tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151128812024-02-03T13:09:13.113-05:00TMWAA place for "Tall Man, Wise-Ass" to keep everyone updated on things no-one could possibly care about.TMWAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04664163604820340653noreply@blogger.comBlogger221125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15112881.post-80673603838092275712013-07-27T21:41:00.000-04:002013-07-27T21:41:03.625-04:00When Algebra Was FunI have heard the claim that most mathematicians either liked algebra or liked geometry in their early training. Part of my personal mathematical mythology is that I didn't much care for mathematics until I got to geometry. (Partly, or perhaps largely, because of a really awesome geometry teacher.) To this day, I have to admit that I mostly find (high school) algebra somewhat tedious, although obviously useful and necessary. (What is sometimes called <i>abstract</i> algebra, starting with groups, rings, and fields, is obviously a totally different creature.) I can appreciate some of the patterns and such in high school algebra, although of course at this point finding this type of algebra interesting is a little like finding the alphabet interesting: I'm much more interested in using it as a tool to do <i>other</i> things <i>with</i>. But when I look back on my algebra classes in junior high and high school, I found those classes sort of boring, although not as bad as the arithmetic classes which preceded them. I guess I just didn't find algebra that interesting.<br />
<br />
Or did I?<br />
<br />
I was recently talking about an "enrichment" program I participated in for one year in fifth grade, in which a small group of students from across the school district were gathered and bussed off to a special class one day a week. On program days, we got to do all kinds of great things, like reading and discussing cool books, engaging in research projects, doing experiments, and working on a computer. It was actually pretty awesome. There were two real problems with the program, 'though. The biggest problem was that the fantastic educational opportunities we got in this alternative class were really what <i>everybody</i> probably should have been doing <i>all the time</i>, instead of a special one-day-a-week pull-out activity for whosoever was judged to be the "best and brightest." The second problem was that the program <i>was</i> a set of additional pull-out activities, because the students in the program had to make up all the work we missed in our regular classes. (This, by the way, is why I only participated in fifth grade: I didn't do so well with keeping up with the other stuff, which was frankly mind-numbingly boring.) So in the enrichment program, we'd research and report on ancient Egyptian burial practices, then come back and have to read a passage out of the social studies text book to fill in the blanks on a mimeographed worksheet. Or we'd collect cell samples from our mouths and examine them under microscopes to learn about cells, and then come back to have to copy a diagram of the human nervous system out of the textbook. (Interestingly enough, I remember that picture because I remember coming to the conclusion that we must be less sensitive in our forearms than our upper arms, because the diagram clearly showed more nerves in the upper arms. This was not a misconception that I ever got to discuss in class.) Or we'd go learn how to solve problems using algebra, only to come back to "Do the following 25 fraction addition problems."<br />
<br />
Wait, what was the last one? I'd forgotten about that! We actually learned some algebra in the program. I don't remember all the details, but I think we had a worksheet, and I remember the idea of introducing a variable for an unknown quantity, setting up an equation to represent a problem, and how you could go about finding out what the <i>x</i> (or whatever) represented. The problems were <i>puzzles</i>, and they were <i>wonderful</i>. Some were quite difficult; I'm not sure we solved all of the problems. I remember being fascinated by the very <i>idea</i> of working in some sense "backwards" to figure out an unknown quantity. It was an exciting adventure for us to figure out, a marvelous mystery. We were figuring stuff out, guided (loosely) by the teacher, who introduced just enough hints for us to make it through each new challenge. Each new idea and discovery was shared and traded with great relish.<br />
<br />
I remember wanting to learn more about algebra and thinking it was wonderful. Until of course I had some problems with finishing up the necessary arithmetic by hand, which led to various adults tut-tutting to me about how I obviously should have been doing more arithmetic drills. That was pretty much the end of my interest in algebra since it was clear to me that expressing interest in algebra would lead to being punished with more arithmetic drills first. So instead of picking up some of the arithmetic incidentally as I studied more interesting stuff, I just ground my way through the required math classes as best I could, hoping they would be over with soon, and forgot about algebra.<br />
<br />
I finally took a regular algebra class in the eighth grade, but I'm not quite sure if I remembered how much I had liked it once. But my eighth grade algebra class was a bit of a nightmare, taught by a man who was best known for yelling at the students and picking his nose. (I suspect the latter would have been more tolerated and ignored were it not for the former.) It was definitely <i>not</i> an adventure, and the problems were definitely <i>not</i> puzzles. There were just a bunch of rules, and an algorithm of some sort for solving every sort of problem. Every day was a new type of problem, and mostly an expectation to memorize an algorithm for solving it. There was no "figuring" anything out, and the techniques were no longer mysteries to be discovered, but miseries to be endured. Hell, I barely passed that class.<br />
<br />
But as I think back on it, I realize that my interest was not <i>completely </i>crushed, even if I didn't realize it at the time. I remember at one point during a summer vacation suddenly thinking about graphs, and wondering what feature in an equation made a graph "straight" versus "wavy." I actually developed a hypothesis (by experimenting) that equations in <i>x</i> and <i>y</i> which didn't have any powers except for "1" were the only straight lines, and other powers gave bent curves. (I have no idea whether I had already been told this before or not, but if so it hadn't stuck until I noticed it myself.) And it's also clear that I must have had <i>some</i> interest left in math, because seriously, what high school student spends part of his summer vacation plotting multiple graphs <i>by hand</i> to test out a hypothesis about which graphs will be shaped which way?<br />
<br />
So my personal mythology is wrong. I <i>did</i> once love algebra almost if not as much as I later loved geometry. And I wonder: What if my early interest in algebra had been allowed and encouraged, even if I was yet unsteady at arithmetic? What if my first formal algebra teacher had been the same teacher who later taught my geometry class in high school, who encouraged my exploration and experimentation? In retrospect, what I relished so much about the geometry class was that the problems were once again <i>puzzles: </i>No algorithms, no sequence of steps to memorize, just a statement starting "<i>Prove that...,"</i> and it was up to us to figure out some way of getting from Point A to Point B.<br />
<br />
In fact this spirit of <i>investigation, </i>of <i>figuring things out</i>, is at the heart of my favorite movement in mathematics education, known as<i> </i>Inquiry Based Learning, or IBL. In IBL, students are set problems of some sort to solve, something to figure out. The steps are small enough for the students to figure out on their own, and they are led along a path of discovery. That's what happened back in the fifth-grade enrichment program: We were introduced to the idea of using a variable, or of "doing the same thing to both sides of an equation", and asked to figure out how to solve the next problem using what we knew. We figured the stuff out "on our own" (in actuality with plenty of guidance), and we were <i>excited</i> to be doing it. When I got to the eighth grade class, what I got instead was "Day 23: How to Solve a Digit Problem. Step 1: Let <i>t</i> be the tens digit in the unknown number...."<br />
<br />
Now I have a bit of a dilemma: I now remember what joy in algebra felt like, but can I bring that to my students? In particular, I've recently been teaching a remedial algebra class. It's required for many students who have poor math placement scores on entering the university, and it covers a great deal of material in fairly short order to make sure the students have all the needed algebraic skills for their next mathematics class. Because of this, it <i>is</i> very algorithmic, using a very step-by-step, one-topic-at-a-time approach--the very approach I was bored to tears with. Can I bring any of the joy of algebra to my students? I can imagine running an algebra class in the spirit of that first encounter I had, following an IBL approach, but I also think it would require more time than the one semester I would generally have. (Now in high school, algebra is usually spread over two years, which I think would be ample time for a careful, and ultimately quite rigorous and thorough IBL algebra course.) <br />
<br />
I'm sure that if our remedial students had a more inquiry oriented algebra class, they would be more likely to find some enjoyment in the mathematics (as I once did), and they would probably grasp some of the basics more fully. I wonder what the longer term effects of such a remedial program would be. Would the students with a stronger <i>basic</i> foundation in algebra and an interest in the material do fine in a later class without learning all the needed techniques, more or less filling-in material as they went? Or would they end up struggling and failing to keep up because they did not know the assumed prerequisite? Maybe I need to think about this question.TMWAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04664163604820340653noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15112881.post-38922172869677799792013-02-20T20:56:00.000-05:002013-02-20T20:56:34.988-05:00What's new?On this Disney Trip, I've done quite a bit which was new (to me), some of it because it's also new to the parks. I had a mission of sorts to try to see some new things, in addition to hitting my old favorites. What did I try new?<br />
<ul>
<li>I've already written about <a href="http://tallmanwise.blogspot.com/2013/01/on-to-california-adventure.html">Radiator Springs Racers</a>, <a href="http://tallmanwise.blogspot.com/2013/02/flying-tires-or-saucers.html">Luigi's Flying tires</a>, the Ariel dark ride, <a href="http://tallmanwise.blogspot.com/2013/01/carthay-circle-restaurant-and-world-of.html">Carthay Circle Restaurant and the World of Color</a> show, which were all part of the California Adventure redo, and so these were all new to me. All were magnificent.</li>
<li>I've also already talked about <a href="http://tallmanwise.blogspot.com/2013/01/star-tours.html">Star Tours: The Adventure Continues</a>, which was a revamp from my last visit, and it was also pretty awesome. <a href="http://tallmanwise.blogspot.com/2013/01/space-mountain.html">Space Mountain</a> wasn't technically a first, but a first in a <i>very long time</i> for me.</li>
<li>I decided to try the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror in DCA. I'd always been a little interested, because it's themed to the Twilight Zone (including an introduction by Rod Serling), and has a backstory about a hotel where five guests in an elevator vanished when the tower was struck by lightning. But beyond all the theming and cool effects, the core ride mechanism is an "elevator" which raises and <i>drops</i> you repeatedly. (In fact, I understand that Disney has made sure that the elevator drops <i>faster</i> than it would by gravity alone, because just falling a few stories repeatedly apparently isn't thrilling enough.) That's a little wilder than I'm usually up for. But this trip, I had finally worked up the courage to conquer Space Mountain, and found that it wasn't as bad as it seemed, so I figured I'd try the Tower of Terror. <br />It turned out that the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror <i>was as bad as it seemed.</i> I don't think I'll be trying that one again. (This also put an end to any thoughts of trying California Screaming, the only <i>serious</i> roller coaster at the Disneyland resort.) On the plus side, I did survive the drop from the tower, and you do get a great view of the parks at the top of the elevator. <br />My biggest surprise in the "Hollywood Hotel" was discovering how small the hotel "lobby" in the queue actually was, having seen some pictures and video. (Of course, some of the pictures I saw could have been from the Florida attraction, which could be larger.)</li>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXjum-VMfWP52WoG1JiHQi8_p89OVNA6eeA_PYpiWaASFn6nWgCpD2rK3F78TcsV2ohGdxZHJaed7kz7GVmSVls2xJzAz1tZCHz6Jfuh5lEkK2i0ghrebby0zl0-58jdFz4jiJOg/s1600/GoldenZephyr.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXjum-VMfWP52WoG1JiHQi8_p89OVNA6eeA_PYpiWaASFn6nWgCpD2rK3F78TcsV2ohGdxZHJaed7kz7GVmSVls2xJzAz1tZCHz6Jfuh5lEkK2i0ghrebby0zl0-58jdFz4jiJOg/s1600/GoldenZephyr.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Golden Zephyr is too much excitement for TMWA. I'll stick to tame rides, like Space Mountain.<br />The view from the platform is nice, 'though.</i></td></tr>
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<li>Golden Zephyr and Astro Orbiters are both spin-around type flying rides which don't move so fast, and probably appeal primarily to kids. Nonetheless, both were a little intense for me at points. Maybe I don't deal so well with spinning. On the other hand, going on the Astro Orbiter does raise you high enough to see the top of the (now abandoned) PeopleMover track, which was pretty cool to me. (I miss the PeopleMover.)</li>
<li>I took a ride up Main Street in a horse-drawn streetcar. Not a major experience, but it was something I'd never done, and it was interesting. Similarly, I stopped in on the Main Street Cinema, which shows several old black and white silent Disney cartoons along with Steamboat Willie (the first synchronized sound cartoon). The theater was interesting, but much smaller than I'd imagined. (I guess a lot of things at Disneyland have to be kind of "pocket-sized" due to land constraints.)</li>
<li>Goofy's Sky School is a re-theming of another wild-mouse style roller coaster at DCA which used to be called <a href="http://www.yesterland.com/mulholland.html">Mullholland Madness</a>, in reference to Mullholland Drive in California. This coaster had a single-rider line, but I only went once. The height off the ground and sharp turns were a little off-putting to wimpy old me.</li>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-6vmoQEGYrlaGmRTbW9bGfHPfsGkXKEIL1a7SWIc_6lZ0QKxLryEAusA5W9oRfN5lGV5bD_xjKSkRphpiFAA55aJ6VfktTRS9dTb-Ojnim3lsY_U8T7k3QB25klg9ArJ8q5ITfA/s1600/ColumbiaBelow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-6vmoQEGYrlaGmRTbW9bGfHPfsGkXKEIL1a7SWIc_6lZ0QKxLryEAusA5W9oRfN5lGV5bD_xjKSkRphpiFAA55aJ6VfktTRS9dTb-Ojnim3lsY_U8T7k3QB25klg9ArJ8q5ITfA/s1600/ColumbiaBelow.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Below decks on the Columbia</i></td></tr>
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<li>I rode the sailing ship Columbia around the Rivers of America at Disneyland, and toured below the decks. Normally the Mark Twain steamboat is operating, but on one day the Columbia was running. The Columbia is a replica of a real ship called the Columbia, which is the first US ship to circumnavigate the globe. I've been on this once, actually, but I didn't realize at that time that there is a museum of sorts below deck, where you can see displays about what ship life was like on board a real ship like the Columbia.</li>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUGCZ6Ebn6OUQnR58glmHm4Nvj1Oa9JdRhrEYfqfXhS91ttG2wkjb_JnxBkSyDXn_QWK6HyRyNU2UkE5Xsq0r_GKt1Cz9bpStnh7nPo8JrjyXU54qbMUgSodZx9lkBYMNY7uuUtw/s1600/Columbia+From+Tom+Sawyer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUGCZ6Ebn6OUQnR58glmHm4Nvj1Oa9JdRhrEYfqfXhS91ttG2wkjb_JnxBkSyDXn_QWK6HyRyNU2UkE5Xsq0r_GKt1Cz9bpStnh7nPo8JrjyXU54qbMUgSodZx9lkBYMNY7uuUtw/s1600/Columbia+From+Tom+Sawyer.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The sailing ship Columbia, seen from Tom Sawyer's Island</i></td></tr>
