The Miscellaneous Thought Thread

[BrianLo]

No time traveling; just hammering out the Nook Mile goals. Once you upgrade the Resident Services from a tent to a building, a ton of stuff and features unlock all at once. Now I’m aiming to get terraforming unlocked within a week if possible.

Ah, I didn't unlock Resident services until this morning. You are a day ahead of me! Did you get the game at midnight? That might be why.

 

[Rich T]

Ah, I didn't unlock Resident services until this morning. You are a day ahead of me! Did you get the game at midnight? That might be why.

Yes. I bought it digitally and so was able to start playing at 9:00 PM Pacific Time on Thursday. Well, more like 9:04 before it actually went live. That was a long 4 minutes.

 

[Rich T]

Work has been incredibly slow this past week, in an effort to keep from getting too bored I've decided to take up reading.

Be Our Guest: Perfecting the Art of Customer Service was a solid read, not incredibly interesting but a decent overview of some of the philosophy behind Disney's Customer service. It's definitely outdated though since quite a few things it taught Disney definitely doesn't bother with anymore.

Currently reading Todd James Pierce's The Life and Times of Ward Kimball, an incredibly thorough biography on the legendary animator written by the finest Disney historian. Lots of excellent stories- just got through the parts on the production of Snow White and Pinocchio- up next is the strike.

Thanks for a great recommendation: Life and Times is on Audible—starting it now. My free time right now is consumed by reading/audiobooks, Animal Crossing and trying to learn Spanish.

 

[Practical Pig]

Projections on the Matterhorn ... the real one:

Coronavirus: Mountain light show sends message to Swiss

The country's severe coronavirus crisis is highlighted by its most famous peak, the Matterhorn.

www.bbc.com

 

[SuddenStorm]

Thanks for a great recommendation: Life and Times is on Audible—starting it now. My free time right now is consumed by reading/audiobooks, Animal Crossing and trying to learn Spanish.

If you haven't read it, Three Years in Wonderland (by the same author) is the best account of Disneyland's creation ever recorded. It's incredibly detailed and free of the Disney 'spin'.

 

[THE 1HAPPY HAUNT]

If you haven't read it, Three Years in Wonderland (by the same author) is the best account of Disneyland's creation ever recorded. It's incredibly detailed and free of the Disney 'spin'.

is it a book?

 

[SuddenStorm]

is it a book?

Yes, available as an audiobook as well.

Three Years in Wonderland

 

[THE 1HAPPY HAUNT]

Yes, available as an audiobook as well.

Three Years in Wonderland

I will check it out

 

[mickEblu]

@NateD1226 i finally tried Honey’s Kettle in Culver City and Gus’s World Famous fried chicken is still King. Now don’t get me wrong, Honey’s Kettle is very good it’s just not worth the drive out there when Gus’s is closer. Honey’s Kettle chicken has a little too much batter even though it’s delicious batter. It feels more desserty. They probably throw some in honey in there. It wasn’t so much traditionally crispy as it was a crackly crispy. It also wasn’t as piping hot or as juicy on the inside... which may or may not be due to the kitchen being in disarray during these odd times.

I did appreciate the hot honey to go with the biscuits. I also enjoy the sides more at Gus’

In case you didn’t know, Honey’s Kettle is on some Top 20 in the country lists.

 

[NateD1226]

@NateD1226 i finally tried Honey’s Kettle in Culver City and Gus’s World Famous fried chicken is still King. Now don’t get me wrong, Honey’s Kettle is very good it’s just not worth the drive out there when Gus’s is closer. Honey’s Kettle chicken has a little too much batter even though it’s delicious batter. It feels more desserty. They probably throw some in honey in there. It wasn’t so much traditionally crispy as it was a crackly crispy. It also wasn’t as piping hot or as juicy on the inside... which may or may not be due to the kitchen being in disarray during these odd times.

I did appreciate the hot honey to go with the biscuits. I also enjoy the sides more at Gus’

In case you didn’t know, Honey’s Kettle is on some Top 20 in the country lists.

I haven't had Honey's Kettle in forever. Like you said, it is not worth the drive. I need to go back after all this coronavirus stuff is over.

 

[Californian Elitist]

Honey’s Kettle is delicious, but the best fried chicken in Los Angeles is found at Roscoe’s.

 

[mickEblu]

Honey’s Kettle is delicious, but the best fried chicken in Los Angeles is found at Roscoe’s.

