Mad Libs turns 50! Can you believe it? You remember those from childhood, don’t you? I’ve loved Mad Libs for years and years; I learned about its birthday this morning while watching The Today Show. Immediately I thought, “How can I pay tribute and blog about this, and still make it interesting?” So here’s my solution: an original, made-for-our-readers, for-your-entertainment Orlando Mad Lib!

Now, since you can’t actually fill-in the blanks by writing on your computer screen (well, you can but I’m not going to recommend it) you can leave your “words” in the comments field of this post! After all, we want to see how creative you can be!

Have fun:

Orlando Mad Lib

When somebody (verb) ____ me about Orlando, I immediately (verb) ____ them (noun) ____. After all, not everyone is lucky enough to live in (adjective) ____ Orlando.

Sure, normally the first thing people think of when they hear the word Orlando is ____ Mouse and Disney (noun) ____, but there really is so much more. Like (adjective) ____ parks, (adjective) ____ lakes, and (adjective) ____ golf courses!

One thing many (noun) ____ may not know is Orlando hosts many (adjective) ____ events every year, like the Florida Film Festival that happens at the (adjective) ____ Enzian Theatre in Maitland; the (adjective) ____ Orlando International Fringe Festival; and the Orlando Beer Festival.

Of course there are also various arts & crafts festivals throughout the year, where one can buy (adjective) ____ art, hear (adjective) ____ music, and eat (adjective) ____ food.

The Central Florida area also offers many (adjective) ____ restaurants, (adjective) ____ sports, and clubs & bars, many of which can be found talked about here on this (adjective) ____ blog, “Pulse of Central Florida.”

Orlando. The City Beautiful.

Well, we’re not really moving (tease, tease!) but if we were, I’d want it to be to Bobolink Lane in Orlando’s Audobon Park. If for nothing else than to be able to say “Bobolink Lane.” For some reason, I find it very entertaining!

Murphy is a 4-year-old American Cocker Spaniel, and older sister to former “Pet Pulse” feature Guinness. She is very calm and sweet and likes to be at her mother’s heels all the time. Her parents named her Murphy after Murphy’s Law; they had just purchased their house and it was the absolute WORST time to buy a dog, but they saw her and fell in love with her immediately.

We’re sure you will, too!

Remember, if you’d like to have your pet–or someone else’s–featured on this weekly series, simply e-mail your photo (high resolution, please) to pulseofcentralflorida[at]mail[dot]com, along with a little bit about pet. Then check the site every Wednesday to see if you’re pet made it!

…Baldwin Park sells them. The whole community does, in fact. But only on certain days, like today.

Wait…I don’t think that’s what they mean, but it still amused me! Good thing I had my camera:

Several months ago I published a post on my personal blog that I thought would be relevant and interesting to our “Pulse” audience. You may have even heard about it somewhere else by now; I was reminded of it earlier this morning while reading the news online. I’m referring to a service that gives you the capability of having amber alerts sent to your mobile device free of charge. I originally learned about this while watching a daytime chat show and I was immediately intrigued, not only because of the nature of the topic but also because of the integration of technology into this rather unfortunate common occurrence (kidnapping).

Basically, here’s what happens:

If a child goes missing in your local region or area–in our case the Orlando or Central Florida area–you can sign-up to receive an alert to your mobile device, notifying you of details. It’s all customizable at WirelessAmberAlerts.org. You can select up to five (5) zip codes for which you’d like to receive alerts, should a child ever go missing there.

While I’m certainly not the first person you would come to if you need help with your child, I definitely would in a situation such as an amber alert, particularly if something like this technology were at my disposal. So I went the aforementioned site and signed-up, and here’s the text message I received post-sign-up:

Now, never mind that my password is displayed. I’m pretty sure you can’t do anything to my account without all of my information. While I’m certainly not anxious for a child to go missing, I will be interested to see what one of the mobile alerts looks like…and what sort of information it contains. When I do I will make sure and provide an update here.

If you have the chance you should sign-up for mobile amber alerts. It’s free*…and after all it promotes giving back to the community!