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<li>I also crossed the rivers via raft to Pirate's Lair on Tom Sawyer Island. Now I'm not technically sure if I've been to Tom Sawyer's Island before or not. At some point when I was a kid, we went either to this one or to the similar one in the Magic Kingdom at Disney World, and I have no idea which. But I've never been back since I was an adult, and it's also been given a new pirate theme (to go with <i>Pirates of the Caribbean</i> franchise, of course) since then. It's pretty much just some trails, with caves, treehouses, and forts for kids to run around and play on. (This is another one where I think a 40-ish single man gets funny looks. Next time I'll have to pay some kids to go with me. Wait, that might sound wrong, too....) They have also added some pirate props, like treasure chests and talking skeletons locked away in cells in the caves. It is kind of cool, and I'm glad I saw it, but it's also surprisingly small.</li>
</ul>
TMWAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04664163604820340653noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15112881.post-59353971478956986522013-02-11T17:21:00.004-05:002013-02-11T17:21:59.625-05:00Flying Tires or SaucersFrom 1961 to 1966, Tomorrowland in Disneyland was home to the <a href="http://www.yesterland.com/saucers.html">Flying Saucers</a>. Each guest climbed on board a saucer (which was really a hovercraft), and for a few minutes, you were buoyed aloft on a cushion of air from below. The craft could (more or less) be steered by leaning. The ride was futuristic, but slow to load and unload, and prone to breakdowns. The tendency to break down contributed to the short life of the attraction. Given that it was only around for five years, you have to be at least a bit of a Disneyphile to know about the flying saucers. But now you only have to visit Disney California Adventure to experience them (more or less).<br />
<br />
Behold "Luigi's Flying Tires", in the Car's Land expansion at DCA, where the ride has been reborn:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOQ5SNZBZbjA0tA6098WrXB7afwiZBBxEa-zDMbN95rUg0cmy2W-kmik_Ap2nkwV2lw3XMTF94Qlc5MTjJCqWW7UBpX3D6WYRW2VkrfUcFaQ1CgIreBpRugiMqtPuJiAvQb1K64g/s1600/Luigi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOQ5SNZBZbjA0tA6098WrXB7afwiZBBxEa-zDMbN95rUg0cmy2W-kmik_Ap2nkwV2lw3XMTF94Qlc5MTjJCqWW7UBpX3D6WYRW2VkrfUcFaQ1CgIreBpRugiMqtPuJiAvQb1K64g/s1600/Luigi.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
I'm not sure if the breakdown issues have been resolved with new technology or not. The first time I visited (on my first morning in DCA), the attraction had just shut down. But when I went back on my third night, it was operating, and I got in line before dinner. These are a bit bigger than the original Flying Saucers; they seat about 2-3 per "tire". (By the way, what looks like a large rubber tire from a distance appears on closer inspection to be cloth. It's essentially the skirt of the hovercraft. There are numerous instructions and warning to step <i>over</i> the tire to get in and out, supposedly for your safety, but I suspect the "tires" could be damaged if you stepped on them.)<br />
<br />
I've recently been perusing the fascinating book <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Roller-Coasters-Flumes-Flying-Saucers/dp/0965735354">Roller Coasters, Flumes, and Flying Saucers</a></i>, about Arrow Development, the company which built (among other things) the original Flying Saucers for Disney. It notes that the idea of having each vehicle individually powered by its own motor (as a traditional hovercraft would) was abandoned for a very good reason: With so many gasoline engines operating all day long, you would risk a leak and a spark starting a fire, and the high velocity air would have created the same effect as a blowtorch, roasting everyone on the ride. I suppose these days electric engines might be possible, but the new system seems to still provide air from below. In the Flying Saucers, generating airflow from below raised a tricky problem, 'though, since it would have required far too much pressure to blow air up out of the entire platform at once. Arrow solved the original problem with a clever set of mechanical valves which remained closed unless they were pressurized from <i>above</i>, i.e., if one of the hovercraft were sitting on top of the valve, and the craft underside was currently pressurized. That way, only the valves beneath a vehicle were releasing air, continuing to keep it aloft. However, this still required <i>starting</i> the vehicles hovering. The solution was to pull all the vehicles into one small loading section, and lift the vehicles in just that section on an air cushion. Then the remaining valves could be started throughout the rest of the platform, and the vehicles could start. As a result of this complicated procedure, all the vehicles had to be corralled into the starting section (which was done via a mechanical arm), and if something went wrong, the system took a while to restart.<br />
<br />
Now <i>some</i> things have changed. The air holes in the concrete don't <i>appear </i>to have the same clever mechanical valves, although those could just hidden below the grates you <i>can</i> see. I do know from my visit that the new vehicles start and stop from anywhere, which does speed up the loading; there is no special starting area. I'm actually wondering if the problem was solved with some sort of electronic system. I'd probably try some sort of proximity sensor which opens up the airflow whenever a vehicle is with <i>x</i> feet of a given valve. But that's guessing; I have no idea how the new system works.<br />
<br />
The line was slow-moving. The problem of how to load and unload efficiently remains, even without having to move the vehicles into a special area. (I did see cast members help a guest with a disability board, and this <i>did</i> involve the cast members moving a vehicle over to a special loading ramp. It looked to me as if they were able to start up just <i>one</i> vehicle and move it over to the ramp, which would argue for my idea of an electronic system, but I could have been mistaken.)<br />
<br />
I'm not sure if there is a good way to speed up loading and unloading, although the new multi-guest cars probably help cut down wait times a little. I was actually running pretty close to my dinner reservation time, but I did get to make it on the attraction. And the ride is fun! I'm not sure what it is, but floating around on a hovercraft is actually pretty cool. I had an OK time with steering, too: I picked up some good speed (and a nice spin, which I was working on) without too much trouble. I suspect that in some ways I have an easier time steering since there's only one of me to coordinate leaning in one direction or another. But I think it's probably more fun with someone else anyway.<br />
<br />
I have to admit that I thought hovercraft were pretty cool ever since I was little. I remember seeing plans in the back of <i>Boy's Life</i> for a hovercraft that you could supposedly build from a vacuum cleaner engine, and I thought that was awesome. (There were also of course ads for x-ray specs, Charles Atlas' seven day exercise plan, 8' weather balloons, and magnets that were supposed to lift 250 pounds.) I thought the idea of floating around, <i>hovering</i>, on a cushion of air was amazing. So I guess in a way, riding the Flying Sau—oops! I mean <i>Tires,</i> Flying Tires, was sort of fulfillment of a childhood dream. And isn't that pretty much what a trip to Disneyland is all about?<br />
<br />TMWAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04664163604820340653noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15112881.post-88842519252231067132013-02-10T12:24:00.003-05:002013-02-10T12:24:47.027-05:00Jedi TrainingMonday was my last full day at Disneyland, and I wandered around a bit looking for a good option for lunch. Over at Tomorrowland Terrace, I found a salad with grilled chicken on the menu, and figured that would be fine. When I got to the front of the line, my order somehow morphed into a bacon barbecue burger with a side of fries. (Oh well: It was vacation. I actually didn't finish the bun, but I did scarf down all the fries, which seemed unusually wonderful at the time.)<div>
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Although the outdoor dining area was pretty full, I did manage a seat, and I had a good view when the entertainment started up. The Jedi Training Academy was running.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2XvgpwyZpQsn5pRoxYFBGbIEZaY8JHFQQOEZRqW1Yox3mDnauJkx5_iHwT3U8rygHbIYvo4F-QhyphenhyphenDCGklXwDj9hku7vCHvbiL4IdgnMDfGJY5W-yVCoa6Ga5w03lK96TGKBp86Q/s1600/Jedi-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2XvgpwyZpQsn5pRoxYFBGbIEZaY8JHFQQOEZRqW1Yox3mDnauJkx5_iHwT3U8rygHbIYvo4F-QhyphenhyphenDCGklXwDj9hku7vCHvbiL4IdgnMDfGJY5W-yVCoa6Ga5w03lK96TGKBp86Q/s1600/Jedi-1.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Jedi in training</i></td></tr>
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<div>
Two Jedi masters appeared on stage and started recruiting children for light saber training. (Boy, those Jedi must have had a long trip from that far away galaxy. And I complained about the trip from Pennsylvania.) The kids are given plastic light sabers and trained in a series of moves: strike to the left arm, strike to the right arm, etc. The lead Jedi asks: "Do you know what happens when you cut off your opponent's arms? You <i>disarm </i>him!" (Pause) (Jedi wave) "You will all find my jokes funny..."</div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
After a while of practicing this light saber kata, there is a disturbance in the force. Suddenly, Darth Vader rises up from the stage, accompanied by storm troopers, shortly to be joined by Darth Maul.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifvAUQCHXUMr_hrajTPKhITAr6QMrJ4U5Xgh5d1JzjJ3E32akGlLa0ayOSg55coE-Z4jNdCF-_mzEBpbggavXTNceOV4mMMDA_c79pa2CGl-40O6Rx27rywa3uaYMrp9RrxYW-Pg/s1600/Vader.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifvAUQCHXUMr_hrajTPKhITAr6QMrJ4U5Xgh5d1JzjJ3E32akGlLa0ayOSg55coE-Z4jNdCF-_mzEBpbggavXTNceOV4mMMDA_c79pa2CGl-40O6Rx27rywa3uaYMrp9RrxYW-Pg/s1600/Vader.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Oh no—Vader!</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
Vader is there to lure the new Jedi to the Dark Side. Not to worry, 'though; the Jedi assure the kids that if they remember their training, they can defeat Lord Vader. So the kids line up and take turns either attacking Vader or Maul, running through the routine, with the encouragement of their Jedi teachers. <i>Left! Right! Duck!</i> (The "duck" was particularly fun, since the kids usually forgot that was part of the routine. The bad guy swipes at the younglings at this point, and the adults all notice that the Sith Lord's light saber is passing over the head of the <i>adult</i> standing next to them, but I'm sure many of the kids think they have just barely evaded the strike.) At one point, the storm troopers rush forward, and the student is told to use a "force push", which miraculously sends the troopers flying backwards. (I just know the kid is still wondering how she did that....) </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
At the end, we hear a word from Yoda (voice-over only), Vader and Maul are sent away defeated, and the galaxy is safe once again. The whole thing is surprisingly entertaining to watch, even if you're neither a kid nor a parent of one. And of course plastic light sabers are available in the gift shop.</div>
TMWAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04664163604820340653noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15112881.post-35972114233623696932013-01-31T17:23:00.001-05:002013-02-01T14:32:46.036-05:00Big Thunder Rolls to a Stop, and the Legend of the Last FastPass<i>"Hang onto your hats and glasses, folks, cause this here's the wildest ride in the wilderness!"</i> And with that announcement, your little mining train glides around a bend into a cavern, swerving past the glowing eyes of bats, rattling up a lift hill past stunning scenes of stalactites and iridescent pools, then diving under a glowing, flickering waterfall to begin a wild race around the tracks of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad at Disneyland. Set in a landscape reminiscent of Bryce Canyon, Big Thunder replaced the more sedate Mine Train Through Nature's Wonderland in 1979. It's supposedly tame as roller coaster's go, but it kept me on the edge of my seat as a boy, and it took a while to warm up to it as an adult. But on my last trip, back in 2010, I found myself really loving it. Once I got used to the motion (and decided it really <i>wasn't</i> just a trick to lure me into a false sense of security and then kill me), I found myself really digging the ride, the excitement, and the scenery. I was coming back to Big Thunder again and again, checking out the differences in riding in the daytime and at night. (Supposedly, in addition to the difference in the view, the trains move faster as the rails warm up through use during the day. I'm not sure how true this is, but you could certainly <i>believe</i> that the trains move faster at night.)<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIMajM1v0pF0UixzclNfAny22wKr5d7S1vJEeXSFwYCADEs-XznFusG2wHATIBcxfEDb9jIzOukFzbeUbcRAJOoIzSniK3B4O7grSd5j3P1-cwDiiETiL-DxH9crDMNkqHA0D9-w/s1600/BigThunder1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIMajM1v0pF0UixzclNfAny22wKr5d7S1vJEeXSFwYCADEs-XznFusG2wHATIBcxfEDb9jIzOukFzbeUbcRAJOoIzSniK3B4O7grSd5j3P1-cwDiiETiL-DxH9crDMNkqHA0D9-w/s1600/BigThunder1.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>"This here's the wildest ride in the wilderness..."</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
There could have been good arguments for making the Disneyland trip <i>after</i> visiting the Joint Meetings this year instead of before. In particular, the parks would have been less crowded. (Things were still pretty heavy on 1/3–1/8 while I was there.) But I also would have missed out on some things: Park hours would be reduced, and Christmas decorations would be coming down, including the Haunted Mansion closing to remove the holiday overlay. And perhaps worst of all, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad was scheduled to shut down for a roughly ten-month refurbishment on January 6.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkI9p9IUz3o3HB3dgnVOUkBNe_pUDjRXuiJjB9aqjdqfpX-dAhWUzts_jOqZDKSPD6oud8RMNoBdtp1niLktbWEVxGjd9DUVwoHUmNdN_7Qa_PcBjZbrIJEVNMFVytazsFlWdVNw/s1600/FastPass.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkI9p9IUz3o3HB3dgnVOUkBNe_pUDjRXuiJjB9aqjdqfpX-dAhWUzts_jOqZDKSPD6oud8RMNoBdtp1niLktbWEVxGjd9DUVwoHUmNdN_7Qa_PcBjZbrIJEVNMFVytazsFlWdVNw/s1600/FastPass.png" height="320" width="195" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>I am actually absurdly pleased to<br />possess this object.</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Big Thunder was my first stop on this visit, and while it couldn't be my <i>last</i>, it <i>would</i> be the last thing I'd get on the night of January 6, when it was going down. This was where I headed after finishing up my dinner and World of Color at California Adventure: to say farewells and ride a few last times on Big Thunder.<br />
<br />
I got to visit a few times that evening. As I stood in line amongst the narrow rockwork canyons, I felt the rocks and posts, drinking it in, and willing myself to be a part of this in the same way it was a part of me. I also grabbed a last FastPass valid after 10:30. (The park was closing at 11.) I figured it would be packed with people like me, wanting to get in a last ride at the end of the night before it went down, but surprisingly when I went back, there weren't many people in line. No one actually bothered with the FastPass line much, and no one actually collected my ticket. So as a result, I have a cool souvenir: One of the last FastPasses for Big Thunder before it shut down until the end of October. <br />
