A Mickey burger is HOW much?

Howdy folks.  Ive been slacking on the blogging, but, been out of town a bunch.  Just got back from Walt Disney World this week.   I gotta say, it was fun, but it wasnt as fun as I was lead to believe it was going to be.  For the money I spent, we could have been lying in the white sands sipping champagne all week!

But, as i said, it WAS fun.  We stayed at the French Quarter.  If you are staying on property, and youre in the "middle class" bracket like me, I highly recommend staying here.  Its small for a Disney resort (only 1000 rooms!).  You get a fridge in your room, dual sinks, and a room safe.  it was very full, but surprisingly quiet.  The way its laid out is pretty brilliant.  You never realize how big the place really is.  Food at the cafeteria is actually pretty good, but theres so many good restaurants at WDW that you wont eat at the hotel very often.  (but, if your budget dictates eating at the hotel, its pretty good grub.  The greens are excellent!)  The place has two bars, and live jazz five nights a week.  All in all, a good place to stay.

Because we stayed on property, we got to use the Disney Transportation system.  Ill say this, its damn good.  We never waited more than 10 minutes for a bus or water taxi.  Ill also say this, at the end of the day, if your bus is crowded, man, do the people stink!  Wait for the next one if its SRO.

OK, have to say this before I talk about the parks.  There were SO MANY completely hot women walking around wearing almost nothing!  Old Walts dress code isnt too picky!  If I hadnt been wearing sunglasses, Id be writing about my search for a divorce lawyer about now.  Seriously!  I never would have guessed it!

OK, the Magic Kingdom.  We played it smart and went on a pretty uncrowded day.  Space Mountain was as fun as I remembered.   The Haunted mansion was kind of silly but fun.  Hall of Presidents is still pretty amazing.  Its a Small world can still drive you insane.  Pirates of the Carribean is a great way to cool off.   The rest was all OK.  Heres the thing.  if you want to eat lunch, GET PRIORITY SEATING at least a couple weeks before you go.  You will be eating at a food stand if you dont.  Disney lets you make reservations in advance.  Do it .  Do it.  Do it!

EPCOT.  This was both the coolest and most disappointing park.  Id never been there before, so I was expecting these HUGE world pavilions, chock full of native culture.  Not so, you get gift shops, maybe a small show, more gift shops, possibly a really lame live show, and some food from that country.  Thats about it.  It IS cool that the pavilions are staffed by students from those countries though.  Let me tell you, it was hard to pry me away from the "scenery" in the Norway pavilion!  W00t!  OK, the coolest thing to do there is Soarin, and its WAY cool.  You really do feel like youre flying.  Innoventions looked really cool, but we didnt realize how big it was and did not leave enough time in our day to really see it all.  Spaceship Earth is cool.  We ate at both the Italian and Mexican restaurants.  They were both excellent.  If you dont have reservations for the restaurants in EPCOT, you wont get in.

MGM Studios.  This surprised me by being the most fun of the three!  I was selected for the fastest finger row in Who wants to be a Millionaire, but I never made it to the hot seat.  Came in 8th one round and 9th the other.  Muppet 3D adventure was a blast!  I mean really!  Best 3d Ive ever seen!  Eat at the Sci-Fi Drive in (get reservations).  It is REALLY cool.  Rock and Rollercoaster is pretty good, but, as a Cedar Point Season pass holder, its hard to impress me with a roller coaster.  The stunt shows are cool, but I was actually expecting more than I got from them.  I didnt do the big hanuted house droppy thing, because I dont see the point in rides that just go up and down, no matter how fast they do it.  MGM also has the best gift shops, with lots of stuff you cant find in the other parks.

We didnt go to Animal Kingdom because, well, we just didnt want to.  We spent one day lounging at the pool and pool bar and cruising Downtown Disney and Pleasure Island.  Pleasure Island is pretty fun, but, I will say, it would have been much funner when I was 25.  My wife crapped out by 11:00 that night, so possibly it gets more pumpin and pimpin later on.  Dont get me wrong, it was still fun.  The rest of Downtown Disney is pretty cool - its HUGE though.  We ate dinner at Bongos (Gloria Estefans restaurant).  It was good.  Make reservations.  My wife is Spanish, and she though most of what we had tasted pretty authentic. 

OK, bottom line for WDW, if you want to eat/drink anything besides cafeteria food and soda, bring your wallet.  Sci-Fi Diner was $52.00 for lunch (3 drinks though).  Bongos was $74.00 for dinner.  Italy in EPCOT was $76.00 for Dinner, Mexico was $37.00 for lunch.  You get the idea.  Basically, compare the restauarnt youre in to a chain you know that compares, decor-wise, and then double the prices.  Thats about right.  Oh yeah, the showers have the water-saver rings in them.  Good thing I travel a lot and know to pack a pair of vise grips in my bag (really!).  I always put it back when I leave though.

