A Spirited Perfect Ten

[RSoxNo1]

Spirited Night Musings:

Just got back from dinner and a night at the cinema (will talk about that shortly) and I realize it is now 11:45 a.m. Wednesday in China. The Shanghai Disney Store should have opened amidst pomp and circumstance about 105 minutes ago.

Yet, no PR from Disney. Nothing. (Of course, at this point, who are we kidding? Disney doesn't have real PR in China and is afraid to release anything in Burbank.)

Of course, still waiting for the pic of Bob Iger and Tom Staggs at the SDL site topping off ceremony yesterday. But I can't state with any certainty at this point that they were even there (and I DO have the plans for what was supposed to happen yesterday and what is supposed to happen today!)

BTW, if you think nothing is unusual here, simply go into this site's archives and pull up the same ceremony from HKDL in 2004 (we could talk about how slow this project has been versus how quickly most things get done over there). We can compare notes after Bob and the entourage are on the way back to Burbank to make the laborious drive down to Anaheim to kick off the Diamond Anniversary Celebration at DL to end the week.

So, tonight I made it to movies for the first time in 2015 (no, it hasn't been easy to get out) and my choices were either Avengers: Age of Ultron, Cinderella or Pitch Perfect 2. No, Mad Max wasn't an option as I wasn't paying $16 for the upcharged experience (as someone used to free films, I can't fathom what some folks pay for a night at the movies, so, no, I didn't buy the $12 'value pack' of popcorn and soda!)

Decided to see Avengers. My thoughts are that it pretty much was what I expected. It was solid popcorn fare, but by no means great. Compared to the best Marvel films (GotG, first Captain American and Iron Man outings), I thought it was rather mediocre. It certainly didn't flat out suck as the last Cap America film did. It was good, but there was definitely too much of a ''We expect you to see all 54 films we have planned for the next 10 years in the MCU'' conceit with those infinity stones and other subplots.

But, honestly, just watching Robert Downey Jr. and listening to James Spader was worth my $6.50.

I did find one line by Spader as Ultron so quotable to the fanbois here who seem to take everything they hear or see as fact without ever truly asking questions ... he said something about ''Humans are only are capable of scratching the surface.'' I see that in a lot of discussions here about how Disney operates, how media works, doing business in China, social media use/abuse etc. ... people just don't like or aren't capable of critical thinking.

You've lost all credibility as a movie critic by saying the last Captain America sucked.

 

[Mike S]

I've mentioned this elsewhere but thought it deserved reposting in this thread since it did come up here several zillion posts ago.

Reports coming in about that other big finale effect that's been out of action.

Escape from Gringotts Kuka arm screen has apparently been replaced and is in show condition again.

In other Diagon Alley news I'll say that Weasley was working again on my most recent trip. Isn't it nice when things break and then get fixed? I also have to say the T-Rex room in JPRA looked freaking FANTASTIC!!!!! Best I've seen it in a long time!!! Other AA's in the ride still look weird and have some problems though.......

 

[flynnibus]

You've lost all credibility as a movie critic by saying the last Captain America sucked.

It suffers alot of the same issues as avengers 2 does.. too much effort on setting up other future projects.. special effects that so grand they dillute themselves... the cliche destroy the massive city situation... and my personal distaste for the film.. too much gun violence.

 

[Funmeister]

*facepalm* - the 'show ignored content' is PER PAGE, not per post. You don't do it per post, when people start having weird stagements you don't understand... and you see the 'show ignored content' link... you may click it to see if the user you do read.. makes any more sense.



So you don't know how the feature works.. but want to lecture people on it... then you want to assume you know why people use ignore or not.. and why it should be permanent or not. I didn't realize there was a rule of the universe that says you have to listen to someone all of the time, or none of the time and nothing in between.

Great job dude... you continue to dig yourself deeper and deeper.



I'm just going to leave this here... maybe you'll get it
View attachment 93703

Right. I already addressed what you are saying in another reply. The function of the ignore feature was not my point. I am not debating you on how it works. That was not the point. You do not understand what I am saying so moving on...

You are missing the point completely.

 

[Disneyhead'71]

I've mentioned this elsewhere but thought it deserved reposting in this thread since it did come up here several zillion posts ago.

Reports coming in about that other big finale effect that's been out of action.

Escape from Gringotts Kuka arm screen has apparently been replaced and is in show condition again.

I said it would be show ready by the end of the month.

See, my sources are right at least twice a day.

 

[hopemax]

Get yourself a bag of kernels, a carton of Flavacol (green, cardboard carton like an old milk carton), and a jug of GFS popping oil. Less than $30 and they will last you forever (we're still working through our first purchase, which was almost a year ago!).

We order the Paragon Coconut Popping oil via Amazon, and the carton of Flavacol. The Flavacol, really will last forever, but after 3 years(?) I am close to needing a refill on the popping oil. As for machinery, I have a Whirylpop, but my Mom just did it just the old fashioned "pot on stove" technique and still tastes awesome. Once I got my Mom the oil, she stopped getting popcorn from the theater, because "it tasted better at home." The kernels, after trying many, I get them at this random place in Titusville that stocks "Amish Country" popcorn made by the Troyer Cheese Factory (?) and bring them home to Colorado. I just get the white, but my Mom would buy the purple.

 

[Travel Junkie]

While trying to "ignore" all the arguing over the ignore button, I'll throw this out there if it hasn't been mentioned already. Beginning May 21st, Forbidden Journey in Japan is 3D. Google Translate it.

http://s.usj.co.jp/wwohp/news/?utm_...AD&utm_content=15h001&utm_campaign=FY15_wwohp

 

[Mike S]

While trying to "ignore" all the arguing over the ignore button, I'll throw this out there if it hasn't been mentioned already. Beginning May 21st, Forbidden Journey in Japan is 3D. Google Translate it.

http://s.usj.co.jp/wwohp/news/?utm_...AD&utm_content=15h001&utm_campaign=FY15_wwohp

So those early rumors before it opened there turned out true after all. My guess is that it'll open with 3D in Hollywood and IoA will get the upgrade around that time as well, maybe. Could be sooner. How long did it take there? Did the ride have to go down at all?

 

[flynnibus]

Right. I already addressed what you are saying in another reply. The function of the ignore feature was not my point. I am not debating you on how it works. That was not the point. You do not understand what I am saying so moving on...

You are missing the point completely.

No I do... you just think 'if you are ignoring the person, why respond to them' - convoluted by the effort you thought it took to actually see the person in the first place. Your flaw is you assume everyone uses ignore based on conditionals you dictate. Which is where you are wrong.

Just because you avoid socializing with someone doesn't mean you would necessarily act like they don't exist if they were standing in front of you talking about something you feel like commenting on.

Again... 6+3, 5+4..

 

[PhotoDave219]

No I do... you just think 'if you are ignoring the person, why respond to them' - convoluted by the effort you thought it took to actually see the person in the first place. Your flaw is you assume everyone uses ignore based on conditionals you dictate. Which is where you are wrong.

Just because you avoid socializing with someone doesn't mean you would necessarily act like they don't exist if they were standing in front of you talking about something you feel like commenting on.

Again... 6+3, 5+4..

Some people have to make it about themselves.

 

[Disneyhead'71]

Some people have to make it about themselves.

Hey now, I take narcissism to a whole new level.

 

[PhotoDave219]

Hey now, I take narcissism to a whole new level.

I noticed that with your cover shot on your company's calendar

 

[truecoat]

Com'on, Bob made a larger than life appearance at the opening.

 

[Cesar R M]

I understand what you are saying.

LOL Try this again. My point is why the person ignoring someone still engages with the person they ignored to begin with? If they found that person to be worthy enough to be placed on ignore why would they still engage? That is my point.

Except they are not "engaging".
They are merely reading why someone else answered to them.
They want to follow a conversation line.

 

[Cesar R M]

You've lost all credibility as a movie critic by saying the last Captain America sucked.

perhaps it hurt his "True American Patriot(tm)" feelings, hence "it sucked" for him

In other Diagon Alley news I'll say that Weasley was working again on my most recent trip. Isn't it nice when things break and then get fixed? I also have to say the T-Rex room in JPRA looked freaking FANTASTIC!!!!! Best I've seen it in a long time!!! Other AA's in the ride still look weird and have some problems though.......

meanwhile.. at Expedition Everest...

 

[Cesar R M]

It suffers alot of the same issues as avengers 2 does.. too much effort on setting up other future projects.. special effects that so grand they dillute themselves... the cliche destroy the massive city situation... and my personal distaste for the film.. too much gun violence.

I disagree honestly, Avengers 2 feels amazingly bland and generic (except certain things). It didn't give the "WOW" the first did.
And The Winter soldier sorta blew me away like the first Avengers.

I said it would be show ready by the end of the month.

See, my sources are right at least twice a day.

