February 10, 2008 - Scene from the Dreams Come True Parade

Took this shot (and over 300 others) at the end of the eight hour 'Behind the Magic' Tour. After spending time behind the scenes, getting a chance to see nearly ever aspects of how Walt Disney World is ran, our guide Jim took us to a prime viewing spot for the afternoon parade. This was show the power of Disney magic.

Marry Poppins

February 9, 2008 - Behind the Scenes

And this is the last day of these posts. Two pages of behind-the-scenes material and then a list of credits.

February 8, 2008 - 2 Views of the Matterhorn

Last year, I purchased eight binders full of slides from someone's vacations in the 1970s. I estimate there are close to a thousand slides, some commercial, and some taken by the vacationers. I have began to slowly digitize the interesting ones, in order to preserve these folks memories for a couple more years. The scanned slides will be on my Flickr account.

While there are no Disney ones, I did find some examples of things which inspired attractions in Disney parks. This is the first: A shot of the true Matterhorn, followed by the scale version in Disneyland.

February 7, 2008 - The Grand Finale

Well, almost. One more post tomorrow to complete this little book.

February 6, 2008 - Cinderella & Dumbo

Double the pages today, as even I'm getting a little bored of these single posts each day. We're going to wrap up the Disney on Parade scans soon, then move onto other little niche things.

February 5, 2008 - 1964 Disneyland Fun Map by Sam McKim

Fun Map Best Cropped (Large), originally uploaded by Jeremy ES.

This was a little project I tried out with some success. I scanned a 28x42 map bought off eBay, piece by piece, and then stitched them together. Once done with that, cleaned up the colors, creases, and such in Gimp. The result turned out quite good.

February 4, 2008 - The Jungle Book

07, originally uploaded by Jeremy ES.

Update on the Fun Map: 99% of it looks like it did in 1965. Excited the share this!

February 3, 2008 - The Jungle Book

06, originally uploaded by Jeremy ES.

Another two pages. Just made the post in before the deadline. Spent the weekend scanning a very rare Disneyland book and a Disneyland map.

February 2, 2008 - Alice in Wonderland

05, originally uploaded by Jeremy ES.

A great cast shot, with some extremely creepy flower people in the background.

Chumby Review

First the background of why I wanted something called a Chumby. There was a blurb in Popular Science about a consumer product in development what promised a Linux-powered mini-computer, always connected wirelessly to the internet, with a touch screen displaying user-created widgets, enclosed in a fabric pouch. On top of this coolness, iPods connect to one of the two powered USB jacks in the back, which allowed the iPod to recharge and be controlled through the Chumby. These specs piqued my interest, and I kept an eye on the official website through the long gestation process.

In the summer of 2007, a notice went up on their website to allow fans the chance to sign up on a mailing list for first chance to grab a prerelease Chumby. My email was added to the list and in October, I ordered one of the first available units. The little device arrived at my front door via UPS from China, I unpacked it, configured the network, and then disappointment hit like a brick.

To be fair, the Chumby acted exactly like it was advertised: The unit connected to my wifi network with ease and downloaded the widget I selected from the website. These widgets included a Flickr photo stream viewer, weather, little games, a flash video player, and alarm clocks. The widgets may have changed, and there are new ones since I owned the unit, but these thoughts are based on what was available at the time.

The Flickr widget sounded great in theory; a way to view random people’s pictures and see a little bit of the outside world. In practice, the stream presented a very limited number of photos, which cycled through very quickly. The weather widget worked fine, tough to mess that one up, and the alarm clock functionality was awful.

This is why: you can only choose two alarms, and each has standard rings for alarm tones. The only way to override this setting is to trim down MP3s of your own to fit the correct file size, rename them ‘alarm1’ and ‘alarm2’, and then make them override the built in sounds. I imagined being able to use the iPod as an alarm sound source, or even tuning into an internet radio station, because that makes sense. A mini-computer should have unlimited alarms, one for each day, and be customizable.

So the widgets were disappointing. Other failures I found: The touch screen looked nice, a little low-resolution, but no problems with color or clarity. The touch aspect was not so good, as it required a good jab to register a touch, each time felt like I was going to break it. The fabric casing was great; it helps to set this apart from the hard, industrial design much consumer electronics strive for. The speakers sounded fine, nice and clear for the size.

I did not experience one feature: advertising imbedded in the widget channels which help to support the network costs and allow the Chumby to be offered without any kind of monthly fees.

The novelty wore off within hours of setting the device up, and within two days it was the first-ever Chumby to be sold on eBay. There is nothing particularly wrong with the device, the features work as promised, and many people enjoy it. To me, it failed on a more basic level, that it is an unneeded device that brought nothing new to the table. You must use a computer to set up the widgets; it has to be plugged in, with no rechargeable battery offered. There is no internet memory available to load music, or anything on to, this much be done through the USB ports on the rear.

There have been updates to the operating system since I used a Chumby, and new widgets are popping up as the user base grows. These small fixes will not make the device suddenly relevant to most people. Give it a year, as the current devices feels much like a beta for sale to the general public. When (and if) the Chumby 2 comes out, we could be looking at a much better device.

If you must have something now that plays music, connects to the internet, and has a touch screen, spring for an iPod Touch with an alarm dock. It is a more expensive choice, but you get the added value back in spades.

Check out www.chumby.com for the details of this product.

(All pictures come from the Chumby website unless otherwise noted. All right reserved.)

February 1, 2008 - Alice in Wonderland

04, originally uploaded by Jeremy ES.

Two more pages!

One Month In...

Spending is going alright. Not perfect, but improving slowly as I get a little more self-control. Bought one magazine this month, strangely enough it was a copy of GQ, which I never buy. This was bought mainly to combat bordem in my Thursday night Qualitative Research Class, as the professor has banned laptops, and I left my current book to read at home. Happily, GQ has an odd Disney World vacation insert I am going to scan and share when I have the time.

Books: Bought four this month using real money. The justification still comes too easily when I see a title I want on the shelf. Sales have been good on the Amazon store, which allowed me to purchase a second digital camera, with more pro features, without spending a red cent.

DVDS: Spent $15 of my own money on one disc. Much better than my habitual buying of new releases every Tuesday.

Toys: No toys, avoided the toy aisles, and the urge to obsessively haunt toy aisles daily looking for new Transformers has not returned.

Comics: $37 in the last 5 weeks, including some for the wife. This number will shrink as I am getting my collection ready to be out on sale, hopefully to cut down the size by 90%. The plan with this is to replace the comics with the sale proceeds with trades, and shed the rest (which is dead weight).

Food: Need to curb these spendings, as most mornings I buy breakfast, probably eat lunch out twice a week, and then some meals on the weekends. This will be the toughest habit to break, and the one that most needs it.

Coming Up: More Disney posts daily, simply to keep me working on at least something each day. Reviews of things I like or dislike, mostly tech reviews, probably not media reviews, because there are plenty of those around.

Thanks for reading for the last month!

January 31, 2008 - How Do You and Shake Hands

03, originally uploaded by Jeremy ES.

Another page!

I have more scanned in the works, including a really cool map, that if I can get it stitched together Photoshop, should be a real treat!

Thanks for reading.

January 30, 2008 - Next Page

02, originally uploaded by Jeremy ES.

I wish I had more interesting things to add. Click to view the pages in high-res to read all the little print.

January 29, 2008 - Disney on Parade

01, originally uploaded by Jeremy ES.

Pages 1 & 2.

January 27, 2008 - Disney Map Coupon

Disney Map, originally uploaded by Jeremy ES.

An old paper product advertising a Disneyland map. Offer expired years ago, but its still neat. This came from Old Stuff Only, a webstore selling old stuff found in warehouses and such. Its worth a look around, and I'll be sharing more Disney paper products over the coming posts.

January 26, 2008 - Pepsi-Cola Pavilion: "Peace Through Understanding"

Pepsi-Cola Pavilion: "Peace Through Understanding", originally uploaded by Jeremy ES.

"Animated figures representing children in national costumes entertain visitors on a Walt Disney-created cruise taken in specially designed boats. A UNICEF exhibit is also included."

-From the back of the postcard.

January 25, 2008 - C&H Sugar Disneyland Ad 1961

C&H Sugar Disneyland Ad 1961, originally uploaded by Neato Coolville.

No quotes today, wanted to highlight an great collection of old advertisements.

January 24, 2008 - Grizzly Peak

IMG_0525.JPG, originally uploaded by Jeremy ES.

"It was only a matter of time before a mountain supplanted a castle as the central icon for a Disney Park. In February 2001, Grizzly Peak became the defining landmark of Disney's California Adventure. The property's second gate was designed to be a celebration of the Golden State and all its natural and man-made wonders, from amusement piers and Hollywood backlots in the southern region, to the quiet charm and scenic beauty of Northern California."

-The Disney Mountains

January 23, 2008 - Star Tours

IMG_0773.JPG, originally uploaded by Jeremy ES.

" [George] Lucas and WDI show producer Tom Fitzgerald worked out a story line for "Star Tours," an intergalactic sightseeing company that would whisk guests around the universe in all the comfort of a luxury jetliner. "George wanted to make the audience think the spaceship was a typical Disneyland ride vehicle on a track," says Fitzgerald. (The designers programmed vibrations and bumps into the motion base to make the passengers believe they were actually moving along a track.) "Then, look out! Something really does go wrong. Although we saw the ship ahead of us successfully blast off on its mission, we take a wrong turn, blunder through the maintenance doors, and start Disneyland's first 'misadventure.' " Causing the misadventure in the first place is a friendly but totally incompetent droid pilot named Rex, whose presence in the flight cabin brings a humorous Lucas touch to the journey."

-Disneyland: Inside Story

January 22, 2008 - Pirates of the Caribbean

IMG_3120.JPG, originally uploaded by Jeremy ES.

"Xavier Atencio figured out what they would say. Or, for the most part, sing. "When we did 'Yo Ho, a Pirate's Life for Me,'" said Atencio, "we couldn't have a beginning or an end, because you didn't know where you were going to come into the song in the ride. Each verse had to make some kind of sense, no matter when you heard it." "

-Disneyland: The Inside Story

January 21, 2008 - Artscapes

Artscape - Pixar at MOMA, originally uploaded by Jeremy ES.

A little different post - This is a two-page scan from "Pixar at the Museum of Modern Art", which is an exhibit catalog from the amazing exhibit of the same name a couple years ago. Part of the exhibit was this mind-blowing video display, which has a higher resolution than high definition. The video took you through storyboards of the (then) current Pixar films in sort of a quasi-3D experience. The easiest comparison is how the teaser for Wall-E transformed two dimensional photos into 3D.

Click on the picture for higher resolution.

January 20, 2008 - Norway

IMG_1942.JPG, originally uploaded by Jeremy ES.

"The Norway pavilion joined World Showcase on May 6, 1988. Sponsored by a consortium of Norwegian corporations, the cobbled village square of the pavilion showcases architectural styles of towns like Bergen, Setesdal, and Oslo, including the Stave Church (which houses a gallery) and a castle (which houses a restaurant) modeled after Akershus, a 14th century fortress in Oslo Harbor. The Norway pavilion also contains beautifully crafted rock and stone work, some of the finest ever fabricated by Disney Imagineers."

-Since the World Began

January 19, 2008 - its a small world

its a small world, originally uploaded by Jeremy ES.

"In 1966, with the [world's] fair over, Small World moved to Disneyland, minus the Tower of the Four Winds, which proved too costly to disassemble. The ride was refurbished and lengthened. The housing was also slated to be replaced by something more monumental and whimsical than its original corrugated box."

-Designing Disney's Theme Parks

January 18, 2008 - Sun Wheel

IMG_0489.JPG, originally uploaded by Jeremy ES.

"The variation from the standard Ferris Wheel is that the 16 orange and purple gondolas are able to ride on interior rails so that they slide inward and outward with the gravitational force during the wheel's rotational movement. This provides for a quite a disorienting and intense experience. Motion sickness bags are even provided in each of the gondolas due to the disorienting nature of the ride. The 8 red gondolas which are on the outside of the wheel remain stationary. Guests may choose to ride either the swinging gondolas or the stationary ones upon entering the queue."

-Wikipedia.org

January 17, 2008 - The Matterhorn

Matterhorn, originally uploaded by Jeremy ES.

" [Joe] Fowler had faced some construction challenges before, but building a mountain with five hundred tons of steel, with no two pieces the same length, proved particularly exasperating. Equally challenging, though, was the task put before Bill Evans's landscape group. For probably the first time in history, landscapers found themselves called upon to determine just what would constitute a "timberline" on a fourteen-story building. Evans finally concluded that it would be about halfway up the summit, between sixty-five and seventy-five feet up the Matterhorn's slopes. He then applied the same sense of forced perspective that Disney's architects had used in many parts of the Park. At the higher elevations, Evans's staff dangled precariously from cranes as they planted stunted spruce trees, while, at the base, full-grown trees rose above thousands of flowers."

-Disneyland: Inside Story

Media Consumed

Movies

Ghostbusters 2
The Bourne Ultimatum
Justice League: The New Frontier


TV Shows

Modern Marvels: Milk
The Family Guy 608
The Colbert Report 01/09/2008
The Colbert Report 01/10/2008
What the Romans Did For Us 102
Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles 101

January 16, 2008 - The Jungle Cruise

The Jungle Cruise, originally uploaded by Jeremy ES.

"[Walt} Disney himself spent a great deal of time on the attractions, not only checking them but also monitoring the performance levels of his own staff, a task he performed rigorously. Dick Nunis, who by now had become responsible for managing Adventureland, got a "battle scar" from Disney. "Walt came running down to the Jungle Cruise, got on a boat and took a trip, returning with both eyebrows raised." (His eyebrows were a Disney barometer-one raised was bad, two raised meant deep trouble.)
"What's the trip time supposed to be?" asked Disney.
"Well, sir, it's seven minutes," replied Nunis.
"I just had a four-and-a-half-minute trip and went through the hippo pool so fast, I couldn't tell if they were hippos or rhinos! How would you feel if you paid to go to the movies and they cut the center reel out of the picture?"
For the next three weeks, Nunis spent so much time on the jungle boats training the crew that he almost became seasick. Then Disney arrived again, riding the first boat, then the second, and so on, through the last available boat. He was determined that Nunis would not "stack the deck" with his best speaker on the first boat (a ploy that Nunis admits he had tried). On each ride, the timing of the trip was perfect. After this experience, everyone realized that Disney was very serious about giving the guests the best show possible."

-Disneyland: Inside Story

Justice League: The New Frontier: Early Review

I'm not planning on doing too many reviews here, but since I got an early look at this direct-to-video movie, and enjoyed it, I want to encourage others to get excited about the upcoming release. There are some mild spoilers, as in any review, so stop reading if you want to remain unspoiled.

The New Frontier (available in 2 soft cover volumes and a deluxe Absolute edition) is a six-issue mini-series, written and drawn by Darwyn Coooke, which overlays the genesis of the classic DC Universe heroes (focusing on Hal Jordan / Green Lantern) on top of the McCarthy era of distrust in the 1950s. The best description (which has been used plenty of times) is the creation of the Justice League meets the Right Stuff.

