in Orange County traffic and so far this year we are up to 31. I’m not convinced that a public awareness campaign is going to be the complete answer to this problem, but if it saves even one life it will be worth the cost and effort.

What do you think? Do you have other suggestions for bringing down the number of pedestrian deaths in our area? If so, please share your thoughts and ideas by leaving a comment below and let Orlando know what you think.

Hope to see you here next time.

Man About Town

October 14, 2005

Movie Review – “Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit”

The best laid plans…

The “Plan” was for Rebecca, Denise, Natasha and I to meet at 6pm for dinner downtown at Tijuana Flats, then walk over to Mad Cow Theatre and get tickets to watch Urinetown. But in the late morning Natasha had to bow out because her mom was ill, then around 5pm I found out that Urinetown is SOLD OUT for all remaining performances, so the rest of us decided we would get together some other time for dinner and a play, perhaps “Poe” at the Theatre Downtown before it closes on Halloween Night.

So, the best laid plans of mice and men, as it were, did not pan out tonight. Instead, I stopped by Chili’s for a dinner in solitaire and read a couple of magazine articles while dining, then stopped into one of my favorite places, Borders Bookstore to browse a bit. I thought I might see my friend Rhonda working, but I guess she had worked the day shift and had left already. Maybe next time. I looked around a bit and almost bought Neil Gaiman’s latest novel “Anansi Boys” a sort of sequel/companion to his bestseller that I loved, “American Gods”, but I have a stack of books still waiting to be read and I had made a vow that I wouldn’t buy any more until I was almost through the stack.

Stupid vows.

I did not vow, however, to refrain from buying magazines so I picked up a couple and made my purchase in time to leave and get to the 7:25pm showing of a movie I wanted to see, “Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit”, the number one movie in America last week when it opened. My first introduction to Wallace & Gromit came a few years back when an ex-girlfriend showed me a couple of the videos that were out at the time and I found them to be hilarious. Fast-forward to a couple of months ago when I was sitting in a theater waiting for the feature presentation and saw the coming attraction preview for this movie. I knew then I would have to see it and hoped it would be as funny as I remembered the video shorts being.

I need not have worried. “The Curse of the Were-Rabbit” was delightfully funny and vintage W & G, as far as I was concerned. There were all of Wallace’s crazy (but workable), Rube Goldberg-esque inventions to automate everyday tasks like getting out of bed, being dressed and plopped down at the breakfast table. There were all of the wild and wacky adventures that Wallace gets them into and the typical, long-suffering Gromit who gets them through those adventures in one piece. The movie is full of great verbal and visual puns, some for kids and some that only the adults in the audience would get and find humorous. I don’t want to give them away, so I’ll just drop some quotes and those who have already seen the movie will get them while those who have not may be inclined to go see what the quotes mean:

A magazine in the Vicar’s study, “Pro Nun Wrestling”

What’s an animated movie about rabbits without a tribute to the most famous animated rabbit, “What’s up doc?”

“Beware the moon!”

“Stand Back! There may be a large rabbit dropping!”

Stencilled on a box, “May Contain Nuts”

The actual claymation is full, rich, detailed and smooth. Gromit says more with his expressive looks than could ever be conveyed with spoken dialog. There are several “tip of the hat” moments throughout with references to classic science fiction and horror movies through the years, and it’s safe to say that those who are planning on seeing Peter Jackson’s version of King Kong in 2 months will have their appetite whetted with some scenes in “The Curse of the Were-Rabbit”. (By the way, there’s a great cover/feature article on Jackson’s King Kong in the October issue of Wired Magazine) “Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit” is a definite 2 thumbs up, especially if you’re already a fan or enjoy quality claymation and humor.

As an extra bonus before the “The Curse of the Were-Rabbit” feature is “The Christmas Caper,” an animated short featuring the penguin characters from “Madagascar” as they share a Christmas adventure trying to save one of their own who has left the safety of the zoo to try and buy a gift for the lonely polar bear. Word of warning; the poodle and what happens to the poodle will leave you in stitches.

Have you seen “Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit”? If so, what did you think of it? If not, do you think you might go see it? Please share your thoughts by leaving a comment below and let Orlando know what you think.

Hope to see you here next time.

Man About Town

October 15, 2005

Fun At The Winter Park Autumn Art Festival

It’s been a few years since I’ve been to either the Spring or Autumn Art Festivals in Winter Park and last weekend some friends of mine and I decided it was time to rectify that sad situation. Here’s a little something about myself that I haven’t mentioned here before; I’m a frustrated artist. Frustrated because my talent and skill does not match my desire. Frustrated because, right now in my life, there just isn’t enough time to indulge in time at the drawing board or in front of the easel and canvas. I’ve pretty much reconciled myself to waiting until I retire and spending my sunset years drawing and painting to my heart’s content. But that’s long way off.

Anyway, last Saturday I drove over to downtown Winter Park and met up with AnnMarie, Jason, Mikey, Holly and Devin to look around the 32nd Annual Winter Park Autumn Art Festival. We decided to get there as soon as the festival opened at 9:00am so we could try and beat the crowds and beat the expected high temperatures and humidity forecast for the afternoon. The crowds were still pretty dense, but nothing like the ones at the Spring Art Festival.

The last time I was at the Autumn Festival it was held over on the campus of Rollins College, but last year it was moved over to the same location as the Spring Festival, at Central Park on Park Avenue. Lots of different mediums were represented including oils, watercolors, pencils, pen and ink, sculptures (stone and metal), ceramics, glassworks, photography and jewelry. Additionally, there was live entertainment scheduled throughout both days of the Festival on the stage at the north end of the park as well as several food and drink vendors, children’s workshops and activities and various participatory activities for all Festival attendees.

We walked around enjoying looking at the different works of art throughout the festival. I always tend to gravitate toward paintings in any medium, photography and pencil, charcoal or pen and ink art, But it’s also inspiring to the muse and pleasing to the spirit to view every artist’s expression, regardless of how that expression is displayed.

I purchased a few items from some of the artists, nothing overly expensive but things that I thought some of the people in my life might enjoy. There was a musician there with a booth whose music I was enjoying, so I bought a couple of his CD’s. We listened to some of an opening performance by a singer on the stage and walked around some more. It was interesting to see the food vendors who were selling items I would consider lunch or dinner foods like barbeque sandwiches and gyros already hawking their goods at 9:30 or 10:00 in the morning. But, I guess that was no stranger than Devin and Mikey deciding they wanted to indulge in some ice cream at 10:30 in the morning.

We had a good time at the Festival, which is the “younger sibling” of the Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival that is held in the Spring of each year. The Winter Park Autumn Art Festival is restricted to Florida artists only and this year 140 artists were selected to participate from over 300 applications and estimates are that some 50,000 visitors will view the works on display. By contrast, the upcoming Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival, which will be held at the same location on March 17th through March 19, 2006, will feature artists selected from some 1,400 applications submitted from around the world and will host almost 350,000 visitors.

I had such a good time at the Winter Park Autumn Art Festival that I’m definitely planning on attending the Sidewalk Art Festival next Spring, and with any luck I’ll be able to go on Friday when the crowds aren’t so heavy.

Hope to see you here next time.

Man About Town
October 18, 2005

Hard Rock Live – “Blues at the Rock”

“I met a girl who sang the blues
And I asked her for some happy news,
But she just smiled and turned away.”

Don McLean-American Pie

Last Thursday night, October 13th, was “Blues at the Rock” night at the Hard Rock Live in Universal Studios with a great line up of bands performing in concert, including my friend Jann of The Jann Childers Blues Project. Hard Rock is always an enjoyable venue with great acoustics and an excellent light system. Reading Jann’s blog it would seem they have some fantastic dressing rooms for the performers as well. I got to take a backstage tour a few years ago and it is a sensational facility.

Laura, Kirk, Cindy and I met up for dinner at Toojay’s near Dr. Phillips where we had a delicious meal and some time to visit before the concert. In fact, we had a LOT of time because Toojay’s was very busy and appeared to be short-staffed. Our server was kind enough to warn us that service might be a little slow, which always helps, and it gave me time to catch up with Kirk and Laura, whom I had not seen in a while. The food was good and the visit was great.

We finally got out of Toojay’s at 8:20pm and drove over to Universal where thankfully the $9 parking charge had been suspended as of 8pm. I’ve got to break down and get an annual pass so as to avoid paying for the most expensive real estate (along with every other theme park parking lot) in Orlando every time I go there.

I grabbed my camera and we entered the park, which was busy because of Halloween Horror Nights. Still, I was able to get a few photos including this one of Jann’s name up in lights on the Hard Rock marquee. Way to go, girl! The doors at Hard Rock opened at 8pm and the show was to start at 8:30. We got to the Hard Rock at about 8:45pm, which we thought would still allow s time to catch most of the opening act by Redeye Express.

Unfortunately, when we got to the Hard Rock entrance they would not let me enter with my camera, so Kirk and I schlepped back to the garage, locked it in the trunk of my car and got back in time to catch the first intermission at 9:15, so we missed Redeye Express completely. I heard they were good.

Lots of people around the bar and all of the seats in the seating area were filled, or just enough so that 4 of us could not sit together. The standing room area directly in front of the stage was only about half full, but it filled up once the next act, Catfish Charlie, took to the stage. We spent about the first 10 minutes of their set standing off to the side and then 2 folks in seats near us left so Laura and Cindy sat down. About 10 minutes later 2 seats in front of them opened up and Kirk and I sat down to enjoy the remainder of the set. We also found out that there would be another act, King Muddfish, and then The Jann Childers Blues Project at about 11:30pm.

Catfish Charlie wrapped up around 10:15. Lots of people were leaving around 10pm and when this set ended a lot more were leaving, including us. Some in our party had to be up for work early on Friday and so, although we hated it, we had to leave after the second act finished their set. We never did get to see Jann perform, but all reports are that it was great. I’m going to try and see her either in November or December in Deland or Daytona, respectively. It was just a shame that this show was on a weeknight as I think the crowd would have been larger since most people would have hung in there for the closing act if they didn’t have to go to work the next morning.
Hope to see you here next time.

Man About Town
October 23, 2005

Preparing For A Visit From Wilma

“Preparation through education is less costly than learning through tragedy.”
- Max Mayfield, Director, National Hurricane Center

Or, as my grandparent’s used to tell me, “Remember, Man About Town, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”

At the time of this writing (1pm Sunday afternoon) Hurricane Wilma is on a projected track that will have her making landfall with wind speeds of approximately 110-120mph tomorrow morning on the southwest coast of our state. Current projections show her track across the state to be well south of us enough that we should dodge the worst of the storm here in Orlando. But, despite all their training and experience, meteorologists cannot guarantee a hurricane’s ultimate path. I was talking with some friends this past Thursday and recalling for them that last year Charlie was projected to make landfall in Tampa and the city rightly evacuated in anticipation, but then Charlie inexplicably made a sharp right turn and slammed into the Port Charlotte coastline, an area that expected to suffer only some high winds as Charlie churned past them in the Gulf.

So, even though Wilma should be far enough away that she doesn’t cause direct hurricane damage to us in the O-Town area, here at the Man About Town Compound, I still have a decent supply of water, flashlights, a battery-powered TV and radio and spare batteries, just in case. By tonight I’ll have all the smaller planters and outdoor items moved inside and be ready to hunker down if necessary should Wilma decides to come a callin’ unexpectedly.

At the least, forecasts are for tropical storm force and possibly higher winds and sufficient amounts of rain to cause flooding in low-lying and flood prone areas. This morning at 4:52am the National Weather Service in Melbourne issued a Flood Watch for east central Florida including Volusia, Brevard, Seminole, Osceola and Orange counties that is currently in effect until Monday afternoon. Here’s a quote from the notice:

The potential exists for rainfall totals of several inches in
some areas through Monday afternoon. Many locations in east
central Florida may receive one to two inches of rain… but
higher totals of four to six inches will be possible where rain
becomes more persistent. Areas most at risk for flooding include
not only the locations receiving the most rain… but also the
more vulnerable spots where recent heavy rain has occurred or
drainage is poor.

Yesterday on one of our local TV stations I heard forecasts of 4 to 8 inches and watched video footage of streets in south Florida that were already flooded from the preceding rain bands of Wilma. Here at the compound, a sustained rainfall amount of 8 inches would bring water into the house, so I’m hoping for the NWS projection and not the local weather guy’s. Orange and Osceola counties have been drawing down area lakes in an attempt to mitigate the danger of rising water and strained drainage systems, but since they usually drain into Lake Okeechobee and it will be rising as well from the rains, they may not get them lowered in time.

So, if you find yourself in a situation where your home is flooded and you feel you need to flee, keep these tips in mind as you jump into your vehicle and prepare to drive through the possibly flooded streets or roads:

*If you have a cell phone, be sure to take it with you. Avoid driving through standing water. The average automobile can be swept off the road in 12 inches of moving water, and roads covered by water are prone to collapse. You have no way of seeing what lies below the water. If you come upon a flooded street, take an alternate route. If no alternate route exists and you have no other reasonable alternative but to drive through standing water…

*Do your best to estimate the depth of the water (if other cars are driving through, take note of how deep the water is).

*Drive SLOWLY and STEADILY through the water.

*Once you and your vehicle are out of deep water and are in a safe area, depress your brakes slowly to dry them.

*If your vehicle stalls in the deep water, you may need to restart the engine to make it to safety (know, however, that restarting may cause irreparable damage to the engine).

*If you can’t restart your vehicle and you become trapped in rising water, IMMEDIATELY ABANDON THE VEHICLE FOR HIGHER GROUND IF POSSIBLE. If you are unable to get out of the vehicle safely, call 911 or get the attention of a passerby or someone standing on higher ground for assistance.

In addition to the danger of flooding, we have the possibility of tornadoes popping up unannounced. Most of the local TV stations have the capability of at least predicting the higher probability of tornadic conditions, so keep your favorite local station on so you can get some warning of those conditions in your area. Best advice if you know a tornado is approaching is to take shelter in the innermost room of your home with possibly a mattress or some kind of padding covering you.

Everyone stay safe and be careful.

Hope to see you here next time.

Man About Town
October 24, 2005

What’s Your Favorite Halloween Song?

Ok, there’s not all that many of them out there, so it should be easy to think about what your favorite Halloween song might be. When you go to a Halloween party, what’s the one song you want to be sure is played in order to make the party truly a Halloween event? I’m going to list all the Halloween songs (and Halloween-themed music) I can think of and then let you know what the Man About Town’s favorite is;

Ghostbusters – Movie Theme

Addams’ Family – TV Series

The Twilight Zone Theme – Not really a song, but genuinely creepy

Monster Mash – Bobby Pickett and the Crypt-Kickers

I Put a Spell on You – Screamin’ Jay Hawkins

Spooky – Classics IV

The Munsters – TV Series

Thriller – Michael Jackson

Werewolves of London – Warren Zevon

Witchy Woman – The Eagles

Frankenstein – The Edgar Winter Group

People Are Strange – The Doors (mostly because of The Lost Boys movie)
And the song that makes me want to howl at the moon? Why, it’s The Monster Mash, and here are the lyrics:

I was working in the lab late one night
When my eyes beheld an eerie sight
For my monster from his slab began to rise
And suddenly to my surprise
He did the mash
He did the monster mash
The monster mash
It was a graveyard smash
He did the mash
It caught on in a flash
He did the mash
He did the monster mash
From my laboratory in the castle east
To the master bedroom where the vampires feast
The ghouls all came from their humble abodes
To get a jolt from my electrodes
They did the mash
They did the monster mash
The monster mash
It was a graveyard smash
They did the mash
It caught on in a flash
They did the mash
They did the monster mash
The zombies were having fun
The party had just begun
The guests included Wolf Man
Dracula and his son
The scene was rockin’, all were digging the sounds
Igor on chains, backed by his baying hounds
The coffin-bangers were about to arrive
With their vocal group, “The Crypt-Kicker Five”
They played the mash
They played the monster mash
The monster mash
It was a graveyard smash
They played the mash
It caught on in a flash
They played the mash
They played the monster mash
Out from his coffin, Drac’s voice did ring
Seems he was troubled by just one thing
He opened the lid and shook his fist
And said, “Whatever happened to my Transylvania twist?”
It’s now the mash
It’s now the monster mash
The monster mash
And it’s a graveyard smash
It’s now the mash
It’s caught on in a flash
It’s now the mash
It’s now the monster mash
Now everything’s cool, Drac’s a part of the band
And my monster mash is the hit of the land
For you, the living, this mash was meant too
When you get to my door, tell them Boris sent you
Then you can mash
Then you can monster mash
The monster mash
And do my graveyard smash
Then you can mash
You’ll catch on in a flash
Then you can mash
Then you can monster mash
This song is absolutely ancient, but it has always been THE Halloween Song for me, followed by perhaps “Thriller”. So, what’s your favorite Halloween Song? Is it one that I listed, or did I forget the one you would choose as your favorite? I hope you’ll let me know by leaving a comment below.
Hope to see you here next time.

Man About Town

October 25, 2005

Events This Week

Here’s some events this week that weren’t mentioned in my October Upcoming Events blog post a few weeks back.

The King and I – Opening Tuesday night at the Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre with performances at 8pm each night through Friday, shows at 2pm and 8pm on Saturday, October 29th and closing out at 2pm and 7:30pm on Sunday, October 30th. Stephanie Powers stars as the English governess who clashes with the King of Siam (a role made famous by Yul Brynner) in this Rodgers & Hammerstein Broadway musical featuring scores such as “Getting To Know You”, “Shall We Dance?” and “Hello, Young Lovers.” Tickets are priced between $34 and $62 and are available through Ticketmaster locations or by calling 407.839.3900 to charge by phone.

The War of the Worlds – Back in 1938 Orson Welles played one of the most publicized Halloween pranks in history by using H.G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds as a basis for his radio production of a supposed news broadcast of an invasion of the world by Martians. This coming Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 8pm each night, local performers will recreate the broadcast in a live production at Club Swank, 1300 N. Mills Avenue in Orlando. Admission is $10 and you can get more information by calling 407.895.4599.

There’s also the usual Halloween offerings at the theme parks like Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Thursday night through Halloween night, Halloween Spooktacular at Sea World Saturday and Sunday, Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom Thursday through Halloween night.

Professional wrestling comes to Altamonte Springs this Friday night at 7:30pm when Southern Championship Wresting presents a card featuring “The Living Legend” Larry Zybszko, Shark Boy, Tony Mamaluke and more at the Eastmonte Civic Center, 830 Magnolia Drive in Altamonte Springs. Tickets are $12 for adults and $8 for children 12years of age and younger. Call 407.474.4453 for more information.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show – Midnight showings on Friday, Saturday and Sunday and a special Halloween night presentation on Monday at the Loews Universal Cineplex at Universal Studios. It’s the 30th Anniversary of the musical comedy that spawned a cult following of interactive participants that has endured for decades. Brad (Barry Bostwick ) and Janet (Susan Sarandon) find themselves stranded in the mansion of Dr. Frank N. Furter (Tim Curry) with weirdos from the Transylvania galaxy.

Finally, in the “Really Bad Halloween Joke” category I present:

What do skeletons say before eating?

“Bone Appetit”

Hope to see you here next time.

Man About Town
October 26, 2005

City Event Parking Rates Raised

Stately Man About Town Manor came through the outer edges of Wilma unscathed. Winds topped out at about 50mph and the rain was not enough to cause any serious flooding. The most surprising thing was to open my door at about 9am on Monday during the storm and feel how cool it had already become. By 3pm the rain had ceased but the wind, albeit abated, had continued so most of the standing water had evaporated and the temperature kept dropping.

Unfortunately, our fellow state citizens to the south did not fare as well. In the coming days we will be assisting them in their recovery as they assisted us last year after Charley. This has been a rough year as far as hurricanes are concerned; the most active season in recorded history. We still have about 35 days in this year’s season which exhausted all 21 assigned names

Arlene
Bret
Cindy
Dennis
Emily
Franklin
Gert
Harvey
Irene
Jose
Katrina
Lee
Maria
Nate
Ophelia
Philippe
Rita
Stan
Tammy
Vince
Wilma
and caused the first use of the list of Greek names, beginning with “Alpha”. BREAKING NEWS!! There is a depression forming in the Caribbean which could become “Beta” in the coming days.

I was at the Florida Mall around midday today. Man, is that place busy and crowded! I grabbed something from one of the food court vendors for lunch and mentioned to the girl behind the counter how busy it was and she said, “Here’s a word of advice, don’t come here during the holidays unless you’re prepared to spend hours.” No problem there; I make it a policy NOT to go near the malls between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day. What about you? Do you avoid the malls or flock to them during the holidays?

The Orlando City Council voted today to raise parking rates at city events downtown and at the Citrus Bowl. Downtown rates will rise from $5 to $8 and Citrus Bowl parking rates will double to $10. The city’s parking rate scale is now on par with the major theme parks which typically get $8 or $9 for parking. I have tickets for Thursday night’s performance of The King and I at the Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre and I know the hike won’t go into effect for a while but no one, including yours truly, likes to have to pay more for something. However, as much as I may not like it, if I really want to attend an event the parking rate is not going to keep me away. The Council knows this. They know we’ll gripe and complain, but in the end we’ll pay. Same as we do at the theme parks. Same as we do when we pay the “service charge” or “courtesy fee” for tickets from a certain ticket vendor. If it’s something I want to do, I’ll grudgingly pay it.

But that’s me and how I feel about it. How do you feel about it? Will this increase in parking rates at the city lots and garages around the TD Waterhouse Centre and the Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre cause you to pass up an event? Does it anger you enough, or affect your wallet enough, to not attend a concert at Waterhouse or a play at Carr or a Magic game? Let Orlando know what you think by leaving a comment below.

Finally, in the “Really Bad Halloween Joke” category I present:

How do witches keep their hair in place while flying on broomsticks?

With “scare” spray.

Hope to see you here next time.

Man About Town

October 27, 2005

Weekend Of Activities

Friday night it’s Halloween Horror Night at Universal Studios with Amber. We’ve got our tickets and we’re looking forward to being scared to death, or at least laughing ourselves silly as the performers try to scare us. We’ll see. It’s been a while since I’ve been, so I’m looking forward to it.

Saturday, between noon and 4pm, I’m planning on heading to the Orlando Museum of Art to catch the tail end of the M.C. Escher: Rhythm of Illusion exhibition which ends Sunday. I’ve been meaning to go since the exhibition opened back on August 13th, but things kept getting in the way. If you’ve never seen any of Escher’s work up close, you’ll want to drop by and look at the more than 80 prints and drawings from the 1920′s through the 1960′s. Escher is probably most well-known for his precise, mathematical prints, but he also created a variety of other works of art in his lifetime. Admission is $8 for adults, $7 for seniors (55+), college students with ID and groups of 10 or more, $5 for students ages 6-18 and free for children age 5 and younger and OMA Members. The museum is located at 2416 North Mills Avenue at Loch Haven Park in Orlando, Call 407.896.4231 if you need more information.

Saturday evening it’s dinner with some loved ones, but we haven’t decided where we’re going to dine yet. Wherever we end up, it will be a good time as we haven’t seen each other in a while.

