So long, Ollie, and thanks for all the fish. And bears. And rabbits. And dogs. And squirrels. And pirates. And cats. And engineers.

Y'know how I love y'all's 12 of 12 posts and try to join in every month? And every month I completely forget about it on the actual 12th and then fail at joining in, so as a result I've only done it once, I think, last June? Yeah, not working. So instead I'll just do it whenever I remember it, and make it __ of __. So there.

juls_chuls: Here begins your Disneyland present.

( 18 of 18 at Disneyland. )

"...no, I checked the contract specifically, and it doesn't exclude 'Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo.'"

"Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo" is not being used as me for a placeholder, it's what she said. A term searched for in a contract.

Alright, whatever, but it made me laugh. Sometimes my place of employment is just a tad surreal.

of why I am such a huge Steve Martin fan. And again and again and again.

From his new book which I don't have yet, but man, I need to fix that:

Disneyland, and the idea of it, seemed so glorious that I believed it should be in some faraway, impossible-to-visit Shangri-la, not two miles from the house where I was about to grow up. With its pale blue castle flying pennants emblazoned with a made-up Disney family crest, its precise gardens and horse-drawn carriages maintained to jewel-box perfection, Disneyland was my Versailles.

AGREED. Part of what fascinates me about the place is probably the fact that I'm amazed it's so available to me. I can go anytime I want? Really? It's that nearby, that accessible? NO WAY. The little kid in me can't get over that. Just another aspect of the sheer dumb luck of living in LA. Which is probably why I'm happy to possibly go this weekend, Tuesday night, and again next Saturday.

Back from con and vacation and sick as a dog. Head feels like a giant cotton ball. More on trip and all later.

I spent last weekend effectively out of town at a game convention. Yes, I totally was that geek playing Eurogames for three days with hundreds of other geeks at a hotel near LAX. It was great, except for the whole no sleeping thing. I ran my first game of Werewolf (of course I've played before, first time modding) with a truly excessive 26 participants. If there's a great big HUH on your face right now, I'm just saying, you need to play. This game is much fun.


Daniel vanquishes a foe in the swordfighting pit at Gateway2007

I've spent the last week recovering from the long weekend, which for me means passing out long before midnight every night, no matter how loud the rap/video games/stand-up comedy is blaring next door.

Last night a few friends and I saw The Jungle at the El Capitan! They're just showing it for a month to publicize celebrate the 40th anniversary special edition DVD coming out soon. Richard Sherman wandered out of the theatre before the show and stood around outside for a moment but I was way too shy to go up and introduce myself. Oh well. If the DVD transfer is what we saw last night, it's gorgeous and I can't recommend it highly enough. ( Far more information than anyone wants back here. )

Flying up to SF tonight for my cousin's wedding tomorrow. Giants game with my parents Sunday (YAY!) then back Monday morning just in time for work. Next weekend is the only weekend this month I'm really in town-- and all I've got going is Avenue Q Saturday afternoon, games Saturday night, film festial screenings Sunday afternoon and Pink Martini at the Bowl Sunday night. The weekend after that Kevin's in town! The weekend after that I'm in Houston for my 10 year high school reunion. The weekend after that is October. Good grief. Where has the year gone?

PS-- One more video from The Jungle Book screening (mostly for my parents:) a pencil test of Baloo & Mowgli animated entirely by Frank Thomas according to Don Hahn. Apparently he and Ollie animated over half of the finished film themselves. Wow.

When I uploaded the other Richard Sherman bits I taped at the Mary Poppins sing-along at the El Capitan in January, youtube wouldn't accept my favorite one because it was 7 KB too long. Then awesome Davebo led me to this awesome site which would make awesome shorter conversions of videos and I was awesomely able to fix it so youtube would accept it! Take that youtube! You will take my Richard Sherman videos and you will like it!

The last few days have been so jam-packed with awesomeness, how do I decide where to begin?

Should I talk about how totally sweet Harry Potter in IMAX 3D was Friday night, and how they managed to turn my least favorite HP book into a movie I love?

