I know some people like fast food a lot. I make my occasional visits, and when it comes to fast-food Mexican, I usually end up at Del Taco mostly because there's one not too far from my house. But Taco Bell is pretty popular too. However, I'd be surprised if I walked into a Taco Bell and realized that a wedding was taking place.
I know there are offbeat weddings, but I'll admit that I'd find it really odd to be invited to a wedding at a Taco Bell.
Would you toss salsa at the newly-married happy couple? Or chips?
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Friday, January 9, 2009
"Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs" trailer
I'm feeling a bit out of sorts today, so I thought I'd post something happy. In the theatres recently, I saw the new trailer for the third "Ice Age" movie, called "Dawn of the Dinosaurs". It's actually more like a short than a trailer, and it made me laugh. I hope it makes you laugh too.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
kitten fix
Feeling a bit uninspired to write much today and needing a kitten fix (as Orkid sits here screaming at me), so I decided to wander YouTube for some more kitten videos. Enjoy!
Now, I did discover that Orkid likes cooked cabbage, but I'm not sure how she feels about watermelon. She's definitely not getting one as a toy though.
When I used to have baby kittens, I'd take them out to play with them, and then they'd cry, and their mother would come get them. This mother cat is very protective of her baby, but hey, mom, don't try to grab her by her ear. OWWWWW!!!
It's like being your own evil twin.
Now, I did discover that Orkid likes cooked cabbage, but I'm not sure how she feels about watermelon. She's definitely not getting one as a toy though.
When I used to have baby kittens, I'd take them out to play with them, and then they'd cry, and their mother would come get them. This mother cat is very protective of her baby, but hey, mom, don't try to grab her by her ear. OWWWWW!!!
It's like being your own evil twin.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
"The Tale of Despereaux" - spoiler movie review
I'd seen the trailer for "The Tale of Despereaux", and it looked really cute, and it had Matthew Broderick in the lead role to boot. OK, I'm in.
So, how'd I like the movie? Well, Despereaux is really cute. See?
Despereaux as a baby.
Despereaux as a child - adolescent?
There's a big division in the film about the difference between a mouse, who are all nice, and a rat, who are all bad, but even in the mouse world, Despereaux is the cutest of them all. He's got the round face and big eyes that are used to depict a more lovable demeanor, so you know he's the star of the show. That is, if you didn't already figure that out from the title of the movie.
But really, what did I think of the movie? Did I mention, Despereaux is really cute? I said that already, huh? Hmmm, ok, well, he is really cute.
Yeah, that's the best thing I can say about the movie.
I really wanted to see the movie that was in the trailer. Unfortunately, the tale of Despereaux was really only about half the movie. I thought it was going to be about Despereaux learning his way in the world, a world where a mouse is supposed to know his place and be scared of humans and their things and to stay away from them and such but instead, he loves all that - kind of like Ariel.
What I didn't expect was a movie about the two-class society and how the upper class oppresses the lower class and how if the upper class doesn't pay enough attention, the lower class is gonna get pissed off enough at some point to rise up against the upper class. Oh, and rats are bad, nasty creatures, the lot of them, whereas mice are civilized and smart and nice.
And of course, soup is the magic elixir that saves the world - it will bring rain and then sunshine, and it can penetrate through fog and clouds, and it will make sad people smile and mean people nice. If only people would fixate on soup, all would be right with the world.
For me, the movie was very "beat you over the head" in its storytelling, and there were many cases where the dialogue, or more specifically, the narration was just incredibly trite. There's one point where the narrator talks about a princess being locked away in a prison, but as long as you have hope, you're never really in prison. Puh-leeze.
And when the story wasn't being obvious and trite, it was boring. I didn't really care about the division of the classes, and there's a whole other side of the story involving Roscuro, some rat who isn't very rat-like but more like a mouse, and he's the whole other half of the movie, but you never hear anything about him in the trailer at all.
Roscuro looking a bit like Rat Sparrow.
The story being told above ground - with the king and his daughter the princess being the upper class and the servant girl Miggery Sow being the lower class - has its parallels below ground - with the mice being the upper class since they're eating good things like cheese and have access to books and such and like the light whereas the rats are the lower class because they have to scrounge and eat bugs and worms and rotted things and they prefer to be in the dark. Sweet Miggery Sow seems to turn on a dime against her mistress the princess just as Roscuro turns on the same dime against Despereaux and all that Despereaux stands for.
Doesn't Miggery Sow look like she should be in a Shrek movie? Or maybe I'm thinking of "Where the Wild Things Are". Or something else entirely.
The whole thing with the cooking and mice being around it so reminded me of "Ratatouille", and it reminded me that I'd much rather be watching that film.
Speaking of cooking, they never explained how the magical Vegetable Man was conjured to appear to help make soup and then enlisted for battle duty.
Despereaux goes to rescue the princess - better bring vegetables.
I really didn't care for the look that was used to portray the royal family in the film, with their elongated faces and REALLY LONG noses that connected the top half and bottom half of their faces after they had been pulled apart.
Princess Stretched Face.
And similiarly, I didn't care for the animation style of the story-within-a-story segments with the knight and such. That bored me too.
But it was cool to see the imprisoned cat eventually get a meal.
The voice-overs were all generally good. Matthew Broderick tried to be as interesting as the story would let him be. I had no clue Dustin Hoffman was in this film, but then Roscuro wasn't in the trailer at all, was he? Kevin Kline was good as the chef, Stanley Tucci was good as Vegetable Man, and Frank Langella was unsurprisingly excellent as the wicked mayor of Ratworld. Oh, and Sigourney Weaver was good as the narrator, even though her lines were bad and I'd rather she were on the Axiom telling its captain about all the wonderful things that used to be on Earth like pizza.
I guess for animated movies, I need to pretty much just stick with Disney and Blue Sky.
So, how'd I like the movie? Well, Despereaux is really cute. See?
Despereaux as a baby.
Despereaux as a child - adolescent?There's a big division in the film about the difference between a mouse, who are all nice, and a rat, who are all bad, but even in the mouse world, Despereaux is the cutest of them all. He's got the round face and big eyes that are used to depict a more lovable demeanor, so you know he's the star of the show. That is, if you didn't already figure that out from the title of the movie.
But really, what did I think of the movie? Did I mention, Despereaux is really cute? I said that already, huh? Hmmm, ok, well, he is really cute.
Yeah, that's the best thing I can say about the movie.
I really wanted to see the movie that was in the trailer. Unfortunately, the tale of Despereaux was really only about half the movie. I thought it was going to be about Despereaux learning his way in the world, a world where a mouse is supposed to know his place and be scared of humans and their things and to stay away from them and such but instead, he loves all that - kind of like Ariel.
What I didn't expect was a movie about the two-class society and how the upper class oppresses the lower class and how if the upper class doesn't pay enough attention, the lower class is gonna get pissed off enough at some point to rise up against the upper class. Oh, and rats are bad, nasty creatures, the lot of them, whereas mice are civilized and smart and nice.
And of course, soup is the magic elixir that saves the world - it will bring rain and then sunshine, and it can penetrate through fog and clouds, and it will make sad people smile and mean people nice. If only people would fixate on soup, all would be right with the world.
For me, the movie was very "beat you over the head" in its storytelling, and there were many cases where the dialogue, or more specifically, the narration was just incredibly trite. There's one point where the narrator talks about a princess being locked away in a prison, but as long as you have hope, you're never really in prison. Puh-leeze.
And when the story wasn't being obvious and trite, it was boring. I didn't really care about the division of the classes, and there's a whole other side of the story involving Roscuro, some rat who isn't very rat-like but more like a mouse, and he's the whole other half of the movie, but you never hear anything about him in the trailer at all.
Roscuro looking a bit like Rat Sparrow.The story being told above ground - with the king and his daughter the princess being the upper class and the servant girl Miggery Sow being the lower class - has its parallels below ground - with the mice being the upper class since they're eating good things like cheese and have access to books and such and like the light whereas the rats are the lower class because they have to scrounge and eat bugs and worms and rotted things and they prefer to be in the dark. Sweet Miggery Sow seems to turn on a dime against her mistress the princess just as Roscuro turns on the same dime against Despereaux and all that Despereaux stands for.
Doesn't Miggery Sow look like she should be in a Shrek movie? Or maybe I'm thinking of "Where the Wild Things Are". Or something else entirely.The whole thing with the cooking and mice being around it so reminded me of "Ratatouille", and it reminded me that I'd much rather be watching that film.
Speaking of cooking, they never explained how the magical Vegetable Man was conjured to appear to help make soup and then enlisted for battle duty.
Despereaux goes to rescue the princess - better bring vegetables.I really didn't care for the look that was used to portray the royal family in the film, with their elongated faces and REALLY LONG noses that connected the top half and bottom half of their faces after they had been pulled apart.
