DISNEY: Anaheim - Day 5 (9.06.09) - Newport Beach

[I am going to get caught up...]

Twelve days in Anaheim, and I'm going to start here, on Day 5, because it has my favorite picture of the entire trip.

(I'll explain the picture later on below...)

Anyways, the Disneyland Half-Marathon was on Day 5: Sunday, September 6, 2009. The weather was perfect - overcast and cool - and both Cindy and I got DLHM PRs. We were just running for fun, not for time, but still it's nice to know that we're not losing anything.

The pictures from the race that we took with disposables came out dark for the most part (too bad), so there's not so much evidence from that morning. Afterwards, we went to Newport Beach to escape the crowds.

Personally, I think that I'd rather've spent the time in the park anyway... I typically want to stay near a comfortable place after a long race (especially one that I didn't really train for). Also, I didn't think "a day at the beach" literally meant "a day at the beach"... I need to feel like I was doing something.

The day ended up being transformative... and for me, marked the end of the first half of my time in Anaheim.

The picture that opened this post was one that I took while trekking down the pathway that runs parallel to the beach. It goes off into the distance but it evolves to different characters. When I took the picture, the view had grown patches of lawn; it was across from an elementary school (yes, that is along the beach -- how cool is that), and it was nice to feel like I wasn't the only odd character there.

Below are six more pictures from Day 5:

For this Labor Day weekend, the sun was out, the waves were nice, and there was a good-sized crowd at the beach.

There's a restaurant at the end of the pier, and from there, its windows framed the recreational day.

There was a mix of people out. And the pier hosted quite a number of both amateur and seasoned fishermen.

Instead of just laying on the beach, I walked the pedestrian pathway southwards for about a mile-and-a-quarter. It was a nice mini-venture.

During this walk, I treated myself to a frozen pineapple bar and took in the change of scenery. And it was about this time that I took the picture of the couple on the lawn.

Back towards the settlement, I had climbed upon a collection of rocks and found a place to sit and watch the waves crash.

Overall, the trip to Newport Beach was fine, but I think that I would've preferred something more active and a scenario where I wasn't playing "kid hostage" (a lesson I have to revisit).

[eom]

GAY DAYS 2009: Red Shirts - Top 10

***WOO!... It's Top 10 Time!!!***
(it's about time [this entry is Waaay ATF])

... (follow the link below to check out this year's finalists!) ...

Number #10
"OMGaga"
Where: in front of Cinderella's Castle
When: waiting for the 3:00pm parade
Comment: At the Gay Days expo, Cindy and I heard the Britney, Madonna, Beyonce, and Lady Gaga. This simple custom shirt embodied the gay boy. It also remnant of the OMG Shoes shirt from a couple years ago. Simple but effective and culturally relevant.

Number #9
"Dynamic Duo"
Where: Frontierland, between Pecos Bill's and Splash Mountain
When: morning
Comment: This shirt made it in the Top 10 because of the ambiguity of the "Duo" (Batman & Robin, the guy and my sister, or my sister's... girls). Also, the guy was very cheerful and really made the photo work.

Number #8
"Fierce"
Where: in the Castle hub
When: 9:20am, on the way back to the park gates to meet Cori and Marty
Comment: In a culture where we do appreciate the culturally relevant, let us not forget our "heritage". This shirt features the silhouette of the winner of Project Runway Season 4, Christian Soriano, and The catch-word of 2007. I"m glad that there are some of us who respect our "elders".

Number #7
"Ohana '09"
Where: in front of the Emporium on Main Street U.S.A
When: early morning
Comment: These shirts were a nice play on branding and slogan. There was a group of people wearing these shirts,

I think these are from the same people who brought us the "Incredi-bears" last year. They were out in large numbers, organized and happy. Parking's actually $11, but they were dead on with the "Scaring the straight person next to you...".

Number #6
"Miss Thing"
Where: Main Street U.S.A.
When: soon after Rope Drop
Comment: A couple years ago, a couple couples wearing "Thing 1"/"Thing 2" shirts made my honorable mention. Though coordinated, they didn't make my Top 10 because those are Universal Studios shirts... This year, I've gotta give these guys/ladies credit for not only being coordinated but sassy, with their addition of "Miss" to the shirts. It's evidence of how a simple change can make a big difference.

Number #5
"The Other Team"
Where: in line for Big Thunder Mountain
When: 10:50:02 AM
Comment: The lesbians cracked my Top 5! This was my sister's favorite lesbian shirt -- the clean design, the simple slogan, and the fact that the ladies wearing them were quite attractive. I told Cindy that she should create one of those shirts for next year except in baby-blue and have it read "The Other Team: Sorry Girls" Ha!.

