January 2002 Archives

Nathan's CD - The Nathannual 2001 arrived from Paris this weekend, and it has been playing non-stop in my car ever since. My favorite tracks are Don't Stop Movin' by S Club 7 and the Price is Right Techno Mix. Kudos for Nathan and his friend Dustin for putting out a great CD. You can get more info on it at his website www.clubnathan.com.

Finally went out to see Lord of the Rings. I am not into the whole Tolkien thing, but I thought it was a great movie. Great all across the board. My biggest complaint is of course that I have to wait until next Christmas to see the next installment. I guess I can always go out and rent the classic animated versions of the books. Any movie that can make 3 hours whiz on by without dragging is worth the price of admission. Until The Two Towers comes out, I can at least look forward to Attack of the Clones.

Ohh the Pet Shop Boys have a new (at least new-to-me) web site! Check it out at http://www.petshopboys.co.uk/

As I type this, there was a M4.2 earthquake followed by a couple of M3.9 aftershocks in Simi Valley - woo hoo!

Its been a busy week. Last weekend, it was off to San Diego for an impromptu visit. Thanks to Roger and Alex's negotiating skills, they managed to score a 2 bedroom suite with a kitchen for a mere $139. It was in an older apartment building turned hotel that was actually very nice and located right next to Balboa Park. San Diego is a nice town, but I am not sure I would want to live there. I am not sure why though. I think if I did live there, I would learn to love it, but I think I am better acclimated to LA or Northern California.


I had a great interview with a really cool company on Tuesday. I won't go into it much for fear of scaring them off, but it is for a company that I really like and have been a fan of for some time. I just hope all the positive vibes I have been sending them on a regular basis helps out.


I also went out and re-joined the 21st century and got a cell phone. It is a nice phone. I am not 100% happy with the reception at times, but so far it hasn't been exceedingly bad. I still have another 21 days that I can return it if I am not completely satisfied. Sadly, it is not internet-ready either so I will not be able to access my web site or other cool mobile apps, but frankly the cost of the service was not worth it yet. Mobile sites seem to have cooled off with the web collapse of the last 18 months or so. Hopefully it will turn around this year.

After much development, the newly revised Disneyland Paris Photo Collection is here. Mega-kudos to Scott and Debbie for providing me with an additional 77 pictures to expand the site. I still want to get back there myself and take some more pictures and ride the rides to compare to the rides I operate.


I had a chance to catch a few movies over the last week. First, Roger and I saw Ocean's 11 which I really enjoyed. I thought it was well done all around. The downside, is that any movie which features sneaking around and getting away with stuff makes me want to be part of the gang. I agree with Entertainment Weekly's assessment that George Clooney and Brad Pitt were way cool.


Ian and I went out and saw Gosford Park on Wednesday. The movie was OK, but in true Robert Altman form, it was a bit difficult to follow. I didn't like it as much as the Player, but I think that has more to do with the fact I really liked the story and the actors in the Player versus the ones in Gosford Park. I will admit that I really liked Helen Mirren and Maggie Smith. Matter of fact, I've liked Maggie in everything since I first saw her in the epic Clash of the Titans. I still haven't seen Lord of the Rings, but that is next on the list.

It's Charo's Birthday! Everyone go out and cuchi-cuchi.


Celebrity sighting today at the park: Shannen Doherty. It is nice to see celebs with kids just chilling out and having fun like the rest of us. She was trying to keep a low profile, but I did think it was fun to tell the kids that were with her to make sure that they stayed behind the yellow line. One of these days, it would be nice to carry a small camera and a Gorn with me in the park and if a celeb is feeling bold or chatty, get them to pose. But I also respect their privacy, and I bet very few would go for it, and hey since they are there on vacation, they deserve to be left alone.


I'm working on the new Disneyland Paris pictures, but it is taking a tad bit longer than I had anticipated. Like I always say on the site - It's coming soon, but don't hold your breath.

Today is my grandmother's 80th birthday. The event was celebrated by a jaunt to my dad's favorite Italian restaurant, Petrillo's. The food, especially the pizza, is pretty good. My grandmother is in great shape for 80 - she goes to the gym every day, watches what she eats, and still manages to get around pretty good. Our discussions turned to family history and talked over a lot of the early days (in my family that means the 1940s and such). Always interesting stuff - I do wish that I took better notes. I am in the process of working with someone on the genealogy of the Catalfo line and after many years of no luck, we have been able to open some doors and get some records.


Saturday there is a surprise party for my grandmother featuring an Elvis impersonator (fortunately grandma doesn't have access to the net yet so I can post it here). I want to be there but the gods at DL scheduling have me for a midday shift. Hopefully, I will be able to get out of there early and make it over there. Also, one of my old co-workers is throwing a house warming party in Redondo Beach and I want to make it out there as well. So many parties, so little time.

To that small child somewhere out in the world who sneezed and got boogers all over me: I hate you. Sure it was cute, but I am once again sick. I was just getting over a cold right around Christmas and sure enough, I got assaulted at the Tea Cups by this small child and his cold. Oh well. I have been feeling crummy for a few days, but thankfully I have some time off today and tomorrow to try and recoup.


Things have been really slow other than that at the park. There are walls up everywhere and I swore I saw a tumbleweed through Frontierland the other day. I plan on enjoying my time with low crowds, though make no mistake, guests still check their brain at the door, and I might even go as far to say that some of them are actually dumber this time of year. I think a good research study needs to be commissioned.


My e-mail today brings word that Scott and Debbie have returned from a visit to Disneyland Paris. We are going to try and hook up so they can give me some of the photos to update to my Disneyland Paris site.

I finally got around to splitting the Daily Update archives on the PDA site into years. I have been meaning to do it sooner, but it really was not an issue. However with the start of another year, I figured why not - plus it would save me down the road.


Right smack dab in the middle of the Christmas Fantasy parade at DL, while I was enjoying the music and mouthing the words for the guests, Alice in Wonderland decides to break down. Usually the only time a ride will go down is for station backup, but this time one of the cars decided to not get any juice when dispatched. Normally, this wouldn't be a big deal, but because the parade runs right next to the control panel, you can hardly hear yourself think. So as I was spieling to the guests inside the ride, I couldn't help but think of what was going through there minds as I was telling them to remain seated and they can hear the parade music in the background. Mrs. Clause let me have it too - she pointed out to Pluto and the people watching the parade that the caterpillars were not moving. Thanks, as if everyone needed to know. All was not lost as Ariel felt bad for me and blew me a kiss.


My hours at DL are going to be returning to normal soon and the big crowds should go away. Of course, that means it is Rehab season at the park with no less than 3 Fantasyland attractions going down on Monday (Carrousel, Mr. Toad, and Peter Pan). I think they are going to do some minor work on the ride, but the main reason they will be down is so they can finish the ongoing paving project. So get out to the park this weekend if you want to ride those three.

For the ninth time in my life I rung in the new year at Disneyland. This year was my first working there. It was a bit weird to start work at 9pm and get off work at 4am. Once I was in the groove working I really didn't mind. I think it helped that I had rested up before hand. Celebrity sighting of the night: Tim Allen walking through Fantasyland.


Here is the updated chart of the one I posted last year:


1990-1995 Disneyland

1995-6 Universal CityWalk

1996/7 Disneyland

1997/8 Club Universe

1998/9 Dad's House

1999/2000 The crazy disco Hollywood sign affair

2000/1 Santa Barbara

2001/2 Working at Disneyland


So 2002 is finally here. I think I join a lot of other people by saying, "Thank goodness". I was over 2001 back in August, way before the events of September. 2002 is a palindrome year. I feel spoiled, we just had one 11 years ago, and the next one won't be until 2112. I feel like such a math goober sometimes.


Jason posted some cool javascript that makes your e-mail address non spam-bot friendly. I have gone ahead and implemented it across most of the site. I am working on a new section of Club Josh called the Club House. I sort of envision it as the behind the scenes area of the site. Sorta combining the old friends and family section with the All About Josh sections. I still need to finish Haim's web site before I can get waist deep in it. With my hours slowly returning to normal at Disneyland, I might actually get a chance to work on it and **gasp** spend some time with friends.