Out with the old, and in with the new!

SweetieMe and I had a pretty good year of late, all things considered. The last twelve months have been exceptional, especially when compared and contrasted to 2007, which is probably going down as the worst year ever.

Mom's cancer was sort of the primary focus for all of us, and over the last year she took it on and kicked its ass. My brother and I were down there for the week of and watched over the house and our Mom as she slowly recovered from a pretty invasive procedure. Over the next couple of months, my brother, his wife, SweetieMe and a few other people all stayed with Mom for a time- fixing meals, running errands and making sure she got plenty of rest.

Meanwhile, Mr. Pickles's been growing up. He started toddling in January, and by March he was motorvating like nobodies business. He had his first birthday in May, which was quite entertaining. He got to experience a bounce house first hand, and despite the older kids who were in there cavorting about, they were gentle with him and he loved jumping- even though I'm still not completely sure he knew what was going on. He did get a lot of presents for that first victory lap around the sun, but in the end, of course, he liked the wrappings better than the gift itself.

It was a year of many firsts for him- He went to his aunt's wedding back in March. He's been to another country (Canada, over the fourth of July weekend) and two new states (Washington and New Mexico). He's been on a ferry (which he loved!) and an underground tour. He went on two hikes. He's been to Traveltown over in Burbank. He's seen wildflowers, flower fields and tallships. He's been to Raging Waters twice, and that's a favorite too.

We've taken him to Disneyland at least once a month, and he really enjoys himself there. He absolutely loves the new Submarine Voyage (he scoots from porthole to porthole looking at all the colors passing by), and It's a Small World is another of his favorites (All those spinning things seem to fascinate him). He starts clapping (and dancing) in the Enchanted Tiki Room which is a nostalgia attraction for me. You all know how much I love the Disney parks, and I have no idea if it's going to be something he enjoys as much as I do, but for the time being I am really tickled taking him as often as I can.

SweetieMe and I were able to take off to Zihuatanejo earlier this year, and the weekend getaway was perfect. We got to ride horses on one of the longest beaches in Mexico and that was pretty cool. The food was tasty and we had a good time wandering around.

While that was a trip just for the two of us, over Fourth of July we took the little boy to Seattle and out to Victoria off the coast of Vancouver. He had a blast, and so did his parents! It was a lightning three day weekend- We got to do the Seattle Underground tour (which I highly recommend) and then we squirted up to Richmond and took in a night market that reminded me a lot of Hong Kong. Out on Victoria we saw Burchart Gardens (wow!) and stayed at the Fairmont Empress in the heart of the town. We also got to visit the Space Needle on the return trip- the architectural similarities to the 1967 Tomorrowland refurb were interesting to see. I don't know if there's a name for that particular style of futurism but if not, there should be!

We also went on our annual outing to Albuquerque with some of our friends. We headed out to the Pagosa Hot Springs again and really enjoyed ourselves.

SweetieMe is doing well. For the most part, she is tired a lot- Her business is going well, but it's a 6 to 9 job and managing her drivers and dealing with the Port of Long Beach is hard work. Over the last few months the amount of containers she's had to deliver around the southland has dropped, making it a little easier, but it's not that easy! She still enjoys playing Mahjong most Friday nights. I've tried playing the game myself and though SweetieMe says its easy, I looked up the instructions on teh interwebs and we're talking twelve pages of detailed rules. Yow!

My job is still going strong. I've spent most of the year working on commercials, which I really like. I've done a couple for Nasonex and two for the Hartford. I helped out on the third Mummy movie and for the last half of the year I've been working on the new Fast and Furious film.

And that's the year in review. All nine of my readers, I hope 2009 is as awesome as it can be for you...

Thanks for reading my blog- I really appreciate your readership and your commentary!

The Secular Coalition for America

Change I can believe in...
The group put together this video that indicates we have a long way to go before a certain, growing segment of the population stops being marginalized.

The Secular Coalition is a lobbyist group that stands as a bulwark to the wall of separation between church and state. I've heard Lori Lipman Brown on a couple of podcasts I listen to and I'm pretty excited about what she does.

On Christmas...

This Christmas was a little weird.

And by weird, I don't mean a disaster, or even a mildly incongruous event. It was just a little... weird. Like that album from the eighties...

I'm thirty eight now, and for the first time in my life, I got sick of hearing Christmas songs. For as long as I can remember, Burl Ives was the voice of the holidays- Who can forget Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer or A Holly Jolly Christmas? This year, however, the music (and the decorations!) started well before Halloween. Mid-October! We had more than two months of those songs. On top of that, I know there are thousands of Christmas songs, so why were malls and markets only playing eight, it seemed, over and over?

As we were sitting around the tree Christmas morning, lights merrily twinkling, snow on the ground outside, presents yet unwrapped, breakfast yet uneaten, the one unvoiced thought I had was...

Wow. This doesn't feel like Christmas.

So I mentioned it to my family, and there was a pretty interesting conversation that came out of it, but the general consensus was that, yeah, this year Christmas didn't feel like Christmas. Don't get me wrong. I love getting together with my family, and the food was awesome, and we saw a couple of movies, and I gave and got some pretty good gifts. (But we do that a lot during the rest of the year...)

I think that two months of buildup with a slightly disgusting push to buy as much junk as possible (how many "last chance to buy" emails did you get?) coupled with a pretty horrible recession where a lot of people couldn't afford gifts just left me a little let down. I like the joy part. I love the idea of celebrating the beginning of the end of winter. I don't like the religion part, or the consumer part.

There's only one place that still feels like Christmas to me, and that's a Disney theme park. I can go there and see the tree and smell the cinnamon or fudge in the air and hear different versions of holiday music. It's awash with cheery possibility because while it is a bastion of blatant consumerism, it's always a bastion of consumerism, but for no added charge it throws in the holly, the wreaths and the other secular decorations during the holidays.

But outside of that, the feeling of Christmas seems to be... lost in the shuffle.

VHS is dead. Long live DVD

I guess it's official. Like the undead walking the earth during the last days, the video tape has been ravaging the bargain bins of grocery stores and 99 cent stores across the nation. But at long last, the only VHS wholesaler left in the United States is throwing in the towel.

I can now look back on the whole VHS Beta conflict of the early eighties with a tear in my eye and say, "Finally, they've realized that formats are outdated. Thank goodness we don't have anything like that going on nowadays!"

Well, maybe not so much. Blueray won't last.

A fan made Thundercats trailer!

The Mom Song

Everything a Mom says in a day to the tune of the William Tell Overture. Wow.

Let the right one in...

It was a special movie.

Before I go into it, let me say that I generally dislike European movies because of the pacing. They tend to be slow, methodical and remind me very much of pre-sixties American films, only centered around a bakery in a small town somewhere in France.

The pacing of this film was its only flaw. It was that incredible.

If you know me, or you've been reading this blog for awhile, you'll know that the modern vampire films like Twilight or Underworld have really bothered me- it seems as though post-Y2K, filmmakers have decided that the undead blood suckers aren't really vampires at all but immortal waifs who like to rave, drink blood from Waterford goblets and somehow... breed. Of late there seems to be little difference between the vampire, the werewolf and the zombie- a single bite from any of these creatures will instantly transform you- just avoid the zombies because the other two ROCK! And, even dead you can have sex with each other and produce vampire-werewolf hybrids! Yeah!

Let the Right One In is not that kind of vampire movie.

Oskar is on the road to becoming an Eric Harris or an Dylan Klebold- he's twelve, bullied at school and ignored at home by his high-strung working mother. He gets to visit his father on weekends, but Dad is emotionally available while sober, a condition that only occurs during the day.

One night a young girl and her father move in to the apartment next to his.

Everything changes.

Eli is not what she appears. Though looking only twelve, she is a very old creature, neither male nor female. Her aged human familiar, Hakan, has been relegated to a grumpy old blood collector. (The scene where he kills a man in the woods is chillingly matter-of-fact and without preamble. It's clear he's been doing this for a long time.) Because of his growing ineptitude in helping Eli survive she must take matters into her own hands, and one fateful night almost takes Oskars life. But a simple act of sharing changes her mind, and despite her reservations a friendship blossoms.

It doesn't change the fact she needs to feed, and so begins a circle of death in and around the close knit neighborhood that can only end when she is gone.

What is remarkable about this film is that it's all about love; its absence, its appearance, its joy and its sorrow. Tomas Alfredson doesn't sugarcoat what Eli is, and despite that, Oskar comes to love her anyway. She's the only person who likes him for who he is.

It's remarkable, really.

Wow...

38 orbits around the sun for me today. It's hard to believe I'm almost forty already.

So far, my life has only gotten better since my thirtieth birthday. Despite a couple of tragedies, I met SweetieMe, Mr. Pickles was born, I was in really good shape for most of those years and I've seen more of the world.

The last year has been relatively unremarkable and awesome all at the same time. Hopefully, 2009 will be a banner year!

Happy Holidays...

Well, it's that time of year again. I know a lot of you out there find the holidays a time of year not worth bothering about, but for our family, it's usually one of the only times that we all have enough time off to get together for longer than a rushed weekend.

Even an extended one.

So, for that reason alone, this time of year rocks. But we also like giving each other gifts and my brother is a professional chef and we all like eating his food so...

Tree? check.
Presents? check.
Food? check, check.
Family? bring it on.

Whether you're an atheist or not, I hope the new year makes you smile as much as humanly possible.

Happy Monkey!

This is lifted from Pharyngula, and is just too awesome not to share.

Perhaps you have been pondering the meaning of the new traditional greeting, Happy Monkey! (important usage note: it is not Merry Monkey, nor is it Happy Monkey Day. It is simply "Happy Monkey", full stop. Trying to change the phrase means you are waging war on the Monkey, and you know how they will respond.) I haven't. I've been bogged down in the end-of-semester grind for the last week, writing tests, giving tests, grading tests, and there has been little room in my brain for deep philosophical thought.

But then, just a few minutes ago, I reached an end. The exams and papers were all marked and graded, and I filled out the forms and submitted them to the registrar. And I had an epiphany. Happy Monkey is not a day, not a greeting card, not just a phrase. Happy Monkey doesn't come from a store. Maybe Happy Monkey…perhaps…means a little bit more. And what happened then…? Well, my small Monkey grew three sizes that day!

Happy Monkey is any moment that you feel the burdens lifted, that you feel a lightening of the mood, that you feel puckish and prankish and like kicking your heels. Happy Monkey can strike any time, any day!

So Happy Monkey, everyone! And may you have many Happy Monkeys in days to come!

Awwwwww, you sleepy bear...

If you need to see more cute things falling asleep, you need to go visit Cute Things Falling Asleep. It's a moral obligation.

300 cats. A parody.

Here comes lucky number 18! School House Rock should do a song.

An Arkansas woman has given birth to her 18th child.

Michelle Duggar delivered the baby girl by Caesarean section Thursday at Mercy Medical Center in Rogers. The baby, named Jordyn-Grace Makiya Duggar, weighed 7 pounds, 3 ounces and was 20 inches long.

"The ultimate Christmas gift from God," said Jim Bob Duggar, the father of the 18 children. "She's just absolutely beautiful, like her mom and her sisters."

The Duggars now have 10 sons and eight daughters.

I'm not sure it's something you should be proud of, guys...

(via Friendly Atheist)

Amazing. This Naruto video game looks like an animated film.

I am constantly amazed. Pretty soon, video games are going to have the same level of complexity and detail that live action movies do. It's coming.

A Muppet Family Christmas!

Something to get you in the spirit... This is one of my favorite parts of the holidays. Merry Christmas everyone! (Or should I do my part for the war on Christmas and say Happy Holidays? No.)



You can see the whole thing here.

If I were a superhero...

Meet my alter ego, General Quick Draw Condor. Friends call me Quick Draw- you can call me General.

Heee. This is so awesome. Go ahead. Make your own. I triple DOG dare you!

Ten honest facts about yours truly.

A new meme - List 10 honest things about yourself (TRUE and interesting things - not just the color of your socks!) This one is also from Barbara. Thanks for passing it along!
In no particular order...

1. I have only three real regrets. One involves a cat, two involve unrequited love.
2. My interest in Disney theme parks is still a mystery. Other activities enter my sphere of interest and are discarded, yet Disneyland remains. I don't really know why.
3. My love for my wife is like a living, burning thing. It always there, even when we're just watching a movie or changing the sheets, though at those times it may just be glowing around the edges. She is so awesome and I fear losing her to death or disease. It's not rational. But it's in the back of my mind.
4. My son makes my world a little brighter. However, there are times when I am just. So. Frustrated.
5. I have owned, over the last seventeen years, at least a thousand movies (vhs and dvd) and over five hundred music albums (cassette and cd).
6. I do not like Dan Barkers music, and while I love what the Freedom From Religion Foundation does, I think that Dan and Annie Laurie make terrible radio hosts.
7. I really miss having cats.
8. I am really grateful for all my friends who still like hanging out with me after having Mr. Pickles. When I was single, and had friends who were parents, I made the effort- but often they would tell me I was one of the few, and how hard it was maintaining a relationship with childless friends. Now I know what they meant. Mark, Karen, Pam, James- Thank you. You guys rock.
   
9. I am frequently amazed at the world.
10. Electronic gadgets make my world turn.
    

Hong Kong Disneyland does Halloween right!

It's just a whole lot of horror...


The American parks would NEVER go this dark...

Another Meme!

They seem to be very popular of late. This one is from Barbara over at Writing from the Inside Out! Here is a list of random things. Which ones have YOU done?

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyworld
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you're not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo's David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted - drawn I think that counts!
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired/laid off from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone's life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Seen Mount Rushmore in person
101. Learned to play an instrument
102. Kissed the Blarney Stone
103. Ridden a camel
104. Been arrested
105. Visited someone in jail
106. Flown a Kite
107. Been surfing
108. Had a broken heart
109. Wished on a star
110. Fell off a horse

The Periodic Table of Awesoments.

Mmmmmmm. Bacon.

Letter from God to Man

Enough said...

Wow- Personality test via blog...

Rob over at I'm Important and Smart came across the Typealyzer, a web page that attempts to figure out where a blog author fits on the Myers-Brigg type indicator. It's funny, the Typealyzer thinks I'm a girl.

ESTP - The Doers

The active and playful type. They are especially attuned to people and things around them and often full of energy, talking, joking and engaging in physical out-door activities.

The Doers are happiest with action-filled work which craves their full attention and focus. They might be very impulsive and more keen on starting something new than following it through. They might have a problem with sitting still or remaining inactive for any period of time.

Are you a Hardcore Atheist?

Not so much. But, it's a fun meme.

How serious do you take your atheism?
Let’s find out.
Copy and paste the list below on your own site, boldfacing the things you’ve done. (Feel free to add your own elaboration and commentary to each item!)

1. Participated in the Blasphemy Challenge.
2. Met at least one of the “Four Horsemen” (Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Christopher Hitchens, Sam Harris) in person.
3. Created an atheist blog.
4. Used the Flying Spaghetti Monster in a religious debate with someone.
   
5. Gotten offended when someone called you an agnostic.
6. Been unable to watch Growing Pains reruns because of Kirk Cameron.
7. Own more Bibles than most Christians you know.
8. Have at least one Bible with your personal annotations regarding contradictions, disturbing parts, etc.
9. Have come out as an atheist to your family.
10. Attended a campus or off-campus atheist gathering.
11. Are a member of an organized atheist/Humanist/etc. organization.
12. Had a Humanist wedding ceremony.
13. Donated money to an atheist organization.
14. Have a bookshelf dedicated solely to Richard Dawkins.
15. Lost the friendship of someone you know because of your non-theism.
16. Tried to argue or have a discussion with someone who stopped you on the street to proselytize.
17. Hid your atheist beliefs on a first date because you didn’t want to scare him/her away.
18. Own a stockpile of atheist paraphernalia (bumper stickers, buttons, shirts, etc).
19. Attended a protest that involved religion.
20. Attended an atheist conference.
21. Subscribe to Pat Condell’s YouTube channel.
22. Started an atheist group in your area or school.
23. Successfully “de-converted” someone to atheism.
24. Have already made plans to donate your body to science after you die.
25. Told someone you’re an atheist only because you wanted to see the person’s reaction.
26. Had to think twice before screaming “Oh God!” during sex. Or you said something else in its place.
27. Lost a job because of your atheism.
28. Formed a bond with someone specifically because of your mutual atheism (meeting this person at a local gathering or conference doesn’t count).
29. Have crossed “In God We Trust” off of — or put a pro-church-state-separation stamp on — dollar bills.
30. Refused to recite the Pledge of Allegiance.
31. Said “Gesundheit!” (or nothing at all) after someone sneezed because you didn’t want to say “Bless you!”
32. Have ever chosen not to clasp your hands together out of fear someone might think you’re praying.
33. Have turned on Christian TV because you need something entertaining to watch.
34. Are a 2^nd or 3^rd (or more) generation atheist.
35. Have “atheism” listed on your Facebook or dating profile — and not a euphemistic variant.
36. Attended an atheist’s funeral (i.e. a non-religious service).
37. Subscribe to an freethought magazine (e.g. Free Inquiry, Skeptic)
38. Have been interviewed by a reporter because of your atheism.
39. Written a letter-to-the-editor about an issue related to your non-belief in God.
40. Gave a friend or acquaintance a New Atheist book as a gift.
41. Wear pro-atheist clothing in public.
42. Have invited Mormons/Jehovah’s Witnesses into your house specifically because you wanted to argue with them.
43. Have been physically threatened (or beaten up) because you didn’t believe in God.
44. Receive Google Alerts on “atheism” (or variants).
45. Received fewer Christmas presents than expected because people assumed you didn’t celebrate it.
46. Visited The Creation Museum or saw Ben Stein’s Expelled just so you could keep tabs on the “enemy.”
47. Refuse to tell anyone what your “sign” is… because it doesn’t matter at all.
48. Are on a mailing list for a Christian organization just so you can see what they’re up to…
49. Have kept your eyes open while you watched others around you pray.
50. Avoid even Unitarian churches because they’re too close to religion for you.

Holy Mary OMG!

The Mexican Playboy magazine is taking some heat for displaying Maria Florencia Onori dressed as a sexy version of the Virgin of Guadalupe.

The Virgin of Guadalupe, said to have appeared to a sixteenth century Indian peasant, is Mexico's most revered Roman Catholic figure and the annual pilgrimage to the Mexico City basilica dedicated to her is one of the world's largest religious events.

Who knew she was so bodacious? Regardless, it seems as though the guys that thought this would be a good idea should probably rethink their careers a little.

Having said that, look at this painting of the Lady, and tell me that it's not an allusion to something of a more... shall we say... sexual nature?

Or maybe I just have a dirty mind.

American park- Smackdown!

Ok, so you know I'm a Disney geek. There's not a Disney ride in the whole world I haven't been on. So when a co-worker asked for a comparison between the two parks, I had to throw in my two cents. Disneyland is the park I grew up with, and what I've discovered is that the place you spent your childhood at tends to be the one you look at the most fondly.

There's a huge contrast in the type of guests that each resort brings to it and that has an effect on many issues across the board.

Anaheim guests are generally annual pass holders who visit the park once a month. This gives the operations gurus at the Disneyland resort a lot of incentive to spruce things up and add new things all the time, just to keep the experience fresh. The holiday overlays at "it's a small world" and the Haunted Mansion are a direct result of this.

On the other side of the country, Orlando guests as a group are infrequent visitors who might return every few years and while there are many annual passholders in Florida, the sheer volume of non-passholders exceeds anything we'll ever see in California. This makes it difficult for the operations gurus in Florida. It's hard to bring an attraction down for refurb or an overlay because of guest expectations. Infrequent visitors discovering that a cherished attraction is closed can be quite vocal about their disappointment. Consequently, the folks who manage the Orlando parks have a really terrible standard response for repairing their rides; if it really isn't broken, and people will still go on it, they won't fix it. So paint flakes, scrims sag, AA figures start showing their metal parts underneath the silicon skin, fur or costumes, and show is generally neglected.

The Disneyland Resort down in Anaheim has more rides than the Disney World Resort in Orlando. For example, Disneyland has 31 rides. The Magic Kingdom only has 20. DCA has 18 rides, but Animal Kingdom, Disney's Hollywood Studios and Epcot have about six each. That doesn't include the shows or the transportation like the monorail or the trains. It also doesn't mean the attractions are better, there's simply more of them.

The Fantasyland comparison is especially bleak- Orlando is missing Pinnochio, Alice in Wonderland, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, Casey Juniors Circus Train and the Matterhorn. An argument can be made here that those are dark rides, or boring, which I don't dispute. Ironically, the other parks around the world are also missing these attractions too.

There's also the question of the quality of the attractions, especially the ones that are present in both parks. Orlando's Pirates attraction is terrible. The audio is often garbled, or played at the wrong levels. You shouldn't be able to hear Jack Sparrow talking at the end of the ride while you are still floating past the Auction scene. Also, their visual show is frequently off, with static figures and iffy lighting. When SweetieMe makes comments about stuff like that, (and she's not nearly as particular as I am) you know it's bad.

Their version of Buzz Lightyear is not as bad, but the gun is harder to shoot and there is still some barely disguised plywood from the attraction that was there before it. There's also not nearly as many three dimensional characters, which for a dark ride is not that unforgivable.

Space Mountain is pretty weak though. Yes, it's bigger than the Anaheim version, but it hasn't had an update to it's systems in a while, and the experience is bouncy and uncomfortable. The ride vehicles are also badly designed- they are reminiscent of the bobsleds from the Matterhorn, but are generally too small for anyone over six feet tall. I've heard there's a fix coming, but since that ride has remained virtually unchanged in nearly 34 years, it's desperately in need of one.

Dinosaur should have rocked (it's the same attraction as Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye, with dinosaurs) but doesn't.

Despite being shown in a prettier theater, It's Tough to be a Bug (which I worked on!) has better animatronic figures over at California Adventure.

That being said, the Orlando version of the Tower of Terror is much, much better than the one in Anaheim and includes a brief journey into the fourth dimension. So is the Haunted Mansion after a recent refurb (Absolutely amazing, actually!). The Orlando Splash Mountain is superior on almost every level- there are a couple of extra scenes that tell the story better, and the log seating is side by side, which is much more comfortable. They spent a lot more money on the Jungle Cruise out there, and while the humor isn't as funny (I guess it's hard to crack jokes wearing that costume in the Florida heat) the visuals are great. I also like the Hall of Presidents, it's the Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln on steroids, with all of the presidents in their animatronic glory on stage at once. The American Journey over at Epcot is a really unique, condensed history of America, and Spaceship Earth is a pretty wondrous look at the history of communication. Mission Space simulates almost 5 gees in a simulated Mars mission.

I think that the biggest problem I have with the Orlando collection of Disney parks is that in order to have a full day of rides and attractions, you have to travel to the other parks. By travel, I mean a forty five minute trip from gate to gate. For example. If you're in the Magic Kingdom, and you want to ride Star Tours, you have to take a bus or drive over to Disney's Hollywood Studios. That park only has about six rides (and a ton of bad or outdated shows). So you're now in a half day park that closes earlier than the Magic Kingdom and Epcot so you have to trek back to another park when you're done.

The last point of comparison I have is food. To be perfectly honest about it, both American parks pale in that arena compared to the offerings at the Tokyo resorts. That said, there are more places to eat in Florida because there are more resorts. Most of the food out in Orlando seems to be made for the lowest common denominator. It tends to be bland, or fried (or both!) and with the recent addition of the dining plan, I think it's only going to get worse. Disneyland has Rancho del Zocalo, a personal favorite, and of course the Blue Bayou. Disney World has the California Grill (woot!) and the Brown Derby, but there's more out in Orlando simply because of its size.

There's more, and I'm sure I'll get to it eventually, but that's a pretty decent overview.

I never realized Mr. Cheese was such a wellspring of violence!

According to Brookfield, Wisconsin police, the local Chuck E. Cheese Pizza Time Theater is at the heart of local disruptions.
"There's a biker bar down the street, and we rarely get calls there," says the local police captain.

Officers have been called to break up 12 fights, some of them physical, at the child-oriented pizza parlor since January 2007. The biggest melee broke out in April, when an uninvited adult disrupted a child's birthday party. Seven officers arrived and found as many as 40 people knocking over chairs and yelling in front of the restaurant's music stage, where a robotic singing chicken and the chain's namesake mouse perform.

I guess a kid can be a kid there, but you can also take down the parents of those kids who offend yours.

It's like... horse porn.

Yes, that's exactly what it's like.

(via Jesus and Mo)

The Happy Meme...

These are the rules for this meme:
1. List ten things that make you happy.
2. Tag ten people.






Ten things that make me happy are:

1. After seven years, SweetieMe still likes hanging out with me on a regular basis.
2. I have an interminably sweet child, and an emotionally supportive extended family.
3. That extended family is healthy and happy.
4. I live in a progressive, relatively open minded, culturally rich part of the country.
   
5. Even though the economy is in the tank, we both have jobs in industries historically unaffected by recessions, and are doing quite well.
   
6. Because of some financial decisions we've made, we're still able to do things that make us happy.
   
7. Traveling to new places around the world.
   
8. Going to any of the Disney theme parks.
9. Watching brand new movies in a dark, fake buttery smelling theater.
10. Learning things about how the world works.
    

I tag the first ten people who read this post and want to participate in the meme.
(via the Apostate's Chapel)

An animated fable about dental hygiene.

It's weird, all right. The 1970's produced some strange byproducts.

Inspired mashup!

Are you looking for inspired inspiration? The kind of inspiration that inspires inspired inspiration?
Look no further.

A very cute mobile phone commercial...

No, you've let the WRONG one in!

Let the right one in is a new vampire movie- and it looks amazing.

After the crisis...

Some people have been busy retconning some major corporate logos in honor (or memory) of their place in history. I was glad to hear the decision to bail out the car companies, but those at the top should be given their walking papers IMHO.

Ah well. This is some appropriate humor for the morning.

How about this one. There's these zombie Nazi's. In the snow.

That's the plot of this new Sundance film, Dead Snow. I'll see it, of course. I can't make up my mind if it's going to be awesome or not...

It could very well be.

Brings back memories of that horrible flawed live action Mario Bros. movie...

Dragonball Z. They even have the hair!

Yow. Chow Yun Fat? I guess the price was right!

Have a manimal Christmas... It's crute!

(Cute + Creepy = Crute)

So this is a picture of me from 2002.











A friend of mine found this picture in a magazine relatively recently.

It's an uncanny likeness, and not that flattering.

Weird.

Yeah, that's about right...

Get ready for the cold...

It's gonna get cold in southern California over the holidays. Starting out next week, a rare arctic blast is moving our way.

"We are in a pre-1950 type pattern, "said Meteorologist Kevin Martin. "We know we are due for a winter storm sometime this year. The type we may be dealing with will be ranked up there with the known years before 1950, which set record low daytime temperatures into the forecast region."

This first one should arrive sometime in the middle of next week, with a second one (that's going to be even colder) right before Christmas.

Wear warm clothes, it's hasn't been this cold here in Los Angeles in almost sixty years. Of course, it's -81 in Siberia, so everything is relative.

The warning guy spotted in... Marina Del Rey?

So yeah. There's tsunami warnings going up in Venice and Marina Del Rey because of the relatively recent earthquakes off shore around the world. The signs look like this and they're all over the place. I had no idea that the area around my work was in a danger zone. But, it is.

It's pretty weird seeing those signs... They're new and a little... ominous.

I haven't laughed this hard in a while... The new SNL short.

The difference is...

(via the Non Theist Blog)

On burlesque theater and it's occasional failures.

SweetieMe and I are a huge fan of burlesque- the unusually clever striptease show that seems to me to be more about creativity than sex, although it's true that it IS about sex when you boil it all down.

A night out at a good burlesque show is risque and often hilarious, as the women craft little stories that inevitably lead to the final reveal of panties and pasties in the end. If done well, laughter and much applause ensues. Mixed in with the ladies taking their delicates off are usually comedians, musicians or magicians, so for fifteen to twenty dollars you get an all around awesome night out.

Usually. Last night, however, was not one of those times. Someone at work recommended Televangelesque, and I asked some friends if they were interested in going. Let me tell you right up front, I am so glad they didn't because then I would have to apologize to them all, instead of just to my wife.

We can't get those three hours back.

It started off really late. Doors opened at nine, show started at nine thirty with the Del Reys performing a set followed by a twenty minute break. So the actual show didn't even start until ten thirty.

When the show actually started, the host of the evening was a very unfunny fellow named Chris Beyond, who in spite of having a lengthy and impressive resume came off sounding nervous, squeaky and breathless.

The first act was Pinky Petite in a less than inspired retelling of the creation story. It should have been awesome, but her performance was horrible.

The second act was Nancy SinULTRA and she rocked. Picture a Catholic Nun getting tipsy and revealing what kind of habits she actually has.

The third act...Well, I don't really remember, because it was almost identical to Nancy's. Only difference was that instead of a Nun, she was just a religious receptionist, who gets tipsy and takes it all off.

And for us, anyway, the fourth act was the final nail in the coffin. There's this guy named David Liebe Heart who writes songs and sings with puppets. We sat down next to him when we first got there and he wanted to draw us, or sell us a CD of his music. I am SOOOO glad I politely declined. His act was terrible. A lot of people seemed to recognize him and cheer for his four song set, but they were drunk and knew not what they were cheering for.

He got up there on the stage and sung these anthems that sounded like the default template songs Kawasaki synthesizers have on their internal ROM. He sang OVER the CD. With the original lyrics backing him up. He didn't even have his own songs memorized, as the recording would start to play and he would catch up to it. He also seemed to forget who was singing; was it him, his ugly panda puppet, or his ugly dog puppet? The voices were interchangeable. And badly puppeteered. It was like watching open mike night at a comedy club where the performer was really, really off.

Holy crap, it was terrible. After an announcement at 11:15 that there was going to be another fifteen minute break we had had enough. Another break? We'd only seen four acts so far!

I think the worst thing about the show (for us!) was that they were basically playing to a crowd who all knew each other, so there was no real need to turn in great performances. Compared to some of the other shows I've seen this one was a real disappointment.

Tom Lehrer - Vatican Rag

He's one of my favorite humorist, and this is one of my favorite songs!

Who puts the Mock in Democracy?

Ok. If you've been reading my blog for a little while, you've probably noticed it doesn't take much to amuse me. You've probably noticed some other things, which we can't bring up in polite company, I'm sure.

So, coupled with my hair triggered humor, I'm also a part time political junkie. That's why when I was looking for some new comedy albums in the stylings of Tom Lehrer or Stan Freberg and I came across The Capitol Steps, I found a little slice of heaven.

I don't like Air America because I feel like they are just the same as the guys on the right; a consortium of bloviating, mean spirited bobble heads with oversized chips on their shoulders and a narcissistic complex, as if just by having a public soapbox to speak from, they're actually solving the problems they complain about. (I also don't like that they all seem to hate dissenting opinion!) How can you have a discussion when the only participants are sycophants?

Hence, it's NPR for me usually. And here's where I bring this around full circle. The Capitol Steps used to be a group of political staffers who made up songs about the folks they worked for. That was a long time ago, and now the group is larger, and not just staffers any more. They parody well known songs like Rock around the Clock or Monster Mash. The results are hilarious and I think I have a new favorite group. The Capitol Steps do four shows a year on NPR and have a bunch of albums for sale on iTunes. Consider this a recommendation!

A sweet love song about Mario Kart

He's got a really nice voice, and the lyrics are clever. What more can a gamer grrl ask for?

Stunt City- a cool commercial for deoderant.

The budget on this one must have been pretty big.

Brains work better when they're drenched!

This is hilarious. Even better if you know who the Thunderbirds are!

Here's a short video that shows how it was done.

Santa's inbox

<click to enlarge>

Feeling crabby?

This is quite possibly the coolest thing I have ever seen. Whatever your mood is, the annual crab invasion of an island near Australia is something else.

Jack Black IS Jesus. And he's got a lot to say about Prop 8. The musical.

There's profit to be made!

Pure D awesome.

A million and a half bucks for the big ugly.

Wow. It just goes to show that a theory of mine is true. The more money you have, the less good taste you possess. It's exponential. And this gold Christmas tree looks like something a really, really rich person would want.

"Economic sentiment is sluggish. But, at least in this store, we want people to feel a gorgeous atmosphere," a store official said.

Well, I don't know about a gorgeous atmosphere, but this thing just screams klassy, with a kapital "K."

Ahhhhh.... Pong.

I didn't realize there were so many versions of this seminal video game.

I also didn't know about the epic fail of six, count `em, six game consoles from the seventies and eighties until I read this article! The Magnavox Odyssey, which actually started the whole gaming thing had really bad PR, and equally bad luck.

I do remember the Vectrex though. One of my friends had one. I seem to recall it was pretty cool, but looking at the actual games, it also seems my recollection was faulty.

Read on, adventurer. Your quest awaits!

Alternate Currency

One of my favorite comics.

The perfect storm

Some of the most spectacular cloud formations that Greenland has ever seen looks more like something from a movie's visual effects department rather than real weather phenomena.

The pictures are amazing. Check them out!

A handy guidebook to television tropes.

I like to write. Now, I am under no delusions about my meager abilities. But it's like singing, I guess. I LOVE to sing, but I suck, so my joyous outbursts are usually relegated to the shower, driving to work or those times I am working overtime and no one else is sitting around me. I can belt out some Creedence badly like nobody's business.

But I digress.

Last night I was goofing about teh interwebs and came across this. It's a wiki that actually covers just about every cliche used in modern storytelling. I didn't even know these things had names!

For example, did you know about the Cousin Oliver? He's that inexplicable kid added to a television show's roster, probably in an attempt to liven up an aging cast. Or how about a Big Bad? The Big Bad doesn't have to be a character (it may also be a situation, such as a comet heading towards the Earth), but it usually is, and one with evil designs. Then there's a Skepticism Failure (one of my personal pet peeves). It's when the world the show or movie takes place in actually has magic, ghosts or god, and the skeptics are often treated as naive or ignorant.

I think my favorite of all of these tropes, however, is Rule Thirty Six. This rule states that if it has ever crossed your mind, there is at least one person out there with a fetish for it. Or, put another way, there will always be more fucked up things than what you just saw.

I love this website.

Now what?

Well, I guess I'll go read a book. Or something.

Prayer? Or hard work.

Yup, That about covers it.

Something this wrong...

Shouldn't make you laugh out loud.

But it does.

Get a wig for your kitty.

Is Obama the hope of the progressive movement?

I'm beginning to think the answer to that question is... No.

We've seen him appoint people like Rahm Emmanuel as his Chief of Staff- a moderate, pro-business center-right democrat which could indicate that Obama is going to be more like Bill Clinton and less like an arbiter of change.

We've seen his pick for Treasury Secretary, a guy named Timothy Geithner. Geithner worked for the IMF AND Henry Kissinger, which should have been the kiss of death for his career with a man who campaigned with the catchphrase of "hope."

We've seen him decide to keep Robert Gates on as Secretary of Defense for at least a year. I mean, come on. WTF? Robert Gates?

It's upsetting. And change is something that I'm beginning to feel is not gonna happen, despite the urgent need for a new course of action.

Noam Chomsky has written an interesting article recently about the very thing that has been giving me a fluttery feeling in my belly for the last week or two. He points out some very interesting things about the recent election, and makes a comment about how Obama simply presented "change" as a blank slate that supporters could project their own issues and ideas on to.

By usual indicators, the opposition party should have had a landslide victory during a severe economic crisis, after eight years of disastrous policies on all fronts including the worst record on job growth of any post-war president and a rare decline in median wealth, an incumbent so unpopular that his own party had to disavow him, and a dramatic collapse in US standing in world opinion. The Democrats did win, barely. If the financial crisis had been slightly delayed, they might not have.

Don't get me wrong. I think that Obama is a pretty amazing guy. He's smart, he can string some subjects, verbs and adjectives together to form sentences that don't have any made up words in them.

But things have got to change. And what we're getting is more of the same.