Or how John Williams at the Hollywood Bowl Saturday night was so good that I now want to go every year he does this concert, preferably with seats down front? And that I will be bringing a light saber with me from now on?

Video by Ron

Or the really cool retirees I ran into when I got off the red line Sunday night and followed to my new favorite shortcut from the Civic Center stop to the Ahmanson? These people were great. The woman I talked to most was a crack-up. I ran into them again as we were all leaving and she and I chatted the whole way home.

Or maybe last night. When a friend and I saw a panel with Dave Smith and Les Perkins and Tony Baxter hosted by Tim O'Day? And then watched a 1963 short made especially for Radio City Music Hall called "Disney goes East" which featured Walt talking from the screen to a live actor playing Mickey onstage, with Walt doing Mickey's voice. In 1963. Really late. No falsetto left. And then we watched a beautifully restored 1956 entry in the People & Places series of international travelogues called "Disneyland USA" with gorgeous color photography of Disneyland from December 1955 and August 1956. And then I met Kathryn Beaumont and her very sweet husband Al. And then we watched the 42 minute People & Places featurette again. And then about 15 of us sat around and listened to Les Perkins and Tony Baxter talk for about 45 minutes. Cause when guys these interesting and cool and connected and Disneyfied let you listen in on their conversations, you do. And then you say thank you.

I took lots of pictures of the pictures they had up onscreen before it all got started. I'll post some every day til they're gone. My pics aren't great, cause each shot was only there for a few seconds before it was whisked away and replaced with something equally awesome, so it was more a matter of getting the darn thing than making sure it was framed well and from a good angle. Sorry.

Not much today, just a quick Feliz Cumpleanos to the Happiest Place on Earth as I run out the door to the screening. Had a guest come to lunch today and ended up chatting for two hours. Whoops. But it looks like LJland was just as quiet as work today, so no loss. Later, y'all!

Oh. Not clothes printed with pictures of animals. Fabric reproductions of animal skin. A little ew, but ok.

From the good people at mondaysabitch:

Animal Print

1. Do you own anything with leopard print on it? (What about tiger print, snakeskin, or zebra print?) I accidentally have blue leopard spot socks. I thought they were weird polka dots. Then I looked more closely at them.

2. What animal best represents your personality? Um. Elephant Dumbo's momma? Nurturing and loving, even if it looks a little funky (but I have to have that dress! It's so ugly that no one else will love it!)*

3. What pet (other than a cat or dog) would you most want as a pet? Bunny! Or hamster. Gerbil? Something small and furry that would be happy in an apartment and put up with occasional snorgling and cuddling.

4. Would you ever wear fur? What about leather? Hmm. Vintage fur that was given to me as a family heirloom and would hurt the family member who gave it to me if they never saw it on me? Probably. Would I ever buy a fur coat? Probably not, only because the fur industry's practices seem very wasteful to me and it is possible to create warm clothing without animal products no matter what climate you are travelling to. Leather? I dunno. Maybe.

5. Who is your favourite cartoon animal? Dude. This one is hard. Jiminy the Cricket is pretty cool, as are Evinrude the Dragonfly, Dumbo the Elephant, Bambi the Deer, and his little friend Thumper the Rabbit. But I think on this, the eve of Disneyland's 52nd birthday, I have to go with the mouse that started it all, Mickey himself. He's pretty cool, and has a pretty feisty little attitude all his own on occasion.






*Comments from the peanut gallery are NOT necessary on this one. Think before you comment. If it pissed me off a month ago, it will still piss me off today.

So today I'm wearing this totally awesome shirt:



And I went over to the Archives to watch the weekly "Minnie Movies" screening. Today's fare was "Patriotic Shorts" including a few Donald Duck military cartoons, a Pluto mascot short, and Ben & Me.

BONUS QUESTION: What is Donald Duck's middle name? It appears in Donald Gets Drafted.

So I walk into the Archives looking for the screening and there's Robert Tieman about to leave for lunch with a few ladies. And they liked my shirt. And Robert Tieman liked my shirt. Which was even better than getting to watch cartoons on my lunch hour. Which is actually even better than a lot of things.

Man, I want to work in the Archives. That place rocks.