tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-83537803944551906592024-02-19T04:02:30.224-10:00The Tiki OutpostThe Hawaii Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16244531964643963754noreply@blogger.comBlogger181125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8353780394455190659.post-34750781232965861272018-10-04T04:10:00.002-10:002018-10-04T04:10:33.478-10:00Fall 2018 Theme Park Trip-Day 14Last day at Universal?<br />
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Today is the day for Halloween Horror Nights (HHN) event so it's going to be a long day.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk2HbyqFMQydkcXCBO7WTRjPoHvapm7f0SQIiyxc-kjUVkVS6iFcE8lRrl_GYT3EIW9NaClnF356dwvNXF_vzZ1kX3Nvu_OoOswUPJLcrNxrtsGfj9_CF5Pnu1iZ49c1u6ovephGx33mgm/s1600/IMG_20181003_070633.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk2HbyqFMQydkcXCBO7WTRjPoHvapm7f0SQIiyxc-kjUVkVS6iFcE8lRrl_GYT3EIW9NaClnF356dwvNXF_vzZ1kX3Nvu_OoOswUPJLcrNxrtsGfj9_CF5Pnu1iZ49c1u6ovephGx33mgm/s200/IMG_20181003_070633.jpg" width="150" /></a>Up at 6am to get ready and walk over for early entry at 7am. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is really an amazing place. Something that I noticed is there are all these little mechanical flourishes all throughout and the are all still working, at least the ones that I remember. The one possible exception was the Whomping Willow on the Forbidden Journey ride. Don't know if that has done the Everest Yeti at Disney or if it was just not working when I rode it. But all the little animations in the stores and windows were still performing routinely.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXBuxakxc8KkS0lbINoyIQwwElkrbwu2zHixUmNaNkAq_nridcDgbOr1aTc900pg7KoaRMFnc0m1bpQVI3o3ZUk5mnofB8dYN-sYZotPYGul8gCI1IiF1JpG2m_xKceNLv2As1t_kUI8rV/s1600/IMG_20181003_102932.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXBuxakxc8KkS0lbINoyIQwwElkrbwu2zHixUmNaNkAq_nridcDgbOr1aTc900pg7KoaRMFnc0m1bpQVI3o3ZUk5mnofB8dYN-sYZotPYGul8gCI1IiF1JpG2m_xKceNLv2As1t_kUI8rV/s200/IMG_20181003_102932.jpg" width="150" /></a>Spending time just walking around and looking at the details is always a lot of fun. Eventually I ended up in the area where lots of characters come out you can interact with them. Most of them engage slightly, get the picture and then onto the next guest. I really need to compliment the person playing Shaggy from Scooby Doo. He was pulling people in really getting engaged with them. For me he asked where I'm from and the response, as usual, got a big reaction. We got into the discussion and we eventually parted with one last question....Pineapple on pizza? I said no. He said anything would go on a pizza!<br />
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Something I've tried to do is monitor the amount of steps/mileage that I've been doing. Unfortunately, if you don't get the numbers before the end of the day, you don't get a summary, but individual sessions broken down and I've discovered that the numbers don't add up. But I ended up walking back and forth twice to the hotel and all the attractions. But some steps aren't recorded as the cell phone gets locked up before all of the queue walking and steps in certain attractions. The queues for the mazes were crazy long and from the best I can figure I did about 13 very sweaty miles.<br />
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For the first time on the trip which I think was because the day was so long, the chaffing started about 10 pm during the horror event. Luckily, earlier in the evening I met up with another former co-host from In the Loop and the discussions helped keep my mind off of the pain. It was great to see Will again and grateful and thankful that he took time out of his schedule to meet up in the park.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnTbx7Jze_NrOMG1Iw-_Rey2WpJycZKLfZJxX4rp7aG0sTP6L4Sm78lVT1E8m8i89RlRXRKd32BMc4aQMc2MEYvNif_5inApQEYmY5dhhWyyrLKRUkeTbsVh04Eqz_LGjMmitSccQ3Oyop/s1600/IMG_20181003_195249.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnTbx7Jze_NrOMG1Iw-_Rey2WpJycZKLfZJxX4rp7aG0sTP6L4Sm78lVT1E8m8i89RlRXRKd32BMc4aQMc2MEYvNif_5inApQEYmY5dhhWyyrLKRUkeTbsVh04Eqz_LGjMmitSccQ3Oyop/s200/IMG_20181003_195249.jpg" width="150" /></a>This was my second HHN and some of the same issues I had the first time occurred again. Stayed in the park in a lock down zone and even with being in the first group going to the first house before the public was let it, the Stranger Things house was still a 45 minute wait. I saw the movie Killer Clowns from Outer Space about a month ago and really loved the scare zone. Unfortunately, Bill and Ted were no longer populating the stage and I head from several people that the Academy of Villains show was OK but wouldn't be missing anything if you didn't see it. Overall an enjoyable event.<br />
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On the way out of the event, they were asking people to take a survey. I finished and they were asking for statistical information. I got to where they asked gender, they only listed male and female. I was thanked by a manager type when I finished and pointed out that in the city of New York, they officially have 31 genders and why were they not being inclusive by including all of them in their survey. He kinda looked at me and just said thank you for the feedback.<br />
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Once I got back to my room I was glad to get the sweat soaked clothing off and start to get comfortable. When I went to write down some more notes about the resort, I discovered that my notes had disappeared and a new note was there saying "We are very sorry we are already on track to solve your problems." The iPad in the room has a chat feature and I reported that my notes were missing, they were incomplete and that I wanted them back. Within minutes, they chatted back that someone from housekeeping would be in touch in the morning. Finally was able to hit the sack about 2am. Again, it was a long day!<br />
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Tomorrow (actually later today) is another transition day, but more importantly, it's a night to go see Yehaa Bob over at the River Roost at Port Orleans Riverside.<br />
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<br />The Hawaii Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16244531964643963754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8353780394455190659.post-89690250383429978022018-10-02T17:40:00.001-10:002018-10-02T17:42:05.670-10:00Fall 2018 Theme Park Trip-Days 12 and 13After three days at Cedar Point, it was time to head down south to the warmer weather. After 24 hours there, not having problems with a runny nose! Yea!<br />
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One of the issues I had in Cleveland was the blue tooth connection in the vehicle. Had no problems in Knoxville or Boston. I tried several items to get the bluetooth to work with the Sync in the Ford vehicle, but no luck. As I get to select my car I was looking for 1) a covered back so as I ran around today people couldn't see the items in the car and 2) blue tooth and not a USB or AUX input because of the type of phone that I have. After trying several different cars, I ended back in the same type of car I had in Cleveland. UGH! But, this one had the manual still in the glove compartment. Blue tooth is NOT in the index, you had to look up phone and media and then found what I needed. Apparently because I have Android, I have to get a special app to worth with a car's blue tooth. Not a happy camper, but I eventually got it working 45 minutes after getting down to the agency to select my car.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZufsrncncKQjy3A5uWpTongx1h3L969ecXtc1RHJ2J6Obea8ZG7m8SiFYS738HpYdv2G6-KwVRtwiR0W2u3jC50QBOjAui5dMN2jjT0XnWOs7C_ytdHaoZwcmi_V0NSluYjtFamsTMVTp/s1600/IMG_20181001_150705.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZufsrncncKQjy3A5uWpTongx1h3L969ecXtc1RHJ2J6Obea8ZG7m8SiFYS738HpYdv2G6-KwVRtwiR0W2u3jC50QBOjAui5dMN2jjT0XnWOs7C_ytdHaoZwcmi_V0NSluYjtFamsTMVTp/s200/IMG_20181001_150705.jpg" width="200" /></a>From there it was over to Fun Spot. Got the unlimited band that would allow me to both locations. Did Mine Blower several times. Really liked it! Good job Gravity Group! Next door at Old Town was the ride called Vomatron. I saw one in Hawaii about a decade ago and decided since one was there I would do it. Unfortunately, all the pictures they took came out blurry so other than a receipt, I have no proof. Did one of the two go-kart tracks they have at the Kissimmee location. Unfortunately one of the two was down for repairs but it was great to try for the first time!<br />
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Heading into Orlando, it was Star Flyer time. Really surprised me as it was more forceful rotation speed that I anticipated. I really am not afraid of heights, but I started to rotate. If you ever watched the video of the Tacoma Narrows bridge oscillation, that was me with my rotation a little at first and then eventually, I was facing the people behind me. It freaked me out a bit. I wasn't trying to get it to rotate, but when I asked the attendant why, she was clueless.<br />
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Since I was there, did the Ripley's Believe It Or Not museum. Can say I've been in one and not sure I would do it again.<br />
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At the Orlando Fun Spot location, I did the coasters there and also the go-karts. On the one track called Thrasher, there was no one waiting in line and me and the one other guy on the track were allowed to keep going and going and going. I finally got the hang of it and it was sort of like drifting. Between the coasters and the go-karts, I got my money's worth of the band use!<br />
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At the hotel, I learned that Google Maps gives you wrong directions. They need to put up a big sign saying if you don't turn to the left or right at the one set of lights, you will have to go to Lake Buena Vista and turn around!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO_5XBvbzlU2pNSANoRq8MwV6uvQi-Md1z2pvn_eNUD3uWvrjYd6LtiqmgIoI1RJMfu6gMTwca2zdo_X5SVnwwmHgy7fd8Bxe28GAFJg1APS86QB4-MvUILPzuOYEzxdzR5REVYCG_B2Di/s1600/IMG_20181001_201239.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO_5XBvbzlU2pNSANoRq8MwV6uvQi-Md1z2pvn_eNUD3uWvrjYd6LtiqmgIoI1RJMfu6gMTwca2zdo_X5SVnwwmHgy7fd8Bxe28GAFJg1APS86QB4-MvUILPzuOYEzxdzR5REVYCG_B2Di/s200/IMG_20181001_201239.jpg" width="200" /></a>The hotel is nice. It opened about a month ago, but it still has some bugs to work out. After I got myself settled down found out that a couple of other coaster buds are checked into the same hotel as they posted on FB their view. Much nicer than mine as I have a view of the garage. Hope to run into them later. After using the room and property a bit, have some feed back for them. One of the items is that they provide coffee in the room. When I asked about tea, was told that I can go to the Urban Pantry or Starbucks to order some. There is a note pad with pen and keeping there in the old fashioned way. So many items are controlled by the iPad and at least the pen and paper are not.<br />
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I had a friend who was supposed to get me a discount for park admission. Unfortunately, that fell through so I got on-line and ordered my ticket. Universal is having a special offer where you you get extra admissions for use within a week. I might use it on Thursday.<br />
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The room uses an iPad like device to control everything. Set the alarm and figured I'd walk over in the AM. Discovered that the alarm is not that loud and the pathway isn't really clearly marked. Used the bus to get over the parks. I've learned through experience that by using a fanny pack, yeah, I know it looks dumb, but when it comes to going through security, it makes things so much easier. Same thing when you have to put items in a locker for the rides.<br />
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Spent the day getting on those items that are new to me like the Jimmy Fallon and Fast and Furious rides as the targets but then just walking around and enjoying the place. With all the go-go-go that I've been doing I did something that I usually don't do, but decided to head back to the hotel and take a nap. I took the path that I was looking for this morning and discovered that they really don't have it marked well and have made notes to give the hotel. As for the nap, it was so worth it. Even with the curtains open, I fell asleep. It was needed.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9R54oOqXc_u1j4gbnpOceO75PJ_YpBmByre2rY7RnHTJNmG3YQFlC8QyLf5T2VADLeGc0hD0OVZwubqvOaYJT5J-VcjOT4evCdZAH3i0AoLekVX4lZpGKq9Af3wFy6TGDI-HVPDrOXXZ8/s1600/IMG_20181002_132114.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9R54oOqXc_u1j4gbnpOceO75PJ_YpBmByre2rY7RnHTJNmG3YQFlC8QyLf5T2VADLeGc0hD0OVZwubqvOaYJT5J-VcjOT4evCdZAH3i0AoLekVX4lZpGKq9Af3wFy6TGDI-HVPDrOXXZ8/s200/IMG_20181002_132114.jpg" width="200" /></a>After heading back into the parks after following the path, this time it was only a 20 minute walk into Islands of Adventure, hit up more rides and just taking in the place. The pathway has some very nice views. Something that really hit me as I was riding the Hulk roller coaster is that these are big mammoth machines and that as a rider you really have to believe that both the manufacturer and park have your best interest in heart when they give you their instructions. You really do have to have faith that the restraints are going to hold you in place and I chose to believe them. While I might have those funny feelings in my lower tummy and I'm being turned upside down, I can rest assured that the restraints and physics are going to hold me in place!<br />
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Back to the two coaster buddies. Ran into them and chatted for a few minutes. Tomorrow will probably send more time with them and hopefully some others at the Horror Nights event.<br />
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Something that I did today that was bad...I completely threw the eating habits out the window. Something that I did today which makes me proud...managed to get back to my room, put on my gym clothes and put in several miles on the treadmill at the gym in the hotel.<br />
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Additionally, I was contacted by work yesterday about a certain report. Some software was supposed to be updated so a new processed would have run the report but the software failed and had to drop back to the old method. Luckily I was in my room and had access to a computer. Today, had a question about a process. Luckily it was a simple text answer.<br />
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Tomorrow is going to be a long day with early entry and then the Horror nights event. It might be very practical to take a break in the afternoon.The Hawaii Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16244531964643963754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8353780394455190659.post-30123268579787424822018-10-01T02:18:00.005-10:002018-10-01T02:19:28.297-10:00Fall 2018 Theme Park Trip-Day 11Last full day here in beautiful Sandusky Ohio.<br />
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Being a Sunday, I needed to do a longer run for my marathon training. Not being familiar with
the area I did a run, but didn't do the total mileage that I wanted. Running along the causeway that leads out to the park, it gives you a different perspective than you would as you cruise along at 30 MPH getting ready to ride the coasters. At
home, along my route I know there are places with restrooms in parks and
water fountains. Not so with this run. So I ended up cutting it short.
But, at least I got in something.<br />
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The weather today has been really warm. I have been using a long sleeve shirt and then I have a second layer of a short sleeve shirt that buttons down but I leave open. It got warm enough that I went into the restroom and took off the long sleeve and just used the short sleeve shirt. To keep the ladies at bay, I made sure to button up the shirt.<br />
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With yesterday's purchase of the season pass, I was allowed into the park an hour early. Immediately head to the back of the park to take in Steel Vengeance. Hiking back there takes time and even with just the passholders in the park, the first ride took 1 hour to complete. But able to take in a few more coasters before the park really got going.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiQTf4NipPX-fhp3iHBU69pMTQKICEVOhyphenhyphenyNglVM2CRCyYeDgLWXAgMEJE6t-iw8AQxbxHUFukCSUlCv5vzfY16wIPgTJ6yFGKZ2Fy5P2gCkT3BF6k7YPRvcSNXcKHYGbtO3FPwtD4eSfg/s1600/IMG_20180930_152326.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiQTf4NipPX-fhp3iHBU69pMTQKICEVOhyphenhyphenyNglVM2CRCyYeDgLWXAgMEJE6t-iw8AQxbxHUFukCSUlCv5vzfY16wIPgTJ6yFGKZ2Fy5P2gCkT3BF6k7YPRvcSNXcKHYGbtO3FPwtD4eSfg/s200/IMG_20180930_152326.jpg" width="200" /></a><br />
Nice thing about days like this is you have your goals done and you can just relax, walk around, take in some of the smaller details. Go over to the petting zoo and pet some of the llamas they have there. They had the indoor haunts open and I did a couple of them. They were good. The lighting was such that you could see the scenes and the actors which was so nice as compared to the outdoor mazes of the previous nights.<br />
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As I walked around the park and rode the rides, the staff seemed to be very efficient, but in terms of friendliness, they were focused. Let me get your your drink, food or up and running on the ride. The associates just did what they needed to do. For me, that meant that I was able to get on and off the rides quickly. Except for the Giant Wheel. I waited in line and when I got to the front, was told they don't allow single riders. That was the first time that I've been rejected for the number in the party as compared to the weight/size of the rider.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ0pVOYVmpfn2NxmuTrJPy6ktxB2JCJHzSeRT3RIJgst4gwM2h2SvAkjuaVGvvcPHKDDRGdV2JXHu8zK3PJT1V4u1MfeYX4adL-iGEWIBLfjWDWl1V-xfoXiwj5B8qQSVFxpeRlgzP_fWn/s1600/IMG_20180930_123801.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ0pVOYVmpfn2NxmuTrJPy6ktxB2JCJHzSeRT3RIJgst4gwM2h2SvAkjuaVGvvcPHKDDRGdV2JXHu8zK3PJT1V4u1MfeYX4adL-iGEWIBLfjWDWl1V-xfoXiwj5B8qQSVFxpeRlgzP_fWn/s200/IMG_20180930_123801.jpg" width="200" /></a>Cedar Point has a long history and that includes a train so a train ride was necessary. They had some scenes set up to add to the experience, but there was something else that really caught my eye. There are so many coasters at the park and as you ride the train, it really becomes apparent. The excursion leads you next to so many parts of the track but more so the support structures. Up along the midway the area is designed so that you have lockers and booths and buildings. But there in the back you really get to see what is making up these rides. It was a fascinating look behind the scenes.<br />
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The one ride that I wanted to do a second time but wasn't able was Top Thrill Dragster. It had been marked in the app as being closed. There was staff on the platform and trains on the track, but there was nothing going on not even test runs of the vehicles. I was hoping to see some testing with a possible roll back, but...nothing.<br />
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While the park was open until 8pm, I decided to call it a day around 5pm. This is such a long trip and with limited clothing with me, I ended up back at the room and did laundry. At home I line dry my clothes so it was a change of pace to end up using a dryer for the first time in ages.<br />
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I thought about going to Chet and Matt's for dinner, as I've heard lots of good things about this location from other coaster enthusiasts but decided that the diet needs to keep some semblance of order so I decided to pass on this trip.<br />
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Laundry, packing and getting items lined up for Orlando's adventure that starts tomorrow.The Hawaii Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16244531964643963754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8353780394455190659.post-58909204958307456322018-09-29T17:19:00.002-10:002018-09-29T17:19:43.602-10:00Fall 2018 Theme Park Trip-Day 10Today was day two at Cedar point.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEDLhEUn8MeIpJuYOC7L6MM0BKaYVd9hGqOLQqZkvmrZd4TcaurQMLRJs0YPEO_Zdsw5g5Pz_j5dtW7L6Uy3jTl7xqibQutxJQnQj-Y22Z7SxtQm1wCry7NK6N6W1JtLFqehDW0kyq5Di9/s1600/IMG_20180929_170529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEDLhEUn8MeIpJuYOC7L6MM0BKaYVd9hGqOLQqZkvmrZd4TcaurQMLRJs0YPEO_Zdsw5g5Pz_j5dtW7L6Uy3jTl7xqibQutxJQnQj-Y22Z7SxtQm1wCry7NK6N6W1JtLFqehDW0kyq5Di9/s200/IMG_20180929_170529.jpg" width="200" /></a>The goal was to finish up the coasters that I didn't get yesterday. I didn't spend any time trying to repeat anything. I ran into two problems. The first was with Wicked Twister. It was listed as closed on the app. When I went over there, the sign said one hour, but the app still said closed and there was a sign saying closed but there were people in the station. The other was Wilderness Run. That is in Camp Snoopy. The problem is that if you are an adult over 54 inches you can't ride alone unless you had a small child with you. So on the latter, it was a no go. With the former, I was at Wicked Twister at the right time and got on without a wait when they reopened it.<br />
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So from opening until 6pm I was able to get the coasters and some of the flat rides. Mission accomplished!<br />
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One of the items that I think would be very helpful is if Cedar Point would standardize what you do at the coasters. Some of them have no bins, some have bins, some only have lockers, some have bins but the sign says leave in locker, some have bins that are only for loose footwear. It would be great if they could get the signage to match what is at the coaster at least. With the lockers, they need to put up some barriers so that there is shading on the screens. There were several times when I had a real hard time trying to use the screen as it was washed out by the sun.<br />
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I also tried a couple of eating locations and couldn't find any place that had unsweetened iced tea. For those of us trying to avoid sugar, the only option was for water.<br />
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Lastly, if I had paid for the Halloweekends event, I would have asked for my money back. I tried the event tonight. I went through another scare zone and then two outdoor mazes. To me the mazes were horrible and the scare zones weren't much better. The biggest issue is the way the lighting and the fake fog interact. The lighting blinded you so you can't see any detail in the sets they had set up. All the details were lost. The players, you couldn't see any details about them. They were backlit and their faces and the makeup or masks were obscured. There was confusion as to were areas began and how the lines were supposed to be lined up. The app didn't give much clarification on these items. again, it was a good thing that it was included and not a separate charge item.<br />
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I'm going to head to the park tomorrow. I had purchased a two day ticket. For a third day, I'd have to buy a new ticket. I'd also pay for parking. BUT, Knott's is a Cedar Fair park so I talked to customer service and made the decision to upgrade to a platinum pass. So I'm covered for two more park days and have the parking covered. Weird to be a pass holder for such a short time.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFSl2KPnrS9DIJw5qv3lr8NFmnC7CDarYcDYS63x_peJNq5ObAkFh42fARuzq5qdTPr21h6F7df-zYhCkIw5zOwL_fahGiLdozF3R6sTiu_bE-LTCfe2qK7QU1i3FpdqSpSwr4AVE2j4Xy/s1600/IMG_20180929_121743.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFSl2KPnrS9DIJw5qv3lr8NFmnC7CDarYcDYS63x_peJNq5ObAkFh42fARuzq5qdTPr21h6F7df-zYhCkIw5zOwL_fahGiLdozF3R6sTiu_bE-LTCfe2qK7QU1i3FpdqSpSwr4AVE2j4Xy/s200/IMG_20180929_121743.jpg" width="200" /></a>One aspect of the fall season is how the parks decorate outside of the Halloween theme. I really liked all the pumpkins, corn stalks and squash and bounty items scattered around. Due to the difference in the seasons in Hawaii, these sort of decoration really aren't used. It brings back a lot of memories growing up in Massachusetts.<br />
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Something I have to give Cedar Point a big thumbs up about is the mark parking spot portion of the app. When you park you can go into your profile and click the save parking location. It shows a google map image of the parking lot with a dot of where you are within the huge parking lot. When I left the park, it changed to Return to Car. I click on that it and showed the dot where my car was parked and another dot where I was. It was very helpful!<br />
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Tomorrow will an attempt to run and at the park repeat rides on a couple of coasters and then probably call it a short day so that I can get a bit of rest and updates processed before flying to Orlando on Monday.<br />
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<br />The Hawaii Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16244531964643963754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8353780394455190659.post-84840579040896867122018-09-28T19:24:00.002-10:002018-09-28T19:25:13.117-10:00Fall 2018 Theme Park Trip-Day 9Well, I have day 9 listed but the last post was day 4, what happened to the days in between you might be asking? Well, those weren't days spent at a theme park or traveling to/from one. I went back to the Boston area to visit my family. It's been 6 years since the last time I saw them which was when I returned for my mom's funeral. Briefly, it was a emotionally weird trip as I spent most of the time cleaning up my old bedroom. I moved to Hawaii in 1990 with the idea that I would be returning. That didn't happen. This trip makes trip six back and each time I've shipped items back. I have a number of items that I'm shipping back to myself in Hawaii so that I can scan them since I have the devices and software to be a good job doing it. I'll cover issues and feelings while home in another post later.<br />
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Meantime, today was a very exciting day. I flew into Cleveland for the second time in my life. The first time I was visiting my Walt Disney College Program trailermate Jim and that was back in 1988. But it wasn't the fact that I was in Cleveland, but that fact that I was on my way to Cedar Point, the East Coast Roller Coaster Capital of the US. The park was open tonight for their Haunt event. My goal is to get my coaster count up.<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hG4nSqRV3e4/W68MEfyPZZI/AAAAAAAAFDM/9Ow90xv_7w06n0XBvRkbOyPeDD8HusaUwCLcBGAs/s1600/00013XTR_00013_BURST20180928173048%255B1%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hG4nSqRV3e4/W68MEfyPZZI/AAAAAAAAFDM/9Ow90xv_7w06n0XBvRkbOyPeDD8HusaUwCLcBGAs/s200/00013XTR_00013_BURST20180928173048%255B1%255D.jpg" width="200" /></a>I arrived and got misty eyed. It was so excited that I finally am doing something that I talked about doing for a long time. As I was driving into parking lot I had that night before Christmas feeling about it. I'm walking in feeling like I'm walking on air as I had an electricity just exciting me as I moved to walk under the Gatekeeper keyhole structures. As I walked in, my head turning left and right looking around taking it all in for both the coasters that surrounded me and the park being decked out for their Halloween event. I also had chills due to both the excitement and the temperatures. I'm really glad I brought the long sleeve shirt.<br />
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I figured I'd get the newest, most popular ride out of the way first and Steel Vengeance is all the way at the back of the park. Even though I got there when the park opened, I still ended up waiting for the better part of an hour to ride. I don't know the exact time as they don't want to see any cell phones in line and I put mine in a locker. I did start a conversation with the group of people in front of me. One facet that I have going for me when I do talk to people is that I live in Hawaii. People want to know about Hawaii. While waiting in line, the park was showing promos on monitors through out the queue . I was surprised that my old In the Loop co-host, Adam House was featured. Unfortunately, I was too far way from the monitor and holding a conversation to hear what Adam was discussing.<br />
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In the next line for Maverick I started a conversation with a family who comes from Michigan and the kids in college coming from New York join up for a family event. They highly recommended doing the Haunt events tonight and the rides tomorrow as they said the park will be crowded. I walked around a bit and did one maze and was not impressed. The scare area and the maze had, in my opinion, poor lighting. I couldn't see the objects or people as I had lights flashing in my face. Due to the back-lighting, I couldn't tell if the person coming towards me was a monster or a fellow park attendee. I could hear grunting and yelling and other noises, but couldn't see how the monster was decorated.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2L1-DdCb1rsts9z_up6hyphenhyphenIv1yIIIYMx7rNybvuy8ZOBw8hmPEVMqMJI55p2WjYKJOtTh6hRzRYpsELSFczeDQR8P36eNoJO3C6BuwhZnjZqpf8cAWtbkhvnTL38SP8d9kGTOXRud3uOgt/s1600/IMG_20180928_230911.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2L1-DdCb1rsts9z_up6hyphenhyphenIv1yIIIYMx7rNybvuy8ZOBw8hmPEVMqMJI55p2WjYKJOtTh6hRzRYpsELSFczeDQR8P36eNoJO3C6BuwhZnjZqpf8cAWtbkhvnTL38SP8d9kGTOXRud3uOgt/s200/IMG_20180928_230911.jpg" width="200" /></a><br />
The rest of the night was spent riding coasters and doing a bit of shivering as the chill winds blew in from Lake Erie. I know that tomorrow I'll make sure to bring a third layer to have with me. I'll leave it in the car. I'll also be talking to park staff to see if I might save some money by getting a 2018 season pass as I'll be going to Knott's Berry Farm who has Cedar Fair as their parent company as well.<br />
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Until then...The Hawaii Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16244531964643963754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8353780394455190659.post-61369059341382606492018-09-24T01:17:00.000-10:002018-09-24T01:17:50.589-10:00Fall 2018 Theme Park Trip-Day 4Today was all over the place!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEbBJNJrcHNrh5BHIGqWVb5nKPbpdszZLSblLsDsvc17scPOySx_spjMeFZSMr-DffLV6YQBBScEnDmrPO76LYZdrGPFH0XlMkMS3R_kVzw6Tf0pWtOcsfM1AvLD71FH8clc1cT-kwGznF/s1600/IMG_20180923_082623.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEbBJNJrcHNrh5BHIGqWVb5nKPbpdszZLSblLsDsvc17scPOySx_spjMeFZSMr-DffLV6YQBBScEnDmrPO76LYZdrGPFH0XlMkMS3R_kVzw6Tf0pWtOcsfM1AvLD71FH8clc1cT-kwGznF/s200/IMG_20180923_082623.jpg" width="200" /></a>I have the Honolulu Marathon in December and decided that for this trip I'm going to do my best to keep up some sort of training while I'm traveling. Going running in an unfamiliar city can bring about different vistas and running patterns. The run brought me along a long veterans highway with a huge side walk along it although for most of it, there were just fields and forest next to it. I ran early so that I could spend the rest of the day running around to attractions so I started at 6am. Next to the motel where I'm staying there is a beautiful mountain stream which lead to a mill. What a beautiful site. As I got closer, I couldn't hear my podcasts as there was a small drop off and the water cascading over it made this beautiful thum-thum-thum sound. From there is was up towards Dollywood's entrance and then just kept going. It was dark and there were very few cars. Being the Smokey Mountains, there was mist everywhere. Several times when I went to scratch my beard I was surprised at how much moisture was clinging to it. I didn't encounter any other people walking or running and I'm sure I must have been out of place to the drivers as they went along their task. When I returned to the motel, at the embankment of the river there was an older gentleman sitting on top of a picnic table there playing his guitar and singing. What a way to start a Sunday morning!<br />
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For activities, spent the earlier portion of the day heading into Gatlinburg. Did my first mountain coaster which was before you got into the downtown district. It was different than what I expected but still a lot of fun. I had been on a alpine side where you take a chair lift to the top and then ride down. Part of the charm was being towed up while sitting in the cart. The ride down was lots of fun but didn't expect it to be so short.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7c1a0G2FrOQUXTfatimNBzpMjbXPZpjGMuGD-celTpaIh-BPsKrB31r-HBCzYPqodvGA9IuVoT8ykFp_5j8doCKFmRX3-rEFRtfzrbAs8IpbJgzYprkLuBf-tkShjZxxsgz3XsOwHFcLy/s1600/IMG_20180923_113424.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7c1a0G2FrOQUXTfatimNBzpMjbXPZpjGMuGD-celTpaIh-BPsKrB31r-HBCzYPqodvGA9IuVoT8ykFp_5j8doCKFmRX3-rEFRtfzrbAs8IpbJgzYprkLuBf-tkShjZxxsgz3XsOwHFcLy/s200/IMG_20180923_113424.jpg" width="150" /></a>I had been to Gatlinburg once before in 1982 when I had visited Knoxville for the world's fair that was taking place in the city. The one memory I had from then is a store that sold these troll creations. Funny enough, the second store I went into had trolls. Not exactly as I remember them but thought it odd that I ran into them so quickly and only in the one store on the second floor of a mall that was tucked away in the back of the walkway.<br />
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I did a couple of the really touristy things like the The World of Illusion, Earthquake, the ride, and Mysterious Mansion. The first two were really hokey. I laughed though the whole Earthquake experience. With the Mysterious Mansion, I got grouped up with a number of other people and the "leader" was this 6 ft 270 lb guy that was a really scaredy cat but yet he <br />
kept taking the lead and screeching out as the two actors would pop out of different places and yell boo.<br />
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Throughout the day I did four of the mountain coasters. The newest one is called The Rowdy Bear and in addition to the coaster they also had a what is being called a mountain glider. You're suspended from the bar and you zip along. I trust that these devices are safe but there were a couple of corners that I whipped around that made me swing back and forth that made me wonder for a second. I mentioned the Florida Zipline Coaster and they said they were aware of it but this was the first deployment of their technology in the US. I did buy the pic and a video and they have done something that I've never seen before. They gave me the physical print and on there is a QR code that you can use to download both pic and video. Something that I didn't like it that in the downloaded pic, it also includes the QR code so that other people could get it too. I'll need to photoshop it to remove the code, but eventually I'll get those posted.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9qh0kkBIis6lBwc6tJoIkErZ7GobCGJnrP3elHT7HBKHwqZCqFY2bhC6TnckNTKWRMuEDkd_6Ibk5uz_zMiV_4tkhg7qVi4AC-18wdqokX2Hwag7KqKfmcY-KwJaJcAYBWJWv-6fglWth/s1600/IMG_20180923_183245.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9qh0kkBIis6lBwc6tJoIkErZ7GobCGJnrP3elHT7HBKHwqZCqFY2bhC6TnckNTKWRMuEDkd_6Ibk5uz_zMiV_4tkhg7qVi4AC-18wdqokX2Hwag7KqKfmcY-KwJaJcAYBWJWv-6fglWth/s200/IMG_20180923_183245.jpg" width="200" /></a>Away from Gatlinburg, back in Pigeon Forge, spent time at both the Titanic and Alcatraz East attractions. Within Titanic, the item that I thought really drove home the point of what happened to the people is you walk outside the bridge and they have a representation of the iceberg next to the ship. You can run your hand along it, and it's real ice. The air in that room is chilly like it was that night. Then you can put your hand in some water that is kept at 28 degrees, the temp the people of the Titanic were dropped into once the ship sank. I only kept my hand in it for about 20 seconds and could really, really feel it. I could pull my hand out of the water, but they didn't have the option which really drove home the point of how these people died.<br />
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At Alcataz East, it's not a history of the place itself, but a museum that looks at crime and justice in all sorts of aspects going from back in ancient times to today. They had a number of actual items involved with topics they were discussing. Something amusing here that happened is that unlike at Titanic where they just handed you a self guide tour wand, the Alcatraz folks wanted you to leave your ID. So I asked if they would be responsible if I had ID theft during the next year. She then commented that the wands were $300 a piece and they could use my car keys to make sure they got it back. Fine. In the back of my head I'm thinking Titanic didn't ask for something as a hold but then again, maybe as a crime museum that's what they're worried about happening to them. At the end of the tour she asked for the name on the ID and said I was the guy with the car keys and she responded, "Oh yah, you....". Bit of an attitude, but the information presented was fascinating. I ended up spending 90 minutes in there.<br />
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By this time, it was almost 9pm and it was raining so decided to call it a night after grabbing a bite to eat. Unfortunately, that meant no moonshine tasting so I'll have to save that for another trip. Tomorrow is up really early for an early fight to visit family in Boston.<br />
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<br />The Hawaii Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16244531964643963754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8353780394455190659.post-45934470981192020672018-09-22T17:44:00.000-10:002018-09-22T17:44:10.171-10:00Fall 2018 Theme Park Trip-Day 3Day two at Dollywood was a very calm day as compared to the first day.<br />
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To start the day, I didn't set an alarm. I hadn't gotten much sleep the past couple of days. The two flights didn't get me much rest and about the time I was checking into the hotel I was really starting to feel it. I didn't get up until almost 7:30am. I let me body let me know when it was ready. I did a little bit more planning and got to Dollywood for their opening at 10am.<br />
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Because I had rushed around the park the day before and basically did all of the coasters, today was just a day to enjoy without worrying about accomplishing any goals. First thing I noticed going into the park is that not only were there more people, but more kids. Also, when did toting kids around in one of those collapsible wagons go into vogue? I was surprised at how many I saw. Because there were more families today, I decided to move quickly and hit a bunch of rides before the crowds really piled up. Made a coaster pass including several rides on Wild Eagle and Mystery Mine. <br />
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So on with the exploring. I continued to go back to the Artisan Valley of the park and look at all the different crafts. I talked to some employees and they said that the park wanted to expand that area but was finding it hard due to a troubles finding talent. We then discussed is it because the artisan didn't want to pass it on on there wasn't anyone behind them that wanted to learn? They felt it was more of the latter than the former. That's a shame but then again, we have technologies that help produce items for people at a quicker pace and cheaper cost, but in many cases the quality is not the same. <br />
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A train ride is always an enjoyable endevour! They were loading people on and taking people not in a circle pattern, but more of a dumbbell shape something like two circles connected by a line. In parts if you were on the left side of the train, where you saw the left side going out, coming back you got the ride side. If you're a park nerd, the trip went around the area that is being expanded for 2019 called Wildwood Grove. Land has been cleared, grading is going on and some construction has already started. I ended up talking to a clerk at a clothing store that is outside of the park and they said they are really excited as being a resident in the area, it will give them something new to look forward to when they visit the park.<br />
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One of the challenges has been the food and what to eat. I did find a couple of items that weren't the best, but better than alternatives. I got what would have been an Italian sausage sandwich but I asked them to hold the bun and the chips. I asked the cashier if she would give the chips out to someone who just wanted chips at her stand and she wouldn't do that so I just asked the people behind me if they wanted an extra bag and they said sure. Later in the day I did decide to go off script. I had one of the park staff say that Ham and Beans had good southern food. I ended up with a platter that had beans, corn bread and potatoes in addition to some meat and other veggies. They also had blackberry cobbler with vanilla ice cream included in the price. Oh, it all tasted sooo good! A little later when I was looking for an outlet, I ended up getting a salted caramel milkshake. I just know that tomorrow I need to make sure that I don't continue the trend.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_nan0JOxV7Blff7vPOyVLe1WT4SaPdPrDZUfgMcoaHY517fJ-evqjP9Xo0i3_jCxGgW27mZmJTqhOgDVhXDfAeG1C2rZZ9HAadsqo3My55tsw0CtYr2FXZ9zNg0kK_T1kRICAezG-f8v9/s1600/IMG_20180922_160414.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_nan0JOxV7Blff7vPOyVLe1WT4SaPdPrDZUfgMcoaHY517fJ-evqjP9Xo0i3_jCxGgW27mZmJTqhOgDVhXDfAeG1C2rZZ9HAadsqo3My55tsw0CtYr2FXZ9zNg0kK_T1kRICAezG-f8v9/s200/IMG_20180922_160414.jpg" width="150" /></a>While I didn't watch any shows from front to back, there were so many available that I caught pieces of throughout the two days. One of the people happen to start while I was eating the corn bread. I couldn't see who it was from where I sat due to a wall in the way. It turned out to be part of one of the other items I was told I must do is get a picture with Miss Lillian, the Chicken Lady of Dollywood. After the show was over, Mission Accomplished!<br />
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I really want to applaud Dollywood for providing me such a good time. There is a warmth and charm there that just oozes out of everything going on there. As a side note, I was surprised at how many guys I saw there with epic beards and mustaches that were on staff. Disney only allows close cropped stuff. One guy operating Mystery Mine had a beard about as long as mine and a great handlebar mustache. But then again, it totally falls into line with the story they are telling at the park. I found the food prices reasonable. Anywhere you could ask for ice water and you got it for free. They were running the rides with multiple trains and kept the lines down. Granted at one point of the day I did see Tennessee Twister with a 50 minute wait, but that seemed to be the longest I saw when I looked at the map. The longest I personally waited was for Blazing Fury at 10 minutes. Over the past several years they have had Timer Tower, the Adventure Mountain ropes course and Lighting Rods which closed shortly after opening. Granted the other two are already gone and they are still working to get Lightning Rod working, but they have some rides that have some wonderful theming and work very creatively in the spaces they have available for use.<br />
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Outside of the park I wanted to do a little bit of shopping (reference paragraph 5) as they have several outlet malls unlike what we have in Hawaii. I went to a store to pick up a shirt and on the way back to the hotel I traveled down Parkway. That's right, just Parkway. Not Parkway Blvd, Parkway Ave or Parkway Parkway. This reminded me of what RT 192 was in Kissimmee, FL back when I worked at Disney. Today's Hwy 192 only wishes it is as busy as Parkway is now. One item that was recommend was Jurassic Jungle Boat Ride. I saw the lighted sign and had to go around the block to get back into the parking lot. OMG, I posted a couple of pics to Facebook and I stated it was Gloriously Tacky! It was so bad it was good! Many of the animals didn't work. The lighting didn't work in several areas. There was one place where they had a giant Jurassic cockroach with its latex rubber skin ripped, hanging down and showing the stuffing underneath. There were several times that I just laughed. Unfortunately, the last scene where it seemed to have several things go wrong I was laughing as some action took place with a loud noise and the little girl (is a 10-11 year old little?) in the row in front started crying. I wasn't laughing at her as I started laughing before she started crying. It took the parents a minute or two after getting off the boat to get her calmed down.<br />
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I'll go running in the morning, but tomorrow is primarily more of Parkway in Pigeon Forge and the touristy stuff including a couple of mountain coasters, Titanic and moonshine tasting! The Hawaii Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16244531964643963754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8353780394455190659.post-11749556467030785032018-09-21T14:37:00.001-10:002018-09-22T17:44:46.483-10:00Fall 2018 Theme Park Trip-Day 2<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2buEtpI1WVzvoZ6_UXzSTBgRRab2d21-3Cp7z6PpURSb-ba4iUqXUD34wKEsWCCMeQr5HM1rjYXvbUK3KGISyOJUz5T0t0f3bSrDVsA1o3ZZmhuMLz4EAeJn-o9fBqNW4ZK_4JpcmarNX/s1600/Screenshot_20180920-162811-crop.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a>Well maybe day 1.5? I left on a Thursday. My usual shuttle company that I have used before went out of business last year so I was left scrambling looking for a new company. With such short notice, I used Uber. With tip is was still cheaper that one of the shuttle service one way charges.<br />
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My trip started with a long overnight flight from HNL to EWR or in other words Honolulu to Newark. When I arrived at EWR, it was on a Friday hence what really to call the day. Although, the start was very reminiscent of another trip that I took in 2010 which ended up with major repercussions for me. They said they were needing 124,000 lbs of fuel for the flight. Unfortunately, we had a slow pump. We were supposed to be taking off and we were at 27,000 lbs and still trying to get more. We ended up moving gates to get a different pump. They sent out two updates via text. Eventually we left almost a full hour after we were supposed to. I had 1 hour 45 minutes between connections and the new landing time cut that down to 25 minutes. Fortunately they were able to push a bit and get us there and gave that to about 25 minutes before the boarding began. Even though the gates were are away, made it there 15 minutes before boarding would start. Praise be for minor miracles!<br />
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As someone who has a license, but not a car, I'm spending all sorts of time fooling around with the car trying to figure out what's where and how does it work. All these new fangled doo-dads.<br />
So it's trying to figure out how to adjust the wing mirrors, adjusting the seat, adjusting the steering column, trying to find if it has a USB port, trying to find how to wash the windshield, how to pair the car with blue tooth and finally, how to pop the hood to be able to check the window washer levels. The USB in the car wouldn't charge the Pixel faster than the battery would drain while using GPS. Also challenged to control the volume on the device or pause the playback without having to pick up the phone and fingerprint in instead of dealing with the lock screen.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR4BdhtBaq9npzNMXzwLlhalvzHGi3katgVPy03mH8kcz5bHG4_SUpRevT4NBmGAdXsZXuI3rkd7yZrHzhjSQv2DVCQlHD4xdIOKfGd89o8mRMCFTs5zc_v2ByeTYgi8J-9q15-EYDC0ic/s1600/IMG_20180921_124707.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR4BdhtBaq9npzNMXzwLlhalvzHGi3katgVPy03mH8kcz5bHG4_SUpRevT4NBmGAdXsZXuI3rkd7yZrHzhjSQv2DVCQlHD4xdIOKfGd89o8mRMCFTs5zc_v2ByeTYgi8J-9q15-EYDC0ic/s200/IMG_20180921_124707.jpg" width="150" /></a></div>
With the GPS, I finally made it to Dollywood about 12:30. It was hot and humid. I got to the parking lot and changed from jeans to shorts because it was so hot. Once inside the park, looked for the first sit down place so I could plug in and get a bit of charge on my phone. Finally after 15 minutes the phone was charged enough that I started my day at the park.<br />
<br />
I was so excited to be there. Being on In The Loop we had Pete Owens, the PR Director of Dollywood, on a number of times talking about the park. It was wonderful to be there to finally experience it myself. My first ride, Thunderhead, a fairly small compact woody. I use a fanny pack at the park and decided to keep it on. I was worried the whole time as I had so much packed in it. After I got off and went to my next ride, they have cubbies there where you can place your items. I used it. OMG, I felt so much better knowing that I couldn't lose my fanny pack. As I was impressed walking around the park and the quality of the staff. I felt like I was in a concierge level service location.Instead of just acknowledging you being there, they asked questions. When I responded, I ended up getting in several conversations with the staff. It was fun! When I go back tomorrow, not sure how crowded it will be as I guess Tennessee is taking the Florida Gators and many people will stay out of the park to watch the game.<br />
<br />
Tomorrow will be more focused on the shows as I was able to get most of the rides done with many of them being walked in. In many ways I think Dollywood is like Knott's Berry Farm in that they have lots of historical cultural information to share and I want to take in those details as I also plan to do with my return trip to Knott's.<br />
<br />
<br />The Hawaii Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16244531964643963754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8353780394455190659.post-6219709408254418772018-09-17T22:18:00.000-10:002018-09-22T15:53:03.549-10:00Fall 2018 Theme Park Trip planning-Recognition CardJust a couple of days to go before heading out to the mainland. Really excited about this. The hotel and car reservations are all taken care of. Have several tickets purchased, but not all of them at this point. Looking to see about discounts for some of the attractions.<br />
<br />
The first week is pretty well planned out. Dollywood and Pigeon Forge then to Boston to visit family. I had the suggestion to go to Six Flags New England or Canobie Lake Park while in New England. Unfortunately, they are on their fall schedules and not open weekdays while I'm there.<br />
<br />
Spent time over the weekend buying some gifts. Not wanting to cart around on the different legs, it will be easier to pack and ship some items rather than trying to bring with me on the plane. Food goodies are nice because they can get eaten and you don't have to dust them over the long haul.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1FKaXakZAOnet2H3MZsffOSOyd5OBS_57v76jiaxCiAzE-P9Ro7-5HrQUsUcKX0BfHmOJCZ96Ke88UPkp0sOtSr69AzAdl8GFtzUUPjrT7OdMl50leTAPWtij6Vyjm53eYi4AwxurXzvw/s1600/IMG_20180917_201528.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Great Job! Card" border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1FKaXakZAOnet2H3MZsffOSOyd5OBS_57v76jiaxCiAzE-P9Ro7-5HrQUsUcKX0BfHmOJCZ96Ke88UPkp0sOtSr69AzAdl8GFtzUUPjrT7OdMl50leTAPWtij6Vyjm53eYi4AwxurXzvw/s320/IMG_20180917_201528.jpg" title="Great Job! card" width="240" /></a>Worked on the recognition card. When I've talked to people about the idea I haven't received any negative feedback. People really like the idea. It will also help to keep me focused on looking for positive during the trip. Last time I only gave out half a dozen. This time, I'm hoping for more. Bringing 50 cards with me. I'll bring the softcopy with me in case I need to make more but might need to find a Walmart or something to find the card stock on which to print them. <br />
<br />
Since I started planning the trip and knowing that I was going to San Diego I was trying to get in touch with an old college buddy. We lost touch a number of years ago. I would send them my Christmas card and one year I got it back in the mail as deliverable. The old email addresses and phone number went stale. Lookups for name searches didn't work. Facebook negative. Finally, I did have a family member name of someone I didn't know. Was able to find them on FB and reached out. They in turn were able to get me some contact information. After doing the Belmont Park roller coaster, we're going to get together. It's been over two decades since we last communicated and I look forward to catching up with them.<br />
<br />
One of my concerns for the trip is my diet. I haven't been doing sugars and grains for a while now. I know there are going to be days when I'll be going outside that range. I just need to remind myself not to do it every day. Last year after doing the marathon I ate whatever. One months later there was a 20lb difference. I don't want that to happen on this trip so I need to be a little more judicious with my choices.<br />
<br />
Finally I was trying to decide what to pack as the weather is going to be different in the mountains of Tennessee vs the shore of Lake Erie, New England then Florida and Southern California. Living in Hawaii for so long has thinned out my New England blood and have decided that some long sleeve garments might be necessary as below 70 could be considered cold for me. Stupid, I know, but five locations on one trip forces some choices.The Hawaii Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16244531964643963754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8353780394455190659.post-72377931919447833542018-09-08T22:05:00.000-10:002018-09-22T15:53:35.350-10:00Fall 2018 Theme Park Trip-plans and planningLooking back it's been two years since my last post. Time to fix that.<br />
<br />
Well, I have another big trip coming up and am totally ecstatic about it. I am about to get a full month off from work. I've been working to make sure there is another person in the office that knows my skills. I'm one that I'm not afraid to share everything that I know.<br />
<br />
Travel plans include Dollywood and Pigeon Forge area attractions, going to Boston to visit family. Heading to Cedar Point to the East Coast coaster capital. Time in Florida will include Universal Orlando and Halloween Horror Nights, the Disney parks including Food and Wine Festival and Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party, Legoland, Florida Zipline Coaster, Star Flyer, and Fun Spots. In California the West Coast Legoland there in the San Diego area and their SeaWorld plus Belmont Park in the "extreme south" are the plans. Traveling north to Anaheim and the Disneyland resort including Mickey's Halloween Party, Knott's Berry and Scary Farms, Santa Monica Pier, Universal Hollywood, Six Flags Magic Mountain the West Coast coaster capital...possibly their Halloween event and then the Warner Bros Studio Tour and their Halloween event. So Heartland, East Coast, Mid West, the South and West Coast will be covered on this trip. I am so appreciative that I have the ability to do this.<br />
<br />
Along the way I plan to meet up with a number of people. Some are coaster buddies, some are Disney pals, others are college friends and some are former co-workers and podcasters. So while I may be traveling solo, I won't be doing everything as a single.<br />
<br />
Surprisingly enough, when I was trying to make the travel arrangements, I wanted to maybe do trains between say Sandusky, OH and Knoxville, TN or Knoxville, TN and Orlando, FL as a way to see the country. Those options weren't viable due to how far away trains stations were from starting or ending points needing buses. I looked at maybe buses outright, but the amount of time and transfers were rather awkward and cumbersome. Luckily I was able to make the flight arrangements through one carrier, United, although several legs will be with code share partners. Learned that it is difficult to try to book a trip with more than five legs to the trip. All totaled, I have nine segments. The first leg I have to travel from Honolulu to Newark which is a ten hour flight and then back up to Knoxville. Blissfully the LAX to HNL flight is six hours.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil3CL4xIBHsgAMO2HpMJLLY-4Vi-OeTUNJmC5WekRVboJwQ4WrQ0OT99JKFqk1i6NuQz8GQrihWPMLWgc30t8LMNAGwtPV84BoUw_uBAdQFGDnZDa-BH2tngq8F-mIlSElgxjSXM4vF4Y2/s1600/flight+leg+map.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="591" height="161" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil3CL4xIBHsgAMO2HpMJLLY-4Vi-OeTUNJmC5WekRVboJwQ4WrQ0OT99JKFqk1i6NuQz8GQrihWPMLWgc30t8LMNAGwtPV84BoUw_uBAdQFGDnZDa-BH2tngq8F-mIlSElgxjSXM4vF4Y2/s400/flight+leg+map.png" width="400" /></a><br />
In my big 2010 trip, I had business cards that I gave out for people going above and beyond in their work. Back then, I gave them a card recognizing them for their effort, took their pic, blogged about them and their actions <br />
<br />
and then made sure I wrote back to the companies involved to give the person credit. While I don't have the cards ready to go yet, I plan on doing that again this trip. It's really easy to fall into the negative and those cards helped keep me looking for the positive.<br />
<br />
During my fall 2016 trip, I lost my wallet while riding Mako at SeaWorld Orlando the day before I was to fly to LAX. Still haven't heard back from SeaWorld if they dredged the pond where it dropped and recovered it with the $700 still inside. If I ever get that back, really need to make sure to make big noise about that! But with losing my ID, I want to make sure on this trip that I have backups like maybe making sure that I bring my passport and not keeping all the money on my person. Also I need to make sure that I follow my procedures and not rush when I get on a coaster to make sure that I have everything really secured.<br />
<br />
One of the other challenges that I have is with the rental car portions. I have a valid drivers license, but don't own a car in Hawaii. When I rent I must do the responsible action have have some insurance and the costs add up quickly. So the RAC company would look at say Friday noon to Monday 6am as just three days, the insurance company says it's four so on those transfer days, I'm having to pay for insurance twice. Plus the insurance itself isn't cheap with charges that have been 15-25% of the daily rental rate. But, it's something that I have to do since I don't have my own policy. <br />
<br />
I use Flickr instead of Instagram. When I would post to Flickr, it would automatically post to Twitter and then a bit later to Facebook. Something has happened to the interface and that no longer happens. If you want to see pics during the trip, goto <a href="http://flickr.com/frikitiki">flickr.com/frikitiki</a>. For quick updates I'm @coconutwireless on twitter.<br />
<br />
If you have comments or questions, let me know. The fall 2018 Coaster Trip begins on September 20th!<br />
<br />The Hawaii Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16244531964643963754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8353780394455190659.post-85248530981857941072016-09-09T22:34:00.001-10:002016-09-09T22:34:39.659-10:00<h1>
Over View</h1>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrUzgpJQoEuXFZDkbsoKxtu2rAVdMYWtAvmoF3bbVJStnniqjvIWZMQjQiT8SPxVqj6M2qY-RwuDi8ETYZD1efS3csl0LgXtqzgi7s0A5vpjPSDVFN4Pzahp3h3pI1Hf1Z1ApMFLRP8nJj/s1600/twelve+parks+collage+-+Copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Twelve Parks Collage" border="0" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrUzgpJQoEuXFZDkbsoKxtu2rAVdMYWtAvmoF3bbVJStnniqjvIWZMQjQiT8SPxVqj6M2qY-RwuDi8ETYZD1efS3csl0LgXtqzgi7s0A5vpjPSDVFN4Pzahp3h3pI1Hf1Z1ApMFLRP8nJj/s400/twelve+parks+collage+-+Copy.jpg" title="Twelve Parks Collage" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Twelve Parks Collage</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
So while on my trip to Shanghai Disneyland, I was asked how
I would rate the park against the other parks. I have been very, very fortunate
with my Disney travels in order to be able to have visited all of the Disney
theme parks. For those that aren’t
familiar, there now twelve parks total. You’ll find Disney across the globe. Two
parks are in Anaheim, four in Lake Buena Vista, FL, Marne-la-Vallée France is
the home to two parks; Hong Kong supports a single park, two parks in Urayasu,
Japan and now a single park in Shanghai, China. On my excursion in June, 2016 I
visited Disney in Hong Kong, Japan and China in a single trip along with a side
trip to Universal Studios in Osaka. I haven’t visited the US parks since 2010,
but that will be remedied in October 2016 by doing an east coast and west coast
swing. Within four months that will be ten of the twelve parks. <br />
The visit to
Disneyland Paris resort was in 2008. Why do I mention this? To give a reference
point of my experience with the parks and what was and wasn’t in the parks when
I visited.<br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: #444444;"></span>Little bit of a disclaimer up front. This is my rating of
what I liked. You may agree with me, you may not. There are items that tickle
my fancy but for you, it may be like dragging nails across the chalk board just
as there may be somethings that stick in my craw but causes a big smile on your
face. No two visitors to any Disney park will take away an identical
experience. That’s fine. In the background, keep in mind that while there are a
number of similarities, all of the parks are different. They all have their own
personalities, strengths and weaknesses. My ratings will be based on my actual
visits to the parks and not things they have changed since the latest visit.
With each park, I’ll put the last time I visited there as part of the
description.<br />
<br />
<h2>
12 Walt Disney Studios Paris </h2>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihI_Vk7pNjqUYcloKDsll4JHo7Af0X5qh0ebJRHreegTAxUEvTNKySvtJZklJ490n21VucXwQKuBeNCC5-cB42XgD8XtVOL8HGEbcF7i-YzBx6YE8zTnW9l_gZq1w5dJ84HaNNC3IRHFJS/s1600/100_0728.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Walt Disney Studios Paris Dedication Plaque" border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihI_Vk7pNjqUYcloKDsll4JHo7Af0X5qh0ebJRHreegTAxUEvTNKySvtJZklJ490n21VucXwQKuBeNCC5-cB42XgD8XtVOL8HGEbcF7i-YzBx6YE8zTnW9l_gZq1w5dJ84HaNNC3IRHFJS/s200/100_0728.jpg" title="Walt Disney Studios Paris Dedication Plaque" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Walt Disney Studios Paris<br />
Dedication Plaque</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
This visit was in
October of 2008. It was the last park on my list at the time in order to make
the complete circuit of all the parks at that time. What did I like about the
park? Well, they had Crush’s Coaster. You loaded 4 people into a turtle shell
and rode the EAC (East Australian Current) mostly inside a themed building while the turtle shell spun around on the track. They also had the Cinemagique and Animagique stage
shows in the same area of the park. Cinemagique combined on screen action with
live actors telling the story of movie history. Animagique was a puppet show
using techniques similar to the Voyage of the Little Mermaid show at Disney
Hollywood Studios that highlighted segments of Disney classic animated tales. Animagique
closed in early 2016. The big highlight of the park was supposed to be the
Backlot Tour. This was not a highlight. Unlike its US counterpart at the time,
it wasn’t a real studio and it showed. The showcase piece was from Reign of
Fire about dragons that had taken over London. It was their version of
Catastrophe Canyon. It was a bad movie and it was a bad ride. They had a copy
of the California version of the Tower of Terror meaning no Fifth Dimension
room plus a copy of the Rock-n-Roller Coaster starring Aerosmith. Upon entering
the park you walked through a large sound stage building which acted as the
main hub for retail and eating. There was nothing there that made a really
solid impression outside of the cleanliness or lack thereof which I will cover
with my Disneyland Paris rating. The person I was traveling with even
commented that he wished it could have been a better park to celebrate the
accomplishment of being the last park of the global tour.<br />
<br />
<h2>
11 Disney California Adventure</h2>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcMDZsIyWmGUnZqatLr7OoNHmUjrhOYVwQd6lGi1P6CEruYAqMh2YKdBA7E6yPsBrProv7hk0v9wqCis0tmHRvN93nCcm8NjRmjl2-rsaxx8FepHDUnIBQjHJW6uwyfP0mJn0mdWUgAttc/s1600/100_4287.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Pre-Transformation Disney California Adventure Entrance Plaza" border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcMDZsIyWmGUnZqatLr7OoNHmUjrhOYVwQd6lGi1P6CEruYAqMh2YKdBA7E6yPsBrProv7hk0v9wqCis0tmHRvN93nCcm8NjRmjl2-rsaxx8FepHDUnIBQjHJW6uwyfP0mJn0mdWUgAttc/s200/100_4287.JPG" title="Pre-Transformation Disney California Adventure Entrance Plaza" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pre-Transformation Disney<br />
California Adventure<br />
Entrance Plaza</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
My last adventure to California Adventure was May 2010. At
the time the park was wrapped up in the cocoon of green construction walls as
it was being converted To Disney’s California Adventure. Many people didn’t
like the Paradise Pier section of the park claiming it was off the shelf
amusement park rides, but I understood how is was representative of the beach
side amusement parks that dotted the California coast and accepted it as a clever part of the theming. The
Maliboomer was still there but much of the park was starting to transition. I
was there for the DPN Westfest event. I held a meetup called One Last Time with
Jasmin and Aladdin as the show was supposed to be closing that summer. Well, it
didn’t. Disney changed their mind a month or so later and the show didn’t
finally close until January 2016, almost six years later. Up until that time,
it was my favorite of any of the Disney theater shows across their theme parks
division. The icon of the park should have been those green construction walls.
The Little Mermaid ride was in construction. The World of Color hadn’t opened
but we could see the testing that was happening. Orange Stinger was gone and
the Silly Symphony Swings were going in. I took a picture of Band Leader Mickey
from the top of the ride and use it as one of my computer wall paper images. The California Food and Wine festival had been cancelled that
year. The park was a mess. Due to the topsy turviness created by the transition, I give it my number
eleven spot.
<br />
<h2>
10 Disney's Animal Kingdom</h2>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz_JPGUWUiNEve6iMt-uIUhlNrDOnsR5jnxPAnbMsk3N1-E7lcqiWjlJzhwrp_AE90KkvxTv0fw35ijtvi3gtAvZviqr2atN3q0tioPl6ximCuMS01CWo9GYze5plgqPSdimrZKHAzzTk7/s1600/100_3165.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Animal Kingdom Entrance" border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz_JPGUWUiNEve6iMt-uIUhlNrDOnsR5jnxPAnbMsk3N1-E7lcqiWjlJzhwrp_AE90KkvxTv0fw35ijtvi3gtAvZviqr2atN3q0tioPl6ximCuMS01CWo9GYze5plgqPSdimrZKHAzzTk7/s200/100_3165.JPG" title="Animal Kingdom Entrance" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Animal Kingdom Entrance</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
One of the Florida parks at the low end of the scale with a
visit in April 2010. There have been complaints about DAK being a half day
park. There are arguments that the half day theory is wrong. In my world both
are right. If you are looking at the rides, yeah, it’s a half day park. If you
want to spend the time wandering the park and looking at the details the
imagineers have built into the park, it’s a full day park without a doubt. With
the animal aspect, you can sit or stand there and marvel at what you’re seeing,
but as Walt learned at Disneyland when he was originally putting in the Jungle
Cruise, you can’t control the animals and what they will or won’t do. They
aren’t paid actors and willing to do something on cue although the imagineers
have worked to try to get some action regulated by the ingenious positioning of
feeding troughs or possible cooled rock to get the animals close to the guests.