* certain rates may apply depending on the mobile carrier and rate plan you have

Eureka!  I found my new favorite restaurant. Nestled among downtown’s lovliest neighborhoods, the elusive Bravissimo Cafe is delish!

The quaint little Italian cafe hardly needs to try, but succeeds nicely in making you feel as though you’ve just stopped by an old friend’s place for a homecooked Italian meal.

Originally located in Winter Park, Bravissimo moved to the Thornton Park neighborhood nearly 10 years ago and has flourished since.

The cafe serves a variety of “simple Italian food done well” for lunch and dinner. Bring your appetite and start with the Polenta Quattro Formaggi … a rich four-cheese polenta topped with Italian sausage.

I think Webster’s has this one nailed …
bra·vis·si·mo
Used to express great approval, especially of a performance; [Italian superlative of Bravo]

Bravissimo Cafe
337 Shine Avenue
Orlando, FL 32803
407/898-7333

Anyone who follows our blog knows I live near downtown Orlando. In Delaney Park, to be precise. And I’m fortunate to work in downtown Orlando, so I’ve less than three miles round-trip from home to work each day. I consider myself very lucky.

My drive home the other night (hence being classified as “Out and About”) was a bit tainted, when the fresh air pouring into my car through my open windows started reeking of cigars. Yuck! Then I realized I was passing the new Corona Cigar Company on the corner of Orange Avenue and Pine Street. I mean, I’m happy the downtown area is being revitalized, and folks are hanging out there, but couldn’t it have been a flower or candy store, instead of stinky cigars?

This is Cassidy Marie Bamford. She is a very unique dog. She is a Schipperke. Her favorite hobby (an understatement if ever there was one) is playing ball — it’s an addiction, really!

Once upon a time, when she was a puppy she was not allowed on the furniture; however, five days alone with her “Godfather,” baby sitting, and she quickly learned that the couch and all of the furniture really belonged to her!

She is the Queen!

23.

It’s not my age…anymore.

Far from it, actually.

What it is, is a relatively new hangout in downtown Orlando, and one that gets high recommendations from me. Some folks I’m acquainted with invited me there one night last week to hear a friend DJ. I’d been to 23 Orlando once before a few months back and have been looking for an excuse to go back, so I jumped at the chance.

Let me begin by saying what I don’t like about 23. Firstly, it’s on Church Street. Now, I realize here on this blog I don’t really divulge too much personal information as I don’t feel it’s an appropriate venue; I have another blog for that. But if you did know anything about me you’d know I’m not the biggest fan of going out in downtown Orlando — more specifically Church Street. It’s essentially a big frat house party, with the kinda people you’d expect at a frat house party to go along.

And while I haven’t been to 23 on a Friday or Saturday night there’s a slight chance this may actually be the kinda people who hang out here. So that’s what I don’t like.

What I do like, though, is the interesting decor and layout of the club. It’s on the second floor, and a long, narrow staircase leads up to the entrance. And the interior is unique from other Orlando bars in that it’s centered by a wood/rustic atmosphere (but without being woods-y.

23′s website, 23Orlando.com, is actually a great resource for those interested in visiting the bar. There’s a brief description of the bar, a photo gallery (including some of the patrons), contact information and the “join the newsletter” feature. One feature I particularly like is their event calendar — their regular weekly events are posted right there so you know what’s going on before you head downtown.

Here’s the schedule:

Though having this schedule available for viewing on their website, as with any business hours of operation can change. Therefore, I strongly encourage you to check the site and/or the the 23 Orlando MySpace profile before heading to downtown Orlando. You might even want to give them a call.

Of course I always like to provide as much input as I can on these posts, so I must bring up to things to think about before going to 23 Orlando:

- There is an enforced dress code, particularly for men. This means no flipflops or tennis shoes.
- Drinks are pricey, especially after any of the “early” promotions they might be having.
- There is likely a cover on weekends. Since both evenings I went to the venue during the week, I cannot say for sure.

While I was leaving my company’s office to go home this evening, I saw this signage in the hallway and for some reason I found it very amusing: