JetBlue 668.

So I am sitting on JetBlue 668 headed back home after five days and nights at the House of the Mouse. I hear it’s snowing like crazy at home. I am ready for the end of winter. We are almost there. Thank goodness for the trip to Oklahoma next month, it’ll give me another much needed boost to my psyche.

I need a gig where I travel a lot. I would be a happier person.

I found myself in a pondering state of mind between attractions at Disney. I won’t write about everything I thought about here; my thought processes are my own and are probably long and boring to read. Suffice it to say that I have a few adventures up my sleeve that I’m making plans for.

Quick aside – I must have a thing for flight attendants and Christian apparently enjoys redheads with big moustaches. Just sayin’.

I have begun meditating again. It’s about time that I practiced what I learned all those years ago. I have added the exercise to my daily quiet time. I am also using the MindWave program on my iPhone. I think meditating quiets my mind much more than the MindWave does. I sort of think of the MindWave as the saccharin way of getting to a meditative state. It’s artificially induced and not quite the same. I’ll probably discontinue that for a while in a week or two so I can compare and contrast.

I have given up alcohol completely as of last Monday night. My last drink was a Mojito at Bongos at Downtown Disney. There are a couple of reasons that I stopped – one of them being that with the way I play I should be sober at all times; the other reason has to do with my health. My forever existent beer gut does not need encouragement. I have no issues with those that enjoy a drink, it’s just not for me right now.

I also gave up pop and eating meat. Well, at least I am trying on both accounts. This will be my third serious attempt at giving up meat. I’m planning on the third time being a charm.

20 February 2009 by Ponderings and Musings 0

Disney’s Animal Kingdom.

018.365

Yesterday we ventured over to Disney’s Animal Kingdom for the day. The timing was good, it was the warmest day this week and the park was open for extended hours for resort guests so we were able to make a day of it without feeling rushed.

I mentioned earlier that Epcot is my favorite park here at Walt Disney World, but I no longer think that’s the case. Animal Kingdom takes top billing for me now. There are a number of reasons for this: there are no french fries available (to maintain the safety of the animals), which keeps me a little healthier, I love the layout of the park and the whole jungle theme (it doesn’t feel like a theme park, it feels like you’re in a really busy place in the woods) and most importantly, I think there are some very valuable lessons to be learned amongst all the fun and animals and games and such and even if only 10% of the visitors ‘get it’ after they leave the park then the world will be a better place.

I love animals. I have always loved animals. I’d work with animals but I can’t fathom to see an animal hurt and I’m really bad at biology so that was never an option for me. And while I don’t enjoy a zoo, I really enjoy the way that the animals appear to be living at the Animal Kingdom. They seem happy. There are no monkeys behind bars in an abnormally small cage throwing their poop. There are no guests trying to feed the monkeys a neon coloured circus peanut. Instead there are seemingly authentic and large, expansive areas where the animals are spending much of their daylight hours doing things that make them content. Yes, they are probably sick of hearing every caravan that goes through on a safari playing the same tape over and over and over again, but the area is big enough that they can hide behind some rocks or turn their back and not partake in the showbiz angle of their life if they don’t have to.

The folks at Animal Kingdom say that they train their animals to come in and out at night and such through natural behaviour. Not once did I see an elephant in a hula skirt trying to dance on their back legs to “Surfin’ U.S.A.” What I did see were some beautiful birds at the “Flights of Wonder” show doing some great things but more importantly, just being birds.

Each time we visit the Animal Kingdom we always take the train ride over to Rafiki’s Planet Watch, where they have exhibits on conservation and an area where you can mingle amongst the gentler animals and visit with them. Earl had a conference call for work so I went in alone and had a nice chat with a couple of animals. When the animals aren’t in the mood to chat with the guests they can hide under a pavilion out of reach. Several goats went in and out while I was in there. One sniffed through my pockets to see if I had any goodies in there. I also made a goal to do something constructive with an area of the backyard this year. I have a couple of bird feeders already; I need to do something more to give back to the folks that are living in the woods around the house.

It wouldn’t be a theme park without at least a couple of rides, so later in the day we rode Exhibition Everest. We actually rode it twice. As we were approaching the “standby” line three very nice looking ladies gave us their FastPass tickets for an hour later, so we waited the 60 minutes in standby and then got in the FastPass lane and rode again two minutes later. Exhibition Everest is a very impressive roller coaster and I HIGHLY recommend that you ride it. It’s not so violent that you’re going to feel sick afterwards but it will boost your pulse rate for a bit and it’s a really good time. The first time I rode, a young girl from the ‘single riders’ line joined me and she told me it was her seventh time riding that day. She was a pro, didn’t scream once (I might have screamed once or twice but I didn’t sound like her) and impressively wrapped her Minnie Mouse ears around her leg to hold them in place whilst we were whipped around the ride.