DinoLand USA is similar to California Adventure’s Paradise Pier with off the
shelf amusement park rides and games. I understand why with Chester and Hester,
but I expect more from a Disney experience for this land. Another strike against the park is
Disco Yeti. For those of you who don’t know, the yeti in the Expedition Everest
ride was touted as the largest, most powerful animatronic that Disney had ever
built. The yeti had the thrust equivalent to a 747 was the stat that Disney
quoted. Then they ran into problems and couldn’t have the figure move because
the foundation had issues. The yeti was put into “B mode” where it was
stationary and had a strobe light flash as the train went by to try to trick
you into thinking it was moving. So the BIG marketing point doesn’t work and no
idea when Disney will close the ride for a long term repair. There was even a
parody song made about <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KC5zts4ZsGo" target="_blank">Disco Yeti</a>
. In my book due to the lack of attraction WOW and SIZZLE, it’s towards the
bottom of the list.
<br />
<h2>
9 Disneyland Paris</h2>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqa5sA8VJua6KUnkjxqGUi-gyOH6dOlRQ45LKd0pUIZOrHClvb4xo3mYa33_AYFbY7omVUvzKOuFjZnqpDqfLx-Z8zehCbX0jxP1blZoB2baylFIxWAmhf1HHcw7eZ4SkSIUWQ74MFbPzL/s1600/100_0434.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Le Château de la Belle au Bois Dormant Disneyland Paris" border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqa5sA8VJua6KUnkjxqGUi-gyOH6dOlRQ45LKd0pUIZOrHClvb4xo3mYa33_AYFbY7omVUvzKOuFjZnqpDqfLx-Z8zehCbX0jxP1blZoB2baylFIxWAmhf1HHcw7eZ4SkSIUWQ74MFbPzL/s200/100_0434.jpg" title="Le Château de la Belle au Bois Dormant Disneyland Paris" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Le Château de la Belle au Bois Dormant<br />
Disneyland Paris</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The first of the Disneyland style parks to hit my list a
number nine. This park visit was October of 2008. The park has according to me
and the person I traveled with had some of the best rides when compared to
their counterparts in the other parks. We agreed that Big Thunder Mountain
Railroad, Phantom Manor, Pirates of the Caribbean (at that time) and Space
Mountain were by far the best version of the ride that Disney had to offer. Big
Thunder, ride under the Rivers of the Far West to the island in the middle and experience
your ride there before traveling back under the river to unload. Pirates, tell
the story in the correct order which hadn’t been fixed in the other parks after
the initial concept at Disneyland in Anaheim, CA. Phantom Manor, a different
more macabre take on the Haunted Mansion concept based on the idea that the
town had changed after the gold strike. Space Mountain Missions Deux, a
launched coaster based on Jules Verne Mission to the Moon shooting riders out
into space with loops and excitement galore inside of the building structure.
What would drop this park to be so low on the list? The cleanliness and upkeep.
The park was horrible in those areas. There were cigarette butts all over the
place. People smoking in the queues. Light bulbs were out all over the place.
Trash cans overflowing. Litter around the park. The cleanliness of the parks is
what is supposed to separate a Disney park from its rivals. When asked during
the original planning of Disneyland why his park would be different from
carnivals or other attractions Walt determined and insisted that he would keep his
park clean. The water in the lagoon for the Nautilus walk through was so filled
with algae that inside you couldn’t see the attack of the giant squid properly
and on the water surface bubbly scum floated on top from the algae laden water.
The speakers on the Space Mountain vehicles didn’t work. Lastly, there were
fiberglass rock structures that were kicked in. I was so disappointed as a big
Disney fan and former custodial host after traveling half way around the globe
that I started to cry. It’s not just about the rides, it’s the whole experience
wrapped up and delivered to the guests.
<br />
<h2>
8 Disney Hollywood Studios</h2>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPbodo8bLjyQ-KUgLz8-T57prh39l8vXgEDUNbd1-SEQeGCAdXJiq56iH4epJCNszg70JP9iPi8IamY4vKXNVt8QCtEcoc2S7W920no9NmPufh_Q6_bim4wQ5SRqjrIX8mhpSXDi_EG6w1/s1600/100_3422.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Disney Hollywood Studio sign" border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPbodo8bLjyQ-KUgLz8-T57prh39l8vXgEDUNbd1-SEQeGCAdXJiq56iH4epJCNszg70JP9iPi8IamY4vKXNVt8QCtEcoc2S7W920no9NmPufh_Q6_bim4wQ5SRqjrIX8mhpSXDi_EG6w1/s200/100_3422.JPG" title="Disney Hollywood Studio sign" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Disney Hollywood Studios sign</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The second of the four Florida parks on the list with last
visit in April 2010. This park too suffers from the fact that it is now a faux
studio with no real work being done there. I can remember visiting the park in
September 1989 when it was Disney-MGM Studios and being so excited about the fact they were making real movies
and TV shows there. Walking through and seeing the sets for Wheel of Fortune
and The New Mickey Mouse Club or riding upon the back of a bumble bee to make a
green screen insert for Honey I Shrunk the Kids provided as we say in Hawaii,
chick skin moments (For those of who not in Hawaii and don’t’ speak Hawaii
Creole, aka pidgin, chicken skin means to get goose bumps). Move forward to
2010 and it’s just a shell of what it used to be one. For me one of the
highlights was the Citizens of Hollywood. I absolutely adore these people. The
fact they can work their improve, keep it clean, for the most part, stay in
character, take what is given to them and bring smiles and laughter just amazes
me. Upon my last visit, the staff has been cut down, cut me down. The shows
Beauty and the Beast, Indiana Jones and Lights, Motor, Action has stopped to
impress me. Yes, they had added Toy Story Mania and The American Idol
Experience but the overall magic of movie making had been lost. The giant
sorcerers’ hat didn’t add much and was blocking the beautiful view of the
Chinese Theater. Although granted, a picture taken down Hollywood Blvd and
using Photoshop to insert Neil Patrick Harris did help me win a contest (<a href="http://blog.coasterradio.com/2011/04/day-at-park-with-neil-contest-winner.html" target="_blank">Day at the Park with Neil Patrick Harris</a>), the
idea of Hollywood in the 1930’s-40’s had been contaminated with the addition of
what would become the icon of the park.
One bright spot for the park is that they still have the original Tower of
Terror with the Fifth Dimension room. I know that my upcoming visit in October
2016 will be like my last visit to Disney California Adventure in 2010 with
lots of construction walls so not sure if this ranking will change anytime
soon.
<br />
<h2>
7 Tokyo Disneyland</h2>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRXIEBAJS-4VVRdeweUdgW7gYO_6Ra9irB9EAzty5TnRB8METnCzWKj6wsVogqLntu75si3dt2BTOqXzS5vWbkAiLNVt9LNLjtiQUGg5lM9vWex51VTSoN1Y3oLCr-fH-BCbAfYWAoCuZi/s1600/100_7999.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Partners statue at Tokyo Disneyland" border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRXIEBAJS-4VVRdeweUdgW7gYO_6Ra9irB9EAzty5TnRB8METnCzWKj6wsVogqLntu75si3dt2BTOqXzS5vWbkAiLNVt9LNLjtiQUGg5lM9vWex51VTSoN1Y3oLCr-fH-BCbAfYWAoCuZi/s200/100_7999.jpg" title="Partners statue at Tokyo Disneyland" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Partners statue at <br />
Tokyo Disneyland</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Surprisingly, this park is in the bottom half of my rankings
even with my visit in June 2016. I had worked at the Magic Kingdom in 1986 and
many aspects of this park remind me of that time. They still have the old
Autopia, Star jets, Country Bear Jamboree, Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse, and
the old style Dumbo ride where you can see the giant pneumatic pistons keep the
park rooted in the past. One the plus side, the Japanese take aspects of the
parks and bring them to a whole new level. The customer service at the park is
just WOW. As an English speaker, they went out of their way to try to help me.
Many of the cast members spoke English, but if they didn’t they would move very
quickly to get help. I was looking for post cards and stamps and the Cast
Members were extremely accommodating to assist me. Their food selections were
different, but familiar and yet crazy all at the same time. How they handle you
at restaurants while they are crowded and how they handled parade crowds would
be wonderful if they could transfer those skills to the American parks. The
popcorn flavor selection, the popcorn buckets and Dreamlight parade brings it
up on the rating, but with all the items rooted in the past the ranking isn’t
in the top 50% on my list.
<br />
<h2>
6 Epcot</h2>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1C1QCRYB6p8XpCz1vlVv7Nu8HQLwDj4DhEv1kh6Q8g0khgZ8RiEYTZ6vTlvsAX8AHjtMvR-kVHRXTWz6xGdAJOwMaTXBUm_PBBI4ZLT14e23hE3mOgV2pkA2jCQkgOFSMfz3uOlYwHzGE/s1600/100_3841.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Spaceship Earth at night" border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1C1QCRYB6p8XpCz1vlVv7Nu8HQLwDj4DhEv1kh6Q8g0khgZ8RiEYTZ6vTlvsAX8AHjtMvR-kVHRXTWz6xGdAJOwMaTXBUm_PBBI4ZLT14e23hE3mOgV2pkA2jCQkgOFSMfz3uOlYwHzGE/s200/100_3841.JPG" title="Spaceship Earth at night" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Spaceship Earth at night</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
At one point in time Epcot or more correctly EPCOT Center
was the love of my Disney life. I had finished the Walt Disney World College
Program in the spring of 1986 and stayed on through the summer working The Land
Theater and The Kitchen Kabaret. As a cast member I had access to the library
and spent hours watching videos of imagineers talking about the different
pavilions, why it had a particular sponsor, the story being told at each
location and inevitably each finished with the explanation of the double knit
polyester costume used to complement the story. I loved the learning aspect and
took all the tours I could sign up for at the time, edutainment at its finest!
Now jump forward to spring 2010, my first visit during the Flower and Garden
show. The show itself was impressive, but there had been no new pavilions in
years and they relied on the show to bring in people because the park itself
didn’t have new and exciting features. The guest center for the event was being
housed in what used to be the Wonders of Life pavilion which opened in 1989 and
then has sat empty of full pavilion status since 2007. Heck, World Showcase hasn’t
seen a new country since 1988. Because of this miring and stagnation, Epcot and
Tokyo Disneyland positions are interchangeable.
<br />
<h2>
5 Hong Kong Disneyland</h2>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipxvKt4AumfLOlSV-Ujirm5zEUiDjRsSPMKujYgNK6Z0I22HfxRCleZuJg8DPnINFpciALe77t8yo1S1eWxuZEVQfpnzHwnQAGjxQYEjx-95Veg7lCJrZHOWhyYda7_9_lcFOKCxJfcaOl/s1600/101_2490.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Sleeping Beauty Castle Hong Kong Disneyland" border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipxvKt4AumfLOlSV-Ujirm5zEUiDjRsSPMKujYgNK6Z0I22HfxRCleZuJg8DPnINFpciALe77t8yo1S1eWxuZEVQfpnzHwnQAGjxQYEjx-95Veg7lCJrZHOWhyYda7_9_lcFOKCxJfcaOl/s200/101_2490.jpg" title="Sleeping Beauty Castle Hong Kong Disneyland" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sleeping Beauty Castle<br />
Hong Kong Disneyland</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
People are going to be surprised at my ranking here with
Hong Kong. During my first visit to the park in June 2007, the sight of the
mountains behind Sleeping Beauty Castle gave me the chills. To me it made sense
that a fairytale castle would have the backdrop of mountains. My original trip
coincided with pirates taking over of Adventureland to try to draw people to
the park. Between that visit and my next one in June of 2016, they added a
number of items including Small World and three new lands: Grizzly Gulch, Toy
Story Land and Mystic Point. While the park is small, the additional lands help
flesh it out. The area of Fairy Tale Forest and the vignettes from many of the
classic tales with their animated scenes added a charming layer of whimsy that
brought a smile to my face. On this trip I again stayed at the Hollywood Hotel
on property, but this time, I walked to the park instead of taking the bus. The
back promenade between the Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel and the entrance plaza
walking among the character banners, water fountains, topiary and sculptured
landscaping set the atmosphere. Walking in again I had that heightened sense of
anticipation knowing what I would see again. Tomorrowland was pulled apart as
they were getting ready for Star Wars to take over which was going to open two
days after I left plus the building of the Iron Man Experience construction
limited movement in the area but with Big Grizzly Mountain Runaway Mine Cars
terrain coaster and the styling and story of Lord Henry Mystic and his monkey
companion Albert at Mystic Manor more than balanced out the excitement level. Add
to that the original Paint the Night parade, Hong Kong Disneyland lands in the
upper half of my rankings.
<br />
<h2>
4 Shanghai Disneyland</h2>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaEdS2m4iuwL2EyjNw9QH0YDU8AjWNiqH8-L4nAC1hh0rbSfpKyg1-83EeyRNRZrj676N0-R2JPU8CmRwZPHVNQtAWdr3kxjZJxpYIPe9ezKQgAk_B9tLynYt3IR3ybIlL_uDMV_n4OCgx/s1600/IMG_7552.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Enchanted Storybook Castle at night Shanghai Disneyland" border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaEdS2m4iuwL2EyjNw9QH0YDU8AjWNiqH8-L4nAC1hh0rbSfpKyg1-83EeyRNRZrj676N0-R2JPU8CmRwZPHVNQtAWdr3kxjZJxpYIPe9ezKQgAk_B9tLynYt3IR3ybIlL_uDMV_n4OCgx/s200/IMG_7552.JPG" title="Enchanted Storybook Castle at night Shanghai Disneyland" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Enchanted Storybook Castle at night<br />
Shanghai Disneyland</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
After visiting Disney’s new park during the Grand Opening on
June 16, 2016, it ends up ranking in the top third of my list. Shanghai Disney
was unique among the Disneyland style parks. Tomorrowland was on the left and
not the right. No Main Street USA or World Bazaar but Mickey Avenue. No hub, no
train circling the park or within the park. In front of the humongous Enchanted
Storybook Castle and not part of Fantasyland were Dumbo and the carrousel. Lots
of deviations from the normal expectations but replaced with many unique facets
Disney styled for the Chinese market. Going back to the castle for a moment, it
was HUGE with the attraction inside of the first Disney princess Snow White
with tributes to the princesses that came afterwards. The Pirates of the
Caribbean Battle for the Sunken Treasure was a masterpiece of the blending
animatronic, environment and screen technology that just caused your mouth to
drop. The Captain Jack stunt show with a feature that I won’t reveal here I
hadn’t seen before. The magical environmental storytelling of Tarzan: Call of
the Jungle with the incorporation of the Chinese acrobatics kept me mesmerized.
The Voyage to the Crystal Grotto boat ride that brings you under the castle in a
ride is unique to Shanghai. Over in Adventure Isle they had a ropes course that had me hanging strictly by my harness as my foot slipped off a cable and for the first time in my life I lost a pair of sunglasses. Lastly mounting a cycle to be enveloped in the
electronic world of Tron Light Cycle Power Run is something that I hope they
leave in Shanghai to force Disney fans to get their passport and Chinese visa
to experience a Magic Kingdom of a different level.
<br />
<h2>
3 Magic Kingdom</h2>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEhzz-rqudmcqCbcpSaa79CpB_W-RDH7mEqhNGQbuzNveilVlskN9myAFOzZLjbqOMNfYMOlvshoPTcuq5eZIfEKF2s361bCSdBcF_ooCArov482eex1XxiU6eeN8H9u-dUaElAtAGv6hw/s1600/umass+wdwcp+participants.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Custodial host on the right!" border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEhzz-rqudmcqCbcpSaa79CpB_W-RDH7mEqhNGQbuzNveilVlskN9myAFOzZLjbqOMNfYMOlvshoPTcuq5eZIfEKF2s361bCSdBcF_ooCArov482eex1XxiU6eeN8H9u-dUaElAtAGv6hw/s200/umass+wdwcp+participants.jpg" title="Custodial host on the right!" width="158" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Custodial host on the right!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
This rating is mostly sentimental. My last visit to the
Magic Kingdom was in April 2010, but it was my first which vividly sticks in my
mind. The Challenger shuttle had exploded just a week or so before my college
program started. My first steps EVER into a Disney park were through stairwell
number 9 by Lancer’s Inn, what is now Mrs. Potts, looking out to swarms of sea
gulls hanging around trying to get food dropped by or stolen from people sitting
at tables with umbrellas and on the other side of the walkway was 20,000
Leagues Under the Sea. My first entry ever into a Disney park was as a cast
member. It wasn’t until a week later, on my first day off, I parked in the
regular parking lot with thousands of others to take the tram to the TTC then
the ferry across the Seven Seas Lagoon to walk in the gates as a guest. Many of
my memories are tied to helping people as a custodial host. Gone are the Sky
Buckets, Mike Finks Keel Boats, the bird show in Adventureland where I nearly
wet myself with excitement as I was allowed to help walk out a hyacinth macaw
and Tabasco the 80’s cover band who would make their entrance or exit as I pushed
the button on the elevator stage at the Tomorrowland Terrace. More memories about
the Magic Kingdom, rather than the attractions and shows in the park were of
the program itself and the friends made. Even today, 30 years later a number of
us are still in contact.
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_GkJ1v3DZl9edMXjazm3-rI6kqO-WDQ8epIjkzca0eagwLTNYPEiQ7GNhr6PIkxwdWYbXoIsLMAUyoLT01OhNzG66Sss5Uuex2ftkg6xhllWYjUPBc_6gJW9iDCL2a-h_jsxOcXqKhb3X/s1600/Image0223.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Cinderella Castle Magic Kingdom" border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_GkJ1v3DZl9edMXjazm3-rI6kqO-WDQ8epIjkzca0eagwLTNYPEiQ7GNhr6PIkxwdWYbXoIsLMAUyoLT01OhNzG66Sss5Uuex2ftkg6xhllWYjUPBc_6gJW9iDCL2a-h_jsxOcXqKhb3X/s200/Image0223.jpg" title="Cinderella Castle Magic Kingdom" width="132" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cinderella Castle<br />
Magic Kingdom</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Damn it…I got water drops screwing up my key board
now. Twenty ten was my DC2CerUMA, Disney Coast to Coast-er Universally Magic
Adventure doing the six US Disney parks, riding all the attractions on both
coasts that weren’t under rehab, passing out Awesome Job cards by catching
people doing their jobs well and as stated in other blog posts, visiting with
Disney friends old and new so while I was traveling solo, I wasn’t traveling
alone. Yeah, a very sentimental rating because of people and friends instead of
rides, parades and shows.
<br />
<h2>
2 Disneyland</h2>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU2zBq-4CR0uhU8n1MQ0bArNOc53BPsak4WELN_uLZCBkRCVauK9A45tdt7lLTb1zXmyXsHViM-9t2g-S0nmfx3ghnUFjjERZ9RxlGuEz4qGyWopWV6I1eEJurWqBBL4REs3gnXBvg9yMz/s1600/Image0727.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="me and partner statue Disneyland, Anaheim, CA" border="0" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU2zBq-4CR0uhU8n1MQ0bArNOc53BPsak4WELN_uLZCBkRCVauK9A45tdt7lLTb1zXmyXsHViM-9t2g-S0nmfx3ghnUFjjERZ9RxlGuEz4qGyWopWV6I1eEJurWqBBL4REs3gnXBvg9yMz/s200/Image0727.jpg" title="me and partner statue Disneyland, Anaheim, CA" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">me and partner statue<br />
Disneyland, Anaheim, CA</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
What to say about Disneyland. This is where it all started.
Walt Disney planned and tinkered and experimented and created a new American
cultural touch stone with this park. It’s been the foundation for what was planted
in five other global locations. It’s small but it’s very intimate. This is
where WED Enterprises cut their teeth designing attractions that even after 60
years are still in place. The iconic monorail, the Matterhorn, Small World brought back from the 1964-65 New York World's Fair, the omni mover from The Haunted Mansion, Great Moments with Mr Lincoln also from the New York World's Fair, the Jungle Cruise, all elements that mapped out the blue prints and standards for the future in technology, creativity and story telling. It all helped found a company that has influenced America
and people around the world. You stand on Main Street USA looking at Sleeping
Beauty Castle and wonder what Walt would think of his park today. You look at
the light illuminating the window in the apartment above the firehouse and just
say to yourself, Thank You or in my case, Mahalo for having the guts, insight,
fortitude and willingness to surround yourself with people who were willing to
push boundaries and the financial wrangling (Roy I’m looking at you!) to have a
dream and vision come true.