Saturday at midnight, Michelle, Rhonda, Cindy and I are going to the midnight showing of The Rocky Horror Picture Show at Loews Universal Cineplex in Universal Studios. Though not the full-blown party event that will be taking place Halloween night, it still should be a great time. “Let’s do the time warp again…”

I’m not going to this event because my dog is too ugly to be helped by ANY costume and…well ok I’ll admit it, he would maul me in my sleep if I tried to dress him up and parade him around his peers and laughing humans. However, for those who enjoy such spectacle (and you know who you are, Nicole) this Sunday is the 6th Annual Pet Costume Contest & Fall Festival of the Dog on the steps of City Hall in Downtown Winter Park, 401 S Park Avenue. Large and Medium pets will have their contest at 11am, Small and Tiny pets at 1pm with Pet Trick-Or-Treating at Noon. There is a $2 entry fee, a raffle, pet activities, pet artists and all proceeds benefit Friends of Fleet Peoples Park and Greyhound Pets of America.

So what’s your weekend look like?

Finally, in the “Really Bad Halloween Joke” category I present:

How do monsters tell their future?

They read their horror-scope.

Hope to see you here next time.

Man About Town

October 29, 2005

Guest Mini NIN Concert Review

Unlike The Great Pumpkin, Man About Town cannot be everywhere at once. There are just too many great things happening in O-Town for MAT to make it to all of them. That was the case this past Tuesday night when Nine Inch Nails appeared in concert at the TD Waterhouse Centre. But, MAT has a friend named Carmen who attended the concert and she is a big fan of the band and Trent Reznor, so I thought I’d post her “Mini-Review” of the concert for your reading enjoyment.

Take it away, Carmen…

The concert was one of the best shows I’ve seen in years. Trent Reznor is amazing. Our seats were awesome. The lighting and effects were outstanding. I danced through almost the entire concert. I could keep going but I will run out of adjectives. They came out at the beginning in complete silhouettes and most of the show consisted of back lighting. This band really wants it to be all about the music. At the end of the last song he threw his guitar into the air – and it was perennial favorite “Head Like a Hole.” I was stunned. They didn’t do an encore but that’s to be expected when you toss your guitar!

Here’s a great time-waster (I should know, I spent way too much time playing it yesterday) that is fun to play. It’s the Halloween version of Hangman, the game where you guess letters in the word and for every time that you’re wrong another body part gets added until the man is complete or you solve the puzzle. This Hangman is a skeleton who talks to you after each letter choice; sometimes egging you on after a bad choice, sometimes grudgingly acknowledging your correct answer. Try not so spend TOO much time playing.

It’s the Halloween season and what’s Halloween without some pumpkins carved into Jack-O-Lanterns? But maybe you’ve never actually carved a pumpkin or you need some pointers and brush-up tips, so some kind folks on the INternet h ave posted “How To Carve A Pumpkin Like A Pro”. The virtual carver takes you step-by-step through the process; what tools you’ll need, templates, styles, etc. Drop by and get some practice before you tackle the real thing. Let me know how you do by leaving a comment below.

Finally, in the “Really Bad Halloween Joke” category I present:

Why do male ghosts have so much trouble dating?

Women can see right through them.

Hope to see you here next time.

Man About Town

November 1, 2005

Upcoming November Events – Part I

It’s obvious we’re approaching the busy holiday season and November proves it with a full slate of events in the Central Florida area.

Basketball – Orlando Magic versus Indiana Pacers

The month kicks off on the 2nd with the regular NBA season opener and the first of seven games that the Orlando Magic play at home during November when they face off against the Indiana Pacers in a game that will pack the TD Waterhouse Centre. Pre-game activities begin at 6pm and the first 15,000 fans in the arena will receive Thunderstix courtesy of Pepsi. Miss America 2004, Erica Dunlap, will perform the National Anthem, which is sure to blow the roof off the O-rena. Then the UCF Marching Knights Band will perform a special player introduction and the Maitland Little League Baseball Team will be honored in a special presentation on the court during in the first quarter of the game. Halftime will feature a special performance by Criss Angel Mindfreak as he performs his Houdini-like escape from a straight-jacket while suspended from the rafters of the Waterhouse Centre. Come on out and watch the Magic score their first win of the regular season against the Pacers at 7pm. Tickets are still available and priced from $10 to $170 and you can get more info by calling 407.849.2020 or 407.839.3900. Remaining games at home in the month of November are: November 4th versus Memphis at 7pm, November 13th versus Cleveland at 6pm, November 15th versus Charlotte at 7pm, November 19th versus New Orleans/Oklahoma City at 7pm, November 23rd versus the Wizards at 7pm, November 25th versus Portland at 7pm and November 26th versus Miami at 7pm.

1st Thursday – Day of the Dead: An Aztec Celebration

The Orlando Museum of Art presents their 1st Thursday event for the month of November with an exhibition entitled “Day of the Dead: An Aztec Celebration” on November 3rd from 6 to 9pm featuring works by artists as they explore ancient cultures and traditions in the Latin American holiday Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). You can also watch “Frida”, the biographical film of the great Mexican painter (portrayed by Salma Hayek) and mingle with a Frida Kahlo impersonator, as well as enjoying the music of Latin guitarist Guillermo Serpas. There’s also food from Tijuana Flats, beer from The Shipyard Brewing Company and wine selections from Premier Beverage Co. at the cash bars. Admission is free for OMA members and $9 for non-members. Parking is free at Loch Haven Park and $2 per vehicle at the overflow parking in the Science Center’s garage with complimentary shuttle transportation. Call 407.896.4231 for more information.
3 Doors Down in concert at TD Waterhouse

Alternative rock band 3 Doors Down performs at the TD Waterhouse Centre on Thursday, November 3rd with opening acts Shinedown and Alterbridge at 8pm. Since their debut in 2000, this multi-platinum, Grammy nominated band has enjoyed six number one singles and sold over 12 million albums. Their latest release, Seventeen Days, debuted at number one on the Billboard Album Charts the same week of release.Ticket prices range from $28.50 to $40.00 and you can get more information by calling 407.351.5483 or 407.839.3900.
Ice Hockey – Florida Seals versus Fayetteville Fire Antz

Ice Hockey in Florida?? You betcha! The Orlando Solar Bears may be gone, but we have The Florida Seals to give us action on the ice. On November 3rd they face off against the Fayetteville Fire Antz in the Silver Spurs Arena in Kissimmee at 7:35pm. The Arena is located at 1875 Silver Spur Lane in Kissimmee. Ticket prices are $10 for the end zone, $13 for corners, $18 for sidelines and $25 for seats behind the glass. You can call 407.343.7825 or 407.67.RODEO for more info. Remaining games at home in the month of November are: November 4th versus Knoxville at 7:30pm, November 6th versus PD at 6:05pm, November 10th versus Fayetteville at 7:35pm, November 17th versus Knoxville at 7:35pm, November 18th versus Jacksonville at 7:35pm, November 19th versus Jacksonville at 7:35pm and November 26th versus Colorado at 7:35pm.
The Mall at Millenia’s First Friday – The Buzzcatz

The Mall at Millenia has been staging First Friday Events for over a year and they just keep getting better. This Friday, November 4th, shoppers and guests can get into the “swing” of the season at the Main Entrance/Food Court area with The Buzzcatz, an eight-piece band with a full horn section that perform a danceable mix of classic swing, soul, jazz, blues, and rock and roll. Members of the band have played with Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Billy Joel, Barbara Streisand, Harry Connick Jr., The Temptations, The Four Tops, Natalie Cole, Dwight Yoakam and Brian Setzer, to name just a few. The Buzzcatz take the audience on a musical journey from Sinatra and Louie Armstrong to The Stones & The Commodores, keeping the dance floor packed all evening long. While enjoying the live performances, guests can purchase food and drinks from upscale food court vendors and the event will also feature informal modeling by Lisa Maile Image Modeling and Acting. The Mall at Millenia is located at the Interstate 4 interchange at Conroy Road (Exit 78) and the free First Friday event takes place from 5 to 8pm. Call 407.363.3555 for more information.

19th Annual AIA Orlando Powwow

The American Indian Association of Florida presents the 19th Annual AIA Orlando Powwow at the Central Florida Fairgrounds November 4th through November 6th. Friday from 10am to 1pm is Kid’s Day and from noon to 10pm is for the general public, as is Saturday from 10am to 10pm and Sunday from 10am to 5pm. The Powwow is a celebration of Native American culture, presenting Native American music, dance, food, storytelling, crafts and more. Admission is $15 for a 3-day pass or $6 for adults, $5 for active and retired military with ID, $4 for students with ID and $3 for children and seniors. Call 407.327.8207 for more information.

Poe

As a run-up to Halloween, Orlando’s Theatre Downtown presented this mesmerizing, dark and eerie play to packed houses. By popular demand, they have extended its run for two more nights; November 4th and 5th, at 8pm each night. Theatre Downtown is located at 2113 N. Orange Avenue in downtown Orlando and tickets are priced at $18 for adults and $15 for students and seniors. You can call 407.841.0083 for more information.
1st Saturday at OMA

The Orlando Museum of Art continues a unique family-oriented program on Saturday, November 5th called 1st Saturday. It’s a fun, affordable opportunity for families with young children to explore art, music, stories and other activities together. The event occurs from 10:00am to Noon, before the Museum opens to the general public, and only costs $5.00 per family. The program is geared to children ages 3-5, but has activities for older children as well. This 1st Saturday program is themed Ancient Americas in connection with the Orlando Museum of Art’s special exhibition Aztec to Zapotec. Planned activities will explore shape, pattern and rhythm in connection with the museum’s exhibits. It’s a great way to instill a love of art in your children.

Parrots in the Park

Parrot owners and lovers flock to Downtown Orlando Farmers Market on Saturday, November 5th for Parrots in the Park. It’s a great opportunity for parrot owners and exotic bird lovers to meet, mingle and discuss their aviary interests. You can also see some of the most beautiful, intriguing and magnificent birds in the area. The gathering is from 11:00am until 2:00pm at Heritage Square, located just in front of the Orange County Regional History Center on Central in Downtown Orlando.
34th Annual Fall Fiesta in the Park

Want to take care of all your holiday and gift shopping in a one-stop location? Then the 34th Annual Fall Fiesta in the Park is the place to be on Saturday, November 5th and Sunday November 6th from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm where more than 600 artists working in diverse mediums such as wax (I recommend a certain candlemaker whose booth will be on Central Boulevard), ceramics, jewelry, glass, painting, graphics, wood, and sculpture will display their works for purchase. Fiesta in the Park is held at Lake Eola in downtown Orlando and will feature, in addition to the artisans and their works, a food court, live music by local performers at the Walt Disney Amphitheater and a children’s play area, Last year more than 150,000 people attended the Fiesta. Admission is FREE and you can call 407.246.2827 or 407.649.3152 for more information.
The Great Orlando Rotary Air Show
Aerobatic flying, vintage aircraft, airplane rides and more are part of the 2 day Great Orlando Rotary Air Show at the Orlando Executive Airport, located at 501 Herndon Avenue (just off Colonial Drive) on Saturday, November 5th and Sunday November 6th from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. There will be air shows with stunt flying, a WWI reenactment, aviation entertainment and vendors. Admission is $12 in advance, $15 at the gate and you can call 321.228.9415 for more information.
Loch Haven Family Day

Loch Haven Family Day Birds of Prey Demonstration and Family Origami Workshop: The Audubon Center Birds of Prey will feature four birds of prey, including a bald eagle. The program highlights raptors in Florida, their importance to the environment and our connection to nature. The Birds will be on the Museum grounds at 11am and there is no charge. The Japanese folk art of Origami or paper folding is the creation of beauty from a single sheet of paper and begins at 2pm. Let creativity reign as you fashion 10 colorful birds that can decorate your holiday tree. All materials supplied for a $10.00 fee. Class size is limited to 25 and reservations are encouraged. Call 407.246.4278 Extension 102 for more information.
UCF Football Homecoming – Golden Knights versus Houston Cougars

The UCF Golden Knights play in their Homecoming Game against the University of Houston Cougars at the Citrus Bowl on Saturday November 5th with a 6pm kickoff. Tickets are still available for $19.50 and $26.75 by calling 407.839.3900. Have fun, be careful at the tailgate parties and cheer on the Golden Knights to a Homecoming victory over their Mid-American Conference rivals.
Lake Mary-Heathrow Festival of the Arts

Saturday, November 5th and Sunday November 6th will see the celebration of the 19th Annual Lake Mary Heathrow Festival of the Arts, featuring over 200 juried artists, as well as art displays from Seminole COunty school students. Participating artisans will offer a wide array of original artwork and handcrafted items for display and purchase. There will be FREE outdoor Jazz COncerts from Planet 9 on Friday evening at 7:30pm and Paul Howards on Saturday at 7:00pm, as well as fine food and various other entertainment offerings. The festival is held each day from 9am to 5pm and admission is FREE! The festival is being held in the Colonial TownPark Shopping District, which is off Interstate 4 Exit #51A; then turn left onto westbound 46A (H.E. Thomas) and Colonial TownPark is on the right. Call 407.444.0484 for more info .

Whew! That’s only the first week!! We’ll pick up the rest of the month’s events tomorrow in Part II.

Hope to see you here next time.

Man About Town

November 3, 2005

Upcoming November Events – Part II

Well, scheduling problems forced the posting of part II to be delayed until today. There’s still so many events taking place in November that it will require at least a third day of posting to cover them all.
Branford Marsalis & Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra

Branford Marsalis, former musical director for The Tonight Show Band and the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra will perform a benefit concert on Wednesday, November 9th at 7pm at the Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre, 401 W. Livingston Street, in downtown Orlando. All proceeds from the concert will benefit Habitat for Humanity and the Hurricane Katrina Musicians Relief Fund. Tickets are $25, $45 and $75 and you can order tickets and get more information by calling 407.839.3900 or 407.770.0071. You can enjoy some wonderful music and support this worthy cause as well.

Bill Maher – Live

Comedic, controversial and never at a loss for words, Bill Maher appears live on stage at the Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre, 401 W. Livingston Street, in downtown Orlando on Thursday, November 10th at 7:30pm. Tickets are $36 and $46 and you can order tickets and get more information by calling 407.839.3900 or 407.849.2020.
Sanford’s Veterans Day Parade & Remembrance Ceremony

The City of Sanford will honor veterans that have given their lives and those that continue to serve when The Seminole County Area Veteran’s Advisory Council and the City of Sanford present Sanford’s Veterans Day Parade & Remembrance Ceremony on Friday, November 11, 2005 in Historic Downtown Sanford. The parade begins at 10am, followed by a ceremony at Memorial Park at 11am. The parade and ceremony are free and lunch will be served at 12pm with a $5 charge for non-participants. Call 407.330.5697 for more information.
Great Outdoor Fest – Kissimmee
Kissimmee’s Great Outdoor Fest is a three-day, action packed festival that includes daily concerts by headline entertainers, fishing, hunting and outdoor recreation vendors, wildlife artists, conservation and environmental exhibits, a boat show, casting competitions, a kid’s fishing derby, cardboard boat races and more, held at Osceola Heritage Park Friday, Saturday and Sunday, November 11-13. Over at the Silver Spurs Arena, light rock band America will be in concert on Friday night at 7pm and country singer Neal McCoy will perform on Sunday at 5pm. Admission and concert events at this family-friendly festival are free (say THAT 5 time real fast!) and you can get more information by calling 407.933.0870.
13th Annual Lakeridge Winery Holiday Open House

I was at the Summer Open House and it was enjoyable and educational. The Holiday Open House on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, November 11-13 features arts & crafts, live jazz music, tours & wine tasting. Food & beverages are available for purchase. Friday and Saturday hours are 10am to 5pm and Sunday 11am to 5pm and all events are free. The Lakeridge Winery is located on U.S. Hwy. 27, 3 miles south of Florida’s Turnpike Exit 285 and 6 miles north of Clermont. Approximately 25 miles west of Orlando via Hwy. 50, and 30 miles north of Walt Disney World ® via U.S. 27. For more information call 352.394.8627.

6th Annual Orlando Veterans Day Parade

The City of Orlando salutes our veterans who live in the Greater Orlando area as well as acknowledge and support the many active duty military units present in our community by hosting this Veterans Day Parade in downtown Orlando on Saturday November 12th from 10am to noon. The Parade Route begins on Orange Avenue at Amelia Street and proceeds south to Central Boulevard, east on Central Boulevard to Rosalind Avenue, north on Rosalind Avenue to Livingston Street. Get there early and get a good spot along the route to view the parade. Call 407.246.3095 for more information on this free event.
David Lee Roth – Hard Rock Live

He’s still “Just A Gigolo” who’s ready to “Jump”. Of course it’s David Lee Roth, who is in concert at the Hard Rock Live on Saturday, November 12th at 8pm. Roth will perform hits from his days with rock group Van Halen and his solo chartbusters from the 1990′s. Tickets to see Diamond Dave are $27.50 for floor admission and $35 for reserved balcony and you can call 407.839.3900 or 407.351.5483 for more information.
19th Annual Festival of Trees

Festive sights and sounds abound at the 19th Annual Festival of Trees, Saturday, November 12th through Sunday, November 20th when the Orlando Museum of Art is transformed into a glittering holiday wonderland where trees and festive decorations delight visitors of all ages. A collection of 50 large trees, full-scale holiday vignettes and tablescapes, all decorated by local designers, make up this year’s centerpiece. Decorated wreaths and smaller trees are displayed in the Deck the Halls area and local culinary artists exhibit their talents in the Gingerbread Village. Every tree, wreath and gingerbread house is available for purchase. Children especially will enjoy Toyland Town, where they can make crafts, email Santa at the town post office and purchase gifts for family and friends at child-sized prices. Several special events are held during the nine-day Festival of Trees. An elegant opening party, Patron’s Gala, is scheduled for Friday, November 11th. Children can enjoy an evening to themselves at Reindeer Romp on Wednesday, November 16th and the Holiday Jazz Stroll takes place on Friday, November 18th. General admission to the Festival of Trees is $8.00 for adults, $6.00 for OMA Members and $5.00 for children from 10:00am to 5:00pm. Seniors receive $1.00 off admission on Seniors’ Day, Tuesday, November 15, 2005. Parking is $3.00. If you need more information, call 407.896.4231.
Orlando Reptile Show

The name says it all. On Saturday and Sunday, November 12-13th, reptiles will rule at the Orange County Convention Center. World Herp Expos presents the Orlando Reptile Show from 10am to 5pm each day. Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for ages 10 and under and parking will run you $5. Call 321.697.3333 for more information.
10th Anniversary ABC Super Soap Weekend

I don’t watch soaps, but if I did I’d be at this event soaking up the best of our weekday afternoon’s little morality plays. More than 30 actors and actresses from ABC daytime dramas will be at Disney-MGM Studios for the 10th Diamond Anniversary ABC Super Soap Weekend on Saturday and Sunday, November 12-13th. Fans will have the opportunity to meet their favorite stars from shows like All My Children, One Life to Live and General Hospital. Other events include celebrity motorcades, autograph sessions, star conversations, talk shows, a special soap opera edition of the Who Wants To Be A Millionaire-Play It! game show attraction and the chance to purchase one-of-a-kind memorabilia from each of the shows. There will also be live musical performances by cast members in the Colgate Total Street Jam concert. The 10th Anniversary ABC Super Soap Weekend, held each day from 9am to 8pm, is included with theme park admission to Disney-MGM Studios, which is $53.75 for ages 10 and up, and $43.20 for ages 3 to 9. Call the Super Soap Hotline at 407.397.6808 for more information.
7th Annual Orlando Beer Festival

Homer Simpson has found his heaven at Universal’s CityWalk where this year more than 100 beers from large and small brewers will be available at the 7th Annual Orlando Beer Festival on Saturday, November 12th from 5pm to 11pm and Sunday, November 13th from 4pm to 9pm. In addition to almost every kind of beer imaginable, there will also be live entertainment and a multitude of food offerings to enjoy with your favorite brew. Ticket’s for Saturday’s event are $30.95 in advance and $37.95 on the day of the event, while Sunday’s ticket prices are $22.95 in advance and $29.95 on the day of the event. Special VIP tickets, which include access to the three private food and beverage areas of the event, will be available for an additional $20. Tickets are available through www.citywalkorlando.com or www.ticketmaster.com or by calling 407.224.5500 or 407.839.3900.
An Herbal Holiday

Everything you wanted to know about herbs, but were afraid to ask, can be found at An Herbal Holiday presented by the The Herb Society of Central Florida on Sunday, November 13th from 11am to 3pm at the Leu Gardens Garden House. There will be several presentations and seminars on using herbs for the holidays, various related vendors, a plant sale and a silent auction. Admission is free and you can call 407.648.9814 for more information
Ok, I hope to wrap this month up tomorrow, if I can squeeze in everything.
Hope to see you here next time.

Man About Town

November 4, 2005

Upcoming November Events – Part III

Today I’ll wrap up the listing of November events…finally! I have a feeling that next month will be filled with even more entertainment and events, but we’ll concentrate on finishing up November right now.

Popcorn Flicks in Central Park – “Roman Holiday”

The City of Winter Park presents Popcorn Flicks in Central Park on Thursday, November 17th with the free showing of “Roman Holiday”, an Oscar winning movie starring Audrey Hepburn as a runaway princess in this romantic comedy co-starring Gregory Peck that was shot entirely on location in Rome. Bring the whole family for an evening of film-going fun. The movie begins at 7pm, it’s free and you can call 407.629.0054 if you need more info.

Battle of the Bands

Local music acts vie for the top prize in the Battle of the Bands at the TD Waterhouse Centre on Friday, November 18th at 7pm. Tickets are $12 in advance and $15 at the door. Call 407.849.202 for more information.

Moonlight History Stroll through Greenwood Cemetery

A Moonlit Historical Stroll through Greenwood Cemetery, 1603 Greenwood Street, will take place on November 18, 2005 from 9 to 11pm The walk is approximately 3 miles within the 100-acre cemetery and will briefly visit about 100 graves of notable individuals in Orlando’s history. This tour is limited to 50 people and reservations are required. Please call 407.246.2616 for more information or to reserve your spot.
2005 Florida Classic – Bethune-Cookman vs. Florida A&M

The Walt Disney World Florida Classic celebrates its 26th anniversary when it brings the annual college football rivalry between the Bethune-Cookman College Wildcats and the Florida A&M University Rattlers to the Florida Citrus Bowl on November 19th, at 3:30pm. Tickets are priced at $35 and $40 but students of the competing schools are eligible to receive discounted tickets through their schools. Call 407.849.2020 or 407.839.3900 for more info.
Autumn at Avalon

This annual fall Arts and Crafts Festival in East Orlando features live music, delicious food and loads of family fun on Saturday and Sunday, November 19 – 20th from 10am to 5pm each day. Admission is free. Visit www.avalonpark.com or call 407.658.6565 for more information.
Gaylord Palms presents ICE!

