Monthly Archives: April 2007

Rockin’ Both Parks

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I can’t really think and therefore I must blog. Makes sense, right? Not to me, but that’s why I keep doing it.

My current favorite video is Super Mario Bros: Frustration on Google Video. Warning: it’s 24 minutes long and incredible foul-mouthed. Beyond that it is absolutely hilarious. Thanks to Danny for finding it for me.

The past week has been intriguing, being that I spent most of it at Disneyland, which is unusual for me (no really, just because I have an annual pass doesn’t mean I spend every free hour at the park). Why for was I at the park? I was using my video camera to capture the audio from the Rockin’ Both Parks campaign with the Red Hot Chili Peppers because I just love it and (ASSUMPTION) Disney won’t pay the Red Hot Chili Peppers the money necessary to sell the soundtracks. I think I mentioned before the problem of not marketing the ride version of the songs (the fact that the original songs have not so family-friendly language), but I’m guessing this is the real reason. That or they’re waiting for some bigger event….THEORY: after Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage opens up, Disneyland will release a new Resort Soundtrack featuring the Pirates changes, the Haunted Mansion changes, the Finding Nemo soundtrack and the Rockin’ Both Parks music. I mean hey It probably won’t happen, but I can dream, can’t I? The weekend resulted in a lot of fun though. Friday I went on both attractions simply for an initial recording, but I found out after that I had set the audio settings wrong and recorded no sound. So Saturday, I brought my video camera back in the park when I came in for swing dancing. I skipped the first set and rode/filmed California Screamin’. During the fireworks I got in line for Space Mountain. Memorizing my place in line, I became so entranced with the viewing angle of the fireworks from the Space Mountain line platform that I filmed the rest of the show (I jumped in at the Adventureland section). Afterwards, I spotted my place in line and re-entered it quietly. Then I did my usual thing of being a chatty stranger with the people around me and made friends with the group in front of me. Turns out they were on a band trip from Arizona and this was there last day. Later on in line, the group expanded from about 8 people to 24. Yes, 24 people in line for Space Mountain. That was a fun day for the “how many in your party” cast member. After Space Mountain, I headed with my new friends Grant, Patrick, Jenna, Abby and Ian to Big Thunder. After that, Ian and Jenna peeled away to go do…something (note: the author assumes nothing about this “something”) while the rest of us went on Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride. Then we wandered out through Downtown Disney to their bus (they were driving back all night to Arizona). On Sunday I was meeting with a teammate to study for MousePlanet.com’s bi-annual MouseAdventure Scavenger Hunt. After we finished wandering about Disneyland looking at things we don’t normally look at, I headed into DCA to try just an audio capture of Screamin’ with my digital point-and-shoot still camera (is there a lexicographically cheaper way of getting that point across?). It cut out halfway through and had only one channel of audio, so I was still frustrated in my efforts. So I resolved to go back to the parks and hit both attractions one final time on Tuesday morning (I didn’t have class until 12:30, so I had plenty of time from park opening). So I got to the Resort shortly after Disneyland opened at 9:00 AM and headed to Space Mountain. The wait was a mere 10 minutes and I boarded the back seat (I figured there would be minimal screaming noises absorbed by the camera in the last row) with anxiety. I was holding the camera upside down so that the mike was as close as it could safely be to the speakers of the empty seat next to me (I had already checked the audio input settings). I got off the ride, rewound the tape and played it back. It sounded so gorgeous I almost cried. I looked at my watch and headed to the other park. I got there shortly after opening and walked to the back of the park. Along the way, I noticed how empty the performance corridor was, so I had the PhotoPass guy by the Grizzly River Run waterfall snap a couple of shots. When I got to the ride, the wait was 10 minutes, and presently I was pulling the harness down. I couldn’t hold the camera in the other seat securely (I wasn’t about to hold an expensive camera upside down with one hand on a looping roller coaster), so I placed it right by the speaker situated between the two seats. Unfortunately, the train I ended up with (red) must have had a bad speaker or something because even during the ride I heard lots of scratches. So I confirmed that it sucked and got back in line (still 10 minutes). I waited for the back again and made sure that I didn’t get the red train, which was difficult because the line was now long enough for them to justify starting a third train (green). So I almost had to go red again, but I politely (I thought) asked the cast member assigning seats to help me out. So now I’m in the back of the blue train and I’m giving it one last shot (I can’t afford to stand in the line again..it’s gotten longer) and I get a fairly decent capture. I spend a few minutes filming some random launch sequences and playing around with push-zooms (you know, it’s that really cool effect where the camera is zooming, but it looks like only the background is moving, not the actor?). After finishing that, I left and went to school. And now we’re here on Friday and I’m writing this. Hope you enjoyed my story. Most of the really pertinent pictures are on Flickr…a video should be on YouTube shortly and I’m taking votes now for whether to post my audio files of the attractions online. Vote in the comments.