See ya......

Posted by trupundit @ 6:41 pm EDT | Permalink | 3 Comments

ITOFTS

If you are a Heinlein fan (and, if youre not, what kind of sick weirdo ARE you?), then you should be familiar with the life philosophy of TANSTAAFL.  I have often found it to be a very useful philosophy when considering the relative "fairness" of life.

However, I have inadvertantly come across an even more apt, and, dare I say it, more compelling philosophy - that of ITOFTS.

Think the song on the popular radio station sounds like absolute junk?  Peace brother.  ITOFTS.

Still turning MTV on, expecting to hear music?  Repeat after me: ITOFTS.

Turning off Napoleon Dynamite and turning on Meaning of Life?  Relax: ITOFTS.

Leaving the bar at the time you used to GET to the bar?  Its OK, ITOFTS.

And finally, booting timmies left and right?  Well, my friend, youve found the very fount of the ITOFTS movement.

When life seems to be going too fast.  When "progress" sure doesnt feel like it.  When you reach the point where you just know, somehow, you dont know what cool is anymore, were there for you.  The brothers and sisters of ITOFTS are there.

Begin your therapy now.  Repeat the sacred mantra.  Im Too Old For This Shit.

Peace, my friends.  ITOFTS.

Posted by trupundit @ 10:13 pm EDT | Permalink | 1 Comments

Duckpin Bowling

Yes, duckpin bowling.  Never heard of it?  Me either, until I spent a few days in Indianapolis.  They have a duckpin bowling alley there.

Duckpin bowling is similar to 10-pin bowling (which is the bowling you already know) except that the ten pins are about 2/3 the size of regular pins, and the balls are about the size of softballs and weigh around 4 pounds.  Now, the ally is just as wide as for 10-pin, so, since the pins are smaller, there is much more room between them, and you get very little pin action if you hit the traditional 10-pin sweet spots.

You get 3 balls per frame.  The first two balls are scored just like 10-pin, a strike if you get them all in 1 ball and a spare if it takes 2.  If you get all 10 down using all 3 balls in a frame, you just get 10 pins - no bonus from the next frame.

Now, I am a pretty good bowler, with an average in the high 180s.  Not great by any means, but better than your average casual bowler.  The last time I was in Indy, the folks I work with there took me bowling and regretted it because I spanked the crap out of them.

This time, they were ready.  Theyd been playing duckpin for a few weeks and had gotten it down.  I still beat them all with the monster scores of 79 and 83.  And, I felt pretty damn good getting those scores.

Duckpin bowling may, in fact, be the ultimate drinkers game.  You are going to suck at it whether you drink or not, so you might as well drink.  The owner of the place told me that 75 is a good score, and I believe him.

Duckpins was pretty popular in the 1920s and 30s, but faded fast during and after WWII.  Now you can only find duckpin lanes in 6 states, Indiana being one of them.  I was told it is more popular in Canada than in the US.

If you happen to live somewhere with a duckpins lane, go check it out with a bunch of friends.  I have bowled for 30 years, and I can honestly say that duckpins was the most challenging bowling Ive ever played, and the most fun Ive had bowling in years.

One more piece of trivia.  Babe Ruth was a HUGE duckpins fan, and played it every chance he got.

Posted by trupundit @ 2:06 am EDT | Permalink | 0 Comments

TID

Posted by trupundit @ 7:37 pm EDT | Permalink | 2 Comments

Ahhhhh, thats nice

I am talking about my PC, although some of THAT would be nice too.  Wife is working late today though, so dont like my odds there.

Anyway, my PC is now fixed.  I am hoping it will stay that way for at least 3 days this time. 

I can report that it is a small beast.  Because I needed to see how well it would perform on things my old PC sucked at, I put in Warcraft III and cranked up every setting I could find to crank up.  Smooth as buttah.

In WCIII, as the game loads, you get to see who has loaded and who hasnt.  In the past, I was always the last to load.  Now, I am always either first or second.

But, lets talk smooth gameplay.  I got into a Battle Royale with 3 full armies all engaged.  Not a hiccup.  In the past, it would have been a frame-by-frame battle and I would have died very quickly.  It turns out I DONT suck as bad as I thought.  I can just now actually give commands while theyre still relevant to make.

Gonna pick up a couple of new titles this weekend.  Wanted to pick some up last weekend, but, of course, MY PC DIDNT WORK. 

I fear my Halo time might suffer some now, but fear not OMM, its tough to get rid of a monkee once its flung poo all over your clan. 

Enough for today, Ive got a PC to clean the drool off of. 

Posted by trupundit @ 5:14 pm EDT | Permalink | 0 Comments