Princess Stretched Face.And similiarly, I didn't care for the animation style of the story-within-a-story segments with the knight and such. That bored me too.
But it was cool to see the imprisoned cat eventually get a meal.
The voice-overs were all generally good. Matthew Broderick tried to be as interesting as the story would let him be. I had no clue Dustin Hoffman was in this film, but then Roscuro wasn't in the trailer at all, was he? Kevin Kline was good as the chef, Stanley Tucci was good as Vegetable Man, and Frank Langella was unsurprisingly excellent as the wicked mayor of Ratworld. Oh, and Sigourney Weaver was good as the narrator, even though her lines were bad and I'd rather she were on the Axiom telling its captain about all the wonderful things that used to be on Earth like pizza.
I guess for animated movies, I need to pretty much just stick with Disney and Blue Sky.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Topsy Turvy Day
In honor of the sixth of January, otherwise known as Topsy Turvy Day, I'm including a bit of the Festival of Fools show that was previously performed at Disneyland. I spent many happy hours there, though I think the following video was shot way before I started going, since I don't recognize many of the performers. But I do believe I recognize Clopin! ;)
Need more of a "Festival of Fools" fix? You're welcome.
Monday, January 5, 2009
magical memories - The Cheesecake Factory
The Cheesecake Factory is a restaurant that I tend to associate with a particular friend because we would go there together, and we'd have a great time.
The visit I remember in particular was something I mentioned a bit of in my review of the restaurant chain itself. We had each ordered some kind of cheesecake for dessert, and at the time, the slice of cheesecake came with a large dollop of whipped cream on top and another large dollop of whipped cream on the plate next to the slice of cheesecake. Really, do you need that much whipped cream in addition to the cheesecake? Well, I proceeded to make a snowman out of my double dollop of whipped cream, and I recall giving it a face and using pepper to give it hair or something, and I used toothpicks to give it arms and legs. I was very happy with my creation, and my friend laughed while I worked on it, even as I tried to keep it from melting with all my messing around with it. I was hoping the server would appreciate my artwork, but when she came to take my plate away, she didn't even seem to notice. I was disappointed.
This is a friend I've known for almost 30 years now. She called me today about getting together for dinner, and when I went to pick her up, she suggested The Cheesecake Factory, which turned out to be quite fitting.
She'd been to a Cheesecake Factory about a month ago, and someone else had the Luau Salad, which she'd had a chance to have a taste of, so she was craving a bigger taste. She asked if I'd heard of it. I told her I was well acquainted with it and loved it. Once at the restaurant, we decided to share an appetizer and then we ordered the Luau Salad and the mahi mahi special that day (cooked mediterranean style with sun-dried tomatoes on a bed of mashed potatoes), both to share as well, and we ended the evening by sharing a slice of the tiramisu cheesecake.
She and I haven't been to a Cheesecake Factory together in some time, but we'd spent a lot of time at them before, chatting, laughing, having a good time. She's been going through some difficulties of late, so it actually worked out that we were able to talk and share all kinds of emotions and feelings with each other over dinner at The Cheesecake Factory. We've been friends for a long time, but the difficulties she has faced have actually brought us closer together, for which I am thankful and grateful, and we've exchanged thoughts and information that we've never even talked about before, and, most happily for me, she said she knows exactly how much she means to me because of an offer that I'd previously made to her.
I don't think we've ever shared tears before at a Cheesecake Factory, but this particular visit is definitely one I won't ever forget.
The visit I remember in particular was something I mentioned a bit of in my review of the restaurant chain itself. We had each ordered some kind of cheesecake for dessert, and at the time, the slice of cheesecake came with a large dollop of whipped cream on top and another large dollop of whipped cream on the plate next to the slice of cheesecake. Really, do you need that much whipped cream in addition to the cheesecake? Well, I proceeded to make a snowman out of my double dollop of whipped cream, and I recall giving it a face and using pepper to give it hair or something, and I used toothpicks to give it arms and legs. I was very happy with my creation, and my friend laughed while I worked on it, even as I tried to keep it from melting with all my messing around with it. I was hoping the server would appreciate my artwork, but when she came to take my plate away, she didn't even seem to notice. I was disappointed.
This is a friend I've known for almost 30 years now. She called me today about getting together for dinner, and when I went to pick her up, she suggested The Cheesecake Factory, which turned out to be quite fitting.