All in all yesterday was my favourite day thus far here at Disney. I’d be content to go back again today, but there is one more park for us to visit.

19 February 2009 by Fun and Games Dept 0

Epcot.



Spaceship Earth., originally uploaded by iMachias.

Today we spent the day at Epcot. The first thing we discovered is that Disney is no longer doing the “Leave A Legacy” etched pictures at the entrance. Existing photos are still up but they’re not taking any new ones. Earl and I have two different photos on the walls; the first is from 2000, the second is from 2007. The guide that looked up our location showed the full colour photo from 2000: I was a lot bigger (and clean shaven) and Earl had red hair and a big red beard! Good times.

Our first stop was Spaceship Earth, which has been completely updated and totally appeals to my geek side. The presentation has to do with communications through the centuries. I like that a lot.

The minimum wait for “Soarin!” was 160 minutes, so we didn’t make that ride today. We ended up spending most of the day in the World Showcase. I was pleased to see that they updated the “O Canada!” Circle-Vision 360 film. They kept elements from the original film but updated the music and many of the scenes. The song (“Canada [You’re A Lifetime Journey]” remains the same but is now sung by Canadian Idol winner Eva Avila. The “O Canada!” presentation makes me teary every time I see it. I needn’t go into the reasons why this is so. I’ve said it many times.

The France presentation was experiencing technical difficulties (and they were kind of haughty about it), but outside of that we went to the show that each country offered. I recognised some of the singers in the “Voices of Liberty” a cappella group at the “American Experience”. They are amazing vocalists and it’s good to hear traditional vocals without crazy runs and/or electronic augmentation. During one of their songs it hit me why I feel the way I do about “God Bless America” and my revelation is going to be a separate blog entry that will appear next week.

The one disappointing part of World Showcase was in Norway; they were having a very hard time managing the crowd and lines for their Viking Ship attraction. I don’t know if it’s the layout of the waiting area or guests being goofy or what but it seemed very chaotic and uninspiring. Out of all the attractions in World Showcase, and since the updating of “O Canada”, Norway now seems the most dated. Mexico was a little weird too; the sites and sounds of Mexico now have Donald Duck and a couple parrots hootin’ and hollerin’ all over the brilliant cinematography. I don’t know why they added this to the mix – probably to make it a little more fun.

Overall I was impressed with the updates to “World Showcase” since our visit in 2007. It was an enjoyable afternoon.

Afterwards we went to “The Land” and took the boat tour through Living With The Land. I really enjoy the educational aspect to the attractions at Epcot. I think this is what makes it my favorite park here at Walt Disney World.

Tonight we went back to Downtown Disney for supper. We enjoyed a late meal at the Rainforest Cafe. The jog this morning and the jog tomorrow morning will make up for the calories, I suppose.

17 February 2009 by Fun and Games Dept 0

Queue.



Queue., originally uploaded by iMachias.

Today was spent at The Magic Kingdom, which is now apparently called “Magic Kingdom Park”. Since we conquered Tomorrowland last night, we spent most of our time in the other themed areas of the Magic Kingdom.

We went on our usual selection of attractions: Space Mountain, Splash Mountain and Thunder Mountain Railroad. We also hit the Country Bear Jamboree, Philharmagic, Pirates of the Caribbean, the Haunted House and It’s A Small World. The Hall of Presidents was closed, I have a feeling they’re adding President Obama to the mix.

Later this evening I commented to Earl that the human race isn’t disappointing me too badly on this vacation, cell phone use has been discrete and non-intrusive for the most part. I’m somewhat impressed.

The park was quite busy with it being a National holiday and all but enjoyable nonetheless.

On the recommendation of Greg in Connecticut we went to Bongo’s at Downtown Disney for dinner. I found it to be quite nice. I had my first cerviche (quite tasty) and I discovered Ironbeer Soda. It’s not quite birch or root beer or cream soda, but it was quite tasty. I highly recommend it.

There was recently an article on MSNBC proclaiming the return of beards and moustaches; the male population here at Disney supports that fact. I’ve been taking fan photos. I’ll have to share them once I sort them out.

16 February 2009 by Fun and Games Dept 0

The Magic Kingdom.



The Magic Kingdom., originally uploaded by iMachias.

No matter what time we arrive at Walt Disney World, we always go to the Magic Kingdom, more specifically Tomorrowland, first. This trip is no exception. Luckily, The Magic Kingdom was open extended hours until 3 a.m. We only made it to 12:30.

16 February 2009 by Fun and Games Dept 0

JetBlue 665.

So I am currently sitting in seat 10F on JetBlue 665. I am watching “A Very Brady Sequel”. It’s a fun movie to watch.

