Retro Game Night is baaaaaack, and we couldn’t be more excited!

We love Retro Game Night and we love the Orange County Regional History Center, so game night is a win-win!

Retro Game Night starts at 7pm on Friday, June 4th, and goes basically ’til midnight. And it’s only $5 (free for History Center members). You can get all the details about the event at the History Center’s website.

See you there!

Last week we participated in downtown Orlando’s Relay For Life event, and boy are we glad we did. Relay is such a great fundraising event for the American Cancer Society, and a celebration of those who have survived cancer. One of our close friends is a survivor, and we celebrate her every day!

We took many photos throughout the night, but as we rolled into the wee hours of the morning photos were the last of our concerns. (Yes, we walked all night…from 6pm Friday night ’til 9am the following day.) Every bit of it was worth it though – after all, cancer never sleeps!

As we mentioned before, we strongly encourage you to get involved in the Relay in your Community. Not only is it a great cause that gives back to the people, it kinda makes you feel warm-and-fuzzy all over!

“Free your feet.”

This is the tagline for Tropical Smoothie’s annual National Flip Flop Day. And with all this Florida heat we have to endure, flip flops seem to be a commonality among us all.

So on Friday, June 18th chances are you’ll be wearing flip flops at some point, so why not pick-up a FREE 24 oz. Jetty Punch Smoothie* as a reward for your good behavior? You find the Tropical Smoothie located nearest to you here.

When you pick-up your free smoothie, we’d love to see a photo of it with you wearing your flip flops. Leave a link in the comments section of this post or use a Twitter photo service and @ us at @PulseofCFL.

* limited to the first 500 per store

The Hold Steady make me smile. And for 90 minutes Saturday night, the rest of the 250 party people who packed The Social in downtown Orlando were smiling, too. And who could blame them? Frontman Craig Finn shimmied, shook and sashayed on stage, only stopping long enough in between songs to soak up applause from a riled up group of fist-pumping supporters.

The band, which released its fifth album Heaven is Whenever on May 4, played back-to-back shows Saturday and Sunday last weekend.

I was among the revelers Saturday night, my third Hold Steady show in three years, and second time seeing the Brooklyn-based band at The Social. Energy and crowd support have never been an issue with The Hold Steady. Finn and his bandmates ooze electricity and play their hard-charging songs with the urgency of a boy about to get his first kiss.

But while the band continues to pump out powerful music, their sound and style is evolving. Keyboardist Franz Nicolay, he of curly mustache fame who was always given prime real estate on stage and added spunk and swagger to the band, left The Hold Steady in January to pursue other musical ventures. Also absent Saturday night was the bottle of whiskey and case of Budweiser that accompanied the band on-stage the last time I saw them at The Social in 2007. Instead, the band opted for bottles of water and Dixie cups filled with unknown contents.

The Hold Steady focused much of its set on tracks from Heaven is Whenever and 2008 release Stay Positive, but still dove into favorites “Cattle and the Creeping Things” and “Your Little Hoodrat Friend” off 2005 album Separation Sunday and “Stuck Between Stations” and “Southtown Girls” off 2006 release Boys and Girls in America.

Finn didn’t chat much between songs, saving his energy instead for connecting with the audience. With sweat dripping from his face, Finn repeatedly reached out his arms to the nearly all-male contingent fronting the stage imploring them to continue to sing at the top of their collective lungs. If non-verbal communication could have been measured on a Richter Scale, Finn would have been well above a 6.2.

I, on the other hand, was perfectly content sipping a bottled beer from a cozy spot near the bar, soaking in another splendid performance from a band that never disappoints.

The smile never left my face.

** Thanks to Dan Mirocha, friend of Pulse of Central Florida and Managing Editor of Golfweek.com, for this guest post.**

A couple of weeks ago we held a contest giving away tickets to the Spring Awakening show at Bob Carr theatre. Well, we accompanied* our winner to the show Tuesday night and it was nothing short of amazing.

We were already looking forward to the music. We were fairly familiar with the storyline, but it’s safe to say we went with few expectations about what the experience would be. Good thing, because we were pretty much blown away.

One could say this show is the Rent of this generation (although–and we know many people would disagree–we think Spring’s music is better). The story touches on everything youth experiences while coming-of-age.

Of course, we we’re not able to take pictures during the live show, but here are a few snippets of some of the more memorable songs:

We wouldn’t suggest bringing young children to the show, unless you want them to get the Birds & the Bees talk a la Spring Awakening!

*Big thanks to Bob Carr Performing Arts Center for providing tickets for Pulse and our contest winners.

Many Relay For Life events take place throughout the Central Florida area, all through the year. This weekend is the downtown Orlando Relay and yours truly will be there supporting it.

Everyone is connected to cancer in some way, so if you have the time please come out and support either the downtown Relay, or a Relay For Life in your Community.

One more reason the Orange County Library System Rocks: Free Music! Using the Freegal Music service, you can download up to 3 songs per week using your library card and PIN.

You probably won’t find every single song, but I did a search for my favorite artist and was pleased to find 7 pages of songs to download.

If you don’t already have a library card, you can sign up for one here.

I’m very fortunate to work in an open space in downtown Orlando, so every shuttle launch has been very accessible to me. On a clear day, I took some great photos of the launch last week. (The folks on that plane had a pretty good view as well!)

Do you watch launches from your work or home? Or do you even care?

Best. News. Ever. (Okay, maybe not ever, but still, free ice cream!)

Haagen-Dazs is offering a free scoop of Chocolate, Vanilla or Strawberry Ice Cream tomorrow, May 18, in honor of their 50th Anniversary.

The free scoop is only valid between 4 and 8 p.m.

Check out this link for Central Florida locations.

Last night we randomly selected (using Random.org) the winner of a pair of tickets for the upcoming Spring Awakening show at Bob Carr. Please help us congratulate Annie, who was apparently majorly impacted by Led Zeppelin in her youth.

Dazed and Confused’ by Led Zeppelin for sure. I was definitely dazed and confused about just about everything in my life at that time! I had NO clue about anything!”

Annie: You’ll have two (2) tickets waiting for you at the Will Call window this Tuesday. Have fun, and enjoy the show!

Thanks to all who participated in this contest, and stay tuned for more.