She'd been to a Cheesecake Factory about a month ago, and someone else had the Luau Salad, which she'd had a chance to have a taste of, so she was craving a bigger taste. She asked if I'd heard of it. I told her I was well acquainted with it and loved it. Once at the restaurant, we decided to share an appetizer and then we ordered the Luau Salad and the mahi mahi special that day (cooked mediterranean style with sun-dried tomatoes on a bed of mashed potatoes), both to share as well, and we ended the evening by sharing a slice of the tiramisu cheesecake.
She and I haven't been to a Cheesecake Factory together in some time, but we'd spent a lot of time at them before, chatting, laughing, having a good time. She's been going through some difficulties of late, so it actually worked out that we were able to talk and share all kinds of emotions and feelings with each other over dinner at The Cheesecake Factory. We've been friends for a long time, but the difficulties she has faced have actually brought us closer together, for which I am thankful and grateful, and we've exchanged thoughts and information that we've never even talked about before, and, most happily for me, she said she knows exactly how much she means to me because of an offer that I'd previously made to her.
I don't think we've ever shared tears before at a Cheesecake Factory, but this particular visit is definitely one I won't ever forget.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
"Milk" - spoiler movie review
I found out about the movie "Milk" from seeing a one-sheet when I was in a theatre for something. And then I saw the trailer. I have vague memories of hearing about this story when I was a kid, though I didn't remember that this was the case where the "Twinkie defense" originated from.
I didn't cry as much during this film as I thought I might, knowing the basics of the outcome of the story, which I guess is a tribute to the film focussing on the positive. I had known that Harvey Milk and San Francisco Mayor George Moscone were both shot and killed, and the name Dan White sounded familiar to me, but I hadn't remembered that it was Dan White who had actually killed the two of them.
Since the movie is dramatized, I'm not sure what aspects were true and what aspects were manufactured. The first meeting between Harvey and Scott is a bit jarring, but it was interesting that something so casual turned out to be the most important relationship in Harvey's life.
The timing of the release of this movie was interesting. The film was released shortly after the passing of Proposition 8 in California, which made marriages between people of the same sex to be declared invalid. The passing of that bill disturbed me greatly as I really thought that at least in California, people were more open-minded than that, and it was really surprising to find out that even in this state, so many people still have such biases about who can be in love and count as a couple. But seeing the struggle that Harvey Milk went through in trying to get himself elected to office as an openly gay candidate was very interesting. It took him multiple attempts to finally get elected, and with each election, he got more and more votes. He tried to focus on the commonalities that he had with straight people without ever hiding the fact that he was gay. I see that the fight for equal rights when it comes to marriage is just the latest in a line of things that gay people have to fight for. And I think that numbers indicate gay marriage will eventually be legalized in California, and the best way to do that is to use the same strategy Harvey Milk used - to focus on the sameness between straight people and gay people, especially in terms of marrying the person you love.
When I first saw that Sean Penn was going to be playing Harvey Milk, I was surprised to say the least. It's not the kind of role I would have expected from him, and he also changed his physical appearance quite a bit to play this role. He was absolutely phenomenal, and while there isn't any explicit sex in the film, there are quite a number of intimate scenes between Harvey and other men, and Sean Penn doesn't seem to have shied away from that at all.
It's a bit difficult to really single out any performances, because pretty much everyone was good in this film. You see the development of how each person became associated with Harvey, and how they went from being just a bunch of guys to being a part of a movement that grew and grew. The last shot of the miles of people holding candles in silence in tribute to Harvey Milk was incredibly moving.
I know there are a lot of people who will refuse to see this film simply because of the subject matter. They're missing out.
I didn't cry as much during this film as I thought I might, knowing the basics of the outcome of the story, which I guess is a tribute to the film focussing on the positive. I had known that Harvey Milk and San Francisco Mayor George Moscone were both shot and killed, and the name Dan White sounded familiar to me, but I hadn't remembered that it was Dan White who had actually killed the two of them.
Since the movie is dramatized, I'm not sure what aspects were true and what aspects were manufactured. The first meeting between Harvey and Scott is a bit jarring, but it was interesting that something so casual turned out to be the most important relationship in Harvey's life.