Almost 5,000 enormous blocks of ice go into creating the magical, wintry, holiday wonderland that comprises in excess of 18,000 square feet indoor space at the Gaylord Palms Hotel in Kissimmee from Saturday, November 19th through Monday, January 2, 2006 from 10am to 9pm each day, including holidays. Scenes such as a heart-warming Victorian home, Santa’s Toyland filled with colored ice toys and a church in the woods are some of the new creations for this year’s ICE presentation. You can enjoy live holiday shows, photos with Santa, a 50 foot Christmas tree and complimentary hot cocoa to take the chill off during your visit. Tickets are $19.99 for adults and $7.99 for children under the age of 12. Call 407.586.0315 for more chilling information.

2nd Annual Downtown O’Town Bluesfest & BBQ

For some great Blues music and some delicious BBQ food, come to Wall Street Plaza in downtown Orlando on Saturday, November 19th, for the 2nd Annual Downtown Orlando Bluesfest. This event features live performances by Little Charlie & the Nightcats, James & Lucky Peterson, Beautiful Bobby Blackmon, Sarasota Slim, Shaun Rounds & The Smokin’ Torpedoes with special guests. This is an all-day family event lasting from 2pm to 10pm and ticket prices are $10.00 for the general public and $5 for Blues Society members. Visit www.smokintorps.com or call 407.849.0471 for more information.
39th Annual Osceola Art Festival

Stroll the streets of Historic downtown Kissimmee during the 39th Annual Osceola Art Festival on Saturday and Sunday, November 19 – 20th from 10am to 5pm each day. There will be displays by local and nationally known artists, student art exhibits and a variety of food offerings from the local downtown restaurants. Admission is free. Visit www.ocfta.com or call 407.846.6257 for more information.

The Wiggles Live

This one is for the kids! The immensely popular Wiggles are Sailing Around the World on a fun-filled, musical romp of entertainment for those pint-sized people. There will be two performances on Monday, November 21st at 3pm and 6:30pm, at the TD Waterhouse Centre in downtown Orlando. Tickets are priced from $15 to $30 and you can get more information by calling 407.849.2020 or 407.839.3900.

Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol”

The Charles Dickens holiday tale, “A Christmas Carol”, comes to the Theatre Downtown stage (located at 2113 N Orange Avenue in downtown Orlando), just in time for the holiday season. Performances are scheduled for November 25th through December 18th. Times are prices have not been announced yet, so you’ll need to visit www.theatredowntown.net or call 407.841.0083 for further information. Don’t be a Scrooge, go see this local stage production of a traditional Christmas classic.

An Evening with Dolly Parton

Dolly Parton comes to the stage at the House of Blues in Downtown Disney on Saturday, November 26th for a one-night appearance. Music entertainer, movie star, theme park owner and dinner theater magnate Dolly Parton brings her unique and talented performance to Orlando for an 8:30pm show. Tickets are $50 in advance and $55 at the door if available. FOr more information, call 407.934.2583 or 407.839.3900.

Jingle Bell Dog Jog Dog Walk

Round up man’s best friend and head for Lake Eola in downtown Orlando to the Jingle Bell Dog Jog Dog Walk fundraiser for Pet Rescue by Judy. The event will be held Sunday, November 27th, at the southeast corner of Lake Eola, near the intersection of Central Blvd and Eola Drive. Come out between 2:30 and 4:30pm and join the fun at this wonderful Pet Parade of Central Florida’s canine pets and their owners. Donation is $20 for 1 pet owner plus 1 dog and you can visit OrlandoUnleashed or call 407.293.1877 for more information

Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party

Walt Disney World’s traditional holiday celebration, Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, takes place on 14 nights in 2005 — Nov. 27 and 29, Dec. 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 9, 11, 13, 15, 16, 18 and 20 from 7pm to midnight each evening. All of those dates will feature delicious food served at locations throughout the park, two performances of Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Parade, holiday storytelling, live music, unique merchandise and exclusive Disney character shows including Mickey’s ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas and Celebrate the Season. New this year is a spectacular fireworks display filled with traditional holiday music. In addition, guests can enjoy unlimited use of popular attractions such as Mickey’s PhilharMagic, Stitch’s Great Escape!,Dumbo the Flying Elephant, Splash Mountain, Pirates of the Caribbean, Peter Pan’s Flight, Space Mountain, Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, Cinderella’s Golden Carousel and many more.
Plus the weather forecast predicts snow falling on Main Street, U.S.A., and guests may even get a greeting from Santa Goofy!
Separate admission to the event is required. Advance tickets are $38.95 plus tax for guests ages 10 and above, $43.95 plus tax on the same day and $29.95 plus tax for guests ages 3-9. (Children under 3 are admitted at no charge.) The advance ticket prices are good only for the Sunday-Thursday dates. For more information, call (407) W-DISNEY or visit www.disneyworld.com
Cyndi Lauper with Jill Sobule

“Girls Just Want To Have Fun” and no one knows it better than Cyndi Lauper. Responsible for such hits as “Time After Time,” “She Bop” and “All Through The Night.” Her latest album “At Last”, in which she sings gorgeous renditions of classic jazz and Motown era standards, is receiving rave reviews. Lauper is known for her incredibly powerful voice and for the dynamic energy she’ll bring to the stage at House of Blues in Downtown Disney on Wednesday, November 30th for her 8:30pm show. Tickets are priced from $25 to $55 and you can call 407.934.2583 or 407.839.3900.

Wow, November is a month just filled with events and there’s something for everyone! I’m sure I’ll be listing a few other events as the month goes by but this list gives you a pretty good idea of what you might want to plan for in November.
Hope to see you here next time.

Man About Town

November 5, 2005

Guest Review of 3 Doors Down Concert

The Man About Town could not make it to the 3 Doors Down concert this past Thursday night, but my good friend Carmen did and she provides this excellent review.

I was beginning to become disheartened with Orlando’s concert scene. Ticket prices have soared and concert performances are abbreviated at best. After last year’s Incubus fiasco, I swore that I would let off the scene for awhile. Then, Shinedown came to town last Xmas. I went to the show at the HOB and was stunned at their work. Lead singer Brent Smith, who looks more like a front man for a Goth band, opened his mouth and wailed like an angel. I was hooked.

Last night I was really looking forward to hearing them play at TD Waterhouse. <sigh> Brent was diagnosed with a blood clots in his arm and in his neck on Wednesday. He’s hospitalized in his home town of Jacksonville for a minimum of 3 to 5 days. Shinedown was obligated to cancel their portion of the venue. Talk about disappointing! And while my sympathies were all in the right place, my selfishness was quite intact, thank you. I really wanted to see them play.

We headed to TD as planned. I am not much of a fan of Alter Bridge (former band members of Creed minus vocalist Scott Stapp). I didn’t care for Stapp and was unimpressed by the last Creed show. Well! What a surprise! Their new vocalist is superb, with an amazing range. Their guitar player is quite the performance artist. I was not familiar with most of their songs except for the few on the airwaves but it certainly looks as if this band has blossomed without Stapp holding them back. They even did a cover of Led Zeppelin’s “Rock & Roll”! I would definitely go see them again and will purchase their CD.

But now . . . here comes 3 Doors Down. Let me mention that it was an abbreviated stage. It was pulled mid-way up the center floor space making a very intimate setting even for the O-rena. Our seats, which were good to begin with, wound up placing us 20 feet away from the band. The stage setting was industrial – with huge turning cogs and wheels that the singer was able to spin at will. Giant holes punctuated the metal ramps on both sides of the stage – all the better to shoot fire out of, my dear! AND a huge screen behind the drummer and on either side of the stage as well. One of the screens placed us 5 feet away from the close-up action.

They opened to showers of sparks emitting from the giant cogs and flames shooting out of the holes on stage. Vocalist Brad Arnold was in fine form as usual – wailing through his songs. His voice, as always, is well trained and the man actually enunciates! Todd Harrell, the basist, looked sexy in his wife beater and put on a very enthusiastic show – dancing around the stage and throwing guitar picks to the fans. Lead guitarists Matt Roberts & Chris Henderson played succinctly with their usual creative flair thrown in. The songs played ran the gamut of all 3 of the band’s CDs. Ever popular “Kryptonite” from “The Better Life” brought the crowd to their feet and that’s where they stayed. We never sat down again. I think they started with “Duck & Run” – not sure, I was too excited! As you mentioned in your Man About Town posting, their new hit CD, “Seventeen Days” provided many songs throughout the show. During the song “Changes” from “Away from the Sun” the gas flames on stage changed colors from blue, to red to purple. We were so close we could feel the heat emanating off them. They closed with my favorite song “Loser”. When they left the stage, no one would leave, no one would stop cheering – the entire audience chanted “We want more!”, until the band graciously came back out (like I knew they would) to perform 2 of their most popular hits, “Here without You” and “When I’m Gone”. For the last song the guitarist broke out his American flag guitar (sweet) and the video screens featured a slide show out our soldiers out in the field. Incredibly touching. At the end of the song, a curtain of sparks pelted the stage behind the musicians.

Man, what a show!!! I can only imagine what it would have been like if Shinedown had been a part of this! I probably would be telling you that it was my favorite show of all time. As it is, I was most impressed. I had a blast – real fun. NIN music can be a bit angst ridden. The message last night was about dealing with the issues that face you and being the best that you can be. And considering how many truly elderly people and parents were attending this show with their children – it is obviously a message to be passed along from generation to generation.

Carmen, thanks for that great review. I felt like I was right there with you. And I’m looking forward to our dinner together.

Did anyone else make it to the concert? If you did, leave a comment below with your impressions of the show. Let Orlando know what you thought of the concert.

Hope to see you here next time.

Man About Town
November 7, 2005

Theater Review: The King and I

People in my life have various interests, some of which I wholeheartedly share and some I do not. I suspect that is a condition that most individuals with a divergent number of people in their social circles or lives can relate to on a personal level. It can be very enjoyable to discuss art with Caroline; legal issues with George; construction with Carsten; the last 50 years of pop culture with Rebecca; professional wrestling with Dave or AnnMarie; books and authors with Kay; camping with Glen; Star Trek with Kirk; etc. etc. etc.

However, I’m a living, growing, changing entity so I also find some amount of enjoyment and personal satisfaction in broadening my horizons by occasionally including some things that I may not have a great deal of interest in, or “mixing mediums”, so to speak, by combining something I like with something that I may not.

Such is the case with musicals. It is a performance medium that has always been one of my least favorites. I enjoy stage performances and I enjoy music, but, unlike chocolate and peanut butter, I do not enjoy the marriage of the two. Someone bursting into song during a moment of comedy, drama or suspense is just too jarringly disconcerting for me. Those are just my own wounded sensibilities and obviously not shared by all, since musicals are popular enough to continue on their sing-songy way.

Which brings us to Cindy. Cindy LOVES musicals, especially those written by Rodgers and Hammerstein. So when I saw that Stefanie Powers would be bringing her traveling production of “The King and I” to the Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre in downtown Orlando a couple of weeks ago, I thought it would be a good opportunity to take someone who appreciates that kind of thing. And at the same time I get to expand my experience and perhaps work toward a new appreciation of some things that could contribute to shaping parts of my life.

On Thursday, October 27th we made our way to the Centre for the 8pm curtain. Here’s a word of advice; don’t go to an event at Carr if there’s a Magic game scheduled. The arena parking lot was full by 7:25pm and we had to park in a satellite lot off of Parramore. We walked at a good, brisk pace and arrived with time to spare, but a closer spot would have been nice at the end of the night. We almost availed ourselves of the bicycle carts that filled Livingston on our trek back to the car, but ultimately decided to walk. And of course, by the time the play was over the arena parking lot was deserted, so we walked past an empty lot to get to the car.

We stepped into the Bob Carr at about 7:45 and the lobby was full of folks milling about with drinks and snacks in their hands. After a quick reconnoiter to see where the best stuff was so that when we came out for the intermission we wouldn’t waste time looking around, we made our way to our seats. When I first went online to check availability, the ticketing agency told me row 27 (more than halfway back) was the closest available. I decided to try in person at one of their many kiosks (the one at Florida Mall) and what a difference! Our seats were great, row “eee”, just up from the orchestra pit. The place was packed, and the empty seat next to Cindy was one of only about 20 that were vacant in the entire audience.

Framing the stage were beautiful Asian brocades and the curtain itself was a silk-like material with oriental designs; appropriate since the “King” in “The King and I” is the King of Siam (now Thailand). It immediately established the decor and flavor of the production and set the tone for the land where the play would be taking place.

I should mention that I have seen the movie, starring the late Yul Brynner in the title role, once when I was younger. I was able to recall the basics of the story; that an English widow comes to Siam to tutor the king’s children (all 60 of them) and clashes with him over various matters, but that was the extent of what I held in memory about the play. Oh, and that Mr. Brynner, in his role (as well as real life) was bald.

The play opens with Anna Leonowens (portrayed by Stefanie Powers) arriving at the port of Siam with her son in order to begin her teaching and governess duties. The ship’s captain is continuing what was obviously an earlier conversation in which he is attempting to convince Ms. Leonowens that adjusting to life under the king of Siam will be difficult and urging her to go back to England with the ship and crew on their return voyage. The Prime Minister and his slaves arrive to transport the widow and her son’s belongings to the castle and an immediate argument ensues because Ms. Leonowens was promised a house adjoining the castle for her and her son. She states that she will honor her end of the contract and that she will speak to the king about his end of the agreement.

Her first meeting with the king (some 3 months later) goes badly with them arguing about her housing and rate of pay and the king finally just walks out of the room. Ms. Leonowens remains because she has come to love the children and will come to love the King. At the heart of this play, it is a story of romance, between an English bred widow and the king of an empire. In a kingdom and culture where women are less than men, she shows him that both are equal and he fascinates her with his inquisitiveness and intelligence. Love, and a meeting of the minds, takes place during their impromptu dance.

Ms. Powers, in the title role, is the weakest link in the chain of characters who sing. She is a beautiful, poised woman with wonderful acting ability and I admire her greatly for her charitable work with wildlife. However, having someone with only average singing talent or skill in the title role of a musical is a bit puzzling. Other than that she portrayed the character in the fullest way possible.

Ronobir Lahiri as the King of Siam proved that someone other than the great Yul Brynner, who will forever be associated with the character, could fill that role. Other than the initial shock of seeing the King being played by a man with hair, Lahiri captured the character’s ego and insecurities and projected them with the same slight under-current of humor and comedy that the late Mr. Brynner did. In short, he was perfect in the role, even down to his “etc. etc. etc.”

The absolute best singing voice and talent of the entire cast belonged to Martin Sola who portrays Lun Tha, the secret boyfriend of Tuptim, the princess of Burma. His voice was truly beautiful and expressed the love he was describing for the princess who could not be his because she had been promised to the King. The Princess herself, portrayed by Nita Baxani and Lady Thiang, portrayed b y Catherine MiEun Choi (one of the many wives of the King), were tied for second place in their singing abilities, with both possessing almost operatic quality voices and range.

Overall, the play and performances were excellent and entertaining. The sets and lighting captured the atmosphere of an Asian empire coming of age during 1862 while Lahiri‘s performance captured that same coming of age within the life of a King who wants his empire and, more importantly his people, to be a part of the world at large.

It was an excellent evening, this “night at the theater”, and in spite of it being a musical, I found it enjoyable, as was the company I spent it with. I think seeing Cindy enjoy it so much added to my meager appreciation of the art form. And that’s part of what I meant earlier about broadening those horizons and life experiences.

Hope to see you here next time.

Man About Town
November 8, 2005

Halloween Horror Nights with Amber

Do you like to be scared? Some people do; I guess it’s the adrenaline rush. Like jumping out of an airplane or riding a huge rollercoaster. If you enjoy being scared, especially by ghouls, goblins, the undead and such, then Universal Studios provides a safe way to do so every year during Halloween Horror Nights. And if you’re like me and those things aren’t on the list of stuff that scares you, well you can still have fun watching other people get scared.

So, Friday night, October 28th Amber and I arrived at Universal Studios about 8pm and made our way to Halloween Horror Nights over at the Islands of Adventure section of the park. It was a lot of fun going with Amber because she’s not one of those screaming, scared girly-girls. Those are the kind that attract the performers, and you can see them chase that kind of person down, making them scream and shriek. Amber walks through the Scare Zones and Haunted Houses with confidence and reacts by smiling and saying “Hi” when someone tries to scare her. It really messes up their day, lol.

We entered just in time to see the Terra-Guards, minions of the “Queen of the Damned” torturing some poor soul as flames leaped around him and the demons cackled in glee. The “Amazon” girls on stilts were almost mesmerizing to watch as they walked about, herding the people out of the way as the Queen made her exit on a Harley through the crowd.

Our visit was off to a good start. Over the next 5 hours we managed to walk through almost all of the Scare Zones twice and all of the Haunted Houses. Of the houses, my favorites were Terror Mines and Body Collectors. I liked Demon Cantina (would have been my favorite if Salma Hayek, or even her look-a-like, had shown up) because I’m a fan of “From Dusk Till Dawn”, but it wasn’t quite enough like it to make it a favorite for me. The sad thing was that the wait to get into each Haunted House was many times longer than it took to actually walk through the houses.

The best attraction, though, was the debut of the new “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Halloween Adventure”, the annual stage show which parodies famous icons in popular culture. We got to see the Fantastic Four (well, three actually, since the Invisible Girl was…well, invisible) Batman, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Daisy Duke, Darth Vader, Zorro, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Lil Kim, and a score of other media celebrities, in a loosely plotted story of The Emperor from Star Wars attempting to turn Bill to the Dark Side of the Force. It was a very amusing production with well choreographed fights, lip syncing and enough inside jokes and snide remarks to keep you laughing long after the show was over.

By the time we left at 1am, we were tired but happy. We had a fun time, got to see every part of the attraction and laughed and joked our way through the Haunted Houses.

Did you go to HHN this year? How did you think it compared to previous years? Was it scary for you, or more amusing to watch the people who were scared? Let Orlando know by leaving a comment below.

Hope to see you here next time.

Man About Town

November 9, 2005

M. C. Escher Exhibit at OMA

“There has to be a certain enigma in it, which does not immediately catch the eye” – M. C. Escher

In art, perspective, whether that of the artist or that of the viewer, is paramount to understanding and appreciating the work. If we, as viewers, know nothing about the artist whose work we are looking at, then we try to discern something about them and the piece we are viewing from the work; some clue or clues that will guide us in familiarizing ourselves with the artist, his work and subject matter. But we also bring our own perspective, in the form of experience, memories, emotions and overall perception, to the viewing occasion. It is always a shared experience, yet one that is unique to each of us.

Recently, the Orlando Museum of Art concluded an exhibit run of approximately 80 pieces of work from the late M. C. Escher (1898-1972) and on Saturday, October 29th I availed myself of the opportunity to view this collection of work that spans the two broad periods of Escher’s mature work. During the first period, from 1924-1935, Escher resided in Italy and created prints and drawings of the Italian landscapes he observed. The second period, 1935-1969, took place after Escher moved from Italy and his work began exhibiting the definite influence of his inward imagination. During this 34 year span, he created the larger body of purely imaginative, yet precise, works for which he is most well known today. Together they comprise the exhibit entitled, “M. C. Escher: Rhythm of Illusion”.

Maurits Cornelis Escher was born in Leeuwarden, Netherlands, the youngest son of a civil engineer. Like Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci, Escher was left-handed. After finishing school, he traveled extensively through Italy, where he met his wife Jetta Umiker, and they were married in 1924. They settled in Rome, where they lived until 1935. In 1935, Escher and Jetta decided to leave Italy to escape the political turmoil of Fascism. Between 1935 and 1941, they lived in Switzerland and Belgium. After the German army invaded Belgium in 1940, they returned to Holland, where Escher spent the remainder of his life.

The exhibit at OMA occupied 3 of the smaller galleries in the museum and allowed the good-sized crowd of visitors to move freely, yet courteously, through the chronologically arranged showing. Though his earlier works (mostly landscapes) are well represented, the bulk of the exhibit was made up of his later, more fantastical, creations. In those works, he experimented with architecture, perspective and impossible spaces, thus imbuing each piece with the “enigma” he felt was required to be present.

I spent about an hour leisurely strolling through the exhibit and then back again. Escher’s work can be quite engrossing on its own, but the museum was also softly playing a very “otherworldly” compilation of instrumental music through the speaker system in the galleries, which truly added to the atmosphere of the artwork. This “musical soundscape” was created by composer and UCF professor of music Stella Sung and sound designer David Wallace. Sung calls the music, which was created using computer and digital technology, “Immersive Ambiance” and Wallace incorporated a minimalist approach to the music in order to encompass the exhibit viewer in “a textural sonic experience”. I liked the music so much, I purchased the CD at the gift shop on my way out.

Escher’s work, particularly the later work, is intriguing. You can approach a piece and think you see all the artist intended, but then as you draw closer you see aspects that were not visible when viewing the piece from afar. Sometimes, if you step back again, you can still see the aspects you saw upon closer inspection, but sometimes you cannot; those aspects disappear in the totality of the view. Before I left the galleries, I found a seat and just sat and contemplated the pieces around me, the music playing and the people who were filing past me as they each experienced their own special perspective of Escher’s artistic creations.

I found my tour of “M. C. Escher: Rhythm of Illusion” at OMA to be refreshing and restorative. It was an extremely enjoyable, peaceful and introspective experience that was soothing to my spirit and pleasing to the artist within me.

Hope to see you here next time.

Man About Town
November 10, 2005

Rocky Horror Picture Show – Universal Studios

This year marks the 30th Anniversary of the release of a movie that, in all probability, can claim the longest running “cult-like following” of any movie in history; The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Orlando has had a troupe of performers, The Rich Weirdoes, acting out the movie (shadowcasting) at local midnight showings for the past 3 years every 2nd and 4th weekend at the Loews Cineplex Theatre at Universal CityWalk. In a very fortuitous aligning of the planets with the Gregorian calendar, the 4th weekend of the month of October was the weekend preceding Halloween.

So, at the gracious invitation of Michelle and Rhonda to join them on Saturday night, October 29th, Jeremy, Nicole, Cindy and I met up with Michelle, Rhonda and their friend Rashal around 11pm in front of the theater to partake of the whimsy that is known as The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

We had to stand in line for about 45 minutes while ushers “cleaned” the theater. Funny thing was when we got in it was majorly trashed; empty drink cups, wrappers on the floor, spilled soft drink on the floor. I think the cast was just doing some last-minute rehearsing and no one wanted to tell us that.

Now, I’ve been to my share of Star Wars, Star Trek and Comic Book conventions; enough to see just about everything possible when it comes to fan behavior. Rocky Horror Picture Show fans are just as “out there” as any of the above. Several of them dressed up in movie-themed costumes, either for the pre-movie costume contest or just because they like looking the part of their favorite character. Everyone was courteous and friendly and, snide remarks aside, it was nice to see people enjoying themselves and having fun.

