World of Color Road Show

The World of Color road show wrapped up its 4 city tour in downtown LA... Although it's nothing like the real World of Color (which is full of most awsomeness.. like the Bellagio fountains on steroids.. 200ft water cannons, fire balls and flamethrowers, along with several hundred feet of projected water screen amazingness)

Sean & I wandered over there after having dinner at Starry Kitchen last Friday.



We just got new his & her's iPhone 4s from the Glendale apple store Saturday before this, and so this was the first real test for them. Taking videos was alright but the flash seemed to over-expose the images.. and without the flash you may notice it's a bit blurry. The phone takes forever (in the sense of taking an image) to decide to shoot something..

Day time or dusk images shoot way better.. but despite the frustrations, we we gave it a go. Luckily the 10minute loop repeated itself


So here you go..




and a little bit of video:


the projected images where first abstract..




later you could see snippets of the Blue Fairy, Fantasia, Aladdin, and Sorcerer's Apprentice portion of Fantasia..

This is NOTHING like the real World of Color.. but if you haven't seen it, hopefully it makes you curious to go to the park and check it out.. FWIW I heard a few people heading off discussing how they haven't been to Disneyland in a while and "We really need to make another trip to Disneyland soon!" I guess Disney marketing accomplished their task with this one..

my complete flickr set here

Happy Birthday Main Street USA!

Disneyland celebrates it's 54th birthday today..

the "Partners" statue at Disneyland..

Today, 17 July 2009.. the Disneyland Park (and the Disneyland Resort as a whole) celebrate its birthday.. Today I'll be making a quick trip to the park to attend a "D23" presented event.. "Disneyland USA" which includes a special screening of the aforementioned named film, with discussion and desert.

**Speaking of birthdays, you too can get in on the fun by getting a free day at the park ON your birthday.. (all is needed is to show valid ID with birthdate for admission).. this particular promotion concludes the end of this year.

Art Deco LA

One of the things noted while away in Florida is the plethora of art deco and neon prevalent at the Disney Studios in Orlando. So much neon and architecture of the earlier part of the 20th century. So beloved that they're planning to use the scheme yet again when they refurbish (or re-imagineer if you will) the 2nd gate of Disneyland, "Disney's California Adventure" (DCA).



So much of LA seems to be a tear it down & rebuild it into something else sort of culture. It really is a shame. The fact is that so much of what LA used to be is honored and memorialized in kitch-y Disney fashion because it is beloved, and in many cases, no longer exists: the Brown Derby, the Crossroads (ok that's sort of still there) and the Pan-Pacific Auditorium.. which being relatively new to California (and LA especially) I wasn't aware what it was or that it burned down.

What about that LA architecture? The fact is if it weren't for the historic tours such as the neon bus or the Conservancy tours, these lost treasures would be just that.. completely lost.

I'm so grateful that while living in LA, I have the opportunity to make my home in a place that makes an attempt at keeping old LA alive and well, not just gentrifying a place but re-purposing the structure, keeping as much of the original intact. The fact is we need to keep these places as original and pristine as possible. Places have meaning for us because they have history and a story behind them. We care for the things we love and they will stay with us, and not become just another place to be honored in an amusement park, or books about recalling the past that no longer exists.

what's new, neighbor?

I'm really looking forward to my buddy Big City Poz & Ruby getting back to the Old Bank District and hearing about their adventures in Eureka!

To keep busy.. I've done the following this week:


wash and fold my laundry (with not a lot of help from Alexander)





took a walk with Isis & Eric (and the Downtown Dog Walking group)


gone out to dinner a few too many times (including a couple meals at Pitfire (above), Rocket, Warung and (drool)Weeneez (I can't help that last one).

I also ended up at Art Walk, and plan to eat at Weeneez a couple more times in the near future, as they are having their first Sunday brunch on the 13th. Lime is re-opening (after a 3wk hiatus) on Disneyland's birthday (that's July 17th for the non-Disneyphiles) Lime has nothing to do with Disney, btw, it's just easy for me personally to remember that way. ;P

Speaking of Disney I have several friends from out of town making their yearly trek to Disneyland for the NFFC Convention and the Disneyland birthday. We'll have to see yet if this downtown dweller gets on the bus or not.


woke up yesterday after a late night to this view out my window..

and Alexander had his own issues..

Alexander vs. the Pigeon

Not much else going on at the moment; however, I have a hint for future postings:
*garlic*

Welcome back Joe & Ruby! =) Let the planning begin yet again!