If anyone has a mom or dad or aunt or uncle or friend who is a Men's Size 9.5, or a Women's size 7, I have these 2 shoes available. Very comfortable, not very flashy.
Men's Training
Women's Training
Email me if you are interested.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
...obama and his gut...
Obama is following his gut, and I like it. I always, always, always said (hence my support of Gen. Wesley Clark) that I don't even really care if the politics of a politician bowl me over, I just want to feel like the priority in his or her mind is to do the right thing. With no qualifications, and no explanations. That is what made me balk at voting for Clinton in '96...it wasn't an easy decision.
Obama, however, seems to be turning the corner. The 'West Wing' TV series mirroring real life thing is coming up again. Just last night I saw the episode on which Bartlet's psychiatrist said to him, and I'm really paraphrasing, "Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves and won the civil war. He did that even though he may have risked losing half the country. You [Jed] don't do something because you're afraid you'll lose electoral votes in Michigan."
Well, today Obama looked straight in the eyes of environmentalists and said, "you make good points, I respect you, but I cannot blindly follow the path to the left on this one. The other path will get me where I want to go a bit more quickly and safely."
Or, in his own words,
It is a risk. It may cost him votes. It pisses off people who got him in office, but this reminds me so clearly of the Cape Wind Farm project going on now, which had awesome news today, look it up. I've written about this before, but the Wampanoag's are claiming they are upset b/c the serenity of their land will be spoiled visually by wind turbines - yet they fail to realize that the serenity of their land will be threatened by polar ice caps and Global devastation if we don't care of things now.
Obama is saying, very clearly, that long-term stability in this environment is created by reducing our dependence on foreign oil - using the oil we have here in conjunction with other resources.
Personally, what do I know? Do I like the sound of drilling for oil off the coast of Mexico? No, but I have no idea why I don't like the sound of it. Environmentalists are environmentalists...if someone told me they were going to drill for oil at the 50 yard line of Gillette Stadium I'd be upset, sure, but that doesn't mean my feelings should be taken into account.
As Toby said last night on the 'West Wing', in regards to a hypothetical verbal assault on Islamic Fanatics..."They'll like us when we win." Well, you know what Barack, they'll like you when you win, and when in 50 years we realize we are destroying this planet and your actions are the first Real Presidential step in putting a halt to that destruction.
Obama, however, seems to be turning the corner. The 'West Wing' TV series mirroring real life thing is coming up again. Just last night I saw the episode on which Bartlet's psychiatrist said to him, and I'm really paraphrasing, "Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves and won the civil war. He did that even though he may have risked losing half the country. You [Jed] don't do something because you're afraid you'll lose electoral votes in Michigan."
Well, today Obama looked straight in the eyes of environmentalists and said, "you make good points, I respect you, but I cannot blindly follow the path to the left on this one. The other path will get me where I want to go a bit more quickly and safely."
Or, in his own words,
This is not a decision that I’ve made lightly,” the president said in prepared remarks in a speech on energy security. “But the bottom line is this: given our energy needs, in order to sustain economic growth, produce jobs, and keep our businesses competitive, we’re going to need to harness traditional sources of fuel even as we ramp up production of new sources of renewable, homegrown energy.
It is a risk. It may cost him votes. It pisses off people who got him in office, but this reminds me so clearly of the Cape Wind Farm project going on now, which had awesome news today, look it up. I've written about this before, but the Wampanoag's are claiming they are upset b/c the serenity of their land will be spoiled visually by wind turbines - yet they fail to realize that the serenity of their land will be threatened by polar ice caps and Global devastation if we don't care of things now.
Obama is saying, very clearly, that long-term stability in this environment is created by reducing our dependence on foreign oil - using the oil we have here in conjunction with other resources.
Personally, what do I know? Do I like the sound of drilling for oil off the coast of Mexico? No, but I have no idea why I don't like the sound of it. Environmentalists are environmentalists...if someone told me they were going to drill for oil at the 50 yard line of Gillette Stadium I'd be upset, sure, but that doesn't mean my feelings should be taken into account.
As Toby said last night on the 'West Wing', in regards to a hypothetical verbal assault on Islamic Fanatics..."They'll like us when we win." Well, you know what Barack, they'll like you when you win, and when in 50 years we realize we are destroying this planet and your actions are the first Real Presidential step in putting a halt to that destruction.
...Sandy Bullock...
On Oscar night, while Bullock was winning the Academy Award for Best Actress, I said to my family, "She has had a crazy, crazy personal life..." This was before the Jesse James infidelity nonsense came about. Check out some of the highlights of her life, prior to her apparently marrying a cheating Neo-Nazi.
Now check out her husband's life as well. Neither of them have been a walk in the park. The difference is, Bullock's issues seem to really be just circumstantial - she always was the victim. James is clearly a joke. I don't know what attracts women to men like him, but I also don't know what attracts men to a lot of other types of women (ie, James' other wife, a porn star).
I have no point for this post other than these facts:
1. Bullock cannot stay out of the way of weird crazy crap, her fault or not her fault.
2. You can't marry someone who proudly boasts they are a relative of the outlaw Jesse James. In addition, you can't marry someone who proudly boasts they are a relative of Jesse James when, in fact, they aren't even a relative.
3. If your husband married a porn star, and had a custody battle with that porn star, things probably aren't going to end well.
None of those things are breaking news. I just find it all interesting. At the same time, I don't care.
Now check out her husband's life as well. Neither of them have been a walk in the park. The difference is, Bullock's issues seem to really be just circumstantial - she always was the victim. James is clearly a joke. I don't know what attracts women to men like him, but I also don't know what attracts men to a lot of other types of women (ie, James' other wife, a porn star).
I have no point for this post other than these facts:
1. Bullock cannot stay out of the way of weird crazy crap, her fault or not her fault.
2. You can't marry someone who proudly boasts they are a relative of the outlaw Jesse James. In addition, you can't marry someone who proudly boasts they are a relative of Jesse James when, in fact, they aren't even a relative.
3. If your husband married a porn star, and had a custody battle with that porn star, things probably aren't going to end well.
None of those things are breaking news. I just find it all interesting. At the same time, I don't care.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
..positive news stories...
I am going to post 3 PSN's a day, or a week, or some days of some weeks. Point is, I am going to find positive news stories and post them here. 1 National, 1 Local, 1 Global. Thats my goal, at least.
National comes out of Wisconsin, an awesome, awesome way to save some bucks and really make it happen, by not doing much at all. Awesome.
The local story really is right in my emotional wheelhouse. I don't know what kind of person I am, I have never been really tested, but at the same time, I hope I am this kind of person. I don't expect anyone to do this, and I don't hold it against people who wouldn't, or say they can't, but real forgiveness is pretty much the most amazing trait you can have as an individual, and I really hope everyone ends up better for this. Won't they? I'd love to follow up on this story someday, but I just have a feeling its going to work out.
And finally, this Global story pumps me up. Essentially, Russia and the US are working towards diminishing nuclear weaponry. I'd normally be skeptical, but I like this quote:
Anyone else really like the sound of "global zero"? I think that's a great phrase.
National comes out of Wisconsin, an awesome, awesome way to save some bucks and really make it happen, by not doing much at all. Awesome.
The local story really is right in my emotional wheelhouse. I don't know what kind of person I am, I have never been really tested, but at the same time, I hope I am this kind of person. I don't expect anyone to do this, and I don't hold it against people who wouldn't, or say they can't, but real forgiveness is pretty much the most amazing trait you can have as an individual, and I really hope everyone ends up better for this. Won't they? I'd love to follow up on this story someday, but I just have a feeling its going to work out.
And finally, this Global story pumps me up. Essentially, Russia and the US are working towards diminishing nuclear weaponry. I'd normally be skeptical, but I like this quote:
Arms control proponents hailed the progress. Daryl G. Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association, called it “the first truly post-cold-war nuclear arms reduction treaty.” Richard Burt, a former chief Start negotiator who now heads a disarmament advocacy group called Global Zero, said that the two presidents 'took a major step toward achieving their goal of global zero.
Anyone else really like the sound of "global zero"? I think that's a great phrase.
...quick NBA Eastern Conference Playoff Prediction...
ROUND ONE:
1. Cleveland
8. Toronto
> for the second year in a row, cleveland will sweep its round 1 opponent. I have zero doubt in my mind on that.
4. Atlanta
5. Milwaukee
> This is an incredibly intriguing matchup series. The Bucks are a formidable home team, winning 8 in a row before losing last night for no good reason to the 76ers...
They are a unique story, but at this point I have trouble thinking Atlanta will have any issues dispatching them quickly. I think it'll be a 4-1 series, but good for the Bucks.
3. Boston
6. Charlotte
> Literally the 1 team in the E. Conference playoffs that I think will give the C's zero trouble. However, Raymond Felton annoys the Celtics to no end - he is someone they should go and get, b/c someday he will make us pay big time. I don't think he'll alter a series, but he just brings his A game to the c's every night. 4-1 or 4-2 Boston.
2. Orlando
7. Miami
> I am sorta tired of Miami. I want Wade to go elsewhere and let this franchise die in peace. Their title was so blah, the Shaq era was weird, there's just something about their shiny uniforms that bothers me. Wade is awesome, but he won't be able to overcome the Magic all alone. Jermaine O'Neal is destined to disappoint anyone who roots for them. I think Wade can alter 1 game, at the most. Magic 4-1
ROUND TWO:
1. Cleveland
4. Atlanta
> An upset possible here? No. It was about this time last year when I went into full on "THIS IS LEBRON'S TIME!" mode, and I don't have the energy to shout it again. Do I still feel that way? Yes, 100%. Do I have the energy? No. I do know that Varajao, someone who I couldn't stand last year, will give the mentally inadequate Hawks team fits. I predict 1-2 techs per game from the Hawks coming directly as a result of Andy V. actions. The Hawks can't handle this stacked Cavs roster. Cleveland in 5.
