Electerik

No. But she did better than me, so I assume she's happy. Gonna have another go at making this Erik & Smisty & Bryan & Adam Holy Land thing happen. Keep your fingers crossed!

Interesting. I don't recall seeing them there (in truck form or otherwise). But then again, we only spent Sunday at The Festival of Chocolate. (Saturday, we were at the Pie Festival. )

On April 29, 2012, we visited the University of Central Florida. Now, normally, school isn't my thing. But, in this case, I made an exception.... The Festival of Chocolate Last year, the Festival of Chocolate was held at the Orlando Science Center. This year, it moved to the UCF Arena. Blah blah, history. Now we're talking! Cupcakes could be said to have been present. Face painting seemed interesting... ...but I figured I'd just rub chocolate all over myself instead. Sure, I'll try some crazy Japanese stuff. But I'm gonna pass on the "armpit fudge," thanks. Awesome! Um...who won first place? Wait, what? Oh...! Well, isn't that just precious.... This stuff tasted great as a sample on a pretzel. So we bought a bottle. Now, if only I cooked.... Either auto-correct just owned these guys, or those are some seriously messed up apples. This guy's name is Michael Anthony Cakes. So, really, it's no surprise that all of his stuff (that we tried) was amazing. Did you know that in most places you can acquire a liquid nitrogen tank for less than two bags of pot? Hey, who wants to dance about architecture?! Yes, they were cute--but they didn't even take the bones out! These were tasty. The brownie brittle, you pervs! "Maybe we should have brought some girls. Or, you know, like, chocolate." Live cake decorating! I'm just kidding. I didn't really care. Allegedly, all of those things are made from chocolate. Except the refrigerators. Actually, I don't really know that. They could be. The chocolate game show thing was entertaining. No, really, it was. I'm not being ironic, I swear. Misty shows off her chopstick skills. (At last, all that sushi eating pays off!) That almost seems cruel. Luckily, I hate children. Yay, adults only! (Too bad it's boring.) Chocolate fashion. There were lots of these, but this was the only one...unwrapable. Some people have mullets. Some people *own* mullets. Exit through the gift shop. We hoped you enjoyed the festival. Now, feel guilty about it!

Hey, guess what? We bought a new camera. And I know just the thing to test it out on! Hollywood Drive-In Golf Sure, other people have covered this already. But hey, it's us. By mini golf standards, this place ain't cheap. For Misty and I to play both courses set me back $50--and that was after a 10% Universal Orlando pass-holder discount. We decided to start with the sci-fi course: Invaders From Planet Putt. Both courses are cleverly wedged beneath and to either side of the (pre-existing) bridge that connects the parking garages with CityWalk. Ah, putting through an outhouse really takes me back to our old Pigeon Forge mini golfing days! This place can get quite crowded, from what I gather. But we went at 8:20am on a Sunday and pretty much had the place to ourselves. The courses themselves are quite nice, though the individual holes are a bit on the less-challenging side. I suspect this was on purpose, though--for the sake of capacity. A subtle reference to Dudley Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls? I choose to believe yes. No to get too far ahead of myself, but I do prefer the sci-fi course to the horror one. I guess I should tell some jokes. People like these things for the jokes, right? "Knock-knock." - "Who's there?" - "A giant robot with a golfball sucking arm!" Rather close to the road. The UFO is really cool, in that it has a door. (Hey, little things amuse me.) Not sure why they skipped the super nova thing. Hey, it's me! Yes, I was there! The best part of this photo is the E-stop on the left. The second course--or, um, first. Well, in any case, the other course--is The Haunting of Ghostly Greens. A standard idea, but well executed. Also, I'm currently ill. So, there's that. Smisty celebrates a hole-in-one. Haunty Python. There, that's a better joke than I would have made anyway. The best part of this photo is the people watching from the bridge. Anyway, so we got a new camera. It's a bit bulkier than what we're used to, but we like it. So, yeah, it's a good addition for Universal Orlando. I'm probably going to go to bed once I'm finished with this. This is a cool concept. Needs more Jack Nicholson, though. This does not appear to make sense. A subtle reference to Harry Potter? I choose to believe no. Big finish. The "Laballatory." It's 3:00pm. I'm delirious. Good night.

I did get a chance to stop by and check this place out before I fled California--but, unfortunately, it was so early in the morning that nothing was open yet. Still, it was pretty cool to see--especially for an old-school KBF fan. Thanks for the update!