<br />
The next day, not only was the mine train itself down, but the sidewalk past it (which wraps around into the back of Fantasyland) was also closed off. (This made navigating the park just a bit harder, especially since they do seem to like to have shows in front of the Castle, which partially blocks off a second route from Fantasyland to Frontierland.)</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdYvOsWDmYpamILm78gAPAjky1U2hT6M9KTIUix5hglC_NxhW1DQpsj3fG20dvznYS4Wfm7ZHGZ4y2uYzt2DlQf6f0z4oPy-OuwnxX4UlVXBkhPWG4-2KDVRP9WDbveBfxHoEVBA/s1600/Closed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdYvOsWDmYpamILm78gAPAjky1U2hT6M9KTIUix5hglC_NxhW1DQpsj3fG20dvznYS4Wfm7ZHGZ4y2uYzt2DlQf6f0z4oPy-OuwnxX4UlVXBkhPWG4-2KDVRP9WDbveBfxHoEVBA/s1600/Closed.jpg" height="400" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Farewell Big Thunder. Until you open again.</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
I'll look forward to seeing the new and improved Big Thunder the next time I manage to make it out to California. Until then, my first loved coaster lives in me.</div>
TMWAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04664163604820340653noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15112881.post-16734197292372089182013-01-29T18:32:00.001-05:002013-01-29T18:32:17.329-05:00Carthay Circle Restaurant and World of ColorOn my third night, I had reservations for dinner at the <a href="http://disneyland.disney.go.com/disneys-california-adventure/carthay-circle-restaurant/">Carthay Circle restaurant</a> in California Adventure. This new upscale restaurant is actually in the theme park, housed in replica of the Carthay Circle Theater in Los Angeles, the site of the December 21, 1937 premiere of <i>Snow White and the Seven Dwarves</i>. (I neglected to get a good exterior shot of the building, but there is a lovely one at the link above.) The restaurant appears at the end of Buena Vista Street, and caps off the themed entryway. I figured I'd better go check it out, while it's still a serious restaurant and before Disney decides to convert it to a Princess dining opportunity, where you can meet characters and eat hot dogs with french fries. (When California Adventure first opened, there was a lovely restaurant run by Wolfgang Puck. It's now a chance for kids to eat with Ariel the mermaid instead. Also, one of my favorite restaurants in EPCOT, the Akershus in Norway, converted to princess dining a number of years ago. As you can tell, this doesn't bother me a bit.)<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7EnMRm_C1tlqaqGB_C2rvHyzCjJKZTu3ImcUyuv3l_b0lYEHCLN4E6QXUNcA403ZF3eMJ1U5SKCCS_XLlYL9uWOZeXKHTHe6FghH-K9zan22J_M4PF_mxzQBRusYklRxv3BYwTQ/s1600/IMG_2284.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7EnMRm_C1tlqaqGB_C2rvHyzCjJKZTu3ImcUyuv3l_b0lYEHCLN4E6QXUNcA403ZF3eMJ1U5SKCCS_XLlYL9uWOZeXKHTHe6FghH-K9zan22J_M4PF_mxzQBRusYklRxv3BYwTQ/s1600/IMG_2284.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Just behind my table: There is a mural commemorating the movie</i><br />
Snow White<i> in the central cap on the second floor.</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I headed in at six, waited a bit in a beautifully finished lounge, then was brought upstairs to my table. I got started in earnest, with a Hemingway Daiquiri and firecracker duck wings. (The duck wings were really magnificent: hot, dark, sticky, and wonderful. The chef had chosen to highlight various California ethnic influences, and these were inspired by Chinese cuisine, featuring soy and sriracha sauce.) Then lamb for the main dish with a glass of wine (selected with the waiter's help), and of course dessert, which ended up being another wonderful chocolate and peanut butter creation. (I do have a tendency here...)<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqzqaNnQdQ64E4aP4PZjTmDygama7r_YlpPpTF0fqY4FtMgHpDfjyGZD-l6cRM72FdIBcIRwEajiI4LlkJYXFR-yOSP5UcIBPqwdypuZVrIvQx88iaVfLxPpJZ9ON9n5Aob_Carw/s1600/IMG_2288.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqzqaNnQdQ64E4aP4PZjTmDygama7r_YlpPpTF0fqY4FtMgHpDfjyGZD-l6cRM72FdIBcIRwEajiI4LlkJYXFR-yOSP5UcIBPqwdypuZVrIvQx88iaVfLxPpJZ9ON9n5Aob_Carw/s1600/IMG_2288.jpg" height="444" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Waiting for </i>World of Color<i> to begin from a prime viewing location. Although Paradise Pier has never<br />been a favorite part of the park for me for rides, I do love the lights and colors at night.</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Dinner at Carthay Circle also includes reserved prime viewing for the nightly World of Color light and water show at California Adventure (if you order at least two courses), so I headed down to the lagoon to watch the show after dinner. It's a pretty cool show (I'd seen video online before, but it's pretty impressive in person). It features a mixture of timed lights, music, fountains, fire, and animated scenes projected in high quality on huge water screens. Very impressive. This show also added some holiday elements to the regular show, including an initial appearance of the Prep and Landing elves. It made a beautiful end to the evening. (Or at least it would have, if I didn't have plans to head across to Disneyland and see a few more things before I turned in for the night.)<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
As I headed out in the crowds, I looked out over the lagoon towards Paradise Pier on the right, Pacific Wharf on the left segueing into Cars Land (beautifully lit up at night), and thought that DCA really does finally feel<i> </i>like a full theme park now, a worthy mate to the park it sits next to.TMWAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04664163604820340653noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15112881.post-60551274082019241142013-01-25T16:23:00.002-05:002013-01-25T16:23:21.876-05:00Space MountainShould I try it or not?<br />
<br />
Back when I was about 10 or so, I went to Disneyland with my parents. I have a lot of good memories from my Disney trips from those days, but the roller-coasters were kind of scary for me. I do remember riding Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (a runaway mine train style ride) a few times, and being torn about whether to repeat the experience at any given time. It was kind of fun, but also kind of scary. (Yes, I've already copped to being a wimp.) I think I went on the Matterhorn as well, although I more clearly remember being on a knock-off of sorts called the Alpine Sleigh Ride at Astroworld in Houston. But Space Mountain was the "big" coaster for Disneyland: An indoor roller-coaster in the dark, with stars and asteroids projected to create an outer-space theme. It was also one of the most popular rides.<br />
<br />
Should I go?<br />
<br />
When I was on that trip at a young age, I did try Space Mountain. I can't remember much of the ride, but I can remember clinging for dear life to the lap bar and any part of the car I could get my hands on, being whipped around, certain I was going to be flung to my doom at any moment. I was crouched in the seat so that mostly what I saw wasn't stars or asteroids, but my own shoe. (It was an interesting shoe.) After riding once, I knew <i>that</i> was a ride (unlike Big Thunder) on which I was <i>sure</i> I did not want to ride again. And I avoided it ever since.<br />
<br />
Should I get on it anyway?<br />
<br />
Up into my adult life, I've mostly steered away from anything that would count as a "thrill" ride. And Disney parks do have lots of stuff to do for those of us who are what is technically known as "ultra-wimpy," although they have been steering towards having more thrills over the years. I remember going with my partner on a driving simulator called Test Track at EPCOT (which was the precursor to the Radiator Springs Racers I <a href="http://tallmanwise.blogspot.com/2013/01/on-to-california-adventure.html">talked about previously</a>). While not up to par with a roller-coaster of any sort, it did feature some high speeds and simulating "skidding" which kind of panicked me. My partner has a picture of me in the car; I think you can tell that I have a death grip on the bar in front of me. The only thing I could think on seeing the picture was "<i>How can he be calm enough to take a picture?!?"</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
It is just <i>right over there</i>. It would be over pretty quickly, too.<br />
<br />
But over the years, I seem to have mellowed. I did manage to ride a <i>few</i> thrill rides, and about three years ago, I finally found myself absolutely <i>loving</i> Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, although it took some time to get used to, and the Matterhorn. Plus the already mentioned racers in Cars Land, and the Indiana Jones adventure, in which you careen at high speeds on a jeep through the ruins of a temple. But three years ago, even 'though I was enjoying all of these things, I didn't manage to work up the nerve to try Space Mountain again. I knew that one was worse.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtU_Yv5dGK7_NIn9BP3x1g5rWqe7XNVJLTuggMHfBkYNQnK7mq5v_OUJrOeSIL1c7vKVLGagktT1lX46Wv2Q0h4JYGTS7xdWkm-KpSeEsPAx0s_gD9euaUuZvIwnhQiz4dn3zzvA/s1600/UpClose.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtU_Yv5dGK7_NIn9BP3x1g5rWqe7XNVJLTuggMHfBkYNQnK7mq5v_OUJrOeSIL1c7vKVLGagktT1lX46Wv2Q0h4JYGTS7xdWkm-KpSeEsPAx0s_gD9euaUuZvIwnhQiz4dn3zzvA/s1600/UpClose.jpg" height="388" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Spoiler Alert: The fact that I was able to take this picture means that I was in line.</i></td></tr>
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But here I am again, and I've been thinking about it again. Should I try it? It's the end of my second night, and I've seen the fireworks and had my cookie and hot chocolate, and I keep going back to these exhilarating high speed rides that I never thought I'd like, as if I'm psyching myself up for the big one. I circle back a few times to Space Mountain. There it is. Should I do it? I obviously don't <i>have</i> to do this, but I think maybe I <i>should</i>. The wait time says 45 minutes, and the park closes in 30, which means it would be the last ride of the night. No chance to go back through "It's a Small World" a few times to calm my nerves. <br />
<br />
What the heck, I'm going in.<br />
<br />
I'm wending my way through the line, a little worried. There's a lengthy exterior line, which finally leads to an entrance to the main building. I overhear two young men behind me:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
First: "It's pretty long on the inside, too, if I remember."<br />
Second: "That's what she said."</blockquote>
I about fall over, and make a mental note that the gentleman has just made the all-time <i>best</i> unprepared use of that line.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtOiQ2Mp3CDWkTsDri_VDqQVSNT3Ol7FsoRAEbKFZFGdGbnNHUzB18sigbLjhebBg1vAKtMC14N9K7q_VP2T8viD5c9aDAsZN16m33_ZiAKqlZNto5x5qCj9xJo38mVQK6T367DA/s1600/Interior.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtOiQ2Mp3CDWkTsDri_VDqQVSNT3Ol7FsoRAEbKFZFGdGbnNHUzB18sigbLjhebBg1vAKtMC14N9K7q_VP2T8viD5c9aDAsZN16m33_ZiAKqlZNto5x5qCj9xJo38mVQK6T367DA/s1600/Interior.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Almost time.</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Finally, I'm in the loading area, then boarding a rocket and sliding down the lap bar. (Is there still time to go crazy like Marge Simpson on a plane, and start jumping up and down yelling "Let me out! Let me out! Let me out!"?) And here we go, turning a corner amidst flashing lights, climbing a lift hill, then into a star field in the darkness, a soundtrack welling up around me. I'm tensed at this point for the sudden acceleration, but we turn around and start another lift, hearing a countdown from ten begin. Finally: "...3...2...1!" And we're off! I'm tensed, but after a few moments, I start to relax. This is not too bad; I feel the acceleration as we round turns, climb, and dive. I hear a driving soundtrack swelling up from the speakers behind my back in time to the motion, and I feel the rush of wind through my hair as I seemingly rush through an inky blackness studded with projected stars. I can <i>sort of</i> tell that there are tracks and girders around by the way the "stars" show up, but I can't reliably even make out the people in front of me. I feel myself grooving with the motion, and finally (before long), we whip around another corner into blinding strobes, and lights which give me the strangely disorienting feel that I'm suddenly moving backward... and the rockets glide back into the launch bay, ready to unload us and pick up the next round of passengers.<br />
<br />
That wasn't bad. That was fun! And kind of exhilarating. And oddly, it bothered me a lot <i>less</i> than a lot of rides that I think are actually a lot milder. (At some point later, it occurred to me that I would have been a lot more terrified if I could have seen what was going on. As it was, it was just rushing wind, a feeling of acceleration, a soundtrack, and mostly darkness.)<br />
<br />
And since Disney does like to take pictures to try to sell (remember the sudden flashing strobes at the end?), I have some evidence that I survived my first flight, and that I seem to have enjoyed it:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg90CdDrKe6JHjQ8MGf2AUV7EgLwdsjEqT8lRvvlLwcqxScXY6yHGKsqOEJsRNMkKMByKNflcbr2HbR_L02oqznDtnN7qFqGQZHzUtqAqrPGMZaF2VjEnAWDABDB4X2kSwdbT5pzw/s1600/First.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg90CdDrKe6JHjQ8MGf2AUV7EgLwdsjEqT8lRvvlLwcqxScXY6yHGKsqOEJsRNMkKMByKNflcbr2HbR_L02oqznDtnN7qFqGQZHzUtqAqrPGMZaF2VjEnAWDABDB4X2kSwdbT5pzw/s1600/First.jpg" height="320" width="244" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>I'm in the back. It's a picture of a picture, so<br />the quality is a little lacking.</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I went back, too. (A total of ten times in this trip in fact.) All the pictures of me look about the same: slightly awestruck, but happy.<br />
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TMWAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04664163604820340653noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15112881.post-89840908882035849522013-01-24T16:22:00.000-05:002013-01-24T16:23:16.796-05:00Christmas, Cocoa, and Cookies (Disney Style)After spending my second afternoon at Disneyland, I took the monorail back out to Downtown Disney and had dinner at <a href="http://www.patinagroup.com/restaurant.php?restaurants_id=52">Catal</a>, a Mediterranean restaurant I'm rather fond of. It's nice to be able to relax a bit and enjoy a nice meal and a drink while I'm out visiting the parks. (And the next two nights were only going to be upping the ante on this.) I let myself indulge in foods I don't normally eat anymore, including some lovely bread, sangria, and even a yummy chocolate/peanut-butter dessert. But that wasn't going to be it; I had <i>plans</i> for the night.<br />
<br />
I headed back into the park (which, with all the lights and holiday decor, is even <i>more</i> lovely after a glass of wine) and enjoyed sampling my way through a number of my favorite attractions. (At one point, I also rode through the Snow White dark ride with a group of three other people who I think were about mid-twenties. One woman in the group asked if she could sit with me, and I said "sure", so they piled in. She said the two of us were up front, which "is obviously the best place." I deadpanned, "Yeah, but the witch might get us." Sometimes you can make weird connections with total strangers while on a Disney vacation.)<br />