The big guy is sitting next to me. To his left is Jamie, who is joining us on this trip. Jamie has never been to DisneyWorld and since we had a couple of extra tickets (due to a change in plans), we asked him to join us.

I love flying. I have always wanted to get my private pilots license but self imposed obstacles when I was younger prevented me from pursuing it. It’s never too late, I guess. Once the debt is paid off (very soon!) we’ll be able to afford the lessons. I’m thinking a Cessna 172 or bigger.

We are on an Airbus A320. This is my first JetBlue flight. It’s not my last. Though I love my job, I wish I had a position that called for more travel. I love traveling. I don’t like sitting behind a desk.

I am sitting in the exit row for the first time. I feel trusted. One of my best friends is a flight attendant. He is trusted like this very day. It’s a good feeling to be trusted.

As I look out over the clouds I notice that the flight tracker says we are over Savannah Ga. We’ll be starting our descent soon. The clouds are getting closer.

I’m thinking of putting together a birthday adventure in July. Perhaps it’ll involve flying.

15 February 2009 by Fun and Games Dept 0

Flight.

So we are at Syracuse Hancock International Airport awaiting our JetBlue flight to Orlando. We leave in 90 minutes or so. I am taking a few moments to surf the internet because that’s what people do in the airport these days. I see quite a few Macs within eyeshot. That’s a good thing.

I am really looking forward to this getaway. It’s been two years since we’ve been to Orlando and we are pretty much repeating what we did before: flying in, no rental car, onto Disney property and then leaving in four days. No touring around, no scouting out other parks. It’s the total Disney experience for us. I like it that way.

I plan on updating the blog and Flickr account quite a bit. We have a couple of computers, cameras, a video camera and a router with appropriate cabling so we can have the total internet experience whilst in our condo.

I’m such a geek.

Going on vacation always inspires me to make further vacation plans for the year. I have a feeling there are several flights in my near future.

15 February 2009 by Fun and Games Dept 0

Detour.

Earl and I are on our way to my Dad’s to drop off Tom in anticipation of our trip tomorrow. We were originally going to drive to Florida but we both love to fly so we are flying nonstop to Orlando tomorrow afternoon.

Even though I went to school to be a highway engineer, I’m really not feeling the “Happy Motoring!” vibe. Maybe I’m becoming crotchey, but it seems to me that people are becoming increasingly bad drivers and no one seems to give a damn. Drivers yak on cell phones, ignore traffic signals and any manner of discipline on the roads these days.

One thing I’m noticing is that people, in these parts at least, seem to be more and more terrified of “Right On Red”. It’s not a difficult concept, really, you stop at the red signal, assure that the coast is clear and then you make your right turn. It’s no different than a stop sign which, ironically, most people run.

Another issue that I have with drivers these days is that they’re terrified of winter driving conditions. Granted, if you live Corpus Christi you’re probaly not used to dealing with snow. But in these parts, where we get an average of 115 inches a year, snow is a given. However, no ice will be found on the road if it’s an early thaw and 50 degrees out, even if there is still snow on the ground. It’s physically impossible. There is no need to slow down to half of the speed limit.

So here I am. Sitting in the passenger seat. The cat is crying an average of one meow every 1.4 seconds and Earl is driving.

I think I might be a little crabby.

14 February 2009 by Why. 2

Conditions.

When I sit down to write a blog entry there are a lot of variables to be taken into account. Well, before we jump into that I have to clarify. In my head there are two types of blog entries that I write; I think of one as a “blog entry” and I think of the other as a “real blog entry”. I haven’t written what I consider to be a real blog entry in a while; the last was probably the entry about my childhood memory of riding on Bus 49. “Blog entries” contain the snippets of music videos and are like my journal entries. They talk about day-to-day stuff and come skimming off the top of my head. “Real blog entries” come from the bottom of the pot: they cook like a fine stew in my head for a little bit before I sit down and write them and then I occasionally wait a while before I hit the “Send to Weblog” button on my software.

One of my friends was attending grad school (through online courses) while she was working in the same job that I currently have. Our jobs were basically identical. She could write a twenty-page thesis on the socialisation of the Pussycat Swallowtail Butterfly in between incoming tech support calls that would drive a mortal insane: one involved a woman that wanted us to let more wire through her wall so she could move her phone, the other, a man that wanted to know why his computer screen was blank (the power was out). Yet, in between diagnosing issues, fighting with various telecommunication agencies and listening to the inane chatter that she was often subjected to, she was able to bang out a paper in no time. How she accomplished this I’ll never know, but she always cracked an “A”. It’s probably because she’s just wicked smart. I once tried to write a paper for English 101 on the novel “My Antonia” in the same fashion and I just couldn’t do it. I attribute my failure at the task to lack of focus. Or perhaps it was just ADD. Is that the same thing?