The timing of the release of this movie was interesting. The film was released shortly after the passing of Proposition 8 in California, which made marriages between people of the same sex to be declared invalid. The passing of that bill disturbed me greatly as I really thought that at least in California, people were more open-minded than that, and it was really surprising to find out that even in this state, so many people still have such biases about who can be in love and count as a couple. But seeing the struggle that Harvey Milk went through in trying to get himself elected to office as an openly gay candidate was very interesting. It took him multiple attempts to finally get elected, and with each election, he got more and more votes. He tried to focus on the commonalities that he had with straight people without ever hiding the fact that he was gay. I see that the fight for equal rights when it comes to marriage is just the latest in a line of things that gay people have to fight for. And I think that numbers indicate gay marriage will eventually be legalized in California, and the best way to do that is to use the same strategy Harvey Milk used - to focus on the sameness between straight people and gay people, especially in terms of marrying the person you love.
When I first saw that Sean Penn was going to be playing Harvey Milk, I was surprised to say the least. It's not the kind of role I would have expected from him, and he also changed his physical appearance quite a bit to play this role. He was absolutely phenomenal, and while there isn't any explicit sex in the film, there are quite a number of intimate scenes between Harvey and other men, and Sean Penn doesn't seem to have shied away from that at all.
It's a bit difficult to really single out any performances, because pretty much everyone was good in this film. You see the development of how each person became associated with Harvey, and how they went from being just a bunch of guys to being a part of a movement that grew and grew. The last shot of the miles of people holding candles in silence in tribute to Harvey Milk was incredibly moving.
I know there are a lot of people who will refuse to see this film simply because of the subject matter. They're missing out.
Saturday, January 3, 2009
2008 was a good movie year
There have been some years in my life when I've seen more films and other years when I've seen very few films. 2008 was definitely a banner year where I was able to see quite a number of films. Here's the count.
new films - 41
"Cloverfield"
"Jumper"
"Charlie Bartlett"
"Vantage Point"
"Horton Hears a Who"
"The Other Boleyn Girl"
"Juno"
"21"
"Forbidden Kingdom"
"Forgetting Sarah Marshall"
"Iron Man"
"Speed Racer"
"Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull"
"Prince Caspian"
"The Incredible Hulk"
"Wall-E"
"Wanted"
"Get Smart"
"Hellboy II - The Golden Army"
"The Dark Knight"
"Mamma Mia"
"The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor"
"Star Wars: The Clone Wars"
"Tropic Thunder"
"Hamlet 2"
"Death Race"
"The House Bunny"
"Traitor"
"Eagle Eye"
"Lakeview Terrace"
"How to Lose Friends and Alienate People"
"Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist"
"The Express"
"Igor"
"Max Payne"
"Rachel Getting Married"
"Repo! The Genetic Opera"
"The Changeling"
"Bolt"
"Milk"
"The Tale of Despereaux"
reissued films - 5 - I'd not seen "101 Dalmatians" or "The Black Hole" before, so this was my first time seeing both films.
"101 Dalmatians"
"The Little Mermaid"
"WarGames"
"Battlestar Galactica"
"The Black Hole"
special screening film - 1 - This was a theatrical showing of the concert video for Genesis' 2007 tour.
"When In Rome"
So in 2008, I was in theatres to see 47 different screenings. I think "Wall-E" was the only film we saw twice in theatres.
Not a bad year.
new films - 41
"Cloverfield"
"Jumper"
"Charlie Bartlett"
"Vantage Point"
"Horton Hears a Who"
"The Other Boleyn Girl"
"Juno"
"21"
"Forbidden Kingdom"
"Forgetting Sarah Marshall"
"Iron Man"
"Speed Racer"
"Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull"
"Prince Caspian"
"The Incredible Hulk"
"Wall-E"
"Wanted"
"Get Smart"
"Hellboy II - The Golden Army"
"The Dark Knight"
"Mamma Mia"
"The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor"
"Star Wars: The Clone Wars"
"Tropic Thunder"
"Hamlet 2"
"Death Race"
"The House Bunny"
"Traitor"
"Eagle Eye"
"Lakeview Terrace"
"How to Lose Friends and Alienate People"
"Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist"
"The Express"
"Igor"
"Max Payne"
"Rachel Getting Married"
"Repo! The Genetic Opera"
"The Changeling"
"Bolt"
"Milk"
"The Tale of Despereaux"
reissued films - 5 - I'd not seen "101 Dalmatians" or "The Black Hole" before, so this was my first time seeing both films.
"101 Dalmatians"
"The Little Mermaid"
"WarGames"
"Battlestar Galactica"
"The Black Hole"
special screening film - 1 - This was a theatrical showing of the concert video for Genesis' 2007 tour.
