December 2002 Archives

Man am I ever glad I am at home with a day off. The days following Christmas have been non-stop exhaustion producing days. It starts out with record crowds at the park for the last three days. On Friday and Saturday, they stopped letting people into the park early in the day. Wall to wall people as far as the eye could see. It was OK when I was working on the attractions in Fantasyland, but when I went out to work the parades it was a nightmare. Main Street was OK, but Fantasyland and Small World were a complete mess. The line for Small World was over 2 hours and Fastpass was gone early.

In the middle of my back to back shifts, was Sarah's Wedding. It was a grand affair, and it was great to see the whole family together since there was not a family Christmas party this year. Unfortunately, there was not nearly enough time during the reception to talk and socialize with the relatives. I was an usher in the wedding, so that also limited my interaction before the ceremony. I was fortunate to be able to leave work a bit early, those 45 minutes helped out immensely. (Thanks Jen!) Roger left the camera at home, but I did manage to snag a disposable camera. I'm going to have them developed and put onto a CD so I do not have to scan them and I will be able to post them on the site soon.

Today is a nice day to sit back and catch my breath. I have to work at the park tomorrow until 9pm and I hope they don't extend me any further. I am going to try and pick up some OT before my shift (I know it doesn't make sense to me either), but if I do, I will be assured of a 9pm departure from the park which gives me enough time to make it back up to the house for whatever New Year's festivities we can come up with. Anything will be better than working Dumbo like last year.

Today started out as a nice relaxing Christmas with the family. Of course it was supposed to start around noon at Granny's house, but as per usual, we all were about an hour late. The gift exchange went well, and I think we all received something we wanted. My gift to Granny was a replacement frame for the picture that I gave her over 12 years ago. The glass cracked during the last move 3 years ago and she has been promising to replace it ever since. I finally took matters into my own hands and got her a new one. I then spent a good portion of an hour trying to move the picture into the new frame and got a slice on my finger from a rusty box cutter for my troubles. Thank goodness for hydrogen peroxide.

Granny's car had been giving her some trouble so Dad took a look at it. He drove it around for a bit and started to notice it smoking. Bets were placed on what it was with the favorite being the seal on the gasket or the fuel pump. We decided to have Dad drive it over to the mechanic's and leave it there for him to look at the next day, that way Granny wouldn't get stranded. Dad theorized he'd be able to make it to the shop no worries. Well, he didn't. The car stalled on him on the freeway so he nursed it back to his house and called it a day. Tomorrow it gets towed in, and I think Granny is that much closer to a new car.

The big feast was at Acapulco this year. Not my favorite Mexican restaurant, but it actually wasn't that bad. Maybe it was the Midori Margarita, but we all had a really good time. Amanda had the same type of drink and was able to finish it, I knew I had to drive so I took it easy. The wedding is just a few days away now and the relatives will be flying in fast and furious. Kevin is even going to spend the night at Club Josh tomorrow night and maybe go to the park on Friday before the wedding. Gonna be a busy next few days!

I hope all of you had a great Christmas and I hope to see you all in 2003!

The past week has flown by. It is a pain working at the park this time of the year because you are practically there the whole time. Usually I have a nice long shift then come home, go to bed, and then before I know it I am back there again. After hours in the park don't help either - It just adds to the chaos. Since last Thursday, I have been running on empty, but I did manage to finally watch the Survivor finale on Friday. It was pretty predictable and not nearly as exciting as past finales. Not that the producers didn't try. the final immunity challenge was a back breaker - literally! Too bad the final three contestants were such weenies.

