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Useless Fact
Apr. 15th, 2016 09:12 pmAccording to GoogleEarth, Fat Boys Bar-B-Q restaurants still exist in the following Florida locations: Crystal River, Kissimmee, Ocala, St. Cloud and Lake Wales.
Placeholder
Jan. 8th, 2015 09:04 pmNot much in the world I feel like posting about, so this is an archived picture from Tampa Bay Online/The Tampa Tribune of the ship Jose Gasparilla at the Gasparilla Invasion.
Shady Hills Slalom Remembered
Sep. 30th, 2014 05:09 pmThere was a police standoff in Shady Hills overday, and when I looked up the area it brought to mind the place as it was when I was a college student and a new car driver...
Back then, the north section was a four-mile straight, that didn't enjoy much in the way of police patrolling because it was very sparsely populated in comparison to Hudson or Land O' Lakes. So it attracted a particularly rowdy form of commuter. And I took it because it was much more direct than going west to US19 and taking it all the way through Port Richey, Elfers, and Palm Harbor to Clearwater.
But what made the Shady Hills Road interesting...
The straight ended very abruptly with little warning as a sharp, 90 degree LEFT corner. And then a half-mile later, just after the exit to Crews Lake Park, an equally demanding 90 degree RIGHT corner introduced the driver to the fun part of the course--a winding path through an orange grove, ending with the Golf Course on the left side (allegedly owned by actor Larry Manetti of MAGNUM P.I. and BAA BAA BLACKSHEEP fame), the junkyard on the right side, and the intersection with State Highway 52--which at that time had no traffic light and so the possibility of a jam of backed-up traffic.
Speeders and the occasional overloaded pickups would wipe out at the left-hander. Luckily, there was a larger-than-usual sand shoulder to settle down the errant vehicles. But if you got stuck in there, you were going to be there a while.
It was Hades for a yahoo in a muscle car--but fabulous if you were sly and sneaky in something light and nimble--like a Toyota Tercel. Some idiot would be on my back on the straight, and then couldn't keep up with me through the orange grove. Sometimes it can be fun to make your daily drive a sport, and Shady Hills back then was good for that.
But it isn't like that now. The addition of two public schools in the area means much lower speeds and more cops. The advent of the Suncoast Trail toll highway in the area broke the old path, so now it's more of a slow esse in the transition because of the new overpass/underpass. Most of the orange grove is still there, but it's being eaten away by the growth of the Quail Ridge subdivision, and will probably be gone in a generation or two. Every so often I'll dream of it, or maybe a road like it.
FP
Gone Nowhere Fast
Mar. 12th, 2014 03:03 pmI guess my brother decided NOT to take me with him on his vacation. I'll be okay with it, I guess...he probably had to move quicker than he originally planned. I won't hold this against him and I'll wish him the best of times.
At least I won't have to attend a stupid St. Patrick's Day party like I did last time.
At least I won't have to attend a stupid St. Patrick's Day party like I did last time.
Writer's Block: Run Along
Jun. 3rd, 2012 12:06 pm[Error: unknown template qotd]
I took a walking and jogging course, and stayed with it in Florida for a while, but gave up when I moved here because the terrain isn't friendly for it. People cycle here or hike the trails rather than jog.
I did a 1.5 mile time trial in college. Took me thirteen minutes and change.
I took a walking and jogging course, and stayed with it in Florida for a while, but gave up when I moved here because the terrain isn't friendly for it. People cycle here or hike the trails rather than jog.
I did a 1.5 mile time trial in college. Took me thirteen minutes and change.
The Other Side of 2012
Apr. 19th, 2012 01:02 amNFL Season.
The regular season schedule came out this week, so tonight I went to Yahoo!Sports to make a quick survey as to who plays who when. It's tough to be a fan of one or two teams when you don't live in the home city. I'm a fan of the Steelers in the AFC and of the Buccaneers in the NFC (granted to mundane levels); east Tennessee TV is going to concentrate its efforts on two AFC teams in particular (the Tennessee Titans and the Denver Broncos--the latter because of favorite son quarterback Peyton Manning, who was traded there from the Indianapolis Colts a few weeks ago) and two NFC teams because of the national marketing (the Atlanta Falcons and the Carolina Panthers). CBS carries most of the AFC games and FOX carries most of the NFC ones; NBC, ESPN and the NFL Network carry the rest of the regular season games. The Steelers have three NBC showings this year, one ESPN one and their NFL Network game is against--the Titans. The Bucs, OTOH, have just the one NFL Network game against the Vikings.
