Walt Before Mickey

After 12 loyal and dedicated years, my TiVo Series 2 DVR decided it was time to retire and just stopped working.  I knew it was coming because it had gotten to where it would freeze up a lot and I'd have to unplug it and re-plug in just to get it going so I knew its time was coming.  Most people I have heard said theirs lasted about 4 years so I think 12 years was pretty awesome.  TiVo doesn't even make these anymore and if you deactivate the service on one (which I did, of course), then you can't re-activate it.  Goodbye series 2, loyal and trusted friend

But hello....TiVo Bolt - new and tiny TiVo - which is totally cool and awesome!!!

When I first was gifted a TiVo for my birthday 12 year's ago - it was the only DVR on the market - of course every cable and satellite company offers them now but there is just something special about TiVo to me.  To me, owning a TiVo over the cable company's DVR is like owning an iPod over the Zune.

At any rate - while I could go on and on and on about my new TiVo Bolt, this post really isn't about that.

Now that I can stream Netflix through my TiVo (how cool is that?), I watched this wonderful movie yesterday called "Walt Before Mickey".  What a great movie - it is rare to find a movie that isn't full of a lot of bad language and sex but yet is not a "kid" movie and is an enjoyable movie that an adult would like...but this movie is one of them.  I think kids would enjoy it too (maybe not toddlers, but older kids).

It stars Thomas Ian Nichols (Red Band Society, Party of Five, American Pie movies) as a young Walt Disney and John Heder (Napolean Dynamite, Blades of Glory) as Roy Disney.  It was nice to seem him in a more serious role and he did a fantastic job playing Roy.  Jodie Sweetin (Full House) has a small but critical role as their Aunt Charlotte. 

It tells of Walt's life from a young boy, drawing cartoon horses on the side of a barn, to a  young man, who wants to start his own company and make his own animated films.

I've always admired Walt Disney - he was such a visionary!!  So imaginative and creative.  However, he was not a great businessman - luckily he had a brother who was.  He had some minor successes and some big failures until he came up with that cute little mouse that we all know and love today.

 

If you are a Disney fan, like me, you are known for looking for Hidden Mickeys at both the Walt Disney World Theme Parks and also in the animated movies.  The one in the movie poster posted above is kind of example but it really isn't a hidden Mickey because it is obvious that the cloud is supposed to look like Mickey, right?  So it is an intentional Mickey.

I spotted a Hidden Mickey while watching Walt Before Mickey, too!!  Actually, the scene had two Disney meanings.  After Walt is married, he is riding on a train and his wife is napping on his shoulder.  Before dozing off, she mentions something about his dreams coming true.  He looks out and sees a shooting star so decides to make a wish (get it? When You Wish Upon a Star.....Your Dreams Come True), then as he is looking at the shooting star, I noticed the dark night sky had an interestingly shapped cloud.  I did a screen shot - it is a little dark (it was night time after all) but can you see Mickey?  (click on the photo to enlarge, if needed)

Anyway, I give this move 5 stars (all wished upon) - if you haven't seen it, take the time - especially if you are a Disney fan!

January 2014 Movies

Here are the movies (new to me) that I saw in January 2014

Frozen - Disney's latest.  I can't believe it took me so long to see this - it came out at Thanksgiving.  I loved this movie.  There was a bit of singing but loved it -the songs were great.  Just a fun, great movie, loosely based on The Snow Queen.  Very enjoyable movie - would love to see it again.

Dallas Buyer's Club - Great movie, great acting.  I plan on doing an "Oscar Movie Review" later so will save the review of this movie until later.

The Incredible Burt Wonderstone - Awful movie.  I like Steve Carrell, Steve Buscemi, and Jim Carrey and at least the movie had a story line but it was just not a good movie.  I kept hoping it would get better, it never did.  Seriously, they must have thrown a lot of money at these guys to get them to make this movie.

The Wrong Woman - Okay, a little cheat on this one - it was a Lifetime movie, not a theatrical release but I decided to include it because I thought it was pretty good, it starred Danica McKeller (played Winnie on the Wonder Years) as a woman wrongly accused of a horrible crime and all the evidence is pointing to her and no one else.  She decides to take over and become her own attorney because her attorney is not all that great.  Jaleel White (remember Urkel from Family Matters) was a detective investigating the case.  It was great to see these two in mature roles (since they are grown adults after all).  They both did a great job.  The movie won't win awards or anything but at least it was better than The Incredible Burt Wonderstone !

Liebster Award

Thank you to Jen at It's My Life for her Liebster Award nomination. Wow! Totally an unexpected surprise.  How exiting!! This award is for bloggers who have less than 200 followers.

This is how it works:

You start by being nominated by a fellow blogger who likes what you have been posting (so sweet)

Then you tell 11 random facts about yourself and answer 11 questions.

You then get to nominate 11 fellow bloggers and give them 11 questions to answer.


Here are 11 Random Facts about me


1. I wanted to be a vet when I grew up, until my brother reminded me that sometimes animals get hit by cars.  I couldn't handle that.