Silly me, I thought the movie and shadowcasting would start at midnight when they let us in the (uncleaned) theater. But no, there were two opening bands, games, a costume contest and all manner of riotous fun and frivolity. Michelle and Rhonda, who had been to these parties before, were kind enough to warn the rest of us who had not about certain things, like not acknowledging that this was our first time unless we wanted to be dragged to the front of the theater and forced to play in some potentially embarrassing games. After seeing the game, I was grateful for the warning. Then there were some last minute instructions from the emcee about behavior in the audience (no sex, no fires and no throwing of anything wet) and a brief explanation of what first-time viewers (like me) could expect, it was on with the show.

Other than sometimes not being able to hear the actual dialog on the screen because shadowcast members or members of the audience were shouting out their own replacements or additions to the script, I found the experience to be a riot. Rashal and Nicole also seemed to get into it (especially dancing to “Let’s do the time warp again”, something I passed on performing) but Cindy and Jeremy found it not to be the kind of humor they could appreciate.

The Rich Weirdoes (so named because of a line in the movie, NOT because they’re rich or…wait a minute, they ARE weird, but in a lovable sort of way) put on an excellent show and if you’re ever in the mood for something different, then The Rocky Horror Picture Show performance on the 2nd and 4th weekends of the month might be just the place to go get your weird take filled.

And…on the 1st weekend of the month they perform Moulin Rouge in the same location. Hanni e-mailed a few days ago and it looks like a bunch of us might be attending that show on the first weekend in December.

Have you ever been to the Rocky Horror Picture Show? If you have, I hope you’ll leave a comment below with your impressions of the evening.

Hope to see you here next time.

Man About Town
November 11, 2005

30th Annual Festival of the Masters – Downtown Disney

“More Art Than You Can Shake a Brush At”

Today, Saturday and Sunday, Downtown Disney hosts the 30th Annual Festival of the Masters, a living gallery of the masterpieces of today’s top artists. This year’s Festival of the Masters features the works of over 200 artists in the mediums of painting, photography, glass works, sculpture, printmaking, drawing, jewelry and, for the first time, digital art. All participants must be a primary award winner (1st, 2nd or 3rd place) in a juried art show/festival/fair during the last three years in order to qualify for inclusion in the Festival, thus the “Masters” part of the name.

In addition to the works of art on exhibit, Live entertainment and children’s activities also are a part of the weekend-long event. Festival guests can also experience culinary offerings and dance to live music. Pleasure Island will feature live bands on the West End and Hub Stages and at the Virgin Megastore stage where my friend Jann and The Jann Childers Project will be performing on Sunday afternoon at 3pm.

Kirk and I met up at Downtown Disney this morning to view the exhibits and enjoy the Festival before it became really, really crowded. Our busy schedules have kept us from getting together as often as we would like, so this was an enjoyable way to catch up on each other’s lives and happenings while practicing a little art appreciation.

I got there at 9:30 but Kirk had arrived at 9 and was reading a book while waiting for the opening and for me. We started at the displays near Planet Hollywood and worked our way around, going through the streets of Downtown Disney, over to the south of House of Blues, up along the lake’s edge. There we stopped and got a pretzel and a strawberry smoothie-type drink which we consumed while sitting at an umbrella covered table talking real estate, layman’s philosophy and the eternal question, “Why are women the way they are?” After concluding we did not have time to pursue that burning interrogative, we walked a little bit more and then met up with friends of his, Karen and Dale from Tampa, who had come to O-Town to visit and meet Kirk for lunch. The four of us hiked over to the local high school exhibits on the far side of Pleasure Island, then split up to go our separate ways for some midday sustenance.

It goes without saying that, since this is a Festival of the Masters, that the artwork is top-notch. And as the old saying goes, “Art is in the eye of the beholder” so not everything I saw today would be something I would consider “art”, but I can readily acknowledge that whatever someone creates with their own hands and talent and skill is an artistic expression that is singular and unique to that person’s perspective. So while I may not recognize it as “art”, I respect that, to the creator, it IS art and accept it on that basis.

The show continues Saturday and Sunday, so I would encourage all who have an appreciation for art to head to Downtown Disney over the weekend and see the award-winning works of art on display.

But there’s a whole lot more going on during the Festival besides exhibits of art. From Disney’s press release, here’s the rundown of all the other activities taking place:

House of Blues Folk Art Festival. Seventh annual “Where the Art Meets the Soul” festival features 45 local and national folk artists, live music, children’s activities and a silent auction benefiting the International House of Blues Foundation.

Performance Artists. In two shows, Disney Fine Art Group artists Trevor Carlton and Stephen Reis create original masterpieces. During their performances, the duo transforms a blank canvas into a work of art in about 30 minutes, taking inspiration from and painting in time to music. Shows are 10 a.m. Friday and 1 p.m. Saturday in front of Virgin Megastore. Both paintings will be up for silent auction with bidding closing at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday.

Central Florida Chalk Artists Association. More than 6,000 square feet of sidewalk becomes the canvas for more than 50 chalk artists at Downtown Disney Marketplace. Kids can also create their own chalk art.

Children’s Activities. Artists teach children how to draw some of their favorite Disney characters at DisneyQuest Animation Academy at the West Side and Marketplace. Families can enjoy other art-related activities hosted by Cirque du Soleil La Nouba, Planet Hollywood, LEGO Imagination Center, Fulton’s Crab House, Portobello Yacht Club, Ghirardelli Soda Fountain & Chocolate Shop and Disney Family Fun magazine at locations throughout Downtown Disney. Kids can also get down to the groove at a special DJ Dance Party at the Marketplace Dock Stage each afternoon of the festival.

Student Art Exhibition. Students from five area high schools will exhibit their works. Participating high schools are Apopka, Freedom, University, Olympia and Oak Ridge.

Additional Live Entertainment. Musical performances throughout the weekend take place at Virgin Megastore, Bongos Cuban Cafe, House of Blues and Pleasure Island. There are also live appearances by performers from Cirque du Soliel La Nouba.

Judging this year’s Festival of the Masters entries are: David A. Edgar, a sculptor who administers the Master of Arts in arts administration program at the University of North Carolina in Charlotte; Marcia Goldstein, a painter and mixed media artist who is also a Professor of Art at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville; Richard Stout, a painter, printmaker and sculptor with more than 35 years of one-person exhibitions to his credit, and a former professor of Fine Arts at the University of Houston.

Hours for Festival of the Masters are 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. daily, Nov. 11-13. There is no charge for admission or parking. For more information, call 407.824.4321 or visit disneyworld.com/art.

Hope to see you here next time.

Man About Town
November 12, 2005

Orlando Veterans Day Parade

Veterans Day was originally known as Armistice Day and is celebrated on November 11th because all major hostilities of World War I were formally ended at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918 with the German signing of the Armistice. Armistice Day was first commemorated the following year by President Wilson in 1919, and many states made it a legal holiday. Congress made it a legal holiday nationwide in 1938 and the holiday has been observed annually on November 11 since that date.

Following World War II, the name of the holiday was changed (enacted June 1,1954) to Veterans Day to honor those who served in all American wars. The day has since evolved as a time for honoring living veterans who have served in the military during wartime or peacetime, partially due to the observation of Memorial Day, which primarily honors the dead.

There are an estimated 25 million veterans in the United States

Saturday, the City of Orlando honored the men and women who actively serve or have served in the armed forces of our country by holding the 6th annual Veterans Day Parade through downtown Orlando. Since the parade route began at Orange and Amelia, proceeded south to Central then east to Rosalind and then North to Livingston, I decided to place myself at the roughly halfway point of Central and Magnolia in front of Tijuana Flats.

The parade was set to begin at 10am and last until approximately noon. When the first part of the parade reached my vantage point, it was 10:28, so it seemed that it was pretty much on schedule. There were about 50 people in my immediate vicinity at the beginning of the parade and that number grew to about 100 as the parade continued. There were families, single adults, some teenage girls and several of the downtown area’s homeless population who saluted as the American Flag went by several times in various marching formations and floats.

Mayor Buddy Dyer was at the forefront of the parade and on foot, walking by and shaking hands with citizens along the route. His Honor looked to me as if he has lost some weight and his face did not seem as red as it usually does. When I have seen him in the past his face has been so red at times that I was fearful he might suffer a heart attack or stroke from high blood pressure, but Saturday he looked trim and pink and healthy. The city commissioners from each district followed the mayor, but they were each in individual antique automobiles (except for Patty Sheehan who was in a late model convertible) labeled with their name and district.

All told, there were more than 90 parade entries that depicted the various war eras our country has seen, from the American Revolutionary War to the present day Iraqi conflict (each portrayed by various area high schools), as well as representation by the Orlando City Police Department Motorcycle Patrol, the Orange County Sheriff’s Motorcycle Patrol, various high school marching bands, color guards and a multitude of various civic organizations.

I happened to catch something totally spontaneous about three fourths of the way through the parade. The parade had come to a halt while it was turning off of Central and onto Rosalind and the car with some ladies from the Daughters of the American Revolution was right in the intersection of Central and Magnolia. I was usually facing west on Central since the parade was coming from that direction, but I turned to look behind me to the east just in time to see a woman in the car hand a bottle of cold water that was dripping ice to the Orlando Police Officer who had been standing at the intersection directing any stray cross traffic and the Lynx buses for a couple of hours. The officer graciously accepted the water, then snapped off a smart salute to the occupants as they pulled away.

The last of the parade, which was several Orlando Fire Department trucks, passed by me at approximately 11:45, so it seems the parade lasted just about as long as it was intended. ALthough it seemed that the crowd along the route near me was sparse, it was still good to see people come out to enjoy the parade that honored those who have served out country and to remind us that we are Americans, citizens of the Land of the Free and The Home of the Brave, and that we owe a great deal of the freedom we enjoy to those who served.

Hope to see you here next time.

Man About Town
November 15, 2005
Movie Review: Zathura

I never got to see Jumanji when it was in theatrical release 10 years ago and have never seen it on DVD, PPV, a premium movie channel or even plain old broadcast network TV. The truth is that when it was in movie theaters I was, for some reason, sick of seeing Robin Williams at the time and just decided that I would see it “later” (whenever that may be). But then I just could never work up the enthusiasm for it enough to rent the DVD or buy a PPV showing of it. And I really hate seeing theatrical movies on broadcast or network channels because they hack them up to fit in commercials every so many minutes. So, I have yet to sit down and watch the predecessor to the outer space version that opened last week, “Zathura”.

But I’m a sci-fi, outer space, fantasy loving kind of guy, so when I saw previews for “Zathura” a while back, I knew I was going to see this movie while it was in theaters. That’s saying a lot because it’s got to be a movie I really, really want to see if I’m going to endure the company of the inevitable crowd of rude, discourteous people that go to movie theaters. Let me just say, “You’re not in your living room watching this, you’re in a theater full of other people who paid money to enjoy the movie on the screen, not your inane chatter to each other or on cell phones.” It seems like every time I go to a theater it’s the same old story, so I very seldom go anymore and when I do it’s going to be something I really want to try and enjoy on the big screen as opposed to my TV at home. That was the case with “Zathura”.

So, last Friday after I left the Festival of the Masters I went and picked up Cindy (who works nearby, poor thing) and took her out for lunch. Then I returned to Downtown Disney and bought a ticket at the Pleasure Island AMC theater to the 2:20 showing of “Zathura” on it’s opening day so I could indulge my inner child.

Six year-old Danny and ten year-old Walter find themselves left alone by their busy father one Saturday afternoon. They have a fourteen-year old sister, Lisa, but through a major plot device she’s out of almost half the picture, either sleeping or cryogenically frozen. I’m pretty convinced she was only included to serve as the focus for a twist near the end of the film anyway. Walter (played by Josh Hutcherson) can’t be bothered with his annoying younger sibling who obviously idol-worships his older brother, so Danny (played by Jonah Bobo), in an effort to amuse himself, picks through the basement of the antiquated house his dad bought after his divorce and discovers an old wind-up space adventure game called Zathura. I’ve got to tell you, the game itself looked pretty cool, with it’s old-fashioned turn key and mechanical workings. If they ever decide to manufacture one I think I may have to buy it and play it. Danny begs his older brother to play the game with him, but Walter refuses to participate due to Danny’s propensity for cheating. Hoping to coax his brother into playing Danny takes the first turn, cranking the wind-up key that causes a counter to roll and a playing card with instructions to pop out of a dispenser. This is the point where the real fun of the movie begins!

Danny tries to read the card that is dispensed, but being only six he has difficulty doing so and hands the card to Walter who looks at the card and in a bored voice says, “Take cover from the meteor shower” and at that moment a small object about the size of a quarter suddenly bursts through the card from above and leaves a hole as it embeds itself in the wood flooring below. Suddenly, meteors of varying sizes are smashing through the ceiling and walls of the room they are in and the boys take shelter in the fireplace. When the game-card caused meteor shower ends, the boys gaze up through the man-sized hole in the roof to see stars and when they hesitantly open the front door of their home that used to lead out to a quiet suburban street, they instead find themselves sailing through outer space in the house and some of its foundation. They soon discover, by reading the rules of the game, that for everything to be “reset” they must finish the game by each of them taking their turns until the space ship reaches Zathura.

What follows are some amusing and scientifically improbable occurrences, but c’mon the story is about a game that basically creates its own alternate reality, so we can forgive the mixed up physics and just sit back and enjoy the story. The boys are beset by a defective robot, having their sister (who finally gets out of bed) cryogenically frozen in the bathroom, being caught in the gravity well of a huge star, and some ugly looking lizard-like beings called the Zorgon. As they progress through the game they are joined by an astronaut who has been caught in the game for 15 years and he helps them maneuver through the various game card situations. Lisa thaws out in time to begin becoming infatuated with him and his “most beautiful eyes I’ve ever seen”.

This is a family film, so there is of course the requisite happy ending. Lessons are learned all around and lives are changed, but the story of how they get to that point, while predictable, is enjoyable as well. My inner child was pleased and it seemed that the actual children in the theater were too as we left.

Have you been to see “Zathura”? If you have, I hope you’ll leave a comment below with your impressions of the movie. Let Orlando know what you think.

Hope to see you here next time.

Man About Town
November 16, 2005

Jann Childers and The Nightcrawlers

Last Saturday night I took a drive north of O-town up to the city of Deland, home of Stetson University and a hive of skydiving activity out at the Deland Airport. Speaking of skydiving, my friend Rebecca, who skydives out of Lake Wales, asked me if I was interested in joining a few of her friends and doing some tandem skydiving before the weather gets real cold and I’m actually considering it! I’ve handed out plenty of remarks about the wisdom of jumping out of a perfectly good airplane and here I am seriously entertaining the idea of engaging in the craziness myself. Have no fear, if I do “make the leap” you’ll hear about it first in this little corner of the Internet.

So, where was I? Oh yeah, going to Deland and, as it turns out, over to the airport, but not to do skydiving, especially not at 9 o’clock at night. No, I was making the trip in order to go to the Airport Restaurant & Gin Mill to hear my friend Jann Childers sing as she filled in for a missing vocalist with The Nightcrawlers, a jammin’ blues band that was performing at the restaurant’s outdoor stage and patio. (By the way, thanks for the CD of your original music, Jann…I’m listening to it as I write this)

When I arrived and pulled into the parking lot, I could already hear the band over on the runway side of the restaurant. The Airport Restaurant & Gin Mill sits adjacent to runway 5 of the Deland Airport and is just south of the jump area. During the day you can sit on the outdoor patio and watch seemingly sane people jump out of planes with nothing but some fiber and material stopping them from plummeting to the ground like rocks. On a night like Saturday night was, you can enjoy the moonlit, star dappled night sky as the fronds of the surrounding palm trees sway in the gentle breeze.

I walked into the patio area to find people already on their feet dancing to the sounds that Jann and the Nightcrawlers were layin’ down. I wove my way through tables, dancing couples and the past the outdoor bar over to the left side of the stage where I was fortunate enough to find an empty table right under the area where Jann stood behind her keyboard while she sang and played. We exchanged big smiles and then she turned her attention back to wowing the crowd with her voice.

Lunch was the last meal I had eaten that day, so my stomach was screaming that while the music might fill my ears it wasn’t doing a thing for the emptiness in my belly. I had heard that the Airport Restaurant & Gin Mill served some of the best hamburgers around, so I decided to put that claim to the test. I walked into the small building that housed a combination bar and restaurant in one room and a pool table in the other, walked over to the bar and ordered my burger, “medium-well, cheese, everything but onion on a kaiser roll” and a bottle of beer. The bar was almost full and the restaurant tables were empty because everyone else was outside enjoying the music. I sat at a table and just watched people as I waited. My impressions gleaned from my people-watching is the subject of a completely different blog post.

Soon my burger and beer were delivered ($8 total for both!) to me and I took my food back outside to the table I was at when I first arrived. Jann and The Nightcrawlers were still belting out the songs as I sat down and took my first bite. Man oh man, the word on the street was true! This was an excellent hamburger, tasty, juicy and with just the right amount of lettuce, tomatoes and condiments to add to the flavor of the meat, rather than taking away from it or hiding it altogether. I sat there in multiple states of bliss; listening to good music and enjoying good food.

The band finished their first set and Jann came down to the table. We hugged and she told me that this was the first time she had ever filled in with this band and she hoped they sounded good together. I assured her that they and she sounded great then we talked and laughed for a few more minutes until she went to get something to eat. I watched her as she returned to the table and people were stopping to tell her how much they enjoyed her singing and her voice. We talked a while and the drummer for the group came over and he and I talked while Jann and the bass guy went over the next set’s songlist. The drummer told me this was The Nightcrawlers’ first time playing at the Airport Restaurant & Gin Mill, but it seemed to me that the crowd really enjoyed their music.

I stayed for most of the second set, but since I had an early morning planned the next day I had to make my exit before they finished up. It was great getting to see and hear Jann perform and I can heartily recommend the The Nightcrawlers and the hamburgers at the Airport Restaurant & Gin Mill. If you ever get to experience either one, please make sure you do.

While we’re on the subject of the Blues, this coming Saturday from 2pm until 10pm, Bluesfest 2005 will be taking place in downtown Orlando at the Wall Street Plaza. 8 Bars, 3 Restaurants, 5 Patios, 1 Balcony, 1 Stage, 7 Bands = 1 Big Blues Street Party! This event features live performances by Little Charlie & the Nightcats, James & Lucky Peterson, Beautiful Bobby Blackmon, Sarasota Slim, Shaun Rounds & The Smokin’ Torpedoes with special guests. This is an all-day family event lasting from 2pm to 10pm and ticket prices are $10.00 for the general public and $5 for Blues Society members. Visit www.smokintorps.com or call 407.849.0471 for more information. Man About Town will be there with several friends. I hope to see you there as well.

Catch you here next time!

Man About Town
November 17, 2005

I’m Rich!!

No, I didn’t win the lottery. Heck, I very rarely play. I didn’t inherit any money from a rich uncle, wasn’t the beneficiary of someone’s life insurance policy (though I did recently double my own coverage) and didn’t rob a bank.

A couple of weeks ago I was over at my friend Dawn’s blog and she was “depressed” because she plugged in her blog link and found out what it was worth, at least in terms of the Internet economy as it relates to other blogs. Today I thought, “I should see what the Man About Town” blog is worth so I clicked over to the site, plugged in my URL and here is the result:

<div style=”border: 1px solid #cccccc; background-color: white; width: 115px; text-align: center; padding: 0 0 10px 0;”><p style=”margin: 0″><img src=”http://static.flickr.com/23/25822676_789bf55448_t.jpg” style=”border:0;”><br /> <span style=”font-size: 11px;”>My <a href=”http://blogs.orlando.findlocal.com/manabouttown/”>blog</a> is worth <b>$2,822.70</b>.</span><br /><span style=”font-size: 10px;”><a href=”http://www.business-opportunities.biz/projects/how-much-is-your-blog-worth/”>How much is your blog worth?</a></span></p><p><a href=”http://www.technorati.com/” style=”border: 0px;”><img src=”http://technorati.com/pix/tech-logo-embed.gif” style=”border: 0px;”></a></p></div>
Woo Hoo! I’m RICH!!

I’ll take that in dollar bills, please.

Ok, maybe not.

You may have noticed the new addition over there on the left hand side a couple of days ago. Usually, when I’m out doing things that I will write about here on the Man About Town blog I take pictures. Sometimes I can only use my camera phone in an unobtrusive manner but other times I can use my digital camera and take pictures until I fill up my compact flash cards. But, there’s never enough room to post all the pictures here in the blog; I usually can only get 2 to 4 in here and still maintain a nice balance of words and pictures. So I thought I’d create a Flickr account to post all the pictures I take at various events so that readers could take a look at the totality of what a certain event may have encompassed instead of being limited to a measly few shots. I hope you’ll click over, take a look around and maybe leave some comments. I’ll be joining some local groups on Flickr soon and I’ll welcome anyone who wants to swap contacts.

Catch you here next time!

Man About Town

November 18, 2005

Orlando in Google Base

I find the use of Google’s services to be pretty prevalent in my life. If I’m doing a purely “most hits” or general type of search, then it’s straight to Google Web. For maps or driving directions, my first stop is Google Maps; for graphics I might need, it’s over to Google Images; for news items, it’s Google News; I can use Google Local for searches of nearby businesses or services and I routinely use Gmail for most of my e-mail. I use Google Alerts to receive e-mails when certain names, locations or phrases appear on the web. I also have Google Talk installed for IM’ing, but not many people are using it yet.

There are plenty of other Google services available that I either have not used yet or have used rarely such as Blog Search, Scholarly Search, Mobile Google (for your cell phone), Froogle (price comparison), the recently unveiled (amidst a storm of protest from publishers) Google Book Search and other offerings too numerous to mention. The height and breadth of services Google offers is not surprising, considering that the company’s stated mission is: “to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.”

Wednesday, Google released in Beta Testing is latest service: Google Base, a service lets anyone upload almost anything to a publicly searchable database including items such as (but not limited to) recipes, job postings, photos, DNA sequences, real estate listings, civic opportunities, volunteer needs and individual standalone databases. Theoretically, a person moving to a new area could search for a job, a place to live and restaurants to eat at (or local recipes to cook) before leaving their current residence.

Thursday I decided to do a quick search under “Orlando, Florida” and there were 95 items that matched. Most were real estate listings, but there were also quite a few civic and volunteer agency listings and a few job listings.

Today I checked and the number of listings had jumped to 244 and again, the majority of listings are real estate. It will be interesting to see if the company spins off a Google Real Estate search service from all those types of listings.

It’s also easy to submit information. There are pre-selected categories or you can create your own unique selection. There are helping points along the way for whatever information is deemed necessary and you have the ability to enter your own description of the item, service or information, using tags to narrow the search parameters, as well the option of adding a photo or graphic to your listing. You can set a time limit for your listing, up to a maximum of 31 days and then it will be moved to an inactive list, which you can reactivate either as is or with changes as needed.

Google hopes that this will put a wealth of information in the hands of searchers immediately, as opposed to the usual days that it takes for their webcrawlers to find, categorize and list information from websites it searches. Like most of their beta testing items, Google has not revealed if this will become a “pay per” service, or if they will continue to be satisfied with the revenue generated by the ads that populate the majority of their services.