At least you're not like the "T" or other trolls from the forum.
Where they fire "predictions" like a machinegun.. claiming insiders.. then nothing.. and when by luck they glance something...They claim perfection and how right they were.

While trying to "ignore" all the arguing over the ignore button, I'll throw this out there if it hasn't been mentioned already. Beginning May 21st, Forbidden Journey in Japan is 3D. Google Translate it.

http://s.usj.co.jp/wwohp/news/?utm_...AD&utm_content=15h001&utm_campaign=FY15_wwohp

Anyone can translate? I do not understand chinese! and google translate is a hit or miss.

 

[Goofyernmost]

I said it would be show ready by the end of the month.

See, my sources are right at least twice a day.

Just a question out of curiosity. Did they close the attraction while they were waiting to repair/replace it?

 

[Funmeister]

Except they are not "engaging".
They are merely reading why someone else answered to them.
They want to follow a conversation line.

Nope. That is not what I am talking about. There was no conversation line in the instance I am talking about. It doesn't matter. "Answers" were given by people based on a situation they thought they knew about. They didn't.

There was no conversation line. It was a single post. Forget it.

 

[RivieraJenn]

We order the Paragon Coconut Popping oil via Amazon, and the carton of Flavacol. The Flavacol, really will last forever, but after 3 years(?) I am close to needing a refill on the popping oil. As for machinery, I have a Whirylpop, but my Mom just did it just the old fashioned "pot on stove" technique and still tastes awesome. Once I got my Mom the oil, she stopped getting popcorn from the theater, because "it tasted better at home." The kernels, after trying many, I get them at this random place in Titusville that stocks "Amish Country" popcorn made by the Troyer Cheese Factory (?) and bring them home to Colorado. I just get the white, but my Mom would buy the purple.

Pot on stove. Olive oil. Real butter. Old Bay seasoning. Theater popcorn will never come close.

 

[AEfx]

Or the working parent with a child with a chronic illness like asthma who ends up taking their kid to the ER for treatment because their employer doesn't offer insurance or the coverage is too expensive for them. I hired someone who took a $16,000 pay cut to return to state government because we had better health care and retirement.

That was how I grew up - asthma included. My mom could not have any more children, but the insurance company she had access to at the time required her to have the whole "maternity" package even though it was medically impossible for her to use it. Because of that maternity issue and the "family" pricing that means 1 kid and 1 parent costs the same as two parents and a gaggle of kids, it would have been more than a third of her income.

And, of course, because she worked full time, even a single mother she didn't qualify for any assistance - she applied twice, and was told both times that they could roll out the red carpet for her (rent taken care of, food stamps that would have been double what she actually spent on food to begin with, free health care) if only she would quit her job. They didn't understand why she chose to keep working. Thankfully, my grandmother was able to help when she could and we survived - my mom just worked 10 hour days, five days a week, for fifteen years and wrecked her back in the process. Whereas if she had just stayed home and watched All My Children, life would have been a lot easier for her.

As a kid that was undoubtedly an early lesson - that a good thing like welfare/assistance for folks in trouble can exist (on one hand we are very "pull yourself up by your bootstrap" as a nation, but we also used to take care of our own and be able to offer that bootstrap for folks to pull themselves up with if they couldn't otherwise), can end up horribly misused and defeat the original purpose when rampant abuse is not checked and it's not done in conjunction with other programs to ensure that it's a temporary measure and not a lifestyle choice.

(And I'll not even touch that on the topic of asthmatics in particular - that this "good thing bad implementation/results" is similar to the fact that the EPA, which - we hope - overall is a good thing, has been the single most destructive force in the lives and health of asthmatics over the past decade. We were better off with dirtier air and effective medication than we are now with the greatly reduced effectiveness of current medications - which was a confluence of regulators not having the right information and the complicit behavior of the pharmaceutical community who supported it as they can now charge 4x as much for medication that works 1/2 as well and sell you a whole bunch of other new meds to make up for it.)



To bring that back around to Disney, it's like the situation with drink fountains. If Disney had not cracked down on the rampant, blatant, and downright despicable issue of refilling unauthorized mugs, eventually there would not have been enough chemically altered water for all of us, and we would have all lost! It's not like they can just get some massive amount of this sacred liquid concentrated in tanks they can just keep serving up indefinitely. It's not like they can just mix up more whenever they want, and of course they are paying premium prices for the soda they are protecting as Coke gets nothing out of the deal otherwise.*


(*Sorry, had to inject some humor into a topic that otherwise seriously makes me boil...)