Author: kevincrossman

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Why the Return of Captain EO is a Bad Idea for Disneyland

Disney announced that Michael Jackson will return to Disneyland in the Captain EO attraction.

Twenty-three years ago, at the height of his phenomenal entertainment career, Michael Jackson joined forces with Disney to create “Captain EO,” a groundbreaking 17-minute 3D film experience.

We are excited to confirm that the classic musical spectacular that thrilled Disneyland park guests from 1986 – 1997, will return for an exclusive, limited engagement at Disneyland park beginning in February 2010!

The attraction’s return to Tomorrowland will provide new audiences the opportunity to experience the original 3D production for the very first time, as well as a nostalgic look back for longtime fans wanting to see “The King of Pop” in a rare performance created for the big-screen, just one more time.

captain_eo_poster

The return of this “attraction” is a horrible idea.

To paraphrase Jerry Seinfeld (“it offends me as a comedian”) the fact that Michael Jackson was a child molester is not the primary reason why I object (but, of course, this is a very good reason to). Instead, I just think it’s a bad idea to return an attraction to the park that honestly wasn’t very good even when it was new (I’m holding judgement on the new Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln attraction for similar reasons).

Captain EO is a 17 minute film featuring 3D effects, “acting” and singing from circa-1986 Michael Jackson. The film was directed Francis Ford Coppola and produced by George Lucas. The film features Angelica Huston as an Alien-esque villain. And some really stupid muppets.  The experience is beyond simply bad. It’s absolutely terrible.

And, lest you think that I’m objecting because I hate Jacko’s music… aux contrare. In fact, back in the day I liked a lot of MJ’s music. The “Walk Off” scene in Zoolander featuring “Beat It” is still one of my favorites of all time. Unfortunately, Captain EO does not contain any classic Jackson songs. In fact, it doesn’t even feature average songs. Instead, they’re simply awful like the rest of Captain EO.

Don’t believe me? Behold…


You know I’m a big Disneyland fan. There’s really only one upside to the return of Captain EO. Maybe it’ll suck up the crowds and lessen lines for the other attractions!

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Fearless Oscar Predictions

I know the Oscars aren’t until March 7, 2010, but I thought I go out on a limb with my fearless predictions for the top categories. Yes, I know the nominations aren’t even out yet. But, here we go…

  • Best Picture: Up in the Air
  • Best Director: Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds
  • Best Actor: George Clooney, Up in the Air
  • Best Actress: Meryl Streep, Julie and Julie
  • Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds
  • Best Supporting Actress: Vera Farmiga, Up in the Air
  • Best Animated Feature: Up
  • Best Original Screenplay: Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds
  • Best Adapted Screenplay: Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner, Up in the Air

So, clearly, I’ve got a lot of horses bet on Up in the Air and Inglourious Basterds. I think that as often has happened in recent years the Best Picture and Best Director will split, so that could easily go the other way. But I think that Up in the Air feels more like “topical sign of the times” that the Academy often likes to recognize. I’m hedging my bets for these two films in the respective Screenplay categories as well.

When folks vote for Best Picture they often like to vote for a man in acting category, so the Best Picture support for Up in the Air and Inglourious Basterds will translate to extra votes for Clooney and Waltz. There may be two “newcomer” candidates for Best Actress with Casey Mulligan and Gabourey Sidibe, so I think they’ll split that vote. If Sandra Bullock gets nominated it’ll be like Anne Hathaway’s last year – the nomination is the reward. Which probably leaves Meryl Streep as the last woman standing. There will certainly be some sentiment to reward Street for the first time in almost 30 years, though I happened to not love her performance in Julie and Julia personally. And I’m going for Farmiga for Supporting Actress because she’s playing against George Clooney (think: 2008 winner Tilda Swinton).

dusk
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I Still Love Mother’s Cookies

I received a nice email from the cool folks at Mother’s Cookies:

As you know Mother’s cookies are back! And now that we here to stay we want to invite Mother’s Cookies lovers Share The Love. We know you are a fan so we wanted to let you know about this contest right away!

Share The Love
We are asking Mother’s Cookie lovers to create a short video about their love. Cookie lovers can visit http://www.motherscookies.com/ShareRegister.aspx and enter their video! The first 100 submissions that also tweet using #motherscookies before December 21, 2009 at Midnight will win a yummy cookie prize!

Well, twist my arm…

I’m still playing around with shooting and editing video on the iPhone. The front of this clip was cut off because I didn’t understand how the trim feature works. And the cutting and splitting in the ReelDirector app is not intuitive. Nonetheless, hope you enjoy Mother’s Cookies as much as I do!

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Sigh!

I really enjoy my job as an Enterprise Community Manager. I get to help people use our company’s internal collaboration system while also thinking about ways to make it even better!  And overall most of the people I work with ask reasonable questions and have feasible use cases.

But there are some days that are not fun. Sometimes the question is… less than reasonable. Other times it’s something stupid that I do myself! In other case, it’s just an outside factor that has nothing to do with me or the people I’m helping/serving. Regardless… a bad day!

But no matter the reason there is always the same outcome. It doesn’t happen very often; maybe three or four times per year (and, it should be noted, hasn’t happened in months). But when that time comes there is only one thing you can do.

sigh

I like this photo that was taken with the webcam on my computer. The clenched mouth really adds a nice touch.