So take a look, Orlando, and see what you can find on the new Google Base. You might be surprised. Or take advantage of the service by posting your information. I’m going to give it a shot and see what happens. If it’s interesting, I’ll let you know all about it, and I hope you’ll do the same if you try it out.

Catch you next time.

Man About Town
November 19, 2005

Crealde 6th Annual Holiday Art Sale

“Art should exhilarate, and throw down the walls of circumstance on every side, awakening in the beholder the same sense of universal relation and power which the work evinced in the artist, and its highest effect is to make new artists.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson 1803-1882

Saturday morning Kay, Cindy and I went to the Crealde School of Art in Winter Park to look at the art being sold at the 6th Annual Holiday Art Sale which was held from 9am to 4pm (and will be held during the same hours on Sunday). During the event, established and emerging artists from Crealde offer their fine art work and creations for sale to the public. Our mutual friend, Rebecca, is a fellow at the school and told us about the sale, but she wasn’t one of the artists offering her works for sale this time around. The sale is an excellent opportunity to purchase some works of art from talented students and artists that you can give to family or friends or even yourself. A portion of all the proceeds (30%) benefit school programs at Crealde.

The parking lot was almost filled by the time we arrived at 9:45, but we were able to find an empty spot. As we walked past the giant bricks and across the bridge, we could see artist’s tents and tables filling the Contemporary Sculpture Garden and Courtyard.
There were quite a few artists selling pottery or ceramic works, one photographer, one painter, a couple of jewelry artists, and a stained-glass artist. We walked around looking at each artist’s work and I was particularly impressed with the artist who took leaves, wrapped them in soft clay and incorporated them into her various pieces. It lent a striking visual effect to the usual look of ceramic work, without the use of paint to accomplish such an effect.

We then went off the “beaten path” of the Art Sale area and made our way into the nearby Jenkins Gallery. While this gallery is filled with masterful works of art by some talented local artists, we found ourselves entranced by a painting on the far wall entitled “The Black Widow”; a portrait of a beautiful, regal and strong, yet vulnerable looking woman whose visage caught and held our attention. No matter where else we went in the room, we found ourselves continuously being drawn back to this painting.

After we left the Jenkins Gallery, we walked back through the Holiday Art Sale area and Cindy bought a set of ceramic votive candle holders that caught her fancy and then we casually strolled among the sculptures in the garden and made our way back to the parking lot.

The Holiday Art Sale continues today, Sunday, November 20th from 9am to 4pm at the Crealde School of Art located at 600 St. Andrews Boulevard in Winter Park, just off Aloma Avenue near the Whole Foods store. This is a great opportunity to pick up some fantastic art as a holiday gift for yourself or a loved one. Who knows; you might be buying the early work of a future master.

Catch you here next time.

Man About Town

November 20, 2005

Movie Review – Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Harry Potter, The Boy Wizard who somehow escaped death as an infant at the hands of evil Lord Voldemort but was orphaned on that same deadly night by the Dark Lord and subsequently found out about his magical legacy at age 11, finds his childhood coming to an end in the latest film adaptation of the best-selling novel, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

Saturday morning, I could wait no longer. I convinced myself not to attend the Friday night opening of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire because I knew the theaters would be packed. But by Saturday morning I knew I would have to see the film as soon as I could. I went to the Regal Cinema in Winter Park for the 11:30 showing, hoping that the crowd might not be too bad. When I arrived at the box office at 10:45 to buy my ticket, everything was pretty quiet. When I walked into the theater there was one other person in a seat and I took a good seat in the middle and pulled out some reading material I had brought to pass the time. By the time the film began the theater was about 3/4 filled with a pretty even mixture of adults and children (including someone who brought their infant to see the movie – but I’m not even going to comment).

Before I go any farther about Harry Potter; the first theatrical preview of the Superman Returns movie was shown. By the simple virtue of the fact that it’s Superman I have some excitement about the release of the movie in June of next year, but the “preview” is not much more than some recycled dialog of the late Marlon Brando from the original Superman movie 28 years ago and a lot of mostly overly darkened or silhouetted scenes that make if difficult to see very much. I’m sure that’s intentional, but it’s hard to find interest in preview scenes that you have to strain your eyes to see.

Now, for those who have been off in space the last 7 years, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is based on the fourth novel in J.K. Rowling’s proposed 7 novel series about a boy wizard and his world of magic that exists alongside own very own “muggle” (non-magic) world. The first and second novels, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets were made into movies and directed by Chris Columbus, who did an excellent job of capturing the childlike aspects and the more whimsical scenes of the main characters (Harry, Ron and Hermione) at the ages of 11 and 12. Director Alphonso Cuaron seemed to miss the mark slightly in the third film, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, as far as capturing author Rowling’s story and characters, but we were still able to see that at age 13 their lives were beginning to lose childish concerns. Now, under the able direction of Mike Newell, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire brings the darkening curtain closer to Harry as he deals with the return of Lord Voldemort and experiences the first death of someone in his life. Those of us who are faithful readers of the novels are already aware that Harry’s life will progress through even darker realms and more heart-wrenching deaths, but his first brush with the loss of someone close to him is believably orchestrated by Newell and portrayed to perfection by Daniel Radcliffe, who plays the title character.

As with all the novels as they are adapted to the big screen, there is no way to include everything that is in the books. But Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire manages to retain all the major plot points and scenes, even if they are abbreviated, and make sure that any needed setups for the following movie (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix) are placed. There is a lot left out, but nothing that takes away from the movie and the story progression.

Now 14, Harry returns to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to begin his fourth year studies. While the courses may be difficult, they are nothing compared to the new feelings that Harry is experiencing as he begins to take notice of the opposite sex, and one person in particular. At the traditional first day meeting in the dining hall, Headmaster Dumbledore announces that this year Hogwarts will host some very important guests and students from the French and Russian equivalents of Hogwarts who will be present for the prestigious but dangerous Tri-Wizard Tournament. Because of the very real danger in this competition, it is decreed that only students above the age of 17 may enter by placing a paper with their name written on it in the Goblet of Fire and one from each school will be selected by the Goblet for the tournament. He also introduces the new professor of Dark Arts, Mad-Eye Moody.

When the waiting period has ended, all gather for the ceremony and the Goblet throws out three pieces of paper, each containing the name of a student from each school to compete. But unexpectedly, in the midst of the celebration, the Goblet also throws out a fourth name; Harry Potter. After some serious questioning of Harry and his denial of ever placing his name in the Goblet, the visiting head of the Ministry of Magic declares that the rules are clear and that, 14 or not, Harry must compete in the Tournament.

In between trying to prepare for the Tri-Wizard Tournament, Harry must deal with his best friend Ron being mad because he thinks Harry cheated to get into the Tournament, dreams and the pain in his lightning bolt shaped scar that indicate Lord Voldemort is returning, and trying to work up the courage to ask a certain female someone to the Christmas Ball.

The first challenge in the tournament calls for each of the contestants to attempt to retrieve a golden egg guarded by dragons; the second requires finding a way to breathe underwater for an hour while they rescue family or friends held at the bottom of a lake and finally the third is to navigate a deadly maze in an attempt to take possession of the Goblet. When both Harry and his fellow schoolmate succeed (because of Harry’s help) in the maze and touch the Goblet, it turns out to be a portkey that transports them to a dark graveyard where the Dark Lord is being reborn.

It’s revealed that Voldemort had an ally who put Harry’s name in the Goblet so that he would win the tournament and bring him to this place where Voldemort planned to kill him. When the other contestant raise his wand to attack Voldemort and defend Harry, the Dark Lord’s servant kills him before Harry’s unbelieving eyes. While Harry is held by a suddenly living statue, the servant Wormtail conjures a spell to revive his master into his former self and then Voldemort releases Harry from the statue’s grasp and demands that he pick up his wand and fight, vowing that he WILL succeed in killing him this time. During the rather one-sided battle, owing to Voldemort’s age and experience, Harry’s dead parents and his dead schoolmate appear. They tell Harry they will intervene and when they do he is to grab the Goblet so he will be transported back to Hogwarts. His schoolmate also asks Harry to take his dead body with him and return it to his father. When they join battle with Voldemort, Harry does as he is asked and finds himself back in front of the crowd at Hogwarts. Through tears and sobbing he tells what has happened.

I don’t want to give away the ending, so suffice it to say that before the story ends we find out who put Harry’s name in the Goblet and how it was done.

As always, Alan Rickman is wonderfully slimy as the hated Professor Snape. Ralph Fiennes is perfect as the evil, snakelike Lord Voldemort. Brendan Gleeson, as Mad-Eye Moody, takes a role (and a weird, randomly rotating artificial eye) that could have been comically out of place and plays it in such an understated fashion with just the right amount of humor that it is totally believable, at least in the world of Harry Potter.

Most movie-goers said they felt this was the best Harry Potter film so far in the franchise and I would have to agree. It placed number one at the box office this weekend with a take of 101.4 million dollars in the U.S. alone. I’ll definitely be adding it to my DVD collection when it’s released. If you haven’t seen it yet and you’re a Harry Potter fan, I strongly urge you to go see this movie.

Catch you here next time.

Man About Town

November 22, 2005

Movie Review – Sneak Preview of “Rent”
Thanks to Michelle, she, Cindy, Rhonda and I got to see a sneak preview last night of the film version of the hit Broadway show “Rent” which opens at theaters nationwide tomorrow. Premiere Cinema at the Fashion Square Mall was hosting the preview, which was sponsored by Glamour Magazine. and almost 300 people were in attendance for the 7pm showing.

“Rent” is a loosely based adaptation of Puccini’s classic opera “La Boheme”, updated to New York City’s East Village in the year spanning Christmas Eve 1989 to Christmas Day 1990. The original stage version is performed as operas always are, with no spoken dialog and completely in song. The movie version, thankfully, adds some spoken dialog and changes some of the parts that are usually performed in song to spoken parts to help bridge scenes. So, while the stage version may be considered a “rock opera”, the film version is more of a musical. Composer/Author Jonathan Larson’s story of life and early death in the East Village is almost prophetic; the 35 year old artist died from an aortic aneurysm hours after the final dress rehearsal of “Rent”, on the day it first opened off Broadway at the New York Theatre Workshop.

The main characters in “Rent” are Roger (Adam Pascal) a former lead singer for a rock band and an aspiring songwriter who is unable to finish writing a song. He’s reclusive, poverty-stricken and emotionally shut down following the death of his girlfriend who had AIDS and passed it along to him. His roommate in the industrial loft they share is Mark (Anthony Rapp), a filmmaker with a hand-held, hand-powered camera constantly in his grip. Despite his talent, his desire for his work to be art and his fight against “selling out” means he’s broke most of the time also. His ex-girlfriend Maureen (Idina Menzel) is a spoiled, self-indulgent so-called performance artist who left Mark for a lesbian lawyer named Joanne (Tracie Thoms).

Living in the apartment below Mark and Roger is Mimi (Rosario Dawson), an exotic dancer at a nearby strip club. Mimi and Roger are attracted to each other, but Mark is reluctant because she is a heroin addict and he resists Mimi’s advances for the first half of the movie. Mark and Roger’s friend, Tom Collins (Jesse L. Martin) arrives to visit on Christmas Eve 1989 but before he can make it into their building he is mugged and left beaten in an alley. He is rescued by Angel (Wilson Jermaine Heredia), a cross-dressing street drummer and the two fall in love. Both of these characters also have AIDS. Rounding out the main cast is Benny (Taye Diggs) a former friend who married their landlord’s daughter and now enforces his father-in-law’s plans to tear down the industrial building and clear out the empty lot next to it where homeless people are living.

In the film’s opening song the question is asked, “How do you measure a year in the life?” and the answer is sung, “How about love? How about love? How about love? Measure in love. Seasons of love.” and that is what “Rent” attempts to do. It’s difficult for me to say how successful it is in accomplishing that goal. My informal exit poll (listening to others as they walked by me) seemed to indicate that people who had either seen the Broadway performance or were at least familiar with the story before viewing the movie found it quite enjoyable. Some, who like me had neither seen the original nor were familiar with the story, were still trying to process the experience. Others. like Cindy, found it incredibly depressing and a waste of 2 hours of their lives.

Some will decry the abundance of characters and people with AIDS in this production, but I think you have to view this in the context of it’s time. In the late 80′s, AIDS was exploding among the population (especially drug users employing used syringes and individuals practicing unsafe sex) and at that point had only been discovered a decade earlier. People diagnosed with HIV at this time were usually too far along for initial treatments like AZT to save them.

Here are my impressions now, 18 hours later. The plot is rather thin and the characters ill-defined or rounded. I got the impression we were to cheer the tenants because they were oppressed, but the builder was never made into any kind of bad guy, unless it was supposed to be that just by virtue of being a builder he was bad.

I liked the music, if by music we mean just the instrumentation. I enjoyed the vocals that I could hear and understand, but there weren’t many of those. The majority of songs were loud and shrill to the point of it being impossible to comprehend what was being sung. I even thought that perhaps the theater had the speakers turned up too loud, but I have since learned that it was the film, not the theater. I particularly liked “Seasons of Love” and would have felt the same about “Take me or Leave Me” if the dueling vocalists had not seemed to be screaming at each other instead of singing. Sometimes the singer’s volume was so low that the instruments overpowered them and other times the singers were so loud the lyrics were unintelligible. Either situation detracted heavily from the performance.

During my informal exit poll I heard some people say they were almost crying when one of the characters died of AIDS, but I was never able to experience any kind of connection with any of the characters that would have made me feel a sense of empathy for them. I don’t think that was the actor’s fault. but rather the lack of depth given to any of the roles. They were all superficial and somewhat cliched. I tend to think responsibility for that lies more with director Chris Columbus than anyone else.

I did, of course, understand the moral of the story; to measure a life by it’s love and treasure that life. The message is there, but it’s delivery was not executed all that well. Still, especially for those who may be curious about what all the hoopla for the Broadway version was about, (or those who know they will never get to go see the Broadway performance), the film version may be worth a look. My suggestion: take some earplugs.

One of the longest running shows on Broadway, “Rent” was the winner of the 1996 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the Obie Award, the New York Drama Critics Circle Award, four Tony Awards and three Drama Desk Awards. It remains to be seen if the film version will garner such awards from the movie industry or the film-going public.

“Rent” runs a very long 2 hours and 15 minutes. It is rated PG-13, has scenes that involve drug themes and contains some mature language. The film opens nationwide in the United States on Wednesday, November 23, 2005.

Thanks again to Michelle for letting me know about the sneak preview and hooking me up with tickets.

Catch you here next time.

Man About Town
November 23, 2005

Egg Nog: Nectar Of The Gods

Some people get in the holiday spirit when they see the stores put up decorations, some when they hear the first Christmas song on the radio and some on the Friday after Thanksgiving when the stores open before dawn has even cracked to crowds of zombie shoppers in the dark. I get in the holiday spirit when I spot the first carton of Egg Nog on the dairy shelves at the grocery store.

There are a couple of schools of thought on how this delicious drink came to be named; at least the “nog” part since the “egg” part is pretty obvious. Egg Nog is, no doubt, related to various milk and wine drinks that were consumed in Europe. However, when the drink was brought over to America, colonists used rum in place of wine. In those days rum was referred to as “grog”, resulting in naming the drink “egg and grog” which was shortened over time to simply “egg nog”. Another thought is that the name derives from the fact that in pubs and taverns the drink was served in a “noggin”, a small carved wooden mug, thus “egg in a noggin” was abbreviated to “egg noggin” and then “egg nog”.

Regardless of how it came to be named, there is nothing better than a nice cold glass of Egg Nog. I like it with whiskey, rum, ground nutmeg or cinnamon on top or just plain. I’ve even been known to open the refrigerator and drink it straight out of the carton or container. Only in my own home, of course, not in the store or someone else’s house.

My absolute favorite brand is T.G. Lee’s Egg Nog. To me, it has the very best taste and consistency of any available brands I’ve tried (and I think I’ve tried them all locally). The next closest in taste is the Publix brand. Most of the others I can choke down if nothing else is available. The one brand I cannot drink is that swill that Borden puts in a can and tries to pass off as Egg Nog. I bought a can once, opened it up, poured some into a glass, took a sip and spit it out. The contents of the almost-full can were poured down the sink and the empty can thrown in the recycle bin. Even the ants didn’t come near it.

I bought my first half-gallon of the season earlier this week, so I’m in full festive holiday spirit mode now. It’s about half gone, but Amber’s stopping by tonight and she’s as addicted as I am to the stuff, so I know we’ll get close to finishing it off. Maybe I should go by the store and get some more before she gets here. I’d hate for a fight to break out in front of my refrigerator.

Catch you here next time,

Man About Town

November 24, 2005

Black Friday – Are YOU getting Up Early?

Tomorrow, the day after Thanksgiving, is the day retailers have set as the first official day of the holiday shopping season and is typically referred to as “Black Friday” because the hope is that massive amounts of sales on that day will lift retailers out of the “red” their accounting books may be in and turn their ledger sheets into balances that will place them “in the black”.

One way they accomplish this is by offering deals and sales on items, especially those that may be the most sought after by consumers. But by far the most-used “device” is to open early…very early. Looking through the paper today I see that electronics and technology retailer CompUSA is beating everyone to the punch by opening at 11:59pm tonight, one minute before midnight, to start their holiday sales. Several other store will open at 5am tomorrow morning and most others will open their doors at 6am.

I’m sorry, but there is just nothing that I can think of that’s going to get me up at 4am or so in order to go stand in the cold and dark outside a store waiting for them to open their doors and take my money. In addition to the early hour, I can’t see myself stampeding into a store and fighting someone over the “limited quantities” of certain popular sales items. The first time someone pushed me I’d bodyslam them and step on their throat until I heard a satisfying “crunch”. Then I’d end up spending the holiday season in jail and that’s just not where I’d want to be for Christmas.

Now, I will admit that when I was looking through the sales papers this morning and saw some of the computer and technology items on sale at Best Buy and Circuit City, I was tempted. But when I ask myself, “Do I need or want those items badly enough to endure the early hour, the stampeding, the fighting for the last one on the shelf?”, the answer is “No”. I do my best to avoid malls or stores during the entire holiday shopping season, so why would I subject myself to the hordes of crazy, coupon carrying shoppers massing in front of Target, Wal-Mart, K-Mart or the malls? I’d much rather buy online or, if I have to go to a store, do so when it’s not so busy.

But, what about you? Are you planning on rolling out of bed while it’s dark, dressing in layers so you can shed clothing as the day wears on, and jostling for position as doors open at your favorite store at 5am or 6am tomorrow? If so, I’d love to hear “why”. Are the savings large enough to make it worth your while? Is it because there’s a special gift that you know will be sold out if you don’t get it early enough? Or, are you like my friend Nicole? She’s going because, in her words, “I like to shop!”, as if that answers it all. Whatever your reason, I’d be interested in hearing it. I hope you’ll leave a comment (if you’re not too tired from shopping) below and share with Orlando why you went shopping on Black Friday.

Catch you here next time.

Man About Town
November 25, 2005

Bluesfest 2005 – Beautiful Bobby Blackmon

Last Saturday I got together with some friends; Carsten, Trey, Susan, Rebecca and Cindy, to enjoy some music in a blues state of mind at the 2nd Annual Blues and BBQ Festival known as Bluesfest 2005. This event was a celebration of the birth of the Orange Blossom Blues Society and featured performers such as Little Charlie and the Nightcats, Lucky Peterson, Sarasota Slim, Shaun Rounds, the Smokin’ Torpedoes (a main festival organizer) and, the one I wanted to hear specifically, Beautiful Bobby Blackmon.

Cindy and I rode together and arrived at about 4pm, before everyone else. We grabbed some BBQ chicken sandwiches and some liquid refreshment, (beer for me Coke for her) and found an empty table about halfway down Wall Street. We sat and listened to the last part of Shaun Rounds’ performance and at about 4:20 Rebecca called Cindy to let us know they were there and had gotten a table up at The Globe restaurant, which was right in front of the stage. Bobby Blackmon was due to start at 4:30 and we were settled in and ready.

It was actually about 4:40 by the time the Beautiful one started to play, but as always, it was worth the wait. The line-up of bands represented an eclectic variety of blues, but it was Mr. Blackmon’s mostly Rhythm and Blues style that I had come to hear. I was so enthralled that I neglected to write down his songs as he performed them, but I believe he opened with “Movin’ In The Wrong Direction” from his latest CD “Travelin’ Home” (which sounds as if it will be as full of good music as his “I’m Dialin 911″ CD from 2002 was) and then followed up with “I Don’t Know But I Gotta Go”, “I Been Down So Long”, “Feels Like Rain” and “If Mama Ain’t Happy”, among others.

People kept getting out of their seats and dancing in front of the stage, as if their bodies could not sit still while this master Bluesman played and sang music that moved their bodies and their spirit. From slow and soulful to toe-tappin’ shake your booty, Beautiful Bobby covered it all in his hour on stage. Like James Brown, he is “the hardest working man”, as evidenced by the perspiration pouring from his body as he performed. By the time his set ended, the man was soaked.

Toward the end of his performance I made my way over to where that latest CD was being sold and bought a copy. At $15, it’s a steal and I’m pretty confident you’ll love listening to it as much as I do. As his set ended, I had to take leave of my friends because of some other MAT activities, but they told me later they stayed all the way through until the end at 10pm and had a great time. I’m looking forward to next year’s Bluesfest and plan to bring my own chair and definitely stay longer next time to hear all the bands.

Check the Smokin’ Torpedoes website for upcoming Blues concerts and if you’re in northern Orange County or southern Seminole County, I’m told that a new open Blues jam has started at the Oyster Bay Restaurant in Casselberry on Tuesday nights beginning at 8:30. The restaurant is located at 1259 SR 436 in Casselberry and the phone number is 407.679.2114 for more information.

You’ll find more pictures from Bluesfest 2005 on my Flickr page.

Catch you here next time.

Man About Town

November 28, 2005

Upcoming December Events – Part I

The holiday seasons means that December is a month full of events here in O-Town and the surrounding area. Let’s start off with the continuing or already in progress events and go from there.

The Osborne Family Spectacle of Lights

Back in 1993, the Osborne Family of Arkansas was ordered by that state’s Supreme Court to cease lighting up their home like Clark Griswold in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. Our local Mouse lent a sympathetic ear and an entire backlot at Disney-MGM Studios so the display of lights, animated figures and holiday music could be viewed every holiday season. It’s one of the few things that Man About Town makes it a point to go see every year, even in the rain. This year the display opened on November 14th and continues through January 8, 2006, and those 56 nights will mark the longest length of time the display has been open for consecutive nights. Admission is included in the regular park admission price and if you need more details check out disneyworld.com or call 407.WDISNEY.

Mickey’s Jingle Jungle Parade

From November 14th through January 8, 2006, Mickey is inviting all his pals to join him at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. There’s traditional holiday music with a world beat, carolers performing in Camp Minnie-Mickey and the Oasis, Santa Goofy’s Wild Wonderland and much more if you’re of a mind to celebrate the holidays with jungle animals in their natural habitat. Admission is included in the regular park admission price and if you need more details check out disneyworld.com or call 407.WDISNEY.

Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party

Over at The Magic Kingdom, kids will love Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Parade, the fireworks spectacular, live Disney character stage shows, character greetings throughout the park, and snow…SNOW on Main Street, U.S.A.! Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party starts at 7pm on selected nights after the Magic Kingdom has closed for the day and does require separate admission. Advance ticket prices are $29.95 for children 3 to 9 and $38.95 for ages 10 and older. Ticket prices on the day of the event are $34.95 for children 3 to 9 and $43.95 for ages 10 and older. Scheduled party nights are as follows:

November 29, 2005, 7PM – 12AM
December 1, 2005 – December 2, 2005, 7PM – 12AM
December 4, 2005, 7PM – 12AM
December 6, 2005, 7PM – 12AM
December 8, 2005 – December 9, 2005, 7PM – 12AM
December 11, 2005, 7PM – 12AM
December 13, 2005, 7PM – 12AM
December 15, 2005 – December 16, 2005, 7PM – 12AM
December 18, 2005, 7PM – 12AM
December 20, 2005, 7PM – 12AM

If you need more details or want to buy tickets in advance, check out disneyworld.com or call 407.WDISNEY.
Candlelight Processional and Holidays Around the World

EPCOT and the World Showcase are host for one of the favorite events at the Disney parks; the Candlelight Processional and Holidays Around the World. The Candlelight Procession will entrance and awe you as a Celebrity Guest narrates the Christmas story while accompanied by a choir and 50-piece orchestra, with guest choirs appearing from around the world to sing with over 400performers each evening at the America Gardens Theatre. The Candlelight Processional and Holidays Around the World is included with park admission and showtimes are 5pm, 6:45pm and 8:15pm. Scheduled Guest Narrators for this holiday season are as follows:

Rita Moreno Nov 25-27
Phil Donahue Nov 28-30
Haley Joel Osment Dec 1-3
Cicely Tyson Dec 4-6
Jaci Velasquez Dec 7-9
Eartha Kitt Dec 10-12
Lou Diamond Phillips Dec 13-15
Harry Hamlin Dec 16-18
Marlee Matlin Dec 19-21
Jim Caviezel Dec 22-24
John Stamos Dec 25-27
Steven Curtis Chapman Dec 28-30

If you need more details check out disneyworld.com or call 407.WDISNEY.
Gaylord Palms Presents ICE!

Almost 5,000 enormous blocks of ice go into creating the magical, wintry, holiday wonderland that comprises in excess of 18,000 square feet indoor space at the Gaylord Palms Hotel in Kissimmee from Saturday, November 19th through Monday, January 2, 2006 from 10am to 9pm each day, including holidays. Scenes such as a heart-warming Victorian home, Santa’s Toyland filled with colored ice toys and a church in the woods are some of the new creations for this year’s ICE presentation. You can enjoy live holiday shows, photos with Santa, a 50 foot Christmas tree and complimentary hot cocoa to take the chill off during your visit. Tickets are $19.99 for adults and $7.99 for children under the age of 12. Call 407.586.0315 for more chilling information.
Bus Stop

Mad Cow Theatre opened this production on November 17th and it runs through December 11th. Bus Stop is about a busload of endearing characters stranded in a midwestern diner during a winter snowstorm. 2005 marks the 50th Anniversary of this classic comedy-drama, and it is also Mad Cow Theatre’s 50th mainstage production. Next show dates are December 1st through the 4th and 8th through the 11th with Thursday, Friday and Saturday shows at 7:30pm and Sunday shows at 2:30pm. Tickets are $24 and Mad Cow is located at 105 South Magnolia Avenue in downtown Orlando between Pine and Church Streets, Call 407.297.8788 for more details.

Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol”

This classic holiday story is being performed at Theatre Downtown from now until December 18th. Show times are 8pm on Thursday, Fridays and Saturdays and 2:30pm on Sundays, with Pre-show-Caroling by a chorus comprised of the cast members at 7:30 and 2pm respectively. Ticket prices are $18, with discounted prices of $15 for students and seniors. Theatre Downtown is located at 2113 N Orange Avenue in downtown Orlando and you can call 407.841.0083 for more information.
Eola Sunday Market

Big news here and I’ll be doing a more in-depth post about Eola Sunday Market later this week. Look for it!
I think we’ll stop here and take up with events that begin on December 1st tomorrow.

Catch you here next time.

Man About Town
November 29, 2005

Upcoming December Events – Part II

This is when I wish there were 3 or 4 of me so I could see ALL the great holiday events taking place in and around Orlando. Let’s jump right into it!

Holiday Lights Orlando

The City of Orlando gets a jump on the month of December by holding the First Annual Holiday Lights Orlando ceremony at the City Hall Plaza on Wednesday, November 30th. Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer will host a tree lighting and live entertainment on the steps of the City Hall Building. The event begins at 5:30pm and lasts until 7pm. Admission is free, but a donation of a new, unwrapped toy is requested to benefit the XL 106.7 Doc & Johnny’s Baby D. J. Fund. If you need more info, check the city’s website or call 407.246.2555

27th Annual Christmas In the Park

On Thursday, December 1st, The City of Winter Park and the Morse Museum (home to the world’s most comprehensive collection of works by Tiffany) continue a holiday tradition of more than a quarter-century when they light up Tiffany windows in Central Park and present a concert by the Bach Festival Choir at the 27th Annual Christmas In the Park. The celebration takes place from 6pm to 8pm and admission is free.

1st Thursday at Orlando Museum of Art

Local artists present faithful reproductions of their own favorite masterworks, as well as similar works in their own natural styles, at the Orlando Museum of Art’s 1st Thursdays event, “My Favorite Master,” on December 1st.
1st Thursday’s “My Favorite Master” event runs from 6pm to 9pm and in addition to the artwork you can enjoy the Orlando Philharmonic String Ensemble, taste Italian cuisine from Allegria and view beautiful floral arrangements courtesy of In Bloom Florist. You can also relax with a handcrafted beer from The Shipyard Brewing Co., or sample unique wine selections poured by Premier Beverage Co. at the cash bars. Admission to 1st Thursdays is free for OMA Members and $9 for non-Members. Parking is free at Orlando Loch Haven Park and overflow parking is available for $2 per vehicle at the Orlando Science Center’s parking garage. For more information, call 407.896.4231 or visit www.OMArt.org.

Orlando Ballet and the Orlando Philharmonic present “The Nutcracker”

Orlando Ballet will perform it’s 32nd season presentation of “The Nutcracker” December 1st through the 4th at the Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre in downtown Orlando. This performance will be especially exciting because, for the first time in 3 years, the performers will be accompanied by live music from the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra. Performance times are: Thursday & Friday, 7:30pm; Saturday, 2pm & 7:30pm; Sunday, 2pm & 6:30pm. Ticket prices range from $12 to $65. Also, Orlando Ballet will present a Nutcracker Brunch for young people at the Orlando Downtown Marriott on Sunday, December 4, from 11:30am to 1:30pm featuring appearances of characters from “The Nutcracker”. Cost for the brunch is $18 for students and $32 for adults. Check the Orlando Ballet website or call 407.426.1739 for more information.

Soulful Noel

Friday, December 2nd and Saturday, December 3rd, Soulful Noel, the Christmas story told in dance, drama and music, will be performed at the T. D. Waterhouse Centre in downtown Orlando at 10:30am each day. Some 600 Central Floridians will be participating in roles ranging from choir members to actors and dancers to stilt walkers. Ticket prices are $26 to $46. Call 407.810.4336 for more information.

First Friday at Mall at Millenia – Michael Andrew and Swingerhead

Friday evening, December 2nd, enjoy the “big band” sounds of Michael Andrew and Swingerhead as they perform at Mall at Millenia’s First Friday event from 5pm to 8pm in the performance stage near the food court by the main entrance. Michael Andrew and Swingerhead perform jazz, swing and big band standards and their style will have you moving in your seat as you listen, IF you can stay in your seat when they play. Brio Tuscan Grille, McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood Restaurant, The Cheesecake Factory, P.F. Chang’s China Bistro, Blue Martini, and California Pizza Kitchen will all be serving food and drinks while Lisa Maile Image Modeling and Acting models will be highlighting Fall and Winter fashions. Admission is free and the Mall at Millenia is conveniently located at the Conroy Road interchange on Interstate 4. Visit the mall’s website or call 407.363.3555 for more information.

Winter Park Annual Tree Lighting Ceremony

Be in Winter Park’s Central Park Friday, December 2nd at 5:30pm for the Winter Park Annual Tree Lighting Ceremony and see the tree donated by WFTV anchorman Bob Opsahl 15 years ago come alive in lights that remain on throughout the holiday season. This event is free to the public and you can get more information by calling 407.644.8281 or by visiting the City of Winter Park’s website.

53rd Annual Winter Park Christmas Parade

Winter Park’s tree lighting ceremony should get you in the mood to enjoy a good, old-fashioned Christmas parade. You can hang around Central Park after the tree lighting for 15 hours or so, maybe camp out, but I’d advise going home, getting a good night’s sleep and returning Saturday morning December 3rd for the 53rd Annual Winter Park Christmas Parade at 9am. Plans are for over 75 parade floats and units to be participating. There will be marching bands, church groups, scouting groups, police and fire departments and, the star of any Christmas parade; Santa Claus. The parade route is down Park Avenue in front of Central Park. Call the Winter Park Chamber of Commerce at 407.644.8281 for more information.

1st Saturday at the Orlando Museum of Art

1st Saturday is a fun, affordable opportunity for families to explore art, music, stories and other activities together. Each month the theme changes, and there are four stations in which you can participate: In the Studio; Rap, Tap & Dance; Reading Corner; and Dramatic Play. The activities always make a connection to the art in the galleries. On Saturday, December 3rd the theme is “Awesome Animals” from 10am until noon. The programs are geared to appeal to children ages 3 to 5, but they have activities for older children as well. Cost is $5 per family and you can get more information by calling 407.896.4231 or visiting www.OMArt.org.

Toys for Tots – Santa Saturdays

This is your chance to bring a smile to the face of child this holiday season. Toys for Tots Santa Saturday events on Saturday, December 3rd and December 10th will be collecting your donation of a new, unwrapped toy for children ages 0 to 15-years-old, for the 2005 United States Marine Corps Reserve Toys For Tots Campaign.

On Saturday, December 3rd – Santa Saturday will be at Central Florida Chrysler Jeep Dodge on the corner of John Young Parkway and Sand lake Road from 9am until 1pm.

On Saturday, December 10th – Santa Saturday will be at the WFTV Studios, 490 E, South Street, Orlando from 9am until 1pm.

Kids can have their picture taken with Santa Claus, ride the train and adults can meet their favorite WFTV Personalities. If you like country-western music, K92FM will be broadcasting live. There will be an exact replica of Herbie the Love Bug and you can enjoy holiday concerts presented by local school children. Child Watch of North America will be on hand to provide photo & fingerprint ID for your kids, and A LOT MORE! All activities are FREE! The Orange County Health Department will be at both events, and will be providing FREE FLU SHOTS! (while they last). If you need more information, call 407.841.9000

Christmas in the Square – Downtown Sanford

Christmas Spirit will be in abundance during Christmas in the Square on Saturday, December 3rd from 5pm until 7pm. Magnolia Square in downtown Sanford will host a celebration full of fun for the whole family. There will be live entertainment, balloon artists, a tree lighting ceremony, face-painting and more. Santa Claus will arrive at the start of the event at 5pm. Admission is free and you can call 407.330.5695 for more information.

NBA – Orlando Magic Home Games

Your Orlando Magic will host 9 home games during the month of December. All games are at the T. D. Waterhouse Centre, games begin at 7pm and tickets are priced from $10 to $170. Below is a list of the dates and the Magic’s opponents:

Monday, December 5th San Antonio Spurs

Wednesday, December 7th Chicago Bulls

Saturday, December 10th Denver Nuggets

Monday, December 19th Toronto Raptors

Wednesday, December 21st New Jersey Nets

Friday, December 23rd Los Angeles Lakers

Monday, December 26th Milwaukee Bucks

Wednesday, December 28th New York Knicks

Friday, December 30th Minnesota Timberwolves

I think we’ll stop here and continue with events in December tomorrow.

Catch you here next time.

Man About Town
November 30, 2005

Upcoming December Events – Part III

This will be a long one as I’m trying to fit all the events that are remaining into today’s post.

This event is a little out of place, as far as the chronological order I have been posting December events in, but I was waiting to hear back about whether this particular event would actually take place. I received word this morning that it would indeed happen, so I wanted to post it as soon as possible and “showcase” it, so to speak, here at the top of the entry for today.

Back To Nature Wildlife Refuge – Christmas With The Critters Open House

You may remember my earlier posting back in August recounting the trip that Cindy and I took to visit the Back To Nature Wildlife Refuge, donate some old towels, sheets, etc. and enjoy walking around seeing the animals that are being helped by this organization.

Right now, Back To Nature is in some dire financial straits. Most local news programs have covered the story of their need in recent broadcasts and MSNBC even picked up WESH’s local coverage and went national with the piece. The story is a simple one; BTN is the only organization providing medical treatment, food and (when they cannot be returned to wild due to injuries or situations) housing to wildlife. According to founder Carmen Shaw, it takes about $100,000 per year to keep the refuge running. Most of the work is done by volunteers and the refuge’s only funding is through donations. After 9/11, donations went down and after the last 2 years of hurricanes donations have dropped to almost nothing.

In spite of that, BTN will hold their annual Christmas With The Critters Open House this Saturday, December 3rd from 3pm to 8pm at the Refuge featuring Santa Claus (pictures with Old St. Nick from 4 to 7), activities for the kids, crafts, food, raffles, getting to see the animals that have been rescued and lots of fun. Admission is FREE! This is your chance to have a great time and see how the refuge helps sick, injured and mistreated wildlife. As the English philosopher Jeremy Bentham said, “The question is not, “Can they reason?” nor, “Can they talk?” but rather, “Can they suffer?”". At the BTN Refuge you can see that suffering alleviated, and any donation you can make will help them continue that work a little longer.

The Back To Nature Wildlife Refuge is located at 18515 East Colonial Drive in Orlando, about 5 miles from the 408 Expressway overpass on the left (North) side of East Colonial Drive next to Maxim Crane. The Refuge is open 7 days a week from 9am to 4pm except for New Year’s Day, Easter, Fourth of July, Thanksgiving and Christmas when it is closed for those holidays. Admission is free, but donations are always welcome and guided tours for groups of 10 or more are available for a requested donation of $3.00 per person. For more information about any of the Refuge events, call 407.568.5138 and tell them the Man About Town sent you.

Universal Islands of Adventure – Grinchmas

Opening Friday, December 9th and running through January 1st, 2006, is the wonderful Dr. Seuss story “How The Grinch Stole Christmas” come to life at Universal Studios’ Grinchmas Celebration. Seuss Landing in the Islands of Adventure park is transformed into the town of Whoville and the mean, green one himself, The Grinch, will be there as well. Once his heart grows 2 sizes too big, you can have your picture taken with him, enjoy the Seussian-tree lighting ceremony and a musical performance of the classic Dr. Seuss tale “How The Grinch Stole Christmas”. This is fun for kids of all ages. Times are 9am to 6pm December 9th through the 16th, 9am to 7pm December 17th and 18th, 9am to 8pm December 19th through the 25th, 8am to 11pm December 26th through the 30th and 8am to 1am on December 31st. Grinchmas is included in the price of regular park admission, which is $43.20 for ages 3 to 9 and $53.77 for 9 and above. Call 407.363.800 or 407.224.4233 for more information or visit the Grinchmas website.
Universal Studios – Macy’s Holiday Parade

For years, millions of Americans gathered around the TV sets during the holidays to watch the Macy’s Parade. Now, from December 9th through January 1st, 2006, the Macy’s Holiday Parade is right in Orlando’s own backyard at Universal Studios. This year it’s bigger and better than ever with new balloons and floats direct from Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City. Enjoy some of your favorite character balloons in the parade and on display, including new balloons never seen before at Universal Studios!. Balloonopolis also returns this year, with free-standing displays of some of Macy’s mega-balloons, bringing guests face to face with some of the stars of the Thanksgiving Day Parade. Watch marching bands from around the country as hilarious clowns dazzle the crowds, and don’t miss seeing the star of the parade…Santa Claus!!

Times are 9am to 6pm December 9th through the 16th, 9am to 7pm December 17th and 18th, 9am to 8pm December 19th through the 25th, 8am to 11pm December 26th through the 30th and 8am to 1am on December 31st. The Macy’s Holiday Parade is included in the price of regular park admission, which is $43.20 for ages 3 to 9 and $53.77 for 9 and above. Call 407.363.800 or 407.224.4233 for more information or visit the Macy’s Holiday Parade website.

Orlando Gay Chorus – “A Credit Card Christmas”

On Saturday, December 10th and Sunday, December 11th, the Orlando Gay Chorus will present “A Credit Card Christmas”, featuring music and songs underscoring the commercialization of the holidays, as well as traditional holiday fare at the Annie Russell Theatre. Performance times are at 7:35 on Saturday and 2:05 & 7:35 on Sunday. All three performances will be interpreted for the hearing-impaired. The Orlando Gay Chorus is a proud supporter of Toys for Tots, and all concert patrons are encouraged to bring a new, unwrapped toy for donation to the U. S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots program. Tickets for each concert are $25 in advance and $30 day of show and are available from any chorus member; at Urban Think, 625 E. Central Blvd., Orlando, or The Center, 946 N. Mills Ave., Orlando; by phone at 407.841.SING or online at their website.

Broadway in Orlando – Radio City Christmas Spectacular

Opening December 10th and running through December 31st on various dates, the Radio City Christmas Spectacular stars the world-famous Rockettes. Famous for their high kicks and precision dancing, the Rockettes have been the stars of Radio City Music Hall in New York City for decades. Now they’re coming to Orlando for performances at the Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre. But they’re bring more than their fancy dancing with them. This production has excellent lighting, scenery and costumes with a cast of nearly 100, live animals and…you guessed it, Santa Claus! The 90 minute show also features favorites like the “Parade of the Wooden Soldiers” and the “Living Nativity”, as well as contemporary productions like “Christmas in New York” and “Santa’s Gonna Rock-n-Roll”. Ticket prices range from $29.50 to $59.50 and they can be purchased through TicketMaster or at the Box Office. Performance dates are December 10 and 11th, 13th through the 18th, 20th through the 24th and 26th through the 31st. Performance times vary, so you’ll want to call 407.849.2020 for more details.

Avalon Aglow

Saturday, December 10th enjoy the community holiday celebration Avalon Aglow from 5pm until 9pm at the Avalon Park Founders Square. This family event includes live music, games, rides, food and has a spectacular ending with a holiday Fireworks Display. Admission is free and you can call 407.658.6565 for more information.

Winter Park Boat Parade – Festival of Lights

If you like boats and Christmas lights, this December 10th event is the perfect marriage of the 2 elements. Boats decorated in holiday cheer will illuminate Lakes Virginia and Osceola as they cruise in the second annual Winter Park Boat Parade – Festival of Lights. Local families and residents can watch by moonlight from Dinky Dock, The Albin Polasek Museum, or their own backyards. You can also see boat and dock holiday decorations created by residents and local business sponsors. The Albin Polasek Museum is hosting a boat parade viewing party with live entertainment and concessions. Live musical performances will begin at 5pm and light food and beverages will be available. The museum is located at 633 Osceola Avenue in Winter Park and the phone number is 407.647.6294. The boat parade begins at 6pm. Admission is free for spectators and you can get more information by calling 407.206.6500 or visiting the event’s website.

Christmas Magic in the Gardens with Michael Andrew

Michael Andrew & The Atomic Big Band will be in concert at Harry P. Leu Gardens on Sunday, December 11th from 6pm to 9pm. Enjoy performances of your favorite holiday musical classics in Orlando’s most beautiful garden. Ticket prices are $20 for members and $25 for the general public.

Real Radio 104.1 presents A Christmas Carol

Join the crew and staff of Real Radio 104.1 FM as they revisit the vintage days of radio with a dramatic presentation of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” at the Hard Rock Live on Sunday, December 11th at 5pm. Tickets are $17 and all proceeds benefit The Mustard Seed of Central Florida.

Popcorn Flicks in Central Park – Babes in Toyland

It’s FREE movie night in Winter Park’s Central Park on Thursday, December 15th at 7pm. Bring the family to see March of the Wooden Soldiers (Babes in Toyland), Victor Hubert’s beloved Christmas classic that stars Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy as two clerks working in Toyland. Rain Date is Friday, December 16th and you can call 407.629.0054 for more information.

Central Florida Ballet – “The Nutcracker”

This is the Central Florida Ballet production of “The Nutcracker” performed on Saturday and Sunday, December 17th and 18th, 2005. at the Linda Chapin Auditorium at the Orange County Convention Center. The Central Florida Ballet is using state-of-the-art pyrotechnics and fiber optics props in this production which brings together over 160 joyful and talented dancers, including international stars Irina Dvorovenko & Maxim Beloserkovsky. Performance times are 2pm and 7:30pm on Saturday and 2pm on Sunday. Ticket prices range from $14 to $80 and you can get more information by calling 407.849.9948.

Florida Symphony Youth Orchestra Holiday Favorites

The Florida Symphony Youth Orchestra presents “Holiday Favorites in a concert at Winter Park’s Central Park at 2:30pm on Sunday, December 18th. This concert is free and you can call 407.99.7800 for more details.

Toxic Audio

Outstanding a cappella group Toxic Audio is coming back to the Helen Stairs Theatre for the Performing Arts in Sanford on Wednesday, December 28th at 7:30pm. Tickets are $35 and you can call 407.321.8111 for more information.

World Famous Lipizzaner Stallions

Thursday, December 29th, the World Famous Lipizzaner Stallions show will be at the TD Waterhouse Centre to amaze and delight the audience. Many horses and riders were brought from Europe to perform in this unique family oriented arena attraction. Over the years, twenty-three million people throughout North and South America, Great Britain, Europe, Australia and Hawaii have seen this internationally acclaimed spectacle. All new music, choreography and routines have been incorporated in this 36th anniversary edition with a major emphasis on the historical background and foundation of the Lipizzaner breed, from its original breeding and use as a horse of war to a horse of nobility and aristocracy to a living form of equestrian art. The show emulates the Spanish Riding School of Vienna, Austria, in its presentation of Lipizzans, and maintains a traditional as well as entertaining performance similar in many ways to what you would see at the Spanish Riding School of Vienna. Ticket prices range from $16.50 to $24.50 for both the 2pm and the 7:30pm shows. For more information call 407.849.2020.

The B-52s

Head to the House of Blues on Friday, December 30th for a retro-rock show that is sure to be out of this world when The B-52s take the stage at 8:30pm (doors open at 7:30pm).Their hit songs include “Roam,” “Deadbeat Club,” and the smash dance hit “Love Shack.” Ticket prices are $35 in advance and $37.50 the day of show. If you need more information, call 407.934.2583 or visit the House of Blues website.