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But as it came up towards the nightly fireworks display, it was time to start rolling out my plans for celebrating Christmas right. I hadn't indulged too much in holiday treats before I'd come, but I knew that Christmas celebrations would still be in full swing at the resort, and I planned to enjoy some cookies, gingerbread, hot chocolate, and eggnog while I was there, if I could find them. The last time I visited, I also discovered a wonderful idea: It may be worth standing out on Main Street to watch the fireworks display one night so you can get a good view (like I did the previous night), but<i> </i>it's not very comfortable to stand there and watch. If you go back on a <i>later</i> night and sit yourself somewhere out of the main line of sight, you can see<i> </i>and hear <i>most</i> of the show, while parked at table at a closed cafe or someplace similar, and munch on some lovely dessert at the same time. So this time it was going to be Christmas treats, and particularly <i>gingerbread, </i>which I knew they had. I headed out to a bakery on Main Street about 45 minutes before the fireworks, and eventually ordered a gingerbread cookie, an iced snowman shortbread cookie (on a whim), and a cup of hot cocoa. Everything was eventually wrapped up and passed to me, and worked my way out into Frontierland (feeling a bit like a salmon as I fought my way through a heavy crowd moving the other direction) and eventually found myself a table just as the Christmas-themed fireworks were starting. I was just thinking, "How perfect is this?" as I unwrapped my cookies, and discovered the bakery gave me a Mickey Mouse cookie instead of a gingerbread cookie. (Or maybe it was gingerbread also<i>. </i>I did see online that someone was claiming there was a Mickey Mouse gingerbread cookie which was coated in chocolate, and that the chocolate helped offset the strong taste of the gingerbread. But the point was I <i>wanted</i> the cookie to taste like gingerbread and not have the taste "offset.") I tried the impostor cookie, but it didn't taste like anything I cared for, so I abandoned it and ate the shortbread cookie, drank the cocoa, and watched the fireworks. (Which left plenty of time for some additional attraction visits before the park closed at midnight, but that's another story.)<br />
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But at the end of all this, I still didn't have my gingerbread. I tried going back around to the various bakeries on Main Street the next night, and none of them seemed to have any. And I thought, <i>"</i>Dammit, I <i>am</i> getting gingerbread!", so I tried once more <i>two </i>days later, earlier in the day, and finally found some. And when I ordered it, I actually got it! Hurray! So I still had my Disney Christmas, although a bit more spaced out. (Although I never could find anyplace that had eggnog, weirdly enough. I figured they must have that too, but no such luck.)<br />
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<br />TMWAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04664163604820340653noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15112881.post-32803640089378338602013-01-22T17:01:00.000-05:002013-01-22T17:01:50.403-05:00Star ToursBack in 1987, Disney opened a flight simulator based ride set in the <i>Star Wars</i> universe, in a collaboration with George Lucas. The attraction was called Star Tours, and featured what was supposed to be an uneventful shuttle tour flight to the Endor moon, piloted by a new 'droid. Of course, 'something goes wrong', and we end up on a high-speed, turbulent voyage which includes a close encounter with the Imperial forces and a bombing raid on the Death Star. <br />
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For those who have not been on the ride, it's a small theater (maybe 30-40 people) built in an industrial flight simulator, so the room you are in actually <i>moves</i>. (You have to seatbelt yourself in before it starts.) The front "window" of the shuttle is actually a movie screen, and there is an animatronic (robotic) "pilot" sitting in front of the viewscreen. Of course, the motion of the room is synced with the film, so that it feels like you are really flying, swerving, dodging, and (occasionally) falling. When it opened, the argument was made that it would be fairly easy to update to new adventures, since shooting a new film and programming new motion was a considerably smaller investment than building a whole new ride, but it remained unchanged until 2011.<br />
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In 2011 it got a major facelift. (Some spoilers follow, if you're planning on riding it yourself.) The film you view is a new adventure, set between the three Star Wars prequels and the last three movies. The adventure is randomized now: there are several different opening segments, some different middle segments, and some different end segments which can be pasted together at random, so that each ride will be different, and various characters from the Star Wars universe make different appearances. (In fact, your pilot is now the well-known C3PO, although he wasn't really supposed to be piloting, according to the plot. Yes, we have another Something Goes Wrong story, which is a pretty standard trope for Disney adventures anymore. But it's still fun.) And the film itself is also now shot in 3D, so the virtual reality element of this is really stepped up: You have a 3D visual representation of the view screen synced with the motion of the simulator.<br />
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Like Radiator Springs Racers, this is still considered a hot new attraction, and so the lines tended to be long. Unlike the racers, there was no single rider line (that I could find), so I picked up a FastPass before I left for an afternoon nap. When I got back refreshed, I checked it out. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Entering the Star Tours queue: This isn't the attraction you're looking for.</i></td></tr>
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The queue has been upgraded somewhat itself, with a few new robot characters and dialog, plus a translucent panel at the end of one corridor which shows the shadows of various 'droids, aliens, Jedi, and others walking past in another (fictional) corridor. (I almost choked laughing when I noticed the outline of Jar Jar Binks frozen in carbonite being pushed past. Someone has a sense of humor.)<br />
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The ride itself is pretty awesome. I'm not sure how much the 3D effects add most of the time, but occasionally it's pretty nifty. The basic gist of the ride involves the Empire trying to capture a rebel spy supposedly on the shuttle. (In a clever twist, we are shown a picture of one of the guests <i>actually</i> on the shuttle at that point, which gets a rise out of them and their friends, and tends to get some laughter from the auidence. The gift shop at the exit of the ride also sells "I am the rebel spy" t-shirts.) Motion simulator and 3D hijinks ensue, and eventually you make it safely to some rebel haven and disembark.<br />
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I went back several times during my stay, because it really is pretty cool. I saw several different middle and ending segments, but always got the same starting segment, which featured Darth Vader trying to stop the shuttle from departing. Overall the ride is a lot of fun. The 3D effect is neat, the "rebel spy" story line is fun, and the whole experience is just fun. And hopefully the random selection of different segments for each adventure will help keep the ride fresh even if it doesn't get updated for another quarter century. (But given that Disney now owns the Star Wars franchise and will make more movies, I bet updates will be coming.)TMWAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04664163604820340653noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15112881.post-61978756004208382052013-01-20T11:06:00.001-05:002013-01-20T21:13:49.052-05:00On to California AdventureOn my second day, I opted to start across the esplanade at Disneland Resort's second gate, Disney California Adventure. Now when last I'd been to California Adventure, the park was undergoing major renovation, which finished this summer. An entire new land based on the movie <i>Cars</i> was added, a major renovation to the entry area was completed, and a dark ride based on the movie <i>The Little Mermaid </i>opened. Plus the major nighttime water and light spectacle <i>World of Color</i>. I hadn't seen any of this completed yet, so I was excited to check things out.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Oswald's gas station on Buena Vista Street. <br />(Does everyone know who Oswald the Lucky Rabbit was?)</i></td></tr>
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Now I actually <i>liked</i> the old entrance, with the colorful (and cheesy) tile murals, the Golden Gate bridge, and the giant "California" letters out front, and I admit I was a little sad to see it go. But I also have to admit that the new entry land (Buena Vista Street) is in fact better. It's beautiful, it feels intimate and detailed, and it does feel that you've entered a specific time and place. It does indeed have some of the vibe of Disneyland's Main Street. I'm impressed.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>More of Buena Vista Street, still decorated for Christmas.</i></td></tr>
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I headed back to the new Cars Land section of the park, themed to Radiator Springs from the movie <i>Cars</i>. The land is also spectacularly themed, with Ornament Valley in the background (which I could see the back of from my hotel), but I'm headed straight for the new E-ticket ride that's built into that scenic backdrop: The Radiator Springs Racers.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Yes, it's spectacular, and you get to ride through it.</i></td></tr>
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The line is already at 90 minutes when I arrive in the morning, and all FastPasses are already gone (again). But there is a single rider line, which promises to be much shorter, so I head on in. It's still a noticeable wait (probably about 30 minutes or so), but the queue is really pretty lovely too. And I notice that Disney doesn't miss a trick these days: There are now people with drinks and snacks for sale sent up and down the line as you wait.<br />
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That's all well and good, but eventually I get to the front of the line and get loaded into a car. Your trip starts on a winding road through a beautiful, winding road through a southwestern desert, past a scenic waterfall and into a tunnel which leads into the main show building. Here, you start meeting other characters from <i>Cars</i>, and the animatronics are <i>great</i>. (Of course, it helps that all the characters are, well, <i>cars</i>, and therefore supposed to look like objects rather than people or animals. But the characters are very well done.) <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Time to race! (And there's Cadillac Range in the background, which means my hotel was<br />just behind there. Not that you can tell from here.)</i></td></tr>
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After a brief tour of Radiator Springs (and an adventure in tractor tipping with Mater), you're ready for a race with another car of guests. You whip around a race course at high speed, and one car is declared the winner. (Randomly assigned, but on my first trip, my car won.) And based on the picture below (which of course Disney tries to sell you a print of), I seem to have had a pretty good time:<br />
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It's no wonder the ride is popular; it's pretty much a perfect Disney attraction. There are wonderful, lavish, immersive sets and backgrounds, well-done characters, and a little bit of a thrill (but not too much). And the outdoor setting of Ornament Valley is absolutely stunning. Now unfortunately, the thrills may actually be a bit of a problem for some. I know that at one point, the thrills of the racing segment would have been a bit much for me, and are still too intense for some people to feel comfortable riding. That's a shame, because there is a lot of magnificent scenery, characters, and story to see. (But if you are among those who will skip the ride, someone has helpfully posted <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ktjTqo-ONc">a full video</a> on YouTube.)<br />
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I ended up going back for a second trip through the single rider line (the attraction really is that good), and found out (by chance) how they load and unload people with physical disabilities. There's a separate bay off behind the main loading area in which a single car can be "parked". People who need to transfer from a wheelchair or something similar can do so at this vehicle, and leave the chair to wait for them. Then when everyone is loaded, the car can be slid back into line and it takes off with the rest, but comes back to the separate loading bay in the end. I got assigned to one of these cars on my second time through the single rider line, so I got to watch the process. <br />
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And it turned out to be handy that I <i>did</i> end up in one of those pulled-aside cars. When I was getting out, I seemed to have a problem with my seatbelt getting caught on my camera strap for some reason. I finally freed it, and got out, heading for the exit and looking for my clip-on sunglasses. Where the heck were they? Oh, right, I think I had them attached to ... my... camera strap... oh, I think I know what the seatbelt was caught on. So I turned around, went back up the exit, and told the young lady working there that I thought I may have dropped my sunglasses. They weren't anywhere visible, and I said "Probably in the car," with a disappointed shrug. She told me I could wait there for the car to come back (in less than five minutes) and check then. And lo and behold, when the car came back, there were the sunglasses sitting in the seat. (I don't think this would have been as easy if I'd been in the main line where most of the cars ran through.) So my sunglasses rode the racers <i>one more time</i> than I did on this trip.<br />
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I also hit the single rider line for the hang-glider simulator <i>Soarin' over California, </i>which is among my favorite attractions because as you "glide" over the filmed landscape, you can really get the sense of flying. It's as close as I can get outside of my dreams. (By the way, I seem to have less ability to fly in my dreams these days. I used to be able to soar, but these days when I realize I'm dreaming and try to fly, usually the best I can do is to hover about six inches off the ground. And no, I don't want to talk about Freud's theories about flying dreams.)<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Work for (very talented) percussionists at California Adventure.</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>"Aren't you a little old to be...?"<br />"Yes. Yes, I am."</i></td></tr>
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To finish up the morning, I saw street show featuring Phineas and Ferb, another street show featuring a percussionist trio of "street cleaners", tried the new <i>Little Mermaid</i> themed dark ride (very nice, with great effects; <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKipgkOdYIc">video ride-through</a> is available on YouTube). This one is <i>not</i> a problem for those who are avoiding thrill rides.<br />
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I also opted to try out the <i>Golden Zephyr</i>, which is basically a "spin you around up high" amusement park type ride on Paradise Pier (<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LP0EATo53A">video</a> on YouTube). Given my increased ability to handle wild rides like the Matterhorn and Big Thunder Mountain, I thought this would be OK, since it looked a little milder, but this turned out to be a little rougher on me than I thought. Maybe the spinning was too much, but I had to give up and shut my eyes when it got a little higher. And then be very grateful when it was finally over and could get back on terra firma. (Of course, the average six year old probably thinks the ride is boring.)<br />