Meh. To my untrained non-Disney-nerd eye, it doesn't really look any different. /No disrespect to Adam. //I'm sure Disney fanboys (and girls) will now explain to me how it's better than anything anyone else has done ever. ///Bah, humbug.

Maybe next year. /Zombie Jesus

There's just no getting around it: We're nerds. MegaCon 2012 Yes, we're off to the Orlando Convention Center for three days of dork debauchery and trying to figure out who the hell those Asian girls are supposed to be dressed up as! Before this sign was erected, the Convention Center got up to 10 calls per day asking about what that silver and blue thing was. Yes! Gymnastics! "Well, this sucks." That's a lot of nerds. "Welcome to MegaCon! Want to have nerd sex?" "With the Wonder Twins?" Well, that about sums things up out here. 2012 was definitely the year of Who. My point. These are just a few of the many Doctors and companions that were running around this year. This guy even built a TARDIS. I'm not sure if anyone was actually dressed up like one of these guys or not. (And yes, that half-joke *is* the nerdiest thing I have ever posted on TPR.) Quick, who's this?? (Hint: It's not from Doctor Who. But it is English.) As it happens, I collect insurance. (Read the sign again. Okay, cool.) In fact, I have an All State policy right here, mint-in-envelope. If you think you've seen a ghost, it's important to remember that no, you haven't. (And with that, I am now ripping off my own Twitter feed.) Ran into my friend, Sean. He's a cool guy. This photo is actually from last year, but after that display of homosexuality, I felt I owed you. (Unless you're gay, then I guess I still owe you.) I bet that'll seem like a really good idea a few years from now! (Also from last year, coincidentally enough.) This is Smisty's favorite artist, Echo Chernik. She mostly draws naked women eating desserts while surrounded by tentacles. In other news, I love Smisty. This on the other hand, is my favorite artist. He mostly draws naked Harry Potter characters and their wands. (And with that, my debt is settled.) I guess you can also meet celebrities and get their autographs. We're not really into it. After all, they're just actors. *These* are the real heroes. The people that spend all year making costumes... ...building Lego sets for Tyler... ...and doing whatever that is. This chick won the costume contest in my pants. She was so hot that even Robin wanted his picture with her. Even better, she wasn't a model or being paid to be there or anything. And she made the costume herself. If you can name every one of the things referenced in our swag...then you probably spent last weekend at MegaCon, too. Good for you! (Hey, did you get any more pictures of the Scarlet Witch?)

As Adam mentioned, it's at Seafire Inn. That is the nearest restaurant to the front entrance, but not near enough. Guests who are only attending the luau still go through the front gate. As near as I can tell, those guests are simply released back into the park with everyone else when the show is over, so...yeah.... I can't swear to that, though. Maybe there's more to it that I haven't observed.

We've been wanting to do SeaWorld Orlando's Makahiki Luau for a couple of years. And now we have. The price? $46 per adult. We don't have children. Good luck with that. But, hey, there's free alcohol. It's sort of a Polynesian blend, rather than being specifically Hawaiian. I'm just happy to be leied. Oh, come on--like you *wouldn't* have made a "leied" joke. Salads are already on the table. I always expect dinner shows to be more...cohesive. That is to say, I want there to be a connection between the food and the show. But there never is. Like, the performers should kill a pig on stage and then bring it to your table. Something like that. Instead, it's always just, you eat standard food and then watch a show. While I'm complaining...how about some--oh, I don't know--pineapple, maybe? The show was cool, though. And, if anything, almost too long. Again, it was definitely a mix of different cultures--which, from an educational perspective, was both good and bad. Dessert! And fire! All is forgiven! They surrounded the stage with a mesh curtain before he started doing the really crazy stuff. "Yeah, I'm awesome. I know it." This is how far behind I am on updates. (Actually, it's even worse than that.) So, would I recommend it? I'm not sure. So there you go. I'm no help at all. Ta-da!

Silly question: What is this supposed to be? Ice? Rocket jets? Icy rocket jets?

Three guesses as to who would give a backpack as a gift.

Or maybe they'll just build a series of catapults and giant nets.

<-- Mine is also at Holiday World, very excited to be on the Doggone Trail. And with that girl. ^

^^ Not saying that they couldn't use that road--however, without that road, resort operations would come to a standstill. It's what connects wardrobe, HR, both parks' operations offices, and USF's employee cafeteria (among other things) to the parks themselves and each other. Without a new route being devised and implemented first, the resort would be, if not completely paralyzed, then at least paraplegic. And it's really not wide enough to accommodate both things. So, if they're going to do it, they need to rearrange some stuff no matter how you look at it. Having said that, with the potential payoff they might be seeing, there's no reason why they couldn't move heaven and earth to accomplish it.