Real Rock’s Big Friggin’ Eve with Sevendust

Go back to the House of Blues on the very next night and you can ring in the New Year in 2006 with some serious headbanging and rock out to the soulful, heavy-metal sound of Sevendust. Doors open at 8:30pm for the 9:30pm show and tickets are $38.50 in advance and $41.50 the day of show. If you need more information, call 407.934.2583 or visit the House of Blues website.

Catch you here next time.

Man About Town

December 1, 2005

Sunday Eola Market Grand Opening

The former Downtown Farmer’s Market, which for years was held every Saturday from 8:30am to 2pm under I-4 on Church Street and then in Heritage Square on Central Boulevard, has morphed into Sunday Eola Market with a new location, new day, new hours and more vendors than ever before.

Sunday Eola Market is now held on Sundays from 9am to 3pm and is located on the Central Boulevard side of Lake Eola on the bridge near the children’s playground. This move puts them in closer proximity to nearby residents and visitors who come to Lake Eola. The Market has been at their new location for the last 3 Sundays preparing for the Grand Opening this coming Sunday, December 3rd. I took a trip down there this past Sunday to look around, get some pictures and see what the new Sunday Eola Market is about.

As an aside, I’m glad they saw fit to change the name from Farmer’s Market because that name conjures up visions of rural folks selling produce, dairy products, and homemade food items. And while the Sunday Eola Market does have those things, it also has so much more that the name change is very appropriate.

The first thing I noticed, having previously visited the Farmer’s Market at its old location, is that there are a lot more vendors. Booths line each side of the bridge and continue down into the circle where the majority of the food and refreshment vendors are under the shade of the massive oak trees. As I walked across the bridge I saw several handmade jewelry vendors (by the way, the one requisite for entry as a vendor is that whatever you are selling must be handmade or a service), a couple of vendors selling various homemade soaps, and others selling pet snacks, some really nice handmade scented candles (both plain and with designs), doggie kerchiefs, homemade sweet potato pies (usually a quick sellout), portable incense in capsules, fresh produce, plants, pet snacks, fashion-wear, clothing, gift baskets, a masseur, a pet grooming service and many other items for sale and services being offered.

Quite a few customers have found it relaxing to browse the different vendor’s booths during their walks, jogs or bicycle rides around the popular Lake Eola and its famous fountain. Besides the laid-back, small-town atmosphere that the Sunday Eola Market provides, there is also the economic benefit. Most of the items I looked at are priced much lower than you would pay at a mall or retail outlet. Yankee Candle would charge 4 times as much as the prices I saw on those handmade scented candles I mentioned above. The garden departments at Lowes or Wal-Mart would charge much more for the plants that are for sale at the Market. In short, you get the quality of a handmade item without the inflated retail price. I’ve already picked out some Christmas presents that I know will be enjoyed.

The Grand Opening this Sunday should see an even greater number and variety of vendors for visitors to peruse. It would be a great time for you to enjoy the weather, enjoy the lake and enjoy the new Sunday Eola Market.

Catch you here next time.

Man About Town
December 2, 2005

Top Ten Favorite Holiday Songs

The holiday spirit is in the air…or at least the holiday songs are on the air. If you listen to the radio, watch TV, or walk through a store or mall, you’ve most likely heard some holiday songs. Over on radio station Magic 107.7 they’ve continued their tradition of programming nothing but holiday music from Thanksgiving Day until Christmas Day, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. I think it’s safe to say that if you were to listen to their broadcast continuously during that time period, you would hear every version of every holiday song ever performed.

I mean, I’m sure there are some exceptions. I’ve yet to hear “I Saw Daddy Kissing Santa Claus”, “Frosty The Hitman”, “I’ll Be Homeless For Christmas” or “Santa Claus Is Gunning You Down”, but most every other song is on their rotation.

That got me to thinking about my Top Ten Favorite Holiday Songs and what they might be. My tastes are pretty eclectic because I enjoy holiday songs by some of the older artists and some newer ones, some older versions of songs and some contemporary ones. I love listening to Mannheim Steamroller perform seasonal songs, and some old traditional ones like Bing Crosby singing “White Christmas”, but I also like Rock n’ Roll holiday songs and the satirical or humorous songs like, “The 12 Pains of Christmas”. So, I decided to list my Top Ten Favorite Holiday Songs under 3 different categories: Top Ten Favorite Traditional Holiday Songs, Tope Ten Favorite Rock n Roll Holiday Songs and Top Ten Favorite Humorous Holiday Songs. Some will be just the song itself, but some will include a specific artist if that artist’s version is my favorite. Here we go:

Top Ten Favorite Traditional Holiday Songs

10. “Sleigh Ride”
9. “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” by Karen Carpenter
8. “It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas”
7. “It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year”
6. “A Holly Jolly Christmas” by Burl Ives
5. “White Christmas”
4. “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!”
3. “Winter Wonderland”
2. “The Christmas Song” (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)

And my Number One Favorite Traditional Holiday Song:

1. “Merry Christmas, Darling” by Karen Carpenter

Top Ten Favorite Rock n’ Roll Holiday Songs

10. “Rock and Roll Christmas” by George Thorogood & Destroyers
9. “Jingle Bell Rock”
8. “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree”
7. “Little Saint Nick” by The Beach Boys
6. “Wonderful Christmastime” by Paul McCartney
5. “Santa Baby” by Madonna
4. “Do They Know It’s Christmas Time” – Band Aid
3. “Snoopy’s Christmas” (Snoopy vs. The Red Baron) by The Royal Guardsmen
2. “Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town” by Bruce Springsteen

And my Number One Favorite Rock n’ Roll Holiday Song:

1. “All I Want For Christmas Is You” by Mariah Carey

Top Ten Favorite Humorous Holiday Songs

10. “Dominick the Christmas Donkey”
9. “(I’m Gettin’) Nuttin’ for Christmas”
8. “I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas”
7. “You’re a Mean One Mr Grinch”
6. “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus”
5. “The Chipmunk Song” (Christmas Don’t be Late) by Alvin & The Chipmunks
4. “The Chanukah Song” by Adam Sandler
3. “The Twelve Gifts Of Christmas” by Bob And Doug McKenzie
2. “Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer”

And my Number One Favorite Humorous Holiday Song:

1. “The 12 Pains of Christmas”

So, there are my lists. I’m curious to know what your favorites are. Do you share any of mine? Do you have some I didn’t list? Let Orlando know your favorite holiday songs by posting a comment below.

Catch you here next time.

Man About Town
December 3, 2005

Is It “Merry Christmas” Or “Happy Holidays”?

So I was taken to task by some for using the term “Holiday Songs” in my last post, instead of “Christmas Songs”, and I think it was pretty obvious that I used that phraseology on purpose. That makes today’s post a good place and time to explain why I use the phrase “Happy Holidays” and “Holiday Songs”

It certainly wasn’t to be “PC” or “Politically Correct”, I’m not running for office nor do I ever plan to do so in the future (too many skeletons in MY closet!).

In my life I have family, friends, acquaintances and even people I just meet in the course of a day, who hold many diverse beliefs and observances that center around this time of year. Some celebrate it as “Christmas”, some as “Kwanzaa”, some as “Hanukkah” (in all its various spellings), some as “Yule” and some who simply observe the secular celebration. There are some that I am not aware of WHAT observance they take part in, if any at all. I’m not one to pry into people’s personal beliefs. That’s why they’re called “personal.”

So I purposely, and with forethought, use the term “Happy Holidays” or “Holiday Songs” when referencing this season so as to be as inclusive as possible to all the people in my life, whether close or simply acquaintances. I don’t regard that as “PC”, but more “CC”, (Culturally Conscientious) or “CS” (Culturally Sensitive”). I just happen to think it would be rude to wish my Jewish friends “Merry Christmas” or my white Christian friends “Happy Kwanzaa”, so I opt for the generic, encompassing “Happy Holidays.”

In addition, historically, it would be more correct to refer to the season as Saturnalia, as the Romans did or Yule, like my pagan friends do. Hundreds of years before the birth of Christ (which most Biblical scholars will agree was in the Spring or Summer, not the Winter), Saturnalia (from the god Saturn) was the name the Romans gave to their holiday marking the Winter Solstice, while the pagans before them and contemporary with them observed the feast of Yule at this time of year (their Winter Solstice), on December 21st. A few hundred years after the death of Christ, in attempting to assimilate those people into the Christian Church’s beliefs, the Church found it much easier to simply adopt pagan (or “heathen” as they called them) observances and rename them; so Saturnalia in Rome and later Yule for other European people, became the Mass of Christ or Christmas and was used to celebrate a birth that, scripturally, was recorded as being in a completely different season.

As Winston Churchill said, “History is written by the victors.”

As to the assertion that I should look at the titles of the songs I had picked because, “Just about every one has Christmas in the title” well of course they do. It has been, and was when they were written, a tradition that was easily identifiable by that name. But “we” should not be so arrogant as to think that because “we” observe the season as “Christmas” that it necessarily means that everyone else does also.

So if you’re a self-centered Christian, please feel free to only wish everyone else a “Merry Christmas”; if you’re a self-centered African-American, feel free to only wish everyone else a “Happy Kwanzaa”; if you’re a self-centered Hebrew, feel free to only wish everyone else a “Happy Hanukkah”; if you’re a self-centered pagan, feel free to only wish everyone else a “Merry Yule” and if you’re a self-centered anything else feel free to only wish everyone else a happy whatever you observe. I prefer to be more inclusive and greet all I meet with the wish for

“HAPPY HOLIDAYS”

Catch you here next time.

Man About Town
December 4, 2005

Pullin’ 4 Gs On Local Roller Coasters
I’ve never been a huge fan of roller coasters or roller coaster-type rides. I wouldn’t go so far as to say I’m afraid of them (because I’m not) but they don’t make my list of favorite kinds of theme park rides. I figured out at a young age that being a fighter pilot top gun or an astronaut was not going to be my career choice in this life. Of course that may not be entirely true; I think it boils down more to not being in control than it does the actual experience of the ride. If I were a top gun or astronaut, I’d be the one telling the machine what to do, rather than just being a piece of meat strapped in or held down by a “crash” bar.

Last week, local CBS TV affiliate station WCPX aired a news segment on a study they had done regarding the amount of G force that local area theme park rides inflict on rider’s bodies. Their stated purpose in conducting the tests was to gather the kind of information that theme parks have refused to disclose about their thrill rides, especially in the aftermath of the death of a 4 year old last year on Disney’s Mission: Space ride and the possibility that a teenage girl suffered a brain hemorrhage after riding the Disney-MGM Studios Tower of Terror ride. I’m assuming they performed their tests surreptitiously, since I doubt any of the local theme parks would have allowed the measurements to be taken with their knowledge and it looked like the tester was concealing the device during the ride, but again that’s an assumption on my part due to lack of any other information.

Here’s the breakdown of what the study revealed about G forces on each ride as tested at the Big 3 Theme Parks’ rides here in Orlando.

Universal’s Rides:

The Hulk Roller Coaster 4.5 Gs
Dueling Dragons 4+ Gs
Revenge of the Mummy 3.7 Gs

Sea World’s Rides:

Krakken Roller coaster 4.2 Gs

Disney’s Rides:

Space Mountain 3.5 Gs
Big Thunder Mountain 2.5 Gs
Rock n Roller Coaster 4.4 Gs
Mission: Space 2.1 Gs
Test Track 2.0 Gs

I’ve ridden on Space Mountain, Mission:Space and Test Track multiple times, but I’ve never been on any of the other rides tested in the study. I honestly thought the G forces on Mission: Space were much higher than those of Space Mountain, but that may be due to the fact that the forces are on you longer at Mission: Space than they are on Space Mountain. Test Track seemed like nothing and I was a little disappointed.

But I also know there are people out there who love to ride roller coasters or thrill-type rides so I’m hoping that readers who have enjoyed themselves on some of the other rides in the study will share their impressions of the rides and the G forces. How did you feel they compared to some of the other rides tested in the study? Were they severe enough to be uncomfortable? Please leave you comment below and let Orlando know what you think.

Catch you here next time.

Man About Town

December 6, 2005

Top Ten Holiday Cartoons/Movies

I was getting my hair cut today and my hairstylist (although no “styling” was taking place, just a simple cut), Audrey, who is from England, was telling me that she was just starting to get into the holiday mood because this afternoon she had her first bowl of Plum Pudding. Now, I’ve never had Plum Pudding and I like plums, so it was really hard for me not to throw up all over the little cover they put on you when she described in way too much detail how the dish is made with suet. And not just any suet, oh no, the “best” Plum Pudding is made with the suet (fat, it’s meat fat!!) from around the heart, which is tastier(?) than that which is from around the kidneys and loins. I’ll just have to take her word for it.

In an attempt to get the above picture out of my mind, I explained to her, as I did to all of you a few days ago, that Egg Nog is what does it for getting the MAT in the holiday frame of mind. Imagining the taste of that sweet drink helped, but I realized I needed a little more, so I started thinking about some of my favorite seasonal cartoons and movies and here’s my list.

Cartoons

5. Frosty The Snowman

4. Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town (animated, stop-motion)

3. Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer (animated, stop-motion)

2. How The Grinch Stole Christmas

And the number one cartoon

1. A Charlie Brown Christmas

Movies

5. Holiday Inn

4. National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation

3. A Christmas Carol (original b/w version)

2. Miracle on 34th Street

And the number one movie

1. It’s A Wonderful Life

Ahhh…that takes that nasty Plum Pudding picture out of my mind. How about you? Do you have some favorites I didn’t list above? If so, I hope you’ll leave a comment below and share your favorites with Orlando.

Catch you here next time.

Man About Town
December 8, 2005

Holiday Crowds

Last night I had to go out to do some gift-shopping. I wasn’t looking forward to the experience since I usually try and stay out of the stores between Thanksgiving and the New Year because the crowds are so heavy, but there wasn’t a lot of choice involved last night. There were things that HAD to be bought and I was hoping that a weeknight would find less people out shopping.

I was right.

First stop was Fashion Square Mall (shudder). I parked outside the Dillard’s entrance and walked in to find that the store resembled a ghost town. I made a few purchases and was out of there in record time. I then walked out into the mall from Dillard’s and strolled down to the Calendar Store near Penney’s. The only living, breathing life form in the store was the young lady behind the counter who helped me locate the particular calendars I was searching for and then kindly left me to browse in search of appropriate calendars for those recipients that I had not yet been able to come to a decision on regarding what kind of calendar they might like. While I was browsing a man wandered in and then left. That was it. When I left the mall, I walked past the lonely Santa Claus sitting on his chair waiting for children that were not there. Talk about a sad sight.

Next up was Circuit City and it was more of the same. Tumbleweeds blew past me at one point. Turns out they did not have either item I was searching for, so I was in and out of there quickly. I drove down a bit to Babies R Us and spent some time in there buying from a list. There was one register open and no one in line when I checked out. Nice.

From there it was down the street to Best Buy. By now it was 8:30 and this was by far the busiest retailer I had been in so far, but it was still a far, far cry from the usual packed state of the store during the day or on weekends. I found one of the items I was looking for and ogled the laptops for a few minutes before leaving. Four registers open and one person checking out from each one. Unbelievable.

So, the lesson for today is; shop on a Wednesday night. You’ll avoid the traditional holiday crowds, be less stressed and finish your trip in record time. Other weeknights may work as well, but I haven’t tried them yet so I can’t say for sure. I’m hoping that I don’t have to do any more shopping, but I’ve probably forgotten something or someone.

Hope to catch you here next time.

Man About Town.
December 9, 2005

This Is Why We Live In Florida

The snowstorm that has blanketed parts of the country from Texas to Indiana with up to 10 inches of snow the past few days and has now moved into the northeast with predictions of up to 12 inches of snow, illustrates why most of us live in Florida.

Outside of an occasional hurricane, we enjoy weather that causes people from north of the Mason-Dixon line to move here in droves every year. And even when a hurricane makes landfall, it usually moves through in a hurry.

On the other hand, as this recent storm indicates, folks in those parts of the country can expect to endure these types of conditions all winter long. Frigid temperatures and unrelenting snow and ice have already been linked to at least 10 deaths, including that of a six-year old boy who was killed when a Southwest Airlines jet skidded off the runway at Chicago’s Midway Airport and into nearby traffic. No doubt, before this storm makes its way out of the country, we will see more deaths in the northeast.

I e-mailed my brother, who works in the Newark, New Jersey airport, to see if he had been stuck or thought he might get stuck sleeping in his office at the airport. Over the past few years he’s gotten quite used to sleeping in the office because he could not safely drive through the snow or on the ice that covers the roads during these kinds of storms. He might be fortunate this time; he said it looked like the storm was easing up in his area and he’s hoping to be able to make it home and sleep in his own bed.

A friend of mine in Columbus, Ohio went skidding off the road this morning on the way to work and down an embankment of a lake. Thankfully she wasn’t hurt and could actually laugh at the fact that, as she went sliding down the embankment, she glided past a “No Fishing In Lake” sign.

Meanwhile, I’m walking around Orlando in short sleeve shirts and enjoying comfortable temperatures. No tire chains on my car, no sliding on icy roads, no power lines down because of the weight of snow and ice and best of all, no nasty, dirty, ugly-to-look-at sludge all over the place. No slipping when you walk down the sidewalk, in fact I can comfortably wear flip-flops while walking outside; no scraping ice off the windshield, instead I can wash my car if I choose; no incredibly high heating bills, rather I have my windows open and can enjoy the pleasant breezes throughout the day.

This is why we live in Florida. Well, at least it’s ONE reason we live in Florida.

Catch you here next time.

Man About Town
December 12, 2005
Restaurant Review – 50′s Prime Time Café

A group of us (Ed, Glen, Mikey, Kay, Pam, Cindy, Amber and I) got together Saturday to visit the Disney-MGM Studios for a meal together at the 50′s Prime Time Café. We also planned to visit the Osborne Family Spectacle of Lights after our meal and I’ll write about that tomorrow.

First we headed over to the Prime Time Café for our late lunch/early dinner reservation. I’ve eaten there before and usually enjoy the experience, but this visit was not one of their shining moments. Even with reservations, we ended up waiting more than 20 minutes past our reservation time to be seated (and we arrived 15 minutes early). I was almost ready to avail myself of a nice alcoholic beverage at the adjacent Tune-In Lounge where we were (im)patiently waiting, when the hostess finally called our party.

The 50’s décor in the waiting area is a real kick to see. It’s like you stepped into Rob Petrie’s (The Dick van Dyke Show) home. Chairs, tables, flooring, lamps, wall paintings, and the wooden console style TV sets with their oval shaped black and white screens all contribute to the “feel” of the era. As an added bonus, those TV’s (strategically placed all around the lounge and restaurant) show clips from old TV shows like the aforementioned Dick Van Dyke Show, The Real McCoy’s, Father Knows Best and some others that I wasn’t able to catch the titles for, but which looked funny.

Prime Time offers traditional dishes like meatloaf, pot roast, fried chicken, hamburgers, fries, onion rings and some delicious milk shakes and sundaes. The dessert menu is viewed through an old-fashioned viewmaster.

Our server (also named “Cindy”) was delightful and the epitome of the nagging, wise-cracking waitress that the restaurant promotes. We were constantly reminded to take our elbows off the table, clean our plates, and, when Glen asked where the restrooms were, she told him they were “over by the big ball at EPCOT”. We had a lot of fun with her. I wish I could say the same about the kitchen. The food was as delicious as ever (with the exception of the onion rings I ordered, which were overly greasy and not very tasty without some sauce on them) but it took so long for the kitchen to get our food out to us that I thought perhaps they decided to actually wait until prime time to serve it.

Still, good company makes up for any shortcomings and we all enjoyed the extended time that we got to visit with one another and talk about what’s been happening in our lives lately.

Prime Time serves lunch and dinner with prices ranging between $15 and $30. Reservations are available (and recommended) and are available by calling 407.WDW.DINE.

Catch you here next time.

Man About Town
December 13, 2005

Disney-MGM – The Osborne Family Spectacle of Lights

So we finished our meal at the 50′s Prime Time Café (see previous post for a review) and stopped at a few of the ever-present retail outlets so the ladies could line the Mouse’s pockets even more while the guys stood outside and talked about important things like computers.

Then it was on to the Osborne Family Spectacle of Lights. For those who don’t know the history of the lights, Arkansas resident Jennings Osborne asked his youngest daughter in 1986 what her holiday wish was for that year. She told her father that she would like to see their whole house covered in lights. That year, the house was decorated with 1000 lights. Every year after that the family added more and more lights and when their own house was completely covered in lights, they bought the vacant houses on either side of them and decorated those houses as well. The display grew to include 3 million lights; flashing lights, multi-colored lights, custom-made light sculptures and a 75 foot tree decorated with lights. The display eventually drew so many people that traffic in their neighborhood was jammed for hours at a time and local residents sought legal action to stop the family’s annual display of lights. In October 1994, the Arkansas Supreme Court ruled that the display was a public nuisance and ordered Osborne not to turn on his lights. Osborne did anyway and was found in contempt of court and fined. In 1995, the Walt Disney Company bought the display and the rights to display the rights in their park. Originally the display took place on Residential Street in the Disney-MGM backlot and recently, because of the demolition of the backlot to make room for the new stunt show, it was moved to the New York street sets in the Streets of America section of the backlot. Approximately 80% of the lights that are on display come from the original Osborne collection.

Here’s a basic breakdown of what’s included in the light show:

5 million lights
32 miles of extension cables
66 snow machines
100 gallons of snow fluid a night
43 hidden Mickeys

The feeling of the new location is definitely different. Over on the Residential Street backlot you felt like you were walking through a neighborhood of homes as you wound your way through the display. The lights were attached to houses, the displays of Santas, elves, reindeer, etc, were in front yards and on rooftops, music seemed to come from the homes and snow felt like it was falling from the sky.

In the new location, it’s more like you’re walking through a city business district that has been decorated. The lights cover building fronts, the displays are in the streets, the music is blasting from “windows” in the building fronts and, without the nets of lights to obscure them, you can see the snow machines blowing snow onto to the crowds below. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still enjoyable, just a different kind of enjoyable.

Entrance to the Spectacle of Lights is included in your regular park admission and of course they don’t come on until around 6pm. Closing hours vary; Sunday night the park closed at 8pm, so check before you head out if you’re only going to see the lights. It would be disappointing to arrive at 9pm and find the park closed for the day.

If you’ve never seen the Osborne Family Spectacle of Lights (or even if you’re like MAT and have seen them many times) you should make it a point to visit the Disney-MGM Studios before the show ends on January 8, 2006 and get yourself a good dose of the wonder that comes with the holiday light display.

Catch you here next time.

Man About Town
December 14, 2005

Orlando: Number One Destination Of Holiday Travelers

You may not have noticed, since our fair town is usually teeming with tourists (and we love every one of them) anyway, but a survey released recently shows that Orlando is and will be the number one destination in our country for holiday travelers this season.