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Having hit most of my "must sees" (and a few incidentals) at California Adventure, I decided to cross the Disneyland to pick up lunch and grab a FastPass for the revamped <i>Star Tours</i> attraction, then head back to the hotel for an afternoon nap. (I'd been up early, and I planned to stay late today.) And for lunch, I opted to try the much vaunted corn dog from a cart on Main Street in Disneyland. (Lots of people rave about how awesome these hand-dipped corn dogs are.) I can say I've tried it, and I can say that it was reasonably good, but I don't really get the excitement. Of course, I had about the same reaction when I tried the (supposedly) legendary Dole Whip (a frozen ice-cream-like treat): fairly good, but not exceptional or worth worrying about repeating. I guess I'm a heretic on some Disney food items.<br />
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But I do have to say I think the work done in the last few years on California Adventure has been exceptional. It really does feel like a full theme park now. Unfortunately, that means it's also drawing crowds like Disneyland does. Five years ago when I felt like Disneyland was too crowded, I could slip across the way to visit a few attractions in DCA, but this year they both feel pretty crowded all the time. Obviously that's good for Disney, and I'm glad to have the improvements, but I guess I'll kind of miss having a quieter place nearby. <br />
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<br />TMWAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04664163604820340653noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15112881.post-24554984118083795322013-01-19T10:50:00.003-05:002013-01-19T10:50:55.225-05:00The Captain's BackThe 3D (sorry <i>4D</i>) movie <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_EO">Captain Eo</a></i> is back at Disneyland, and I knew I wanted to go see this again while I was out there. I remember seeing <i>Captain Eo</i>, the 3D and special effects movie starring Michael Jackson, produced by George Lucas, and directed by Francis Ford Coppola, out at EPCOT in future world. It was a pretty groovy little 80s Sci-fi mini-movie, with a somewhat contrived plot about a spaceship captain (Michael Jackson) and his ragtag band of misfits on a mission to defeat evil with the power of music. (Well, you knew there had to be a way to get an extensive music video in there <i>somehow</i>.)<br />
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The show was shot in 3D using polarized glasses, and included in-theater special effects (like smoke and lasers). It was replaced eventually with a movie (<i>Honey, I Shrunk the Audience</i>) themed on the movie <i>Honey, I Shrunk the Kids</i>. At that time, the theater was upgraded with even more special effects, including water sprays and a floor which could actually move under the seats. Well in 2010, Disney returned <i>Captain Eo</i> to the theater for a "limited engagement" which is still going on.<br />
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I went because it's a great little piece of nostalgia for me, and I really can't see this anywhere else. (Oddly enough, there was a video of it on YouTube, but of course there are no 3D effects. It's just not the same unless it's in a theater.) It was fun to see this again, and I'm glad I got to. I'm hoping Disney realizes that there is a demand for some returns of old nostalgic attractions, at least for a while, when it's possible.<br />
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That said, I had heard that the integration of the new theater effects into the movie (especially the moving floor) was a little jarring. It seemed to me like having the seats move in response to crashes, explosions, etc., would seem pretty natural and organic, so I wasn't sure what to expect. Mostly the effects were fine, but I did find myself starting to giggle when I realized that the seats were bouncing in time to the bass beat during the music video portion.<br />
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By the way, adding in-theater special effects like smoke, water sprays, and moving seats apparently makes a movie "4D." I actually overheard some kids waiting in line arguing over what particular added features made a movie "4D," vs. "5D" or "6D." At least, I'm hoping they were kids; I didn't actually see them.TMWAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04664163604820340653noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15112881.post-82314042251777790352013-01-18T14:38:00.002-05:002013-01-18T14:38:55.235-05:00Watching the Matterhorn Break DownOn my first night in Disneyland, I visited <i>The Matterhorn Bobsleds, </i>using the magic of the single rider line. (Otherwise, the line was a bit lengthy for me.) I don't think this attraction had a single rider line the last time I visited, but the bobsleds have been redesigned. It used to be that there was a long seat, and everyone in one party pretty much sat in each other's laps. (Thankfully, they just put Mike and I into different seats even though we were together.)<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Matterhorn, in the daytime. (Taken from the </i>Alice in Wonderland<i> ride)</i></td></tr>
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When I was just about to the front of the line, the ride had a breakdown. They started taking people back off who had just been loaded on, and announced that it would probably be at least a ten minute wait before it was running again. I actually didn't mind much, because what I was watching happen was pretty cool. (In retrospect, I'm kicking myself for not taking some shots of what was going on.)<br />
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First, the bobsleds were being brought off the ride, emptied of riders, and rapidly stored down front. I discovered that the secondary track just behind the primary track (which you can see in the picture below) has a moving section (the part with the railing) which could shuttle the cars between the two tracks.<br />
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The cast members were working at a pretty quick clip taking the cars offline, and shoving them (manually) back onto the "storage" track. I could see one car a little ways up on the mountain, which seemed to be stuck on an upward incline. I'm not sure exactly what happened, but I know that roller coasters generally have anti-rollback devices to keep a car which can't make it over a hill from rolling back down. I was slightly disappointed that I wasn't just a few minutes earlier, because I think I would have liked to be stuck in that car myself. (The people onboard seemed to be having a fine time of it, anyway.) It looked like they probably had a great view of the park, and there was a least some chance that they might be walked off the ride (like <a href="http://tallmanwise.blogspot.com/2012/06/visit-to-splash-mountain.html">I was once</a> on <i>Splash Mountain</i>), which I think is actually pretty cool. (You might get to see all kinds of awesome stuff that ordinary guests never get to see, even if only for a moment.) Eventually 'though, three people came out and actually physically pushed the car up over the hill and got it started again. (I gave them a round of applause, although almost nobody else did.)<br />
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But eventually, the ride started up, and I got loaded on. I had a brief struggle trying to figure out how to sit in the new seats, which are still completely flat on the floor of the vehicle, but eventually figure out there was space for my feet up under and to the side of the seat in front. (You're kind of <i>still</i> sitting in each others' laps, but everyone actually has their own seat.) I discovered later that I have a much harder time in the front seat, which doesn't really have any nifty "feet slots". And <i>The Matterhorn</i> is really pretty spectacular at night, since you get a (fast) view from above the park, and can see all sorts of wonderful lit up scenes from <i>It's a Small World</i>, and parts of Fantasyland or Tomorrowland. It's visually stunning at night, as well as a fun ride.TMWAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04664163604820340653noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15112881.post-25019666044420684782013-01-17T15:09:00.000-05:002013-01-17T15:09:00.061-05:00On Single Rider LinesI mentioned the glory of the Disney FastPass in my last post, which allows you to essentially "schedule" a visit to a popular attraction for a specific later time in the day, and by so doing, skip most of the line. FastPasses are wonderful, but of course have drawbacks. You can (mostly) only hold one at a time, you have to come back later (sometimes <i>much</i> later), and if an attraction is popular enough, the FastPasses can all be gone early in the day. (I ran into this problem with the new <i>Radiator Springs Racers</i> in Cars Land, which apparently run out in about the first hour every day.) But if you're traveling alone, there is an even better trick than a FastPass: the Single Rider Line.<br />
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Single Rider Lines exist on some popular attractions which have a very specific seating capacity per vehicle. Disney wants each vehicle filled completely, but sometimes the numbers don't work out. <i> </i>The newly redesigned <i>Matterhorn Bobsleds</i> for example hold a total of six people (exactly) in each pair of vehicles which go together. If you have two parties of three, or three of two, or whatever, it's easy to match capacity exactly. But it doesn't always work out. There is often one empty seat left, or sometimes two but no group of two waiting near the front of the line. So Disney created the Single Rider Line. If you wait in this line, you will be pulled out, one at a time, to fill in gaps in seating. The great thing about the single rider line is that the wait is usually a <i>lot</i> shorter than the wait in the main line.<br />
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Single rider lines aren't available everywhere, but where they are, they are <i>completely awesome</i> if you are alone. The single rider lines got me onto <i>Radiator Springs Racers, The Matterhorn, </i>and <i>Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye</i> multiple times with <i>much</i> shorter waits than the main lines. Some people in groups use them too. Frankly, I thought it was kind of weird how many groups I saw in the single rider lines, because the group <i>will</i> be split up, as the cast member guarding the line will warn them. (When I ask about the single rider the line, the cast member usually looks visibly relieved, since I'm obviously by myself. It's one of the few times I get a non-weird reaction from someone realizing that I'm at Disneyland alone.) I guess people feel like it's worth it to get through the line faster, but I mostly feel that if I came to Disneyland with someone, I would prefer to stay with them. Or maybe they don't like the people they're with that much. Of course sometimes people try to keep their party together at the end of the line, which I'm sure drives the cast members crazy. (Of course they are not permitted to keep their group together. <i>Learn the rules.</i>)<br />
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And I have to say, the single rider line for <i>Indiana Jones</i> is a total trip. If you're looking to use this line, it's a little tricky. First note that you're going to enter through the exit, which is actually right next to the entrance. (I had a little trouble figuring out the first time where the exit was.) Grab the cast member watching the line near the entrance and ask for the single rider line. He or she will give you a lovely little colored ticket, and send you through the exit. The queue for this attraction winds through caves, tunnels, and an archeological dig, and so does the exit. You have to keep a lookout for more cast members to direct you in odd ways at some points. You eventually getting shuttled in with some people in the regular line for part of the way, and then get culled out of the herd again through a gate. (I noticed some people just pretended not to be single riders anymore at this point, and sneaked on with the "regular" line, skipping ahead of a lot of other people while getting to keep their party together. Bad form. Very tacky.) After being pulled back out of the regular line, we were sent up an elevator on one side of the tracks, which dumps you in a short hallway which leads to <i>another</i> elevator on the other side of the tracks. (This confused me a bit on my first time, but on subsequent rides I was confidently leading my fellow single riders through the procedure.) You ride the second elevator down on the other side of the tracks, and end up in the loading area, where someone eventually notices you and loads you onto a transport for your journey into the temple. Although as I pointed out to some of my fellow single riders, by the time you've finished all of this, you feel like you really <i>have</i> invaded a forbidden temple. (Albeit a temple from an advanced tribe with elevators.)TMWAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04664163604820340653noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15112881.post-19152148684267335052013-01-16T20:47:00.000-05:002013-01-16T22:27:37.703-05:00In which I make it to Disneyland<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTjbotYgCM6YnRKf3LFt9n7fXt-h1JUlZK099SZkIz-7RMHNmx_9eZI6YeKU9zZfDudwwv19lQv3xEght7hz6VTLqbxORH7Quq7kuym0m_WzzcWvosrlS42cfhXEKAKqeC-VOrtg/s1600/IMG_2349.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTjbotYgCM6YnRKf3LFt9n7fXt-h1JUlZK099SZkIz-7RMHNmx_9eZI6YeKU9zZfDudwwv19lQv3xEght7hz6VTLqbxORH7Quq7kuym0m_WzzcWvosrlS42cfhXEKAKqeC-VOrtg/s320/IMG_2349.jpg" width="320" /></a>
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And so here I am, walking my way up Harbor Boulevard from my hotel. (And trying to walk somewhat <i>slowly</i> this time. The last time I did this trip, I sort of wore out my feet by the end. I'm going to be trying to save them as much as I can this time, which will involve checking out that shuttle bus service that runs in Anaheim. But for today, I'm still walking in, and it's rather scenic.)<br />
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It's also pretty warm. My general procedure for winter touring is to bring a bunch of t-shirts, plus a pullover and a light jacket. The combination is plenty to keep me warm at night when the temperature drops, and gives me some flexibility during the day. But right now, it seems kind of <i>hot</i>, and I debated leaving my jacket at the hotel. But I knew I'd want it later that night, so I kept it. Maybe it would be a good time to think about getting a locker at the park, which I haven't done before.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>You can tell I'm not all that into this, right?</i></td></tr>
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And as I walk up towards the esplanade between the two parks, it hits me: There's a real <i>feeling</i>, and indescribably <i>something</i> that I always feel as I reach this point. I've <a href="http://tallmanwise.blogspot.com/2009/06/following-up-on-entering-disney.html">written before</a> about the magic of entering Disneyland, and the extent to which this feeling is deliberately cultivated. It becomes real in a way it hasn't been before. Over to my right, past the busses, I can see the monorail beam and the outlines of Space Mountain and the Matterhorn looming up. It feels <i>different</i> than the rest of my life. It may be small hints of other things—maybe the distant aromas of popcorn and candy, or the faint and distant bits of music just below my hearing—but there is a thrill of realization that I'm really finally <i>here</i>, and soon I'll be walking under the berm and into the Happiest Place on Earth.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkPaN24drlN5VSa_GPfuYi8eHu_Th9_M6ioB1mVLDumjetraOysJ8fbFCaGmuEhMX8ACYIJsjzjfakDgySlcUNRO9vvn8GM1MD530zoYFq9MNqZTOoBWsUpu0jN_EqgIAk5IVW5Q/s1600/IMG_2139.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="384" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkPaN24drlN5VSa_GPfuYi8eHu_Th9_M6ioB1mVLDumjetraOysJ8fbFCaGmuEhMX8ACYIJsjzjfakDgySlcUNRO9vvn8GM1MD530zoYFq9MNqZTOoBWsUpu0jN_EqgIAk5IVW5Q/s640/IMG_2139.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>This is where the magic starts to happen</i></td></tr>