"When In Rome"
So in 2008, I was in theatres to see 47 different screenings. I think "Wall-E" was the only film we saw twice in theatres.
Not a bad year.
Friday, January 2, 2009
the Japanese are whack about their cats
I was looking around the net for something and came across this website that has apparel you can buy for your cat. Since they're mostly all hats, Orkid would never let us put any of them on her.
I think this one is kinda cute.
This one's just funny.
I also like this particular print, which isn't a hat but more like a shawl, so Orkid *would* let us put it on her like with the sailor thing a friend bought for her for Christmas, though actually getting it on her would be a bit of a struggle.
I'm also amused by the descriptive writing about this item. Translations are funny!
I think this one is kinda cute.
This one's just funny.
I also like this particular print, which isn't a hat but more like a shawl, so Orkid *would* let us put it on her like with the sailor thing a friend bought for her for Christmas, though actually getting it on her would be a bit of a struggle.
I'm also amused by the descriptive writing about this item. Translations are funny!
Thursday, January 1, 2009
start of a new year
I had a lovely New Year's Eve. I ended up being at work later than I'd wanted and there were still a ton of stuff I didn't have the time to do which are now sitting on my desk waiting for me on Monday as I try to furiously finish them before being asked by numerous people where the projects are!
But I finally left work sometime around 2:30pm, grabbed some lunch to eat on the drive and headed down to the Disneyland Resort. Traffic was bad but not at a standstill, so I pulled into the Mickey and Friends parking structure at about 4pm and was very surprised that there was virtually no line of cars to get in. Only about half the lanes were open, and I only had to wait about a minute behind the car in front of me. But I did notice on the electronic sign that Disneyland was indicated as being sold out. I parked the car, got my stuff together for the cooler evening I expected later, and got irritated at the kid in the car parked next to me who thought it was ok to knock on my car because he was bored though I don't know if he even paid attention to the fact that I was still there because he seemed startled or surprised when I asked him to stop knocking on my car.
I got on the tram and as I rode to the tram stop, the cast member (CM) at the back of the tram announced that sale of tickets to Disneyland was temporarily suspended, and that included single-day tickets, park-hoppers, annual passports and annual passport blockout day tickets.
After I got off the tram, I headed to the AMC Theatres to meet the husband. He had already gone through the turnstiles to get his handstamp (if Disneyland gets too full, they will limit who enters into the park, and having a handstamp to show you've already been in might allow you re-entry even if they've stopped letting new people in), so I left him to watch my stuff and just took my AP to go through the entrance at the monorail station. I had my AP scanned and did an immediate u-turn to exit and get a handstamp.
We then went in to see a movie (review to come in a future post), and then afterward, we had to go back to the parking structure to get something the husband forgot. We decided to walk there and were surprised at the fog having come in. We also noticed that they had blocked off the Downtown Disney (DTD) parking lot and instead of their normal rates, they were charging a $15 flat rate, which you could get back if you got your ticket validated by a participating tenant of DTD. We still noticed that the parking structure wasn't very full, and there were very few people at the stop waiting for a tram. We figured there must be a lot of people staying at local hotels if Disneyland was already so full.
As we were waiting for the tram for the ride back, the heavy fog made for a very eerie atmosphere - instead of it being about 6:30pm, it felt more like it was after midnight. We browsed a couple of the DTD stores before heading to meet some friends for dinner.
One of our friends had suggested earlier in the week that we have New Year's Eve dinner at Catal Restaurant, one of our favorite restaurants, so we had agreed. (We had actually spent last New Year's Eve having dinner at Catal as well.) We were the first to arrive, and we were happy to see that our favorite server (who we hadn't seen in a while but who we knew was expected to work that night) was there, so it was nice to spend some time chatting with him and catching up, as well as talking to some of the other restaurant staff that we know. We waited for our table, and shortly after we were seated, our friend and another friend arrived. We had a very nice leisurely meal. The restaurant that night was serving a prix fixe menu.
I had yellow tail sashimi as a starter (which was great) and then artic char as an entree, which was delicious, very moist and smooth. For dessert, I had a ginger cake which was quite tasty. Food, conversation and the company was good and fun and crazy as usual. We also had a really good view from our table, and with the fog now permeating DTD, it occured to me that John Carpenter would probably feel quite comfortable there.