<br />
<h2>
1 Tokyo DisneySea</h2>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj9hHbi5wQ15OXJrgrnlHNS-iFcYk8sKwlJXYZqOV2P_nBPddLQmx_C3gxGIt2Tifr3Lzkna0-YQwrFTYJLCvIkwWcR2VqZopxTo-oKnL6KlMem0WkzlmtpvwpmBrG75GbtbTCPX0Kn5zI/s1600/IMG_6941.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Mt Prometheus behind Fortress Explorations" border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj9hHbi5wQ15OXJrgrnlHNS-iFcYk8sKwlJXYZqOV2P_nBPddLQmx_C3gxGIt2Tifr3Lzkna0-YQwrFTYJLCvIkwWcR2VqZopxTo-oKnL6KlMem0WkzlmtpvwpmBrG75GbtbTCPX0Kn5zI/s200/IMG_6941.JPG" title="Mt Prometheus behind Fortress Explorations" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mt Prometheus behind<br />
Fortress Explorations</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Here is it, the top dog, the big cheese, the golden Mickey. To think this or a variation of it could
have ended up in Long Beach although if it had, I don’t think it would be at
the top of the list. This park really shows what Imagineering is capable of
doing when provided the budget. To walk in past the Aquasphere and under the
Hotel Mira Costa to the reveal of Mediterranean Harbor is one of the moments you
won’t forget. For the first time in June of 2007 and again in June 2016, looking
at Mt Prometheus with its smoking vents and occasional rumbles with expulsions
of flame with the large Fortress Explorations in front of it as a streamer
moves to the left and seems to approach a Venice canal gondola cause you to
wonder what mystic portal you just stepped through transforming and
transporting you from the everyday world into this unique environment. The
Ports of Call instead of lands let you know you’re not in your typical Disney
park. Owned by the Oriental Land Company they have to constantly change the
park to keep the local population which is the largest group of attendees
coming in through the turn styles. The architecture and blend of attractions have
those fine details that distinguish this park among the Disney park roster. But,
it’s the constant changing of the parades, shows, special events and food mean
you won’t experience the same park twice. The one strike for the park is that a
number of the newest attractions like Toy Story Mania, Fantasmic or Turtle Talk
with Crushwhich can find elsewhere are almost direct copies as compared to the
attractions early in the park’s life like Aquatopia, Journey to the Center of
the Earth, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea or my absolute favorite attraction
across all of the Disney parks, Sindbad’s Storybook Adventure located in the
Arabian Coast section of the park. OLC poured $4 billion into the park and
surroundings when it opened in 2001 and are looking to invest $50B into the
entire resort between 2014 and 2024. It’s going to be fun watching the park
evolve even further.<br />
<br />
So that’s my list. With my upcoming trip to the US parks for
the first time in six years, my rankings may change. Cars Land, World of Color
and Buena Vista Street at Disney California Adventure, experiencing Food and
Wine for the first time at Epcot, the new Fantasyland at the Magic Kingdom, Disneyland
and Disney’s Hollywood Studios being ripped up for the new Star Wars lands and
maybe The Rivers of Light at Disney’s Animal Kingdom will undoubtedly factor
into those rankings.<br />
<br />
Are you P12 meaning that you’ve experienced all twelve
parks? If so, share your rankings let’s see what makes or breaks your rankings
for the parks? You know, P12 probably isn’t a good name because eventually
Disney will build their 13<sup>th</sup> park. What would you call it instead?
The Hawaii Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16244531964643963754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8353780394455190659.post-36968617430346635502014-05-26T11:23:00.002-10:002021-05-29T23:07:13.144-10:00Memorial Day remembered<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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Growing up the son of a florist meant holidays took on
a different meaning. For weeks before a flower holiday, things got tense at
home as my dad would be getting the store ready and then the week of, wouldn’t
see him until late at night. Unlike other retail stores where you could buy
your gift or card well in advance and hold onto them until the holiday, flowers
being perishable meant that everything got crammed into the last few days
before date that was bolded or otherwise highlight on the calendar. </div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
Memorial Day was unique among the flower holidays. Instead
of grabbing a single bloom, bunches of flowers, a plant or small arrangements,
dad was making these huge arrangements. You been to a funeral? Those kinds of
arrangements. Big ones. Ones that were heavy and took up lots of space.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When I was in grade school, my dad’s flower shop was in the downtown
corridor of my little home town. Maynard, Massachusetts - small town America
with a big stripe of hometown pride. There was my dad’s shop sandwiched between
Firestones on the left and The Outdoor Store on the right, right there on Nason
Street. The place was narrow but long-ish with most of the floor taken up by the
glass display refrigerator and selling space in the front, a smaller work space
in the back and storage space in the basement that you got to via a narrow
staircase. </div>
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As a kid, when I would visit dad at the flower shop during
the Memorial Day week I remember these HUGE arrangements being created and
shuttled around. My dad and his brother John would be making the arrangements
on these two benches. The would grab a special <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">papier mâché<i><span face=""Calibri","sans-serif"" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></i></span>type of vase.
Sometimes it would get stuffed with shredded sytrofoam and sometimes they would
put in a product called Oasis both used to hold the flower in place. They would
grab ferns and leather leaf to create a background. Elastics holding the bunches
together were either pulled or snapped off in order to get to the individual
pieces. Then would come the big background flowers like gladiolas or pompom chrysanthemums.
They would grab the stem and then break it to the appropriate height then
discard the broken, unused stem at their feet. Other flowers like carnations,
daisies or mini carnations were used for the middle. Occasionally a dozen roses
would be wired up to keep the heads from drooping and then inserted into the
arrangement. Finally, baby’s breath or statice was interspersed among the
blooms to give the final touches to fill out the creation. The entire process,
start to finish, taking 15-25 minutes to complete.</div>
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Each was unique. Between placement, type and color of
flowers, each was its own master piece of creative artisanship. Each was
special.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Now it had to be stored. That was the tough part. The front
of the store didn’t have much space to start with as it was stuffed with
geraniums and other plants but some were squeezed up there. Many were taken
down the stairs to the basement and put on the floor or on shelves that were
hanging from the walls. Eventually this location was filled. Once or twice a
day they were brought up from the basement through the bulkhead into the van in
the alley that separated my dad’s store from The Outdoor Store and transported
to a secondary storage location. My parents had bought the house next to my
childhood home. During the front end of Memorial Day week, the place would be
stuffed with these large arrangements. The van would head there and fill up the
living room, dining room, den and basement with these floral displays.</div>
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Behind our house was a greenhouse and that was chock filled
with geraniums and mum plants. After dropping off the arrangements, the back of
the van was loaded with the plants to bring back to the flower shop to replace
those that had been sold. Towards the end of the week the van would be picking
up and not dropping off anything as the house once again became empty and the
stock level of the green house dropped down.</div>
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This routine changed while in was in Junior High School. My
dad remodeled the house next door so that the first floor living space sans an
enclosed porch area and the kitchen became the retail selling space and a new
20X40 addition with full basement on the back of the building became the work
and storage area. The old green house had been torn down and a new larger one
was placed further back.</div>
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The Sunday late afternoon and night before the holiday I can
remember walking the 20 steps between the house to the flower shop and watching
dad. The front door was locked and he was in the back room at the bench where
he always worked. On the bench were circular styrofoam rings. He was taking gilded
or coated magnolia leafs and special U-shaped pins and stick the leaves to the
ring overlapping the pins with the leaves so the pin would be hidden. He would
take a red white and blue stripped ribbon and hand make a bow with long tails.
The bow was attached to the top and the tails attached towards the bottom side.
He would also make a couple of small flower bouquets with the bases of the
stems held together with string. When it was done, it was wrapped in waxy green
tissue paper.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Early on Memorial Day my dad would get up early and load the
van with all of the wreaths and bouquets to deliver them. Maynard wouldn’t
exist without the Assabet River. In the downtown area there are three bridges that
crossed it at Main Street, Walnut Street and Waltham Street. He would head to these
bridges and manage to attach a wreath to each as well as leave a bouquet.
During the Memorial Day events the bouquets were thrown into the river as a
tribute to those who had lost their lives in service to the country. At the
memorial park area on Summer Street he would set up a stand and place one
wreath there.</div>
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I think dad loved and was privileged for doing it for
several reasons. One, he was a vet himself after serving in Korea. Two, Maynard
is a tight knit community with veteran’s organizations like the VFW and
American Legion in town. Although, I’m not sure if they still exist there
today. Even as I checked my Facebook this morning, someone from Maynard posted
pictures of the parade going down Main Street with a color guard, veterans, a
band and boy and girl scouts, with stops on the Main Street bridge and the
memorial park. Lastly, I think dad did it to honor an uncle I never knew, his
brother Stanley who was killed in action and is buried over in the Philippines.
Didn’t know anything about him because dad barely ever mentioned anything about
Stanley or what he himself did while in the military.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Later in the day the family would head to the cemetery to
visit my brother Scott’s grave. I never knew him. As we’d enter Glenwood Cemetery
there would be many graves with flowers, plants, bouquets or arrangements on
them. Some of my dad’s flowers were there. I’d handed out some of them within
the few previous days. We’d go over and mom and dad would clean around the
marker and dig out the dirt and debris that had gotten into the engraved
letters. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mom’s there now laid to rest
next to her first son. After a few years we’d head over to Grammy Tomyl’s
grave. She passed during the summer between finishing junior high school and starting
high school. She was buried in a different part of the cemetery. Being one of
the two florists in town my dad knew the guys who worked for the cemetery.
Sometimes they’d be there and they’d come over and talk to the family giving
dad the low down of what was happening. </div>
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<br /></div>
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That’s what I remember. As a kid I ended up helping at the
flower shop through high school and college and the few years after until I
left to move to Hawaii to go to school. Even in those few years I can remember the
number of geraniums sold going down and all that space that was originally
built into the new flower shop not being fully utilized as an older generation
passed away and the meaning of the weekend shifting from that of remembrance to
that of being a three day weekend, a chance to get away. When I would talk to
dad and ask about the holidays were going with sales he’d say something along
the lines of “It isn’t like it used to be.” I think being a florist’s son gave
me a different perspective because flowers tie into people and events in a much
deeper, more personal level. So I sit here, recalling, reminiscing and reflecting
about part of what Memorial Day means to me.</div>
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<![endif]-->The Hawaii Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16244531964643963754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8353780394455190659.post-66702197506119913042014-04-21T21:00:00.001-10:002014-04-21T21:17:39.477-10:00Iolani Palace revisited<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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I've had people ask me about what to do when they are in Hawaii. I last wrote about Iolani Palace <a href="http://thetikioutpost.blogspot.com/2011/01/kamaaina-iolani-palacetour.html" target="_blank">in January of 2011</a>. For me there was no question in my mind that this building in downtown Honolulu should
be the first item that I would recommend to people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdqc_6ZdnZYjSFlzzpCP1oICH9feTsclYT_HAUq2gFHk90h6a1tMan1cy7YbWb0_PxHZlhckefIqteOku4XbxLBOJBna-p5jySYrpJU7Sg4ZKIhQj8B0oYjoifaO09RcSBm_1yvh1rAseQ/s1600/100_2404.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Iolani Palace with flags" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdqc_6ZdnZYjSFlzzpCP1oICH9feTsclYT_HAUq2gFHk90h6a1tMan1cy7YbWb0_PxHZlhckefIqteOku4XbxLBOJBna-p5jySYrpJU7Sg4ZKIhQj8B0oYjoifaO09RcSBm_1yvh1rAseQ/s1600/100_2404.JPG" height="150" title="Iolani Palace with Flags" width="200" /></a></div>
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Iolani
Palace was constructed starting on December 31, 1879 when the cornerstone was
laid and had residents, King Kalakaua and Queen Kapiolani move into the palace
in December 1882.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For a few short years,
the palace was the heart of the Hawaiian monarchy until on January 17, 1893, Kalakaua's successor, Queen Liliuokalani, while at the end of a bayonet was pointed at her, was
forced to sign over the powers of her constitutional monarchy rather than risk
the lives of her people.</div>
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<br /></div>
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While being
built, King Kalakaua had many technical marvels of the day incorporated into
the structure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Indoor plumbing, gas
lights which were later replaced with electric bulbs and the recently invented
telephone were amenities available to the King, Queen and their guests.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many parties and celebrations were held on
the palace grounds often lasting until the wee hours of the morning.</div>
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<br /></div>
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After the
overthrow, the contents of the palace were thrown out, given away or sold.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The palace served many functions with the
main function of acting as the government capital building until 1969 when the
government moved into the new state capital building built just mauka<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(towards the mountain) of the palace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Friends of Iolani Palace took over as
care takers of the palace and palace grounds and have worked hard and
diligently to restore the palace to its former glory.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Tours are
available daily and throughout the year special events take place at the palace
or own palace grounds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As part of the
guided tours the docents will lead you through the rooms of the first and second floor
of the palace and then after you remove the protective booties you had put on
before the tour began, you will be led to the basement galleries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As of this writing, some of the crown jewels
for the Kingdom of Hawaii are on display in the first floor throne room.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the basement galleries are other royal jewelry
pieces including the pin that Queen Liliuokalani wore to Queen Victoria’s Golden
Jubilee made of diamonds studding a butterfly design whose wings would actually
move and flap gently.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Royal Orders from
King Kalakaua’s trip around the globe, the first royal monarch to ever do so,
are displayed for visitors to examine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The orders giving recognition that the Kingdom of Hawaii was truly
something, signifying that the political leaders around the world were friends
and friendly with the King and Queen of Hawaii.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeAVIHA4y17ii5x4DBAOcnpa08u6S2-xqZPUbwQ3UF6BJFyem27Okls2lFABzYSOUGcMZnPEsbTHlxud5fU39vAjG1Y1L1Y7BN_fBdWdq2L7yhIaN_B9vyHwoiZjyfQv4-Bit8KxV-_bfE/s1600/IMG_4614.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Iolani Palace Dining Room" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeAVIHA4y17ii5x4DBAOcnpa08u6S2-xqZPUbwQ3UF6BJFyem27Okls2lFABzYSOUGcMZnPEsbTHlxud5fU39vAjG1Y1L1Y7BN_fBdWdq2L7yhIaN_B9vyHwoiZjyfQv4-Bit8KxV-_bfE/s1600/IMG_4614.JPG" height="150" title="Iolani Palace Dining Room" width="200" /></a> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
For tour and
special event information check out <a href="http://www.iolanipalace.org/">www.iolanipalace.org</a>
for specifics of hours and costs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If
you have a chance to visit the palace at the end of December in the evening, it
is highly recommended by myself<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
tour is set up to commemorate the birthday of Queen Kapiolani who was born on
December 31, 1834. It’s very rare to be able to visit the palace at night with
the interior lighting being used as well as people dressed in period
costumes. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>With the environment set, you
can really picture yourself and feel like you’ve been invited to a soiree given
by Hawaiian Royalty.</div>
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br clear="all" style="mso-break-type: section-break; page-break-before: always;" />
</span>The Hawaii Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16244531964643963754noreply@blogger.com0Downtown, Honolulu, HI, USA21.307287323905406 -157.8582572937011721.303588823905407 -157.86329979370117 21.310985823905405 -157.85321479370117tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8353780394455190659.post-4568685945823765392012-01-17T23:45:00.000-10:002012-01-17T23:45:00.328-10:00Movie Review: Joyful NoiseTo download to the audio version, <a href="http://traffic.libsyn.com/tippodcaster/MovieMonkeyShow088.mp3">right click here</a> and choose "save as..." or "save link as..."<br /><br />To listen, press the play button on the player below<br /><embed autostart="false" src="http://traffic.libsyn.com/tippodcaster/MovieMonkeyShow088.mp3" height="50" width="250"></embed><br /><br />While she may have shown up on the small screen on Disney’s Hannah Montana as Aunt Dolly, it’s been a while since Dolly Parton has been up on the silver screen. She returned as G.G. Sparrow and co-stars with Queen Latifah as Vi Rose Hill who are two members of a small home town Georgia church choir competing in a contest which doubles as the name of the movie, <span style="font-style: italic;">Joyful Noise</span>.<br /><br /><div style="float: left;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/frikitiki/6705461081/" title="Joyful Noise Movie Poster"><img alt="Joyful Noise Movie Poster" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7030/6705461081_56b2b7732a_m.jpg" style="border: 2px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);" /></a></div>Typical of most choir or glee club themed movies and TV shows like <span style="font-style: italic;">Glee</span>, <span style="font-style: italic;">Fighting Temptations</span> or the Sister Act movies, a group is having problems getting started or having challenges reaching the next level. Along comes the new person, whether it's a director or a singer who challenges the status quo. Sometimes an unlikely candidate or candidates need to be added to round out the group. Of course this ruffles a few feathers along the way and can cause some great fight scenes. There is a particularly funny scene between GG and Vi Rose that takes place at a restaurant.<br /><br />Vi Rose’s 16 year old daughter Olivia (Keke Palmer) is one of the lead singers for the choir. When GG’s grandson Randy (Jeremy Jordan) appears, he’s the thorn in the queen lion’s paw on two levels; first, he likes Olivia and he wants to change up the arrangements a bit. So Vi Rose has the pressure of replacing the beloved previous choir director, dealing with alterations to the choir and it's dynamics, a boy who is making the moves on her daughter and trying to remain calm with her autistic son Walter (Dexter Darden) who has his own special needs of Asperger’s Syndrome that have to be taken into account.<br /><br />GG is surprised by the church board when they appointed Vi Rose to take over as the choir director instead of her. Disappointed that she wasn't selected, surprisingly she doesn’t turn vindictive. The choir does well every year at the competition but the journey to nationals is stymied at the regional level when they come up against a power house choir which would be <span style="font-style: italic;">Glee</span>’s version of Vocal Adrenaline. Vi Rose’s daughter Olivia takes the lead on many songs and gets told by her mom to let God work through her when she starts to belt out Michael Jackson’s <span style="font-style: italic;">Man in the Mirror</span>. Randy comes along and tries to put a little more musical Tabasco into the choir’s recipe book. Ultimately when they get to the big show down instead of a single song like the other competitors are doing, the group does a mash up giving each of the singers some time to shine in the spot light.<br /><br />While the singing and the struggle of the choir for competition was the main focus, it wasn’t as far in the front as one would expect by the previews. There were other character drawn story lines given just as much weight during the one hour and 58 minute movie. Family troubles for Vi Rose with her special needs son and somewhat rebellious daughter, the relationship with the children’s dad, GG’s troubled grandson returning to hamlet of Pasachau which itself is having problems with the downturn in the economy and the loss of a loved one all allow interludes for the music to play and songs to be sung. What really stuck out was Dolly when they showed the choir and not for the totally obvious choice. Well, yah, they did mention that she took in her robe a bit to make it more form fitting. But really it was when asked what her favorite color was Dolly said Calirol 289 and you could really see that color stick out in the group shots of the choir when everyone else possessed brown or black hair!<br /><br />On several occasions I asked myself what were they thinking of for the locations that were chosen and the flow of the scenes. Of course, being a “church” movie there were some scenes which contained some swears and sexual references to go up against the pious background to create some conflict within the plot and earn the movie a PG rating. It almost appeared that several bridging scenes weren’t rendered (the digital version of the cutting room floor) into the final cut. Despite the flaws, the comedy of the story (some at Dolly’s expense about things she jokes about all the time in real life) and the overall message and tone was meant to be uplifting and inspirational and it achieved that goal.<br /><br />These Movie Monkey reviews have been about the movie going experience and lately, the experience hasn’t been all that fun. I don’t receive free passes to see the movies I’ve written about; the money has come from my own pocket and going the movies instead of being fun, has become a chore and I question if my $8.50 matinee pricing is being well spent. At the end of 2011 the news reports were about the US Box office being off half a billion dollars from the previous year. When you look at the quality of the movies and what happens when you go to the theater, for me, I understand why.<br /><br />At my local Regal Theater I’ve really lost faith in them. They are supposed to be an art house location and yet the competitor in town ends up showing more art house films or even getting them before what I called my home theater, location 1828. For this particular movie, the 20 minute preshow had audio but no video. I reported it to the staff at the entrance podium just after the preshow started and it hadn’t been fixed before the preshow ended. Luckily I had my “Where’s my Water” app to keep me occupied during the preshow time. Then I and another person had to track down staff because after five minutes they still hadn’t started the show. With watching about a film a week and probably about once a month I was reporting some sort of technical problem to the staff: sound was off, scratches in the film, late starts or short stops…that would be a 25% failure rate.<br /><br />During this particular show one person pulled out their cell phone FIVE times to do texting sessions and another started their vocal conversation in the theater. I will give them credit, they didn’t have their ringer on and they did leave the theater to finish the conversation. If I go to report them, I would have to leave the theater missing part of the movie and I seriously question if they would have done anything to the offending patrons unlike the folks over at Alamo Drafthouse who take <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVz-fO7kxcQ" target="_blank">talking and texting during the movie very seriously</a>. I’ve sent comments via their contact us web page and via their Facebook page to either receive no response or have the posting deleted.<br /><br />With that said, at this time I want to let you know that this will be the last Movie Monkey review that I’ll be doing as my movie watching will be severely curtailed. Whether you’ve been reading the reviews or if you’ve been listening to the audio versions on the blog page or via the podcast, I say mahalo (thank you) from the bottom of my heart for spending your time with me. It has been my honor and privilege to share my movie going experiences with you. As we say in Hawaii, a hui hou…until we meet again.<br /><br /><br /><table><tbody><tr><td> <iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=thetikout-20&o=1&p=8&l=as4&m=amazon&f=ifr&ref=ss_til&asins=B0032JTV6U" style="width:120px;height:240px;" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe><br /></td><td><iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=thetikout-20&o=1&p=8&l=as4&m=amazon&f=ifr&ref=ss_til&asins=B00011ZBZ2" style="width:120px;height:240px;" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe><br /></td><td><iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=thetikout-20&o=1&p=8&l=as4&m=amazon&f=ifr&ref=ss_til&asins=B00005KAQP" style="width:120px;height:240px;" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe><br /></td><td><iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=thetikout-20&o=1&p=8&l=as4&m=amazon&f=ifr&ref=ss_til&asins=B00004CZN7" style="width:120px;height:240px;" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><br /><div style="margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/frikitiki/4904796611/" title="Movie Monkey Show Badge"><img alt="Movie Monkey Show badge" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5099/5581143581_2912954a8f.jpg" height="200" width="200" /></a><br /><span style="margin-top: 0px;font-size:0.9em;" >The Movie Monkey</span></div><br />To subscribe to the audio podcast of the reviews via iTunes <a href="itpc://www.frikitikiproductions.com/xml/tmm_feed.xml">click here</a>. Audio versions are released the following Wednesday.The Hawaii Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16244531964643963754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8353780394455190659.post-47644803919150080692011-11-30T21:25:00.001-10:002011-11-30T21:25:01.254-10:00Movie Review: The DescendantsTo download to the audio version, <a href="http://traffic.libsyn.com/tippodcaster/MovieMonkeyShow087.mp3">right click here</a> and choose "save as..." or "save link as..."<br /><br />To listen, press the play button on the player below<br /><embed autostart="false" src="http://traffic.libsyn.com/tippodcaster/MovieMonkeyShow087.mp3" width="250" height="50"></embed><br /><br />At the 2011 Hawaii International Film Festival the closing film was The Descendants. The film screened and director Alexander Payne received the Vision Award to recognize him for his broad insights into all facets of the film trade. The screening had sold out and the word of mouth was very good. I was looking forward to the general release of the film. When it did release, the movie was not showing at the main theater, the Regal Dole Cannery which is the home to HIFF. Instead, Regal pushed it out to a smaller theater. This was surprising considering all the positive buzz the movie has been receiving. Instead of heading out a dozen miles to Regal’s location, I once again headed just 3 miles to the competitor’s location.<br /><br /><div style="float: right;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/frikitiki/6402192431/" title="The Descendants Movie Poster"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7161/6402192431_7913b410f8_m.jpg" alt="The Descendants Movie Poster" style="border: 2px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);"></a></div>The movie was well worth the effort to try to figure out where it was playing and the effort to get there. Starring George Clooney as Matt King, it tells the story of a man navigating through turbulent waters. The opening sequence to set the mood for the story has Matt talking in a voice over about the mainland perception of Hawaii vs the realities of living in paradise. As he talks, somewhat of a controlled rant, images of the beauty, dirt and yet ordinary everyday scenes of life in and around Honolulu backdrop the narration. As a twenty plus year resident of Hawaii, I could fully understand where he was coming from. Hawaii and the cultures here play a very important role in the movie setting the framework in the world of the King family.<br /><br />Matt is being squeezed from different sides. He is the lone controlling trustee for a large tract of land from the estate of a Hawaiian Princess who married a white businessman that has been handed down through several generations. The trust which currently holds the property will dissolve in seven years and local residents and family members fall on both sides of the coin to retain the land in its pristine condition or to sell it to developers for shopping centers, marinas and housing. Either decision will have an impact on the people in the state of Hawaii but a direct impact on the relatives.<br /><br />Matt and his family live a comfortable life style. He works as a real estate attorney and lives in what I call an established home, a house that has been around for decades in one of the older neighborhoods of Nuuanu or Manoa. He lives off of his lawyer income and not the money from the trust. He doesn’t want to squander the money that he has. He wants to provide enough for his kids but not so much that they don’t have to work. He’s trying to find the balance between modern day necessities and what having the trust could provide.<br /><br />His wife Elizabeth (Patricia Hastie) has just had a terrible boating accident and lies in a coma. While everyone tells Matt she’s a strong woman, she’ll pull through, the doctors have said otherwise. They have no hope that Elizabeth will recover and have recommended disconnecting her from life support equipment as instructed in a living will. Matt now has to struggle with this decision. The woman who he married lies there in the bed and he’s unable to receive a response to his statements about how he has treated her and his two girls over the past several years. He says he’ll be more attentive and responsive, but it doesn’t matter now.<br /><br />His youngest daughter, Scottie (Amara Miller) is acting out in school. His older 17 year old daughter Alexandra (Shailene Woodley) has been sent off to boarding school on the Big Island. Matt needs to pick her up at school and bring her back to Honolulu and break the bad news to her. He wants to try to keep the younger daughter shielded from the bad news as long as possible. He’s challenged because he was never really close with his daughters, as he says he was the backup parent to them.<br /><br />Matt tries to talk to Alexandra about her behavior and her anger but she won’t listen. He shoots straight from the hip about her mom dying. After a breakdown in the pool festooned with floating leaves she knocks Matt in the gut by letting him know that the reason she is upset and angry is that she had caught her mom cheating. So now the knowledge of an affair adds to the turmoil sending Matt into a further state of shock.<br /><br />In the end, this is not a total feel good movie. You know early on that Elizabeth is not going to make it so no bright flowers and rainbows let’s watch the couple sit on the beach in each other’s arms as the sun sets on the Pacific Ocean. The acting all around was superb. You are drawn in as Matt and the kids go to talk to her parents. The dad’s gruff exterior with the feeling that Matt wasn’t good enough for his daughter or the dad trying to explain to his dementia afflicted wife are not played in a goofy or over the top manner. Matt takes the kids over to Kauai to show them the land that he has been entrusted. While both Matt and Alexandra talk about the times they have spent camping there Scottie pipes in pointing out that if the land is sold she’ll never be able to have the family camping experience. You feel for them all the way around. In the end you see a family that has some fractures and splits and has to try to heal if they want to stay together.<br /><br />I think the biggest compliment that could be given to the movie I heard in the restroom afterward. One man was talking to another and saying “I knew this was a George Clooney movie, but I forget it was George Clooney”. If you have a chance to see this 115 minute R rated for language including some sexual references movie, make the effort I think you'll enjoy it.<br /><br /><div style="margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/frikitiki/4904796611/" title="Movie Monkey Show Badge"><img alt="Movie Monkey Show badge" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5099/5581143581_2912954a8f.jpg" height="200" width="200"></a><br /><font style="margin-top: 0px;" size="0.9em">The Movie Monkey</font></div><br />To subscribe to the audio podcast of the reviews via iTunes <a href="itpc://www.frikitikiproductions.com/xml/tmm_feed.xml">click here</a>. Audio versions are released the following Wednesday.The Hawaii Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16244531964643963754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8353780394455190659.post-77390556937952592162011-11-29T23:45:00.001-10:002011-11-29T23:48:25.535-10:00Movie Review: The MuppetsTo download to the audio version, <a href="http://traffic.libsyn.com/tippodcaster/MovieMonkeyShow086.mp3">right click here</a> and choose "save as..." or "save link as..."<br /><br />To listen, press the play button on the player below<br /><embed autostart="false" src="http://traffic.libsyn.com/tippodcaster/MovieMonkeyShow086.mp3" width="250" height="50"></embed><br /><br />The movie that I’ve been waiting a long time to see finally released this weekend. There was the time spent waiting for a movie to even be announced and then when it was, the anticipation of knowing that it was coming, anticipation for the final release date. While sitting in the theater waiting for <span style="font-style: italic;">The Muppets</span> to start, several times shivers crossed by body. It was the good kind, similar to those that you would have anticipating the arrival of the big man in the red suit to visit your house. The wait was finally over and the movie was satisfying, but not wholly fulfilling.<br /><br /><div style="float: left;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/frikitiki/6396965633/" title="The Muppets Movie Poster"><img alt="The Muppets Movie Poster" src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6101/6396965633_813d4d0f47_m.jpg" style="border: 2px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);" /></a></div>Before we got to the actual Muppets, there was a Disney Pixar short <span style="font-style: italic;">Small Fry</span>. Buzz Lightyear finds himself at a fast food restaurant where there is a Mini Me of himself in the form of a kids meal toy. The Mini Me manages to swap places with the real Buzz while the owner Bonnie was playing in the ball pit. Back in Bonnie’s bedroom the rest of the gang realize that they have a fake Buzz while the real Buzz tries to escape the restaurant. Unfortunately, he ends up in a storage room of unused and defective kid meal toys in a scene that is reminiscent of the Island of Misfit Toys from <span style="font-style: italic;">Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer</span>. The short seemed appropriate as how many times have the Muppets been used as a promotional tool for a fast food chain?<br /><br />When the curtain metaphorically rises on the main feature (how many theaters actually have curtains any more that aren’t always open for the preshow spate of commercials) we are introduced to two brothers, Gary (Jason Segal) and Walter (Walter) who grew up in Smalltown USA. The two brothers have a very tight relationship. I’m wondering if they in any way, shape or form border where the Simpsons live in Springfield? Growing up Walter couldn’t help but notice that he was different from everyone around him. It wasn’t until <span style="font-style: italic;">The Muppet Show</span> debuted on TV that he found there were others like him. In turn, he became the Muppets' greatest fan. <br /><br />Jump ahead a few years. Gary is going with his sweetheart Mary (Amy Adams) out to California. Although it’s supposed to be just Gary and Mary, Gary tells Walter he can come along and they will visit the Muppet Studios. With Walter tagging along, Mary is relegated to become the third wheel. During the tour of the now broken down studios when Walter separates from the group to visit Kermit’s office, he overhears a plan by oil baron Tex Richman (Chris Cooper) and his cronies to buy the studio only to rip it down for the oil underneath. Walter tells Gary and Mary about the dastardly future diggings and convinces the couple to try to let Kermit know that the studio is in jeopardy.<br /><br />They find Kermit at his Bel Aire home with an electrified fence and images of himself and Miss Piggy in the wrought iron fence. This is not the jovial frog we once knew. He is downhearted and missing all his friends, of course, especially Miss Piggy. With the encouragement of the trio, a road trip to collect the former gang ensues to get them back to the studios. They decided to resurrect <span style="font-style: italic;">The Muppet Show</span> for a special one night telethon to raise 10 million dollars to buy the studios back from Tex. A TV exec (Rashida Jones) tells the gang they aren’t relevant anymore and denies them airtime until miracle of miracles a time slot opens up and she agrees upon the condition they can find a star to host the telethon. Of course in the effort to get the show on the air and meeting the necessary requirements all madness and mayhem breaks loose in all the wackiness and zaniness that is the Muppets.<br /><br />What works about this movie? It’s the Muppets for pete’s sake! It was wonderfully stupendously awesome to see our beloved friends and generators of laughter up on the big screen once again. I’ll admit that there were times when I had the waterworks going on, especially when the stains of <span style="font-style: italic;">The Rainbow Connection</span> started coming through the theater’s speaker system. Walter is a fun addition to the rest of the gang with his irrational exuberance and upbeat personality, he just needs to update his wardrobe and ditch the powder blue suit. A trade mark of the Muppet movies has been the cameo appearances by Hollywood and TV stars. We were not let down in this department with such luminaries as Alan Arkin, Neil Patrick Harris, Selena Gomez, Whoopi Goldberg, Mickey Rooney and one other that had me floored because it was a great appearance and I had not heard the name mentioned as a possibility for showing up.<br /><br />What didn’t work? First was a rap number. It came out of the blue and had me scratching my head. If it wasn’t for the subtitles, I wouldn’t have been able to understand what was being said. The second was Jason Segal. God bless the man, it’s because of his efforts that our fuzzy, hairy, and cloth friends, old and new, big and small appeared once again on the silver screen. It was good to see you Wayne and Wanda! On <span style="font-style: italic;">How I Met Your Mother</span> as Marshall Eriksen he does a wonderful job. As Gary…eh, no so much. He was ignoring the supposed love of his life Mary which leads me to number three. Why was Amy Adams in the movie? Certainly as eye candy, unquestionably, no mistaking that! Very sweet eye candy however she was totally under used. The <span style="font-style: italic;">Me Party</span> sequence even with the flashy disco border appeared to be done out of good sportsmanship of her heart. Hopefully when the Blu-ray and DVD come out there will be some deleted scenes showing that there was a bigger plan for her character that for whatever reason just didn’t make it into the final cut.<br /><br />Even with those few shortcomings, sitting in a theater with a mix of about half and half between adults and kids was one of the most exciting events I’ve participated in over the past several months. It was as if you and one of your best friends are separated for whatever reason for a number of years, let’s say twelve for argument’s sake, but when you get back together you just pick up and continue on as if the last time you saw them was yesterday. Kermit made the comment about us forgetting about them, the Muppets. We didn’t forget about them, we didn’t. We have been patiently waiting for just this moment when they come for a visit, we can buy some soda, sit down together and share a story and a good laugh. Jason Segal, thank you for fighting to bring them back to us and Disney, please don’t let them go away again.<br /><br />The Muppets is 98 glorious attention grabbing minutes and is rated PG for some mild rude humor. Fart shoes anyone?<br /><br /><table><tbody><tr><td><iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=thetikout-20&o=1&p=8&l=as4&m=amazon&f=ifr&ref=ss_til&asins=B0052LE7A6" style="width:120px;height:240px;" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe><br /></td><td><iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=thetikout-20&o=1&p=8&l=as4&m=amazon&f=ifr&ref=ss_til&asins=B0052LE7BA" style="width:120px;height:240px;" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe><br /></td><td><iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=thetikout-20&o=1&p=8&l=as4&m=amazon&f=ifr&ref=ss_til&asins=B00005BCJQ" style="width:120px;height:240px;" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><div style="margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/frikitiki/4904796611/" title="Movie Monkey Show Badge"><img alt="Movie Monkey Show badge" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5099/5581143581_2912954a8f.jpg" height="200" width="200" /></a><br /><span style="margin-top: 0px;font-size:0.9em;" >The Movie Monkey</span></div><br />To subscribe to the audio podcast of the reviews via iTunes <a href="itpc://www.frikitikiproductions.com/xml/tmm_feed.xml">click here</a>. Audio versions are released the following Wednesday.The Hawaii Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16244531964643963754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8353780394455190659.post-50862307950020173832011-11-14T23:45:00.003-10:002011-11-30T18:58:58.125-10:00Movie Review: The Skin I Live InTo download to the audio version, <a href="http://traffic.libsyn.com/tippodcaster/MovieMonkeyShow085.mp3">right click here</a> and choose "save as..." or "save link as..."<br /><br />To listen, press the play button on the player below<br /><embed autostart="false" src="http://traffic.libsyn.com/tippodcaster/MovieMonkeyShow085.mp3" width="250" height="50"></embed><br /><br />Antonio Banderas was the actor of the weekend. I discovered that I had a free loyalty movie ticket that was going to expire during the next week so I needed to use it or lose it as well as some free popcorn and soda coupons. I used them to see <span style="font-style: italic;">Puss in Boots</span>. Of course, he voiced the lead character Puss in this spin off from the Shrek franchise. Light, care free family fare with Banderas speaking in English with a few words in Spanish. The other movie was very different clocking in at just under two hours (117 minutes to be precise) and rated R for disturbing violent content including sexual assault, strong sexuality, graphic nudity, drug use and language and done in Spanish with English subtitles. Banderas plays Dr. Robert Ledgard in <span style="font-style: italic;">The Skin I Live In</span>.<br /><br /><div style="float: right;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/frikitiki/6342723752/" title="The Skin I Live In Movie Poster"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6100/6342723752_39a7630818_m.jpg" alt="The Skin I Live In Movie Poster" style="border: 2px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);" /></a></div>Ledgard is a renowned plastic surgeon having participated in three of the nine face transplants to have occurred. He passionately believes they as doctors and scientists can do better in these reconstructions with improved skin for skin grafts. Why does he so strongly believe in this? His wife, years earlier, had been in car crash and was severely burned. He believes that had he had the improved skin made by combining cells from pig’s skin with human skin at the time after the accident, he could have saved her.<br /><br />This feeling, the longing to help a family member or situation is the genesis act for the birth of a mad doctor and scientist. We’ve seen it happen over and over again where they become so obsessed that they leave any sense of morality and ethics along the roadside. Quite frequently the collateral damage is either overlooked or is unknown with consequences to take place down the road. One of the more recent movie examples is <span style="font-style: italic;">Rise of the Plant of the Apes</span>. The good doc wants to create a serum that will cure the Alzheimer’s afflicting his dad; instead it gave the primates the intelligence and spread a virus that killed millions of people. Or on <span style="font-style: italic;">Fringe</span> on TV, an engineer builds a time bubble based off his theoretical physicist wife’s notes in order to go back in time before she had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s not realizing that his time bubble created other time bubbles destroying property and lives in the process. It’s just coincidence that in both examples Alzheimer’s was the reasoning. It’s no coincidence that the love for the family member pushed them over the edge.<br /><br />Experimentation of this magnitude is never done in a vacuum; the doctor inevitably has to have someone else either as an accomplice or as the guinea pig or victim and sometimes both. Ledgard has Marilia (Marisa Paredes) his longtime housekeeper assisting him with keeping victim Vera (Elena Anaya) imprisoned up in El Cigarral, the doctor’s large beautiful estate. Vera is locked in a room with cameras being monitored by the doctor and Marilia. She is not allowed out of the room, food is given via a dumb waiter and only the doctor has the key to the room. Vera wears a beige colored full body unitard that included gloves and foot coverings with individual toes (think the Vibram FiveFinger shoes). Instead of mice as the doctor has told other doctors at a conference, his experimental skin which doesn’t burn and is impervious to mosquitoes has been placed on Vera. These characteristics would have saved his wife, the selfish motive, and helping others, the public motive, by reducing the spread of malaria. These were his justifications for pushing the limits of the science and technology.<br /><br />This is not your typical mad doctor movie. There is a deliberateness, a slowness and calmness about the mansion. Being a plastic surgeon, artwork (rather large ones too!) showing the human form with lots of skin exposed are decorating the walls of El Cigarral. Classical music stylings featuring piano and strings form the background music for the piece. There is a brightness and clarity in many of the scenes instead of the creepy dark and foreboding typical of the mad scientist genre. What is really dark and foreboding is Ledgard’s soul and spirit as he continues his work on Vera.<br /><br />Many of the scenes were easily watchable for their visuals but at times left a queasy feeling in the pit of my stomach when the implications of the dialogue settled into my brain. Why did Legard continue to do what he did? Why would the accomplice stay there knowing the results come at such a great cost? The gore was not graphic but some of the themes expressed by director Pedro Almodóvar were unsettling…very unsettling. As depicted by the rating, there was violent content that was tough to watch. Almodóvar laid out the story in a non-linear fashion and along different points of view from the characters each adding a new layer changing your perception of the situation giving you information that the characters themselves did not have to round out their world view of the events. This works well to build up to the final climax and reveal that had people in my theater responding to audibly. It came out of nowhere and hit you in between the eyes with a two by four.