2. Orlando
3. Boston
> The highlight of the entire tournament here, I think. Listen, I'm not a homer, I don't want to be one, the concept of "sports atheism" is something I am really intrigued by and I need to give it more thought. But let me say this, I think Boston can pull this off in 7 grueling games. Perkins and Rasheed (yes, Rasheed) are the only big man tandem in all of basketball who I think can handle (yes, handle) Dwight Howard. The supporting cast in Orlando is not as good as last year, and don't give me Vince this or Vince that. Rajon Rondo is the key - who the heck knows how he'll play in Rounds 1 & 2, but he can potentially exploit his matchup to a degree we haven't seen since Tony Parker made the Gibson/Snow tandem in Cleveland in '07 look like buffoons. I don't think Jameer is where he used to be, and they are easing him back Rondo is on another level at this point. Celtics in 7. If Rondo is a headcase in Round 1, I predict an easy 5 gamer for Orlando. All hinges on #9.
CONFERENCE FINALS:
1. Cleveland
3. Boston
I have no idea which Cleveland team will show up. I can guarantee you this: by the time this series rolls around, we will all be 100% convinced that Cleveland will win it, easily. Kinda like how we were convinced they'd beat Orlando in 5 or 6, instead they disappeared in the Conf. Finals last year and Dwight & Co. had a field day, winning in 6 awesome games and going to the finals. Orlando was a bad 4th quarter away from a 4-1 series win over Cleveland...how can that be?
The matchups tell you Cleveland is better - and they are. But I still don't get why the national press (TNT, ESPN, ABC) refuses to recognize that Mike Brown has no clue what he is doing, other than his impeccable taste in eyeglass frames.
Boston can win this series if Doc is on his A game, and the team wins at home. Win at home. Here is the matrix for how Boston wins this series:
1. Cleveland's only loss in the Atlanta series will be Mike Brown's fault
2. Boston wins both home games v. Charlotte, and Rondo plays smart against Felton
3. Boston may lose 1 game in Boston v. Orlando, but that is all. If they manage to lose more than 1, but still win the series, they have no shot v. Cleveland
If those 3 things happen, I predict Boston in 7. If one of those 3 things doesn't happen - OR - if Rondo is a psycho like last year v. Chicago in Round 1, I predict the Cavs in 5 or 6 ...
Keep in mind, if the Rondo is a psycho drama plays out, I predict it'll be Cleveland V. Orlando and Cleveland will prevail easily, maybe in 5.
Tomorrow or tonight I'll put together some W. Conference stuff...I'll also make amendments once the seeds are finalized.
1. Cleveland
8. Toronto
> for the second year in a row, cleveland will sweep its round 1 opponent. I have zero doubt in my mind on that.
4. Atlanta
5. Milwaukee
> This is an incredibly intriguing matchup series. The Bucks are a formidable home team, winning 8 in a row before losing last night for no good reason to the 76ers...
They are a unique story, but at this point I have trouble thinking Atlanta will have any issues dispatching them quickly. I think it'll be a 4-1 series, but good for the Bucks.
3. Boston
6. Charlotte
> Literally the 1 team in the E. Conference playoffs that I think will give the C's zero trouble. However, Raymond Felton annoys the Celtics to no end - he is someone they should go and get, b/c someday he will make us pay big time. I don't think he'll alter a series, but he just brings his A game to the c's every night. 4-1 or 4-2 Boston.
2. Orlando
7. Miami
> I am sorta tired of Miami. I want Wade to go elsewhere and let this franchise die in peace. Their title was so blah, the Shaq era was weird, there's just something about their shiny uniforms that bothers me. Wade is awesome, but he won't be able to overcome the Magic all alone. Jermaine O'Neal is destined to disappoint anyone who roots for them. I think Wade can alter 1 game, at the most. Magic 4-1
ROUND TWO:
1. Cleveland
4. Atlanta
> An upset possible here? No. It was about this time last year when I went into full on "THIS IS LEBRON'S TIME!" mode, and I don't have the energy to shout it again. Do I still feel that way? Yes, 100%. Do I have the energy? No. I do know that Varajao, someone who I couldn't stand last year, will give the mentally inadequate Hawks team fits. I predict 1-2 techs per game from the Hawks coming directly as a result of Andy V. actions. The Hawks can't handle this stacked Cavs roster. Cleveland in 5.
2. Orlando
3. Boston
> The highlight of the entire tournament here, I think. Listen, I'm not a homer, I don't want to be one, the concept of "sports atheism" is something I am really intrigued by and I need to give it more thought. But let me say this, I think Boston can pull this off in 7 grueling games. Perkins and Rasheed (yes, Rasheed) are the only big man tandem in all of basketball who I think can handle (yes, handle) Dwight Howard. The supporting cast in Orlando is not as good as last year, and don't give me Vince this or Vince that. Rajon Rondo is the key - who the heck knows how he'll play in Rounds 1 & 2, but he can potentially exploit his matchup to a degree we haven't seen since Tony Parker made the Gibson/Snow tandem in Cleveland in '07 look like buffoons. I don't think Jameer is where he used to be, and they are easing him back Rondo is on another level at this point. Celtics in 7. If Rondo is a headcase in Round 1, I predict an easy 5 gamer for Orlando. All hinges on #9.
CONFERENCE FINALS:
1. Cleveland
3. Boston
I have no idea which Cleveland team will show up. I can guarantee you this: by the time this series rolls around, we will all be 100% convinced that Cleveland will win it, easily. Kinda like how we were convinced they'd beat Orlando in 5 or 6, instead they disappeared in the Conf. Finals last year and Dwight & Co. had a field day, winning in 6 awesome games and going to the finals. Orlando was a bad 4th quarter away from a 4-1 series win over Cleveland...how can that be?
The matchups tell you Cleveland is better - and they are. But I still don't get why the national press (TNT, ESPN, ABC) refuses to recognize that Mike Brown has no clue what he is doing, other than his impeccable taste in eyeglass frames.
Boston can win this series if Doc is on his A game, and the team wins at home. Win at home. Here is the matrix for how Boston wins this series:
1. Cleveland's only loss in the Atlanta series will be Mike Brown's fault
2. Boston wins both home games v. Charlotte, and Rondo plays smart against Felton
3. Boston may lose 1 game in Boston v. Orlando, but that is all. If they manage to lose more than 1, but still win the series, they have no shot v. Cleveland
If those 3 things happen, I predict Boston in 7. If one of those 3 things doesn't happen - OR - if Rondo is a psycho like last year v. Chicago in Round 1, I predict the Cavs in 5 or 6 ...
Keep in mind, if the Rondo is a psycho drama plays out, I predict it'll be Cleveland V. Orlando and Cleveland will prevail easily, maybe in 5.
Tomorrow or tonight I'll put together some W. Conference stuff...I'll also make amendments once the seeds are finalized.
Monday, March 22, 2010
...McDonalds...
Maybe I'm being too picky, but I cannot understand why people like Michelle Wie, Michael Jordan and Dwight Howard endorse McDonalds. Yes, money. I know.
But it isn't like they are taking ANY endorsement deals they can find. I understand being aligned with a brand like McDonalds is good from an exposure standpoint, they are huge, a mega-global corporation, a beast.
But the thing that really kills me is the thought of Wie, for example, and her agent in a meeting in McDonald's HQ, in some fancy corporate office, watching the VP of Global Marketing or whatever give his or her speech on where McDonalds is heading in 5, 10, 15 years...
How they are on the "eco" trend - everything organic and recycled, etc. What they really mean by that is that their cups will be made out of recycled rice patties or whatever, and they'll offer an organic coffee with beans grown in Portland, OR...but they will still offer, and dominate the market in, some of the worlds most unhealthy and damaging foods.
I don't fault anyone for eating it, I love the friggen taste of a greasy McDonalds cheeseburger (are you with me? I mean seriously, is it not the greatest non-dessert taste of all time?)...I don't even blame anyone really for being a part of their endorsement program. But Wie & Dwight Howard are physical specimen who obviously pay attention to what they eat, probably work out literally thousands to millions of times more (from a % standpoint) than the average McDonalds-goer.
My point is this: If Wie and Howard are representing McDonalds in order to make millions, get more exposure, and increase their bank accounts for future generations of Wie's and Howard's, then I'm all for it.
If they were somehow woo'd by the VP Of Marketing telling them they will be the healthiest fast food company by 2030 - then I'm a bit embarrassed.
On a side note, wouldn't it be cool if Wie & Howard got married. Michelle Wie-Howard.
Those would be tall children.
But it isn't like they are taking ANY endorsement deals they can find. I understand being aligned with a brand like McDonalds is good from an exposure standpoint, they are huge, a mega-global corporation, a beast.
But the thing that really kills me is the thought of Wie, for example, and her agent in a meeting in McDonald's HQ, in some fancy corporate office, watching the VP of Global Marketing or whatever give his or her speech on where McDonalds is heading in 5, 10, 15 years...
How they are on the "eco" trend - everything organic and recycled, etc. What they really mean by that is that their cups will be made out of recycled rice patties or whatever, and they'll offer an organic coffee with beans grown in Portland, OR...but they will still offer, and dominate the market in, some of the worlds most unhealthy and damaging foods.
I don't fault anyone for eating it, I love the friggen taste of a greasy McDonalds cheeseburger (are you with me? I mean seriously, is it not the greatest non-dessert taste of all time?)...I don't even blame anyone really for being a part of their endorsement program. But Wie & Dwight Howard are physical specimen who obviously pay attention to what they eat, probably work out literally thousands to millions of times more (from a % standpoint) than the average McDonalds-goer.
My point is this: If Wie and Howard are representing McDonalds in order to make millions, get more exposure, and increase their bank accounts for future generations of Wie's and Howard's, then I'm all for it.
If they were somehow woo'd by the VP Of Marketing telling them they will be the healthiest fast food company by 2030 - then I'm a bit embarrassed.
On a side note, wouldn't it be cool if Wie & Howard got married. Michelle Wie-Howard.
Those would be tall children.
...But did we? Really???
Listen,
I'm not going to say I know the in's and out's of this health care legislation - I am not an expert and I really don't want to be. I want to golf more, hang out with my wife and family and friends more, and watch movies and fun sports. Thats honestly what I want out of life, things beyond that are filler, trivial filler. And I'm lucky for that, exceedingly lucky.
The Health Care legislation that passed is not a Gov't run Health Care plan. It's a semi-mandatory "you must have insurance" plan that penalizes people who don't have it, but at the same time, rewards people who do by closing loopholes and minimizing the number of restrictions. Seems like a fair trade off. Doesn't it?