^ It's perfectly simple: Stavros, the Greek fisherman, finds a magical seahorse (Hermes) which leads him to Atlantis. He encounters shadiness and duplicity there, but tourists are already on the way to check the place out and nobody listens to him. He tasks Hermes with guiding the tourists through Atlantis and keeping them safe--for the Atlanteans are indeed not as friendly as they first appear. Hermes goads them into revealing their true nature by start a water fight with Allura (the Siren), who then transforms into Scrylla (the Gorgon/Medusa thing). She hurls water blasts at you, which shake Atlantis and expel you! But she's not done yet. She draws you back into Atlantis and is about to consume you among the wrecked ships, when Hermes flies in and dispels her, allowing you to escape along the path she was blocking. Duh.

That was the gift Smisty brought! I contributed the pizza cutter. /Robb supplied the vaginas.

Guys, guys, Smisty didn't leave me. It was just too expensive for both of us, so I left her in the car. I drew the short straw. /Still not hearing your apologies.

I believe it was around $20 per person. And I'm pretty sure we paid full price, or close to it. I blame Bryan.

Yes. But Magic Kingdom doesn't.

That's too much. Also, I should probably mention that cameras are not permitted, but it's okay to take pictures with your cell phone. That can't be right. Maybe it's just that there's no flash photography. I've blocked a lot of this out, but I'm pretty sure it's the first one.

Since everybody likes Smisty so much better than me all of a sudden, I'm replacing her with Bryan until you all apologize. Erik & Bryan's Titanic Adventures! Because we're both fat, you see. And also, because we went here: Titanic The Experience In the early days of our courtship, Bryan and I were looking for something romantic and indoors to do, possibly involving a large number of people dying. So where else could we go?? This is the best part of the exhibit, because at this point you still have your illusions. I am Mr. Eugene Daily, 3rd Class Passenger. I enjoy dancing a jig, and being locked in the steerage sections of sinking cruise ships. Bryan paid extra (I made that up) to be a fancy-pants Second Class Passenger, a one Mr. Joseph Laroche. But they fooled him, because they made him a black guy. Ha ha, Bryan, you're dead! "You gentlemen know that you're grown adults, right?" He then quizzed us on how much we'd been paying attention by making us guess which way the boat in the painting was sailing...?! Somehow, we passed. So we got to see this junk. I'm sorry, I shouldn't call it junk. What's an old-timey word for junk? Like, crapola? We kept telling them that we needed separate bedrooms, but they didn't believe us! I don't think there were that many exit signs on the real Titanic. (Or maybe that was the problem...?!) Ah, there's nothing I enjoy more than looking at stairs that I'm not allowed to climb! This ghostly voice was recovered from the wreckage of the Titanic. It now haunts Titanic The Experience here in Orlando. Oh my god, it's Edith! And she's going to crash us! I'm just kidding. This place sucks. Hey, I lived! Sweet! Let's check in on the black dude.... Oh, I'm sorry, Bryan. Better luck next time. I don't think I've ever seen a model of a destroyed thing before. Neat...? Bryan, no! We'll get kicked out! Um...on second thought, touch away. The gift shop is a little sparse. I'm not just being my usual witty self, by the way. That's pretty much the look of the whole "gift shop." Okay, but seriously, can *you* tell which way this ship is sailing? It's devilishly clever! If you think you know the answer, write it down on a clean sheet of 4x6.2 inch paper, fold it in half lengthwise, and then throw it in the trash. Damn, Misty is smart.

^^ While it's true that I don't think very highly of Epcot as an amusement park, it *is* one of my favorite malls. /Just ahead of Uncle Bernie's.

We bought annual passes, have already used them several times, and are still eager to go back--so I would say yes. We tend to like well-balanced parks, rather than being pure thrill-seekers, though. Speaking only for myself, I would rank Florida's theme parks thusly: 1. SeaWorld 2. Islands of Adventure 3. Legoland 4. Busch Gardens 5. Animal Kingdom 6. Universal Studios 7. Hollywood Studios 8. Epcot 9. Magic Kingdom So use my other rankings to put my feelings about Legoland into some sort of context.

We've gone, like, four times now. So no, it's not bad.