<br /><br />If you go see <span style="font-style: italic;">The Skin I Live In</span>, just know that it’s not your run of the mill mad scientist. Banderas does not have the wild grey hair, thick glasses, crooked teeth and lab coat prevalent of most mad doctors…well, actually he does have the lab coat, but only when working in the lab! He’s suave, smooth, calculating and diabolically deliberate, yet charming and sophisticated. If you can handle the implications of his work, you’ll have a different style of movie in your hands.<br /><br /><iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=thetikout-20&o=1&p=8&l=as4&m=amazon&f=ifr&ref=ss_til&asins=B001J2CK0Q" style="width:120px;height:240px;" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe><br /><br /><div style="margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/frikitiki/4904796611/" title="Movie Monkey Show Badge"><img alt="Movie Monkey Show badge" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5099/5581143581_2912954a8f.jpg" width="200" height="200" /></a><br /><span style="margin-top: 0px;font-size:0.9em;" >The Movie Monkey</span></div><br />To subscribe to the audio podcast of the reviews via iTunes <a href="itpc://www.frikitikiproductions.com/xml/tmm_feed.xml">click here</a>. Audio versions are released the following Wednesday.The Hawaii Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16244531964643963754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8353780394455190659.post-62053673107597714002011-11-08T22:30:00.005-10:002011-11-28T22:13:16.514-10:00Movie Review: Tower HeistTo download to the audio version, <a href="http://traffic.libsyn.com/tippodcaster/MovieMonkeyShow084.mp3">right click here</a> and choose "save as..." or "save link as..."<br /><br />To listen, press the play button on the player below<br /><embed autostart="false" src="http://traffic.libsyn.com/tippodcaster/MovieMonkeyShow084.mp3" height="50" width="250"></embed><br /><br /><br />Wanted to head out to see <span style="font-style: italic;">A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas</span>. Unfortunately, my normal theaters only had the up charge versions (3D, digital 3D and Titan XC) and I very rarely pay for 3D. This was not one of those times. I didn't discover until after I had seen <span style="font-style: italic;">Tower Heist</span> that I could have seen H&K in 2D, but it would have been an hour trip via bus each way. Interesting that the two biggest theaters on the island decided not to carry the cheaper 2D version of the film and relegated the film to the lesser locations within each chain.<br /><br /><div style="float: left;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/frikitiki/6317018005/" title="Tower Heist Movie Poster"><img alt="Tower Heist Movie Poster" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6055/6317018005_616997bb32_m.jpg" style="border: 2px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);" /></a></div>So we have a group of people working at an upscale residence in New York City called The Tower. Ben Stiller plays Josh Kovacs, the building manager. He and a number of the staff have worked there for years serving their clients of which one is Arthur Shaw (Alan Alda) who is an investment manager and happens to own the penthouse apartment with the pool on top. Other workers at The Tower include concierge Charlie (Casey Affleck) who is also Josh’s brother-in-law, about to retire and travel doorman Lester (Stephen Henderson), new hire elevator man Enrique (Michael Pena) and feisty Jamaican housekeeper Odessa (Gabourey Sidibe).<br /><br />It turns out that Shaw and Bernie Madhoff were cut from the same cloth in bilking investors of their money. Actually Madhoff was never mentioned, but the end result was the same, people lost lots of money including Shaw whose accounts seem to have dried up as well leaving nothing for the victims to get back. Josh had entrusted Shaw with the retirement fund for the workers and they are all left with naught. When FBI agent on the case Claire Denham (Tea Leone) suggests to Josh that these guys always store away some get away money, Josh figures that he might know where it might be and wants to attempt to get back their pension fund money. He recruits some of his coworkers and a former building resident in an attempt to break into Shaw’s unit in the secure building but shortly realize they are basically all good people who don’t have a clue to pull this off properly.<br /><br />In comes Slide (Eddie Murphy), a petty criminal who used to go to daycare with and now lives a few doors down the street from Josh. But can you trust a petty criminal when $20 million dollars is involved? Is it time to move up to the big leagues? As with all heist movies, you can plan, but you can’t predict everything. As Julie Chen on Big Brother would remind houseguests, “To expect the unexpected”, the bulk of the movie is how to adapt and adjust when the unanticipated and unforeseen does happen.<br /><br />Is it a great movie? No. Is it a fun movie? Yes. Is it believable? To an extent, yeah; as Josh points out to his coworkers, they know all about the building, its workings, the residents and their habits. They’ve been casing the place for years but never realized it. It explains some of the reasoning and why they can do what they do, but the screenwriters also leave some pretty big holes in the logic. Stiller remained calm as the building manager not going into the anger and freak outs like we’ve seen him do is so many other movies, Mr Furious from <span style="font-style: italic;">Mystery Men</span> comes to mind. We’ve seen Murphy play the Slide character before as a person who is charming one moment and very dubious and devious the next. Rated PG 13 for some sexual content and language, director Brett Ratner gave some decent action/suspense scenes throughout the movie keeping people on the edge of their seats for part of the 104 minute running time.<br /><br /><iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=thetikout-20&o=1&p=8&l=as4&m=amazon&f=ifr&ref=ss_til&asins=B003TY2SPO" style="width:120px;height:240px;" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe><br /><br /><div style="margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/frikitiki/4904796611/" title="Movie Monkey Show Badge"><img alt="Movie Monkey Show badge" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5099/5581143581_2912954a8f.jpg" height="200" width="200" /></a><br /><span style="margin-top: 0px;font-size:0.9em;" >The Movie Monkey</span></div><br />To subscribe to the audio podcast of the reviews via iTunes <a href="itpc://www.frikitikiproductions.com/xml/tmm_feed.xml">click here</a>. Audio versions are released the following Wednesday.The Hawaii Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16244531964643963754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8353780394455190659.post-43056773159474021342011-10-30T09:00:00.001-10:002011-10-30T09:10:12.586-10:00Movie Review: In TimeTo download to the audio version, <a href="http://traffic.libsyn.com/tippodcaster/MovieMonkeyShow083.mp3">right click here</a> and choose "save as..." or "save link as..."<br /><br />To listen, press the play button on the player below<br /><embed autostart="false" src="http://traffic.libsyn.com/tippodcaster/MovieMonkeyShow083.mp3" height="50" width="250"></embed><br /><br />A number of years ago cartoon artist Gary Larson came up with a panel that showed a scientist standing in front of a black board with his hands on his hips. On the board were all sorts of equations with the one, right at eye level, showing an equation with the result equaling a dollar symbol. Underneath is the caption "Einstein discovers that time is actually money." What if that were actually the case? What if time was money? What if time is the currency that is traded in transactions where today you would use dollars? Director and writer Andrew Niccol uses this proposition as the basis for his latest movie, <span style="font-style: italic;">In Time</span>.<br /><br /><div style="float: right;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/frikitiki/6293806668/" title="In Time Movie Poster"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6105/6293806668_1c21c7bd96_m.jpg" alt="In Time Movie Poster" style="border: 2px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);" /></a></div>Will Salas (Justin Timerlake) lives in the future that genetically, when you are born you have one year of time given to you that kicks in once you hit the age of twenty-five and you stay looking that way no matter how much time you live past that moment. How much time you have is on your left forearm in 13 digits: seconds, minutes, hours, weeks, months and years. Anyone can see the digits unless its covered, sort of like having your bank account balance out there for anyone to see. When you want a cup of coffee, ride the bus or pay rent you have a deduction taken from your balance. When you work, you have time added. You can give people your time literally or it can be stolen from you as well. When your balance hits zero, you die by a Time Out. If you are killed before you time out, the remaining balance is wasted time.<br /><br />Will lives with his mother (Olivia Wilde) and works at a factory in Dayton. Very appropriate name considering they live day to day. They struggle to earn enough time to pay the rent on time. When a man, Henry Hamilton, from New Greenwich (the up scale neighborhood) decides that he doesn't want to live any longer, that he wants his time to be up, he gives a sleeping Will over a century of time before he times out himself. Why would Henry just toss in the towel? After living 105 years, he doesn't feel that anyone show live forever. This gift causes problems for Will.<br /><br />Venturing into New Greenwich based on a comment that Henry made in a conversation the two men had, Will meets Sylvia Weis (Amanda Seyfried), the daughter to time magnate Phillipe Weis. Will is tracked to New Greenwich by Timekeeper Raymond Leon (Cillian Murphy) who is investigating the time out of Hamilton. Will escapes taking Sylvia as a hostage as he attempts to correct what he feels is injustice between the people in New Greenwich and the residents of Dayton. A battle of sorts between the haves and the have nots.<br /><br />The premise showed some promise but it fell into a trap with using all sorts of cliches about time some of which just didn't quite work. There were some inconsistencies in the action of time payments and withdrawals and locations. It was noted between Sylvia and Will that he had not come from Old Time as he was rushing around and he ran where as a person with lots of time on their hand (well, actually arm) would be taking things slower. With time as currency, phrases like "don't waste my time" and "I have all the time in the world" take on new meaning. The other references to time became a bit distracting but you could start to think differently about the time that you have. "Take it a day at a time" would have new meaning as the neon green numbers in your skin count down from 23:59:59. Although I might have missed it, when one person was stealing time from another, I don't remember hearing the phrase "I'm cleaning your clock" coming up. So it does appear they used a little restraint in the cliche department.<br /><br />If you watch <span style="font-style: italic;">In Time</span>, it will cost you 109 minutes of your time and is rated PG-13 <span itemprop="contentRating">for violence, some sexuality and partial nudity, and strong language.<br /><br /><iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=thetikout-20&o=1&p=8&l=as4&m=amazon&f=ifr&ref=ss_til&asins=B004HWT6DO" style="width:120px;height:240px;" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe><br /><br /><div style="margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/frikitiki/4904796611/" title="Movie Monkey Show Badge"><img alt="Movie Monkey Show badge" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5099/5581143581_2912954a8f.jpg" height="200" width="200" /></a><br /><span style="margin-top: 0px;font-size:0.9em;" >The Movie Monkey</span></div><br />To subscribe to the audio podcast of the reviews via iTunes <a href="itpc://www.frikitikiproductions.com/xml/tmm_feed.xml">click here</a>. Audio versions are released the following Wednesday.<br /></span>The Hawaii Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16244531964643963754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8353780394455190659.post-51360398569431142752011-10-23T08:45:00.002-10:002011-10-23T08:47:02.919-10:00Movie Review: The Bengali DetectiveTo download to the audio version, <a href="http://traffic.libsyn.com/tippodcaster/MovieMonkeyShow082.mp3">right click here</a> and choose "save as..." or "save link as..."<br /><br />To listen, press the play button on the player below<br /><embed autostart="false" src="http://traffic.libsyn.com/tippodcaster/MovieMonkeyShow082.mp3" height="50" width="250"></embed><br /><br />The Hawaii International Film Festival wraps up this weekend and I took in another film. This one from India. I thought it was going to be a Bollywood movie with the sudden departures from story blooming into colorful sequences of song and dance. Wellllll....not quite. The description and the trailer for the film really didn't describe the story the way that it revealed itself on the screen. <span style="font-style: italic;">The Bengali Detective</span> was not a piece of fiction, but a documentary shot in reality TV style. So the movie doesn't stand up as a piece of Bollywood, but it stands firm as a unique documentary.<br /><br /><div style="float: left;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/frikitiki/6270855570/" title="HIFF The Bengali Detective Movie ticket"><img alt="HIFF The Bengali Detective Movie ticket" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6105/6270855570_0bc37d1c1f_m.jpg" style="border: 2px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);" /></a></div>Rajesh lives in Kolkota (formerly Calcutta, the place where Mother Teresa served the poorest of the poor) with his wife and son. The population doesn't trust the authorities as the murder rate has increased and 70% of those murders go unsolved. The populous turn to private detectives like himself to help with investigations. This might include murders, counterfeit products or unfaithful spouses. Rajesh's agency Always has himself and a half dozen other men who track down their marks. We follow them as they attempt to solve a brutal slaying of three young men, an abused wife wondering if her husband is having an affair and busting businesses that are involved with the sale of counterfeit products like hair oil.<br /><br />From the American perspective looking in, we'll probably take a slightly different view to their reactions and how the detectives go about their job, especially when looking at the issue of the counterfeit hair oil. Large corporations in America are concerned about copyright infringement, particularly media companies with concerns about people posting digital files online for easy copying. Rajesh has the company who makes the hair oil pressuring him to find anyone and everyone involved with the sale and production of the fake oil and shut them down. It's understandable that they want to protect their product.<br /><br />On the home front Rajesh is concerned about his wife of seven years, Minnie. She has diabetes and has lost both the pigmentation in her skin and her eye sight. He juggles both the responsibility of the office and the care of his now blind wife and their young son. He's concerned about the entire family in all aspects. To help him relieve stress, he loves to since and dance. He loves it so much that he applies to a TV show where he and his detectives will perform. The other agents agree, even if it was with a bit of reluctance. These segments of the movie do break the tension of the day to day investigation duties, but at the same time seem so out of place that it almost comes through as completely made up and fictional especially when the men are provided costumes for the contest. The laughter they provided did bring some moments of levity amidst some intense moments. This was also about the closest you get to a stereotypical Bollywood movie but without the true triple threat of singing, dancing and acting of say an Anil Kapoor or Shar Rukh Kahn.<br /><br />Director Philip Cox took the approach of a reality show like <span style="font-style: italic;">COPS</span> or <span style="font-style: italic;">Dog the Bounty Hunter</span> while following Rajesh and his detectives both on and off duty. They might be re-enacting a position of a body on a railroad track, looking into boxes of merchant inventory, blurring out the face of alleged adulterers or running to catch a suspect. There was quite a bit of adjusting focus to bring the picture into a sharp image or blurry abstraction and back again or changing the depth of field so that the focus went back and forth between background and foreground objects. We would look at what they're doing with jaded eyes after watching all these procedural shows and their recreations on TV. The most high tech they have to use is their color ink jet printers and cell phones never mind having access to DNA processing or cell phone records.<br /><br />The uncredited actor is the city of Kolkota. The city acts as a backdrop with conditions that most Americans won't experience in their everyday lives. The crush of people; the constant honking of horns; the rush, rush rush of the traffic; colorful clothing and people bathing or performing rituals in the Hooghly river provide the framework in which Rajesh's daily interactions occur. One particular scene of note is when Rajesh takes his wife onto a small boat into the river and he describes the scene for her telling her of birds flying and following each other, nearby boats or flowers floating in the current.<br /><br />The movie as a documentary does not have a rating. I didn't see any bad words in the sub titles as most of the dialogue was in Hindi with some English. If any bad words were spoken, I wouldn't have recognized them anyway, my Hindi is rusty. That is to say it's nonexistent. There are scenes of extreme poverty and a religious ritual which if rated may give it something other than a G rating. It ran for 110 minutes in one of the larger theater venues of the festival at Regal Cinemas and was about 60% full of attendees. It did have an audience ballot for which I gave it mid marks based on the fact that I was expecting a different type of film. If the HIFF web site movie's description page said documentary I would have given it a 4 out of 5 rating.<br /><br /><table><tbody><tr><td><br /><iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=thetikout-20&o=1&p=8&l=as4&m=amazon&f=ifr&ref=ss_til&asins=B004E0I9FK" style="width:120px;height:240px;" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe><br /></td><td><br /><iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=thetikout-20&o=1&p=8&l=as4&m=amazon&f=ifr&ref=ss_til&asins=B001P9KR8U" style="width:120px;height:240px;" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><div style="margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/frikitiki/4904796611/" title="Movie Monkey Show Badge"><img alt="Movie Monkey Show badge" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5099/5581143581_2912954a8f.jpg" height="200" width="200" /></a><br /><span style="margin-top: 0px;font-size:0.9em;" >The Movie Monkey</span></div><br />To subscribe to the audio podcast of the reviews via iTunes <a href="itpc://www.frikitikiproductions.com/xml/tmm_feed.xml">click here</a>. Audio versions are released the following Wednesday.The Hawaii Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16244531964643963754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8353780394455190659.post-16696015173727945852011-10-15T09:30:00.002-10:002011-10-15T09:34:11.252-10:00Movie Review: Being ElmoTo download to the audio version, <a href="http://traffic.libsyn.com/tippodcaster/MovieMonkeyShow081.mp3">right click here</a> and choose "save as..." or "save link as..."<br /><br />To listen, press the play button on the player below<br /><embed autostart="false" src="http://traffic.libsyn.com/tippodcaster/MovieMonkeyShow081.mp3" height="50" width="250"></embed><br /><br /><br />Decided to do something different this week. Instead of the usual Hollywood releases including remakes of <font style="font-style: italic;">The Thing</font> and <font style="font-style: italic;">Footloose</font>, the <a href="http://hiff.org/" target="_blank">Hawaii International Film Festival</a> (HIFF) is going on. With the huge slate of films to choose from I chose a film from the first night of the 2011 event. The movie was a biopic of Kevin Clash. Who is Kevin Clash you ask? Well, the title <a href="http://beingelmo.com/" target="_blank"><font style="font-style: italic;">Being Elmo: a Puppeteer's Journey</font></a> tells you what you need to know about Kevin. Personally, I wouldn’t have known much about this film and Kevin if it wasn’t for Steve Swanson over at <a href="http://muppetcast.com/" target="_blank">The Muppetcast</a>, a podcast dedicated to the works of Jim Henson and the Muppets. Steve has interviewed Kevin on the show which added to my background knowledge and interest of the subject.<br /><br /><br /><div style="float: right;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/frikitiki/6245917296/" title="Hawaii International Film Festival Banner"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6170/6245917296_bd1e8d91b8_m.jpg" alt="Hawaii International Film Festival Banner" style="border: 2px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);" /></a></div>It was the second movie on the HIFF schedule and played to a pretty packed house. The movie isn’t about Elmo, it’s about the man who really brought Elmo to the forefront of the American pop culture scene. Even at the age of eight, Kevin knew what he wanted to be and he followed through on that ambition to become a puppeteer. It’s a trait that only a small percentage of people hold and carry with them to have that fortitude to follow his dream and even a smaller percentage who want to move into the creative arts. While I won’t say that Kevin’s had a charmed life, he’s been surrounded by people who have been willing to help and mentor him. He received a hand up and not a hand out.<br /><br />For the 76 minutes running time, it just flew by. I will admit that for the majority of the movie I had a lump in my throat. It was totally enthralling to hear about the progression of the skill and desire that Kevin has put towards the craft of both puppet making and puppeteering. This young boy setting out into the world of making the inanimate come to life by taking his father’s coat and turning that into his first creation and then honing the craft with performances in the backyard and at neighborhood events. His parents, especially his father, could have gotten upset over the jacket but instead helped foster Kevin’s desire and ambitions the best they could.<br /><br />There was a quality about his passion that sadly doesn’t seem to be overflowing in the general public today. I think why I had the lump was that I wish I had that sort of passion in me for everything I do. It’s the kind of passion which just exudes out of every pore and creates an aura that people just know that you know that you know this is where you where meant to be. That’s why when Kevin is puppeting Elmo and the child or person see Kevin right there with his hand inside the puppet their eyes are glued not to the man but to the inanimate shaggy red pieces of material on the end of his hand. The passion had breathed life into what had no presence before captivating individuals.<br /><br />One aspect of the movie that director Constance Marks brought forward was the mentoring that Kevin received. When Kevin saw Kermit Love on TV, Mrs Clash reached out on Kevin’s behalf and made contact. Kermit Love was a major force in the design of the Muppets. Kermit shared his own love, passion and knowledge when the two met and today Kevin in turn extends his hand to help others who want to get into puppetry. They didn’t seem to put up their shields and flip on protection mode that if I share this method or secret with you the result will harm me in the either now or in the future. It came across as pure joy for Kevin who would either share with someone looking to develop a career as a puppeteer or someone who was already on the staff of Sesame Street.<br /><br />Success depends on hard work, but sometimes it's a matter of luck, being in the right place at the right time. Kevin's greatest creation Elmo, was partially hard work and effort but the door that opened for him to perform Elmo was where luck was a factor. Richard Hunt was originally Elmo but didn't "feel" Elmo so he gave Kevin the chance. Marks shows footage of Hunt as Elmo who sounded like a New York taxi driver with cuts between Kevin and Marty Robinson who was present in the break room when the hand off occurred to tell the birth story of the Elmo that we know today.