The real advances in Health Care, like every real advancement that will come in this country (and this world) will be made when we recognize that Campaign Contributions and special interest groups should have no place in Gov't.
The majority of Americans embrace the notion of Freedom of Religion - they really do. The far right, and the far left, would have you believe otherwise. The far right tells us that we are failing and dying as a country b/c we have lost hold of our Christian values. The far left tells us that our Christian values are exactly what are killing us, and we have to ensure that nobody, anywhere, speaks a word about faith.
Both are stupid notions. Benjamin Franklin was in the top 5 most crucial people who started this country, and he wasn't religious. John Adams was in the top 5 most crucial and he was personally religious. Your religious leaning has nothing to do with anything, and I think both the left and the right know that.
The new religion - and the new monster that must have legislation protect us from it - are Campaign Contributions. 150 years from now, the US is going to look back at this time - a time where we have a legislation that comes to an absolute standstill for such a long time during a crucial period of crisis - and they are going to say, "what was wrong with those people?"
The answer is so clearly that those making the decisions have their strings pulled by various groups with seemingly neverending pocketbooks...those groups don't want a bill passed, or do want a bill passed...they don't want a candidate in office or do want a candidate in office, and everything becomes stagnant.
Its so unnatural - the last 6-8 months have been such stagnation due to Lobbyists and big, giant money interests that we, as a country, actually are in a place where dynamic, monumental, holy-shit type of legislation is passed, and the common reaction is "we are all gonna die."
On the House floor, Democrats were heard chanting, "YES WE DID, YES WE DID..." An unknown Republican (how do they know he was Republican) yelled, "BABY KILLER" at John Boehner ... are these really acts of civilized people doing important work?
I'll end with this:
Our Congress speaks about their constituencies, and they say it with such a smirk, b/c they know their constituencies are NOT the people who live in their districts or states - and they are NOT the people who voted them in with ballots...their constituents are the companies and group who lined their campaign war chests, and continue to do the same. They do not answer to us, that is why they chant things on the house floor, that is why they yell baby killer - these are not actions of proud Americans - most Americans are understated people, who do not want to yell in someone's face...
Congress doesn't want to reflect the Americans in their states, towns and districts, they want to reflect their donors. They want to reflect American corporations, they want to reflect victory and Power, and this Health Care bill, while most likely something that people who need it most will benefit from, is purely a reflection of a period of unparalleled greed, corruption and egomania that was reserved for shit in our History books...
I'm not going to say I know the in's and out's of this health care legislation - I am not an expert and I really don't want to be. I want to golf more, hang out with my wife and family and friends more, and watch movies and fun sports. Thats honestly what I want out of life, things beyond that are filler, trivial filler. And I'm lucky for that, exceedingly lucky.
The Health Care legislation that passed is not a Gov't run Health Care plan. It's a semi-mandatory "you must have insurance" plan that penalizes people who don't have it, but at the same time, rewards people who do by closing loopholes and minimizing the number of restrictions. Seems like a fair trade off. Doesn't it?
The real advances in Health Care, like every real advancement that will come in this country (and this world) will be made when we recognize that Campaign Contributions and special interest groups should have no place in Gov't.
The majority of Americans embrace the notion of Freedom of Religion - they really do. The far right, and the far left, would have you believe otherwise. The far right tells us that we are failing and dying as a country b/c we have lost hold of our Christian values. The far left tells us that our Christian values are exactly what are killing us, and we have to ensure that nobody, anywhere, speaks a word about faith.
Both are stupid notions. Benjamin Franklin was in the top 5 most crucial people who started this country, and he wasn't religious. John Adams was in the top 5 most crucial and he was personally religious. Your religious leaning has nothing to do with anything, and I think both the left and the right know that.
The new religion - and the new monster that must have legislation protect us from it - are Campaign Contributions. 150 years from now, the US is going to look back at this time - a time where we have a legislation that comes to an absolute standstill for such a long time during a crucial period of crisis - and they are going to say, "what was wrong with those people?"
The answer is so clearly that those making the decisions have their strings pulled by various groups with seemingly neverending pocketbooks...those groups don't want a bill passed, or do want a bill passed...they don't want a candidate in office or do want a candidate in office, and everything becomes stagnant.
Its so unnatural - the last 6-8 months have been such stagnation due to Lobbyists and big, giant money interests that we, as a country, actually are in a place where dynamic, monumental, holy-shit type of legislation is passed, and the common reaction is "we are all gonna die."
On the House floor, Democrats were heard chanting, "YES WE DID, YES WE DID..." An unknown Republican (how do they know he was Republican) yelled, "BABY KILLER" at John Boehner ... are these really acts of civilized people doing important work?
I'll end with this:
Our Congress speaks about their constituencies, and they say it with such a smirk, b/c they know their constituencies are NOT the people who live in their districts or states - and they are NOT the people who voted them in with ballots...their constituents are the companies and group who lined their campaign war chests, and continue to do the same. They do not answer to us, that is why they chant things on the house floor, that is why they yell baby killer - these are not actions of proud Americans - most Americans are understated people, who do not want to yell in someone's face...
Congress doesn't want to reflect the Americans in their states, towns and districts, they want to reflect their donors. They want to reflect American corporations, they want to reflect victory and Power, and this Health Care bill, while most likely something that people who need it most will benefit from, is purely a reflection of a period of unparalleled greed, corruption and egomania that was reserved for shit in our History books...
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
...the perfect non-sports trade...
There are really interesting trades that happen in sports every year – some teams win, some teams lose…sometimes, every once in a while, both teams can look back and think, "you know what, that trade actually worked for both of us."
I think about the Chargers/Giants trade of Eli for Rivers. It's hard to say who got the better end of that deal, b/c the Giants "won" a super bowl and the Chargers have been very good under Rivers for a very long time. I think both teams, however, would agree that they wouldn't want the other player as their QB.
I think back to a trade that happened in my life, not related to sports, that fits into the, "It just had to be that way" category…neither of us regret the deal, and both of us recognize what we sacrificed in the short term, but how we were richer for it.
At some point in 1993, I was over Trav's house and we were listening to a new CD he had – which was The Beatles Past Masters, I believe it was Volume 2, but maybe Volume 1. This is not so much a Greatest Hits as it was a filler CD – a CD created for American audiences to cover the gaps that had been left by the original CD releases of the other albums. Some songs appeared on regular EP's in the 60's in America, but not on the CD version of those releases in the 80's and 90's.
The songs were all great, all phenomenal, and for me, starting my Beatles collection, I needed these songs. Trav liked the Beatles, and he enjoyed listening, but I realized this CD wasn't going to change his life like it would eventually change mine.
But what did I have to offer? Looking back, you can say that he got the better end of the deal - and I can assure you that I see the value in Pearl Jam's debut album, "Ten", as much as anyone, but at the time, the price was right.
A 1 for 1 swap that ended up being as influential to him (I know he listened to "Black" probably 800 times a year) as it was for me (I likely listened to my Past Masters CD the same amount). The swap was an even 1 for 1 CD swap, unheard of in the current times of "Can I burn that?" But this was before burning – when copying a cd to tape was a messy fiasco that required an additional purchase, a working cd to tape recorder, and the kind of wherewithal that a 10th grader doesn't possess.
I don't regret the trade for a minute, at some point in the mid 90's I repurchased Pearl Jam's 'Ten', and Trav also had equal opportunity to purchase the Past Masters collection for himself…but it wasn't about the long term success or failure of the trade, it was about the immediate impact that music had on both of us, and how we did what needed to be done. The perfect trade.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
...Top 10 Movies of 2009...
Here are my top 10 of 2009.
* All that means is I saw it & I know it was eligible for any of the 2010 Academy Awards.
10. Avatar
9. Princess & The Frog
8. Star Trek
7. Up in the Air
6. District 9
5. The Hurt Locker
4. Coraline
3. Inglorious Basterds
2. The Cove
1. Up!
Do with that what you will.
* All that means is I saw it & I know it was eligible for any of the 2010 Academy Awards.
10. Avatar
9. Princess & The Frog
8. Star Trek
7. Up in the Air
6. District 9
5. The Hurt Locker
4. Coraline
3. Inglorious Basterds
2. The Cove
1. Up!
Do with that what you will.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
..State of the C's...
The hometown c's got boo'ed last night. I don't boo, but this was actually a time where I felt it was sorta deserved.
I normally don't have a problem with Doc, I think he gets the most out of his players, and I am not smart enough to comment on his playcalling, etc.
Doc is/was flat out wrong. I know I am nitpicking, but there was no energy from the team all night. They were out-athleticized.
After the game, Ainge calmly walks through the Locker Room, talks to Doc. He and Doc share a "what the eff is going on?" moment, but neither of them are accusatory. They close the door, chat about how difficult things are going to be in terms of integrating Nate and Finley, how the starting unit seems to have lost fire - how Rondo may be taking on too much of the load offensively, and Perkins is forced to take too much of it defensively. They talk about Rasheed and how his place on the team is completely up in the air, and they ponder the future.
I normally don't have a problem with Doc, I think he gets the most out of his players, and I am not smart enough to comment on his playcalling, etc.
But this really irked me, from Celtics Twitter:
Doc: "We were awful tonight. I thought the first 7-8 minutes we had great energy. But our lack of offense is affecting how we play defense."
Doc: "We were awful tonight. I thought the first 7-8 minutes we had great energy. But our lack of offense is affecting how we play defense."
I am not sure how to react to that. At the 6 minute mark, I said to Andy the following words, "look at the score [12 or 13 to 6, Grizzlies] - we are going to be lucky to get 12 points this quarter." That was at the 6 minute mark. Given they scored 12 in the quarter, and were down by 15 at the end of the first 12 minutes, you can imagine that the next 1-2 minutes following the 1/2 way mark did not mark some significant energy change.
Doc is/was flat out wrong. I know I am nitpicking, but there was no energy from the team all night. They were out-athleticized.
I said to Andy last night at dinner also that the things we are praising Garnett for is demeaning to Garnett. It is like when you are sick, and you can't eat for 3 days, and then you get incredibly pumped when you are able to down a 1/2 slice of toast. Garnett is nibbling at toast right now, and we are patting him on the rear end for it.