Roscoes is great but have you had Gus’s? I haven’t had Roscoes in about 10 years so Im not prepared to say Gus’s is definitively better but I think it is. I need to try Roscoes again soon. I’ve only had the Hollywood location.

 

[Phroobar]

Ducktales Remastered speedrun in 37 mins. It's a pretty short game but it is interesting to see the shortcuts.

 

[Phroobar]

Original NES DuckTales speedrun in 7:13min.

 

[PiratesMansion]

In the event people haven't heard, Tokyo DisneySea has permanently ended its run of Fantasmic! The final scheduled performances unfortunately could not be held due to Coronavirus closures.

However, Tokyo Disney Resort has released a video of the show (as well as some other pieces of entertainment likewise scheduled to close) onto its official YouTube channel. TDR does a wonderful job shooting its entertainment, and they regularly produce fabulous DVDs and Blu-rays loaded with beautifully shot performances. It is said to be available on their channel until the end of April.

If you're unfamiliar with TDS' Fantasmic, it's a different spin on the concept than the shows in the states, partially due to location and when it was produced (more than a decade after WDW's version opened in 1998). I don't know if I'd say it's better, but it's compelling, different, and well-shot.

Side tangent, one of the things I've found fascinating as I've begun my own dive into TDR entertainment is that it's very clear that TDR BADLY wanted a Fantasmic of their own long before it arrived; moments from it are referenced in TDL's 10th Anniversary show (the show that also begat the "Magical' theme that would go on to anchor DL's fireworks show of the same name). On a grander scale, Tokyo replaced their MSEP in 1995 with Fantillusion, an ambitious attempt to do Fantasmic! on a parade route with three rounds of show stops during each performance; to people familiar with WDW of yore, it's very much the lovechild of Fantasmic and SpectroMagic. The parade ran until 2001, where about half of the units were shipped to Paris (that was all Paris could afford) and it ran in butchered form for another decade. Decent quality Fantillusion videos aren't hard to find on YouTube if you're curious, original Tokyo version only. I'm sure there are other examples too of TDR incorporating F! elements, but those are the ones that most readily come to mind.

Tokyo DisneySea's Fantasmic:

 

[TROR]

I had no idea they were planning to even end the show. What was the reason for doing so? Is it being replaced?

 

[lazyboy97o]

I had no idea they were planning to even end the show. What was the reason for doing so? Is it being replaced?

Entertainment at Tokyo Disney Resort is simply viewed as something that is supposed to be changed out and not stay the same for decades.

 

[waltography]

In the event people haven't heard, Tokyo DisneySea has permanently ended its run of Fantasmic! The final scheduled performances unfortunately could not be held due to Coronavirus closures.

However, Tokyo Disney Resort has released a video of the show (as well as some other pieces of entertainment likewise scheduled to close) onto its official YouTube channel. TDR does a wonderful job shooting its entertainment, and they regularly produce fabulous DVDs and Blu-rays loaded with beautifully shot performances. It is said to be available on their channel until the end of April.

I can't believe it's closing already! I remember first seeing the show when it premiered and I found it to be such an interesting, unique remix of our own Fantasmic.

 

[PiratesMansion]

I can't believe it's closing already! I remember first seeing the show when it premiered and I found it to be such an interesting, unique remix of our own Fantasmic.

While I'm sad that it's closing, if I'm being honest I preferred BraviSEAmo! That show was already publicized to be closing when I went to the resort for the first time (Sept 2010), and I remember that my first thought was "wow, it's a bummer they're losing a unique show in favor of something the other parks already have." With the caveat that at that point I hadn't seen Fantasmic since 1997 and had no real memory of or idea about what any version of the show entailed.

And while I totally understand why BraviSEAmo closed, and I'm thankful they gave put their own spin on the show and did an excellent and unique job of it, TDS' Fantasmic! wasn't really my thing.

But oh, what I would give to return to the glorious days of Tokyo DisneySea in September 2010 when Legend of Mythica and BraviSEAmo were running daily, in addition to Mystic Rhythms and the Halloween entertainment (both of which I missed, but I now own performances of everything running then on disc) and the original, superior Little Mermaid show...THAT was a park. THAT was an entertainment lineup. Don't get me wrong, the park and attractions are still great now, but then, with that entertainment in place...WOW. All of it gone/cycled out now. I have a difficult time imagining a park past, present, or future with an entertainment lineup that could ever live up to that.

 

[TROR]

@Phrubruh have you always been Phrubruh or did you used to just be Phru? Was the bruh added as part of the bruh fad or are you the start of that?