Exaggerated Rumors
No, I have not rung up the choir invisibule.
Not a dead parrot, yet.
Just enjoying a well deserved break from the Internet and environs, if you must know.
As for the Internet, is not that what it is all about anyway? Exaggeration, that is. You know, get it first. Don’t get it right.
The joys of it all.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch… I guess today marks the last of the tributes to the Golden Horseshoe Review at Disneyland. And if all goes well, the new Princess Fantasy Faire opens in March. Here’s hoping that the new President of the place has a few more fresh ideas up his sleeve. We the guests could use a few. When it comes to Limited Time Magic, there should be more throwbacks to days gone by at the Park. I’m for using the Big Thunder Ranch to host a weekend that honors Native Americans. Disneyland had quite a history with performances at the old Indian Village. Would be great to see some memories old and new made in homage.
Super Bowl, come and gone. Nice to see the referees asleep as usual. Sure they didn’t have the replacements working the game? And talk about embarrassing… a 35 minute delay for lights out due to a surge protector. That poor place has seen it’s share of drama, hasn’t it. Commercials were a good crop this year. Doritos goat wins in my book. And a Budweiser is still a Budweiser, not matter what you put on the label.
Enjoyed the SAG awards. Nice touch with the life achievement award to Dick Van Dyke. And the best ensemble cast in a Drama going to Downtown Abbey. Speaking of which, so far a great season. Maggie Smith still gets all the best lines.
Life goes on… at least on this Monday.
Somebody got a good answer?
From a Disneyland Panavue Slide – a performance of the original Golden Horseshoe Review.
So, by now, the Disneyland faithful has seen the Limited Time Magic version of the Salute To The Golden Horseshoe Revue.
With it’s month long run ahead, I have yet to hear anyone take up the challenge and give an answer as to why the most memorable part of this guest favorite has been omitted. Namely, the role of the Travelling Salesman. As performed by Wally Boag and his substitutes/successors including Bert Henry, Fred Frank, Jim Adams, Ron Schneider, Dana Daniels, Kirk Wall, Steve Petska, John Pate, Don Payne and Dick Hardwick.
Give Wally Boag his due as the king of them all, but with as many shows/performances as there were, all of these gentlemen brought something to that stage. Something special, that still evokes memories for many guests. From the first performance for Walt & Lillian’s wedding anniversary in 1955 before the Park opened to the last performance on October 12th, 1986, it was more than just entertainment for guests and the folks who performed in it. And while the current version is a tribute, it falls short.
Why then does this current version not pay homage to those gentlemen mentioned above? I am sure there is an answer somewhere. Maybe not a very good answer, but somewhere inside the labyrinth that the Disney company has become, someone made this decision. And perhaps, eventually, we will hear the why’s and where-for’s behind it.
But, perhaps not. Disney also has become good as not answering the questions it does not which to. Oh, give 25 or 30 years down the line and someone might chip in with a tale. After all the people responsible have “moved on” or otherwise.
Sure would be nice if someone would own up to it now and share the details. Gotta be a good story lurking out there to share.
Another day…
I have always found this image fascinating. Gentlemen all posed for a moment during their work day. Over my years, I have seen many similar images. Men posed, stopped for a moment, paused in their labors.
A moment in time. Captured at Crows Landing, California, sometime in the year 1904.
The locomotive engineer reading his orders. The locomotive fireman atop the boiler, sitting next to the sand dome. If I had to guess, probably the rest of the train crew, conductor standing next to the cylinder and brakemen sitting on the pilot. And the gentlemen holding on to the cab hand rail, probably a station agent.
All captured by the photographer for this brief moment. After which, they all went back to the task at hand. Moving the train on to the next station stop.
The print I have of the photograph does not credit whomever captured the image. Nor can I explain how it ended up among other photographs in the collection of my great grandfather. As far as I know, he had no family near Birds Landing, nor did he work on this particular route of the Southern Pacific. At that time, he was a fireman, working between Carlin and Wadsworth in Nevada, along the original route of the Transcontinental railroad. It would not be until the end of 1906 that he would be promoted to locomotive engineer.
In this brief moment captured, there are tales to be told. I just lack the key that unlocks all the mysteries.
Looking back, looking forward
Ah, traditions…
2012 comes to a close, 2013 beckons with the promise of new adventures. Well, we hope, anyway.
As years go, this was one. Too many folks left us too soon. Many we will miss in more ways than we can count.
Some folks saw projects go well. Others? Again, 2013 offers the hope of new things. But isn’t this how we usually end the year?
On the whole, I do not have a lot to complain about. For me, 2012 had its up’s and down’s. Some things went as planned, others did not. I am still here and that always beats the alternative.
When I do take time to look back, I have to say that I have been very fortunate as the years go by. Plenty of great experiences with good people. Been to places and seen things that all have meaning in some form or another. Touched a few family memories and taken in the moments. And would love to go back for more.
That does not mean that I am done. Plenty of things I would love to experience. Places that I would enjoy exploring. And more than a few that would bring a circle to completion. One such would to be at Gettysburg for the 150th anniversary. As members of my family, including a great-great grandfather, saw the conflict from various points around the battlefield, to honor them by being there all these years later and remembering the sacrifices they made would be a privilege.
The list of things yet to come does not begin or end there. So much of my family history still to explore on all sides of the proverbial coin.
While I am at it, there are so many places and folks I would like to visit or revisit. Time or other restrictions may not allow all of them, but I think that somehow more than a few of them are still ahead.
Someone once said that it is not the years, but the miles that add up as we pass. I like to think that each one of them offers a moment worth remembering. Memories of the people who were there. And of those yet to be. Like a great vintage to be savored and enjoyed.
So, as 2012 sets sail into the sunset, may 2013 bring us all the hope and promise of things yet to be.
The magic isn’t gone just yet.
I get a kick out of reading the message boards of the major Disney theme park fan web sites. I really do.
Be it the misplaced sense of entitlement, outrage at the merest mention of change, descriptions of peeling paint and burned out light bulbs… all make for good entertainment. If you take the opinions expressed as such.
A couple of points that the denizens of these Internet spaces might do well to consider?
First and foremost, you are the minority. I know that may come as a shock, but on the whole, you don’t really add up to much. As demographics go, the folks who post on such boards are a pretty small group. Vocal maybe, but when it comes to being counted, not so big actually.
Second, whatever issues you may have, from that’s not what Walt would do to an unnatural love of churros or calling the parks your second home, you don’t do what really counts. That is, spend. Sure, you may buy the Southern California Select Annual Pass, and you may spend a good month a year in days inside the gates, but as a rule, you don’t part with more of the disposable income than the average tourist. A pin here and there does not add up to what the folks from Peoria spend during their once a year visit.
In other words, you are a bump, a very small blip on the radar.
Sorry to have to break this news to you.
Disney has always and will always rely more upon the good word spread by folks who visit the parks once a year. You know, the neighbors just back from that week long visit. Be it California or Florida, those people share what they brought home. Happy memories of a wonderful time. And they share it with others who probably will enjoy their own vacations. Merrily giving Disney all of that saved disposable income in return.
The folks who post pictures of the family trip on Facebook. Because unlike Las Vegas, no code of silence exists. Disney wants them to share. Makes it easy to do so, too. Let that Photopass album go to family and friends. Because the happy memories created will influence others to do likewise.
That is why at park opening families from around the world can be found waiting in line to enter the Parks. They come to share the Disney magic that others have told them about. And they experience it for themselves. This may be the only time they ever do so.
Smiles aplenty. Memories to be treasured. Still available every day of the year.
Worked for Walt and still does for plenty of folks all these years later.
Count me in, too.