The movie (slightly retitled to include Justice League) is the second in the series of animated adaptations of DC Comic stories, and is worlds more accurate than the first movie, Superman / Doomsday. Basically, like Sin City, comic panels served as the direct inspiration for many of the scenes, and it is easy to freeze frame the movie to match the comic.

Pre-credit scene from The New Frontier

The movie runs an hour and twelve minutes, which meant subplots were removed, but not forgotten. Because these excised events are mentioned in the story, whether on a newspaper clipping, or a tombstone, it felt as the events still occurred, only off screen. Sticking to the source material was a welcome change to Superman / Doomsday, where all but the basic story was altered to make it a more standalone story.

Superman versus the End of the World

Nothing about the story was toned down from the source, nothing was altered to make this more palatable for a wider audience. Characters kill, blood is spilled, and the PG-13 rating is justly earned. The movie assumes its audience understands the basics of the heroes, and does not weigh down the story with unnecessary exposition. While there were slight moments I did not like, these take nothing away from a masterful adaptation of one of the best pure superhero books in the last ten years.

The voice work was good, the cast matched the characters well enough that no voice was distracting. The animation fit the comic art, while I prefer a more fluid style, I cannot fault them for the choice. The nicest part of the art style were the background scene paintings, which reminded me of concept art paintings done for Disney theme parks. I have high hopes for the high definition version to look flawless.

Villains to come...

The biggest disappoint with this movie is how excellent it is, because once it ends, you'll want more. With only one more title announced (Teen Titans: The Judas Contract), it would be a shame if these did not sell well enough to continue faithful adaptations in the future. Justice League: The New Frontier will be released on February 26 in standard definition and on Blu-ray disc, with a HD-DVD release following three weeks later on March 18. What ever format you prefer, I recommend this title to anyone who loves a pure superhero story.

The Justice League in action.

(All images copyright their respective owners. All rights reserved.)

January 15, 2008 - Buzz Lightyear (without a face)

Buzz Lightyear (without a face), originally uploaded by Jeremy ES.

"Whenever Imagineering considers a new attraction for development, a good story is always the first piece of the puzzle. Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, opened in 1998 in the space formerly occupied by If You Had Wings, takes us into the story-within-a-story from the two Toy Story films - the Gamma Quadrant as patrolled by the 'real' Buzz Lighyear. We join forces with Buzz as he battles Evil Emperor Zurg in his efforts to steal the batteries used to power the toys."

-The Imagineering Field Guide to the Magic Kingdom

January 14, 2008 - Animal Kingdom Signs

IMG_1087.JPG, originally uploaded by Jeremy ES.

"Environmental graphics and signage serve to establish the time and place while embellishing the visual landscape. "

-The Imagineering Field Guide to the Animal Kingdom.

January 13, 2008 - Animatronics

IMG_1192.JPG, originally uploaded by Jeremy ES.

" "In a ride system," sculptor Blaine Gibson says, "you only have a few seconds to say something about a figure through your art. So we exaggerate their features, especially the facial features, so they can be quickly and easily understood from a distance. If you examined them closely, you'd find the nose, the cheekbones, the ears, the eyes all somewhat exaggerated. The frowns and the grins are all exaggerated, too, because we have to instantly communicate 'good guy' or 'bad guy.' We try to provide the illusion of life." "

-Disneyland: Inside Story

January 12, 2008 - Port Orleans French Quarter

IMG_3628.JPG, originally uploaded by Jeremy ES.

"Decorative touches such as wrought iron lamp posts in the resort lobby recreate the romance of the French Quarter."

-Walt Disney World

A Pirate's Life For Me

At the Drive-In, originally uploaded by Jeremy ES.

A long-exposure shot at the Haars Drive-In. Worked better than I thought it would, even with the high level of grain.

January 11, 2008 - Tree of Life

Tree of Life, originally uploaded by Jeremy ES.

"The experience of viewing the tree of life can be likened to that of looking for animals in the clouds. The longer one looks, the more one sees - maybe even all 325 of them. This effect is the result of very careful planning during the design phase.."