<br /><br />The documentary used lots of archival footage from Kevin’s past to mark milestones along the way. From the days of working with Bob Keeshan, Captain Kangaroo in New York to the trips that he makes around the world with Elmo in tow, footage has captured Kevin at work or behind the scenes. Still pictures from friends and family were altered slightly so that instead of the pan and scan to draw your attention to a detail, sections were lifted to give a bit of depth and animated motion to pull your eye where Marks wanted you to go.<br /><br />There is no rating on this film, but it was definitely G material. It's been making it's way around the film festival circuit and I couldn't find any information for a general release date for theaters, DVD or Bluray. At the <a href="http://www.beingelmo.com/playdates.php" target="_blank">film's web site</a> there is a page showing currently planned locations and dates and a button to "Demand it!". If you are excited about the Muppets, the creative arts or puppetry, this is a film for you. To help round out the picture there are interviews and footage with Jim Henson, Frank Oz, Fran Brill and Whoopi Goldberg. As I was leaving the theater I took my audience response form to rate the film and ripped it on number five on the 1-5 scale.<br /><br /><iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=thetikout-20&o=1&p=8&l=as4&m=amazon&f=ifr&ref=ss_til&asins=B00008GYCZ" style="width:120px;height:240px;" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0"></iframe><br /><br /><div style="margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/frikitiki/4904796611/" title="Movie Monkey Show Badge"><img alt="Movie Monkey Show badge" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5099/5581143581_2912954a8f.jpg" height="200" width="200" /></a><br /><span style="margin-top: 0px;font-size:0.9em;" >The Movie Monkey</span></div><br />To subscribe to the audio podcast of the reviews via iTunes <a href="itpc://www.frikitikiproductions.com/xml/tmm_feed.xml">click here</a>. Audio versions are released the following Wednesday.The Hawaii Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16244531964643963754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8353780394455190659.post-77645513665777491372011-10-10T23:10:00.001-10:002011-10-10T23:10:01.164-10:00Movie Review: Real SteelTo download to the audio version, <a href="http://traffic.libsyn.com/tippodcaster/MovieMonkeyShow080.mp3">right click here</a> and choose "save as..." or "save link as..."<br /><br />To listen, press the play button on the player below<br /><embed autostart="false" src="http://traffic.libsyn.com/tippodcaster/MovieMonkeyShow080.mp3" height="50" width="250"></embed><br /><br />When I was growing up there was a toy game called Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots. It had two robots, a red one and a blue one, in a boxing ring being controlled by the managers who moved the robots around and pushed buttons to throw punches. When one punch landed in the right place on the opposing robot's head, it sprang up with a funny noise and that robot's manager would yell "You knocked by block off!" Well, at least they yelled in the commercials of old! Watching <span style="font-style: italic;">Real Steel</span> immediately brought me back to that time in the past only for a moment because the movie had good enough execution that I was immediately brought back into the now to watch the near future of robotics and boxing.<br /><br /><br /><div style="float: left;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/frikitiki/6225359374/" title="Real Steel Movie Poster"><img alt="Real Steel Movie Poster" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6170/6225359374_64ac9372e9_m.jpg" style="border: 2px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);" /></a></div>In the near future, boxing is no longer done by humans. The crowds wanted more carnage than a man could either dish out or take so robots were used. Charlie Kenton (Hugh Jackman) used to be a real boxer and now boxes with the remote controlled man-like machines. Unfortunately he hasn't done too well in the ring and owes a number of people a lot of money. After one demonstration show where his machine was taken out by a bull, he's approached by two men informing him that the mother of his son has passed away and he needs to make an appearance in family court to resolve the matter of who will become the guardian for the boy.<br /><br />Max Kenton (Dakato Goyo) was abandoned by Charlie when the boy was born. Now the boy's wealthy aunt wants to adopt him and Charlie sees a way to alleviate some of his money problems. Charlie works a deal to in essence sell his rights to Max in order to purchase a new fighting robot. The catch is that Charlie has to take Max for the summer. Estranged father and son forced together for several months. Yeah, at this point, you know how part of the movie will end, the question is what road will the two travel to get there.<br /><br />Charlie and Max head to the gym where Charlie was trained to pick up the new robot. The gym is now operated by the trainers daughter Bailey (Evangeline Lily) since her dad had passed away. Luckily for Charlie, not only does she know how to run the gym, she knows how to fix the big pieces of sporting metal. While Charlie attempts to leave Max with Bailey, Max won't have that. The kid manages to finagle his way into going to his first robot boxing match while sparring verbally with his dad about what they're doing. The kid has some spunk about it. Now understanding how his new robot will react is bad news for both the robot, Noisy Boy, and Charlie.<br /><br />Quite frankly, if it wasn't for the character of Max and the way that Goyo played him, you wouldn't have a movie here. It’s Goyo who really carries the film. For an 11 year old Max displays knowledge beyond his years, insight into boxing and betting, and a lot of chutzpah to act the way that he does towards his father and people in the World Robot Boxing league. After Noisy Boy is destroyed in the ring, Max and Charlie break into a junk yard. Buried in the mud Max finds an old sparring robot named Atom. Without Charlie’s digging assistance, Max manages to extricate the robot out of the junk heap and back to Bailey who helps repair Atom. At times Goyo delivers the fierce determination and belief in Atom and what the bot can do and yet at times gives these sad, large Puss-in-Boot eyes when he shows vulnerability in that he wants a relationship with his dad or when he is betrayed when Charlie’s selfish streaks come to the surface.<br /><br />In a true Rocky style, Atom slowly rises in the boxing community’s awareness drawing the attention of the owners of the top ranked fighting bot Zeus. Max in his exuberance of youth throws down the gauntlet taunting them. Eventually the big fight happens and I’ll let you watch the movie to see what happens from there. I’ll just say that it wasn’t a cookie cutter ending.<br /><br />The movie ran for 127 minutes and had my attention the whole time. For the first show of the day, the theater was pretty packed and even though it was rated PG-13 for some violence, intense action and brief language, there were a fair number of young kids in the audience. While the robots got smashed to pieces, the worst thing that happened to a human was a fat lip and bloody nose. The movie had the action of a sports movie, but that was secondary to the father son story of Charlie and Max. Also watching these gigantic robots battle was fun and fascinating. At times real robots were used for some of the close up shots with humans while the boxing scenes were done with the motion capture to depict what a real fight was like. Enough adjustments were made to the styling of the movements to make it believable that mechanical men were swinging and pounding each other instead of flesh and blood.<br /><br />I predict that the movie will do well over the weekend (update, it came in first with more than double the money that came in for the number 2 movie at the box office) and that a series of sequels based on both Charlie and Max and the robot fighting world in general will be in our near future.<br /><br /><iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=thetikout-20&o=1&p=8&l=as4&m=amazon&f=ifr&ref=ss_til&asins=B00005BY8V" style="width:120px;height:240px;" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0"></iframe><br /><br /><div style="margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/frikitiki/4904796611/" title="Skurvy Monkey Show Badge"><img alt="Movie Monkey Show badge" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5099/5581143581_2912954a8f.jpg" height="200" width="200" /></a><br /><span style=" margin-top: 0px;font-size:0.9em;" >The Movie Monkey</span></div><br />To subscribe to the audio podcast of the reviews via iTunes <a href="itpc://www.frikitikiproductions.com/xml/tmm_feed.xml">click here</a>. Audio versions are released the following Wednesday.The Hawaii Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16244531964643963754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8353780394455190659.post-16585861785020787492011-10-04T22:44:00.000-10:002011-10-04T22:44:00.087-10:00Movie Review: 50/50To download to the audio version, <a href="http://traffic.libsyn.com/tippodcaster/MovieMonkeyShow079.mp3">right click here</a> and choose "save as..." or "save link as..."<br /><br />To listen, press the play button on the player below<br /><embed autostart="false" src="http://traffic.libsyn.com/tippodcaster/MovieMonkeyShow079.mp3" height="50" width="250"></embed><br /><br />The movie <span style="font-style: italic;">50/50</span> is about a cancer patient and could have taken the route of being a total tear jerker movie. Luckily we know in advance that everything ends up ok as it was based on a true story of Will Reiser who penned the screen play. Yet what could have followed the “Oh, woe is me” path instead was peppered with a number of spots that handed the audience moments of laughter. Chances of you giving out some giggles during the movie are better than 50/50.<br /><br /><div style="float: right;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/frikitiki/6206055983/" title="50/50 Movie Poster"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6149/6206055983_ec1fcfb9ca_m.jpg" alt="50/50 Movie Poster" style="border: 2px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);" /></a></div>Adam (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is 27 and single but dating, has a decent job as a writer for the Seattle Public Radio station and has Kyle (the still skinny from doing The Green Hornet Seth Rogen) as his co-worker and best friend. When recurring back pain forces Adam to the doctors, it’s discovered that he has a large tumor growing on his spine. His doctor probably went to the Dr Gregory House School of Charm and Bedside Manners to learn how to deal with his patients. No empathy or even using reassuring language Adam could comprehend without having the DR letters attached to his own name. Very understandably, when the C word, cancer, is mentioned, it’s the only thing Adam could pick out among the medical terms and immediately zoned out of his regular life and entered survival mode.<br /><br />His support system is his girlfriend, Rachel (Bryce Dallas Howard), a cold and manipulative woman who is a taker and not a giver. His mom (Angelica Houston) is a smothering mom who is dealing with the care of her husband, Adam’s dad, who has Alzheimer’s. She now has two very sick family members drawing her focus. Bro bud Kyle who sort of looks at the positive side of the disease thinking that it can be used to get some action for not only Adam but himself as well. Lastly, his treatment therapist Katherine (Anna Kendrick) rounds out the team although, she is not a doctor; she’s working on her doctorate degree and doesn’t have a huge pool of experience to pull from. While not her first, he is wading in the very shallow end of the pool, barely enough to cover the knees.<br /><br />There are the tough moments to watch and then these are offset with some of the laughter. Young Adam goes in for his chemo treatment and meets two other patients who are much older. They are looking back on their lives while Adam is supposed to be looking forward now has this giant obstacle staring him in the face. One of the men jokes that the longer the name of the cancer, the tougher it is to beat and Adam’s type has a long name, schwannoma neurofibrosarcoma. Adam goes through the highs and the lows of the disease trying to face it as stoically as possible without being a burden on his friends and family, keeping most of his anger, fear and frustration bottled up. Katherine attempts as a green therapist don’t yield the comfort or mental processing that Adam needs to deal with his circumstances. Kendrick’s eyes help tell the story of wanting to help but at times being at a loss to convey what Adam needs.<br /><br />The topic of medical marijuana came up several times between eating it or smoking it to relieve the symptoms of the chemo or in Kyle’s case sympathetic chemo nausea; perhaps, but maybe not. Is there a Rogen movie that doesn’t involve getting a party on somehow? Luckily at no time did Adam or Kyle attempt to feed the rescued from the racetrack greyhound given to Adam from Rachel as a way to help comfort him any pot brownies. The joke being that the skinny former athletic race dog about town was named Skeletor, just the kind of name that a cancer patient wants to hear.<br /><br />With such a heavy topic of life and death at a young age due to cancer, the movie was rated R for drug references and use, language throughout and sexual content during the 99 minute running time.<br /><br /><iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=thetikout-20&o=1&p=8&l=as4&m=amazon&f=ifr&ref=ss_til&asins=B002PLPQLU" style="width:120px;height:240px;" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe><br /><br /><div style="margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/frikitiki/4904796611/" title="Movie Monkey Show Badge"><img alt="Movie Monkey Show badge" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5099/5581143581_2912954a8f.jpg" height="200" width="200" /></a><br /><span style="margin-top: 0px;font-size:0.9em;" >The Movie Monkey</span></div><br />To subscribe to the audio podcast of the reviews via iTunes <a href="itpc://www.frikitikiproductions.com/xml/tmm_feed.xml">click here</a>. Audio versions are released the following Wednesday.The Hawaii Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16244531964643963754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8353780394455190659.post-10260099656749003442011-09-26T20:17:00.001-10:002011-09-26T20:17:00.977-10:00Movie Review: Detective Dee and Mystery of the Phantom FlameTo download to the audio version, <a href="http://traffic.libsyn.com/tippodcaster/MovieMonkeyShow078.mp3">right click here</a> and choose "save as..." or "save link as..."<br /><br />To listen, press the play button on the player below<br /><embed autostart="false" src="http://traffic.libsyn.com/tippodcaster/MovieMonkeyShow078.mp3" height="50" width="250"></embed><br /><br /><br />Another poor weekend movie choice for the big releases with last week having an animated 17 year old film converted to 3D taking the box office. This weekend didn’t look like any new releases were going to beat it. (update, yeah, Lion King 3D was the highest grossing movie for a second weekend) Back to the art house films I go although, my regular Regal theater is supposed to be cinema art house here in Honolulu, they haven’t shown art house films in a while. So I looked at Consolidated Theaters and one film leapt off the computer monitor at me. <span style="font-style:italic;">Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame</span> just has such an intriguing name I couldn’t pass it up.<br /><br /><div style="float: left;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/frikitiki/6184700404/" title="Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame Movie Poster"><img alt="Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame Movie Poster" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6151/6184700404_0def1a7620_m.jpg" style="border: 2px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);" /></a></div>The movie is rated PG-13 for violence, disturbing images and some sensuality and ran just over two hours at 122 minutes. The whole time my eyes were attentive to what was happening on the screen. Take beautiful cinematography, add in high wire martial arts (like a <span style="font-style: italic;">Crouching Tiger and Hidden Dragon</span>), set it in 690 AD for a period movie and lay that on top of a murder mystery and you have an engaging film. The fact you that you have to keep looking at the screen in order to read the subtitles helps keep you engaged too.<br /><br />Empress Wu (Carina Lau) is soon to be coronated as the first female Emperor of China. While a giant Buddha statue for the coronation is being constructed two of her high level officials mysteriously and suddenly burn up. Some think it is divine intervention signaling that Wu should not be crowned. Others believe there is plot afoot not by the gods but by man to stop the ceremony. The best person to solve the mystery is Detective Dee (Andy Lau), a man who eight years earlier was sent to prison for opposing the empress’ raise to power. To help ensure the now released detective stays on the case, the empress assigns Shangguan Jing’er (Li Bing Bing) and Pei Donglai (Chao Deng) to both assist and watch over Dee.<br /><br />The martial arts staging was enthralling to watch. Flips, climbs, dives, jumps, spins and back bends done with the assistance of wires are staged with deft choreography bringing the fight scenes to life. Include weaponry with swords, arrows, whips and a special mace and you have some edge of your seat kick butt altercations. With assassins running rampant to stop Dee, Jing’er and Pei from trying to solve the mystery and you never know when a fight to save their lives will break out. Being high on the cinematography scale scenes with falling white petals adds to the mood of the film.<br /><br />Two items that I found took away from the experience slightly were the subtitles and the massive CGI shots. For the CGI they needed to be tweaked slightly. I can’t put my finger on why, but any of the scenes showing massive amounts of boats in the harbor just didn’t look quite right. I’m not sure if it was the coloring, the movement or shapes that my mind automatically jumped to “those aren’t real.” For the subtitles, there was a few times when there were large sentences on display and not enough time to read them; sometimes they just flashed too quickly. Being what they are, your eyes focused on the bottom of the screen preventing you from focusing in on the beautiful details in intricate designs, patterns and background action and absorbed them fully. This is one film that a dubbed version might actually make it better allowing you to watch with eyes wide open across the entire screen rather than just the lower third.<br /><br />Even though <span style="font-style: italic;">Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame </span>was originally released in 2010 and received nominations for Best Film and Best Choreography while winning for Best Director and Best Costume Design at the 30th Hong Kong Film Awards, it has just now made its way to American shores. If you have a chance to see the film on the big screen, I think you’ll enjoy it.<br /><br /><iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=thetikout-20&o=1&p=8&l=as4&m=amazon&f=ifr&ref=ss_til&asins=B00003CXR4" style="width:120px;height:240px;" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0"></iframe><br /><br /><div style="margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/frikitiki/4904796611/" title="Skurvy Monkey Show Badge"><img alt="Movie Monkey Show badge" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5099/5581143581_2912954a8f.jpg" height="200" width="200" /></a><br /><span style=" margin-top: 0px;font-size:0.9em;" >The Movie Monkey</span></div><br />To subscribe to the audio podcast of the reviews via iTunes <a href="itpc://www.frikitikiproductions.com/xml/tmm_feed.xml">click here</a>. Audio versions are released the following Wednesday.The Hawaii Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16244531964643963754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8353780394455190659.post-47669376598694831742011-09-20T20:05:00.001-10:002011-09-20T20:06:14.985-10:00Movie Review: DriveTo download to the audio version, <a href="http://traffic.libsyn.com/tippodcaster/MovieMonkeyShow077.mp3">right click here</a> and choose "save as..." or "save link as..."<br /><br />To listen, press the play button on the player below<br /><embed autostart="false" src="http://traffic.libsyn.com/tippodcaster/MovieMonkeyShow077.mp3" height="50" width="250"></embed><br /><br />Wow, this ...this was a movie I wasn't expecting. You anticipate something pretty bold when the coloring of the titles is fuchsia. Based on the previews I thought it would have been a high powered action movie, something along the lines of <span style="font-style: italic;">The Fast and The Furious</span>. Boy was I wrong. I would call this a minimalist action thriller heist movie, sort of a laid back, chill, toned down action movie. When engagements occurred, it was not over the top, but it could be extremely intense. They were presented with a confidence about themselves that it came across as cool. So cool in fact that the main character played by Ryan Gosling didn't even have a name...in the credits he was listed by his profession which was being a Driver and his whole point was to <span style="font-style: italic;">Drive</span>.<br /><br /><div style="float: right;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/frikitiki/6162620359/" title="Drive Movie Poster"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6159/6162620359_ea1de258f8_m.jpg" alt="Drive Movie Poster" style="border: 2px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);" /></a></div>The opening sequence was a chase sequence but it was a zen, intelligent chase sequence. No whooping, no hollering, no loud annoying screeches, no cars flipping over and taking out pedestrians or other cars. There was a simplicity about what The Driver did, how he performed and kept his wits about him. The Driver maintains this level of composure while dealing with traffic, lights and the ensuing police cars.<br /><br />By day The Driver is a mechanic and a stunt driver. At night he’s behind the wheels of the getaway vehicle with the rules that you have a five minute window. He’ll do everything for you during those five; outside of those five, you’re on your own. Pretty cut and dry, straight forward rules. That’s about all he says to his clients allowing himself to keep emotional distance between him and them, not getting caught up in their plans.<br /><br />So what’s the driving point of the story? Well, he meets his next door neighbor Irene (Carey Mulligan) and her son Benicio. They seem to hit it off and become friendly all the time keeping dialogue to a minimum. Oh and by keeping the dialogue to a minimum I don’t mean they are exploring the physical side of the relationship. Far from it. The Driver, Irene and Benicio enjoy spending time together almost as if The Driver is extending himself for a relationship that he either can’t have or wouldn’t allow himself to have due to his profession. The backstory for the driver is very limited only learning a small fragment from Shannon (Brian Cranston), the shop owner at The Driver’s place of employment when Irene brings in her car for repair.<br /><br />Fairly quickly it’s revealed that Benicio’s father, Standard (Oscar Isaac), is in prison and to be released shortly. Unfortunately, Standard can’t seem to get away from the gang life and in doing so pulls in The Driver. From here out is where the intensity of the action gets moved up a few pegs. Unlike most action movies today it wasn’t a constant barrage of in your face. It was quiet. Something happens, maybe vicious or brutal for just a moment or so and then it goes back to quiet. My audience had an audible “argh” and “ugh” at a couple displays which is why the movie has an R rating for strong brutal bloody violence, language and some nudity. Most of the movie is pretty tame but when those scenes happen, you might squirm a bit in your seat. But, all in all, the movie ended its 100 minute run on a calm, quiet note with no easter egg, just the vivid fuchsia letting flashing on the screen.<br /><br /><iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=thetikout-20&o=1&p=8&l=as4&m=amazon&f=ifr&ref=ss_til&asins=B002AS9OSY" style="width:120px;height:240px;" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0"></iframe><br /><br /><div style="margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/frikitiki/4904796611/" title="Skurvy Monkey Show Badge"><img alt="Movie Monkey Show badge" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5099/5581143581_2912954a8f.jpg" height="200" width="200" /></a><br /><span style="margin-top: 0px;font-size:0.9em;" >The Movie Monkey</span></div><br />To subscribe to the audio podcast of the reviews via iTunes <a href="itpc://www.frikitikiproductions.com/xml/tmm_feed.xml">click here</a>. Audio versions are released the following Wednesday.The Hawaii Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16244531964643963754noreply@blogger.com0