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And soon enough, I'm at the turnstiles. Where there is a small surprise waiting for me.<br />
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Entrance procedures have apparently become more complex since last I visited. When the cast member at the gate scans my ticket receipt, it generates a ticket as usual, but she then asks to see a photo ID. This I was not expecting, so I have to fumble around to find my driver's license. I didn't quite catch what was going on at the time, but from watching other people go through the same process on later days, I know that she apparently entered my name from my driver's license so it could be printed on the ticket. Anyone with a multi-day ticket had to show photo ID <i>and</i> the ticket every time the entered the park, and the cast member working the turnstile had scan the ticket and then check that the ID matched. If the ticket scan indicated that the guest was re-entering the park for the day, they <i>then</i> had to use black light to check for a hand stamp. (I'm not sure why they still need the handstamp if the ticket scan is valid and they require photo ID to use ticket, but this turned out to be the procedure.) In general, this whole process had the effect of balling up the lines to get in something fierce, and made it something of a pain to "park hop" (move from one park to the other in one day), as my ticket allowed. <br />
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Now apparently it turns out that there is a thriving black market on multi-day tickets that Disney is trying to cut down on. The cost per day of a Disneyland ticket goes down quite a bit as you purchase more days, so some people purchase the maximum number of days, use part of them, then sell the remaining days at close to full price. I understand Disney wanting to shut that down, but things really were slowing down at the gate. At Disney World, they used to print your photo on your multi-day tickets when you first bought them, and I was wondering why they didn't just go back to that. I just read online that Disney <i>did</i> start photographing guests on first entry on the first weekend after I left, although I think the photographs are being stored by Disney and brought up at the entrance kiosk when the ticket is scanned rather than printed on the tickets. I just hope the procedure is smoother. At least with the photographs I wouldn't be fumbling with dragging out my ID as well as my ticket every time I went in, and having to stow it again inside the gates.<br />
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What to do first once I made it on to Main Street? First: A FastPass to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. (For those not in the know, a FastPass is a ticket you get to a popular attraction which allows you to enter the attraction later in the day through a shorter line. Generally you can only hold one of these at a time, although there are ways to wiggle this around a bit.) Then I stowed my pullover <i>and </i>jacket in a rental locker, and marveling that I was wandering around quite comfortably in a thin t-shirt in January. It occurred to me at this point that I <i>could </i>get a second FastPass in the second park, Disney's California Aventure, while I waited for the Big Thunder pass to come available. (At least, I probably could; the systems were not connected in the past.) I thought it might be a good idea to try to get a FastPass for the new E-ticket in the newly constructed Cars Land, the Radiator Springs Racers. I also thought it would be a good idea to get a pack of Dramamine, since I was planning riding some wilder stuff than I often do, so I tried the shops on Main Street, which should have carried it, but seemed to be out. I went ahead and crossed to DCA (fumble, fumble with photo ID to enter the turnstiles) and found that no one there seemed to have Dramamine either. Apparently everyone else had the same idea. And there were no FastPasses for the Radiator Springs Racers left for the day. (It turns out these go <i>very</i> quickly in the morning; the ride is very popular. And rightly so; when I finally get to that point in my adventures, I'll explain why it's a blast.)<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Although seriously, the scene with the reindeer images in the <br />Polynesian room gives me the creepy vibe that Santa ran into<br />a bunch of headhunters.</i></td></tr>
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So back to Disneyland (grumble, photo ID, grumble) and over to "it's a small world" holiday edition, which I'm terribly fond of. I love the cute little international dolls singing "It's a Small World", and I like it even better when it's filled with Christmas decorations and the dolls occasionally segue into "Jingle Bells" (or "Jingle Shells", if you happen to be passing the underwater scene with the mermaids) or "Deck the Halls." It's all very festive and wonderful.<br />
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The line for Small World was somewhat long, but while I was waiting, I saw a Meet-and-Greet with Princess Merida from <i>Brave </i>taking place next door. I never feel much need to actually <i>meet</i> the characters or get my photo taken with them, but it's kind of cool to see them wandering around the park, and it's fun to see how enraptured the kids can be at these things. (Besides, I don't want to <i>see</i> the looks I'd get as a 41 year old single man with no children in tow who wanted to meet the princesses.)<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrgAHU6PAa_SahbuiHvU02KZJJA37djWwqfgACg907Y4I7NPUbT9NLlG1Dho-39jW0zfY4aj6kyE4OpBnJ0KBqPgmDXJ6p1f69mJy8eDI07oaojar5BXJJerqoOIsxiy-nt-XO5Q/s1600/IMG_2142.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="331" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrgAHU6PAa_SahbuiHvU02KZJJA37djWwqfgACg907Y4I7NPUbT9NLlG1Dho-39jW0zfY4aj6kyE4OpBnJ0KBqPgmDXJ6p1f69mJy8eDI07oaojar5BXJJerqoOIsxiy-nt-XO5Q/s400/IMG_2142.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Princess Merida from </i>Brave</td></tr>
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Despite the park being pretty crowded, I did pretty well for the rest of the day, seeing quite a bit with judicious use of FastPasses and Single Rider Lines. (More on this later.) But after the sun set, things got cold fast, and I was pretty soon retrieving first my pullover, then the jacket from my locker. I made a lovely dinner out of quick-service at Bengal Barbecue, and even stayed pretty much on diet with a spicy Bengal Beef skewer and a "Safari Skewer" (asparagus wrapped in bacon), and hot tea. (I know, weird choice, but it was getting <i>cold</i> out there by evening, and I just couldn't face a soft drink with ice in it.)<br />
<br />
I went on Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters, and I think I may have beaten my high score, making it to Level 3 with 795K points. (Of course, the high score for the day was over 3 million points.) The ride takes a picture of you and offers to email it to you, but this time (as usually happens to me) the email never came. I followed a large group of young men onto <i>Pirates of the Caribbean </i>who were (I'm pretty sure) passing around a pot brownie before getting on the ride. They joined in enthusiastically on the "yo-ho, yo-ho"s in the chorus of the theme song, and I was sorry I didn't remember the rest of the words well enough to keep it going through the rest of the song. (I figure it might have taken them by surprise.)<br />
<br />
After I stood on Main Street and watched the 9:30 Christmas fireworks show 'though, I decided I was pretty worn out for the day, and my feet were already feeling it. (Not good. Must be careful.) The park wouldn't close until midnight, but I opted to head back to the hotel for the night and turn in, and sleep 'til I felt like getting up. TMWAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04664163604820340653noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15112881.post-76745699423891272812013-01-16T13:53:00.000-05:002013-01-16T13:53:18.711-05:00Getting to AnaheimI awaken to a lovely Friday morning in southern California.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYKypz6-f1x60oo7TBPm4mIG7_XvHOub3yflGQXf5eoWWB6KFJJbJO85AuJmJp1LF4qhHPAmTjpw79LcoEFS7Hkrz91AUeDPX4yjU-h_O_lx0lSofpWYB-B8kewUvU21HUDR6jEg/s1600/IMG_2132.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYKypz6-f1x60oo7TBPm4mIG7_XvHOub3yflGQXf5eoWWB6KFJJbJO85AuJmJp1LF4qhHPAmTjpw79LcoEFS7Hkrz91AUeDPX4yjU-h_O_lx0lSofpWYB-B8kewUvU21HUDR6jEg/s640/IMG_2132.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Yes, there are palm trees surrounding my motel.</i></td></tr>
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Five years ago when I made this trip, I remember waking fairly early after planning to sleep later, and thinking, <i>What am I doing laying here? If I start now, I'll be in Disneyland sooner!</i> This time, I do lounge for a bit and enjoy relaxing as part of my vacation. But nonetheless, I'm up and ready to go before to long, packed up in my cute little Mazda, breakfasted, and ready to drive to Anaheim.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1TVjuv8Z5f-m7TwSoHE83ufM9jHTJXlYnLgb27OEDUfWAraiHSVlONO9Cv5JsPxlnEF415nsZ6EGqhxCFlGmxCZiO3DynvM0PC6ZeWovh6YM_fCIbLyrJoPs55gXgwL7f9XxSIg/s1600/IMG_2134.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1TVjuv8Z5f-m7TwSoHE83ufM9jHTJXlYnLgb27OEDUfWAraiHSVlONO9Cv5JsPxlnEF415nsZ6EGqhxCFlGmxCZiO3DynvM0PC6ZeWovh6YM_fCIbLyrJoPs55gXgwL7f9XxSIg/s400/IMG_2134.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>My cute little rental.</i></td></tr>
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I grab a drink and hit the road. My car almost immediately buzzes at me, complaining that it has a low tire. This is not an auspicious start. There's a gas station nearby, and I find an air pump with a tire gauge attached. I check inside the front door, where everyone always tells you the correct air pressure is located. As usual, the location where the tire pressure is <i>supposed</i> to be printed is blank. So I guess, taking a reading off of all four tires, tossing out the low reading, and assuming that the nearest multiple of five to the rest of the tires is the correct pressure. When I get back in the car, it seems satisfied. (I'm just hoping at this point that it doesn't have a leak which is going to cause me more problems later.)<br />
<br />
I get started on my way up I5 a little after 10am, and hit some heavy traffic for a while. I remember having the same problem five years ago. I think I5 must just be a snarled mess all the time, since I can't imagine that past 10 is really the rush-hour time. Oddly enough, it seems that lanes keep disappearing on the right side. They must be reappearing on the left, since the total number of lanes doesn't seem to decrease by much. But people keep having to merge left, over and over, which could be part of why this stretch of road is a mess.<br />
<br />
Eventually the worst of the jam is over, and I can go back to enjoying the sunny California roadway. Which is glorious. As you drive up towards Anaheim, you have mountains on the right, and patches of ocean on the left. And then, <i>BAM, </i>palm tree! (Sometimes lots of palm trees.) And a tendency towards white adobe buildings gleaming in the sun, capped with red tile roofs. And more palm trees and other greenery. The air smells clean from the ocean breeze, no matter how polluted the highway air might really be. And some large structures that I think may be nuclear plants, but are still pretty lovely. I would have taken a picture of some of this, but I was driving at the time. I stopped at a rest area, but you couldn't see much from there. Nonetheless, it's a great way to start this trip, with a peaceful drive for a few hours up the scenic coast.<br />
<br />
I coast my way into my hotel about noon. (And without any more car problems.) By chance, I ended up at the same place I stayed at five years ago, which is pretty nice and within walking distance of the parks (although it's a somewhat longer walk than I would have liked).<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXVRTs0ZIQeV193R89RxOX-3RBZW9b2I8JVeLXxM7ekYQ95PH5tTUe88g5Juvut0gQ7Fe3nfDrdWmOO03fWxumKzRF0RzPIDJx7lKukZEi842qY0SFgTsW0dtpd7vs5k__ApBMLA/s1600/IMG_2206.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXVRTs0ZIQeV193R89RxOX-3RBZW9b2I8JVeLXxM7ekYQ95PH5tTUe88g5Juvut0gQ7Fe3nfDrdWmOO03fWxumKzRF0RzPIDJx7lKukZEi842qY0SFgTsW0dtpd7vs5k__ApBMLA/s400/IMG_2206.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Notice the Ghandi Palace restaurant sign? Guess where I'm eating lunch?</td></tr>
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The hotel has a room ready (although technically check-in is not until 3), and the rooms are as nice as I remember.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVax3ZHmziJSARLS5v6sgPR-tfoRP1wMocfYrskqynMzFGTo8HUzcAgrRWuNxZ3fyOqFsZQi-qUfG7qG7k3a5OWfLcoARKcY4fHPLPq9pTZzLiUW6EG_QAmW0NeCeVZelyqPcAFA/s1600/IMG_2135.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVax3ZHmziJSARLS5v6sgPR-tfoRP1wMocfYrskqynMzFGTo8HUzcAgrRWuNxZ3fyOqFsZQi-qUfG7qG7k3a5OWfLcoARKcY4fHPLPq9pTZzLiUW6EG_QAmW0NeCeVZelyqPcAFA/s400/IMG_2135.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My room</td></tr>
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My window this time does look out onto the park, although you can't see much, and I'm partly overlooking the rooftop of the strip mall next door. (Last time, I had a view which was somewhat prettier, but which only showed the pool and the hotel next door. Both versions are good.) But now I can see the Hollywood Hotel Tower of Terror out the right side of my window, and on the left, I can see the back of the newly constructed rock work for Cars Land, both in Disney's California Adventure park.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpsSYpq7W_cfjoiHdrNRwsUZTC1ISH11SHdk7VCtPpE7LFqpjqOR_GdwHGJbJQQJ0hz2c6g_OnfjmMcM1gm_fyAEDZfboP9_loVqo728B8QlL4vvLsmEjHQ-ShyphenhyphentCMUOLHWhqO2A/s1600/IMG_2136.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="430" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpsSYpq7W_cfjoiHdrNRwsUZTC1ISH11SHdk7VCtPpE7LFqpjqOR_GdwHGJbJQQJ0hz2c6g_OnfjmMcM1gm_fyAEDZfboP9_loVqo728B8QlL4vvLsmEjHQ-ShyphenhyphentCMUOLHWhqO2A/s640/IMG_2136.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Squee! I can see it! I can SEE it!</i></td></tr>
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Lunch is easy since, there's a rather nice Indian buffet in the hotel itself, which I find is as nice as it was the last time I was here. (But strangely empty; there was only one other person eating there during the time I ate my lunch.) <br />
<br />
And now I'm set. My car is parked, my luggage stowed, I'm fed and watered, and I have my tickets. It's time to take a stroll down the street and start my first day at the Disneyland Resort.<br />
<br />TMWAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04664163604820340653noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15112881.post-82167756391293842352013-01-16T13:12:00.001-05:002013-01-16T13:53:48.046-05:00Going to CaliforniaFive years ago, the Joint Mathematics Meetings of the American Mathematical Society and the Mathematical Association of America were held in San Diego. I made the trip, but I also rented a car and made a detour up to Disneyland first. (Because, hey: <i>Disneyland</i>.) This year, the Joint Meetings were back in San Diego, so I repeated the entire trip. I journaled the trip a bit, but I intended to travel-blog after I got back, and so here I am.<br />
<br />
I left Erie on a cold but thankfully not very snowy Thursday, on my way to Philadelphia to catch another flight headed to San Diego with a stop in Phoenix. (We were told it was 63 degrees in Phoenix, which already made me feel pretty good.) I brought most of my in-flight entertainment (books, movies, etc.) on my iPad, and when I got up to visit the lavatory, I discovered that a lot of people apparently do the same thing now. Most rows seemed to have at least one person watching video or reading from a Kindle or something similar. I wasn't sure if we could disembark at Phoenix (which they called "Sky Harbor"), but we did and I got to stretch my legs a bit. Then I was just grateful I got to get back <i>on</i> the plane, because it was another of the standard "This flight is oversold, and we need two volunteers..." Well I had no intention of making the first day any longer or not showing up until the next day, so they can just keep looking.<br />