2. I don't like shoes - I would go barefoot all the time if I could.

3. I was an extra in the movie "The Slugger's Wife" but good luck finding me.  I was part of the Stadium crowd.

4. The first man I ever kissed was Duke's of Hazzard star, John Schneider.  He was 19, I was 16.

5. My favorite town that I've visited is San Francisco.

6. My favorite classic Disney character is Goofy.

7. I cannot whistle due to a short lingual frenulum.

8. I've seen the Rocky Horror Picture Show over 200 times.

9. Both of my ears are pierce three times.

10.  I have taken and kept a photo every day of my life for the past 5 years (and am starting on the 6th year).

11.  My favorite dessert is Crème Brûlée.

Here are the answers to the 11 Questions Jen left for me:

1. Why do you blog? I started because when I joined the knitting community of Ravelry, everyone seemed to have a blog and it was a way for people to share, so I started one too but now it is just more for a creative outlet and a way to share some recipes and crafty projects and such.

2. What is your highlight(s) of 2013?  There were many good things in 2013 but I think my highlight was getting to finally meet my great niece in person. She was born in New Zealand in November 2012 and I finally got to see her and hold her in December 2013.

3. What hobbies do you have? How much time do you have?  Let's see....I like to crochet, knit, cross-stitch, scrapbook, take photos, travel....I'm sure there are more I didn't mention.

4. What is your favorite dessert? Haha - I put that under my random things before I saw this question - it is Crème Brûlée

5. If you could go anywhere in the world, where would it be? England

6. Did you have any pets growing up? Yes, cat named Fuzzy, cat named Sox, dog named Bandit, dog named Minnie (had others after that but those are the ones we had when I was growing up)

7. What is your favorite thing about yourself? That I'm loyal.

8. Do you like sports? If so, who do you cheer for? I like sports but not a fanatic about any.  I root for the home teams - Atlanta Falcons, Atlanta Braves but I also root for the Miami Dolphins and Alabama Crimson Tide.

9. What is your favorite season of the year? Why? Autumn, I love the cooler temperatures, all the colors of the trees, all the Fall Festivals and the smells of the season (pumpkin, cinnamon, etc)

10. Do you have a piece of jewelry you wear everyday? No, I don't wear much jewelry at all.

11. Name 3 things on your life bucket list. To go to England, To see the Statue of Liberty, To see the Alamo.

Those were some great questions!  Now here are my nominees:

Linda at Grandma's Vintage Recipes

Thomasina at Thomasina's Nine Lives & Times

Rollerscraper at Roller Scrapper

Chenelle at The Tall Girl Cooks

Stephanie at StefStyle

Staci at The Black Butterfly

Sukigirl at Sukigirl

Beadknitter at Beadknitter Gallery

Aimee Marie at The Maine Page Turner

Minna at Where I'm Me  

Bev at Bev's Country Cottage

My questions for you are:

1. Where is your favorite vacation spot?

2. If you could go back in time, what year or even would you pick?

3. Have you ever ridden on a motorcycle?

4. Do you have any tattoos? If so what are they?

5. What is your favorite pizza topping?

6. Where did you go on your very first date?

7. What is your favorite day of the week? Why?

8. What skill do you wish you had?

9. What is your most inspirational quote?

10. Do you wear perfume daily?

11. Do you prefer the beach or the mountains?  

Thanks again Jen for the Liebster Award ! 

 

Pirates of the Caribbean - Vintage Footage

Anyone who knows me well, knows I have a love for all things Disney - especially their theme parks. I have not been lucky enough (yet) to go to Disneyland but thanks to You Tube, I can get a glimpse into the park. I especially enjoying seeing early footage of the park, the way that Walt designed it and envisioned it.

Here, we see a video from 1967 of the original Pirates of the Caribbean ride. From what I can tell, this was probably broadcasted on the Wonderful World of Disney (I loved Sunday nights when I was a kid and looked forward to the Wonderful World of Disney every week - I miss that show)
I love this video for several reasons:
1) It shows the ride as it was originally designed ~ pirates chasing women and all and no Jack Sparrow - I love Jack don't get me wrong and he seems to fit in the ride now, but I'm sentimental at heart and love to see things as they were originally intended.

2) POTC is in the top 2 of my fave rides (along with Haunted Mansion)

3) It has clear audio. (If you've ridden the POTC, you can't always hear clearly what is being said because other pirates are talking ahead of you and behind you for other guest so you have lots of things going on at once).

4) I see my favorite pirate (the one on the bridge near the end). I was totally facinated by this pirate the first time I saw him because of the detail on him, it amazed me that the bottom of his feet were dirty (even though you can't see that in this film). Even my 13 year old self was impressed by the details that were put into these pirates!

5) Love the dog in a couple of scenes - especially the jail scene and was thrilled, thrilled I tell you, when they included that scene in the POTC movie.

6) It just makes me happy to watch it.

Enjoy and drink up, me 'earties - yo ho!