Saturday I finally made it to see Two Towers. I really liked the Fellowship of the Ring, despite my complete lack of Tolkien fanaticism (much to my brother and Susie's dismay). I think Peter Jackson has done a great job making the sometimes-hard-to-read Tolkien accessible to us masses. I've mentioned that my biggest complaint with the first movie was the lack of an ending so it is no surprise that its still the biggest problem I have. Even worse, at the end of Two Towers, Sam and Frodo are still no closer to throwing the damn thing back into the fires of Mt. Doom. I must say, it still was a kick ass movie. It could have used more Saruman - hey it's Christopher Lee the one who almost kicked Yoda's butt in Episode 2 - the guy deserves more to do. Here is an idea: Ian McKellan as the replacement Dumbledore in the next Harry Potter movie. He's already got the robes.

Tomorrow is Christmas and like years past I finally finished my shopping on Christmas Eve. Not too bad, just a 15 minute wait to check out at Best Buy. Also, the big wedding for Sarah is just a few days away and so in the middle of shopping I picked up the tuxedo. It made me wonder, does anyone ever get a tux for Christmas?

Well the best show on TV just ended its third season. The Amazing Race finished last night with Flo and Zack taking the big prize. It always happens that the team I root for on the show ends up losing. I really wanted Ken and Gerard to win the race - if only they had grabbed that taxi earlier! I really wish I could be on the show. I think Susie and I would make a great team. I know Daniel would like to be on the show as well, I just need to find him a good partner.

Tonight is the sendoff for Survivor: Thailand. I think this season has been the best one since Australia. I never really cared for Africa or Marquesas (but of course it didn't stop me from watching. Who is going to win? I have no idea. Editing seems to make Brian out as the favorite, but if he loses immunity and I'm the other three, he's the one I'd want out of there fast.

After tonight, TV gets pretty anemic. CBS has not announced when Amazing Race 4 will premiere, but I hope it is not too long. The only thing on TV that is in new episodes is Insomniac with Dave Atell. Hmm, can you tell I like travel programs??

I finally made it out to see Star Trek Nemesis on Saturday night. I think this is the first Trek movie since Star Trek 2 that I didn't see on opening day. Let's face it, Star Trek just isn't that exciting anymore. In their attempt to maximize profits, Paramount et. al. have over milked the cow. They had their chance, but decided to rush Enterprise into production without giving the franchise some breathing room.

I do give them credit for taking an extra year to work on the latest feature film, but unfortunately the year seems to be wasted as Nemesis has the same general problem of Star Trek Insurrection. Overall, Nemesis is an above average episode of the Next Generation and that is it. I have stated this before in my other Trek reviews, but put simply, why have a movie if there are no consequences. If you are going to just make a glorified episode, then make a TV movie don't make me waste $9. Back in the days of Kirk and Spock, a good feature film was one that had consequences. Take a look - why is Star Trek V not the best film? Nothing happens. At the end of the movie they are right back where they were before - and all in all it is just a glorified episode of the original series. Many people consider Search for Spock a weak movie, but it is still better than Nemesis. The pacing might be slow, but look, they lose the Enterprise, lose Kirk's son, and get Spock back. Even Generations, in killing Kirk and blowing up the Enterprise-D has more to offer.

Nemesis is full of promise: Characters getting married, moving on to new assignments, and a few other twists and turns for our famed crew. It's even an even numbered movie! Sadly, all the promise just never delivers to its full potential and we are all left at the end of the movie with this malaise of "Oh, Um, Ok I guess its over..." What makes matters worse is that Nemesis could have been a GREAT movie. All the elements are there: a decent villain, some kick ass battle sequences, Troi at the helm (remember what happened last time in Generations??). What happened? It was all emasculated by a lame ass B plot and some bad decisions in the script, and a lame ending. I'd love to go into greater detail, but I don't wish to spoil it for those who haven't seen it. Maybe I'll readdress the issue when it comes out on video.

Final rating **/**** - A great effort but sadly the victim of unrealized potential.

So my back is feeling much better. Not a twinge at all when I move. Maybe granny was right when she said I had a cold in my muscles. My throat has taken a thrashing and I once again sound like Bea Arthur. So perhaps the cold has moved up into my throat.