What's weird is that the Titans DO NOT play the Broncos, the Falcons OR the Panthers in the regular season at all in 2012. Granted, with 32 teams and only 17 weeks in the schedule (and everybody getting a bye week) it's bound to happen every so often. But that means since there are no showdowns there are no synergistic instances when a Sunday timeslot will open up for CBS or FOX to program a game that has nothing to do with any of the Gang of Four.
I'll need to look at the schedule again as if I work for the local CBS and FOX affiliates.
The regular season schedule came out this week, so tonight I went to Yahoo!Sports to make a quick survey as to who plays who when. It's tough to be a fan of one or two teams when you don't live in the home city. I'm a fan of the Steelers in the AFC and of the Buccaneers in the NFC (granted to mundane levels); east Tennessee TV is going to concentrate its efforts on two AFC teams in particular (the Tennessee Titans and the Denver Broncos--the latter because of favorite son quarterback Peyton Manning, who was traded there from the Indianapolis Colts a few weeks ago) and two NFC teams because of the national marketing (the Atlanta Falcons and the Carolina Panthers). CBS carries most of the AFC games and FOX carries most of the NFC ones; NBC, ESPN and the NFL Network carry the rest of the regular season games. The Steelers have three NBC showings this year, one ESPN one and their NFL Network game is against--the Titans. The Bucs, OTOH, have just the one NFL Network game against the Vikings.
What's weird is that the Titans DO NOT play the Broncos, the Falcons OR the Panthers in the regular season at all in 2012. Granted, with 32 teams and only 17 weeks in the schedule (and everybody getting a bye week) it's bound to happen every so often. But that means since there are no showdowns there are no synergistic instances when a Sunday timeslot will open up for CBS or FOX to program a game that has nothing to do with any of the Gang of Four.
I'll need to look at the schedule again as if I work for the local CBS and FOX affiliates.
Tags:
- cbs,
- florida,
- football,
- fox,
- indianapolis,
- mass media,
- nbc,
- pittsburgh,
- sports,
- tennessee,
- time,
- tv
Action shots from the St. Petersburg Grand Prix over the weekend:
Sebastien Bourdais
Katherine Legge
Oriol Servia
Simona DeSilvestro
Alex Tagliani
I'm going heavily into Lotus this year.
Sebastien Bourdais
Katherine Legge
Oriol Servia
Simona DeSilvestro
Alex Tagliani
I'm going heavily into Lotus this year.
Writer's Block: Frozen delights
Nov. 29th, 2011 09:19 pm[Error: unknown template qotd]
Last time I was asked this I answered Fudge Ripple, but really I'm not as into ice cream as I used to be. Maybe that would change if I went back to Florida again...
Last time I was asked this I answered Fudge Ripple, but really I'm not as into ice cream as I used to be. Maybe that would change if I went back to Florida again...
Writer's Block: Cornucopia of colors
Oct. 17th, 2011 12:46 pm[Error: unknown template qotd]
I was more "into" Autumn in Florida than I was up North or here in Tennessee. Mainly because, once that first north wind swept aside the Monsoon Machine of May through August, a person could actually go outside in Afternoon and not worry about too much sun or the rains. Yes, you had to worry about Hurricanes more in Autumn than Summer, but the Hurricane season was over in November and the weather stayed fairly pleasant almost to Christmastime.
I was more "into" Autumn in Florida than I was up North or here in Tennessee. Mainly because, once that first north wind swept aside the Monsoon Machine of May through August, a person could actually go outside in Afternoon and not worry about too much sun or the rains. Yes, you had to worry about Hurricanes more in Autumn than Summer, but the Hurricane season was over in November and the weather stayed fairly pleasant almost to Christmastime.
Writer's Block: Taking it on the road
May. 31st, 2011 10:49 am[Error: unknown template qotd]
In 1979 we moved from Pittsburgh to Florida. Took us two days. We slept in North Carolina just so we could do breakfast and souvenir shopping at South Of The Border, SC. Lynn had an adventure with her cat at a Rest Area.
We listened to a lot of disco. It hadn't died yet.
PS: Actually, I think it took us more than three days. 55 was the national speed limit then because of the Energy Crisis and fuel rationing. We stopped first in Baltimore at Dad's brother and his family there. Then NC/SC state line. Then I think we took one more stop in Georgia before heading down to Peachtree.
In 1979 we moved from Pittsburgh to Florida. Took us two days. We slept in North Carolina just so we could do breakfast and souvenir shopping at South Of The Border, SC. Lynn had an adventure with her cat at a Rest Area.