-The Imagineering Field Guide to the Animal Kingdom

Media Consumed

Movies

• The Hunting Party
• Charlie Wilson's War

Audio Books

• First Among Sequels

TV

• The Colbert Report: 1/7/08
• The Colbert Report: 1/8/08
• The Simpons 1910
• King of the Hill 1210
• What the Romans Taught Us 101
  

January 10, 2008 - Wonders of Life

IMG_3389.JPG, originally uploaded by Jeremy ES.

"The idea of a pavilion devoted to health and fitness dates back to the original concept of the EPCOT Center theme park, but no corporate sponsor could be found to cover the costs. It was not until MetLife signed on that the attraction was finally constructed. On January 4, 2004, Disney made the decision to make the pavilion seasonal operation only. It reopened when the park was projected to hit near capacity during the high spring months and big holiday season. The pavilion's most recent operational phase was 11/26/06 through 1/1/07. While the pavilion is not operational to the public it is commonly used for private and corporate events. On August 5, 2007 the Wonders of Life sign and the 72 foot tall The Tower of Life Double helix DNA structure were removed."

-Wikipedia.org

January 9, 2008 - Splash Mountain

Splash Mountain, originally uploaded by Jeremy ES.

"Splash Mountain is the first log flume ever built for a Disney park. Log flumes, first cousin to the roller coaster, take guests on a thrilling journey through a twisting, turning trough filled with fast flowing water. As the finale nears, the boats climb to the top of the highest hill and plunge down into the water below. In the case of Splash Mountain, that plunge would be more that 54 feet down, as big as any that had ever been built."

-Disneyland: The Nickel Tour

Spending Less on Books

I spent two years working at Bookspan (now known as Yes Solutions...for some reason) doing soul-crushing data entry. The kind of job where you spend eight hours at an impersonal desk, keying in orders from people who want to join one of 35 different book clubs. The kind of job where you must make no errors, and work a little faster each day. After a year, you get a three percent pay raise. Two upsides to this mindless job: after a probationary period, iPod use is allowed, and the opportunity to purchase many books for dirt cheap.

Where I worked received returns for the said fourteen book clubs, and those returns (along with any books damaged in the warehouse) were sold to the employees for fifty cents each. For two years, I chose four books each day, from a wide variety of titles. This was great for feeding my buying addiction, and a great way to expand my library. Some days, I bought books I had no need for, just because I could. Now, many of those books have been donated to the local library.

(No joke: Dreams come some night where I still work at Bookspan, and keep finding better books)

I left the job because a much better one fell into my lap, and I had to switch my book buying to Amazon. There was no financial way I could keep buying so many books, and I had no need for them. This knowledge did little to help curb my impulsive buying.

Sales helped justify this (buy 2 get 1; free shipping) until I started a couple stop-gap methods to at least delay purchasing:

• When at [Insert Book Store], instead of quickly buying an interesting looking title, I'll note the book in my phone. That way I can look it up at the library or Amazon.
• On Amazon, I add books to either my shopping list or wish list, allowing a waiting period before ordering.
• I turned off one-click ordering, so at least I have to go through the steps of checking out before making the purchase.
• On the shopping list, it is easy to click on 'Select All' to give myself the quick shock about how much stuff I want to buy. Today's total comes in close to $1800, though that includes a DSLR camera, and other fun electronics I can easily convince myself I need.

These methods have not proved perfect, but it can help curb some impulses.

Media Consumed

Comics

The Killer: Volume 1
Kingdom Come (Hardcover)

Movies

Juno
No Country for Old Men

January 8, 2008 - Mexico Pavilion

Mexico Pavilion, originally uploaded by Jeremy ES.

"The pyramid you enter to visit Mexico is a composite of Mesoamerican motifs dating back to the 3rd century, emphasizing the Aztec style."

The Imagineering Field Guide to Epcot