Holiday Hits

It's been "memorable" holiday season in our house to say the least. I mean, isn't that what we always ask for? A holiday season to never forget? This year, I have learned to be careful of what we ask for...

First, the "hits".. as in "the best of": The holiday gave us many opportunities to celebrate and reflect on the many blessings we do have. Starting out the season was Little Calvin's first local Christmas parade as a cub scout. As one of the leaders from our local pack, I got to help decorate our float for the parade: a large, Christmas light covered flatbed truck that all the scouts could ride on, representing the organization. This alone, helped really bring in the whole "Christmas Spirit" as friends worked together for the good of a bunch of rowdy eight-year-olds, to both give them a memorable experience and bring joy to the parade watchers.

Next, we were able to spend some great times just enjoying each other as a family, doing fun things together. If you are looking for a fun gift idea for future Christmas's, try doing what was done for us: send a gift of money that is to only be used "for family activities only". (Thanks Chuck!) With that little "Christmas bonus" we were able to do an activity-a-day including going to the movies, bowling, swimming, and a visit to Chuck-E-Cheese. It may sound juvenile, but I have to say, spending an afternoon playing all the latest video games with your boys can be a lot of fun.

Add to that the fact the my parent's Christmas gift to they boys was a set of Laser Tag guns each (thus giving us 4 guns all together), we can now have family "shoot outs". We just head to some large, darkened area (the gym at the church works great), establish bases, turn off the lights, light up any obstacles with glow sticks (to avoid injuries and to give it a weird green, glowing, eerie feeling) and we can have a lot of fun!! Just watch out for tables in the corner, Ty...

Add in the family traditions that we share for my wife's birthday (the day before Christmas Eve) Christmas Eve itself, and Christmas Day, and it is really hard to complain.

But.. since this is my blog and is meant to be a reflection of reality (even though it is my "chimerical cosmos") I also have to discuss the other side of the coin:

The "Hits" (as in.. the two-by-fours knocking you upside the head). The biggest came two weeks prior to Christmas at work. Now we all know that the economy is.. struggling to say the least. And throughout my 11 years at my current job, I have always kept in the back of my mind that if anything goes wrong, causing our economy to tighten, one of the FIRST things to go will be people making luxury purchases.. and as predicted, people just aren't buying $400,000 RV's right now. To make things far worse.. we actually have lots of people wanting to buy our products, with money in hand ready to get a great deal. But the banks have completely stopped allowing people to buy RVs (or even the dealers to buy them for that matter) as they have tightened their lending nooses and consider RVs a luxury purchase.. something that doesn't need to happen at this point in time. With the banks refusing to lend money, customers unable to buy our products and our dealers unable to even buy products for their lots.. it's put us in a critical place very quickly.

While we all stressed about the future each day at work, we were all a bit shocked to suddenly hear that the company was shutting down for awhile. And not just our factory as has happened in the past.. but even the office staff. For the next 4 weeks (now extended to 7 weeks) we'd all be unemployed... Merry Christmas! Gone were the days of "Merry Christmas.. here is your large bonus to spend on your families for the holidays" and instead we get to spend a team meeting figuring out how to file for unemployment. Not what I expected for my holidays.

Now let's look at the positive here (as is always my way).. I got to spend some amazing time with my wife and kids during the holidays (see above) and still make magical memories, financial stress notwithstanding. And it's not like I am out of a job.. yet.. (We are all hoping conditions improve so that we can return on February 2nd as planned). I am also finally able to finish up so many video editing projects that have been piling up for so long and perhaps dream up some new ones. I can't think of a single time in my history that I have gotten to kick back, do my own projects, relax for a time.. and have the government throw money at me each week. Granted, it's nothing like my regular salary, but I'll gladly take whatever I can get.

But as we head into 2009, I am taking these "Holiday Hits" as a sign of things to come to try to keep my perspective in the right place. First the "Hits" remind me that regardless of what kind of stress may be going on behind the scenes, I always have my family to have fun with, to de-stress with, and find peace (even if that peace comes from blasting each other with laser beams). And second, the "hits" to force us into a plan to be cost conscious, to not take my job for granted, and to help us make those tough decisions about my career and where we need to be to be stable for the long haul.

2009 could be a challenging year... but as long as I keep my "Holiday Hits" in perspective, I think we may just be better off by the end of it, regardless of what challenges get thrown our way.

So, to all my loyal blog readers (and all those writing me e-mails about not updating for far too long) here's to a fresh start and a great 2009! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Breaking "Being Boring"

Ok.. let's make one thing very clear... I am not having some kind of mental breakdown. This is not a Britney Spears style move to keep me in the news and on the headlines. I am not drunk nor have I been drugged. I have simply come to the realization.. that I am one boring person.

Now, I am not slamming myself here. I think my life is rather interesting and I enjoy living it. I have a wonderful wife, great kids, a job I enjoy and hobbies that.. well.. ok.. I can consume myself with hobbies, but that's been well documented here through many blog posts.

What I mean, is that I am.. the same. I am the kind of person that when I find something that works, I stick with it. Ever since I was young, my preferred wardrobe is jeans and a t-shirt. Once I find a brand.. I stick with it, never venturing away from it, because, as they say.. "If it aint broke, don't fix it" As I kid I used Crest toothpaste, therefore, as an adult I still use it.. I don't go near that Colgate stuff. If I wear out a pair of shoes, I go back to the same store, and by the exact same kind that I had before. It's always the same same same same. I mean, look at our pop stars these days... every other month they have a different hair-do. Meanwhile, I have had the exact same hair style since I left high school. Like I said, I'm incredibly boring. So... I finally decided, it was time to do something different.. to challenge myself to step out of my comfort zone and take a chance.

A few months ago I was talking to a friend of mine from college (who will likely get blamed for this) and he had just done something wacky: He shaved his head. According to his logic.. some people just look good bald, but you never know how your head looks, until you try it. Sure, for many baldness is not a choice they get to make, but for others will a full head of hair, until they take the plunge and leave their comfort zone, they'll never know. Plus, if it doesn't work out, it only takes 3 weeks to grow back out, so it's a tiny portion of life that you are sentenced to look wacky.

I thought about this long and hard and finally decided.. this is where I have to start.. to break my normality schedule. Yup.. when the time was right, I would shave my head.. bald. And that time seemed to be: today. Yesterday we took the bi-annual family portrait/christmas card photos, so I didn't have to worry about screwing with that (My wife would have killed me if I was bald in the family portrait). Plus, she is getting ready to leave town for 10 days to visit various family for the Thanksgiving holiday (I have to work), so she'll barely have to see me if I look like a dork, because by the time she gets home, it will have mostly returned. So now was the perfect opportunity to step up to the plate.. to leave my comfort zone of normality and... do something wacky.

Here is the photo journey:

1. Start out with a nice (and getting grayer by the day) head of hair:

2. Convince the lady that cuts my hair that I REALLY do want this and give her the thumbs up to shave it.

3. Cringe in my seat as she finds great joy in giving me a mohawk. (At this point I got a little light headed.. this whole "leaving my comfort zone" bit was suddenly a touch more drastic than I had envisioned)

4. Done.. no more hair.. hope and pray my wife doesn't have a heart attack (No, I didn't tell her about this little venture before hand.. As I look in the mirror it suddenly occurs to me that not mentioning this to her, may have been a very bad idea)

5. Return to work to the gasps of my coworkers as I walk in the door.

So.. now what? Like I said, I am still a bit light headed with this sudden change (maybe that is from not having any more weight up there...). But never fear.. I am sure my hair will be back in no time and I can go back to my same old.. normalcy in life. Until then.. brrrrr... my head is suddenly a bit cold!!!

My Exploding Son

For the last several weeks my life has been volleyball volleyball volleyball. It's been a lot of fun trying to get through the season, but when I spend lots of time filming every game, and then even more time carefully sorting through and editing all that footage, often on a frame by frame basis.. suffice it to say I can get a little bit tired of watching the sport. So it's good to have little breaks once in awhile.

And this season, my break was... more video production. Yeah.. I know.. I'm nuts. As reported on many times throughout the summer, the boys and I have had a goal to make our own Indiana Jones movie. We began filming in mid-July and we continued, filling up spare weekends and evenings here and there, until we finally finished filming a few weeks ago. No, the film is not done. I have edited quite a bit and am pleased with the results so far, but several tricky sequences still need some work. With volleyball having tight deadlines, I have to stay on track, but this whole Indy film has been a nice break.

So while it may be a few weeks still until our little movie is done and released on the web for the world to see, here is a brief look at one of our trickier scenes, where I got to blow my sons head up. Yes, you read that correctly. I got a lot of strange looks from people when they asked "what are your plans for the weekend?" and I got to answer with that. But it was true. Not to give away to much, but in the movie, the villain, played by my son Tyler, gets his head chopped off by a supernatural sword that doesn't seem to like evil baddies. (Apparently supernatural swords only like good guys). To make the movie a little more "Indy like" (and because it sounded cool) we added a little flourish to the scene by having this decapitated head blow up after it hits the ground (blame the sword.. they have tempers after sitting in caves for hundreds of years).

This gave us a challenge... how to film the decapitation (Little Calvin figured out that one) and the head explosion. After some sick, twisted brainstorming, I came up with a plan that might work. And so, with the girls gone for the day (of course) it was time for the boys to pull out our toys.. and in this new YouTube age, document each step of our gross journey.

So.. without further ado... It's time to blow up my son's head:

Spartan Power, Spartan Pride

On a cold, wet and dark Oregon Coast night, it was the perfect sports setup as the 2008 Oregon Volleyball State Championship Tournament began: Marist vs. Siuslaw. Siuslaw was a league champion, first seeded team, playing on their home court with a large and very loud home crowd. The Marist Spartans were a second seeded team.. the underdog, with less fans. One of their key players and hardest hitters had broken her ankle in practice just one week earlier, filling the players with doubts as to if they could continue to win without her on the court. One team wins and gets to move on to the final State tournament for the top 8 teams, one team goes home with their season finished.

On everone's mind was the year previous, when they had been in the exact same spot: on the road in the first round of the state tournament, but falling short, ending their chance with a tough loss. No one wanted to feel that way, to end the season there.

In game 1, Marist was warmed up, on fire, ready to take on their opponent. With the momentum in their favor, they beat Siuslaw, proving they could stay with the tough teams, injuries notwithstanding.

But in games 2 and 3, Siuslaw prevailed, taking over and stealing that momentum. It quickly entered everyone's mind that one more loss and the season was over.

But this is where the Marist Spartan pride took over. They never felt defeated, they knew this was their game, their night. Winning game 4 forced a game 5. One final quick game to 15, both teams now even, both playing at the same level.

And at last, the Spartans proved to their fans, their parents and themselves that when they never give up, they can succeed, winning game 5, and not ending their season. We all knew it was going to be tough, to go to a higher seeded team's gym, to play on their court, with their fans, as the underdog, without our top hitter, but they never gave up and ended the evening victorious.

From my point of view, I think my hair went several shades grayer, watching us lose games 2 and 3, watching that momentum shift away from us and feeling helpless to do anything. But what a night of pride, to see these girls come out of it and never give in. What an awesome victory, what an awesome team, and I count my blessings that I have the unique opportunity to be part of the program, to know the team and to be able to capture the moment for these girls, on film. It was one of those nights that makes a sports documentary filmmaker proud, to capture that emotion and the triumph so they can never forget what it felt like that night. Not that they'll be forgetting anytime soon. Having just finished filming my post game player interviews, everyone on the team talked about the game being a highlight of both the season, and in many cases their volleyball career so far at Marist. So Saturday night will be a VERY long remembered night for this team.

Now... On to the Big Show... Time to take the momentum from last weekend's game into this weekends even tougher run for the state title.

Go Spartans!

Stuck in the Middle

I have been thinking about Peter Jackson a lot this week. Yes, the Peter Jackson who directed the Lord of the Rings movies and the latest version of King Kong. That guy. In one of the "behind the scenes" features that chronicals how his King Kong film was made (I love those, by the way.. often times more so than the actual film, but I'm a film geek) Peter Jackson is shown falling asleep while directing. The production was 2/3 of the way completed. The production crew had done a lot, the light was seen at the end of the tunnel, but there was just so much still to do. So there was Peter Jackson on a day when he was just exhausted.. he had been working too hard, pushing too long and he'd had enough. And the documentary film crew seemed to find great pleasure in catching him asleep in his chair, when he should have been directing scenes.

Now, I am in no way trying to compare myself to a great director like Peter Jackson. I have no idea the pressures of managing a crew of thousands working in multiple studios, or helming a $150 million dollar production... but in my own little small way, I am feeling the weariness of reaching a mid point in production, and just finding myself completely exhausted.

In my little film world, production on my current documentary began 2 months ago. As normal, it starts slowly, then revs into full blown madness by early October. Now, in some ways, it could feel as though I am almost done... there are only 2 league games left in the season to film and by next Tuesday the regular season will be finished. But the team is doing very well, so going to the State tournament (at least the first rounds) is pretty much a given, meaning that production will continue well into November. That puts me about.. two thirds done filming... with the giant task of putting the film together still looming. And so it feels like a giant shrinking box. If I look behind me, I have the huge pile of video shot so far that I need to finish editing. If I look in front of me, I see many more games, interviews, special shots, etc that need to be filmed over the next few weeks, that will all need to be edited down. If I turn to my left, I see footage coming in from multiple cameras that I am not even filming myself, but other people filming for me at events I can't make it to, and if I turn my head to the right, I see the giant calendar on the wall, loaded with deadlines and milestones that I have to make in order to get all this done in time. And with all those walls quickly closing in, it's easy to see why at this very stage, I can really stress out and shut down.

Add to that the physical toll of all this.. I have a regular 8 -5 job, that requires a lot of focus and a high attention to details. Then, take last week for example.. I was out late at night shooting on Wednesday night, Thursday night, Friday night and all day on Saturday. By Sunday, my brain was total mush. Literally. My body just started to shut down and by Monday I was out sick, just trying to get my body back on track.

So what does this kind of self abuse do to my physical system? Let's take a look at a couple of examples:

First, Sunday night.. Having just woken up from an unexpected 3 hour nap (I fell asleep trying to help Little Calvin update his blog.. just couldn't stay awake and I kept forgetting what I was doing mid-task) I headed to the kitchen to cook dinner for the family. Tonight it was "Chicken Goop", a family favorite recipe that I learned to cook as a kid and now continue to cook on a monthly basis for my own family. I think it's formal name is Chicken Ala King, but who knows.. to us it's just Chicken Goop. Like I said, I have been cooking the stuff every month (sometimes more) for the last.. well, ok it's been awhile since I was a kid, so I know it well. But in my current fried mental state, I got halfway through the gravy portion, bubbling away on the stove, and suddenly I couldn't remember the next ingredient. And it wasn't just short term... Try as I might.. I COULDN'T REMEMBER a thing. It kind of freaked me out. And it wasn't a small ingredient... like a specialized spice or something. Regardless of what inner realms of my brain I searched, nothing was coming. Finally I admitted defeat, swallow my pride, and call my Mom to ask her about the recipe. Yes, the recipe that I cook so often. THAT's what project exhaustion can do for the mind. Oh.. and the missing ingredient that my brain couldn't manage to come up with? Milk. Yes... Milk. Six whole cups of it.

But here's where I really knew I was losing it:

Yesterday, I was driving between work and the next game to film. It had been a busy day trying to make up for being out sick on Monday. I tend to use this car time to transition.. from being a web manager to film producer. In order to do this, the iPod gets plugged in and the volume goes way up as I listen to the same music the girls on the team are using to fire them up for a good game.

So there I am, rocking out to the tunes mentally visualizing various shots I needed to get that night and how they could ultimately be edited to fit various songs in the playlist. Suddenly, I hear a strange noise. I had been hearing something.. odd for a little while, but it finally clicked in that whatever this was.. was not normal.

So I listened.. very carefully, trying to figure out what this was that could be plaguing my car (over the booming sound of the stereo, that is). My ear goes towards the engine, carefully listening.. no, it sounded ok. The ear goes to my door.. no, that sounds ok too. Back seat? Nope.. all clear. FINALLY, I have enough sense to actually turn the volume down on the stereo to try to listen to what may be going on, fearing the worst.

And finally, as I drove down the freeway in silence, do I realize just what this oddball sound was.... It was my horn. Yes.. My HORN. From the way I had my hand positioned on the steering wheel as I was driving, I was holding down the horn as I obliviously blazed down the freeway.. for miles.... All I could do was laugh at myself and my crazy, brain dead state that seemed to be taking over.

So.. just in case I say something wacky, or do something... odd over the next couple of weeks, be forewarned... I am not that mentally with it right now. There is too much going on and I am in "lose my brain" mode. Hey, at least I didn't lock myself in the bathroom this time.. (I'll save that little tale for another blog time). But yeah.. get me tired, stressed and mentally exhausted and who knows what crazy thing I'll do.. or forget to do apparently..

In retrospect, I don't know which scenario is better... Being a director that falls asleep from exhaustion in his directors chair, mid scene, like Peter Jackson, or me, being a mental case, forgetting the basics of life and driving like an idiot... Either way, it signals to me that I need more sleep. I'll work to take my projects one day at a time, edit one game at a time and remember that the light at the end of the tunnel really is in sight, after I survive the next few weeks.

Back to editing!

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz............................

Now Established: The Holiday Rules

It's been a few months since we have had a "big" holiday. And what I mean by big holiday is one of the slew of holidays that seems to take over your entire existence. Sure, we had the Labor Day just a few weeks ago, but like that counts. That's just a day off work before school starts back up. And the Fourth of July? Sure it's fun lighting off fireworks, being patriotic and having mid summer picnics. But you don't see people putting out their fourth of July decorations in May. What I am talking about here are the biggies: Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc. The ones just upon us.

But as we approach this festive time of year, we need a few rules. I don't want to sound like a Scrooge, but people in this day and age will grossly take advantage of their festiveness, if not given a few ground rules. You see this a lot, especially as the stores start putting out their next holiday wares the day after the previous holiday. There's nothing as eye rolling to me as going into Target the day after Christmas, only to find shelves full of Valentines candy. Or to walk into Jamba Juice on November first for a nice fruit smoothie only to hear their Christmas music mix blaring out the sound system. If I wasn't craving my Caribbean Passion, I would have turned around and left the store in protest. Even now.. it's September and if I walk into Costco, I have to look at the giant inflatable Santa in the middle of the store.

But I understand that business in business. But individuals can control themselves. And so.. I am officially declaring the "holiday rules". And yes, I expect that by my declaring these right here on my blog, that all Americans will comply and obey, out of respect for... well.. The Holiday Rules. And so America.. here they are:

Calvin's OFFICIAL Holiday Rules:
1. Halloween season officially begins October 1st. Therefor, no halloween decorations may adorn your house prior to this date. Halloween season ends promptly at midnight on November 1st. I do not want to see pumpkins, graveyards, ghosts, etc on your lawn until the official season begins.

2. Thanksgiving season begins November 1st. No, there is no overlap between Halloween and Thanksgiving. They are two different things. Halloween is all about scaring your neighbors and making all the neighborhood kids too scared to come near your house on Halloween night, thus allowing you to keep the large bowl of snickers bars all for yourself. Thanksgiving is all about the dying days of fall, eating yourself silly with turkey and not getting in trouble for having one slice of every pie on the counter. Thanksgiving ends at midnight that day.

3. Christmas season begins the day after Thanksgiving. That means I don't want to see your house lit up with lights in early November. I don't want to see Santa at the mall, or Christmas tree lots opening up early.You must WAIT until the day after Thanksgiving and THEN.. knock yourself out... do a Chevy Chase to your house (I do). Just not BEFORE.

4. Once a holiday is officially over, get your butt out of the house and take your stuff down and put it away. I don't want to see your lights still hanging up in July. It just tells me your are lazy. I don't need to celebrate Valentines day with your giant inflatable pumpkin still laying there on the lawn, having not been inflated for months. Please, people, take responsibility for your holiday decorating!

As I said, I am not trying to be a Scrooge here. I just want our Holiday time, as fun as it is, to stay pure. I don't want to be sick of Christmas three weeks before the actual holiday. I want to enjoy the whole season start to finish. I want the enjoyment of seeing all the decorations in the right time and right setting. It's like coming to a party too early or staying to late. It's just wrong.

So, take notice America. Calvin has spoken!

Spies, Swords and Spartans

Obviously, it's been awhile since I updated the ol' blog. I know I say that for time to time, but what can I say... things tend to get a bit busy and chaotic at certain times of year. And the end of August forward is certainly our "busy season". Here's a quick rundown of the latest from Calvin's Cosmos.

First and foremost: The family. The end of August brought Little Calvin's eighth birthday, meaning it was time for his church baptism. This once-in-a-lifetime event brought family from both Idaho and Colorado together in our house, for one very full weekend. We had a great trip out to the coast and alot of fun with so many people around that we just don't see very often. Little Calvin's baptism was a special experience for both of us. One of those cool father/son types of things. I think he'll have good memories of the festivities and remember the support of his extended family. (You can read reports here and here, on the family member blogs and see their photos.)

With family all delivered to the airport and safely home, it was time to return to normal hectic life. In additional to all my regular job duties at work (now greatly expanding as the company closes its Indiana offices and plants, making Oregon THE office space for the company) I have had 3 film projects going on simultaneously:

Video 1: RV Spy Guys: Mission 3. Most regular blog readers will remember the nightmare that developed as we created the second episode (here). But this time around, our production seemed to go right on schedule and without any real issues to report. Sure, I think my producer thought I had lost my mind when I turned in my script for this go around. My brain does tend to come up with some weird stuff on occasion. But I assured him that this would be funny (and not overly gross) and that I was still perfectly sane. Hold on..

Back now.. sorry, Abe Lincoln was at the door. A few things to discuss..

Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah.. the I'm not crazy part. So... even with the strange looks as I handed over my story ideas, the episode filmed without a hitch, no actors showed up drunk, all the "that's impossible, this will never work" parts did work as I envisioned and things all came together well.

Here's a quick look at our filming day. To think that I get paid for this stuff....

The episode is now out and can be seen at www.rvspyguys.com. I'd just post the video here, but we need the site traffic to justify doing more of these so I have to make you go to the site to watch. Oh and order a t-shirt while you are there! Come on.. all the cool kids have them!

Video 2: The summer Indiana Jones project. Things are coming along nicely on this, although I am now using the typical Hollywood saying: "overtime and over budget". The kids have stayed very gungo-ho and are loving filming this. Just the other day, Little Calvin put in a request that I add some scenes or action sequences to the movie as he's not ready to be done filming yet. He gets such a kick out of donning the Indiana Jones gear and fighting, exploring.. whatever.

The trickiest part was this: When I wrote the script in early July, it included two large sequences that take place in caves. (Of course.. Indy HAS to explore caves in an Indiana Jones movie!!!) I figured it would be easy to find a cave or two around here to film in... Wrong-O! These stupid cave shots have been a thorn in my side all summer. We found some GREAT cave exteriors to set up the shots of the kids going into caves, but with the amount of stuff that happens inside the caves, I thought I was toast. Luckily, a solution presented itself this last Saturday and we were able to get most of the "cave sequences" filmed.

With only 2 scenes left to be shot (meaning 2 more nights of filming) we're heading on the downhill slope. My goal is to have the film done by mid-October when the 4th Indy movie hits DVD, as there is inevitably a large surge of interest in the Indiana Jones character connected to that release, and it would be nice to use that to our benefit.

Video 3: The big Kahoona. The gigantic project: The fall documentary volleyball film. I couldn't believe it was time to start filming already in mid-August, but it came! That means that I am now filming games almost every other night as the season progresses at such a rapid rate. Already, over 10 hours of footage has been shot and I am in the process of keeping up with that footage so that this doesn't turn into another "week-long no sleep fest" of 3 years ago as I struggled to meet editing deadlines. And this year I am starting slow thanks to everything else going on, meaning that even with all the footage shot already, there will be a large sized surge in work come the beginning of October as the team's fate starts to take shape on the court, and the resulting film starts to take shape in my head.

Now.. add all of that to an already busy work schedule, helping with Little Calvin's Cub Scout group each week (or attempting to when not filming), church responsibilities, Amanda starting high school, Tyler starting middle school and helping to support my wife so that she can coach her team without worrying about things off the court.. and it's a miracle I can even get a single blog entry posted. But it's all a matter of scheduling and balance.. and trying to stay out of trouble. Unlike what my brain-children spy guys seem to be doing.

Ok.. back to editing... I still have two idiots stuck in an RV factory, two adventurers seeking an ancient sword, and two volleyball teams winning their way through the league. Oh boy.. Where is that Red Bull 24 pack?

Dear Warner Brothers..

I am writing in regards to your recent announcement that you are delaying the release of the new Harry Potter film by 8 months, moving the film from November 21st, 2008 to July 17th, 2009.

Let me start by saying I understand that this is strictly a business decision.. I get it.. 2008 has been a HUGE year for your studio with the release of "The Dark Knight" which has quickly become the number two highest grossing movie of all time, right next to Titanic. The sixth Harry Potter film is also expected to be a HUGE, successful movie for you. I know, you must also look at the future and thanks to the writers strike you have very few movies set to come out next summer, and nothing (Besides Terminator: Salvation) that could become a huge hit. I understand that having one year of record income, then a year without a big hit, is bad for the studio and so the simple BUSINESS solution is to move a known hit from 2008 to 2009 to help balance the books. That all makes perfect business sense.

BUT.. what is the cost of this maneuver? While the numbers may make more sense.. what is this going to cost you in the long run? I would venture a guess that this is a mistake of HUGE proportions.

First, the film you chose to mess with is not a little, small film. It's a Harry Potter film. Remember last summer, all those fans lined up to buy the final book? Remember fans lining up around city blocks to see the 5th movie? Congratulations.. you just ticked off one GIANT group of people, now all threatening not to attend any movies that you release until next July. Way to go! Let's not forget that the Potter films have brought you over 5 Billion dollars in box office returns. It's the Harry Potter films that have helped you become the studio that you are today. So what do you do such a loyal fan base? Kick them in the groin. Who cares.. right? Come July it's not like they are NOT going to see the movie.. The fans will get over it.. But will you still be in business by the time they do?

Have we already forgotten about New Line Cinema? The studio that produced the Lord of the Rings films. The studio that made record profits from these films.. the studio that then started to make a bunch of bad decisions based on money.. the studio that got greedy.. that directors and producers didn't want to do business with thanks to how the studio handled its finances.. the studio.. that is now out of business..

Second... It's not like you didn't see this coming. The writers strike ended months ago. You had plenty of time to make this decision. You knew that the Dark Knight would be huge. You knew that there were not many movies opening next year. And yet you chose to make this decision after starting the "T-minus 3 months" major film marketing campaign. The teaser trailer is playing in the theaters.. the posters are up.. magazines are publishing photos and articles to promote the movie, video game creators are finalizing their releases, manufacturers of the tie-in products are making their stuff.. and so you choose THEN to yank the carpet out from below everyone's feet? You couldn't have done this even two weeks earlier, when the formal marketing campaign hadn't kicked off yet? Talk about dangling a HUGE carrot in front of everyone, getting all the fans talking and excited.. just what you want at this stage of marketing, only to take it all away? What kind of business sense is this? Once you start selling a movie, you better be ready to follow through or people will not take your future campaigns seriously and you destroy your credibility.

Next, Ok.. so I understand.. you need to move the film to 2009 to balance the loads. So then push it back to say.. mid-January... the fans would only have to wait 2 additional months. Still stinks, but doable. But no. You have to push it out to July.. to the same weekend that Dark Knight came out this year. Why? To make money!!! But to me.. this is a bogus argument. It's a film with a built in, established audience. They will attend the movie regardless of when it opens. It could open on a Tuesday in February.. guess what.. we'd all be there. It's not like you are going to have a huge number of people that will start watching Harry Potter movies on the 6th one. We'll all go regardless...

And you know what? Why did Dark Knight make so much money? Was it because of THAT weekend in particular? No. It was because it was a FANTASTIC MOVIE!!! One that when you leave the theater after seeing it, you immediately want to go back in and see it again. Sooo.. Take a movie, make it a GREAT movie that will get people talking, that will get the word of mouth to spread around how good it is so that more and more people buy tickets. Then, again, it will not matter what weekend you open the film on.. it will be huge. "But we can't open the film in January.. no one goes to the movies that month.. it will limit the success of the film". Bogus. Remember that one film more successful than Dark Knight.. That Titanic movie? When did that open? In December, and with each weekend that it was out, it made more and more money.. into January.. into February.. into March. People didn't care when the movie came out.. they just wanted a great movie going experience and paid regardless of what the calendar said.

It's obvious you are doing this for one reason.. to try to make more money.. you don't even hide behind that in your press release. You are taking one of your most profitable franchises with the most active fans and running them over with a bus, all in an attempt to make more money, with no insight as to the damage this may do to your studio and reputation down the road. You come across as greedy rats willing to destroy what you have in an attempt to make a few more bucks.

And then, before the sting even has a chance to wear down, you come out with your moronic excuses... "We are just trying to do what is best for the film.. to give it the best chance to succeed" (meaning.. we want more money) give us a break! Or the line from Alan Horn, President of Warner Brothers: "We would never do anything to hurt one of the movies or the series. We love our fans." Yeah.. ok. Your stupid decision making and timing are surely showing that. If you loved your fans so much, you would have left it alone, let the fans have their movie and stuck whatever money you made in the bank so you'd have it for next year. If you loved your fans you wouldn't be teasing us with high quality marketing and then pushing us to the curb.

I am trying to look at this without my emotion of being a big Harry Potter fan get in the way... I am trying to put the disappointment of myself (and my son, gearing up to go to celebrate his twelfth birthday at this film) aside and make sense of this. And I just can't. From every angle, you come across looking like greedy rats, that can only see the short term, that I wouldn't want to do business with. Pure and simple.. just the stupidest thing I have heard all year. I sure hope you know what you are doing... besides working for Voldemort...

Sincerely,
Calvin,
Simple Harry Potter fan trying to make sense of this...

The Making of Indy: Part 2

We have been hard at work over the last few weeks making our summer Indiana Jones movie (scroll down to read how this whole crazy thing got started). I must say that I am pleased with how it has come together so far. It's pretty wild to see Little Calvin don his Indy costume and do his Indy thing.

It has also been entertaining watching the boys reaction to filming this. Last weekend they found themselves a little self conscious as we were filming a fight scene next to a large waterfall in the Oregon mountains. They were getting totally into the fight and making it look real. They looked around after a take to discover a large crowd of hikers had gathered to watch, probably intrigued as to why these kids were in a fight, dressed as Indy characters followed by a camera man. (They all had big grins)

And so.. to give you a quick sneak peek.. here are a few shots, taken from the completed video footage shot over the last few weeks. And stay tuned for more updates as we will soon be filming a beach fight, more bloody fun, and... caves...

Indiana Jones carefully studies clues to help him find an ancient artifact

Indy and friend Victor Jenson search the jungle, trying to find their way.

Some friendships.. take a hit: Victor and Indy come to blows

After a puzzling turn of events, Indy must study for some answers.

Turning to long-time friend, Leon Ellison, Indy seeks answers.

The Making of Indy: Part 1

Earlier in the summer, as I reported in this post, Little Calvin and I watched the 4th Indiana Jones film. As the credits finished rolling, he looked at me with a smile on his face and said "Dad.. we HAVE to make our own Indiana Jones movie this summer!!!" I pondered this comment for a second and then replied "Yeah.. I think you are right.. that could be fun." And thus, regardless of what Lucasfilm and Speilberg decide to do with the franchise, we are making our own Indiana Jones 5.

Sure.. it might be difficult to explain why Indiana is suddenly 8 years old, why his nemesis, is 11, and where this fits in the whole story, but.. too bad. We are having fun with this and that's what counts for our little family.. ok.. boys.. project. (The girls just roll their eyes, thinking we've gone mad, and there may be some truth to that).

First things first, we need a script, and a MacGuffin (a word to describe the object that Indy seeks) and in this case we decided to return to the series roots with an object with scriptural origins that could (in a fictional sense) have supernatural powers and whose location is still unknown. I hit the scriptures to see what I could find. and eventually found the sword of Laban. Why? We know that it was used in Jerusalem in 600 B.C... We know that it traveled to this side of the world and ended up in South America. We know it was passed down from generation to generation as a symbol of righteousness. We know Mormon had it when he fought his battle before handing it off to Moroni. Now it gets fuzzy. Some reports claim that the sword stayed in the Hill Cumorah, as in the cave where Mormon kept all the records. Some say that Moroni carried it with him ultimately burying it with the plates in up-state New York (in a place ALSO called the Hill Cumorah). But reports differ... Meaning we have plenty of room to fictionally speculate where it could be located at the present time,, and what could happen if some evil, greedy individual were to happen to find it and attempt to remove it from it's current location.

So let's put this into "Indy Speak". Que the "Announcer Voice"

"History tells of a sword.. once used to behead a king.. then passed on to leaders throughout South American History as a symbol of goodness. Legend says the sword is buried deep in a hidden hill, surrounded by gold, claiming that only those who are deemed worthy may possess it, and harness its power"

Sounds pretty Indiana Jonesish if you ask me.. And so "Indiana Jones and the Sword of Cumorah" was born as you can see with the following "teaser posters" to announce the project:

Now to be fair, Little Calvin is very excited about our progress and asked me if I could give him the scoop on this one and our experiences as the cameras started to roll. So, for the full story (and far less wordy than me) and to see photos of our progress, you can visit his blog at http://www.tannersawesomeblog.blogspot.com

The Olympic Trials Surprise!

I have been blogging long lately.. so I'll keep today's update short. The fourth of July this year was one to remember! After a fun walk in the 2008 Butte to Butte (I started and finished the RIGHT race this year) the family headed over to watch the Olympic Trials for the afternoon. It was a lot of fun having such a high profile event in the area, especially as a big Olympics fan. While tickets were just too expensive for us to afford ($800/pass) we decided to just enjoy the atmosphere of the big festival that was set-up around the track. With giant TV screens set up, we could still watch the main events of the day and see who we could meet. Dawn was working at the festival as a CERT Captain and so the plan was for me and Little Calvin to hang out and the festival while she worked, then we'd all find a fireworks show somewhere in town, if not at the trials.

But that's not what happened... Instead, as Little Calvin and I wandered the festival, we went up to a booth to see what they might be giving away (you could get something at almost every booth). When I got to the front, the guy running the booth asked if we were here for the festival only or if we were going to the trials. I said "Yeah.. I wish we were going on, but we're enjoying the atmosphere." He said "I'll tell you what.. you answer a question and I'll give you two free tickets for the day." Needless to say, I was ecstatic, and Dawn just looked at me with her "you've got to be kidding me.. no fair!" look. My "big question" was just a throwaway thing, "Name the host city for the 2008 Olympics".. Ohhh.. toughie. But the guy admitted he had been trying to find someone he felt would appreciate and enjoy the tickets and I guess Little Calvin and I had just the right look.

The trials were great! Many awesome races! Little Cal loved watching the Javelin (the big sticks) and we even got to meet some athletes when Sanya Richards, American record holder in the 400 meters, signed our tickets and took a picture with Little Cal. And our seats.. 10 rows up, about half-way down the straightaway near the finish line. Just perfect.

Luckily, once Dawn's shift was done, she was able to cash in some favors and get into Hayward Field. She wasn't sitting by us, but was at least able to see the event. And when it was all over, we stayed and watch a fantastic fireworks show right there over the track. Just the perfect way to spend a fourth of July.. right before we got yelled at by security for taking our pictures on the track.. oops. Oh well. Great Day!

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The next day, we headed back to the festival to finish exploring. The highlight was watching Little Calvin at the tree climbing booth, learning how to do some rope climbing. He quickly got the hang of it and just had a ball. Since the pictures are both cute and make me proud as a parent to see my kids conquering challenges, I'm posting a few:

Finally from Florida: Kennedy Space

Saturday: Having waved goodbye to my sister and her family, who left to begin the long drive back to Texas, the now smaller family headed east to Kennedy Space Center. We had gone as a family on each of our earlier family trips to Florida and it was nice to see that, while there were some changes, the space center remained very similar to how we remembered it way back when.

A few highlights:
In addition to our regular admission, we took the "NASA Up Close Tour". This two-hour bus tour allowed us to see many of the NASA administration buildings (exciting.. I know) as well as both shuttle launch pads, the shuttle landing area, and the Vehicle Assembly building (insanely giant building).

At the conclusion of the tour, the busses dropped us off at the Saturn Rocket center, a new exhibit featuring a large scale film, a recreation of the control room from the Saturn V launch along with a whole recreation of the launch morning. Finally, we got to see the actual Saturn V rocket itself which is GIANT. Very cool to see!

Once back at the Space Center complex, we rode their shuttle launch simulator. On this ride there are no funky g-forces like EPCOT's Mission Space, but there is a whole lot of shakin' going on. The coolest part was just after lift off. According to the story of the ride, us "trainees" are sitting in a module in the shuttle's cargo bay. Once up "in space", they open up the bay doors so we can see the earth below. In reality, the doors open up to a giant domed IMAX screen playing a film of the rotating earth, a rather cool effect.

After looking through the exhibits, and taking in a 3-D IMAX film, we began sorting through the gift shop for souvenirs. It was right then that a major Florida afternoon thunder storm came barreling through the area. Bringing booming thunder and lightning striking just across the street, security recommended we stay inside to ride out the storm. Plus, we only had a few ponchos and with the rain POURING, we knew we'd be soaked on a long walk to the car. So.... we stayed put. And this storm was not a quickie. I think I studied every item in that gift shop, multiple times. Eventually the rain slowed a bit and my Dad and I decided to make a run for it to get the car. But even so, we were soaked within seconds. Good thing the the day was over.