When I write a “real blog entry”, many conditions have to be met. The moon has to be full, I have to be in a special garb and incense must be burning. Actually, I’m wrong on those three conditions, that’s for something else that I do from time to time. In reality, when I write the space I’m writing in has to be relatively silent. I can deal with the hum of fluorescent lighting (and electronic goodies) or the ticking of a clock but I can’t have any sort of music playing on iTunes, a television blaring or a conversation taking place within a pre-determined radius (usually 1 to 2 miles). If I can hear it and it sounds intelligible (or bright and shiny in an aural sort of way), it’s going to distract me and then we have that whole ADD thing kicking in again. Earl occasionally gets offended when I sit down to write whilst are computers are back to back and I then choose to move into the bowels of the basement where it’s quite and all I can hear it the drip of the toilet leaking. Ironically, I can write a real blog entry in the middle of an internet cafe when I’m loaded up on sugar and there’s a whole lot of nonsense going on around me. Maybe the sugar helps make the nonsense turn into white noise or something.

Another condition that has to be met is that this all has to take place on the right computer. I have mentioned many times that I have MacBook Pro that’s not even a year old. It replaced my PowerBook G4 that I purchased in 2005. I loved my PowerBook and still use it for my music and sound editing work. I have considered parting with it but then I type on it for a few moments and it feels like an old friend. I feel very, very comfortable when I have my PowerBook on my lap. My MacBook Pro basically looks identical to the PowerBook but it just doesn’t ‘feel’ the same. The keyboards are nearly identical (despite the missing  [apple logo] on the command key) but they certainly don’t feel identical. The PowerBook’s keys are robust and feel confident, the keys on my MacBook Pro feel just a bit mushier. I make a lot of mistakes typing on the MacBook Pro, I think I’m going to wear out the delete key much faster. Nevertheless, I trudge along with the MacBook Pro because Apple is slowly killing off support for the older machines. So I guess I’ll have just to keep using this computer to make myself more comfortable with it. I know, it’s a nearly state of the art unit and I’m bitching about it. There are times when people think I’m never happy.

That’s not true at all.

I have read that some writers prefer a typewriter to a computer while others prefer their own penmanship to a typewriter, so I guess I don’t feel alone in seeking out the right conditions for writing a real blog entry.

Just as long as the toilet isn’t dripping on me.

14 February 2009 by Ponderings and Musings 0

Trek.

So I have recently become hooked on the fan-made series “Star Trek: Phase II” (which used to be called “Star Trek: New Voyages”). Made purely for the purpose of loving all things Trek, this series takes place about where a fourth and fifth season would have taken place if Star Trek: The Original Series had continued it’s run on NBC back in the late 1960s. One things that I really like about this series is that several veteran Star Trek cast members have made appearances, including George Takai, Grace Lee Whitney, Denise Crosby and Majel Barrett Roddenberry.

I have always been a Trekker. I have even been to a convention or two in my day (I met Nichelle Nichols, “Uhura”, in Providence, R.I. back in 1988) and I even went so far as to draw a storyboard for a new transporter effect for “Star Trek V: The Final Frontier” and sent it to Paramount. (It didn’t make the film, but I got a wonderful response back from the studio saying that they’d consider it for future movies. I still have hope.)

Last night I watched “World Enough and Time”, which featured George Takai as an older “Sulu” amongst the cast playing the familiar characters on the Enterprise. It was very well written and the acting was very good. There were moments that I forgot I was watching a fan made film!

The latest installment of “Star Trek: Phase II” was posted in December 2008, it is the first of two parts of an episode entitled, “Blood and Fire”. The second installment is expected this spring.

The acting, effects and overall feel to the episodes is quite polished. I would love to contribute to the series in my own way, even if I just wore a red shirt and got killed by a mean alien on screen. Nevertheless, imagine my surprise when we meet Ensign Peter Kirk…

phaseii.png

.. and his lover, soon to be husband! And Captain Kirk is going to marry them on the U.S.S. Enterprise!

“Blood and Fire” has roots in an episode originally written for “Star Trek: The Next Generation” that was going to address the big HIV scare of the late 80s/early 90s. The script flows well, the effects are very impressive and the acting is not bad either! Denise Crosby (Lt. Yar from “Star Trek: The Next Generation”) appears in the upcoming second part. I am really excited to see how this all plays out.

If you’re interested, take a peek here: Star Trek: Phase II. Live long and prosper.

12 February 2009 by Geek 2

About J.P.

Just a guy with a husband. We’ve been together 28 years and he still makes me see fireworks on a daily basis. Hiker. Storm Chaser. Private Pilot. Tech Guy. Hackerish.

Weird? Eccentric!

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