It might have something to do with the wild and crazy week that included my first ever ride on the LA Subway system. Now, having recently rode the Tube in London and the Metro in Paris, I was interested in seeing how our famed subway held up. Turns out, pretty darn well. Our stations (or at least the two that I went to) were clean, well-lit and best of all ran on the honor system. Of course the honor system sent shudders down my spine as I recalled the infamous Europe 1998 Munich fiasco, so needless to say I made sure I got the right ticket.

The trains themselves were unremarkable. It looks like Metro Rail went the low-bidder way - no frills on this subway. Also, the anemic maps on the wall further underscored how long L.A. has to go before it has a bonafide system. Maybe in a 100 years we will be just as advanced.

Coming out of the Hollywood and Highland station, Daniel and I were passed on the escalator by a young lady, who once passing us, proceeded to fall on the escalators. Daniel asked her if she was O.K. and she replied, "Yeah, I do this all the time at work". She then proceeded to tell us that she was a stripper and showed off her scars. Daniel and I looked at each other as she left and wondered how many times she fell off the pole.

It's been a surreal week and the holidays are just around the corner. I need to get my act together, otherwise I will never get everything done in time. Not only is Christmas less than two weeks away, Sarah is getting married on the 27th!!

Ahh yes, for those of you planning on riding the Matterhorn when it comes back in January, better postpone those plans. February is looking more and more like the return date.

Friday night Daniel came up and hung out with Cory, Brandon, Roger and I at the house for a bit playing L-C-R. After a few drinks to warm up, we headed out to the Abbey for some Martinis. While Roger was searching for his wallet, he cut his hand. He didn't find the wallet and when we went up to the door they were checking IDs of everyone. Roger decided to head back to the house to fetch his wallet while we all went inside for some Martinis. About 20 minutes later Roger calls to let me know that I have the house key. We then decided that the fates were not going to give us a night out, so we waited for Roger to come back and we all piled into the car and headed back to the house to watch Monsters, Inc. Poor Daniel had to be at work at 5:30 in the morning, and didn't get much sleep. The worst part was when he showed up at work to find out his training had been cancelled.

Saturday morning I wake up with a twinge in my back. I write it off to having slept at a weird angle due being exhausted from being up almost 22 hours. Throughout the day, it progressively gets to a point that by the end of the day any type of sudden movement causes sharp pains up and down my body. I think I strained a muscle between my right shoulder blade and my spine. It feels like someone has stabbed me there. So if you have a voodoo doll and are doing something to me, please remove the needle from my back!

Sunday was no better, and to top it off, guests at the park were in peak "Disneyland is for me and the heck with everyone else" mood. This consists of people coming in through the back gates of Dumbo and insulting the cast members when they get caught. And let's not for get drunken guy with headphones who had to be captured by security. All that with a severe back pain and the beginnings of a mild sore throat did not a happy Josh make.

It's Monday now, the back still hurts, though the pain is a bit lesser, moving in certain directions still makes me gasp. Roger tried a warm cloth on it last night and it seemed to work a bit. I'll take some Excedrin today and hopefully it will last. I was going to take Doan's Back pills until I read the caption on the box: "While Doan's is effective against pain, there is no proof that it eases back pain any better than any other pain reliever".

Far be it for me to pass up the latest and greatest internet fad. I was sent the link to YMDb by several people, but first by Cooper. Basically, you post and rank your top 20 movies and see how you rank according to other users of the site. It was very difficult for me to come up with only 20 movies, and even harder to rank them.

Here is the link to my list. Why not join up and create your own list and see how much affinity we have for each other? (Cooper and I have a 15.59% affinity for each other - I suspect I will have a hard time finding anyone close to 30% like he has.)

If you are too lazy to click the link, here is my list posted for fun:

Aladdin
Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan
The Sound of Music
Dr. Strangelove
Fantasia
Gone With The Wind
2001: A Space Odyssey
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
Mary Poppins
Amelie
Raiders of the Lost Ark
The Poseidon Adventure
Goldfinger
The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!
Mulholland Drive
Driving Miss Daisy
Earthquake
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me
The Lion King

Now, I know I will get some heat for it, but as I said ranking was the most difficult part.

Ah yes and Happy Birthday Walt Disney and Gary!

It's that time of the year at the resort when we close early and let all the employees of the company come down and enjoy the park. It's two days of fun (even when you are working). One of the highlights was being able to ride Space Mountain with all the work lights on - it is quite the different experience. On one of my lunches, I even made it all the way over to Splash Mountain. To my surprise there were not many people there and I was able to ride in my own log in full costume. The best part was that the photo booth was working, so I now have a photo of me in costume riding my own log on Splash Mountain. As soon as I get a chance I will scan it and post it. As with last year, I also enjoyed a Churro onstage, and I managed to avoid getting hit by a Snow White car this year.

I also managed to finish the captions for the Disneyland Paris pictures. Most of them should make sense now.

The Thanksgiving holiday weekend was full of fun and surprises. It all started on Thursday when Roger and I headed up to his hometown near San Luis Obispo for some turkey. It is always nice to get out of town, and since both of our schedules precluded any long getaways, a quick drive up the coast was perfect.

On Friday, we braved the crowds at the stores for about 30 minutes before raising the white flag and heading to the video store. We picked up three movies (We only wanted two, but the store was having a rent two and get one free sale): Jet Li's "The One", Margaret Cho's "Notorious C.H.O", and Ben Affleck's "The Sum of All Fears". All three were movies we missed in the theaters. "The One" was a bit disappointing, especially since the previews of it were so cool. "Notorious C.H.O" was funny, but I found it not as pee-in-the-pants funny as her last movie. We didn't make it to Sum of All Fears yet, but we have until Saturday.

Speaking of Saturday, after work, Roger, Daniel, and I all headed over to Downtown Disney (Uptown Fun!) to catch the latest Disney animated feature "Treasure Planet". The best part about watching the movie there is that we get to use my cast member discount. I really like what Disney is doing with their animated movies. They are not content to be in a rut like they were in the 90's when after a few blockbusters, they tried to make everything into a Broadway musical. Thankfully, since Mulan, they have been experimenting and advancing animated features. That being said, I think Treasure Planet is a mixed bag at best. It is supposed to be a very exciting movie with lots of action and adventure, but I was bored throughout most of the film. At least one other person agreed with me in the theater when he began to snore so loud that Roger thought it was part of the sound effects. Daniel's quote: "Well, there is a movie that I will only see once." After the movie, we decided to hang out at the park to watch the fireworks and get some dessert. Sadly, the best we could manage was a Churro since most of the restaurants closed at 10.

Out of the blue on Sunday, I received two telephone calls. One was from Nathan in France with an HTML question. It's always a pleasant surprise when he calls. I have to remember to return the favor soon. Nathan would also like a disclaimer on some of the older photos of him on the site from 1995. My favorite quote: "I can't believe I wore my hair like that". That's OK Nathan, I can't believe my hair was so long in 1996 either.

The other call was from Matt and Steve on their way back from San Diego to Sacramento. They spent Thanksgiving with Matt's sister and husband and brought their dog Riley in Steve's new Subaru Outback. I was a bit shocked that Steve got the Subaru, but I forgot two key facts: Subaru's are very popular in Northern California and since they travel to Tahoe a lot, the All Wheel Drive and room for the dog is a perfect combo. They stopped by Solley's in Sherman Oaks for some dessert and it was great to see them. I think Matt was a bit shocked at my appearance since when I saw him last I have lost almost 25 pounds. It was great to see them and hopefully, I'll get a chance to go up to the Sacto area to see them again as well as the entire Davis crew soon.

It was quite the busy weekend which contrasts to this week at work. We have the Disney Family Holiday Parties this week, so I will be working until the wee hours of the morning, but its the time of year when I get to eat onstage and ride attractions in costume.