The American Automobile Association (AAA) reports that in response to survey questions, 63 million Americans said they will travel more than 50 miles from home for the holidays. That’s an increase of a little more than half a million over last year’s figures, when 62.4 million Americans traveled during the same period. When asked where they were going for their holiday trip, a majority of those polled indicated they plan to visit O-town.

In addition to that, 81 percent of the respondents indicated they would do their traveling by automobile, which bodes well for the motorcycle deputies that line up near I-4 and the Beach Line ramp to catch tourists speeding by on their way to the Mouse House. Another 14 percent said they would travel by air, so OIA will see its fair share of traffic as well. The other 5 percent will travel by bus, boat, train, bicycle or on foot.

I find it interesting that the majority of travelers will be doing so by automobile or air, indicating that gas and jet fuel prices, while high enough to cause us to complain and gripe, are not a deterrent to traveling long distances. And, as shown above, despite those high prices more than half a million additional people will be traveling this year over last year.

Also, curiosity causes me to wonder how many residents of Orlando will be leaving the area to travel elsewhere during the holiday season. Will it come even close to evening out the number of people here? I doubt that, but it would be fun to find out how many leave versus how many arrive.

Behind Orlando in the survey were Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York City and San Francisco with Fort Lauderdale coming in as the only other Florida city in the top 10 of hot destination spots for the holidays.

So, if you’re still here and you haven’t seen them yet, don’t worry, you will. They’re coming.

Catch you here next time.

Man About Town
December 15, 2005

Contemporary Office Party

Office parties…especially those annual office holiday parties…are usually best forgotten as quickly as possible. People invariably embarrass themselves and become the subject of stories that will last an entire year until the next holiday office party. I try to avoid such parties as often as I can, but Cindy asked me to escort her to her office holiday party that was taking place tonight.

This one was being held at the Contemporary Hotel Convention Center in the Magic Kingdom. Out of all the ballrooms available, they chose the “Nutcracker” for tonight’s festivities. We arrived fashionably late (though not as late as some others) and quickly each ordered a glass of wine (white for her, red for me) from the open bar before beginning to make the “rounds” so I could be introduced to everyone.

Now the truth is Cindy is a lot of fun to be with and I usually like most of her friends (I’d better, some of them are my friends as well, lol) and most of her co-workers that I have met in the past. It’s just that I’m never very comfortable being introduced to new people, especially people who invariably tell me how much they’ve heard about me. Once we get past that point I’m usually ok and good to go, but in situations like the party tonight where it is one intro after another, it leaves me feeling slightly off-balance and not at my best, at least to me.

After a few dozen introductions we perused the buffet tables spread out around the “Nutcracker” ballroom. First we each got some fresh baked bread and some cheese as appetizers, then we decided to go ahead and have dinner rather than waiting until later in the evening. I got a small green salad with a slice of focaccia bread, some hot out of the wok Kobe beef, some broiled potato chunks and sampled several different dessert dishes. All of the food was delicious, but my experience with parties at Disney properties is that the food is always very, very good.

Our friends Kirk and Laura arrived and we got a table in the small outdoor area adjacent to the ballroom with them and another couple, Mary and Chris. We had a good time except for the few occasions that the wind kicked up and almost blew us off our chairs. We heard the live DJ warming up the crowd and it was starting to get a little chilly in the courtyard so we headed back into the “Nutcracker” to warm up and freshen our drinks. The dance floor that was empty when we went outside was now about half full.

Of course there were whole new groups of people that had arrived while we were outside, so it was another round of introductions and some of the people had actually read this blog (“Hi everyone, thanks for reading!”) at Cindy’s suggestion, which was a nice surprise. Meanwhile, the DJ was playing a nice mix of some old school dance songs by Michael Jackson and Commodores, among others, along with some new stuff by Usher, Stefani, etc. People were starting to fill the dance floor. Cindy wanted to dance and I was ready to call it an early night, so we agreed I would dance one song with her and we would go.

After another round, this time of ‘goodbyes’, around the room, we made our way out of the ballroom (stopping to say ‘goodbye’ to those who weren’t inside when we left) and over to the parking lot. ALl in all, it was a nice evening. Good folks, good food, and best of all, at least before we left, no embarrassing office party incidents to talk about around the water cooler. Unless, of course, you count Tony and his personal Christmas Tree.

Catch you here next time.

Man About Town

December 20, 2005

Monday Meanderings Around Town

And….we’re back!

Hosting services, ya gotta love ‘em. This blog’s host had some problems over the weekend, thus our unplanned absence. Hopefully that won’t happen again for a while

Got up Monday and went to have some lab tests done. Not to worry, it isn’t terminal (I think). About a year ago Quest Diagnostics opened a lab less than a 1/2 mile from my humble abode, so I made use of their nearby facilities yesterday to get my testing done. The company has 19 locations here in the Central Florida area, which makes it easy to find a convenient location.

Afterward I was driving around taking care of some last minute holiday necessities and I decided to call Dave to see what his morning looked like schedule-wise. I had his present wrapped and in my car with me so I thought we could exchange gifts yesterday since I knew we would not see each other again until after the holiday season. When I reached him he was out driving too, so we agreed to meet for some breakfast. He did not have my gift in the car with him, but that’s cool; I’ll get to open a present later in the new year, lol. In the meantime, we got to spend an hour catching up on each other’s life. Even with cell phones and e-mail, it seems sometimes that it’s really hard to stay in touch, even if your friend is just on the other side of Orange County. I think our lives are just too busy.

I made a few more stops over the next few hours and then drove down to Celebration to meet Laura, Cindy and Kirk for lunch. Laura and Cindy were on their lunch hour so we only got to spend a little over and hour eating and visiting with each other, but it was fun nonetheless.

During lunch I mentioned that, following our meal, I was thinking about either: A) going over to the nearby Gaylord Palms to see “Ice” or B) going to the also nearby AMC theater at Downtown Disney to see ‘Syriana”. Kirk mentioned that he was interested in seeing the movie as well, so while the ladies returned to work we headed out to see the latest George Clooney offering.

“Syriana” is a complicated piece of film and definitely not a “feel good” kind of movie, but if you want to see the curtain drawn back on some of the inner workings and clandestine actions that are involved in the oil industry, intelligence agencies and world affairs, you’ll find this story a fascinating one. You can’t leave to use the restroom during this movie or you’ll lose your place in the story, but any slight discomfort will be worth it because this film makes you think. If you have an interest in this type of subject matter, I highly recommend “Syriana” as a very good way to spend your theater-going time.

Catch you here next time.

Man About Town
December 22, 2005

Restaurant Review – Forbes Place

Well, you can tell the holidays are getting near. While the crowds are building out in the International Drive and Disney areas, the population in the rest of the city and surrounding communities has thinned out as people travel to other locations for the season. Long-term parking lots around Orlando International Airport are quickly filling up with vehicles.

I went to lunch with five lovely ladies today; Rebecca, Denise, Shirley, Natasha and Heather. I felt like Hugh Hefner (without the million dollar bank account and magazine empire) when we dined at Forbes Place in the Renaissance Orlando Airport Hotel on the corner of Semoran Boulevard (436) and Frontage Road.

Forbes Place, serving Mediterranean cuisine in a Bistro-like atmosphere, is located just to the right of the lobby entrance on the Frontage Road side of the hotel and is, in fact, almost a part of the lobby. There are some oversized planters filled with large-leaf and frond plant life separating the dining area from the chairs and couches in the lobby, but otherwise you’re eating in the lobby for the most part. It looked like there might be more secluded seating in an adjacent room, but I couldn’t be sure.

Even with reservations (and the dining area completely empty), we had to wait in the lobby a few minutes for them to prepare our table for six, something I would have expected to be already done considering we made reservations the day before.

Once we were seated, we placed our drink orders and perused the menu. Even though the quantity of dishes offered is low, they are nicely varied and cover the basics of beef, chicken and fish in the forms of appetizers, sandwiches, salads and entrees. Rebecca and Natasha both ordered the Crab Cake Sandwich, Denise and Shirley both ordered the 4 oz steak with a Bourbon Glaze, Heather ordered the Grilled Shrimp Salad and I had the Grilled Chicken Salad with candied walnuts and raspberries.

Waiting for our orders we were sipping our drinks. About halfway through my glass of ice tea I discovered something black floating in the beautiful crystal glass, but it may have been nothing more than a piece of tea leaf. I removed it to a saucer myself, continued drinking my tea and thought no more about it. However, my discovery caused Shirley to inspect the contents of her glass and she observed something that we all agreed looked like algae clinging to the inside of her glass. Our server apologized, removed the offending glass and returned with a fresh glass for Shirley, but that type of thing can put a damper on your enjoyment of a meal.

We also found it necessary to ask for bread to munch on while waiting for our orders to be prepared and served, which we found disappointing since that was something that should have happened without having to be asked.

Our food was slow in arriving (30 minutes from order to delivery) but without exception we all agreed that our respective dishes were delicious. Both Denise and Shirley found their steak to be cooked exactly as ordered and to be extremely tasty, Rebecca and Shirley were very pleased with their crab cake sandwiches and Heather and I were very pleased with our salads, which were crisp, flavorful and were covered with just the right amount of dressing. As regards the taste and our satisfaction with the food itself, the meal was worth the wait.

The décor, music, and atmosphere were all enjoyable and the food was delicious, but Forbes needs to polish up its service a bit.

Forbes Bistro, serving breakfast, lunch and dinner, is located in the Renaissance Orlando Airport Hotel, 5445 Forbes Place, Orlando; at the corner of Semoran Boulevard and Frontage Road, 1 mile north of Orlando International Airport. For reservations call 407.240.1000

Catch you here next time.

Man About Town

December 23, 2005

Florida – 4th Fastest Growing State

Does it feel like it’s getting more crowded around here to you? Are you feeling just a tad claustrophobic? There might be a very good reason for that.

The U.S. Census Bureau just released its latest state population estimates yesterday and our fair state is the 4th fastest growing state in the country.

(Speaking of the Census, conducted every 10 years with intermediate surveys at the 5 year halfway point, I’m curious if anyone reading this has ever completed a census survey or been interviewed by one of the census workers in person at your home. I never have. I did receive one of those 5 year questionnaires earlier this year and, even though the accompanying letter stated that I was required to fill it out and return the survey, I threw it away. About 6 weeks later I received another questionnaire reminding me that I had been sent one earlier and that, under penalty of law, I was required to complete it and send it back to the Census Bureau. I threw that one away too and haven’t heard anything from them since. But if I suddenly disappear, you’ll know what happened to me.)

Back to the figures released by the Census Bureau yesterday; for the 19th straight year, Nevada was the fastest growing state, seeing its population rise by 3.5 percent. Arizona was a very close second with its population growing by just under 3.5 percent. Idaho was third with an increase of 2.4 percent, our own state was fourth with a 2.3 percent increase and Utah rounded out the top five by coming in with an increase of 2 percent.

The majority of growth is, naturally, attributed to migration from other states. New York (tip of the hat to Mark), Massachusetts, Rhode Island (tip of the hat to Jason) and the District of Columbia (a gentlemanly bow to Fritzmarie) were the top states/district in population loss.

It should also be noted that the figures were current up to July 2005, so the huge population shifts that occurred as a result of Hurricane Katrina are not reflected in the report.

We’ve seen the very tangible results of that population growth in the shortage and rising price of housing, the larger numbers of vehicles on the roads, the constant commercial and residential development of former orange groves and cattle fields, as well as a dozen other ways in our daily lives. If you don’t like crowds, then Florida is not the state for you because we are growing every day.

Now, move over, will ya? I need my space.

Catch you here next time.

Man About Town
December 27, 2005

Holiday In Orlando

Well, we’re smack in the middle of quite a holiday season in Orlando. Christmas/Yule has passed for another year, celebrations for Hanukkah and Kwanzaa are in the process of being observed and we have the fun and frivolity of New Year’s Eve approaching this weekend.

I watched some of the Hawaii Bowl on Christmas Eve night featuring our own UCF Golden Knights in their first Bowl Game appearance. What a nail biter! I didn’t get to see the end of the game or know what the final score was until the next morning when I caught Channel 13’s highlights and saw the missed extra point kick. My mind was screaming, “No! No!” as I watched Matt Prater’s kick go wide right. No doubt he was thinking the same. If they continue their great playing, the Knights and UCF head Coach George O’Leary will surely be invited to another bowl game next year and will occupy their brand new stadium the following season as bona fide champions.

Spent Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and the day after Christmas Day with family and friends (which is the most important thing); got lots of nice gifts and even better yet, got to give lots of nice gifts. The real joy of giving is seeing the look of happiness on the recipient’s face. But…getting some things you wanted (and some you didn’t even expect) is nice too. I got books I wanted, a new heavy-duty cordless drill I needed, clothes (including 2 real cool shirts with the Man About Town logo on the front and back), and a whole bunch of other gifts that were on my list to Santa. I’m going to use some gift certificates I received to get a web cam for my laptop and I’ll be good to go for quite a while.

Better yet, I was given enough leftover turkey to make several turkey sandwiches over the past few days. Man, are those good!

So, how was YOUR Christmas celebration this year? Did you get to spend at least part of it with family and/or friends? Did you get nice gifts or get to give nice gifts? Do volunteer work? Tell Orlando all about your holiday activities by leaving a comment below.

Catch you here next time.

Man About Town

December 28, 2005

Movie Review – King Kong

“It was Beauty killed the Beast.” – Carl Denham

And almost a little too much “bloat”, but I don’t want to go there yet.

Christmas Day, after finishing gift-exchanging and breakfast with some family members, I decided to go see the 11am showing of Peter Jackson’s King Kong at the Waterford Lakes Regal Cinema. I was joined in my theater trek by the lovely and vivacious Cindy, who had earlier expressed an interest in seeing the giant ape remake as well. The first showing at 11 was chosen because a) the movie is 3 hours and 7 minutes long and b) I hoped to avoid any crowds there might be later in the day. That turned out to be a good call on my part because when we exited the theater at 2:45pm, the lobby and parking lot were packed with moviegoers.

The original King Kong was released in 1933. I saw it on TV when I was younger, but didn’t remember much about it other than the ending, which even people who have never seen the movie know about. It was on AMC a couple of weeks ago, along with a tribute show to writer/director Merian C. Cooper, and I taped both of them but haven’t had a chance to sit down and watch either of them yet. That was something I wanted to do before I went to see the new movie, but it just didn’t work out for me.

A “remake” of sorts was released by Paramount in 1976 starring Jeff Bridges and Jessica Lange in which Kong’s finale was moved from the Empire State Building to the World Trade Center. I’ve seen it on video store shelves, but it was so universally panned in reviews that I’ve never bothered to watch it, despite Miss Lange appearing topless in a scene where Kong’s huge index finger pulls down the top of her dress.

But I have to admit, like many others, that after Peter Jackson’s work on The Lord of the Rings trilogy I have been truly looking forward to seeing his vision of King Kong, especially since the 1933 version was his inspiration to become a film director. This is the movie he wanted to make all along, but he had to wait and gain the capital of his success on LOTR before he could convince the studio to back his version of this classic movie.

Most people know the basic story; film director of questionable ethics goes to an island to film a movie, beautiful leading lady is offered up by natives as a sacrifice to the “god” of the island, a 25 foot giant ape who instead is entranced by the beauty then captured by the film director and brought to New York City where he breaks loose, causes untold destruction, and dies in a hail of bullets from planes atop the Empire State Building. It’s a story that you know from the beginning is going to end sadly. The original movie told that basic story in a little over an hour and half. Jackson takes that same basic story and expands upon it until the edited version comes in at a little over twice that length.

Jackson wisely left the movie setting in 1933 and captures the “feel” of that time period wonderfully on screen with images of soup lines, homeless people in ramshackle huts near the dump, starving actors and nervous businessmen and investors in three-piece suits, chain-smoking unfiltered cigarettes. Aerial shots of the Manhattan skyline show an already crowded city on the verge of building up since they can’t build out, and the skyline of 70 years ago looks bare compared to the view we get today when flying over the city that never sleeps.

I felt like Jackson captured the balance between special effects and acting/storytelling pretty well in this movie, eliciting quality performances from his actors. Sometimes his framing of a shot would remind me of a scene in LOTR, such as the scene where the hero is climbing a mountainside on the island and Jackson shot it from above as he did when Gollum was climbing the side of Mount Doom. On the whole, the CGI effects were passable. I got the impression that the most time and money had been spent on the head and facial shots of Kong as well as the dinosaur fight scenes, since they were top-notch and very believable, while less attention and funds were used on long shots or even the finale. Andy Gerkis, who was the model for the computer-generated Gollum in LOTR, does an even better job in his similar duties for the title role in this movie, due in part to his 6 months of close study of simian behavior. He also gets to pull double duty by portraying Lumpy, the cook, on the freighter ship.

As much as I wanted to see this movie upon hearing that Jackson was making it, I was a little dubious about the casting of Jack Black. That’s not to say I haven’t liked his previous roles because I have, I just wasn’t sure his style would fit well into the story and character of film director Carl Denham. I’m still not completely sure Black was the BEST actor for the role, but he accorded himself well. Every time I thought Black was going to go over the edge in his performance, he either reined himself in or the scene ended before he could take that step. Adrien Brody was an excellently heroic “everyman as playwright Jack Driscoll and Naomi Watts is true to her surname by lighting up her scenes as the ingénue Ann Darrow. My favorite performance, though, was that of Evan Parke as the freighter’s first mate, Mr. Hayes.

Yes, the movie is a long one at 3 hours and 7 minutes, and while there were a few slow-moving scenes throughout the film, for the most part the story flows well and, honestly, it didn’t seem that long by the time the credits rolled. Just make sure you use the restroom BEFORE the movie starts, lol.

King Kong was number one at the box office again this past weekend, bringing in an estimated $31.4 million worth of tickets in the four days beginning Friday, taking its total to $118.7 million after 12 days since opening. If you’ve contributed to that box office take, I hope you’ll leave a comment below and let Orlando know what you thought of the movie.

Catch you here next time.

Man About Town
December 30, 2005

What’s YOUR New Year’s Resolution?

Saturday night, the New Year’s Eve Ball will drop in Times Square signaling (at least for those of us in the Eastern Time Zone) the beginning of a New Year. That New Year, by the way, will have to wait one second longer this year when the International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service adds a second to standardized time in order to compensate for the gradual slowing of the earth’s rotation.

A lot of people use the New Year as a demarcation point in their own lives as well; a chance to “reset” some portion or portions of their lives by making a “New Year’s Resolution” to improve their life in some way. These resolutions are, for the most part, pretty universal among people that make them and here’s a list of the 10 most common resolutions:

Top 10 Most Common New Year Resolutions

1. Lose weight

2. Stop smoking

3. Stick to a budget

4. Save or earn more money

5. Find a better job

6. Become more organized

7. Exercise more

8. Be more patient at work/with others

9. Eat better

10. Become a better person
Unfortunately, it’s also pretty universally known that the majority of people who make New Year’s Resolutions fail to keep them beyond the first two months of the year. In fact, 25 percent of those who make resolutions will stop following them after the first week of the year.

I think that’s why I’ve never been one to make New Year’s Resolutions; knowing the odds are that I won’t keep them has put me in the mind set of “why bother?” and so I remain irresolute, lol. Actually, I find that I prefer to incorporate changes in my life on a constant, ongoing basis rather than at a single point in a time period. Tying any conscious decision for change to a single event increases the chances that failure will cause you to delay trying again until that event repeats.

That said, there are people who have mastered the ability to keep their resolutions each year and I respect and admire their strength of character to do so. Perhaps you’re one of them, or perhaps you have determined that THIS year you WILL keep your New Year’s Resolution(s) no matter what.

If so I hope you’ll leave a comment below sharing your New Year’s Resolution with the rest of Orlando. Who knows, the very act of publicly stating your resolution may help contribute to keeping it.

Catch you here next time.

Man About Town

December 31, 2005

New Year’s Eve in O-Town

Parties and New Year’s Eve celebrations are going on all over Orlando tonight. If you can’t find a place to ring in the New Year, you just haven’t been looking.

I started my day with a nice breakfast at the Perkins Restaurant off 436 at La Costa with Cindy. I am in love with the pancakes they make at this location! I’ve eaten at several other Perkins restaurants around town, but the pancakes at THIS location taste the absolute best of any I’ve eaten. Plus, they have this wonderful server named Cynthia who is the sweetest, friendliest person you would ever want to meet. If you get the chance to stop in there, you should definitely ask for her section, let her take care of you and then be sure to tip her well.

My living room phone, the one with the answering machine, has been acting up lately and the “talk” button has to be mashed down with all my might (which IS considerable) in order to get it to work. So, we went to the Circuit City store on East Colonial and Primrose so I could peruse their selection of cordless phones with a built-in answering machine. I found this set, which I wanted, but they only had a display model on the shelf and no units in boxes for sale. I went ahead and picked up an AT&T model that was similar but cost $10 more, but as we were walking to another section, Cindy spotted the one I wanted sitting on a table of merchandise. It was the last one in the store and I grabbed it up, thanking Cindy the whole time. The really cool thing about this phone is that I can replace the other phones in my house (office, bedroom, bathroom…ok, NOT the bathroom) with individual handsets that key to the base of this unit.

While we were in the area I looked at some separate storage options for my computers. Last year at Christmas I was given a 256MB “flash” or “thumb” drive and I have used that thing to death. I wanted to get something larger but just as portable. A 2GB drive comparable to mine cost $100. Jeremy told me last week that he had picked up this little beauty on sale and sure enough, there was one on the shelf for less than $100. 5 GB of storage for less than $20 a GB!

The remainder of the day I spent doing some chores around the house and working in my office.

It’s now 10:18pm on New Year’s Eve and I’ve been listening to firecrackers and fireworks going off for the last 4 hours. Apparently some folks can’t wait until midnight. I’m also hearing police and fire rescue sirens off in the distance, which is one reason the Man About Town decided NOT to go out on the town tonight. A preponderance of alcohol-influenced drivers on the road at one time is usually enough to make me think twice, but Arch Kennedy said this morning that we would also be getting fog tonight so MAT is ringing in the New Year from the safety of his home with a friend or two.

At midnight I’ll be toasting with champagne, singing “Auld Lang Syne” and kissing every available female as we bring in the New Year.DId you know that “Auld Lang Syne” is an old Scottish song? I thought that was interesting since I’ll be visiting that country in 2006. Here’s the lyrics, in case you’ve been too inebriated on previous New Year’s Eves to remember what you were singing, lol. Traditionally, we only seem to sing the first stanza and the chorus.

I’d love to hear how you celebrated New Year’s Eve, so I hope you’ll leave a comment below and let Orlando know how you rang in the New Year. Did you go out to one of the numerous celebrations around Central Florida? Party at a friend’s house? Stay home and watch the ball drop in Times Square on TV? Fall asleep before midnight rolled around? Whatever you did to usher in the New Year, I hope you’ll share it with Orlando.

Here’s wishing everyone a safe, happy, healthy and prosperous New Year.

Catch you here NEXT YEAR!!

Man About Town

Man About Town Archives January 1 to July 31, 2006