Well, thanks for sticking around so long!

Shooter and The Punisher (2004)

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All the political intrigue and excitement of a John Clancy novel and a great exploration of political corruption at the highest levels. I’ve always enjoyed Antoine Fuqua’s work…then again I’ve only seen Training Day and King Arthur, but they were both thoroughly enjoyable, as was this film. Aside from that, the film was very pretty, highlighting the beauties of…Canada. That’s right….they filmed most of it in Canada. At least that’s what I garner from the credits. The credits thank only the city of Philadelphia and from what I could see not many other places in America. So it makes me sad…because there were some really gorgeous shots in the film and I think it’s a darn shame that the cities it should have been shot in couldn’t out bid Canada.

While I’m not a Mark Wahlberg fanatic, I do enjoy his work and he does a very respectable job playing a guy who gets screwed by the no-name agencies he worked so hard for. And what was with Danny Glover? Has he had a stroke recently? He was slurring half of his dialogue and it was a little distracting. Well not nearly as distracting as the guy next to me chomping on popcorn or the guy in front of me stretching his arms way up and blocking half the screen. But hey, that’s what I get for sitting in the back of the theatre.

Something I noticed from the credits was that the aerial coordinator and the aerial ground coordinator were most likely related (they both had the last name North). See, ya learn things when you watch all the credits.

Oh…and it made me want to watch The Punisher (the 2004 one). Which was a little unfortunate because I forgot how many gripes I had with the movie. I mean the action stuff was all awesome, but I had huge grievances with the emotional nonsense they made him go through with Joan, Mr. Bumpo and Dave. And don’t get me started with the Russian. While that movie was…is a recreation of the Punisher character, those 4 were (I think) modern creations of Garth Ennis for the Punisher comics from the 90’s. So the fact that they were not accurately translated and misused in the film grieves me. Especially the Russian. He was supposed to be incredibly talkative, but Kevin Nash, while looking the part, is just there for muscle. So I’m going to take that clip of film, record myself acting lines of dialogue from the comic books and edit them in. Any objections?

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

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I barely remember the TV show, although it was something fun to watch growing up. I also vaguely played the arcade game with friends when we’d go miniature golfing. That and X-Men. But I digress. The movie had that same kind of fun to it, especially since the character modeling was so exaggerated (stick-thin women, huge muscle-bound guys), allowing for a degree of escapism. What was interesting though was how convincing the “fight choreography” was. It was very cool looking and I enjoyed it.

Beyond that the story serves to reintroduce us to the characters and the team dynamic that exists. They deal with their world-threatening problem and leave room for a sequel…or a television show revival. If the show could look that slick consistently, I’d love it, but I’m probably just dreaming.

I also wonder why the original theme song wasn’t covered. There was an…interesting rock song with numerous references to the original show/theme song, but no cover! Maybe they couldn’t secure the rights? This also reminds me of Ghostrider and the fact that the Spiderbait cover of Ghost Riders In The Sky (“An old cowpoke went ridin’ out one dark and windy day…”) isn’t included on the soundtrack. Friggin’ copyright laws. No fun anymore. ;)