Sunday was our quiet day. We took my folks to the train station (they have to take trains everywhere..) did some final souvenir shopping at Downtown Disney and spent some family time in the pool back at the house, before packing up to fly back to Oregon on Monday. As much as it pained me to come home.. it was time to leave Florida and return to the real world.

Disneyworld: Part 2

In my previous entry, I wrote about the first half of our Florida Vacation including the Magic Kingdom and Disney's Hollywood Studios. With so much to report on, I had to break this up a bit.. and so here is the second part of our trip report, starting off with Wednesday.

Wednesday... Day 3: Epcot, my personal favorite of the Disneyworld parks. The day began early as my sister and her family had made reservations for an early morning "Princess Breakfast" over in the Norway pavilion. They also invited Amanda to go along, figuring she could use so more "girl time" after having to endure so many "boy attractions" over the last few days. She gladly joined them and had a wonderful time meeting all matter of princesses.

We joined back up with them after taking advantage of the low morning ride lines for Mission: Space (which the boys loved) and a favorite Test Track (Although I sure do miss the old World of Motion at times). But with the heat rising, one we finished exploring the Seas pavillion and Journey into imagination, we felt it was time to head back for a cool pool soak at the house. We finished off the day with Soarin, Spaceship Earth, and starting through World Showcase with Mexico and Norway. Finally, we finished with the family gathered for my favorite of the nighttime shows: Illuminations with its explosions, and fire.

Thursday: Animal Kingdom. This was a first for me since I was a little kid: I actually got to explore a Disney park that was completely new to me. Unlike all the other parks that I seem to know every little corner of, I have never been to Animal Kingdom so it was rather exciting to me to not really know where I was going, to see things I had never seen before. That said here are my initial thoughts ot the park:

It was far different from what I had mentally pictured. It was much greener and thick with foliage. Being the premier attraction: Kilamanjaro Safaris, a ride through the African savannah, I had pictured lots of wide open spaces in the park. Nope. IT's very green and jungle like almost all the way through, making it very easy to hide areas and attractions. And to add to all the jungle ambiance, a storm moved in in the afternoon DUMPING rain all over us. We finally had to break down and buy some ponchos, otherwise we would have been soaked.

Some highlights: Loved the safari tour.. very well done, The new coaster Expedition Everest was lots of fun as well although it was over in what felt like a blink of an eye. Dinosaur was fun but, although it is built with the same ride track and vehicles as Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye at Disneyland.. the latter is a much better ride.

Just as the rain picked up the hardest we all headed inside for a nice family dinner at the Rainforest cafe. That's where we learned an important lesson: when the family is all covered in ponchos (along with all the other people visiting the parks) suddenly everyone looks the same and it is very easy to think that someone else's kid is your own when doing a head count. Just as we were leaving the park, we re-checked only to discover: No Little Calvin. I high-talied it back to the restaurant and found him. Luckily, he has been trained well. He immediately went to the counter, asked for a manager and reported himself as lost, to which the manager stayed with him until I arrived. The manger complimented him on his handling of the situation, doing the right thing and staying calm under pressure. Although the situation was quickly resolved it scared the heck out of both of us. He still claims he is not going back to Animal Kingdom calling it the "Bad Place". Poor kid. At least we were able to end the day on a fun note, going back to EPCOT to finish World Showcase and enjoy Illuminations one more time.

Day 5: Odds and Ends and Star Wars Weekends. Having now explored all 4 theme parks, in our final day was all about the places we wanted to spend more time. And the morning held a certain treat: Star Wars Weekends. This special Star Wars fan gathering is held each weekend in June. Although some don't believe me, I did not purposefully plan this trip so that I could be there for this, it was just a great bonus that I discovered after our reservations were made (seriously!!!) This event included special Star Wars shows in the park, a character parade, special merchandise, meet and greets with actors and characters from the films, etc.. Lots of fun.

Being on site just as the gates opened we were able to watch Storm Troopers take over the park, then (geek alert) hurried to get in line to get Darth Vaders autograph. As it was we had to wait about 30 minutes. During the first 25 minutes our Darth was full of life, taunting the guests, making menacing lurches, just enjoying hamming up the part he was playing. Just before we got up there, suddenly "Darth Vader" had to "take a break to check on some issues with running the galaxy". It was obvious that this guys 30 minutes of blazing hot suit in the Florida heat was over and it was time to bring on the next guy. But this new Vader (although he looked the same) was not nearly as fun. He'd just stand there and not react to anything. Sure, you'd shove a pen in his hand and he'd sign whatever was given to him, but it was overly obvious that we had gone from an actor just having fun to some guy with a bad attitude forced to deal with people. Even without any dialogue it was amazing how much you could tell just from the suit movements. Being disappointed that we got "no fun" Vader for our encounter, I tried to liven him up a bit. I went up to him after our group photo and said "I have always wondered what there were for" and I began to push the buttons on the front plate of his vader suit. Needless to say, cranky Vader didn't appreciate this much and got quite agitated. I taunted him a bit more, just trying to get more reaction out of him to better match the lively Vader. Oh well, must have gotten a bad phone call while running the galaxy. Proof that even Sith Lords get cranky.

Next it was on the the Indiana Jones Stunt Show and the Star Wars parade, which the kids loved. Lots of costumed characters interacting with the fans, just having fun, although I have never had Sand People in my face whooping away. Very cool. Well done.

Afterwards, we were just walking down the street when we happened to bump into a very friendly Jawa, who accommodated us in our photo requests. But then, just behind him, we spotted a Guarmolean Guard, a pig like created that guards Jabba the Hutt. Little Calvin got all excited and run up to try to get a picture. But this character would have no such thing, really playing the "tough guard" role. Little Cal kept getting frustrated,, "I just want a picture!!" But the thing would just march away. Finally Little Calvin had had enough (and quite possible taking a que from my previous Vader playbook) decided to take matters into his own hands by going up and kicking the guard in frustration. Yes.. my son.. kicking the costumed characters. I immediately grabbed him and yanked him away, and the guy was TICKED.. he immediately, quickly marched away waving his hands to get people out of the way. Oops. Needless to say we had a little chat about why you don't kick people, even Star Wars aliens. Lessons learned for both of us.

The second half of the day was spent back where we started: The Magic Kingdom, waiting eternally for The Jungle Cruise (which seemed so anticlimactic after experiencing the real animals the day previous) and many of our other favorite classic attractions. One more story for today's blog: We had just ridden Pirates of the Caribbean and as always, you are let off the ride into a gift shop. Here, we could look at all manner of pirate stuff. We worked our way out of the gift shop and over to a smaller version while we waited for the whole family to catch up. In front of the shop was a whole rack of toy guns and Little Calvin was fascinated by them as he is not allowed to have toy guns in our house (mean parents, I know). So he's running around playing with a little pistol begging for me to buy it for him. Suddenly a little light goes off in his head, he walks into the middle of the gift shop, holds the gun up over his head and yells "NOBODY MOVE! HANDS UP!" Again, I immediately grabbed him, yanking him out of the gift shop. The girl working the counter just rolled her eyes and Little Calvin and I got to have yet another "things you don't do" conversation. That's my boy... committing assault AND holding up a gift shop,,, all in one day.

Soon, (and much to my disliking) the day came to an end, with tours of Mickey and Minnie house, Autopia, the Teacups, Haunted Mansion and finally Space Mountain, our final ride of the Disneyworld vacation. Time to head back to the house not knowing when our family would return to this magic again. But at least we got to leave in style with the boys getting to ride in the front car of the monorail, so that they could learn how to drive it and get their "Junior Monorail Drivers License". The perfect ending to the perfect trip.

Although the trip isn't over yet... Next up: Kennedy Space Center!

Disneyworld: Part 1

It's the happiest place on earth... the place of a million dreams.. and after 18 years of dreaming, 5 years of wondering, 1 year of heavy duty planning (and careful budgeting) my year of a million dreams finally arrived: I finally got my entire family to Disneyworld.

Rewind 18 years. I had just graduated from High School (sheesh, has it been that long?) I was weeks away from starting my 2-year long church mission, and as a graduation present, as kind of a last hurrah of being a kid, my folks gave me (and the rest of our little family) a trip to Disneyworld. And so for a week in August, 1990 we had a ball in the Florida heat, riding rides and making family memories. Sure part of those included rigging a bucket of water on top of my hotel room bathroom, thus drenching the maid as she went in to clean, a little secret that kept my sister and I laughing all day and my folks giving us dirty, questioning looks. But wether the memories were of our childish pranks, or quality time in the parks, or even elevator jumping in Philidelphia (a story for another blog), we had a great time.

Late on the last night of the trip, we were leaving the Magic Kingdom. And for those that have been there, you know that you don't just walk out of the park and jump in your car. You must either take a monorail or boat to get back to the parking lot. To just enjoy the moment and try to make it last forever, we took the boat to enjoy the night air. As my dad and I watched the dark lake float by, our vacation leaving us behind he said something that I took very seriously. He said "I want you to make me a promise. Once you have a family and you decide to bring them here for the first time, promise that you bring us along so we can experience this magic with you again." "No problem, Dad... you'll always be invited." And I had every intention of keeping that promise and filed it away into my memory banks, to make sure it would happen.

Now, fast forward back to last summer. I began to feel old. I suddenly realized that I only had 4 - 5 summers left before my daughter graduated from high school and started her own life. This whole Disneyworld promise I had made way back when hadn't happened yet and unless I made it a major priority, it very well may NOT happen. And that just couldn't be. I had dreamed too long for it to slip by. So right then, I vowed to make this top priority for the next year. During the summer of 2008, I was taking my family to Disneyworld.

I began to plan in secret, saving up from odds and ends, and just before Christmas I made the financial commitment and presented the park tickets to each of my kids and wife on Christmas morning. Meanwhile, my Mom and Dad and my sister and her family began to make plans to join us on our quest. Suddenly, the end of June couldn't have come fast enough. And yet look what happened, I blinked and it arrived.

And so, last weekend, from all over the county, the family began to descend on Orlando. My family flew in from Portland, my folks flew from Denver and my sister, her husband and 4 kids drove from San Antonio Texas. And then, FINALLY, we were all there, driving under the big "Welcome to Disneyworld" sign, all cheering away, despite the insanely hot temperatures and extreme humidity. It's Disneyworld.. Who cares!!!

So here is our Disney trip report, for the vacation I thought may never happen:

Day 1: Monday: Magic Kingdom

This was the tired day. The day to deal with huge crowds while getting used to Florida heat, a new time zone, cousins that hadn't seen each other in 4 years, and 2 previous days of traveling. But even with all those conditions, we had a ball. We explored Fantasyland with Pooh and Dumbo, my favorite Haunted Mansion and much more. We also established the plan of attack for the week. We'd go to the parks from their opening until about 2 in the afternoon, then return to our rental house (about 5 minutes from the parks) for our big meal of the day and to either rest or relax in our pool, then return to the parks until the evening fireworks show was over. This makes it so we don't have to pay for park food and gives the kids a nice mental break mid day, so there are no melt downs later in the day.

When we returned for our evening in the park we managed to get on quite a few rides, but, I was without a wife. Poor Dawn's back never quite recovered from the long plane ride and she could barely move on Monday, thus causing her to have to stay back at the house. Poor girl. No Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain, Pirates of the Carribbean, Autopia, Stitch, TTA or others for her. She was ticked. Not a good time to have a sore back!!

Day 2: Tuesday was Disney's Hollywood Studios, a park that my sons loved due to more thrill rides (and Little Calvin's first major roller coaster: Rockin' Roller Coaster.. he and I in the front two seats as we rocketed away at 60 miles and hour) Also a first for Little Cal.. Fighting the Dark Lord of the Sith. Yup, he got to participate in what is called the "Jedi Training Academy", a show where kids are selected to train with a Jedi Master. Just as they finish their first lesson, Darth Vader himself shows up and each kid gets to fight him. It's a very well done show and so much fun watching your offspring take on movie villians. Just a great bit of Disney magic!!

Other highlights: "The Lights, Motors, Action Extreme Stunt Show", what they can do with stunt cars is just amazing, convincing my Dad to do the Hollywood Tower of Terror, riding "Toy Story Midway Mania," the resort's newest ride, and an amazing showing of Fantasmic.. great day.

And so for the sake of my eyes and yours, I will end today's blog with a link to our vacation gallery:

But stay tuned for stories from EPCOT Center, Animal Kingdom, Star Wars Weekends with the "Guarmorean Guard incident" (You'll see photos in the gallery, but come back for the story..), the pirate gun incident.. Star Wars weekends, and even the "stranded.. in a gift shop" tale. All coming soon.. to Calvin's Chimerical Cosmos.