Randman's World

If you haven't seen this, it's worth spending a couple of minutes to watch. Disney produced a video to be used to welcome visitors to the United States. The best quote about the reason why we did this is because the first thing most visitors to the US see is a cold, gray immigration room. Not exactly a warm welcome. So, Disney volunteered to produce a welcome video. The music is fantastic (it's from Epcot's Illuminations), and the video is well done. Enjoy.




And yes, I've heard the controversy about the Canadian side of Niagara Falls being in the video.

List 5 things that certain people (who are not deserving of being your friend anyway) may consider to be “totally lame,” but you are, despite the possible stigma, totally proud of. Own it. Tag 5 others.

Since Corey tagged me, here goes. Bonzai!

1. I have a weird ability to remember long strings of numbers or letters. I still remember my 16 digit Missouri drivers license from when I was 16, can repeat the entire McDonalds Menu Chant, numerous George Carlin routines and Bill Cosby routines, and other random useless knowledge items. I really need to defrag my brain.

2. I have an extensive Disney music collection. Everything from movie soundtracks to ride audio to outtakes. And this was before I ever got my job. I checked my MP3 player, and found that I have 9 different recordings of It's A Small World.

3. I was the stage guitar player for 2 years in a row for the Miss Missouri pageant. I played for the stage band which accompanied all the acts and pageantry.

4. I had a hit record in Branson, MO when I was 19. Taneycomo lake had flooded, and I wrote a song about it, recorded it in my dorm room using two cassette decks to overdub instruments and vocals, and gave a copy to a friend. The song was very much in the style of Ray Stevens. It got into the hands of a guy at KRZK, the radio station in Branson, and became the most requested song for several weeks. I was even featured on the front page of the Springfield News Leader in an article about the song. Alas, it went nowhere further than that.

5. I have the ability to do many different cartoon voices. Most of them are voices originally done by Mel Blanc. Some came quite natural (Marvin the Martian, Daffy Duck, Sylvester) and some came with quite a bit of hard work (Bugs Bunny). Many years ago, I had an outgoing answering machine message of me doing all of the Looney Toons voices talking about answering the phone. One evening I came home and found a message from Noel Blanc, Mel's son, who commented I did the voices good. My friend, Mancow, had Noel as a guest on his show, and had called my home number to let him listen.

Ok. Tag Steve, Wade, John, Nick, Tracy

None worthy of a full post, but maybe a listing post will suffice:

• When did Bon Jovi go country? Watching SNL last week, and listening to Bon Jovi was an eye opener. They have a fiddle player and a steel guitar player. Wow! Their music sounds like every country group out there.
• LAX screeners miss 75% of fake bombs: That's ok, as long as they catch all the real bombs.
• If you need a portrait done, we highly recommend Portrait Innovations. After an unfortunate incident where the $120 worth of photos we just bought were damaged, the manager at Portrait Innovations reprinted them all for free. That's customer service.
• TIVO + HD = Quality TV Watching
• Funniest line in a new show: While watching Pushing Daisies, the main character's dog was licking Kristin Chenoweth's face. The narrator says,

"While Olive considered how much she loved Digby for paying attention to her when the pie maker would not, and Digby considered how much he liked salt"

(see the video of Kristin singing here, and the quoted line)

• Other new shows we are watching: Chuck, The Big Bang Theory, Life, Bionic Woman

That's what we call them. Something that happens that recharges you, gets you feeling the magic again. Maybe you've been at your desk too long, getting a bit tired. But then, you go to lunch with your co-workers, and after lunch, stop by the Ghiradelli store in Downtown Disney for a quick sample of chocolate.

Then, you see a family come in. A Mom and A Dad who's carrying a little girl, probably just shy of 2. And the nice man at the Ghiradelli store gives the little girl a chocolate square with caramel inside. The little girl is a bit hesitant, not knowing what this foil wrapped sqaure thing is. But, with some encouragement from Mommy, the little girl, holding it with two hands, takes a little bite. She looks at Mommy, then at Daddy, and slight smile comes across her face. She takes another bite, and her eyes light up. She's just experienced her first gourmet chocolate. She smiles bigger now. Daddy and Mommy smile too.

It's not a big thing, and it might not even have meant much to the family. But seeing the pure joy on that adorable little girls face can really recharge your batteries, and re-dust you! Those moments are what this place is all about.