Number #4
"May I Suggest The Sausage"
Where: just inside of the MK gates
When: at rope drop
Comment: Last year, I featured quite a number of inappropriate and/or food-related shirts. This one was one of the first red shirts we took a picture of, and it would've been too obvious and anti-climactic had this deemed our #1. It was a funny shirt, but also wearing an inappropriate food-related shirt, I wanted to err on the side of caution and not pose for this picture how my sister suggested. *stern eyes*. :P Bold, non-subtle, this shirt made my #4.

Number #3
"Bear School Musical"
Where: Frontierland
When: also while in line for Big Thunder Mountain
Comment: This shirt was colorful and had high construction value. The synergy of Disney brands was commendable -- the vintage Little John from Robin Hood, Baloo from Jungle Book, a very gay Winnie the Pooh... under the guise of a HSM-ish production. It was the cutest and most-playful of the bear shirts. [if they could've only added a "D"-word to their title, they could've had an incredibly subtle risque reference...]

Number #2
"Homo You Didn't"
Where: in front of Cinderella's Castle
When: 2:50pm-ish
Comment: When I was showing my friend Pom this year's red shirts, this was the one that caught her by surprise and was her instant favorite. Short, sweet, and clever... and you can totally hear a gay saying this. The fact that the letters were blinged out and the extra, subtle bejewelry were very nice touches.

And my pick for the Best Red Shirt of Gay Days 2009...

Number #1
"SMURFS!"
Where: in front of Splash Mountain then later in front of Cinderella's Castle
When: after riding Splash Mountain then later after the 3:00pm parade
Comment: Last year, the winner was a red "F*G" shirt flanked by three baby blue "F*GH*G"s. My sister left a comment that she'd need one blue shirt and a dozen red shirts. I guess that she kinda got her wish...

The moment we saw these guys, we knew that they were going to take the top spot. These shirts -- designed after a series of shirts featuring the bodies of Disney characters -- were very trendy and creative. The execution was incredible -- a lot of attention to detail (e.g. the rainbow lettering for "Earth Smurf", the blue kisses on "I Kissed A Smurf And I Liked It"); also, the back of their shirts provided more opportunity for personalization: "Pop A Smurf", "Donatella", "Not So Innocent".

The guys wearing the shirts also a strong factor because they were all well-groomed, friendly, and enthusiastic. They were also very quick to gather for pictures, like a group of high school cheerleaders.

Here's a list of the Smurf slogan we saw:

- I See Blue People
- I Kissed A Smurf And I Liked It
- Abercrombie & Smurf
- iSmurf
- Smurfer Dude
- Earth Smurf
- Smurf-fil-a
- I'm Bringing Smurfy Back
- Twitter My Smurf
- Have You Been Smurfed Today
- Rent-A-Smurf

And of their back:
- Johan
- Donatella
- Not So Innocent
- TEK
- ScoBo
- Scooter
- Edil
- Pop A Smurf

Great great job!

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*** Please leave a comment of what you think of this year's Top 10! :) ***
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You may also want to check out these related posts:

2009
    Gay Days 2009 Red Shirts - Preview
    Gay Days 2009 Red Shirts - Honorable Mentions

2008
    Gay Days 2008 Red Shirts - Preview
    Gay Days 2008 Red Shirts - Top 10

2007
    Gay Days 2007 - The Red Shirts

GAY DAYS 2009: Red Shirts - Preview

I feel that the the red shirts for Gay Days keep getting more and more creative. The bar gets set higher each year -- so much so that I wanted to don a custom shirt for this year's festivities.

I was very happy and fortunate to have my sister Cindy fly down for the weekend. I had a few red shirt options, and originally, my idea was for me to wear a traditional red shirt that would reads "She's my sister" and for her to wear a baby blue shirt that would read "He's my sister". But that idea required too many letters (S's), and instead we ended up wearing the following:

Me --> my Threadless "Piece of Meat" shirt ($5 on sale!!)...

... with a custom slogan on the back:


[The slogan was also an alternative. There was no way that I was going to wear a shirt that read "I like it raw".]

Cindy (who is straight) --> a "You Had Me At Homo" shirt from Gay.com:


She had her picture taken more than me.

[Photo credit goes to my friend David B. Thanks!]

I'm still working on finalizing my Top 10 and selecting the Honorable Mentions. I can't wait!

GAY DAYS 2009: Country Bear Jamboree

Gay Days was this weekend, and it was fabulous. I have a lot of pictures to go through and another few blog entries from it to work on and post.

