…is best summarized by this This Modern World comic:
Click the comic to see it at full size.
Oddly enough, this comic isn’t referring to the recent shooting incident in Newtown, Connecticut, nor the movie theatre shooting in Aurora, Colorado from this summer, nor the one a year before that in Grand Rapids, Michigan, but three mass shootings and two years ago — the 2011 shooting in Tucson, Arizona.
It’s the day when The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey hits the theatres here in North America. In honour of this day, here are some videos for your enjoyment:
Here’s the first trailer for the movie, released back in January:
Here’s the second trailer for the movie, which came out in September:
One of the best airlines safety announcements made out there, starring the cast of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey…
And finally, Leonard Nimoy’s tribute to the hobbit in the movie’s title, recorded in the heady days of the summer of 1967. That’s why he’s got the “Spock” hair — this video was shot while Star Trek was deep in the production of its second season:
I’m starting it off here…
Then at 3:45 p.m., I’ll be here…
…and I’ll wind up here just before 7:
“It just seems that a billionaire and come in and get whatever he wants and run roughshod over average millionaires like myself,” says the Crescent Park Neighborhood Association president in the article above. These guys must think that Romney was lowballing when he said that he considered middle income to be in the range of “$200,000 to $250,000 and less”.
Found via Kirill Grouchnikov.
If you’re ever in the Tampa Bay area and want some great burgers, take a look at Burger 21. They’re a local chain and part of that “better burger” trend away from the sort you’ll get from the McDonald’s/Burger King/Wendy’s axis. For a little more than what you’d pay at “Raunchy Ron’s” (that’s my personal nickname for McDonald’s), you get better burgers with better condiments, better sides, better shakes, better service, better surroundings and better bathrooms.
Pictured above is one of their shakes — the Bananas Foster shake, topped with a caramelized banana. The only way it could be even more Bananas Foster-y would be if it were drizzled with banana liqueur and set alight. The Lady Friend and I split one, and its was delicious. I’m planning on dropping by Burger 21 on my next trip.
In my previous Tampa Photo Diary, I wrote that I was at a birthday party complete with outdoor band gig, karaoke and gladiatorial drinking. What I forgot to mention was that it was an “End of the World”-themed party, in reference to the belief that the Mayans predicted that the world would end in late December 2012.
The birthday girl’s friends came up with a lot of “End of the World” ideas, including a variation on the “Who Am I?” ice-breaking party game. Each of us got a sticker on his or her back with the name of a person, place or thing associated with the end of the world, whether in fiction or non-fiction. The Lady Friend got “Global Warming”; I got “John Cusack”, whose relationship to the end of the world was a bit of a stretch. Needless to say, it took me a while to figure out who I was.
My first activity in Tampa was to attend the Lady Friend’s office Christmas/holiday/end-of-year party. It was a pretty nice affair, taking up the entire upper floor of Brio in the International Plaza with good food (lots of appetizers, followed by salad, pasta, meat and dessert courses, each course being served family-style with two dishes) and drinks aplenty.
I asked the Lady Friend if the accordion was an appropriate bring-along, and she checked with HR. HR not only approved, but cleared it with the DJ so that I’d get an introduction and a chance to play a song on the dance floor, which is what’s depicted in the photo above.
On Saturday, we passed by Bearss Groves Farmer’s Market to get some food for dinner. Set in what used to be orange groves (people live there now), this market’s been running for nearly 20 years, with a great selection of fruits and vegetables.
In addition to fruits and veg, we also stopped by this place:
Snooties BBQ are two twenty-somethings, Janet Studer and Joe Hire, and half the year, from April to November, they’re based in Sandusky, Ohio. During the colder half, their mobile kitchen is based in Bearss Groves Market, where they server big, meaty ribs in excellent sauce. We took a whole rack home and devoured them happily. I’ll be back for more.
Saturday night, we dropped by our friends’ place to attend their birthday party. They’re married, and their birthdays are close enough together that it made sense for them to combine celebrations. It also gave out friend a chance to debut his newly-formed band, Buddha Bandits, in front of a friendly audience.
It’s hovering around freezing right now in Accordion City, so attending a backyard party lit by a pool in a garden full of citronella torches, sipping a Jack and Coke under the stars beside my favourite girl as a band that sounds like a cross between Blues Traveller and Gish-era Smashing Pumpkins plays is a big treat.
Later that evening, we moved the party indoors. The indoor festivities began with “Guess That Tune”, a game where I played the chords and lead line of a pop or rock tune on accordion without singing any lyrics, while the others tried to guess for prizes. The one they had the most trouble with until I played the closing line: Closer, by Nine Inch Nails.
That was followed by karaoke…
…and gladiatorial drinking:
Its formal name is the Wat Mongkolratanaram, but it’s better known as the Tampa Thai Temple, a Thai Buddhist temple located on the south shore of the Palm River. It’s been there since 1981, but the present temple (pictured above and below) was built in 2007.
Here’s what the temple looks like from the back:
Here I am, on the grounds behind the temple, looking all meditative:
Many Buddhist temples have miniature temples somewhere on the grounds. Typically there are offerings placed around their base.
Every Sunday, they hold an open market where you can purchase all sorts of Thai food, as well as plants and flowers. The proceeds from the sales go to the temple’s upkeep. You can eat on the premises; they’ve set up dozens of picnic tables on back part of the grounds facing the river. The people who came for lunch were widely varied: not just Thais, but just about every race, color and creed who wanted some delicious Thai food were there.
Photo from Creative Loafing.
Among the dishes available are:
Photo from Meals and Miles.
The food is cheap, cheerful and delicious. Most of the stalls will sell you three dishes served on a bed of rice for about seven bucks.