He has aged 6 season in the last 2 years. Show someone game film of Kevin McHale from 82, then show them 88 game footage, and the style of play is what Garnett has managed to downgrade to in just 2 seasons.
I am not unappreciative, I really am not. I think his time has been amazing here, but it is either the end of his season, or the end of the road entirely, I can't figure it out.
This is what I hope happened last night. I actually imagined this last night as I was going to sleep.
After the game, Ainge calmly walks through the Locker Room, talks to Doc. He and Doc share a "what the eff is going on?" moment, but neither of them are accusatory. They close the door, chat about how difficult things are going to be in terms of integrating Nate and Finley, how the starting unit seems to have lost fire - how Rondo may be taking on too much of the load offensively, and Perkins is forced to take too much of it defensively. They talk about Rasheed and how his place on the team is completely up in the air, and they ponder the future.
Ainge leaves the Garden and thinks about the future on his ride home. Rondo is the C's point guard for the next 5 seasons. Perkins has to be the C's center for the next 5 as well. Signing Perkins this offseason to an extension is the only thing that matters. Ainge also starts to think about what can be done with KG. He knows that next year may be his last as a Celtic - as he will be a valuable expiring contract in the 11/12 season, and he is not a necessary component. He knows that Rasheed is in the same boat, and knows he can work around the 6.5+ million per he will get the next 2 years.
Signing Perkins and getting creative with another player is of the utmost importance.
Secretly, he and Pierce are talking about the probability and likelihood that next year will be his last. 21 Million player option will be picked up, but Ainge isn't going to entertain the idea of an extension for a body and a player that is simply beaten down. Years and years of service to a horrible team in a city that underappreciated him is taking a toll, and his potential Hall of Fame career will likely end after next year. It's early, but signing a 7 or 8 million extension is demeaning, and the thought of going to another team would literally be overwhelming.
So for the 11/12 season you have on your roster, given a Perkins long term extension and a Garnett expiring contract dump:
So for the 11/12 season you have on your roster, given a Perkins long term extension and a Garnett expiring contract dump:
PG - Rondo
C - Perkins
Bench - Rasheed
1/2 season Bench or Starting PF - Garnett
It is a 'reset button' type of year, but let me say this. I am willing to endure a 10/11 season in which we are a 5 seed, and get knocked out in round 2 by cleveland or whatever...but position ourselves for a very bright future. We potentially could have STARTING all stars in Rondo and Perkins by 11/12, and build the team around those guys. It is how it can be. I am optimistic that Ainge has set it up this way.
asd
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
...The Oscars according to me...
Best Picture:
The Hurt Locker – this movie grew on me a lot after I saw it. There were portions of it I didn’t love – I thought the rough housing scene was too long, albeit important. I think the car bomb defusing scene was in the top 5 scenes I saw this year (I admit, I was probably only about 70% to my movie-watching goal)…
But I am not upset with this movie as Best Picture. There is something to be said for Avatar, but there’s a part of me that thinks Oscar voters like to look to the future a bit, and I’m giving them way too much credit and it doesn’t jibe with past precedents, but I think it may have been a case where in 4 years when 50% of the sci-fi movies look like Avatar, we’ll forget how groundbreaking it was – and I think history will treat the Hurt Locker in a much more favorable light.
The drug of war – something those of us who have never sniffed combat, or even real aggression in our lives could understand – is going to prove to be a winning formula in films, given we are going to have a generation of kids born in the late 80’s who grew up with the gulf war and a then a relatively brief respite between then and the Post 9/11 world, which is all about War.
I can’t wait to see how this movie ages, how it gets treated over time, and where it falls in the History of great, not good, War films.
Very quickly, I’d like to give my guess for what the 5 Best Picture nominees would have been if we were using the 5 nominee system:
Nominees: Avatar ; The Hurt Locker ; Inglorious Basterds; Up in the Air; Up* (I’ll explain later)
May have made the cut: Precious, The Blind Side
Left off: District 9, An Education, A Serious Man
Best Actor:
Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart – I didn’t see it, and that is almost unforgiveable for a person like me. It was an Oscar lock for a long time, I should have seen it. Bridges speech was pretty uninspired, and I am not going to comment on his performance, and I’m glad he has won. But we all know, and this isn’t a joke, that his portrayal of The Dude was, without a doubt, his finest moment as an actor – and I don’t care how good he was in Crazy Heart, that couldn’t be topped.
Best Actress:
Sandra Bullock in The Blind Side – I didn’t see this either (Shame on me), but I have a really hard time with this. Her speech was good, but she alluded to the fact that she wore the voters down. But that sort of implies that she had been in the running and/or sniffed greatness in her previous roles. Yes, she can earn a film some money, and she has talent and is funny, but when has she ever put together a role that was remotely Oscar worthy before? Never.
I really need to see this, because in my mind it is on par with ‘Miracle’ or ‘Cool Runnings’…I don’t see how a Best Actress nomination could come out of this.
Especially in a year when Meryl Streep gave a performance in Julie & Julia that was simply held back by the script – she could have poured so much more into that film, and while Amy Adams was more than serviceable, there is a part of me that feels like a pure 100% Julia Child biopic may have been more appropriate. I guess I’m happy for Sandra, but it’ll take a Eruzione miracle for me think she was better than Streep this year.
Best Supporting Actor:
Christop Waltz in Inglorious Basterds – Was there a better performance all year? I don’t think so. I don’t think you can look me in the eye and say that there was. Completely mind-bendingly terrifying is the only way to describe his character. You are honestly led to believe that Tarantino, at some point in his whacky life, met a Nazi who had the traits of Waltz in this film – how could he have created this Nazi character out of thin air? Quite simply, the awesome, awesome opening scene set the tone for a film in which Waltz dominated the screen, and ultimately dominated the entire film.
Best Supporting Actress:
Mo’Nique in Precious – I don’t think I want to hang out with Mo’Nique. I thought her stand up was funny, then she started taking everything so seriously. This role was clearly serious, but to me, and I could be wrong, roles that are this over the top are easier to do, aren’t they? Take Waltz for example, how easy would it have been to be a raving lunatic foaming at the mouth and shooting everything that moved? Seems easy to me, doesn’t it? Anna Kendrick – now that was a nuanced role.
Reading Push made me feel horrible. I felt great, but I also felt horrible. Seeing the movie did the same thing. It leads me to the question, what did Mo’Nique do or offer to the film that would have been missing if Sheri Shepherd or someone else played the role? I can’t think of anything. Again, Anna Kendrick stood out, she played the role perfectly, and deserved the win. I think.
Best Director:
Kathryn Bigelow in The Hurt Locker – How rad is it that the first woman to win Best Director won it for a movie about War – about a job that a woman likely wouldn’t even be allowed to do? I know she didn’t write it, but she got everything out of those guys…the aforementioned rough housing scene – this is speculation and conjecture, but I wouldn’t be surprised if she got more out of her 3 guys in that scene because they didn’t want to look soft in front of a woman, I feel like there are layers to her dominance over that set that we couldn’t even begin to imagine.
And I mention it again, Avatar broke new ground in a million areas, and Cameron deserves some kind of recognition, but if you want to win Best Director, aren’t you obligated to get great, not good, but great performances out of your actors? Zoe Saldana was the only person who reached at all in that movie – Sigourney Weaver and that tall dork from Dodgeball were sleepwalking – and the hulky Australian and goofy war General were so easily forgettable…
Bigelow put together a visually compelling film with timely subject matter and incredibly deep performances by her actors. Those things line up pretty nicely when vying for Best Director, no?
Best Animated Film:
Up – This category really became one of my favorites this year with the nominees. I am going to pretend The Secret of the Kells wasn’t nominated, b/c that’s just dumb that it was. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs wasn’t a spectacular movie, but it was spectacular, if you know what I mean.
But that really isn’t the highlight of the year, which clearly was Up. It separated itself from the field, and you could make the argument it would have been one of the 5 in the Best Picture nominees, as I stated before. It was a complete film, and Pixar is going to really have a hard time aging when guys like Pete Docter and John Lasseter either quit, or age.
Has a studio ever put together a 15 year run like Pixar has? The original Walt Disney Animated run starting in ’37 with Snow White and ending with Bambi in ’42 was demolished creatively by the War – and it took a long time to recover. The rebirth in 1989 with The Little Mermaid arguably ended less than 10 years later with Tarzan – certainly it didn’t continue with Dinosaur and Fantasia: 2000.
Nothing has come close to what Pixar has been able to do in its run of dominance, and there are no signs of slowing with the upcoming release of Toy Story 3, which will undoubtedly break records and warm hearts from now until forever.
But the category overall was very strong in the 3 films that have gone unmentioned. The Princess & The Frog is a great story, entertaining watch, and a sign of good things to come for Walt Disney Animation.
I didn’t see Fantastic Mr. Fox, which I regret. That leaves only Coraline, which has gone unmentioned. This movie was, in short, friggen awesome. The score, the animation, the characters and the relationships were all so compelling. Selick is the grandfather of stop motion, and he deserves an achievement award – given he was probably 8-10 years ahead of his time with Nightmare Before Christmas, in conjunction with Burton. I believe Coraline will only get more popular as time passes. I loved it, I wish it wasn’t in Up’s year.
Lastly, I am all in favor of more categories – the broadcast is long, but I do believe that a lot of the categories in editing, mixing, sound, etc can be dumped into that technical awards show that takes place a few weeks/days prior to the real awards show. I have one specific category nomination, which I think would be fantastic.
Best Sci-Fi/Action Film:
I am not sure how you define it, but I think what happens is some movies, and specifically the ones I list below, are put into the same category as movies like The Last Station, and Hurt Locker. Small release, relatively small budget films up against Blockbuster behemoths – it’s unrealistic and unfair. If Animated films get their due, Sci-Fi/Action films deserve theirs as well. With that, I do think it’s fair to remove Animated Films from the Best Picture category, and Sci-Fi/Action films from that category as well. We all know that most of the Academy didn’t watch District 9 with the same intensity they watched The Blind Side, it’s just a reality.
So, without further delay, here are my nominees for the Best Sci-Fi/Action film of 2009:
Avatar; District 9; Star Trek; Harry Potter & The Half Blood Prince; Zombieland
The winner, in my opinion, would be Star Trek. As much as I really enjoyed District 9, and I think it was one of the most fantastic movies of the year, it had its flaws that really are hard to overcome (ie, nobody was likeable *Thanks Keegan for that insight*, and the lead character was a bit over the top, even for an action film. Star Trek, however, was pretty flawless by my estimation. It did an amazing job of paying homage to the Star Trek franchise – incorporated very cool character development with a believable and manageable love story (with Zoe Saldana, again), in a way that movies typically don’t do.
The villain was brilliant, the Time Travel aspect was pretty seamless, and nothing was left unanswered. Believe me, I am not saying this was the best movie of the year, it didn’t have the depth and tension of a movie like Hurt Locker, but that is precisely why it can’t be compared to it – it was going for that. It was a film that attempted to entertain for 2 hours.
The Hurt Locker – this movie grew on me a lot after I saw it. There were portions of it I didn’t love – I thought the rough housing scene was too long, albeit important. I think the car bomb defusing scene was in the top 5 scenes I saw this year (I admit, I was probably only about 70% to my movie-watching goal)…
But I am not upset with this movie as Best Picture. There is something to be said for Avatar, but there’s a part of me that thinks Oscar voters like to look to the future a bit, and I’m giving them way too much credit and it doesn’t jibe with past precedents, but I think it may have been a case where in 4 years when 50% of the sci-fi movies look like Avatar, we’ll forget how groundbreaking it was – and I think history will treat the Hurt Locker in a much more favorable light.
The drug of war – something those of us who have never sniffed combat, or even real aggression in our lives could understand – is going to prove to be a winning formula in films, given we are going to have a generation of kids born in the late 80’s who grew up with the gulf war and a then a relatively brief respite between then and the Post 9/11 world, which is all about War.
I can’t wait to see how this movie ages, how it gets treated over time, and where it falls in the History of great, not good, War films.
Very quickly, I’d like to give my guess for what the 5 Best Picture nominees would have been if we were using the 5 nominee system:
Nominees: Avatar ; The Hurt Locker ; Inglorious Basterds; Up in the Air; Up* (I’ll explain later)
May have made the cut: Precious, The Blind Side
Left off: District 9, An Education, A Serious Man
Best Actor:
Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart – I didn’t see it, and that is almost unforgiveable for a person like me. It was an Oscar lock for a long time, I should have seen it. Bridges speech was pretty uninspired, and I am not going to comment on his performance, and I’m glad he has won. But we all know, and this isn’t a joke, that his portrayal of The Dude was, without a doubt, his finest moment as an actor – and I don’t care how good he was in Crazy Heart, that couldn’t be topped.
Best Actress:
Sandra Bullock in The Blind Side – I didn’t see this either (Shame on me), but I have a really hard time with this. Her speech was good, but she alluded to the fact that she wore the voters down. But that sort of implies that she had been in the running and/or sniffed greatness in her previous roles. Yes, she can earn a film some money, and she has talent and is funny, but when has she ever put together a role that was remotely Oscar worthy before? Never.
I really need to see this, because in my mind it is on par with ‘Miracle’ or ‘Cool Runnings’…I don’t see how a Best Actress nomination could come out of this.
Especially in a year when Meryl Streep gave a performance in Julie & Julia that was simply held back by the script – she could have poured so much more into that film, and while Amy Adams was more than serviceable, there is a part of me that feels like a pure 100% Julia Child biopic may have been more appropriate. I guess I’m happy for Sandra, but it’ll take a Eruzione miracle for me think she was better than Streep this year.
Best Supporting Actor:
Christop Waltz in Inglorious Basterds – Was there a better performance all year? I don’t think so. I don’t think you can look me in the eye and say that there was. Completely mind-bendingly terrifying is the only way to describe his character. You are honestly led to believe that Tarantino, at some point in his whacky life, met a Nazi who had the traits of Waltz in this film – how could he have created this Nazi character out of thin air? Quite simply, the awesome, awesome opening scene set the tone for a film in which Waltz dominated the screen, and ultimately dominated the entire film.
Best Supporting Actress:
Mo’Nique in Precious – I don’t think I want to hang out with Mo’Nique. I thought her stand up was funny, then she started taking everything so seriously. This role was clearly serious, but to me, and I could be wrong, roles that are this over the top are easier to do, aren’t they? Take Waltz for example, how easy would it have been to be a raving lunatic foaming at the mouth and shooting everything that moved? Seems easy to me, doesn’t it? Anna Kendrick – now that was a nuanced role.
Reading Push made me feel horrible. I felt great, but I also felt horrible. Seeing the movie did the same thing. It leads me to the question, what did Mo’Nique do or offer to the film that would have been missing if Sheri Shepherd or someone else played the role? I can’t think of anything. Again, Anna Kendrick stood out, she played the role perfectly, and deserved the win. I think.
Best Director:
Kathryn Bigelow in The Hurt Locker – How rad is it that the first woman to win Best Director won it for a movie about War – about a job that a woman likely wouldn’t even be allowed to do? I know she didn’t write it, but she got everything out of those guys…the aforementioned rough housing scene – this is speculation and conjecture, but I wouldn’t be surprised if she got more out of her 3 guys in that scene because they didn’t want to look soft in front of a woman, I feel like there are layers to her dominance over that set that we couldn’t even begin to imagine.
And I mention it again, Avatar broke new ground in a million areas, and Cameron deserves some kind of recognition, but if you want to win Best Director, aren’t you obligated to get great, not good, but great performances out of your actors? Zoe Saldana was the only person who reached at all in that movie – Sigourney Weaver and that tall dork from Dodgeball were sleepwalking – and the hulky Australian and goofy war General were so easily forgettable…
Bigelow put together a visually compelling film with timely subject matter and incredibly deep performances by her actors. Those things line up pretty nicely when vying for Best Director, no?
Best Animated Film:
Up – This category really became one of my favorites this year with the nominees. I am going to pretend The Secret of the Kells wasn’t nominated, b/c that’s just dumb that it was. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs wasn’t a spectacular movie, but it was spectacular, if you know what I mean.
But that really isn’t the highlight of the year, which clearly was Up. It separated itself from the field, and you could make the argument it would have been one of the 5 in the Best Picture nominees, as I stated before. It was a complete film, and Pixar is going to really have a hard time aging when guys like Pete Docter and John Lasseter either quit, or age.
Has a studio ever put together a 15 year run like Pixar has? The original Walt Disney Animated run starting in ’37 with Snow White and ending with Bambi in ’42 was demolished creatively by the War – and it took a long time to recover. The rebirth in 1989 with The Little Mermaid arguably ended less than 10 years later with Tarzan – certainly it didn’t continue with Dinosaur and Fantasia: 2000.
Nothing has come close to what Pixar has been able to do in its run of dominance, and there are no signs of slowing with the upcoming release of Toy Story 3, which will undoubtedly break records and warm hearts from now until forever.
But the category overall was very strong in the 3 films that have gone unmentioned. The Princess & The Frog is a great story, entertaining watch, and a sign of good things to come for Walt Disney Animation.
I didn’t see Fantastic Mr. Fox, which I regret. That leaves only Coraline, which has gone unmentioned. This movie was, in short, friggen awesome. The score, the animation, the characters and the relationships were all so compelling. Selick is the grandfather of stop motion, and he deserves an achievement award – given he was probably 8-10 years ahead of his time with Nightmare Before Christmas, in conjunction with Burton. I believe Coraline will only get more popular as time passes. I loved it, I wish it wasn’t in Up’s year.
Lastly, I am all in favor of more categories – the broadcast is long, but I do believe that a lot of the categories in editing, mixing, sound, etc can be dumped into that technical awards show that takes place a few weeks/days prior to the real awards show. I have one specific category nomination, which I think would be fantastic.
Best Sci-Fi/Action Film:
I am not sure how you define it, but I think what happens is some movies, and specifically the ones I list below, are put into the same category as movies like The Last Station, and Hurt Locker. Small release, relatively small budget films up against Blockbuster behemoths – it’s unrealistic and unfair. If Animated films get their due, Sci-Fi/Action films deserve theirs as well. With that, I do think it’s fair to remove Animated Films from the Best Picture category, and Sci-Fi/Action films from that category as well. We all know that most of the Academy didn’t watch District 9 with the same intensity they watched The Blind Side, it’s just a reality.
So, without further delay, here are my nominees for the Best Sci-Fi/Action film of 2009:
Avatar; District 9; Star Trek; Harry Potter & The Half Blood Prince; Zombieland
The winner, in my opinion, would be Star Trek. As much as I really enjoyed District 9, and I think it was one of the most fantastic movies of the year, it had its flaws that really are hard to overcome (ie, nobody was likeable *Thanks Keegan for that insight*, and the lead character was a bit over the top, even for an action film. Star Trek, however, was pretty flawless by my estimation. It did an amazing job of paying homage to the Star Trek franchise – incorporated very cool character development with a believable and manageable love story (with Zoe Saldana, again), in a way that movies typically don’t do.
The villain was brilliant, the Time Travel aspect was pretty seamless, and nothing was left unanswered. Believe me, I am not saying this was the best movie of the year, it didn’t have the depth and tension of a movie like Hurt Locker, but that is precisely why it can’t be compared to it – it was going for that. It was a film that attempted to entertain for 2 hours.
Tuesday, March 09, 2010
...Disney in 2 Days...
** Before I start, I have 25 videos and 200 pictures of this trip. If you’d like a visual to look at while you’re reading, email me and I can share the videos with you and/or the pictures.**
Day 1: Friday, March 5
The day started out with Alison and I waking up and heading over to the Whispering Canyon Café at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge. The Lodge is a great building, and we hadn’t been there since 2005 when we stayed there on our first Disney Vacation together. The breakfast there is fantastic, there is an all-you-can-eat skillet of eggs, bacon, potatoes, waffles and biscuits. It was fairly empty, which was a surprise, but I know we’ll go back there soon for eating, maybe dinner next time.
Our next stop on our Friday morning voyage was to the Princess 5K & ½ Marathon Expo. Disney was hosting a 5k on Saturday, and ½ Marathon on Sunday – we signed ourselves up for the 5k because we knew we’d be there, and figured it’d be fun to run through World Showcase and Future World at Epcot before Park opening. The expo was similar to the Marathon Weekend expo, much more female focused, but it was a good time. We picked up our race numbers and packet, and then started our day in the Park.
The reason we made this trip to Disney this weekend was because Disney was hosting a D23 First Anniversary Event. D23 is a Disney Fan Club, my sister bought me a Membership for 2010, and one of the perks of the membership is invitation to exclusive events. This particular event was based around the Fantasyland Expansion – in short, Fantasyland is going to double in size and an Imagineer, the Disney designers and park developers, was going to let us all know how the park was going to expand. The evening included a dinner, a day’s park pass, exclusive viewing of a 3D show that already exists in the park, and then a “party” in Fantasyland that night that was open to only guests of the D23 Party.
We checked in for the event in the morning and essentially had the whole day to ourselves with no real plans. We spent the remainder of the morning in the Magic Kingdom, we didn’t ride a ton of rides, but mostly hung out in the park, got some lunch, and enjoyed our day. We also had to run back to the parking lot for something and we decided to stop at the Grand Floridian to explore a few places.
For Disney fans out there, here were the rides we did during the day prior to the D23 Evening Party: Carousel of Progress, Space Mountain, Haunted Mansion. Lunch at Pecos Bill.
Our D23 Dinner seating was at 4:30 pm, the first seating. We went over around 4:15 and got in the line, and entered the building. Dinner was at Diamond Horseshoe Saloon which is typically closed this time of year, it seems to open for large events and/or major crowd management times. The dinner started with a full buffet, comfort food, good food.
My review of this portion of the D23 party is pretty simple: very underwhelming. There was a short presentation from the Head of D23, as well as Introductions of other people who work for him. It was very self-congratulatory, and it was basically a short review of what D23 was up until this point.
After dinner, we had a few hours before the Presentation by the Imagineer. We managed to get in The Hall of Presidents, Jungle Cruise, Pirates of the Caribbean, Tomorrowland Transit Authority, Buzz Lightyear.
It was now time for what we thought would be the highlight of the evening, which was the D23 presentation by the Disney Imagineer around the new Fantasyland expansion.
The event fell flat.
The presenter/Imagineer presented material that was readily available for months. Any Disney fan who was a member of D23 or not could have seen all the images, read all the news. There was nothing new or groundbreaking. In fact, there is still a great deal of information in flux. It felt like we were White House Reporters watching a press briefing on a meaningless event – there was little prep, there was little excitement, and it wasn’t very exclusive.
Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t a bad time, it wasn’t annoying or a waste, but it wasn’t magical, which is what I have grown to expect out of Disney. As soon as the show ended, we moved into the “party” phase of the evening. The night was set up to be an evening in which we’d have free reign of Fantasyland, which is one of the major sections of the Magic Kingdom.
The park itself closed at 8pm to the public. We were entering Fantasyland around 9:30pm, and had it until 11pm, which was great. There was also free dessert, which was a good bonus. Ice cream, hot chocolate, coffee, pies, cakes, chocolate things, it was pretty good stuff.
Let me take a second to explain how friggen freezing it was, again. We visited in January and it was beyond freezing. This trip was freezing too. I mean, winter hats, should have worn gloves, the whole deal. It really isn’t a place built for freezing cold, which isn’t their fault, but it does take away from the Magic, I swear.
Being in the park when it is nearly empty is a really great experience. I think I underestimate how unique it feels, knowing how many millions of people visit each year, and how few of those people get a chance to see what we saw. No lines for any of the open rides, literally no lines. That is a fun experience. The Cast Members are working overtime, but they are in a great mood, very welcoming, they understand we paid extra and we are part of the reason why the popularity of the parks doesn’t seem to fade at all.
To kick off the party, we grabbed some free ice cream, and went directly to Peter Pan, which is my favorite Fantasyland ride. I think I like it so much b/c, more than any other ride or experience in Disney World, it reminds me of my childhood. My mom loves it, my dad and sister love it, and it is a unique ride – flying over London, Neverland, etc…Very great, and still unique, experience, despite its 25+ years of age.
Next we decided to grab a ton of dessert and bite the bullet and ride Dumbo. Neither of has gone on Dumbo in years, literally dozens of years. It was freezing cold, but it was fun. Part of the Fantasyland expansion is doubling the size of Dumbo and most likely relocating it to another area of the park.
Next we went back to Peter Pan to ride again, because Small World was not open. And we finished off the night with a photograph with Belle & Gaston, who was hilarious. Line of the night, in typical Gaston fashion, was a woman who told him, “its my birthday!” and his response was, “Who Cares!?”
We closed the night off with riding Snow White one last time, which is the scariest kids “Dark Ride” In the whole park, maybe too scary for Kids. It still is a very great old-fashioned Fantasyland ride.
Our walk out of the Magic Kingdom was great – very unique again in the sense that the park was empty. Main Street is a place where thousands occupy a small strip of space – probably one of the most unique Theme Park experiences in the whole world happens on that street when you are entering or exiting the park, preparing for memories or starting to process them. To have that street essentially to ourselves was a really great experience.
We got to our car, and went straight back to our hotel for a very early wake-up call for our 5k the next morning.
Day 2: Saturday, March 6
Our first priority was our 5k. The stress level on this race is low, you can show up minutes before the race if you choose to do so. We heard the emcee of the event from our hotel parking lot at Old Key West, a Disney Vacation Club resort which has become our “go to” for last minute trips to Disney. We arrived at the event around 6:00am or so, for a 7:00am start. It was cold, not freezing, but cold enough. I had many layers on, and was cold most of the morning, until about 2 miles into the race.
The race was Princess & the Frog themed – the Prince and Tiana were at the race and helped kick it off. Alison and I started up front, and the race led us through the parking lot of Epcot for a bit – then into Epcot between Mexico in World Showcase & Test Track in Future World. It was a cool unique view of the park. Entering in Mexico in World Showcase, we ran about ¾ of the way around World Showcase past Norway, China, the African Outpost, Germany, American Adventure, Japan, Morocco & France. From France, we went back towards the Boardwalk but quickly went backstage again behind The United Kingdom, and entered World Showcase in front of The Rose & Crown.
The remainder of the course took is down towards the front gates of Epcot, back up near Spaceship Earth and ultimately back into the Parking lot. Alison and I ran a pretty good clip, sub 7:58 miles for 3.16 miles and got our cheap plastic medals.
We ended the race and immediately got back to our car around 7:30am. Our plan was to get showered and changed, and head to another exclusive Disney Vacation Club (Disney Timeshare) Member Only event at Disney’s newest Orlando based Vacation club resort, Bay Lake Towers at Disney’s Contemporary Resort.
The purpose of this was an upsell – they wanted existing members to add more points to their current contracts, and they were using their newest Resort as the selling tool. Alison and I had signed up for this event, free of charge, on a whim. We arrived at Bay Lake Tower and were able to explore the resort. It is a fantastic crowning achievement of a hotel – the view of the Magic Kingdom is unparalleled, the quality of the design of the rooms is outstanding, and we really were blown over by the overall aesthetic of the place.
Spending about 2 hours at the resort overall, we passed on the sales opportunity, but had a great time exploring and taking pictures of the Tower.
After exhausting all of our time there, we got back into our car and drove straight over to the Animal Kingdom Theme Park to get in a few rides we were hoping to ride.
We first went to It’s Tough to Be a Bug 3D show inside the Tree of Life. The highlight here was exploring behind the tree and seeing the Galapagos Tortoise, which was the size of a large human, and the crazy rodent Porcupines that were in the middle of being fed.
We had a 1pm lunch at the Yak & Yeti, which disappointed us again. The theme and location are actually fantastic – but the food is glorified food court Asian fare. The fried Green Beans were great, and we decided we’d stop there at the bar to get a drink and some of that Green Bean dish, but probably never eat a full meal there again.
Our first stop after lunch was a ride on Kilimanjaro Safari, a fan favorite. We were lucky enough to sit with some Cast Members who were off duty, and they gave us some Everest Fastpasses which they weren’t going to use. Some highlights of the Safari was a glimpse of the Cheetah, which was unique, and an entertaining driver – she was very brave with how fast she got that truck moving. I think the cooler weather was something that the animals really enjoyed and made them more comfortable sitting out in the open.
From there we went back to Everest – a great ride and definitely the crowning jewel of Disney’s thrill rides.
We left the park in the early afternoon, maybe 2:30 or 3:00pm to head over to Epcot for the remainder of the evening. Our first stop inside the park was Spaceship Earth, “a grand and miraculous spaceship,” that we are always happy to ride. It is in my top 5 in overall Disney Parks, and I could live on it if someone asked me to. I’d need cushions, but I could live on that ride.
The Epcot Flower & Garden Festival was going on around this time, and the old “Wonders of Life” pavilion which is inexplicably empty nearly all year long, is used for this festival. It is a highlight for people who are interested, but it isn’t anything that we were interested in. There was a butterfly garden and a unique topiary display, but aside from a few interesting sculptures, Flower & Garden Festival is something I can do without.
Our next ride stop was Imagination, which I filmed on our Flip video, and had a good time doing it. Interesting note is that I heard there is a chance that the original Figment ride may return at some point in the future, which would be not only incredible, but hilarious. If that was brought back and if Honey I Shrunk the Audience was replaced with Captain EO, which is highly likely, that’d be pretty eerie. It’d be like time travel back to ’85.
We had some time before our 7:00pm dinner at Restaurant Marrakesh in Morocco. Alison said she has never seen the France show, but despite its age, the film is really great. A 180 degree screen that occupies your entire field of vision shows us great French Landscapes and very relaxing music that we all recognize. It may be the best World Showcase movie, but it probably doesn’t eclipse Canada.
From France, we managed to squeeze in the Forty minute American Adventure show, which is Disney’s best use and most creative execution of Audio-Animatronics on property. Very compelling, albeit simplified version, of America and how we got to where we are. I think it’s a bit odd how they truncate the last 50 years so heavily, but it would require a complete overhaul to add on more vignettes to the show.
That does bring me a point that I don’t need to bore you with, but I can understand how The Animal Kingdom can evolve and live for 50 more years. I can understand how the Magic Kingdom is timeless, and I can see how Pixar can keep the Disney Hollywood Studios alive and vibrant, but Epcot is a place I’m a bit worried about. Here is my quick analysis, read it if you want:
FUTURE WORLD:
Spaceship Earth – timeless, no worries about this and they have shown the ability to update well
Seas With Nemo & Friends – A fantastic update executed very well. Should be the template for updates.
The Land Pavilion – the Soarin’ addition saves this place, and the food court is great. I can see a long life here.
Imagination Pavilion – multiple attempts to save Figment here have failed – they need to go back to the drawing board, and the 3D Honey I Shrunk the Audience simply has to change or go.
Test Track – passing off as a Thrill Ride, I can see a major update in 10 years or so updating the ride vehicles, test procedures, pre-show, etc. Maybe an overall theming change to align with Pixar’s “Cars” is in the future, but it has some longevity.
…this is where it gets ugly…
Mission Space – Literally responsible for Deaths, this ride is the Gary Condit of Epcot. It came in like a blaze, faded very fast, and has put a few people to the grave. An E-Ticket attraction with no wait, it cannot stand in its current form. To think Horizons was sacrificed, it is so painful.
The Wonders of Life Pavilion (closed) – This is an unparalleled move. Empty/abandon a ride in the mid 90’s, and not open it up again. Waste the sape
Ellen’s Energy Adventure – I have had people laugh in my face when I told them I was staying at the “Animal Kingdom Lodge”. Imagine what happens when I say I am going to ride “Ellen’s Energy Adventure”. Please. I haven’t been on it in years, and I can’t imagine being compelled to ride it now. It was a marvel, a masterpiece of engineering in 1982 – overwhelming in scale. Now it’s just flat out weird.
You have 3 rides in Future World that need a 100% update. One of which is less than 10 years old, another had an update about 10 years ago, and the 3rd is sitting empty. It is weird. This place needs a major update. I don’t know what will provoke that.
WORLD SHOWCASE:
I won’t go into country by country detail, but there are pretty big problems here as well. The dining is doing a great job keeping updated and fresh. France, Japan & Italy have both had unique experiences or updates, Canada remains great. But the shows are again. American Adventure I already addressed, China’s 360 show is good, but not on par with Canada’s update. Overall, I cannot think of a way this place doesn’t 100% change in the next 20 years. I don’t know what keeps it alive. There must be a way to update this amazing and groundbreaking park.
Back to our adventures in the parks this past weekend…after we watched American Adventure and enjoyed that, we had a dinner at Morocco. I had always been skeptical of this restaurant, but my taste buds have evolved a bit and I enjoy more food now. We saw a really great live band outside of the restaurant and watched them for a bit before heading in.
Restaurant Marrakesh is alive – it is vibrant and exciting and full of life. It was crowded, but not too crowded and we had a great dinner. I was so full from all the other food, but managed to enjoy it.
At this point it was about 8:15, we had been up since 5:15 or so, and we were flat out exhausted. We decided to skip the nightly Illuminations, and head over to Test Track to use our Fastpasses. Unfortunately, the ride was down and we didn’t get to take a ride, but there’s always next time.
We went back to our hotel, did some last minute shopping for a few gifts we wanted to buy, and packed up for or 4:15am wake up call.
Overall, we another amazing Disney weekend in the books. The D23 party was a bit of a bust, but the Bay Lake Tower tour was exciting and the Magic of the parks continues to keep Alison & I very happy and relaxed.
Day 1: Friday, March 5
The day started out with Alison and I waking up and heading over to the Whispering Canyon Café at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge. The Lodge is a great building, and we hadn’t been there since 2005 when we stayed there on our first Disney Vacation together. The breakfast there is fantastic, there is an all-you-can-eat skillet of eggs, bacon, potatoes, waffles and biscuits. It was fairly empty, which was a surprise, but I know we’ll go back there soon for eating, maybe dinner next time.
Our next stop on our Friday morning voyage was to the Princess 5K & ½ Marathon Expo. Disney was hosting a 5k on Saturday, and ½ Marathon on Sunday – we signed ourselves up for the 5k because we knew we’d be there, and figured it’d be fun to run through World Showcase and Future World at Epcot before Park opening. The expo was similar to the Marathon Weekend expo, much more female focused, but it was a good time. We picked up our race numbers and packet, and then started our day in the Park.
The reason we made this trip to Disney this weekend was because Disney was hosting a D23 First Anniversary Event. D23 is a Disney Fan Club, my sister bought me a Membership for 2010, and one of the perks of the membership is invitation to exclusive events. This particular event was based around the Fantasyland Expansion – in short, Fantasyland is going to double in size and an Imagineer, the Disney designers and park developers, was going to let us all know how the park was going to expand. The evening included a dinner, a day’s park pass, exclusive viewing of a 3D show that already exists in the park, and then a “party” in Fantasyland that night that was open to only guests of the D23 Party.
We checked in for the event in the morning and essentially had the whole day to ourselves with no real plans. We spent the remainder of the morning in the Magic Kingdom, we didn’t ride a ton of rides, but mostly hung out in the park, got some lunch, and enjoyed our day. We also had to run back to the parking lot for something and we decided to stop at the Grand Floridian to explore a few places.
For Disney fans out there, here were the rides we did during the day prior to the D23 Evening Party: Carousel of Progress, Space Mountain, Haunted Mansion. Lunch at Pecos Bill.
Our D23 Dinner seating was at 4:30 pm, the first seating. We went over around 4:15 and got in the line, and entered the building. Dinner was at Diamond Horseshoe Saloon which is typically closed this time of year, it seems to open for large events and/or major crowd management times. The dinner started with a full buffet, comfort food, good food.
My review of this portion of the D23 party is pretty simple: very underwhelming. There was a short presentation from the Head of D23, as well as Introductions of other people who work for him. It was very self-congratulatory, and it was basically a short review of what D23 was up until this point.
After dinner, we had a few hours before the Presentation by the Imagineer. We managed to get in The Hall of Presidents, Jungle Cruise, Pirates of the Caribbean, Tomorrowland Transit Authority, Buzz Lightyear.
It was now time for what we thought would be the highlight of the evening, which was the D23 presentation by the Disney Imagineer around the new Fantasyland expansion.
The event fell flat.
The presenter/Imagineer presented material that was readily available for months. Any Disney fan who was a member of D23 or not could have seen all the images, read all the news. There was nothing new or groundbreaking. In fact, there is still a great deal of information in flux. It felt like we were White House Reporters watching a press briefing on a meaningless event – there was little prep, there was little excitement, and it wasn’t very exclusive.
Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t a bad time, it wasn’t annoying or a waste, but it wasn’t magical, which is what I have grown to expect out of Disney. As soon as the show ended, we moved into the “party” phase of the evening. The night was set up to be an evening in which we’d have free reign of Fantasyland, which is one of the major sections of the Magic Kingdom.
The park itself closed at 8pm to the public. We were entering Fantasyland around 9:30pm, and had it until 11pm, which was great. There was also free dessert, which was a good bonus. Ice cream, hot chocolate, coffee, pies, cakes, chocolate things, it was pretty good stuff.
Let me take a second to explain how friggen freezing it was, again. We visited in January and it was beyond freezing. This trip was freezing too. I mean, winter hats, should have worn gloves, the whole deal. It really isn’t a place built for freezing cold, which isn’t their fault, but it does take away from the Magic, I swear.
Being in the park when it is nearly empty is a really great experience. I think I underestimate how unique it feels, knowing how many millions of people visit each year, and how few of those people get a chance to see what we saw. No lines for any of the open rides, literally no lines. That is a fun experience. The Cast Members are working overtime, but they are in a great mood, very welcoming, they understand we paid extra and we are part of the reason why the popularity of the parks doesn’t seem to fade at all.
To kick off the party, we grabbed some free ice cream, and went directly to Peter Pan, which is my favorite Fantasyland ride. I think I like it so much b/c, more than any other ride or experience in Disney World, it reminds me of my childhood. My mom loves it, my dad and sister love it, and it is a unique ride – flying over London, Neverland, etc…Very great, and still unique, experience, despite its 25+ years of age.
Next we decided to grab a ton of dessert and bite the bullet and ride Dumbo. Neither of has gone on Dumbo in years, literally dozens of years. It was freezing cold, but it was fun. Part of the Fantasyland expansion is doubling the size of Dumbo and most likely relocating it to another area of the park.
Next we went back to Peter Pan to ride again, because Small World was not open. And we finished off the night with a photograph with Belle & Gaston, who was hilarious. Line of the night, in typical Gaston fashion, was a woman who told him, “its my birthday!” and his response was, “Who Cares!?”
We closed the night off with riding Snow White one last time, which is the scariest kids “Dark Ride” In the whole park, maybe too scary for Kids. It still is a very great old-fashioned Fantasyland ride.
Our walk out of the Magic Kingdom was great – very unique again in the sense that the park was empty. Main Street is a place where thousands occupy a small strip of space – probably one of the most unique Theme Park experiences in the whole world happens on that street when you are entering or exiting the park, preparing for memories or starting to process them. To have that street essentially to ourselves was a really great experience.
We got to our car, and went straight back to our hotel for a very early wake-up call for our 5k the next morning.
Day 2: Saturday, March 6
Our first priority was our 5k. The stress level on this race is low, you can show up minutes before the race if you choose to do so. We heard the emcee of the event from our hotel parking lot at Old Key West, a Disney Vacation Club resort which has become our “go to” for last minute trips to Disney. We arrived at the event around 6:00am or so, for a 7:00am start. It was cold, not freezing, but cold enough. I had many layers on, and was cold most of the morning, until about 2 miles into the race.
The race was Princess & the Frog themed – the Prince and Tiana were at the race and helped kick it off. Alison and I started up front, and the race led us through the parking lot of Epcot for a bit – then into Epcot between Mexico in World Showcase & Test Track in Future World. It was a cool unique view of the park. Entering in Mexico in World Showcase, we ran about ¾ of the way around World Showcase past Norway, China, the African Outpost, Germany, American Adventure, Japan, Morocco & France. From France, we went back towards the Boardwalk but quickly went backstage again behind The United Kingdom, and entered World Showcase in front of The Rose & Crown.
The remainder of the course took is down towards the front gates of Epcot, back up near Spaceship Earth and ultimately back into the Parking lot. Alison and I ran a pretty good clip, sub 7:58 miles for 3.16 miles and got our cheap plastic medals.
We ended the race and immediately got back to our car around 7:30am. Our plan was to get showered and changed, and head to another exclusive Disney Vacation Club (Disney Timeshare) Member Only event at Disney’s newest Orlando based Vacation club resort, Bay Lake Towers at Disney’s Contemporary Resort.
The purpose of this was an upsell – they wanted existing members to add more points to their current contracts, and they were using their newest Resort as the selling tool. Alison and I had signed up for this event, free of charge, on a whim. We arrived at Bay Lake Tower and were able to explore the resort. It is a fantastic crowning achievement of a hotel – the view of the Magic Kingdom is unparalleled, the quality of the design of the rooms is outstanding, and we really were blown over by the overall aesthetic of the place.
Spending about 2 hours at the resort overall, we passed on the sales opportunity, but had a great time exploring and taking pictures of the Tower.
After exhausting all of our time there, we got back into our car and drove straight over to the Animal Kingdom Theme Park to get in a few rides we were hoping to ride.
We first went to It’s Tough to Be a Bug 3D show inside the Tree of Life. The highlight here was exploring behind the tree and seeing the Galapagos Tortoise, which was the size of a large human, and the crazy rodent Porcupines that were in the middle of being fed.
We had a 1pm lunch at the Yak & Yeti, which disappointed us again. The theme and location are actually fantastic – but the food is glorified food court Asian fare. The fried Green Beans were great, and we decided we’d stop there at the bar to get a drink and some of that Green Bean dish, but probably never eat a full meal there again.
Our first stop after lunch was a ride on Kilimanjaro Safari, a fan favorite. We were lucky enough to sit with some Cast Members who were off duty, and they gave us some Everest Fastpasses which they weren’t going to use. Some highlights of the Safari was a glimpse of the Cheetah, which was unique, and an entertaining driver – she was very brave with how fast she got that truck moving. I think the cooler weather was something that the animals really enjoyed and made them more comfortable sitting out in the open.
From there we went back to Everest – a great ride and definitely the crowning jewel of Disney’s thrill rides.
We left the park in the early afternoon, maybe 2:30 or 3:00pm to head over to Epcot for the remainder of the evening. Our first stop inside the park was Spaceship Earth, “a grand and miraculous spaceship,” that we are always happy to ride. It is in my top 5 in overall Disney Parks, and I could live on it if someone asked me to. I’d need cushions, but I could live on that ride.
The Epcot Flower & Garden Festival was going on around this time, and the old “Wonders of Life” pavilion which is inexplicably empty nearly all year long, is used for this festival. It is a highlight for people who are interested, but it isn’t anything that we were interested in. There was a butterfly garden and a unique topiary display, but aside from a few interesting sculptures, Flower & Garden Festival is something I can do without.
Our next ride stop was Imagination, which I filmed on our Flip video, and had a good time doing it. Interesting note is that I heard there is a chance that the original Figment ride may return at some point in the future, which would be not only incredible, but hilarious. If that was brought back and if Honey I Shrunk the Audience was replaced with Captain EO, which is highly likely, that’d be pretty eerie. It’d be like time travel back to ’85.
We had some time before our 7:00pm dinner at Restaurant Marrakesh in Morocco. Alison said she has never seen the France show, but despite its age, the film is really great. A 180 degree screen that occupies your entire field of vision shows us great French Landscapes and very relaxing music that we all recognize. It may be the best World Showcase movie, but it probably doesn’t eclipse Canada.
From France, we managed to squeeze in the Forty minute American Adventure show, which is Disney’s best use and most creative execution of Audio-Animatronics on property. Very compelling, albeit simplified version, of America and how we got to where we are. I think it’s a bit odd how they truncate the last 50 years so heavily, but it would require a complete overhaul to add on more vignettes to the show.
That does bring me a point that I don’t need to bore you with, but I can understand how The Animal Kingdom can evolve and live for 50 more years. I can understand how the Magic Kingdom is timeless, and I can see how Pixar can keep the Disney Hollywood Studios alive and vibrant, but Epcot is a place I’m a bit worried about. Here is my quick analysis, read it if you want:
FUTURE WORLD:
Spaceship Earth – timeless, no worries about this and they have shown the ability to update well
Seas With Nemo & Friends – A fantastic update executed very well. Should be the template for updates.
The Land Pavilion – the Soarin’ addition saves this place, and the food court is great. I can see a long life here.
Imagination Pavilion – multiple attempts to save Figment here have failed – they need to go back to the drawing board, and the 3D Honey I Shrunk the Audience simply has to change or go.
Test Track – passing off as a Thrill Ride, I can see a major update in 10 years or so updating the ride vehicles, test procedures, pre-show, etc. Maybe an overall theming change to align with Pixar’s “Cars” is in the future, but it has some longevity.
…this is where it gets ugly…
Mission Space – Literally responsible for Deaths, this ride is the Gary Condit of Epcot. It came in like a blaze, faded very fast, and has put a few people to the grave. An E-Ticket attraction with no wait, it cannot stand in its current form. To think Horizons was sacrificed, it is so painful.
The Wonders of Life Pavilion (closed) – This is an unparalleled move. Empty/abandon a ride in the mid 90’s, and not open it up again. Waste the sape
Ellen’s Energy Adventure – I have had people laugh in my face when I told them I was staying at the “Animal Kingdom Lodge”. Imagine what happens when I say I am going to ride “Ellen’s Energy Adventure”. Please. I haven’t been on it in years, and I can’t imagine being compelled to ride it now. It was a marvel, a masterpiece of engineering in 1982 – overwhelming in scale. Now it’s just flat out weird.
You have 3 rides in Future World that need a 100% update. One of which is less than 10 years old, another had an update about 10 years ago, and the 3rd is sitting empty. It is weird. This place needs a major update. I don’t know what will provoke that.
WORLD SHOWCASE:
I won’t go into country by country detail, but there are pretty big problems here as well. The dining is doing a great job keeping updated and fresh. France, Japan & Italy have both had unique experiences or updates, Canada remains great. But the shows are again. American Adventure I already addressed, China’s 360 show is good, but not on par with Canada’s update. Overall, I cannot think of a way this place doesn’t 100% change in the next 20 years. I don’t know what keeps it alive. There must be a way to update this amazing and groundbreaking park.
Back to our adventures in the parks this past weekend…after we watched American Adventure and enjoyed that, we had a dinner at Morocco. I had always been skeptical of this restaurant, but my taste buds have evolved a bit and I enjoy more food now. We saw a really great live band outside of the restaurant and watched them for a bit before heading in.
Restaurant Marrakesh is alive – it is vibrant and exciting and full of life. It was crowded, but not too crowded and we had a great dinner. I was so full from all the other food, but managed to enjoy it.
At this point it was about 8:15, we had been up since 5:15 or so, and we were flat out exhausted. We decided to skip the nightly Illuminations, and head over to Test Track to use our Fastpasses. Unfortunately, the ride was down and we didn’t get to take a ride, but there’s always next time.
We went back to our hotel, did some last minute shopping for a few gifts we wanted to buy, and packed up for or 4:15am wake up call.
Overall, we another amazing Disney weekend in the books. The D23 party was a bit of a bust, but the Bay Lake Tower tour was exciting and the Magic of the parks continues to keep Alison & I very happy and relaxed.
Thursday, March 04, 2010
...Green for the sake of Green...
What in the world is this slideshow?
What is trying to be accomplished?
One criticism of the Left I agree with is that too often the Left just points out atrocities against man or nature, and doesn't move beyond that. The atrocity is obvious, the anger towards it is easy, but actually stating a case as to why it's horrible, scary, sad, etc, that's the hard part. Lately, especially in news outlets, the notion of actually proving a point or case beyond pulling a heartstring is dismissed.
I noticed a few weeks ago, the LNG (Liquified Natural Gas) Tanker that was brought into Boston Harbor and docked there, with unprecedented security, really threw people into a fit. I don't think it was a Liberal/Conservative thing – it was bipartisan fake outrage at this boat being docked in Boston. Here is what I know about the reaction to this:
1. People were mad, scared, angry, and upset with this tanker being here, propagated mostly by Menino and his fear tactics, without actually know what the risk/damage would be if something happened.
2. Very few people, Menino included, but most egregiously the news, actually told us what the upside of having this LNG tanker dock in Boston was. As a matter of fact, I don't know what the upside was.
I am not outraged, I am the opposite. I don't care that a tanker parked in Chelsea. I wouldn't care if it parked in Newton. I am not going to live my life in fear that a terrorist is looking to blow up a LNG tanker off the coast of Boston. I don't think it's a real threat, I may be naïve, but I like being naïve in this case. I don't want to live fearfully.
The news wants me to live that way, and they proved it by running stories about the fear, the danger, and the negatives of having this tanker here. I really don't even know what LNG does, but let's erroneously pretend it makes gas $10/gallon cheaper in Massachusetts to have this tanker parked in Beantown for a bit. Would you hate it then? What if it is providing cheaper Natural Gas for cooking and heating – is there not a case to be made that the risk could be less than the reward?
That case is rarely explained to its fullest potential in things that the public deems dangerous, or, in the case of the logging slideshow, anti-Green. In the 8 or so page on that slideshow, they barely even allude to scientific data or reasoning. Look at the last slide, its hilarious. Hurley says, "Hurley and her husband, Michael Hurley, hiked up to the area that leads to the clear cut. Hurley said the logs were dragged down this incline and created ruts on the ground."
OH NO! RUTS! We are talking about trees making marks in the earth. How does that even make a difference? Don't get me wrong, cutting down all the trees in the universe is bad. You could even (easily) convince me that cutting down these trees at the Quabbin is bad. But you cannot convince me of those things by telling me that there are RUTS in the ground. How the in world does that matter?
I guess my real issue isn't a larger political story, when I think about it, but more that I cannot imagine what editor approved this – what writer thought this was brilliant? They keep painting the loggers out to be clumsy and horrible, and again, maybe they are, but there is no evidence aside from confirmed internal disciplinary action that was taken. We know there are diseased trees that need to be cut down. We know that cutting down trees is sad. Are those two things mutually exclusive? No.
Put a stop to clear cuts, I'll donate to the cause, but at least write about it in a mature way, instead of showing pictures of people walking around on clear cut area, without giving us any indication if that particular area needed to be cut or not.
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