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Franz Frosted Animal Cookies Are… Good but Not Great

In my never-ending quest to find the ultimate in frosted/iced animal cookies, I recently came across Franz Frosted Animals. Having grown up on Mother’s Circus Animals, there was something obviously familiar with the white and pink cookies. There was something familiar with the taste as well; these are pretty good cookies.

They’re not quite up to Mother’s quality in terms of cookie size or frosting thickness. But I have to admit these are not bad in a pinch.

photo-1026

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Boy Scouts Rip Off Disney Theme Park Logo

The headline is a little provocative I know… but sometimes there is no way to sugar-coat it, even when it is with respected organization such as the Boy Scouts of America.

I was visiting our local Scouting store and saw this good book about the upcoming 100th Anniversary of Scouting in America.

Click for larger

Good stuff, right? Well, yes… but there was something about that Cub Scout Activity Series logo. It seemed oddly familiar. Where have I seen that logo before?

Compare the logo to the original logo for Disney’s California Adventure theme park, which opened in 2001. The similarities are striking!

cub-scout-activity

dca

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LaBrea Tar Pits

Lots of fun at the LaBrea Tar Pits today. Some incredible fossils but I was most impressed that there was actual tar (okay, technically it is asphalt) seeping out of the ground. This stuff is s-t-i-c-k-y! No wonder the Sabre Tooth Cats kept getting stuck!

Video shot and edited on iPhone 3GS

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The Sad Revelation of “Vienna Calling”

Back in ’86 I really dug Falco’s “Vienna Calling,” the follow-up single to the number one hit “Rock Me Amadeus.”  Despite the oft-repeated moniker, Falco was no “one hit wonder” as “Vienna Calling” went Top 20 on the U.S. charts. And, to my ears, is still the stronger single. Much dancier but still with the Austrian flair the late performer was known for.

falco

I’ve been hearing Falco a bit more on XM radio lately, so I dug into my MP3 collection to find this 80’s gem. You can watch the YouTube video here. It’s really a great song.

Of course, most of the song is in German as were most of Falco’s songs (especially the parts of the songs actually sung by Falco himself). With a song like this I really don’t mind the foreign (to me) language as it actually kind of sets the mood. It’s probably my second favorite song sung in German, the first being Rammstein’s “Du Hast” (which is the music Hitler’s stormtroopers would be dancing to if they survived into the 1990’s).

Anyway, I though I’d see if the internet could help me interpret Falco’s lyrics to “Vienna Calling” and behold look what I found!

Hello, Vienna calling
Hello, hello, Vienna calling
– Cha!
Hello, hello, Vienna calling
– Cha! Cha!
Hello, oho, Vienna calling, na na na na
Hello, oho, Vienna calling, na na na na

Talking about
Stella sits in Rio
Stella lies in Tokyo
Men ask her for a light,
for the other thing as well

Sugar Chris misses you a lot
your legs and your face
You can do without me –
just not without luxury.
What do little girls play with today,
here and there and there,
whether in Tucson, Arizona;
Toronto, Canada.

Vienna, only Vienna you know me up,
know me down
You know me.
Only Vienna, only Vienna, just you alone
Where have your women gone

Ohoho, operator (so alone am I)
Ohoho, operator (need you to come tonight)
Hello, oho, Vienna calling, na na na na
Hello, oho, Vienna calling, na na na na

Two, one, zero
The alarm is red
Vienna in need
Cha, cha, cha

Vienna calling, oho, Vienna calling, oho

And suddenly Mary is named Marilyn
and Eva is named Yvonne
A young Bogart hangs on
your lips, Kid, and says come.

The glory of the curls is finished
the dancers have stopped
It’s 4:45,
now the position is rehearsed.
What do little girls play with today,
here and there and there,
whether in Tucson, Arizona;
or Toronto, Canada.

Vienna, Vienna, only you know me up,
know me down
You know me.
Only Vienna, only Vienna, just you alone
Where have your women gone

Ohoho, operator (so alone am I)
Ohoho, operator (I need you here tonight)
Hello, oho, Vienna calling, na na na na
Hello, oho, Vienna calling, na na na na

Two, one, zero
the alarm is red…

(courtesy About.com)

Wait a minute…

“Vienna Calling” isn’t some sort of heartfelt shout-out to Falco’s hometown? Not about life on the road and wishing he could call home and talk to his family? It’s about… the fact that Vienna doesn’t have any more good prostitutes?

Well,  I guess this is good news as I’ve been trying to find the third track for my 1980’s Call Girl Mix (to go along with “Roxanne” and “Call Me”).   Seriously… wow.

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Sea Lions at San Francisco’s Pier 39

Julie and had a date night and drove up to San Francisco for some sightseeing and dinner. We stopped at Pier 39 at sunset and of course had to visit the famous sea lion enclave. How little did we know that the wharf was teeming with sea lions!

The video was shot on an iPhone 3GS and edited in iMovie.

julie-pier39

Earlier we had a great drive up to the top of Twin Peaks for a clear view of The City. The rain yesterday really cleared out the sky and even though it was a little breezy the view was spectacular.

julie-sf

For dinner we tried Joe’s Crab Shack down near Fisherman’s Wharf. The shrimp caesar salad I had was great! We had a nice view overlooking the street and wharf below.

julie-joes

kevin-joes

All photos taken with iPhone 3GS.

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Great Photo of Riley

This is Riley’s Halloween costume as a Mad Scientist. Hair courtesy of yours truly…  Great photo by Julie showing his look with the props and such.

riley-mad