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The Major’s Weekend Blast-Off

LET’S KICK IT with another ‘Weekend Blast-Off’ here on my big bad blog !

WEEKEND GRAB BAG O’ THOUGHT:
This afternoon I kicked-off my weekend at Southland Mall. I saw “Unstoppable” at the Regal Cinemas. This is its first day at the box office. Due to a whole bunch of reasons I don’t go the movie theatres nowadays as often as I used to, so seeing a movie on its very first day of release is definitely rare for me. This is only the 7TH movie that I’ve seen in 2010. At this point in 2009 I had seen 12 movies (the same in 2008). I wish Hollywood made more movies like “Unstoppable”. This was a suspenseful ‘edge-of-my-seat’ action-packed thriller from start to finish. My eyes were wide open during the course of the movie, and I never once looked down at my watch in boredom. I was rooting and cheering on the heroes to come through, and I had moist eyes at the end of it all. I was also exhausted at the end of it all. It was as if I was on the runaway train myself. It was truly a total 95-minute adrenaline rush !

There was only one thing to do after all of that intense action – EAT !

BEST LUNCH OF THE WEEK AWARD:
… And so I did just that – right there at the mall at the Buffalo Wild Wings. I discovered this jumpin’ joint up on International Drive In Orlando about 5 or so years ago when I used to hang out up there on a regular basis. I was so happy when they opened up a location much closer to home. If they were located in Homestead then I’d be there every week enjoying my usual meal of 12 traditional wings spun in Honey BBQ sauce, a regular order of potato wedges, celery sticks with blue cheese dressing, and Coca Cola Classic. Yeah !  Come On !

BUDDY DAY PHOTO OPPORTUNITY OF THE MONTH CLUB:
Buddy Roosevelt Day is my brother‘s dog. He bought him from a pet store in Orange Park Florida right around ‘9-11’ in 2001. He went to the pet store, saw Buddy, took an instant liking to him, and then walked away from him. He got in his car, and he drove away from the store. After getting a couple of miles away he made a u-turn and returned back to the store. He bought and adopted Buddy right then and there. Today Buddy is about 9½-years-old. I refer to him as ‘Old Man Buddy’. This picture was taken this past Halloween.

Buddy - The Day Family Canine

THOSE CRAZY CRAZY CATS:

BLATANT PROMOTION:
At this time next Friday night I’ll be settled in at my brother’s and sister’s-in-law home sweet home in Allen Texas, as we enjoy 8 days and 8 nights together as a family celebrating Thanksgiving and Christmas combined (our annual feasting and gift-giving tradition). I’m looking forward to it. This will be my first visit to Texas since the 4TH Of July holiday weekend. I left there just 13 days before my Dad passed on. I’ll be tweeting all throughout my upcoming holiday vacation, so you can always follow me to see what I’m up to out west. I’ll also be blogging next weekend with an all-new ‘Blast-Off’ on Friday and ‘Retro’ on Saturday. Tomorrow night on the 107TH edition of my ‘Saturday Night Retro’ I’m flashing back 6 years ago to 2004. Until we meet again my friends have yourself a safe, productive, and fun November weekend. Make it memorable.

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Animals Astronomy Blogging Driving Food History Humor Life Music Travel Weather

The Major’s Weekend Blast-Off

WEEKEND GRAB BAG O’ THOUGHT:
November has arrived. Winter has arrived here in South Florida. The cool and dry weather is finally here. It will actually be a cold Saturday with wind chills starting out near 40°F at sunrise. We’ll be stuck in the 60s all day long with wind chills in the 50s at times. This brief cold snap will stick around until about 12 noon on Monday, and then a rapid warm-up begins. 80°F temperatures return on Tuesday afternoon. This is also the weekend in which we ‘fall back’ an hour, as we say ‘good-bye’, ‘so long’, ‘adios’, and ‘get out of here’ to Daylight Saving Time. It’s done and over with at 2 AM on Sunday morning as we return to Standard Time. That’s my favourite time of the year – the real time zone. Everything just seems right when the Sun rises before 7 AM and sets before 6 PM. That’s just the way it’s supposed to be. I wish we stayed on Standard Time all year long. In a perfect world Daylight Saving Time would be abolished !

BEST LUNCH OF THE WEEK AWARD:
This past Wednesday I enjoyed Lunch at Red Lobster, and it was all over after that. I was cheerfully greeted at the front door by my regular greeter, and I was enthusiastically served at my regular table by my regular waitress. It’s like a home away from home for me. I belong. The food was hot and delicious as usual. I enjoyed a Caesar salad, the Crunch-Fried Fish, the Fried Bay Scallops, and a couple of melt-in-my-mouth Cheddar Bay Biscuits. I’ll be back for more sometime next week !

PUMPKIN DAY PHOTO OPPORTUNITY OF THE MONTH CLUB:
This picture was taken this afternoon by my brother in Fairview Texas.

Pumpkin - The Day Family Feline

THOSE CRAZY CRAZY CATS:

BLATANT PROMOTION:
25 years ago this weekend I flew from Northern Virginia to London England to begin 2 years of my young life in a foreign country. Tomorrow on my ‘Saturday Night Retro’ I’ll look back at that first month of living in the U.K., and I’ll feature the music video of one of my favourite rock songs of that month (and year). During the day tomorrow (Saturday) I’ll be out and about on Miami Beach enjoying the South Florida International Auto Show. I’m also planning to spend some quality time with the animals over at Jungle Island. It’s gonna be a great weekend here in South Florida to take advantage of the great outdoors, so let’s get to it. Be safe. Be smart. Love all.

Categories
Animals Food Holidays Humor Politics

Halloween Night Shenanigans

Pumpkin ANSI

2008 Election Heroes

Pumpkin Hangover

Pumpkin - My Parent's Phat Cat
Pumpkin - The Day Family Feline

[picapp src=”d/9/b/9/Biggest_Pumpkin_Contest_b0a8.jpg?adImageId=6501302&imageId=6849636″ width=”500″ height=”333″ /]

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Food History Holidays Home Life Music

Saturday Night Retro

Saturday October 30TH 2010
Volume 3 / Number 8 / Edition 105

Halloween was a big holiday for my family back in the 1970s and 1980s. We lived in big suburban neighbourhoods in Lanham Maryland (’70s) and McLean Virginia (’80s). We were always prepared for our trick-or-treaters with large bowls of bite-sized candies waiting and ready to be handed out with each knock of the front door. Each guest got 2 or 3 pieces of candy. Usually my Mom or Dad handed out the candy for the first 90 minutes or so while me and my little brother were out and about trick-or-treating. Once we returned we dumped all of the candy that we didn’t want right back into the large bowls at the front door. The rest of the candy we kept for ourselves to eat over the course of the next several days. Me and my little brother also relieved our parents at the front door for the final 90 minutes of trick-or-treating. So we received – and we gave – on that single night of fun each year.

I dressed up as Batman – ‘The Caped Crusader’ – on most Halloween nights. I always thought that the costume looked cool in that midnight blue color. My little brother always dressed up as various superheroes as well.

I miss the fun of Halloween night. For the past 15 years I’ve lived in a neighbourhood that doesn’t allow trick-or-treating. Maybe sometime in the future I’ll be living elsewhere – where trick-or-treating is alive and well on Halloween night. I’ll be ready with several large bowls of candy waiting and ready to be handed out with each knock of the front door.

In observance of Halloween – I present to you – “The Monster Mash“: