we wants the redhead

So, I'm a big Disney guy, but I'm not a PC guy. I think political correctness is ruining many things in the country because it's an overused term.   

Having said that, I met the news that Disney is changing up the "redhead auction" scene in the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction at Disney World with mixed feelings. 

In case you aren't familiar with the famous ride, you board a boat, which takes you through a journey through dimly lit pirate scenes. Speaking mostly of the Disney World version (thought Disneyland is very similar), you pass by a mermaid skeleton, a skeleton steering a ghost ship, down a small pitch black incline, then in between a battle between a ship and a fort. The rest of the ride will take you through various comical scenes with pirates looting and drinking and plundering and so on, with World featuring Jack Sparrow, and Land being more traditional.

There is a scene in the second half that shows an auction for... well, women.  Audio animatronics of various sizes stand, waiting to be sold, as one of the pirates yells out "We wants the redhead!" referring to a more attractive... well, woman for sale.  Yes, it's a robot, but you feel me.

Some years ago, during a refurbishment, some scenes were changed to have some of the women weilding rolling pins chasing their men (as opposed to the other way around, as it was for decades before).  Disney now wants both men and women pirates/robots to be involved in looting and buying random things at the auction.

From what I've seen on social media, most people do not want this change, want Disney to leave well enough alone and are "tired of all this PC crap and tired of companies like Disney giving in to the small minority of people who want to change it!", or some such.

At first, I thought "Why not leave well enough alone?"  I mean, it's been like that for a long time, and Disney has monorails that need to be fixed, they have garbage cans that need to be emptied way more than before, pricing is going up, Universal is atop its game and so on -- I mean, Disney has bigger fish to fry, right?

And yet...

There's something about selling a person that bugs me.  Even if it's a robot. 

If Splash Mountain depicted the selling of a slave, or at least a black slave (as that's how we usually think of "slavery"), Magic Kingdom would burn to the ground.  Heck, they won't even release the movie "Song of the South" in the US for sale or streaming (I support it being available, by the way), and so why do we think the selling of females, even depicted as campy, silly characters, are okay?

Let me stop here.  I have a feeling by now, some of you reading are thinking,  "What are you talking about?  You're falling for the same PC crap that Disney is giving in to!" and those who really know me are probably saying "Really? What about you being against (fill in hot topic of the day that I've given my opinion on in recent months) but you support this??"  For that answer, I can definitively... I don't know.  I have no idea.

I do know this, though.  Slavery, at least in this country as we know it, doesn't exist. Trafficking does.  Trafficking is not okay.  Even when it's robots.  

Gosh, I sound silly, don't I?  Robots don't traffic.  They do what they are programmed to do. And it's an old attraction back when making such amusing jokes and scenes were acceptable.  And honestly, I'm sure it's acceptable today... but I really am not bothered by Disney's move to change things up. 

I guess I just pictured some 18 year old girl who'd spent 4 years being trapped in the slave trade (re: sex trafficking), but now free and enjoying a day of magic and fun at Magic Kingdom... and seeing a scene with silly, stupid, goofy looking robot pirates that ended up reminding her of how she was stolen from her family years ago, sold to some billionaire and sent to a foreign country... or a nearby county. 

So that's it. Maybe I'm silly, and I don't plan on defending my position other than what I've stated. I have no problem with people being mad about Disney changing the scene... and if Disney makes an about face and decides to leave as is, I'll probably be fine with it.

But taking out the part where women are sold into slavery?  I'm okay with it. 

the last 18 years

perhaps its bad form to point out the flaws, but you lose the strengths of doing anything only sparingly, and writing is no different.  Grammatically incorrect and structurally derp, please forgive the way its presented and just take the message... 

Today is an important day in the life of one d$.  It was on this day in 1998 that I moved to Birmingham, Alabama.  I knew no one, I had no church, I didn't know my way around... but I chose B'Ham.

Why, you ask?  Well, my original intent was Mobile, a city that I still think is cool.  My other options were Atlanta and Nashville, because I'm more of a city guy... or was when I was 23 anyway.  But job offers had not come from Mobile, but I did get one job offer from Birmingham, at a little place called Designers International.

Now, if I could go back, there are a number of things I would tell 23 year old d$ to consider before shaking Rob Zuckert's hand and agreeing to work for this company.

First, what will I be doing?  The answer ended up being going door to door, store to store, parking lot to parking lot, selling knock off perfume out of a box.

Next, ask what my starting salary would be...  The perfume was $22 a bottle, so anything price I got beyond the $22 was mine to keep.  My first week in Birmingham, I made $7.  I wish I were kidding...

Finally, ask where the door was so I could leave... this was a disaster, but that's another post.

No, the main reason I moved to Birmingham was for a girl named Amy Wible, because I thought we'd go out.  When the girl you dig says "Move here and we can see each other!", you move.  Or I did.  As it turns out, we actually didn't see each other for another 2 years, but that is also another story.

But, this day in history... my friends Allysong, Shelby, Eddie, Troy Mac, Claire and a few others helped me load my stuff into my car and into another, and we drove to Birmingham together to unload it into my new, $435 per month loft at Carousel Apartments on Lorna Road.  My friends were so cool, in fact, that we drove back to Troy, loaded up the rest of it and came back... the guys spent the night with me, the girls with Allysong (who was from Alabaster, a Birmingham suburb), and early the next day, they drove back to Troy, Alabama.  Without me.  I was on my own.

My dream, besides working at Designer International, was to catch on a radio station and maybe be behind the mic... after all, I did it for 3 years in college, so this can't be hard, right?  Or maybe work at a TV station, first in production and then perhaps, who knows, in front of the camera?

It's been 18 years since my dreams of my two years in Birmingham would surely spill into a great job in Nashville, TN, or maybe over in Atlanta, maybe with Amy, maybe not. Or maybe I'd just move to New York City for a year or so... but first, let me spend two years here, get settled, pay off some debt and then pack up and move on.

But a funny thing happened on the way to 2016.

I met a guy named Michael and ended up moving to Pinebrook Apartments with he and Shawn and Big Tom Johnson.  Then we moved to Briarberry Circle and founded The Deuce.

I joined Valleydale Baptist Church, now known as Valleydale Church (an sbc fellowship), my first -- and only -- church membership. I'm still there, despite all the changes.

I met Stephanie Campbell in our college & career group at church, and thought she was the cutest thing ever.

I got a job as a temp at Parisian Corporate, which turned into a full time sales assistant job.

I worked at a radio station as a sales assistant, and realized I didn't want to do radio as a career.

I worked at the local NBC station, again as a sales assistant, and realized it was the worst job I'd ever had.

I worked at a movie theater and learned that many high school students are lazy. But many work hard.

I reconnected with Amy and realized she wasn't the one for me (and she knew I wasn't the one for her) 

I worked at Starbucks because I decided I would pay off my debts and save up for a ring because I really, really liked that cute girl named Stephanie Campbell.

I worked at The Disney Store and it confirmed my love of all things Disney. And I realized that yes, you can have a complete broken heart when the job ends.

I worked at Starbucks again and realized, maybe years too late, it wasn't my life's goal.

I worked at Alabama Power, to help clear my head of Starbucks.

And then I became a full time travel planner.

I've been a ticket tearer, a perfume pimper, a make-salespeople-look-good'er, a barista, a shift supervisor, an assistant manager, a manager, a barista, a shift supervisor, an assistant manager, a shift supervisor, a Cast Member, an engineering contractor (!) and finally, a travel planner.
'
I helped start a podcast with some of my best friends, my Deucemates... I've been close to my Sunday Scho... er, Life Connec... uh, Life Gro... that group on Sunday mornings for over 10 years now... I've reconnected with my BFF Best Mate Wookiee after a few years apart... I've reconnected with my worst first date ever, Ginny Kochan... I've become friends with reality stars like Brooke from The Bachelor, now on NBC, and been put into the Million Dollar Hold by WWE Hall of Famer Million Dollar Man Ted DiBiase... I joined the cult of Jon Acuff, and three years later, I can say names like "Clay Shaver" and "Rick TOOOOLIE" and "Debra Henessy" and "Liz Clark" as some of my favorite people on the planet, people that help push me to what I'm doing now...

In 18 years, I've written 1000+ blog posts... traveled the East Coast... watched 1000s of movies... read 100s of books... been to Disney World countless times, and even did the "four parks in one day" thing twice (while doing the water parks too, for a 6 parks in one day trip) and accomplished 50 attractions in 24 hours...

In 18 years, I got married to the cutest thing ever, The Lovely Steph Leann... we had Campbell Isaiah, who is the most amazing kid I know...  lost both of the people who raised me, but gained a mom who'd let me go 36 years ago... we paid off debt, we bought a house, we bought a brand new car...

And if I had moved to Mobile... I would have never had The Deuce... I would have never found Valleydale, and thusly never met The Lovely Steph Leann... I might've never met Clay Shaver or Liz Clark... Wookiee may have never come to see me in Mobile, so we would have been another case of "best buds in college, but lost touch over the years"... my life would be different.

Maybe worse, maybe just a lateral move in quality (I mean, who's to say that I wouldn't be talking about my life in Mobile, wondering what life would have been like had I moved to Birmingham instead?) but...

but... I like it like this.  For what was supposed to be a two year stop in Birmingham before moving to bigger and better... I somehow found my bigger and better right here.

Two years becomes 18, and 18 will likely become 25 and beyond.

Here's to the next 18.

the 2014 book report part one

Way back in the day, I did a Top 100 of everything of the previous year... I decided to drop that idea with 2011 being the final year of that list.  Last year, to review 2013, I kinda just did a Top 10 of things like movies, books and such, and that worked as well.

This year, as I evolve the way I want to remember the previous year (because a blog isn't just for others, it's also so I can remember, because I can't remember much of anything anymore... who am I?), I decided to do something a little different.. my goal was to read 35 books this year, nearly everything done on audiobook format--and yes, I contend that it's "reading", because when I do have a paper book in my hand, I tend to scan or read too fast, and sometimes skip ahead.  I knew the fate of George Weasley three chapters before I even got there because I looked ahead... sad, I know, but some things are too unimportant to change.

When I have an audiobook, however, I listen intently, I can't skip ahead--well, I could, but it would be really complicated, and a crapshoot as I would just scroll ahead in time and hope that something important popped up when I stopped.

I keep a list of movies watched for the first time (that's a post coming soon) and books read, and I managed to get through 35 books this year, plus three that I started and never came back to.

I had to teach myself that it's okay to NOT finish a book... and that was a hard lesson, because naturally, if I start it, I want to complete it, no matter how terrible it was.   Having said that, out of the three I didn't finish, I only found one to be something I likely won't go back to--that is "One More Thing: Stories & Other Stories" by BJ Novak. 

You might know Novak from "The Office", or as one of the "Inglorious Basterds" or perhaps as one of the Sherman Brothers in "Saving Mr. Banks" from 2013... the book is a collection of... well, short stories written by Novak.  Stories that go nowhere.  Stories that I just could not get into.  Stories that I cared nothing about... so I stopped it and went to something else.

The other two are books that I will go back too, both are well over 15 hours, so the longer I wait, I may have to re-start them--"Marvel Comics: The Untold Story" (more boring than I thought it would be) and "Jim Henson", the biography that is really thorough.  Great, but thorough.  So I'll come back to them hopefully this year.

First book of the year... I started to reread "Harry Potter & the Sorcerers Stone", intending on reading the entire series, but somehow got derailed within the first chapter of the next book.   Already in 2015, I've started "Harry Potter & the Chamber of Secrets" and have put it down to grab another new book.  Anyway, I love the Harry Potter books and will eventually get to all of them.

Next book was "My Story" by Elizabeth Smart.  She was the chick who was kidnapped out of her home in 2002 by a deranged psychopath named Brian Mitchell and his equally insane Wanda Barzee.  It gives a first hand chronicle of her ordeal in capture, her psychological and emotional response to being held captive and her eventual discovery, rescue and recovery--even though you know she turns out okay, her rescue is still nail biting and tense.  Really well written, and the audiobook is read by Smart herself, with a great delivery.

Wanting to get to a something a little more lighthearted, naturally I picked up Marcus Luttrell's "Lone Survivor".  Holy crap this book is brutal.  What Lutrell goes through in this ordeal is insane... stuck in a canyon wall crevasse for over 8 hours, barely moving, with his gun aimed, then crawling down and out, then crawling miles and miles and miles to get to what might be considered "safety".  The movie, starring Mark Wahlberg, was also very good, but doesn't come close to what Lutrell dealt with.  And with the emergence of "American Sniper", the story of the late Chris Kyle, coming out and having its validity called into question, it's comforting to know there is very little about Lutrell's book that has been disproven or refuted.

"Live from New York" was next, via audio, but unfortunately it was an abridged version.  I picked up the incomplete version against my better judgment and have decided I'll never do unabridged again on anything.  What's more, there is a newer, updated version of the book out now!

One of my favorite books of all time, "It" by Stephen King, was next on the list.  On audio, it tops out at about 42 hours or so, and this being the fourth reread lifetime, it was just as thrilling as I remember it.  Creepy, intricate, amazing. 

Rush Limbaugh, one of my favorite people, has written a series of books for children and young teens starring "Rush Revere", and this first one was called "Rush Revere & the Brave Pilgrims", the story of the founding and settling of America.  These books are known for their fun storytelling (including a talking horse named Liberty) and featuring bits of history that we have never heard due to his extensive historical research.  Loved this book.

I'm a fan of true crime fiction, especially when it comes to Dateline NBC and the Investigative Discovery channel, so it was fun to finally read the Truman Capote classic "In Cold Blood".  Written in the 60s, it takes a bit to adjust to it's style of investigation (as in, no DNA, no computers, etc), but its a serious, well written story of two brothers who massacred a family in Kansas.  Thankfully, it's a bajillionty times better than "Breakfast at Tiffany's", also by Capote, which I could barely get through.

Another Stephen King book, "The Long Walk", was on deck.  This was written under his famous pseudonym "Richard Bachman", and known as one of his first novels ever published.  The futuristic story of how teenage boys, once they reach a certain age, are forced to enter a walking style race... "race" is loosely defined, as essentially they have to walk on a marked highway, and the last one walking survives.  Move to slow, or stop and rest, and they kill you.  Good times had by all.  Very 70s sounding.

(this book would come back to haunt me on December 30th of 2014... see part three of the 2014 Book Report coming soon)

The 9th book of the year was "From Dreamer to Dreamfinder", written by the famous Dream Maker himself.  He's a legend at Epcot in Walt Disney World, in case all of this sounds vaguely familiar to Disney fans... or foreign to those who don't frequent the parks much.  He was the guy who walked around with Figment, greeted guests, granted wishes and so on.  He was a much loved character and figure, and Figment was a much loved Epcot icon.  I thought this book would have much more to do with Disney World, but his three or four years spent at Epcot was only a fraction of the book.  While his life is interesting enough, the book lost my attention at parts.

Book 10... it's chick lit.  Alice Clayton's "Unidentified Redhead".  Don't know how I got it, it might have been free on Audible, and the first few chapters were fun enough to pull me in.  Dig this--I don't mind a romantic comedy, which this seemed to be in book form... aging Hollywood star meets younger co-star, sparks fly, yada yada.  But about a 1/3 into the book, they started having themselves some relations.  Okay, I can deal with that.  The Lovely Steph Leann has been reading romance novels most of her life, so you know, whatevs.  But then a few pages later, the couple does it again.  and again.  And again and again and again.  I finished the book, because I just don't like to not finish a book, but yeesh.  There are two more in the trilogy, but I doubt I'll get to them anytime soon.

One of the few negatives about Audible is that when you grab a book such as "Unidentified Redhead", suddenly, Audible assumes you are now diving into the Chick Lit genre, so your "Based On This Purchase, We Recommend..." section is now filled with books you'll never read with covers that are too racy for daytime and titles that are filled with innuendos that you don't like.

Same goes for Netflix... as a co-host of "The Deucecast Movie Show", we sometimes watch crap movies... so my viewing of "Santa Claus Conquers the Martians" has destroyed my "Since You Watched..." credibility.

Okay, we'll stop here and pick up tomrorow.... more of the 2014 book report to come, including a stretch of books that get better and better and my favorite book of the year already...

those hollywood nights, those big disney thrills

(As part of the #31DaysofWriting Challenge, we are challenged to write every single day.  Today, I'm going to cheat... well, sort of cheating... I took something that I wrote in 2011, and rewrote it, all about the trip that The Lovely Steph Leann & I took to Disneyland--not World, but Land.  I thought it was still good material, having been a draft post since June of 2011... so with the re-write, it totally counts for the daily challenge!) 


So back in May of 2011, The Lovely Steph Leann and I took a somewhat whirlwind trip (said me to her when we got back:  "that was a whirlwind trip... but then again, they all are, aren't they?") to Anaheim, California, to Disneyland--now, this is before Campbell Isaiah came along, though he was actually in The Lovely Steph Leann's tummy (or uterus, if we want to be exact).

We had a few free passes (thanks to our friends The Halperts & the Clarks) to work with, passes that would expire on May 28th of 2011 if they were not used.  We had a couple of Southwest flights to use, or they would expire, and we ended up using some Marriott points that The Lovely Steph Leann had accrued and saved over the years.  So, we flew for free, stayed for free and went for free, which makes for a nice weekend... I'd love to tell you we saved loads of money, but we just turned around and spent that money on important things like blankets, pins, a Boo plush and way too expensive corn dogs and lobster.  (but not together cause... well, eww).

We flew into LAX from Birmingham on a flight that left at 710 in the morning--Big Daddy Ron and Mama Ruthless picked us up at 545 and took us to The Birmingham International Airport & Package Store, and we were boarding within an hour of arrival.  The flight landed in Phoenix, though we kept the same flight.  (text from Hurricane Rhett, after I left a FB status that said "We are in Phoenix":  "What, did you lose a bet"?) We did end up dashing off the plane, though, to grab some lunch at the Airport Wendys and then back on the plane were we discovered the joys of the two seats by the emergency exit.

If you are willing to take the burden of the lives of 200 people on your shoulders in the .04% that plane goes down, sit by the emergency exit.  On our flight there (and the place back as well), there were two seats with extra leg room, instead of the cramped three seat row the rest of the plane dealt with.  I understood the risk and the lives (or loss thereof) of the passengers on the plane was an acceptable risk for us to have a little breathing room.

We arrived at LAX around 1130 in the morning, but due to the time change in flying west, the whole trip took about five hours or so... we came off the plane and into the terminal, I looked around in wonder as I was now in Los Angeles, the City of Angels, LA, LaLaLand, Hollyweird... and it looked... it looked... well, like an airport terminal.  Not an especially impressive one, at that.

After getting our luggage, we headed outside to catch a cab, which was a predetermined decision.  We didn't really look at shuttles because we were told by numerous people that shuttles and cabs would be about the same price, and a shuttle would stop at several different locations while a cab would take us straight there--we were headed to the Marriott Towne Place Suites in Anaheim, about a half mile from the stadium were the Anaheim Angels play, and about two miles from Disneyland itself. 

In not researching effectively like we should, we learned quickly two things when it comes to traveling via cab... first, its better to fly into a closer airport.  LAX is about 35 miles from our hotel, while John Wayne Airport is only about 20 or so.  Second, a shuttle is better.  You pay one price, set, per person.   This lesson was grounded into our brains as we watched the little fare meter tick up 30 cents at a time, every 1/9th of a mile.  One-ninth of a mile.  Thats about 3 bucks per mile.  For 35 miles.

To make sure we weren't being hornswoggled, I pulled up the GPS on my iPhone and punched in the address and map from LAX to Towne Place... Valerty Kozhevnikov (I didn't make that name up, and had to look at it about nine times when I typed it into a comment on Facebook) followed pretty much the same route as listed on my GPS, and my man was flying through some of it.  But nonentheless, the bill at the end, plus tip, topped out around $115.  Valerty didn't smile one bit the entire ride, nor really even speak to us besides, "What izz you travel to?" at the beginning... until he was unloading our luggage.  "You vacation?"  Yes, going to Disneyland.  "Yes, good place.  You have much fun."  Thank you sir.  Here is your fare.  "Thank you so much."  Big smile, and he was gone.

It was kind of a neat ride though... not for the cab itself, but to pass by all these signs representing streets and neighborhoods I hear about in pop culture... Compton and Long Beach, together?  Man, you know you in trouble.

Anyway, we checked in, it was a nice little room with a small living space (that we never sat in), a small kitchen (that we only used to keep a half full bottle of stale Coke and a partly sipped-out-of bottle of water cold), a bathroom that was functional and a bedroom that had a bed that was decently comfy enough for sleeping after walking a theme park...

...you have to understand something, though... if any of you were to call us from Disney World in Orlando, and say, "Hey, I'm standing facing Stitch's Great Escape, and I need to get to the Splash Mountain bathrooms... can you help me?" either me or The Lovely Steph Leann would quickly start in with, "Okay, so go left across the bridge and..."  But at Disneyland?  We have no clue.   At Disney World, we can easily navigate from pretty much any of the resorts, choosing to either drive (which we do to most parks except for Magic Kingdom) or take a boat (which we would if we were staying at Wilderness Lodge) or a bus (which we do sometimes if we are going to Magic Kingdom) or a monorail (perfect for getting to the Grand Flo, the Temp or the Poly)...

But Anaheim is a whole different animal.  Its a big ol' town nestled in a bigger ol' city, and unlike WDW, we were staying off-property, which means we were on our own when it came to getting around.  We discoverd the ART, the Anaheim Resort Transit system and for $16 bucks each, we bought five day passes that would allow us rides to the park at :20 after the hour and from the park at :40 after the hour.   Of course, this again is not what we are used to, because when we want to leave Hollywood Studios we... well, we leave.  We catch the boat to Epcot, or the bus to our resort, or we just hop in the car.  But suddenly we were on a time schedule to make sure we were in time to catch the bus to the park, or risk waiting another hour (or, heaven forbid, a cab ride), and we had to be back at the bus stop soon enough to catch the bus to the hotel, or risk being caught for another hour (or, heaven forbid, miss the last bus of the night and face a cab ride).

So, we get our luggage down, we get changed and take a little nap, and around 3pm (this is Pacific, ie, Cali time) we were up and getting ready for Disneyland.  We were at the bus stop at 320, and the bus pulled up about ten minutes later, which would prove to be a habit for these ART rides. 

Luckily, the bus stop is a mere three minute walk from the front gates of the park...

...but before I dive into our vacation, let me give you a little background on Disneyland, just so you'll know. 

I'm a nut for Disney history, and much of this info comes from Neal Gabler's excellent Walt Disney bio called simply, "Walt Disney", and some of it comes from just reading various blogs and listening to Disney podcasts and the like. (ps... this is before I became a Disney Travel Specialist... want me to plan your trip?  Gimme a call...)

Disneyland was a creation of Walt Disney, and legend has it that he was with his daughters one day in a park, and began to wonder why there wasn't a place for the whole family to go and have fun together.  Though passed off as fact, even in Wikipedia, this has never been substantiated, and Neal Gabler writes in the aforementioned bio that a number of his fellow animators and employees would say that Walt all told them his idea in a different way, and few of their re-tellings has Walt saying nothing about his family at the park.

What started out as a small idea for a "Mickey Mouse Park" soon evolved into a much larger plan for a "Walt Disney Land", soon shortened to "Disney Land" and then "Disneyland", and construction started in 1954.  The park opened for a "Press preview day" that invited the press and media, as well as celebrities from around the area and their families.  What was supposed to be a stellar day was a nightmare for Disney.  They were expecting around 10 to 12K people, but over 28,000 people showed up that day.  The asphalt was still so new that ladies high heels were sinking into the ground, the plumber's strike in the area barely got the restrooms working and left them without working water fountains.  The press saw this as a greedy attempt to sell more soda and reported it as such.

Since it was in July, it was hot, but the summer of 55 saw the temperature top 101 degrees, with vendors running out of food, attractions breaking down for part or all of the day, and even though only a certain number of tickets were given out, there were people with ladders propped up on the side of the wall offering anyone and everyone a chance to climb the ladder and get in for a few bucks.   The celebrities that were scheduled to show up actually had a schedule, where their arrival times were staggered all day... and yet, they showed up pretty much all at once.  July 17th, 1955 was called "Black Sunday" years later by Walt Disney and the company.

July 18th, however, could not have been smoother.  Things were working, the water was on, the food was there and over 50,000 people came in on the official "Opening Day".

Disneyland opened with five lands:  Tomorrowland, Adventureland, Fantasyland, Frontierland and Main Street USA, then added three more lands in the coming years, that being New Orleans Square (1966),  Bear Country, which then became Critter Country (1972) and Mickey's Toontown (1993).  There was a "Holidayland" that opened in 1957, but it closed in 1961, and is considered the "lost land" in Disney lore.

Disneyland is tucked in the heart of Anaheim with a nearby park, California Adventure (and I do mean "nearby", as I counted 207 of my footsteps from one gate to the other), and when you pull up, you can see immediately some differences.  Mostly that there is non-Disney businesses--hotels, restaurants, banks, touristy shops--tightly surrounding the parks.   Walt would later lament the fact that he wasn't able to buy a lot of land in the area, which led to the flurry of places opening up and trying to capitalize on the Disneyland patrons.  He felt that, if you can be on Dumbo's Flying Circus and look out and see a hotel sign, the fantasy, the illusion of imagination was ruined. 

It was this thinking that led him to a Disneyland East, eventually called "The Florida Project"... buying enough land in Central Florida so once you entered the Walt Disney World, you could completely immerse yourself in the experience without outside distractions. 

In 1991, an idea was floated around concerning a second park in California, notably "WestCOT", a California version of Epcot, but by 1995, those plans were all but abandoned.  A new park was in the works, though, and in 1998, the parking lot for Disneyland was pulled up and turned into Disney's California Adventure, which opened in 2001.

DCA was one of Michael Eisner's last big accomplishments before his ouster in the early 2000s, though it had a rocky beginning.  For one thing, many people felt the attractions and rides weren't up to normal Disney standards in both entertainment value and quality, with some critics calling the park "mediocre".  Over time, however, Disney removed some failing attractions and added in new ones, like The Tower of Terror, and of course The World of Color, that has revived the park and peoples interest in it.  Though coming in last in all of Disney's theme parks in the world rankings in 2009, it still finished as the 11th most visited park in the world.

In 2007, Disney announced a billion dollar renovation of the park which will included a new gateway, a transformation of part of the park to the 1930s style Hollywood, instillation of vintage red trolley cars, retheming Paradise Pier into a Victorian style turn of the century boardwalk park, and of course, the addition of Cars Land, starring McQueen, Mater and the gang.

So, there is your update. 


(And this is where it ends, which is good, because I don't remember the day to day of the trip, just that we had a blast... thanks for reading)

podcasts

Happy National Podcast Day.  I had no clue this was Podcast Day until I saw a post from my buddy Clay Shaver, who posted something promoting some other podcasts on Facebook. 

Since I left Starbucks a year ago... and wow, it's been almost 11 months... and have taken a desk job, I literally have anywhere from 7 to 9, sometimes 10 hours per day of time when I can listen to audiobooks and podcasts... if I don't, I might go crazy.

The Non-Disney Podcasts that I listen to on a daily/weekly basis

It makes me think back to those long days at Parisian Corp or NBC 13, when I sat at a desk, inputting data and such, and had nothing to think about but my own thoughts.  A decade later, the 160g iPod is loaded with over 130 episodes of over 30 different podcasts. So in honor of National Podcast Day, I thought I'd give you a quick run down of the podcasts I listen to daily, or weekly...


First, shameless plug... check out The Deucecast Movie Picture Show, the movie podcast that I co-host with my pal Mikey and our Movie Padawan P!nky... give us a listen, we would appreciate it.  If you like movies, I think you'd like our show...


Now, back to the lecture at hand...


These are in no particular order...

Talk Show/Social Commentary Podcasts...

The Rush Limbaugh Show... Yep.  It's daily.  And anyone who hates Rush has probably never listened to the show for more than an hour or so, then is told what to think by Jon Stewart or Anderson Cooper. But that's another story.  (weekdays, an hour and 45 minutes to get through all three parts)

The Adam Carolla Show... Language is strong here, but it's usually very funny.  Typically has actors and comedians as guests, but the show staff is also great. (weekdays, 90 minutes average)

Alison Rosen is Your New Best Friend... The gorgeous Alison is the "news girl" for Adam Carolla, and has her own show... the Monday show is her "interview" show, where she has deep conversations with other Hollywood types, while the Thursday show is a roundtable of personalities and Carolla show producers, and I, like many fans, find the Thursday show to be the best one.  One of my top three shows.  (Monday and Thursday, both shows run about 90 minutes)

Sorry Not Sorry... Comedian Jenna Kim Jones hosts this very clean, comical show with her husband, and at 30 minutes, its a great little conversation about life and her Mormon faith.  (sporadic, about a 1/2 hour per episode)

SPORTS PODCASTS

ESPN's Pardon the Interruption... Usually the first 'cast of the day, it's the 20 minute replay from the previous episode of PTI with Mike Wilbon and Tony Kornheiser (weekdays)

ESPN's Mike & Mike in the Morning... Its a "best of" show featuring the two Mikes--Golic and Greenberg--and taking 45-60 minutes of the best stuff from that morning's show (weekdays)

The BS Report with Bill Simmons... I've been a fan of Bill Simmons, the Sports Guy, for at least 12 years, back when he was simply The Boston Sports Guy.  I usually enjoy this show, though when he dives into too much fantasy stuff, or pop culture stuff that I'm not into (like shows about Game of Thrones), I'll skip the episode.  He's on suspension now, so what unfolds in a few weeks will be quite interesting... (a few times per week, usually an hour to 1:15 or so)

ESPN Championship Drive... It's the best college football podcast out there, discussing the previous weekend and the upcoming games as well (weekdays, 45-60 minutes)

The Dave Dameshek Show... The NFL Network's Dameshek is funny, if not a little annoying sometimes, but it's a great NFL recap and preview (twice a week, 45-60 minutes)

Mark Out Loud... Yep, its a wrestling show, but hosts Steve Glosson and Dave Jones are the best kind of hosts... they are fans first, and hosts second.  (a few times per month, around 2 hours per episode)

The Steve Austin Podcast & Talk is Jericho... Two different shows, with Steven Austin and Chris Jericho hosting their respective podcasts.  Both are funny, different styles, and usually have actors, musicians and many times, former wrestlers on their shows.  Jericho's show with Edge and Paul Heyman (Episode #50) was hands down one of the best podcast episodes I've ever heard.  Austin is Tuesday & Thursday, with Tuesday being the "clean show" and Thursday being the "unleashed (re: language filled) show... Jericho is Wednesday and Friday, and both are mostly family friendly.  (Both shows run about an hour to an 1:15 each)

ENTERTAINMENT PODCASTS

Doug Loves Movies... Host Doug Benson, a complete stoner, hosts the game show podcast where various celebrities and comedians come on to play a round of "The Leonard Maltin Game", just one of several movie games.  This is in my top three favorite shows.  He also does "Doug Loves Minis", a quick 10-15 minute show with snippets from smaller games at comedy clubs.  (once or twice per week, 60-90 minutes per show)

The Film Vault... One of the podcasts I've been listening to the longest, Bald Bryan Bishop, sound effect guy on the Adam Carolla Show, teams with Anderson Cowen, co-host of The After Disaster Podcast (which I've never listened to), and they do a great movie show with a theme, a top five and lots of language filled banter. 

The Popcast... Jamie Golden of Jamie's Rabbits Blog and Knox McCoy team up to give an hour's worth of snark and wit in discussing Hollywood, television, trends and the goings on in the pop culturey world.  I disagree with some of their choices, and fully endorse others... it's a show I wish I could be on! (weekly or so, an hour-ish)

TechnoRetro Dads... Family men and friends Shaz and Jedi Shua are the hosts of this wildly entertaining trip down nostalgic lane, in discussing lots of Star Wars and other geeky things.  (weekly, 77 minutes per show)

Car Talk... Everyone knows about Car Talk, but what you may not know is, these guys retired some years ago.  Yet, they've done enough material on their shows that the segments can be replayed without repeating, once a week for another 6 or 7 years.  Highly entertaining.  (Saturdays, 60 minutes per show)

Five Minutes With Dad... Dad Nick Pavlidis has his 5 year old son, Pavlos, on every week to talk about... whatever.  Its short, its funny and it's really kinda sweet.  (weekly, 5-10 minutes per episode.)

DISNEY PODCASTS

The Dis Unplugged... Probably the best show out there because of how simply unbiased it is.  Host Pete Werner seems like he's a little angry all the time, but the rest of the cast balances him out.  And on the panel is Jeni Lynn, and she's just delightful.  With a different cast, they also have the Dis Unplugged Disneyland Edition and the Dis Unplugged Universal Show, both very informative and entertaining.  (all during the week, each show runs about an hour or so)

Inside the Magic... Host Ricky Brigante brings this show every week like clockwork, first with Disney and area news, then many times interviews, trip reports, various reviews and so on, before wrapping it up with listener feedback.  (Sunday nights, usually, about an hour long)

Disney Vault Talk... A premise I wish I had thought of.  Steve Glosson (from the Mark Out Loud show, a member of the Geek Out Loud podcast lineup) and spunky Teresa Delgado started with Snow White, and each show is dedicated to the next Disney animated classic.  Just finished with Make Mine Music, and Fun and Fancy Free is next... but half the show is reader emails, talking about Disney and so on--quite entertaining.  (a few times per month, show runs around 2 hours)

Be Our Guest Podcast... Host Mike Rahmann and his co-horts Rikki and Pam dish up all the latest and greatest at Disney World in a fun little show, with the Wednesday show usually being just listener emails.  (Monday, Wednesday, Friday, 30-45 minutes each)

WDW Today... Another roundtable discussion, in the vein of Dis Unplugged, with a few long time Disney fans, including Len Testa, who co-wrote the Unofficial Guide to WDW that comes out every year (I have my copy already for 2015).  (a few times per week, 30-45 minutes each)

WDW Radio... Host Lou Mongello is beloved among Disney fans, as his booming voice and strong personality lends itself to an entertaining show. He'll usually do one regular news show about the happenings at the parks, then other shows are topic-specific, from "best snacks at Epcot" to "the nooks and crannies of Hollywood Studios".  (weekly or so, 30 minutes for regular shows, an hour or more for topical shows)

Skywalking Thru Neverland... Rich and Sarah, hubby and wife, take a geeked out look at Star Wars and Disney, and honestly, I could listen to Sarah laugh for hours.  They are fun together.  (weekly, 60-90 minutes shows)

ENCOURAGEMENT/BUSINESS/LEADERSHIP/FEEL GOODZ

The Remodeling Clay Podcast... Can't say enough about this dude.  Weighed over 400 pounds, lost over half his body weight (he lost like, the Olsen twins, and some of another one) and is dedicated to helping people "Becoming the Best Version of You".  Clay is a no-nonsense, yet still has some sarcastic fun, solid host.  (1-2 times per week, 30-45 minute shows)

The Live Your List Podcast... Two guys who's passion is for your to live out your bucket list.  They talk to authors and leaders from all fields on everything from time management to finding your passion.  (1-2 times per week, 30 minutes usually)

The Dave Ramsey Show... You know who this is.  And it's an hour from his daily show (daily, 45 minutes)


So there's my list.  In the morning, I usually listen to ESPN PTI first... then, if it's Monday or Thursday, I listen to Alison Rosen.  Rush Limbaugh is next... if a Doug Loves Movies is available, that's next up, but if not, I go to The Adam Carolla Show.  I'll next take on Live Your List and Remodeling Clay, followed by Disney casts like Dis Unplugged, WDW Today, WDW News and a few others.  After lunch, a sports block of Mike & Mike, Championship Drive and The BS Report.  This will take me to mid-afternoon, then I listen to the podcasts I have left, including Dave Ramsey, Five Minutes with Dad, Y2J and Steve Austin, then anything else outstanding.  That will get me home... and at night, I'll finish up any casts left, or dive into an audiobook when I'm doing dishes, running errands or the like.

What podcasts do I need to pick up, do you think?

the notebook rules

For those of you who think I'm about to launch into a defense of the beloved Rachel Adams/Ryan Gosling movie from a few years back, I'm here to tell you that I don't think "The Notebook" actually rules... it's good, but not a "it rules" type of movie.
However, if you can handle a few sentences--rules--on actual notebooks, then please keep reading...

If you toured our house and looked in the corners, the drawers and behind stuff, there is one thing I can almost guarantee you'll find... no, not cobwebs, geez.  Don't let The Lovely Steph Leann hear you say that. 

You'd find Sharpies.  Lots of regular Sharpies, but also a lot of fine point Sharpies, which happen to be my favorite of the bunch.  I stopped using regular ink pens when I can avoid it, and instead write with a fine point Sharpie... if it bleeds through, then that's just the price of doing business with such an accomplish writer like myself.  Why are you laughing?  And why are you singing Carly Simon?

My other somewhat obsessive habitual collective goes with the Sharpie, and that is the notebook.  Not the Rachel McAdams/Ryan Gosling one... I mean, an actual notebook.  Or in my case, 8 of them sitting here to my right.  

I looooove a good notebook... here are my own rules for my perfect notebook...

1.  Hard Cover.  I can deal with a soft cover, but it runs the risk of getting bent, and I tend to be averse to preventable disasters.  Some people like their books to have that lived-in look... not me.  I want everything as pristine as the day it was purchased.

Top right, is Disney information. Top middle is empty,
waiting for use.  Same with top left. Taylor Swift and
"Awesome" books are at my desk at work, both with random
ideas that strike me randomly.  Green Tink book is blog
ideas and other random stuff, bottom middle has notes
from Disney training sessions I've done, and the Cars is used
for dinner reservation stuff.   I have more somewhere.
Thanks to my friend #freerfallin for getting me the Awesome
book.  No spiral, paper cover, and I love it just the same.

2. Interesting Cover... A plain leather notebook is fine.  A purple cover is okay.  Maybe a slight stripe on it for designer purposes.  I can take that.  Slap the Avengers on the front, or make it a Star Wars cover, or something nostalgic or fun like ALF or 90s pre-skank Mariah Carey, and it's all the better.

3. Spiral Bound... Opening a notebook is cool, and if you have a desk to lay it on, you can open it wide and lay it flat.  But sometimes I don't have that option, sometimes I have to hold it, or use my legs in a seated position as a desk.  That is when a spiral bound book comes in handy... you can just fold the cover behind the notebook and carry on. 

4. Wide Ruled... I need larger lines.  Not so large that it looks like an alphabet pad from 1st grade, with the big blue lines on top and bottom, with the blue dashes in the middle.  My sister-in-law Brynn has excellent, clear handwriting, so if she writes tiny, it's still very clear.  When you are writing with a Sharpie fine point, the ink blurs more and more.  Like the Dixie Chicks, I need "Wide open spaces... room to make mistakes..."


I have a few notebooks that don't meet these requirements... I have a brown covered one that says "Awesome Ideas Take Over the World", with a regular spine and paper cover... it was given to me by my friend Allison Freer (#freerfallin) and I love it just like I would any other book.


So there ya have it.  Another obsession revealed, and what truly makes me happy today. 

The Summer of Happy #2...

i ain't got time to bleed

So there's that scene in "Predator" where Jesse "The Body" Ventura, who is "Blain" in the movie, looks up at the area where the Predator must be hiding and says, "Sum-gun is dug in like an Alabama tick..." The guy next to him says, "You're hit! You're bleeding!"

Without dropping his gaze from the forward glance he keeps, he spits his tobacco and says, "I ain't got time to bleed."

Feel that way about blogging... "I ain't got time to blog."


By the way, I was at a cookout yesterday, and my friend Tuck, sitting to my right, asked my other friend Kady K, sitting to my left, "Have you ever read d#39;s blog? It's really good. I don't read it every day, but it's one of the few blogs I do read on a regular basis." Then he looked at me and said, "You're a really good writer. You are really animated when you tell stories, and very descriptive."

Pardon me if I repeat myself from previous blogs, perhaps recent ones, but life just takes off and never looks back, Mach 3 with your hair on fire... that's a Top Gun reference for ya, there. Actually talked to someone the other day who said they had never seen Top Gun. I said a prayer for their eternal soul at that exact second.

Yes, I am a Disney Vacation Planner... I use the name Disney on a Dollar, as part of Magical Vacations By Me Travel, and it has kept me up nights, gotten me up early, challenged by multi-tasking skills and organizational fortitude...

...but y'all, I love it. It fires me up. It makes me happy. To help people maximize their time and money spent at Walt Disney World, and even at Disneyland and on the cruise, I just enjoy the heck out of it... I only expect it to be busier.

And yet, I miss the crap out of what I'm doing right here. I'm a writer. THEN a travel planner. Obviously, my blog ain't paying the bills (right now, anyway), so I had to turn Disney travel from a "Hobby" into a "Hustle". And hustlin' I've been... and now that its flowing free, now that it's on a track, a routine, a method of madness, it's time to steer my gaze back to this here page...

Coming up 1000 posts in the very near future, and a summertime is always fun to do something... before, I've had various themes over the course of the Summer, all geared towards blogging, writing and posting much more--and this summer is no exception.

Well, like Paramour sang, "you are... the only exception..." and to that, it's my consistency. I can promise to you "oh yeah, I'll write every day, I'll blog every day, it's my challenge!!!" but guess what... it just ain't happening. I might want it to happen. Maybe I think it should. But it ain't happening every day.

This summer is my Summer of Happy. From now til Labor Day, things that make me happy. Tangible things. Intangibles. People. Places. Food. Food. More food. And whatever. I've got a list of some things I'll post about. There are many more things that I know will be discovered over the summer. Maybe I'll post a couple of times per week. Maybe not. Maybe it's now July, you are re-reading this and thinking, "Well... its only been 44 days since he posted... maybe something is coming soon."

Speaking of which, did you know that I have now hit 57 days without a single bit of carbonation? I gave up not just Cokes and Cherry Cokes, but anything carbonated, including Ginger Ale, which I dig, and Cheerwine, which is my favorite Soda of Ever. Is that a humblebrag. Absolutely.

Where was I? Oh yeah, rambling on and on about blogging and so forth and what not.

Anyhoo... crap, did I just say "anyhoo"? Well, at least you'll never hear me say "peeps" or "Totes adorbs" or worse yet, "Gorg" with any sort of seriousness in my voice. I mean, "Gorg", really? Does it take much more effort to say "gorgeous"? Or just kick that word out and say, "Beautiful". More meaning. 

Oh yeah, from now til Labor Day, I'm setting myself an unreachable goal of blogging 75 posts and writing 75,000 words. Like, there's no way I'll make that, or even come close. But I refuse to give this writing up... I refuse to stop... I refuse to cede.

I ain't got time to cede.

(elaborate set up for poorly executed last joke. boomsauce.)

the great 48... part two

So, I posted the first 27 tasks to accomplish this year, 2014... here are the remaining 21 out of The Great 48... things to do this year:

And in no particular order...

(28) Love more.  Kinda spelled this out in my "finding my pike place" post earlier. 

(29)  Learn how to spell certain words that always screw me up... notably, "occasionally" and "itinerary"  (these words are only spelled right at this point because I used spellcheck).

Did you hear that Nicki Minaj and Mariah Carey are gone from American Idol?  Its gone from a decent show back in the day to a guilty pleasure by now, but I think we might (30) take another crack at American Idol this year.  Maybe.

(31) Give grace before its asked of me.  (32) Ask for grace before its required.

This is a big deal for those who know me personally... but I'd like to (33) take a weekend vacation trip this year somewhere besides Walt Disney World.   Yes, I'm d$, and no, no one has taken over my mind.  Just something different.



If the sight of Mickey Waffles doesn't get you excited
about your Disney Vacation, then you're dead inside.

Speaking of Disney... to promote the fact I'm a Disney Travel Planner, I had planned to (34) do a Disney Open House at my home last fall, and was unable to get it together... so this year?  I'd like to do at least two.  And that goes along with my plan to (35) be certified for Universal Parks as well.

Oh, and of course, (36) plan a lot more magic for a lot more people. 

Ah, our home.  The Cabana.  We love our home, yet like many of you who have children, we've let it get away from us here and there.  My fellow blogger and friend Jamie Harper wrote an excellent piece on "simplifying life" and much of it is all about her home.  And in fact, I was emailing The Lovely Steph Leann today about (37) our plans for a clean sweep of our house.

Let's just get rid of stuff. Sure, there is stuff we can sell, and yeah, there is stuff we can donate... but some of it?  Let's just chunk it.  If I don't miss it until I come across it, then I won't miss it when its gone.  Get 'er done.

Two main things to focus on, two main goals, with the first being (38) getting some pictures on our wall... secondly, I really want to (39) get to our garage, and a large part of that are the pictures I have in binders on shelves in our garage.  Not just any pictures, but pics from my childhood, albums I grabbed from back home after my grandmother--the woman who raised me, that is--passed on.  My goal is (40) to scan these pics, then send them to the appropriate family members so that they can do what they will with them... some of these pictures are 30, 40, even 50 years old, so I want to make sure they are preserved with me, and then passed off correctly.

(41) Do something extraordinary.  Like what? I have no idea.  But something. 

(42) Take Campbell to the park on a regular basis.  Not now, of course, but soon, when its warmer.

(43) Pay off the car.  My car.  Red Robin.  We were debt free before we signed the purchasing papers in November of 2011, and we'll be debt free again (aside from the house) as soon as we get it paid.

(44) Hand write some letters to people.  Not just email, or sign my name to a card, but hand write.  Who does that anymore?

(45) Find a few days here and there throughout 2014, and just unplug from everything, especially social media.  This dude had a remarkable 25 day fast from media... not sure I could do that... but maybe a few days? 

My tenth wedding anniversary is this year, in February.  The Lovely Steph Leann, let's (46) do something fun.  Doesn't have to be expensive, but lets make it memorable.  Whaddaya say?

And hey, (47) the podcast is coming back!  We took December off, to retool a bit, step back, reassess and all that... and if you have never heard it, and most of you haven't, its a great chance to jump onboard.  We call it The Movie Picture Show, and its three guys who love and watch movies, and we talk about them.  Sounds boring?  Nah, I think its pretty funny.  www.thedeucecast.com for info.

The Deucecast Studios, home of the Movie Picture Show

And finally... something I've always wanted to do, but just never have...

(48) I'd like to buy lunch for someone in the military.  You know, seeing someone in uniform sitting across a restaurant and tell the server, "I'd like to get theirs, but please don't tell them who.  Just tell them someone said thank you."

So there you go.  I initially said 38 things... but I found 48 things I wanted to make sure that I got done in 2014.  You are welcome to ask me about them and see where I am...

(20K words in January... total of 2,856 words down, 17,144 to go...)

when soon is not soon enough

Just like you, I have goals and dreams.

And just like you, I have excuses. 

Some are great excuses.  I have a 2 year old.  He keeps me busy.  I have a household to maintain, a The Lovely Steph Leann to take care of, a new job to continue training and learning in, and so much travel going on.

So I plan to start blogging regularly, soon. 

And I plan to start my book about autism and Campbell, soon.

And soon, I'm going to start outlining my "blog fiction" project that I want to maybe kick off mid-2014.

And when this Disney thing gets going, its going to be awesome, right?  Soon, I'm going to have my Disney Open House, where people can come, find out more information, and learn how I can help them with their own Magic...

Then, I'm going to watch this long list of movies I have to watch.  And spend more time with Campbell.  And breeze through the 2nd season of Once Upon a Time with The Lovely Steph Leann.

Soon, I mean.  I'll start that soon.

But I have to ask myself, when exactly is soon?  Its not now, apparently.  I haven't blogged since November 5th, even though I have five or six posts practically ready to post. 

It probably isn't soon now, because I've only mentally laid out my idea for my book, but nothing on paper.  And as far as "blog fiction" goes, I haven't written a single thing down... in fact, most people don't even know what that is.

And it must not be soon yet, as I don't have plans for a Disney Open House.  I mean, I plan to have one, but I don't have plans to have one.  Big difference.

So when does soon get here? 

The answer.  Never.

Excuses are like kudzu.  You let one take root, and they are everywhere.

"Let's get through October, because its a busy month..."  October comes and goes.  Yes, it was busy, but now we are past it... yet, "Got a Disney vacation coming up, let's get past that..."  Just got back from 8 days at Disney.  "Its almost Christmas time.  Its going to be busier than October.  Lets wait til January..."

Soon.

Soon sucks.

How about now?   Now doesn't suck.  Now is frightening.  Now takes soon and throws Soon away.  Soon keeps telling you that when you have time for your dreams, your dreams will come true.  Now tells you the truth--You'll never have time for your dreams, unless you make it.  Soon won't make time for your dreams. Now will.

Its Now.

Soon is no longer an excuse.  I actually think I'm out of excuses for what I want to do, what I feel led to do. 

What's your excuse?

four snows whites and 29 dwarfs

I'm a Disney history buff... I love learning about the parks, about the building of, I love learning about the animated classics and the stories behind them, and of course, learning about Walt Disney himself.  A fascinating, driven cat that Walt was. 

So it makes me appreciate a movie like "Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs" all that much more, reading and knowing what went into the film, and the efforts it took to get it made. 

One of the original movie posters from 1937

Walt Disney had made a name for himself doing the short Silly Symphony cartoons, a series of live action & animated shorts called "The Alice Films", when he decided it was time to do a full length animated film.  History will tell you there were one or two full length animated movies done before Snow White, but they are obscure, foreign and perhaps even lost forever.  So this was essentially new ground.

Ground that no one, including Walt's brother Roy and wife Lillian, didn't want to tread, as they tried to talk him out of it.  Budgeted at $250,000, the film's cost spiraled out of control, ending up in the neighborhood of $1.5 million, which in the mid-thirties was just about insane.  The project was so derided by the film industry, Hollywood bigwigs referred to it as "Disney's Folly".

Like most Disney animated classics, the original story has a fairy tale origin, but in the original tale that Disney drew from, the dwarfs did not have personalities.  Walt Disney felt that even though the story revolved around Snow White and The Queen, the Seven Dwarfs should be the star of the show. 

Out of over 50 names suggested by animators--including Jumpy, Deafy, Titsy (!), Dizzey, Hickey, Wheezy, Baldy, Gabby, Nifty, Sniffy, Swift, Lazy, Puffy, Stuffy, Tubby, Shorty and Burpy--five names were chosen by process of elimination... Doc, Grumpy, Bashful, Sleepy and Happy.  Sneezy and Dopey were also considered, though Jumpy made the cut instead.  Eventually, as you probably can guess, Jumpy got cut.  Sneezy and Dopey made the list.

As time passed, and more the story came together, Walt began to realize that the story of Snow White and the Queen had to be the main focus.  Original story boards had a much larger role for the prince, aptly named The Prince, but animators just could not get his features and face right, thus his role was significantly diminished. 

Because of the shift in focus, several scenes were cut from the final film, mostly involving the dwarfs... including Doc and Grumpy arguing over Snow White, a dining room scene where the dwarfs were noisily eating soup (this one had been completely animated before it was cut), and another elaborate scene where they build Snow White a bed.  Having spent so much time on the dwarfs, animator Ward Kimball was completely distraught and was looking to leave the company.  Walt Disney persuaded him to stay, in part by promoting him to the character animation of Jiminy Cricket on the upcoming production of Pinocchio.

The Disney Company had to work through Bourne Company Music to create the songs for the movie, including the famous "Heigh Ho" and "Whistle While You Work"... back then, soundtracks for films were not done much, and considered useless.  Bourne held the publishing rights to other movies music as well, and in the years since, Disney has been able to acquire that music back (I've read, however, that Bourne still holds the rights for Snow White)

The line to get in became a Standing Room Only event

The film opened on December 21, 1937, at the Carthay Circle Theatre in Hollywood, to stellar reviews and audience raves.  Among the star studded audience was Judy Garland, Marlene Dietrich, Charlie Chaplin, Milton Berle, George & Gracie, Cary Grant and more.  The film was lauded at the following Academy Awards, with Walt picking up a full size Oscar and seven miniature statues for achievement.   The film was also profitable, giving Disney the money to finance a new studio in Burbank, where it remains today, and pushed productions of Pinocchio and Fantasia into high gear.  Its legacy of history continues today, as the American Film Institute listed it as the #1 animated movie of all time, and it ranks #34 on AFI's greatest films of all time.  It is also the first animated feature to be selected for the National Film Registry.

Personally... I had not seen this film since 1983.  Jaws 3 (IN 3-D!!) had just been released, and I wanted to go see it so, so bad... but my mom felt like this movie was a little much for my 9 year old eyes.  So, we went to see Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs.  (in hindsight, mama knew best, because Jaws 3D is a train wreck)

A few years ago on this very website, I challenged myself to watch all then-51 movies in the Disney Movie Canon in a year's time... well, like many of my self-challenges, that fell short really before I got going... but today, on a lark, 30 years later, I decided it was worth a re-watch.

Being a fan of Disney History, I can appreciate this movie greatly.  I cannot imagine what audiences must have felt in 1937, watching a full length movie completely animated, with music and story and laughs and gags and a princess and a prince and an evil queen... watching it on Blu-Ray in HD, the colors are brilliant, and the sound is exceptional.

But, can I be honest with you?  Seriously... its a chore to get through.  Perhaps my expectations are automatically high, beyond my own conscious control, but the story just... lagged.  Adriana Caselotti, voicing Snow White, has this shrill voice with this annoying falsetto, so every song she sang made me cringe.   The song at the wishing well is perhaps the worst to me, so I'm glad its over early.

The dwarfs are comical and funny and charming, and I'm glad Walt put some focus on them.  The Queen is evil, as she's supposed to be, but I found myself liking her more than Snow White.  She's at least more interesting.  I know this is heresy, because being a Disney fan I'm supposed to like all things Disney, right?   Well, I'm not a Snow White fan, and I've never seen an attractive Snow White in any of the theme parks either, so sue me.  I don't like Stitch's Great Escape, I steer clear of most Disney Channel afternoon programming and have eaten three times at Mama Melrose in Hollywood Studios, and don't care for the either.  So there.

Anyway, if you have never seen Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs, you need to.  If only to experience Disney history in animated form.  Its not a bad movie, its just not for me.

By the way, if you get the Blu-Ray, make sure you watch the "Snow White Returns" special feature.  Apparently, in 2001, Disney Archivists found storyboards for a possible sequel to "Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs"... no one knows why they started it, and no one knows why production was halted.  But it would have incorporated two of the deleted musical sequences, which are also featured on the Blu-Ray.  The "Noisy Soup" is alot of fun, but the "Bed Building" really drags.

Speaking of Snow White, let me mention the other three Snows that have appeared in the last few years...

Why yes, its that chick from The Blind Side.  And her eyebrows.  And its
that dude from The Social Network.  Both of the Winklevii.

"Mirror, Mirror" came out in 2012, with Julia Roberts as The Queen, Lily Collins as Snow White and Armie Hammer as Prince Alcott.  This film loosely follows the story of Snow White, with the characters, but the dwarfs have names like Grimm, Half Pint and Chuckles.  I thought this movie was silly, but also fun, though it helps that I really, really like Lily Collins. 

"Snow White & the Huntsman" was released a few months after "Mirror Mirror", with Charlize Theron as The Queen, Thor as Eric the Huntsman and the always cheerful Kristen Stewart as Snow White.  This film had potential, turning the tale into an action film and making the dwarfs (all 8 of them) warriors.  My problem?  Kristen Stewart.  Not since "Panic Room", one of my own 50 favorite films of all time, have I liked Kristen, and after the Twilight movies, she really has no place in my heart.  Personally, take her out, put Lily Collins in this action role (she can do action--she was the only, ONLY, good thing about "Abduction"), and this film is markedly better. 

Of course, there is Ginnifer Goodwin's "Snow White" on the excellent TV show "Once Upon a Time", but Snow is just one character in a whole slew of fairy tale characters.

However, do me a favor and go find 2007's "Sydney White".  It starts Amanda Bynes, in the years when she was cute and sweet and not crazy and Lohanesque.  Starring a bunch of people you've never seen (except for Bo Duke), its a fun take on the Snow White tale set in a modern college campus, featuring seven dorks.  Not a typo.

And make sure you catch the original.

the 2013 oscar blog

(scroll down for updates)

7:25... Here we are... the first blog of February, and its the Academy Awards... I love the Oscars, because I love movies, so once again, I'm excited to be watching it...

...And unlike the Golden Globes, its not a monsoon outside, which means the chances of satellite going out are slim to none. 

Me: The Lovely Steph Leann, what are you wearing?
The Lovely Steph Leann (blank stare)

Five minutes to GO!!!

728... I kinda feel like "Splash", aka "Celebrity Diving", is on the air because there was a bit too much vodka in the planning meeting...

Joseph Gordon-Levitt (is it Joseph-Gordon Levitt?) (l) and Harry Potter (r)
join Seth MacFarlane for a soft shoe dance as part of his opening monologue

730... And we begin.  Seth MacFarlane begins with a shout out to Tommy Lee Jones' grumbling... who ends up chuckling.

731p... Seth tells us that this years theme is celebrating music in film. Something tells me Annie 2 won't be mentioned.

732p... The obligatory "Win an Oscar, disappear from the industry" joke...

734p... Seth is trying, and mostly succeeding... you can tell he's testing his waters, getting a "oooh" from a Chris Brown & Rihanna joke.

735p... SHATNER!!!  SHATNER!!! SHATNER!!!

738p... What the... what is happening?  Boobs? 

739p... I'll admit it... "We Saw Your Boobs".. funny.  Really funny. 

739p... I just typed "We Saw your Boobs" for the first time in the history of this blog.  Ever.

741p... Another first.  "A Denzel Movie with Sock Puppets" (left)

742p... This is the best Oscar show in years. 

744p... Seth looks like a walking Easter Seal symbol... or a gay pope. 

745p... A real "Smokey and the Bandit" reference... in the Oscar monologue.  The first time Oscars and Smokey & the Bandit have ever been used together.

747p... Let's get to some awards!! 

748p... Octavia Spencer won last year for "The Help" for Best Supporting Actress... and she is out to give Best Supporting Actor to either Alan Arkin (Argo)... Bobby DeNiro (Silver Linings Playbook)... Phil Hoffman (The Master)... Tommy Lee Jones (Lincoln) and Chris Waltz (Django Unchained)...

My pick?  Tommy Lee Jones. 

Last year I did horribly at the Oscar picks...  this time?  Christoph Waltz for Django Unchained.... wow.  Wow.  He has now TWO Oscars for Tarantino Films.

This is good, though... Tommy Lee Jones didn't win, so he got the smiling out of the way.  No more grins for the rest of the evening.

752p... So... as he walks off, they play the theme from ET:  The Extra Terrestrial.  What the what??

Commercial Break

755p... Paul Rudd!  I love Paul Rudd!!  Even though he was in "My Idiot Brother", which is terrible.  Melissa McCarthy looks like a beluga whale in her grey dress, and her too-much-blush-cheeks.

756p... Paul Rudd looks like he stepped out of a 1977 Scorsese film

757p... Paul and Melissa pick up the Best Animated Short for "Paperman", a delightful little movie... I go 1-1 so far.

759p... The popular choice is "Brave" for Best Animated Film because its Pixar... but I went with Wreck-It-Ralph.  "Brave" wins.

Here's my original review of "Brave"

8p... Reese Witherspoon. 

Wow. 

Wow.

That is all.

801p... Because there are 114 films nominated for Best Picture, they are doing away with the "Famous Actor Introducing One Nominted Film" thing, having Reese present "Les Miserables", "The Life of Pi" and "Beasts of the Southern Wild".

804p... Quavenzene Wallace, nominated for Beasts of the Southern Wild, looks up as Seth MacFarlane gives her a shout out.

Quavenzene:  Why is that white man saying my name?

805p... Hulk, Iron Man, Captain America, Hawkeye and Nick Fury come out to banter and do Cinematography...

806p... SAMUEL L. JACKSON'S JACKET--FOR THE WIN

807p... I chose Life of Pi... and it wins.  Life of Pi will rack up several of these lesser awards tonight, I predict.

809p... I think Lucius Malfoy is giving an Oscar speech

810p... Visual Effects... I again chose Life of Pi... I love being right.

811p... So the "Get Done With Your Speech Music" is... Jaws?!  That's HILL-AIR-EEOUS

Commercial Break

816p... Seth introduces Channin Tatum and Jennifer Aniston, two people so beautiful that somehow, I almost think their kids would be butt-ugly.

817p... And the award for Costume Design goes to Anna Kareninninanninana... when do you stop the last name...?

819p... "Hairstyling" added to the "Makeup" category... and there is only three films nominated... I guess they would either have to add "Hairstyling", or "Les Miserables" would run unopposed...

820p... I wonder how much of Les Mis' win was for the butchering of Anne Hathaway's hair...

821p... Halle Berry out now.  Does it make me a bad person, or gay, if she doesn't appeal to me? 

822p... My buddy Mikey Nipp is peeing himself right about now... Bond Tribute time. 

We are treated to an extended Bond Tribute, full of clips and snips from all 23 James Bond movies.  I'm just not a huge fan.  I mean, I liked a few here and there, but none are considered "favorites" of any kind. 

826p... I think I'm too young to appreciate Shirley Bassey... and probably 1/3 of the crowd is clapping because they don't want to be on camera not clapping. 

Commercial Break

830p... I know Connery is retired, and maybe Daniel Craig is too busy... but Dalton, Lazenby, Moore and probably Brosnan were free, I'm sure.  They couldn't have been recruited for that video montage? 

831p... Kerry Washington and Jamie Foxx, stars of Django Unchained, come out, looking almost as beautiful, though not quite, as Channing and Jen earlier.

832p... K-Wash and J-Foxx are here to give us the Best Live Action Short Film winner... I chose Buzkashi Boys, a shot in the dark.  I feel like Oscar ballots should give you a five or six word description about these short films... "Curfew" wins.  Whatever that is.

835p... Winners are now talking fast, in fear of the "Jaws" music..

835p... Best Documentary Short.  The Oscar goes to Inocente... I picked Redemption.  Again, who knows?! 

837p... Seth MacFarlane is back up now, introducing Liam Neeson, the original Darkman. 

837p... Liam has a very special set of skills

838p... "Argo"... "Lincoln"... "Zero Dark Thirty"... the films that Liam is introducing.

FYI.... Here's my review of "Argo"

841p... Seth tells us the other actors who played Lincoln... and said "the actor who really got into Lincoln's head is John Wilkes Booth... too soon?"

842p... Ben Affleck comes out to present the Documentary Feature...

843p... Not gonna lie... I liked Reindeer Games.  Its a big more watchable than Good Will Hunting.

844p... Searching for Sugarman takes the Oscar.

Commercial Break

849p... Jennifer Garner... gorgeous or hideous?  I just cannot tell.  I don't know the answer.  I struggle with it.

849p... Jessica Chastain?  Elegant.  Not gorgeous, but elegant. 

850p... Best Foreign Film.  Not sure how "Amour" can be nominated for Best Picture and NOT win this award.  Aaaaand... I'm right.

852p... Christoph + this guy for Amour = 2 Austrian Oscar Wins! 

852p... Seth tells us about the Oscar Orchestra... who are performing down the street for the show! 

852p... John Travolta comes out... I mean, onstage, not out-out...

853p... Travolta has a harder time saying "Miserables" than I do.  I didn't add the "s" on the end, he added four more syllables. 

855p... Catherine Zeta-Jones, singing a song from "Chicago"... and not sounding nearly as good as she did in "Chicago" 10 years ago...

857p... Zeta-Jones... a member of the "Angelina Jolie Chicks That I'm Supposed to Find Hot But Don't" Club...

858p... Jennifer Hudson is singing "And I Am Telling You That I Am Not Going", from DreamGirls... notably, the song that probably won her the Best Supporting Actress Oscar.  American Idol, anyone?

9p... Holy schmoly crap.  Jennifer Hudson just smacked that song around and said "I'm your mama, now shut up".  That was freakin' awesome.

9p... The Lovely Steph Leann just perked up as Colin Firth Member Hugh Jackman came on stage, singing. 

The Colin Firth Club:  Those that The Lovely Steph Leann would consider leaving me for... see:  Downey Jr, Robert... Whitford, Bradley... Firth, Colin... Bon Jovi, Jon

903p... The cast of Les Mis comes out to sing "One Day More'... including Russell Crowe. 

I imagine this conversation a month ago:

Agent:  Russ, you have to sing again
Russell Crowe:  What?  What do you mean? 
Agent:  In your contract
Russell:  People made fun of me singing!!
Agent:  Its in your contract, Russ
Russell:  #*&&#  (throws phone)

908p... Chris Pine and Zoe Saldana, from Star Trek, and according to Seth, "Future Priceline.com spokespeople" are out... discussing the Tech Awards.

910p... Mark Wahlberg... and Ted, from the movie "Ted"... I haven't seen it.. sheepishly, I want to.

911p... Sound Mixing... I chose The Life of Pi.  The Lovely Steph Leann says, "Wrong.  Les Mis.  Its the live singing." 

912p... And its Les Mis.  "I told you!  Live singing!  Live singing, baby!"

914p... Two presenters... one is funny and animated and fake... the other is Ted, the teddy bear.  Oh!

915p... Sound Editing... I picked Zero Dark Thirty.  THERE IS A TIE?!?!

916p... Skyfall and Zero Dark Thirty pick up the Oscars... a Tie!?!

915p... Like, two Oscars?  A Tie?  Couldn't they do a run-off?  Or a vote tonight, with the audience, with just these two films in the running?

917p... Last tie?  Streisand and Hepburn in 1969 for Best Actress, for (I think) Funny Girl and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, respectively...

(screaming kid... not at The Oscars, but at my house...)

922p... Seth is making some Sound of Music references... but we have a screaming kid.  Kinda killing the joke for me.  Darn you, Campbell Isaiah.

922p... Christopher Plummer comes out to present the award for Best Supporting Actress... he won Best Supporting Actor last year for the family comedy "I'm Old and Gay", or something like that. 

925p... So, they gave out the award for Supporting Actress just now.. but we are 3 minutes behind.  Campbell is just going bonkers. 

925p... Amy Adams, whom I'm in love with, is nominated... I love her.  I really do.  She'll win hers one day, a la Kate Winslet.

925p... And the award goes to... Anne Hathaway.  The award should actually go to whoever said "Hey, let's just keep the camera on her for one, long single shot..."

I dreamed a dream that theeeeey... would stop talking about... my haaair...

927p... PRINCESS MIA GOT AN OSCAR!!! SHUT!!! UP!!!

930p... Didn't notice it til just now... must be... well, cold in there. 

The summation of the last few minutes... Campbell Isaiah woke up, screaming... I had to run and get the cookies we were cooking out of the oven... then toss in his dinner... making peas... sweet potatoes... plums... and a bottle of prune juice/water... some older dude is speaking about student films... and... we're about 10 minutes behind.  Sigh.

I love my kid.  But we are only having one.  That's all I can deal with.  Sigh.

944p... Sandra Bullock is onstage... Best Film Editing is the award she's giving out... William Goldenberg for "Argo"...

946p... 13 awards given, I've gotten 7 right.  This night is a disaster.

947p... Jennifer Lawerence is exquisite.  Not sure I have any other words for it...

948p... Adele is singing "Skyfall"... its nominated for Best Original Song... I chose "Pi's Lullaby" as the winner of that category, and this is what I regret the most--I should have gone "Skyfall". 

949p... Adele is 24 years old.  I cannot tell you what a bumbling no-direction hunk o'junk I was at 24.  Or 34.  Or now, actually.

Commercial Break

950p... Nicole Kidman comes out to present the final three Best Picture Nominees... "Silver Linings Playbook"... "Django Unchained"... and "Amour"

953p... Harry Potter and Bella from Twilight are onstage together.   Kristen Stewart looks miserable, all the time.  All.  The.  Time.

955p... Daniel Radcliffe, they are called tweezers.

956p... Seth calls out Salma Hayek... I think her neck has been lengthened by 8 inches due to that dress.  Like, her dress is a volcano, and her face erupted.

959p... I think Salma was honoring those who won special awards.  Then again, she could have been telling me a great recipe for Guadalajara bacon crispers, and I wouldn't know it.

Commercial Break

1001p... And here comes George Clooney. 

1001p... The In Memorium segment... and Campbell quiets down.  He knows how to respect Michael Clark Duncan and Ernest Borgnine.  Re-cah-nize.

1003p... Adam Yauch from The Beastie Boys gets a nod.  As does one half of the Sherman Brothers. 

1004p... Barbra Streisand.  Blech.

1006p... She is honoring the late composer Marvin Hamlisch.  If I were Marvin, I'd be rolling in my grave.  Any a'yall play Barbra at my funeral, and I'm coming back to knock some teeth out.

1007p... This exchange:
Me:  Since we are still a few minutes behind, we can definitely fast forward this
The Lovely Steph Leann (dirty look)

1009p... Seth MacFarlane comes back out, Campbell cries.  Maybe he just doesn't like Family Guy like I hoped he would.

1010p... The cast of "Chicago" comes out--Gere, Latifah, Zeta-Jones and Jewel!

1010p... Renee Zellweger looks like she's perpetually trying to hide pain. 

1011p... And the winner for Best Score is... The Life of Pi...

1012p... I was secretly hoping John Williams would win for "Lincoln" so the Jaws theme could play him off stage.

1013p... Queen Latifah tells us the Best Song category is up now...

1014p... Why didn't someone tell me "Chasing Ice" was about our melting glaciers and how American Republicans are destroying the Earth?   And whats more, why isn't that winning everything?

1017p... So now, the award goes to "Skyfall" from "Skyfall", sung by Adele.  The first Academy Award to go to a Bond film. 

1019p... "Gotta fank the acahdummy..."

Commercial Break (and finally back on live TV!)

1022p... Charlize Theron comes out with Dustin Hoffman...

1022p... This probably happened:

Charlize:  So, cut my hair like Anne's in that Les Mis movie
Stylist:  Before the cut or after?
Charlize:  After

1023p... And its time for the Final Six--Picture, Director, Acting and Writing...

1024p... For Adapted Screenplay... the winner is Argo.  I'm a little shocked that Beasts didnt get it. 

1026p... For Original Screenplay... the winner is Django Unchained.  That's fantastic.  No, seriously... that's awesome. 

1028p... The Oscars are only 2 minutes from ending!  Or supposedly ending.  Looks like it might not end on time.  But it will probably end before next year's start.

Commercial Break

1032p... Seth introduces Hollywood Legends, Jane Fonda and Michael Douglas--who starred together in The China Syndrome... not a bad movie. 

1033p... Best Director Award.  And its...

1034p... ANG LEE for Life of Pi.  What the what?

1034p... They should give him 3.14 minutes to accept the award.

1035p... Campbell is crying again.  He must have known Ang was the same dude who not only directed "Brokeback Mountain", but also "Hulk".

Commercial Break

1040p... Jean Deajunana (sp?) from The Artist is out to give the Best Actress Award... camera cuts to Kristen Stewart, who looks unhappy and unimpressed--meaning, her usual self.

1042p... Great goodness... please don't let Quivenzhannena win this.  Not because I dislike her, but because Beasts of the Southern Wild is NOT A GOOD MOVIE

Whoops

1043p... Jennifer Lawrence wins for "Silver Linings Playbook"!!!  And she trips on the way up...

1044p... Hugh Jackman rushes to help her.  The Lovely Steph Leann:  He's so gallant.  Happy sigh.

1045p... So Katniss can shoot a precise arrow, but can't climb a staircase? 

1045p... Seth just says "Our next presenter needs no introduction", and drops mic and walks off.  That was a great move

1046p... Everyone all together:

Daniel

Day

Lewis

For Lincoln

That was easy.

1046p... During the nomination readings, The Lovely Steph Leann sighed, "Oh... Hugh Jackman was so awesome... so... so awesome..."

1048p... Out of all the "Flight" clips, they show the one from the end?  That's like showing a Bruce Willis clip from "The Sixth Sense" when he realizes he's dead... geez.

1049p... Watch closely.  Meryl Streep doesn't even open the envelope. No joke.

1050p... "Before Lincoln, I was committed to playing Margaret Thatcher... and Meryl was scheduled to play Lincoln..."  The delivery is fantastic.

1051p... Daniel Day-Lewis has reached Spielberg & Streep status... that is, "Don't dare play them offstage..."

1052p... Seth introduces Jack Nicholson to present Best Picture. 

1053p... And Jack sends it up to... Michelle Obama at the White House?  What is the point of...?  What?

1054p... So, Michelle just talks about movies, and then asks Jack to do the nominees?  Seriously?  That was pointless.

1055p... If Les Mis wins this, The Lovely Steph Leann's head might explode with Hugh Jackman glee

1055p... And Michelle Obama opens the envelope, and its.. Argo!

1058p... So three producers--Affleck, Clooney and Some Guy... and since Ben didn't get a directing nomination (for which Ang Lee is thankful), you'd think Some Guy would let him talk... and finally, Some Guy lets Ben talk.

1059p... Argo is a great, great film. 

11p... If directly following Gigli, you knew an Affleck film would win Best Picture, raise your hand... (crickets chirping)

1104p... Kristen Chenoweth and Seth MacFarlane sing us off into the night, nodding to the losers of the evening... and thats our 2013 Academy Awards... thanks for reading!

1105p:  Argo to bed now...

Seth is being brutalized by the press for a terrible Oscar hosting job.. first, I think he did pretty good.  Secondly, I know
even know who would do a good job... even Billy Crystal's return was met with bad reviews.  And, I do love Kristen
Chenoweth, all 4ft 9 inches of her.