We listened to a lot of disco. It hadn't died yet.
PS: Actually, I think it took us more than three days. 55 was the national speed limit then because of the Energy Crisis and fuel rationing. We stopped first in Baltimore at Dad's brother and his family there. Then NC/SC state line. Then I think we took one more stop in Georgia before heading down to Peachtree.
They Don't Make 'Em Like They Used To
Apr. 3rd, 2011 09:45 pmIt got broken tonight.
It was like part of the family. It was iconic.
We had it thirty years...bought it soon after the shopping center at US 19 and Spring Hill Blvd. opened.
It was beginning to show its age, so its breaking should not have surprised me--but it did.
It was a Rubbermaid one-pint measuring beaker, slabsided, with scales on both sides, translucent smoky brown, no handle, spout on one side. Bought it at Publix.
Made countless dishes while utilizing it to confirm quantities of ingredients. Its "killer app" was the milk for Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, which it excelled at. We must have prepared well over 1000 batches of Macaroni & Cheese using that beaker.
And now it's gone and we'll have to find another somewhere. Life from here on will not be the same.
FP
It was like part of the family. It was iconic.
We had it thirty years...bought it soon after the shopping center at US 19 and Spring Hill Blvd. opened.
It was beginning to show its age, so its breaking should not have surprised me--but it did.
It was a Rubbermaid one-pint measuring beaker, slabsided, with scales on both sides, translucent smoky brown, no handle, spout on one side. Bought it at Publix.
Made countless dishes while utilizing it to confirm quantities of ingredients. Its "killer app" was the milk for Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, which it excelled at. We must have prepared well over 1000 batches of Macaroni & Cheese using that beaker.
And now it's gone and we'll have to find another somewhere. Life from here on will not be the same.
FP
This Could Be MY Independence Day. Nah.
Jan. 13th, 2011 12:14 am
I used to "work" for an independent comics publisher back in Florida in the early Nineties. Most exciting time of my life. Got blown off by two artists, and never got paid. Looking back, I should be glad I never got actually published then--my writing sucked!
Tags:
Where My Cousin Was This Weekend
Nov. 14th, 2010 08:32 pm
Driving a bulldozer into this unfortunately blighted and notorious Motel in Hudson FL. The full story can be found at www.tampabay.com.
PS: Set your GoogleEarth coordinates to 7806 Maryland Avenue, Hudson, FL.
Be Afraid. Be VERY Afraid...
Sep. 4th, 2010 06:26 pm...Mike Birchfield has Internet access. And a Hotmail account.
No further details are yet available. You have been warned.
No further details are yet available. You have been warned.
Tags:
As part of a package deal, long ago, I got a pair of starter packs for the then-passe Doomtrooper collectable card game. Last night, I was looking through them and wondering what I could possibly do with them.
There is a restaurant chain in Florida called "Pit Boss", which has pretty darned good BBQ. One thing they did as decor was to set playing cards and poker chips in the tabletops and seal them over with a thick, smooth layer of transparent polyurethane resin.
So what if I did something similar with wall panels for a game room/"man cave"? Set up a theme of multiple "players", cards in hand (paper cutout palms) around a "table". If I could afford it, I'd somehow have a miniposter showing an imagined view of what the result of the play is. Hey, an action scene from a game magazine/module would likely work...all it needs to be is an impression, not an exact match.
I can do this with three "properties" based on what I've got on hand--the aforementioned Doomtrooper, Magic The Gathering and Gundam War: Gundam Wing.
But then I'd need a place with a game room. And wood paneling and loads of poly resin.
Idea man can't help having ideas. The stars can't shut up.
There is a restaurant chain in Florida called "Pit Boss", which has pretty darned good BBQ. One thing they did as decor was to set playing cards and poker chips in the tabletops and seal them over with a thick, smooth layer of transparent polyurethane resin.
So what if I did something similar with wall panels for a game room/"man cave"? Set up a theme of multiple "players", cards in hand (paper cutout palms) around a "table". If I could afford it, I'd somehow have a miniposter showing an imagined view of what the result of the play is. Hey, an action scene from a game magazine/module would likely work...all it needs to be is an impression, not an exact match.
I can do this with three "properties" based on what I've got on hand--the aforementioned Doomtrooper, Magic The Gathering and Gundam War: Gundam Wing.
But then I'd need a place with a game room. And wood paneling and loads of poly resin.
Idea man can't help having ideas. The stars can't shut up.
Tags:
