Star Tours: Special Edition

A quick stroll through Tomorrowland (who are we kidding?  a quick stroll through Tomorrowland?!) netted me the above picture a couple of weeks ago.  Blending Disneyland and Star Wars together was pure genius!  No doubt in my mind that George Lucas did it especially for me.

In a weird twist of fate, the first time I ever rode 'Star Tours' was at Walt Disney World (and not Disneyland).  Point of fact, many of the rides I now love so much at Disneyland I first rode in Florida.  Funny how that works.

At any rate, 'Star Tours' was a staple of my trips into Disneyland.  The ride was always fun, the kids loved it, and the lines were almost always short (gone are those days, I would imagine).  But as most people know by now, the "old" has passed and the "new" is coming fairly soon, and in 3D-HD no less!

While there is a ton of debate from nerds like me as to whether the ride needed updating (for many, it is borderline hypocrisy to change it), I have to confess myself extremely excited about it.  As much as I loved the old one, let's be honest, it was horribly outdated.  Classic, yes.  Loved, yes.  Outdated?  You betcha.  So as sad as I am to see the one I grew up knowing about leaving, I'm ready for whatever they throw at me.  It's Disney.  How bad can it be?

A couple of weeks ago Disney Parks Blog posted the following video that will be in the queue for the new ride.  Enjoy!  It might be nice to see Alderaan before Vader gets a hold of it.  And I can't help but loving how they kept the "old ride" feel to it.  Star Tours wouldn't be the same without those chimes.

Mickeys - Sunshine Plaza

Been a few days, and nothing really fetching my interest in terms of blogging today, so I'll do another Mickeys blog.

California Adventure is typically the first park that I go into whenever I go, so it's a good start.

And as always, many have been intentionally left "unfound" for later addition.  

ºoº

"I'm the SMART Clark Griswold"

So, I have a friend who tells the following story:

One night, he was home with his wife watching 'National Lampoon's Vacation' for probably the umpteenth zillionth time.  He says he doesn't believe his wife really enjoys watching the movie, but he thinks it's more of a "pity viewing" than anything else.  

But at any rate, he claims that as the movie progressed and the antics of the lead character (a man named Clark Griswold who is wonderfully played by Chevy Chase, or so I hear) continued to spiral more and more out of control, that his wife kept looking back at him with a smirk on her face; one he characterized as being half-sympathy, half-revulsion, and only a quarter-loving.  Of course, my friend immediately got defensive and shot back at her, "What are you grinning at?  I'm nothing like him!  I'm the smart Clark Griswold."  

He tells me his wife then proceeded to laugh uncontrollably for the next fifteen minutes or so while he sat in stunned silence.

Now, never having seen the movie myself, I can't really say one way or the other whether her feelings about the matter are justified or not.  My friend is a great guy!  Loves his family!  Would do darn near anything he could to please them.  Does it make him seem crazed and lose his temper every so often?  Sure!  But it's only because he loves them.  But at any rate, he wanted me to pass on the following questions in the hopes that someone could clarify for him, once and for all, whether Clark is really as stupid and buffoonish as his wife has always said he was.  So here you go:

1. Who would not want to be seen in this beauty?  
2. Is driving across the country rather than flying really the preferred method of travel?  As Clark himself would say, "Getting there is half the fun.  You know that!"
3. Don't all children all over the world love a rousing rendition of 'Jimmy Crack Corn' with mom and dad?
4. "Kids, are you noticing all this plight?"  Isn't a trip into East St. Louis, in fact, worth it for the children's education and well-rounded being?
5. Is it really considered animal cruelty if the dog refuses to get into the car by himself?  Is Clark, in fact, a "dog-killer"?
6. This is not so much a question as a statement.  Anyone, and I mean anyone could have missed that "Road Closed" sign.  And jumping the Truckster 50 yards is indeed something to be proud of.
7. Does Clark in fact have, as stated to him, "manure for your brains"?
8. Wouldn't any other man, in his position, have offered to place Aunt Edna (who didn't even have the decency to die at home, but instead chose to on a vacation she imposed upon) in a night-deposit box like Clark did?  Which leads to #9...
9. When the wife gets pissed that Clark offered to put Aunt Edna in the night-deposit box (or ship her home via Federal Express), and basically insults and belittles him in front of the children, wouldn't any other man in Clark's position also jump naked into a pool with Christie Brinkley?
10. This really has nothing to do with Clark, but I've always wondered, can BBs in fact get lodged under the skin and lead to a very bad infection?

So there you have it.  My friend submits that Clark is in fact a loving, caring and nurturing father surrounded by a shrewish wife, imbecilic cousins and bratty kids who wouldn't know a good time if it jumped it and bit them.

What say you?

Feed Your Inner Geek!...

...Or your Outter Geek!  I really don't care which.  If you are at all interested in movies and you are at all interested in video games, you gotta get out there and watch this perfect amalgamation of the two. 

Do Not Pass Go.  Do Not Collect $200 (although you may want to swing by the bank and collect the roughly $10 or so it might cost to buy a ticket to this flick).  Just go see it.  You won't be sorry.

Where Were You, Skype?

As I sit in my bedroom some Saturday mornings and watch my children talk to their grandparents on the PC using Skype software, I can't help but smile and be happy that they have a way in which they can communicate with their grandparents, and see them to boot when they are so many thousands of miles away.

But at the same time I am filled with an inner-rage that is almost uncontainable.  A rage that demands of me that I put my fist through the computer screen and run about the room screaming like Godzilla as he is attacking Tokyo and the surrounding suburbs.

Where were you, Skype, when I needed you?  Where were you 14 years ago when I met my wife and I rang up hundreds of dollars in phone bills every month talking to my fiance on the phone?  Where were you when I needed to talk to my parents 20 years ago and couldn't because we couldn't afford the $10/minute phone calls?  Do you know what you've cost me over the years?  Do you have any idea what your laziness and procrastination to be developed and implemented have cost me?

I ought to punch you in your stupid Skype face, that's what I ought to do.  But ultimately what good would it do?  I just hope you're happy with yourself.  Thanks a lot, Skype.

**editors note:  of course, The Bangles have absolutely nothing to do with Skype.  I just really love their music**