I was happy with the number of red shirts that I was able to get a picture of this year, though there were a couple that I really wanted but just missed. I already have a idea of which ones will make my Top 10, but there is still a little wiggle room. I'm going to post the Honorable Mentions first, followed by the finalists, but that'll be later this week.

The trip reports will also be a while, but in the meantime, below is a couple-three pictures from the 1:00pm Country Bear Jamboree gathering and a video I took of a whole lot of bears doing the hokey pokey in the lobby as we wait for the doors to the theater to open. Enjoy!

Pictures:

12:30pm Outside of the Country Bear Jamboree
(before the rush)
12:45pm In the Country Bears lobby
1:15pm The spill of bears outside after the show.
(enough for maybe 4 full CBJ performances)

Video:

DISNEY: Lynn Ching

Okay, first off, the title comes from this last visit to Don't Waste It! We had to choose a team name, and we couldn't rightly be Team Ugly Shorts since I was the only TUS-er in the bunch. We couldn't be Team Ching, because that'd only cover two of us. So we made Lynn an honorary family member and we became "Team Lynn Ching". Aight...

So now yes, another weekend, another visit to the parks -- and according to my records, the eighth weekend visit in a row. It was Camille's last weekend to visit the parks so we had to make it count. We asked Lynn to come along because she's cheery cool-chill and because she said that she could keep up with the Chings for this long-day visit. We didn't try for all four parks, but we were there from before DHS rope drop (8:40am) til past DHS close (7:40pm). Among our DHS agenda, we hit TSMM and a soft opening of the American Idol Experience, then headed to Epcot for some KP and Innoventions.

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The drive over was surprisingly easy. We left Melbourne at 7:40am and were parked at DHS by 8:40am (Go My Driving!); Billy was only 5 cars away in the parking lot (good timing). We actually made Rope Drop, and Camille was on TSMM FP duty. She scored us 9:55am-10:55am FPs and we got in line. I paired up with Lynn to teach her all the easter eggs, and she was quite fantastic as a newbie -- seriously, she flipped the barn, then we got the rainbow balloons, uncovered the alien bin monster, and cleared the western board. With her help, I managed to score an unexpected 257,100 -- good enough for 2nd place -- thanks Lynn! That was a great start for the day.

Billy headed out soonthereafterwards (Goodbye and Thank You Billy!), and then the girls and I went over to the Voyage of the Little Mermaid -- it's been a while since any of us had seen the show, and it was a nice calm break from the early-morning rush (no wait and not Packed).

Then it was already time to redeem the TSMM FPs. But with 4 FPs for 3 people, what were we to do? I told the girls to take the tickets and ride it again twice each (it'll be a while before they'll get to ride it again). Also, I figured that I could head down Sunset early to get our next FPs (ToT), do some people-watching, and maybe catch a ride on RnR before they were done. But before Sunset, I checked the AIE showtimes and picked up a reservation card for an audition! (I just wanted one as a souvenir).

Then all was as planned -- I picked up the ToT FPs, rode RnR SR (front row!), then headed back towards the Hat and caught the start of HSM3 and on the way, met up with the girls. We went back over and rode RnR SR and then ToT FP where Camille mysteriously disappeared in the ride photo. Adrenaline rides done, it was time for the 12:00 AIE preshow.

The American Idol Experience was still in soft openings (note: the annual passholder previews are even a couple weeks from now), so you know that I was super-excited. The tv show is okay, and I've read reviews already that said that the AIE was glorified kareoke, but I love the in-front-of-the-camera behind-the-scenes stuff. And even though Camille and Lynn have never seen American Idol television show, they still had a great time cheering on the contestants and seeing something different from what they were used to.

There was a guy who warmed up the crowd waiting to enter the theatre and who directed the crowd for collecting some footage to be used in the actual show. Once inside, he kept things going and instructed the audience how to vote. Then he had a quick run-through of various ways to cheer the contestant on: clapping, swaying, fist-pumping... The guy's facial expressions during this tutorial was, for me, worth the price of admission.

The three contestants for this showing happened to be all guys. The first person was Banks from Baltimore. He sang "Achy Breaky Heart" and was okay. The second person (forgot his name) from Georgia(?) was a military guy, and he sang "Sweet Home Alabama". He was a little nervous and lost some pizazz towards the middle but finished fine. The third guy, Jeff Wyatt from Canada, sang "Walking In Memphis" and was clearly the best. The judges' critiques weren't very helpful, but I thought their job was incredibly difficult -- giving evaluations without any time to prepare -- and I expect them to be much better with a few more shows under their belt. Even the host tripped over his words a couple times.

There were a number of video segments but not nearly as many as I expected after reading a lot of the comments on the message boards. While the votes were being tabulated, there was a music video led by Season 6 American Idol winner Jordin Sparks, and the audience was asked to sing along (and you know I love the sing-alongs) -- the song was kinda lame but will probably grow on me my seventh time around or so...

Anyways, after the audience-wide voting was tabulated, it was revealed that Jeff Wyatt, the Canadian, did indeed win the 12:00 show and was to go on to the finale show that night. And that was it for us at DHS. We jumped on the friendship boat and took it all the way to Epcot Center.

Once through the International Gateway, we picked up a KP voucher then grabbed some lunch in the UK (the fish & chips) before we had to report to our mission -- there were a lot of loud seagulls hanging near the tables, but it was still a nice day outside. When it came time for our mission, we requested UK and also asked for two Kimmunicators. The two phones turned out to be a headache since each were the separate but the same, and loud and impossible to "synchronize". So I closed my phone, and we just worked with Lynn's.

We did get one new mission -- "I, Tea Technician" (the one I was hoping for) -- but all the other ones were the same. Lynn found all of the clues and thought it was fun. I had fun too, but it was difficult to play "dumb", and all of the missions were too fresh in my mind. I ended up not finishing my missions and deposited the phone into the bin while it was still talking... which was amusing enough.

We grabbed a second KP voucher, which had us checking in at Italy. On the way there, the girls went on a "side mission" in France and picked up a couple Gray Goose Lemonades (yum!). Once in Italy, we asked for any country but the UK and ended up on our way to Mexico. I made a side mission of my own -- for a Italian Virgin Primavera (mmm...). The Mexico KP missions were all the same again except for one Data Hunt. The erupting volcano was cool again, but we figured that that was enough KP this time around... then the girls picked up some Strawberry&Lime margaritas (okay, one more mission) and we headed to Future World.

We took a break in Innoventions East as they finished their drinks -- a nice change of pace. Then Camille made paper, and we played at the Test Labs. Next we did Don't Waste It! ("Team Lynn Ching") which was still a hit, then headed onto SSE. Lynn and I rode together while Camille went solo. I think that I'm getting too used to the ride (I mean, I love the ride and still manage to find new things each time I ride, but I think I'll take a break from it for a while). Anyways, it was cool that we were able to email our Future video to ourselves instead of just the picture. Then, of course, we played some Power City. First, it was Camille and me -- and while we didn't PR, we still kicked butt and impressed some passing CMs. Lynn and I were up next and had a respectable 10M+ (Megacity) showing. I was sweating pretty badly afterwards.

We went to Innoventions West next and did a few attractions there -- First, WTF? (Where's The Fire?), where the CMs immediately knew that there were some professionals present... *tee hee*... and of course, our team won. It was probably the most fun I've had there, though it's been great every time. Next was Segway Central, which was only fair because one of the CMs had an odd authoritative type of humor, but she redeemed herself with me when he was the guide for my test ride -- she noted that I "was calmer when I laughed" so she kept making funny comments. Anyways, the last thing we did was the ThinkPlace game. I only watched as Camille and Lynn each filmed their Run/Jump/Dance, and the results were pretty hilarious.

By then, we knew that we should be heading back to DHS, but we were all getting hungry, so I suggested that we check out the Land Pavilion because it had a lot of food options. We all ended up with the same thing... the 1/2 Rotisserie Chicken with mashed potatoes and either salad or rice -- and it was Delicious!

It was close to 7:00pm, which meant that we had time for one more ride -- a choice between Living With The Land and Journey Into Imagination. We went with JII; and the only note I have from that visit is "Keith" (yeah, an attractive CM... though no shameless pic... this time). Anyways, from there, we headed back to the Int'l Gateway and onto DHS on foot. My left foot was still feeling injured but the walk was nice and calm enough, and the night-time stroll was very worth it. The drive back to Melbourne was surprisingly easy, and that was basically it.

I think that it was a good end to our visit to the parks this month. Camille and I managed 4 visits -- by ourselves, and with family and friends (Cindy, Lynn). We did everything that we wanted (with the possible exception of the Universe of Energy -- under refurb, but that's okay). And Camille had some definite favorites (SSE/Power City, Innoventions, KP, TSMM, RnR, and... Golden Corral?).