<br />
The first day is rough enough anyway. After about 11 hours of airports and flights, it's time to recover luggage, find the rental car site, unpack the Garmin, and find my way to a Wyndham Garden motel near the airport where I've booked for the night. Then I can hunt for some kind of dinner, and settle for a somewhat overpriced chef's salad in a diner near the motel, and finally settle in for the night. Of course, it's three hours earlier in San Diego, so I'm still getting to bed reasonably early. That's the advantage of flying to California. Of course, going back is murder.<br />
<br />
The first day is long, but necessary. I'm over two thousand miles from home, and now situated only about an hour and a half from Disneyland. Tomorrow, I drive up the coast to Anaheim, where I'll spend five glorious days in the sun with The Mouse. Then back down for five days back in San Diego at the conference, ending with my own presentation before I fly back again next Saturday night.TMWAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04664163604820340653noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15112881.post-14169823895348008482012-10-11T13:34:00.001-04:002013-01-22T00:38:54.015-05:00For National Coming Out Day: My BeginningsHi folks, and happy National Coming Out Day! I thought it might be an appropriate time to share one of my coming out stories, so I'm going back to the beginning.<br />
<br />
Picture it: East Texas, 1989. A young TMWA (before being <i>called </i>TMWA) is close to graduating high school. A young, <i>gay</i>, TMWA, who is not yet out to anyone, but who has known he was gay for quite some time. (Seriously, how hard is to figure out who you're attracted to at that age? Although maybe with all the hormones, the trees probably start to look good to some people. But I digress.)<br />
<br />
I remember being up on stage in the auditorium of my high school. (No, I didn't come out on stage in front of the whole school. Stay with me.) We were having some sort of rehearsal for an honors assembly, and I think the National Honor Society were all sitting on stage at that point. I was next to my good friend Romola, and we were chatting while everyone was getting sorted out. She was talking about a guy she had a major crush on, and she asked, "Isn't it terrible when you really like someone but you can't tell them?" Since I <i>also</i> had a major crush on a guy <i>I</i> knew, and certain social inhibitions were <i>definitely</i> keeping me from telling him, I said, "I know what you mean." <br />
<br />
Well Romola was sharp enough to zero in on <i>that</i> answer, so I got an immediate, "Ohh--so who is it?" I gave that a minute's thought. I hadn't come out to anyone yet, but I was kind of ready to, because it's really hard to constantly pretend not to be yourself. Frankly, I was dying to tell someone at that point, and Romola seemed reasonably safe. Granted, coming out to anyone in that place and time carried some risks, but I thought it might be worth it. So I said I would tell her who my crush was, but that I wanted to do it in private sometime, because I didn't want anyone else to know.<br />
<br />
So for about the next week, every time Romola saw me at school, she immediately opened with "So who is it?" Usually in the midst of an enormous group of people, like the lunch room, which led me to defer. "When we get a chance alone. I'm not telling anyone else," I'd tell her. "But these are just your friends--they won't care," she'd respond. Oh, but they might, I thought. Some of them liked to complain about "faggots", although I actually voiced objections when they did. It does tend to put a crimp on how comfortable I really felt around people. Of course, that's part of why I really wanted to tell someone: It would be nice to have at least one person I could be honest with. <br />
<br />
Looking for an opportunity to have some time alone with Romola, I arranged to give her a ride after school one day when we were off to a gathering. I figured she would remember and ask me about my mystery person again as soon as we left. (I wasn't quite able to just bring up the topic myself yet. Hey, it was my first time coming out, and still pretty scary.) But that day her mind must have been elsewhere, and she wasn't asking even 'though we were alone and I was (nervously) ready to answer. I cast around in my head for a way to steer the conversation in the right way, and finally said something about her romantic interest. That worked: She almost immediately remembered and asked again who I had the crush on.<br />
<br />
Now even then I had a hard time answering. I ended up hinting around a bit, and confirming the right person, all of which ended up with her saying, "Wait, I'm confused." (Actually, she understood perfectly, she just wasn't expecting mystery person to be a guy.) I did by this point recognize one flaw in telling her in the car: I was driving, so I never got to actually see her reaction when she realized who I meant, and that it was <i>not</i> a woman. But I did get to hear her reaction. I got some repeated variations of "John?", "John?!?", "JOHN?!" with varying degrees of questioning or surprise at various points, mixed in with (thankfully) statements that she was OK with this, even 'though it came as kind of a shock. <br />
<br />
Actually, the surprise was a little surprising to <i>me.</i> I kind of figured, particularly since I never dated any women, didn't really bother to try to try to "butch up", and was actually a vocal supporter of gay rights, that more than a few people probably had some shrewd guesses, but maybe not. I think several of my friends just thought I was hopelessly naive on the issue of gays, and that maybe I only supported equal rights and fair treatment because I'd never had a chance to meet any gay people to discover how terrible they really were. Irony, thy name is adolescence.<br />
<br />
In any case, Romola kept my secret in high school. (She and my parents were the only people I told before I got to college.) We stayed friends and kept in touch. It took only about a semester at Oberlin College (which I recall Newsweek once called a "gay mecca", to our great amusement) before I was fully out to everyone I met, and was fortunate enough to find hosts of other people who didn't care. It was nice to finally have a group of friends--straight, gay, and bi--with whom I could feel close, and not have to feel like I had to lie and hide part of myself. But the first did come in high school, even in east Texas in 1989, and that turned out pretty well.<br />
<br />TMWAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04664163604820340653noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15112881.post-19101879839675112242012-07-12T23:49:00.005-04:002013-02-13T22:31:48.080-05:00Cartoons for future educatorsI'm a bit of a nut for cartoons in general, and love children's cartoons. So when my partner was preparing to teach an intro to education style class for future teachers, he asked if I had any suggestions for cartoons about education related topics which might spark good conversations about issues like teaching, testing, bullying, diversity, and others. I thought of a few off the bat, but then I spent a while going through the listings on Wikipedia for some of my favorite series, and used those to jog my memory so I could find some good suggestions. He liked the list so much, he suggested I put it online, so here it is.<br />
<br />
Below I have listed episodes from three of my favorite children's cartoon shows: <i>Arthur</i> (PBS), <i>Hey Arnold!</i> (Nickelodeon), and <i>Recess</i> (Disney) which are meant to inspire discussions among future educators, organized by series. <span style="background-color: white;">I've also included a separate link and some comments at the end about some episodes of</span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span><i>The Simpsons</i><span style="background-color: white;"> which might also be relevant.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;">I should note that the episode descriptions for the first three series listed below are copied verbatim from the Wikipedia episode list for the series (as of early July 2012); I provide links to these three episode lists. After the description, I have provided a few comments of my own about why I included this on a list of cartoons for future teachers. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<i style="background-color: white;"><b>Arthur</b> </i><span style="background-color: white;">Children's</span><span style="background-color: white;"> cartoon show on PBS, based on the popular </span><i style="background-color: white;">Arthur</i><span style="background-color: white;"> books by Marc Brown. </span><span style="background-color: white;">(Wikipedia: </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Arthur_episodes" style="background-color: white;">List of <i>Arthur</i> Episodes</a><span style="background-color: white;">. Click on the link for an individual season to see the episode descriptions, which I copied in italics below.)</span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="background-color: white;">"Arthur and the True Francine" </span><i style="background-color: white;">Muffy and Francine were best friends since second grade, when Muffy was a new student. This episode is a flashback from that time. This particular memory is when Muffy and Francine decide to study together for an upcoming math test, but Muffy continually procrastinates, claiming that she knows her addition and subtraction. When the test day comes, Muffy cheats off of Francine's test and claims that she would never cheat, getting Francine into trouble which almost costs her her friendship with Francine.</i><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span><b style="background-color: white;">My comments:</b><span style="background-color: white;"> This episode includes cheating, and a punishment meted out to the wrong student which causes strife among the students. Teachers end up having to make tough decisions about cheating all the time.</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white;">"</span><span style="background-color: white;">Arthur, World's Greatest Gleeper" </span><i style="background-color: white;">Arthur and Buster sit at the only available table with the Tough Customers. Buster claims that Arthur is the world's greatest "gleeper" to stop the teasing, only to find out later that "gleep" means "steal". Arthur lets the lie grow into a school-wide rumor. </i><span style="background-color: white;"><b><br />My comments:</b></span><span style="background-color: white;"> Deals with peer pressure (especially with pressure to be considered "bad" rather than "good"), rumors, and how teachers might respond.</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white;">"</span><span style="background-color: white;">Sue Ellen Moves In" </span><i style="background-color: white;">Rumors are circulating about the new family that has moved in and Buster thinks that they may be art thieves, spies or aliens, even after he meets Sue Ellen. When Buster's mom invites Sue Ellen over for dinner, he finds out that Sue Ellen is not an alien, but just a kid who has lived in various places around the world.</i><b style="background-color: white;"><br />My comments: </b><span style="background-color: white;">A good diversity episode, featuring a new student who seems very strange to the rest of the class.</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white;">"</span><span style="background-color: white;">Bully for Binky" </span><i style="background-color: white;">Binky has a reputation for being a bully. He bullies Sue Ellen, who is still a new student ("Sue Ellen Moves In"), and she demands that he apologize. When he does not, she challenges him to a fight to settle it. He gets nervous when he finds out she knows Tae Kwon Do. He decides to beat her at music but loses, so he apologizes to her so they would not have to fight.</i><b style="background-color: white;"><br />My comments: </b><span style="background-color: white;">An episode on bullying. The bully here (Binky) is interesting because he is in fact a little complicated, even 'though the show does not </span><i style="background-color: white;">quite</i><span style="background-color: white;"> pull the old stereotype about bullies just being "misunderstood". (Binky is actually a pretty interesting character throughout the series, since he's sometimes a bully, and sometimes a pretty decent kid, depending on the context. We're all pretty multi-faceted, I guess.)</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white;">"</span><span style="background-color: white;">Arthur's Substitute Teacher Trouble" </span><i style="background-color: white;">Mr. Ratburn loses his voice and his sister, Miss Rodentia Ratburn, substitutes for him. She has them doing things such as reciting the one times table, reading words like "dog" and "cat" and assigning no homework. The class are excited at first, as they were sick and tired of Mr. Ratburn's unbelievably difficult classes, but they soon become bored. The class are glad when Mr. Ratburn returns the next day. </i><i style="background-color: white;"><b style="font-style: normal;"><br />My comments: </b><span style="font-style: normal;">What are reasonable expectations for students, and how will students react? What's too hard? Is it possible to be too easy?</span></i></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white;">"</span><span style="background-color: white;">Draw!" <i>When Francine offends Fern, Fern draws a comic humiliating Francine, which everyone finds amusing. Other comics about Francine are drawn. During the school carnival, those teasing Francine are convinced by Mrs. McGrady to dump green slime on Francine. As they prepare to do so, they notice how much they hurt Francine. Meanwhile, Miss Tingley tries to avoid Miss Sweetwater and Mr. Haney, both of which want her to take part in their acts. </i></span><b><br />My comments: </b><span style="background-color: white;">An interesting take on teasing and empathy. Here, a bit of bullying goes both directions, and a quiet, shy student ends up leading a pile-on against a more outgoing student. A teacher (in this case, the lunch lady) helps the students awaken their own empathy, and stop the teasing.</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white;">"</span><span style="background-color: white;">Sue Ellen and the Brainasaurous" </span><i style="background-color: white;">Sue Ellen and the Brain are assigned to work on a project together. The others say it will be easy as Brain does almost all of the work by himself. Sue Ellen wants to help, but the Brain refuses to let her. This turns into a struggle that nearly ruins their project.</i><i style="background-color: white;"><b style="font-style: normal;"><br />My comments: </b><span style="font-style: normal;">How will students handle group work? Most people have horror stories about groups they were in, and several of the standard problems are on display here.</span></i></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white;">"</span><span style="background-color: white;">Buster's Breathless" </span><i style="background-color: white;">When D.W. has a brush with poison ivy, Buster tells a story about how he once got asthma. When Buster learns he has asthma, his friends start treating him differently, thinking that Buster needed special attention. Buster educates his friends by doing a science project about asthma.</i><i style="background-color: white;"><b style="font-style: normal;"><br />My comments: </b></i><span style="background-color: white;">Nice diversity episode, about Buster trying to deal with the fact that his friends treat him differently after his diagnosis.