We finished with dinner just after 11pm and decided to see if we could get into the park. We headed to the monorail station, and our friends who hadn't been in the park yet had no trouble getting in, and they never checked the handstamp for me or the husband. After we got off the monorail, we made our way to our normal spot in front of Small World. They had one of their entertainment stages set up there, so as our friends went to ride Small World, we enjoyed the music, and it was pretty funny to watch some of the Disney characters (like Chip, Dale and Goofy) participating in the physical gestures to the song "YMCA".
If was a bit windy and very, very foggy, so we weren't sure they'd even be doing the traditional midnight fireworks. Our friends finished with their ride just before midnight, and after the countdown, they did run the entire "Fantasy in the Sky" fireworks - but because it was so foggy, we could see almost nothing of the fireworks. For the first couple shells, you could see a few stray bits of light, but after that, you could really just hear the booms of the shells going off (they are usually pretty loud from that location), and occasionally, the entire sky would light up a random color from a large exploding firework. We laughed and cheered every time that happened. After the fireworks ended, the DJ proclaimed them to be the sound effects fireworks, which was exactly correct.
We stayed around for a bit and then headed over to the Rivers of America. There was supposed to be a third Fantasmic show that night that started at 12:05am, and we were curious as to what that looked like in the fog. On the way there, we met up with another friend who came with us. As we came down Big Thunder trail, we didn't hear any of the Fantasmic soundtrack which we normally would have, and when we got closer, we noticed all the lights were on, which meant there was no show. I ended up asking one of the CMs in the Fantasmic jacket costume if the show had been cancelled because of the fog, and he confirmed that it was. He said the second show of the night (at 10:30pm) had been really hard to see because of the fog. He joked that they could have just left the water screens turned off since the projectors were working fine just on the fog itself.
We then decided to take a ride on Haunted Mansion Holiday, which had a very short line. The two friends we had dinner with decided to call it a night, so we bid them farewell and then headed back to Fantasyland. Many years ago, when we spent every New Year's Eve at Disneyland and they were always open late, a fairly large group of us used to ride Dumbo at 1am. It's been so long since the park has been open at that time, so I decided I wanted to get the Dumbo ride in. It was a lot of fun, even though my face was very cold after the ride ended. During the ride, I texted a friend in Sacramento, and I was surprised but pleased when I got a response from him, since I didn't think he'd still be up at that time. We then took a ride on Storybook, and then we called it a night, heading out of the park at about 1:45am with the park about to close in 15 minutes anyway.
We decided to walk back to the parking structure, which made for a bit of a spooky walk because of the still-prevalent fog, but since the husband and friend were with me, I wasn't as spooked as I might have been. The setting was definitely very reminiscent of a horror movie.
As we were heading to our cars, one of the friends who had left earlier called to tell us about a traffic problem on our route home, so we took an alternate route instead, so we were thankful for the warning.
2009 started with time spent at Disneyland having fun with good friends. May the rest of the year be just as delightful.
But I finally left work sometime around 2:30pm, grabbed some lunch to eat on the drive and headed down to the Disneyland Resort. Traffic was bad but not at a standstill, so I pulled into the Mickey and Friends parking structure at about 4pm and was very surprised that there was virtually no line of cars to get in. Only about half the lanes were open, and I only had to wait about a minute behind the car in front of me. But I did notice on the electronic sign that Disneyland was indicated as being sold out. I parked the car, got my stuff together for the cooler evening I expected later, and got irritated at the kid in the car parked next to me who thought it was ok to knock on my car because he was bored though I don't know if he even paid attention to the fact that I was still there because he seemed startled or surprised when I asked him to stop knocking on my car.
I got on the tram and as I rode to the tram stop, the cast member (CM) at the back of the tram announced that sale of tickets to Disneyland was temporarily suspended, and that included single-day tickets, park-hoppers, annual passports and annual passport blockout day tickets.
After I got off the tram, I headed to the AMC Theatres to meet the husband. He had already gone through the turnstiles to get his handstamp (if Disneyland gets too full, they will limit who enters into the park, and having a handstamp to show you've already been in might allow you re-entry even if they've stopped letting new people in), so I left him to watch my stuff and just took my AP to go through the entrance at the monorail station. I had my AP scanned and did an immediate u-turn to exit and get a handstamp.