After the agenda, there are pictures from this trip to the parks.
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Here's what we did this visit:

DISNEY'S HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS (STAGE 42 sweetie bear & french toast) 8:45am
- Rope Drop
- Toy Story Midway Mania (257,100 -- 2nd place!)
- Voyage of the Little Mermaid
Lynn/Camille:
- Toy Story Midway Mania x2 (Camille & Lynn)
Cedric:
(- Tower of Terror [+-> FP])
- Rock 'n' Rollercoaster SR (front!)
- snack from Anaheim Produce (apple)
- High School Musical 3
All:
- Rock 'n' Rollercoaster SR
- Tower of Terror FP
- snack from Anaheim Produce
- American Idol Experience (Jeff Wyatt canadian)
12:30pm

small boat to EPCOT CENTER 1:00pm
- lunch in UK (Yorkshire County Fish Shop): fish & chips (loud seagulls)
- Kim Possible: United Kingdom
- snack from France (Les Vins des Chefs de France): gray goose citron lemonade slush
- snack from Italy: virgin primavera
- Kim Possible: Mexico
- snack from Mexico: lime & strawberry margaritas
- Innoventions East
- Environmentality Corner
- Test The Limits Lab
- Don't Waste It! (Team Lynn Ching)
- Spaceship Earth
- Power City x2 (Cedric/Camille 11,085,000; Cedric/Lynn 10,755,000 (Cedric sweating))
- Body Builder
- Innoventions West
- Where's The Fire? (baloo girl, maria, findmores big swin)
- Segway Central
- ThinkPlace
- dinner in The Land (Sunshine Season Food Fair): 1/2 rotisserie chicken with mashed potatoes & salad/rice
- Journey Into Imagination With Figment (Keith!)
7:00pm

walk to BOARDWALK to DISNEY'S HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS 7:30pm
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Mommy will miss you. Will you miss me?Good Dad made french toast.Rope Drop!First Thing First... TSMM!Thanks you Lynn!
you're a super rookie!Painters refurbing the Sorcerer's Hat
(I'm loving the gold)Ooo... scary.Camille Disappeared!
(Click for closer view)Quack!Lunch at the UKTime for Kim PossibleNew Tea Mission!Where did she go?Side Mission... MissionsTeam Lynn Ching!Dinner, that was simply delicious!

FOOD: HFMC Potluck and MOVIE: The Reader

FOOD: HFMC Potluck
Today is Camille's last day at work, and they were having a potluck lunch -- coincidence? Anyways, the theme was food from around the world, and Camille had agreed on making bringing fried rice.

(Baloo doesn't want to go!)Me -- being the Fabulous brother and Extra-ordinary chef that I am -- decided to cook for the first time in 30 days (seriously, remember the pull-apart bread from New Year's Eve?) and make the fried rice for Camille since she had to work, and I had the morning off.

Baloo guarding the rice cooling.So I made the fried rice -- a little more moist than I'd like it to be -- but it was still a fine addition to spread, which included some tasty scalloped potatoes, hearty meatballs, and my favorite sunshine cake (woot!).

Nice Spread.The potluck was also a cool chance to go behind-the-scenes and see the doctors and pharmacists "off stage", and Dr. Chrieki's a pretty fun guy. I think I'll stick with HFMC for a while.

After we ate, (which we did quickly), Camille and I headed over to the Ben & Jerry's to get some 99-cent smoothies on special. Camille had a Strawberry Kiwi sans bananas, and I had the Banango or Manana (wait... that second one doesn't sound right).

Me and My Manana BanangoAnyways, they were a small-but-just-right size and were good for being juice-based. And as we made our way back, there were a lot of squirrels out -- one even came up and touched Camille's shoe!

Curious
Well, that was fun. Camille went back to work, and I headed on for a 1:20pm showing of The Reader at CinemaWorld.

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MOVIE: The Reader

The Reader is a movie about a 16-year old German boy who has an affair with a woman, only to discover years later that the same woman is now on trial for crimes related to the Holocaust.

Honestly, going into the theatre, I was skeptical because of the low buzz for the film and because it looked like Oscar bait -- I didn't know much about it, except that there was a lot of nudity (and there was).

Having watched it, I do have to say the movie did Oscar bait, but that it's still worthy of its nominations. I managed to shed tears even with an old couple talking beside me nearly the entire time -- and seriously, I was the youngest person in the theatre by at least 30 years. I'm digressing.

I could totally see Kate Winslet winning Best Actress here, though I am still pulling for Meryl Streep in Doubt. The other possible win for The Reader comes from Cinematography, where Roger Deakins has his eighth nomination and no wins so far, but I'm still expecting Slumdog Millionaire to take it.

Anyways, I was glad to have seen the film and time will tell how my opinions for film lasts past the awards season.