Monthly Archives: November 2021

Michelin Guides coming to Orlando, Miami and Tampa

Posted on by
Reply

The vaunted Michelin Guide will add Florida to its list of rated restaurants in 2022, covering Miami, Orlando and Tampa. It will be the guide’s fifth U.S. destination after New York, Washington, D.C., Chicago and California.

The expansion was spearheaded by Visit Florida, which made the announcement Monday on behalf of its partners Visit Orlando, Visit Tampa Bay and the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau.

“Michelin Guide inspectors look forward to discovering the world-class culinary landscape in Miami, Orlando and Tampa,” Gwendal Poullennec, international director of the Michelin Guides, said in a statement. “From the excitement and glamour of Miami to Orlando’s iconic attractions and the rich culture of Tampa’s Gulf Coast, Florida’s gastronomy is unique, diverse and intriguing for locals and travelers across the globe.”

Unlike the James Beard Foundation Awards but similar to other restaurant guides that were started in the early days of automobiling, such as Mobil and AAA, Michelin uses dedicated inspectors who dine at the restaurants anonymously. The guide has a three-star rating system, with three being the ultimate. New York City currently has only five three-star restaurants. The guide also features notable restaurants that fall short of earning a star. The guide was started 120 years ago, in France, by the Michelin tire company to offer handy information to motorists.

A date for publication of the first Florida Michelin Guide has not been announced.

Here’s what ‘Let’s Go, Brandon’ actually means

Posted on by
Reply

If you’ve heard people chanting “Let’s go, Brandon!” or seen someone with a shirt or hat sporting the seemingly-jovial message lately, you might be wondering who Brandon is and why so many people are rooting for him.

In this case, the phrase isn’t actually supporting a guy named Brandon. Instead, it’s a euphemism that many people in conservative circles are using in place of saying “F*** Joe Biden.”

The origins of the meme go back to Oct. 2, when race car driver Brandon Brown won his first NASCAR Xfinity Series race and was being interviewed by NBC reporter Kelli Stavast. In the background, some in the crowd can be heard chanting “F*** Joe Biden,” though Stavast says “you can hear the chants from the crowd, ‘Let’s go, Brandon!’ ” in her broadcast.

Continue reading →

Significant solar flare’ prompts G3 Geomagnetic Storm Watch

Posted on by
Reply

The sun emitted a “significant solar flare” on Oct. 28 and because of it, the Earth is under a G3 (strong) Geomagnetic Storm Watch until Oct. 31, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

The solar flare was categorized as an X1.0-class flare, according to NASA.

“X-class denotes the most intense flares, while the number provides more information about its strength. An X2 is twice as intense as an X1, an X3 is three times as intense, etc. Flares that are classified X10 or stronger are considered unusually intense,” NASA said in a Thursday news release.

The solar flare took place at about 11:35 a.m. ET on Thursday after it was observed by the Solar Dynamics Observatory, according to NASA.

Any impacts the solar flare may have on Earth’s technology are minimal, but the G3 storm has the potential to push the aurora further out, giving people who live in Iowa, Oregon and Pennsylvania a chance to see it over the weekend, the NOAA said.

The aurora borealis and aurora australis — also known as the northern lights and southern lights — are the eerily beautiful green and purple lights seen in the sky at the north and south poles of the Earth. The lights occur when space weather, such as solar flares, interferes with the planet’s magnetic field, according to NASA.

“When we see the glowing aurora, we are watching a billion individual collisions, lighting up the magnetic field lines of Earth,” NASA said.