Tuesday Tidbits

1.  They Are Here

Remember last week I mentioned I saw a UFO fly over Bedlam?   Well, I saw another one the other day, must have been last Friday morning.  

That is the complex right across from me and I was taking a picture of the jet heading into the sun, which you can just barely see if you look close enough.  By the way, the building on the right is the racquetball courts that Norah and I go and play "Fetch the Tennis Ball."  

I grabbed my iPhone and quickly snapped a picture because I liked the whole jet trail and sun thing.  Just as I did this craft came into view.  It seemed to have a particular coloring around it like some kind of energy propulsion field.   It was saucer shaped, with upper and lower structures.  It even had some kind of antenna protruding from the upper section.  It hovered briefly, quietly, then in a nanosecond sped off toward the Love Toys adult shop across Route 19 next to Bedlam.  Maybe some Valentine's day shopping for that special alien back home?   They are here.  And in Florida.  Imagine traveling billions of miles, not to mention light years and end up in this place.  It certainly explains some of the people I saw at the Wagon Wheel Flea Market last week.

2.  Plant City  

Plant City Florida is a squalid little place outside Tampa that grows strawberries and hosts a festival.  I had the pleasure to travel with the current Mrs. Blythe and son Brendan on Sunday to meet my current sister and brother in-law.  Parksdale Farm is a Tanner Orchard-like place that features jams, salsa, gifts and all things strawberry.  The line snaked all the way around here to there with people queuing up for this delicacy: a shortcake.

I have no idea how many calories this monstrosity contains.  I did my best, not wanting to be rude, but we first spooned off the mountain of whipped cream and then proceeded with steady determination.  

The way home was hairy.  Does anyone ever use the word hairy anymore to describe snarky or dangerous?  Tampa is a cesspool of traffic that even my Garmin can't handle with any efficiency.  We got lost because Greta went mute with fear.  

3.  The Equalizer

I'm not much of an action movie guy.  Fist fights that go on forever with really no purpose, cars going airborne and flipping to one side (because that's how they launch them) gets tiresome and boring.  I had the misfortune to see The Equalizer last weekend and hated it from about the 20 minute mark.  I laughed in all the wrong places like when Denzel does the slo-mo hero stud-walk out of the warehouse where he blew away 25 bad guys.  And where rain drops fell off his eyelids in those really close-up scenes where we  figure out this guy is a really aware person.  

Denzel Washington, now 60, wants to show everyone he's a real cool bad-ass.  An AARP bad-ass in the same vein as Liam and Sylvester, which doesn't say much for Denzel or his agent.  I'm sure he got paid a lot and I hear they are talking a sequel, but really, folks, it was a bad cliche with absolutely no new way of looking at the genre.  Not only that but it bordered on porn-death: corkscrews, tree trimmers, barbed wire and mallets, just a few of the methods this guy killed the villains.  I'm still shaking my head just thinking about how bad it was.  But there must be a lot of people into that sort of thing because it made a mint.  You've been warned.

4.  Something Wonderful Is Going To Happen

Yes, I have been toying with you.  Can't say yet what is going to happen, but whatever it is will be wonderful.  I tossed about four balls up in the air, one has come down in a disappointing fashion, but three remain.  They will start dropping soon and at that time I can tell you what is going to be so damn wonderful.  Maybe next week, maybe the week after.  Until then be patient.  

5.  Postcard Inn

The Wombie arrives with his entourage on the 23rd of this month and will be playing golf, maybe having a beer or many and according to this Google earth picture of the Postcard Inn on St. Pete Beach, maybe sunning on the beach.  

It's about 13 miles away and a half hour or so to get there so it won't be any trouble to slip down and see him/them.  

The long range forecasts have predicted seasonal to above seasonal temps so I am optimistic the weather will be conducive for golf, sunning and partaking in adult beverages.   

6.  Did You Know?

Did you know that if we taxed religious institutions in the U.S. we would be 83 billion dollars richer, and that that would pay for every person on food stamps and house every homeless person, with some left over?