We then went in to see a movie (review to come in a future post), and then afterward, we had to go back to the parking structure to get something the husband forgot. We decided to walk there and were surprised at the fog having come in. We also noticed that they had blocked off the Downtown Disney (DTD) parking lot and instead of their normal rates, they were charging a $15 flat rate, which you could get back if you got your ticket validated by a participating tenant of DTD. We still noticed that the parking structure wasn't very full, and there were very few people at the stop waiting for a tram. We figured there must be a lot of people staying at local hotels if Disneyland was already so full.
As we were waiting for the tram for the ride back, the heavy fog made for a very eerie atmosphere - instead of it being about 6:30pm, it felt more like it was after midnight. We browsed a couple of the DTD stores before heading to meet some friends for dinner.
One of our friends had suggested earlier in the week that we have New Year's Eve dinner at Catal Restaurant, one of our favorite restaurants, so we had agreed. (We had actually spent last New Year's Eve having dinner at Catal as well.) We were the first to arrive, and we were happy to see that our favorite server (who we hadn't seen in a while but who we knew was expected to work that night) was there, so it was nice to spend some time chatting with him and catching up, as well as talking to some of the other restaurant staff that we know. We waited for our table, and shortly after we were seated, our friend and another friend arrived. We had a very nice leisurely meal. The restaurant that night was serving a prix fixe menu.
I had yellow tail sashimi as a starter (which was great) and then artic char as an entree, which was delicious, very moist and smooth. For dessert, I had a ginger cake which was quite tasty. Food, conversation and the company was good and fun and crazy as usual. We also had a really good view from our table, and with the fog now permeating DTD, it occured to me that John Carpenter would probably feel quite comfortable there.
We finished with dinner just after 11pm and decided to see if we could get into the park. We headed to the monorail station, and our friends who hadn't been in the park yet had no trouble getting in, and they never checked the handstamp for me or the husband. After we got off the monorail, we made our way to our normal spot in front of Small World. They had one of their entertainment stages set up there, so as our friends went to ride Small World, we enjoyed the music, and it was pretty funny to watch some of the Disney characters (like Chip, Dale and Goofy) participating in the physical gestures to the song "YMCA".
If was a bit windy and very, very foggy, so we weren't sure they'd even be doing the traditional midnight fireworks. Our friends finished with their ride just before midnight, and after the countdown, they did run the entire "Fantasy in the Sky" fireworks - but because it was so foggy, we could see almost nothing of the fireworks. For the first couple shells, you could see a few stray bits of light, but after that, you could really just hear the booms of the shells going off (they are usually pretty loud from that location), and occasionally, the entire sky would light up a random color from a large exploding firework. We laughed and cheered every time that happened. After the fireworks ended, the DJ proclaimed them to be the sound effects fireworks, which was exactly correct.
We stayed around for a bit and then headed over to the Rivers of America. There was supposed to be a third Fantasmic show that night that started at 12:05am, and we were curious as to what that looked like in the fog. On the way there, we met up with another friend who came with us. As we came down Big Thunder trail, we didn't hear any of the Fantasmic soundtrack which we normally would have, and when we got closer, we noticed all the lights were on, which meant there was no show. I ended up asking one of the CMs in the Fantasmic jacket costume if the show had been cancelled because of the fog, and he confirmed that it was. He said the second show of the night (at 10:30pm) had been really hard to see because of the fog. He joked that they could have just left the water screens turned off since the projectors were working fine just on the fog itself.
We then decided to take a ride on Haunted Mansion Holiday, which had a very short line. The two friends we had dinner with decided to call it a night, so we bid them farewell and then headed back to Fantasyland. Many years ago, when we spent every New Year's Eve at Disneyland and they were always open late, a fairly large group of us used to ride Dumbo at 1am. It's been so long since the park has been open at that time, so I decided I wanted to get the Dumbo ride in. It was a lot of fun, even though my face was very cold after the ride ended. During the ride, I texted a friend in Sacramento, and I was surprised but pleased when I got a response from him, since I didn't think he'd still be up at that time. We then took a ride on Storybook, and then we called it a night, heading out of the park at about 1:45am with the park about to close in 15 minutes anyway.
We decided to walk back to the parking structure, which made for a bit of a spooky walk because of the still-prevalent fog, but since the husband and friend were with me, I wasn't as spooked as I might have been. The setting was definitely very reminiscent of a horror movie.
As we were heading to our cars, one of the friends who had left earlier called to tell us about a traffic problem on our route home, so we took an alternate route instead, so we were thankful for the warning.
2009 started with time spent at Disneyland having fun with good friends. May the rest of the year be just as delightful.
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