</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white;">"</span><span style="background-color: white;">Prunella's Special Edition" </span><i style="background-color: white;">Prunella is excited to get her new monogrammed limited edition Henry Skreever book in the mail, but finds that it is in braille. When Prunella goes to the library to get the book with words, she meets and makes friends with a blind girl named Marina, who is looking for the same book in braille.</i><span style="background-color: white;"><b style="font-style: normal;"><br />My comments: </b>A diversity episode, featuring a new character with a physical disability. (Also as a sidelight, a fun reference to popular children's literature with a book series which has more than a passing resemblance to Harry Potter.)</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white;">"</span><span style="background-color: white;">Arthur and Los Vecinos" </span><i style="background-color: white;"> A new family moves in next to the Reads after their neighbor, Mr. Sipple, moves away. The Reads get to know the Molinas and discover how similar they are. </i><b style="background-color: white;"><br />My comments: </b><span style="background-color: white;">A bit of cultural diversity is covered in this episode.</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white;">"</span><span style="background-color: white;">The Boy with His Head in the Clouds" </span><i style="background-color: white;">George has dyslexia and does not want anyone to think he is dumb. He takes Binky to be his mentor to teach him to be more hard-headed so no one will tease him, but realizes he was not meant for being tough. When he discovers his dyslexic problems, he tries to finish his reading project.</i><i style="background-color: white;"><b style="font-style: normal;"><br />My comments: </b><span style="font-style: normal;">A diversity episode, involving an ongoing character with dyslexia and some of how he tries to deal with it.</span></i></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white;">"</span><span style="background-color: white;">Prunella Sees the Light" </span><i style="background-color: white;">Prunella is inviting Marina over for a Henry Skreever sleepover. However, she worries that Marina may not see the decoration in her room or may get injured because she is blind. Marina does not approve of the special treatment Prunella is giving her, and Prunella learns to treat Marina just like any other friend.</i><i style="background-color: white;"><b style="font-style: normal;"><br />My comments: </b><span style="font-style: normal;">A bit of a follow up to "Prunella's Special Edition", focusing on how Prunella tries to decide how to act toward her blind friend.</span></i></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white;">"</span><span style="background-color: white;">April 9th" </span><i style="background-color: white;">[Part 1] <span style="background-color: white;">It is April 9th, but the school day turns disastrous when a fire destroys the school. Arthur's Dad was in the fire but recovers, but then Arthur then has a nightmare involving the aquarium. Buster is upset that he was not there to experience it. He then meets Mr. Morris, the janitor, who was injured in the fire. Sue Ellen's journal is left behind in the school and is ruined, Muffy however buys a new one for her. The kids are sent to Mighty Mountain, but the fire alarm is pulled during a test.</span></i><i style="background-color: white;">[Part 2] It turned out that Binky pulled the fire alarm because of his fear of the flames. Binky talks to Francine's dad, who was a volunteer firefighter. When Arthur fakes an illness, his dad finds out that Arthur is worried about him because he was trapped in Lakewood during the fire. Arthur's dad helps him that something similar happened when he was a kid and tells that it is his job to worry about Arthur. Sue Ellen and the others paint a mural at the wall of Lakewood. Soon life returns to Lakewood Elementary for the students.</i><i style="background-color: white;"><b style="font-style: normal;"><br />My comments: </b></i><span style="background-color: white;">A full length episode (containing two regular length parts) focusing on students dealing with a tragedy. This is a fairly mild example, featuring a fire that results in few injuries but shuts the school down for a while, but it provides a lot to think and talk about regarding tragedies of any magnitude, which could strike any school.</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white;">"</span><span style="background-color: white;">Dear Adil" </span><i style="background-color: white;">Arthur writes letters to a Turkish boy who is looking for a pen pal after reading his Dad's letters from Japan. He isn't sure what life is like in Turkey, so to give him an idea, he looks at Buster's comics set in said country. However, these give him a stereotypical picture of Turkey, and Adil is befuddled when Arthur asks him about his camel, tent or the taste of lamb's eyes. Arthur finds in his paper, Adil's email address and they find out that they are alike in many ways.</i><i style="background-color: white;"><b style="font-style: normal;"><br />My comments: </b><span style="font-style: normal;">A cultural diversity episode.</span></i></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white;">"</span><span style="background-color: white;">Brain's Shocking Secret" </span><i style="background-color: white;">Brain is afraid of the kids learning that he got held back in Kindergarten, and for what reason. </i><i style="background-color: white;"><b style="font-style: normal;"><br />My comments: </b><span style="font-style: normal;">This episode deals with holding students back for a grade and with psychological and social development.</span></i></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white;">"</span><span style="background-color: white;">Arthur's Number Nightmare" </span><i style="background-color: white;">Buster finds a piece of paper with names of his classmates and numbers beside them. Arthur, Buster, and Francine believe it's a class ranking system based on behavior, and Francine tries to find ways to have a higher rank.</i><i style="background-color: white;"><b style="font-style: normal;"><br />My comments: </b><span style="font-style: normal;">The episode looks at the possible effects of ranking students.</span></i></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white;">"</span><span style="background-color: white;">When Carl Met George" </span><i style="background-color: white;">George meets a new friend named Carl, who has Asperger syndrome‚ a form of autism. George is unsure about how to act around his new friend, but Brain helps put autism in perspective for him so he can understand some of Carl's mannerisms.</i><i style="background-color: white;"><b style="font-style: normal;"><br />My comments: </b><span style="font-style: normal;">A diversity episode featuring a new character with Asperger's syndrome. </span></i></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white;">"</span><span style="background-color: white;">The Wheel Deal" </span><i style="background-color: white;">Brain is put in a wheelchair after a leg injury and copes with the encouragement of Lydia, a disabled girl who uses a wheelchair.</i><i style="background-color: white;"><b style="font-style: normal;"><br />My comments: </b><span style="font-style: normal;">A diversity episode featuring a new character with a physical disability and a permanent character with a temporary physical disability. </span></i></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white;">"</span><span style="background-color: white;">S.W.E.A.T." </span><i style="background-color: white;">The third grade students at Lakewood Elementary are stressing about their upcoming S.W.E.A.T. aptitude tests, including Sue Ellen, who panics that she doesn't have any #2 (HB) pencils, the Brain, who worries he will do badly after he accidentally skips a question on the practice test, and Arthur, who struggles to find a place to study quietly. </i><i style="background-color: white;"><b style="font-style: normal;"><br />My comments: </b><span style="font-style: normal;">Standardized testing and its effect on students and schools is the subject here.</span></i></li>
</ul>
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<i><b>Hey Arnold!</b> </i>Cartoon series on Nickelodeon, created by Craig Bartlett. (Wikipedia: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Hey_Arnold!_episodes">List of <i>Hey Arnold!</i> Episodes</a> gives the episode descriptions I have copied below.) </div>
<ul>
<li><b style="background-color: white;"><i>"</i></b><span style="background-color: white;">Tutoring Torvald" <i>Arnold must tutor a 13-year-old fourth grade bully in math.</i><br /><b>My comments:</b> There's a bit here on bullies, on students being held back, on students struggling academically, and even peer tutoring.</span></li>
<li><b style="background-color: white;"><i>"</i></b><span style="background-color: white;">New Teacher" <i>After their last teacher, Mrs. Slovak, retires, Arnold's class gets a new one, Mr. Simmons. They play the usual pranks for all new teachers, which he is familiar with. They don't bother him, but when Harold eats his lunch, he loses all hope of being able to teach them and quits. When Lieutenant Major ends up being their next one, they try to get Mr. Simmons back.<br /><b style="font-style: normal;">My comments:</b><span style="font-style: normal;"> The hazing of new teachers (and substitutes) is, of course, legendary, but I think the best part is the way the students initially reject Mr. Simmons' unusual and rather touchy-feely approach, but eventually come to grudgingly appreciate him. Students resist change sometimes, even if they might think it's OK in the end.</span></i></span></li>
<li><b><i>"</i></b>Longest Monday" <i> The kids try to avoid getting thrown in dumpsters and trash cans as part of an annual ritual.<br /><b style="font-style: normal;">My comments:</b><span style="font-style: normal;"> A hazing ritual. You have to wonder what's wrong with the adults. The ending gives some idea about how these things get perpetuated.</span></i></li>
<li><b><i>"</i></b>Ms. Perfect" <i>Lila, a new student, comes to P.S. 118. Helga and the other girls play tricks on her in an attempt to drive her out of the social hierarchy.</i><br /><b>My comments:</b> An exercise in group bullying and piling on focused on a new student, largely unnoticed by the adults.</li>
<li><b><i>"</i></b>Principal Simmons" <i>Mr. Simmons becomes principal after Principal Wartz has one too many outbursts.</i><b>My comments:</b> A great episode on the yin and yang of authority, from the overly domineering and explosive Wartz to the walking pushover who is Simmons. Also features one of my favorite lines: "No principal should ever call a small child a 'wicked minded animal'---even if it's true." </li>
<li><b><i>"</i></b>A Day in the Life of a Classroom" <i>A film crew shoots a documentary of Mr. Simmons' class to be screened on TV, but he feels that they should follow a script, rather than be spontaneous.<br /><b style="font-style: normal;">My comments:</b><span style="font-style: normal;"> This is a really interesting take on being observed in a classroom, the kind of anxiety that might provoke in a teacher, and the temptation to "put on a show" vs. actually teaching.</span></i></li>
<li><b><i>"</i></b>Phoebe's Little Problem" <i>Phoebe is embarrassed after passing gas into a microphone and is afraid to come back to school, despite Arnold's, Helga's and others' efforts to console her</i>.<br /><b>My comments:</b> This episode on group teasing and embarrassment shows that sometimes it's really hard to make someone feel any better, but sometimes things do get better eventually.</li>
</ul>
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<i style="font-weight: bold;">Recess</i> A cartoon series which aired on the Disney Channel, created by Paul Germain and Joe Ansolabehere. (Wikipedia: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Recess_episodes">List of <i>Recess</i> Episodes</a> gives the episode descriptions I have copied below.)</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="background-color: white;">"Kids in the Mist" <i>A researcher named Dr. Quilty wants to research by video about recess. When she first tries it, she fails, and T.J. and the gang decide to help her out. How will it turn out?<br /><b style="font-style: normal;">My comments:</b><span style="font-style: normal;"> This episode should be appealing to future teachers who will study educational research, observe students, and maybe even perform their own studies. (It also slyly suggests that if you're interested in educating children, perhaps it would be a good idea to actually </span>like</i> them.)</span></li>
<li>"Gus' Last Stand" <i>Gus stands up to Gelman the bully.</i><br /><b>My comments:</b> Not a bad episode about a bully. It includes some ineffective efforts by adults to deal with the problem.</li>
<li>"Schoolworld" <i>The school gets a new technology system installed called the SAL 3000 which controls everything. This episode loosely parodies 2001: A Space Odyssey.<br /><b style="font-style: normal;">My comments:</b><span style="font-style: normal;"> A great episode to start a conversation about technology in education, and about rigid, top-down approaches to teaching.</span></i></li>
<li>"The Dude" <i>A school legend, T.J.'s idol, comes back as a teacher.</i><br /><b>My comments:</b> A great episode for future teachers, focusing on the tension between having to be the authority figure at the front of the classroom and still feeling like (and wanting to be) "one of the kids." I imagine this hits home particularly hard for student teachers who are coming back to a school they once graduated from.</li>
<li><span style="background-color: white;">"Spinelli's Masterpiece" </span><i style="background-color: white;">Spinelli lets off some steam by creating a chalk drawing and T.J. does everything he can to keep Miss Finster from erasing it.<br /><b style="font-style: normal;">My comments:</b><span style="font-style: normal;"> OK, this is the one episode in the list for which I have trouble explaining why I included. It's a nice take on student creativity and different perspectives, 'though.</span></i></li>
<li>"Bonky Fever" <i>Mikey has problems turning the big 1-0, and still has strange childlike obsessions with the dinosaur character Bonky.<br /><b style="font-style: normal;">My comments:</b><span style="font-style: normal;"> This one is all about psychological development of students, including the urge to regress to simpler times when things get stressful.</span></i></li>
</ul>
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<i><b>The Simpsons</b> </i>OK, everyone knows what <i>The Simpsons</i> is. The <a href="http://simpsons.wikia.com/wiki/Simpsons_Wiki">Simpsons Wiki</a> has already put together a list of <a href="http://simpsons.wikia.com/wiki/Education">education</a> related episodes under the Education page, and I've copied that list below. I've added a brief description and a few comments to each episode. (These episode synopses are my much-abbreviated versions.)</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li><span style="background-color: white;">"Bart the Genius" After cheating on a test, Bart is placed in a school for the gifted, but he can't keep up.<br /><b>Comments:</b> Great scenes on testing near the beginning, plus some fun satire about progressive schools later. (I periodically tell my class to "Discover your desks, people!" in the hopes that someone will recognize the quote.) My only complaint is that I think Bart <i>would</i> have probably done better in the more progressive school<i>. </i>I often wonder why the really good stuff is only offered to the high testing students.</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white;">"Lisa's Substitute" Lisa develops a crush on an extraordinary substitute teacher, who supports and encourages her love of learning.<br /><b>Comments:</b> Features an impossibly good substitute teacher contrasted with the rest of the school and Lisa's home life.</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white;">"Homer Goes to College" After causing a disaster at the nuclear power plant, Homer is required to take a basic college class on nuclear physics. He approaches the whole experience based on cheesy comedy movies about college.<br /><b>Comments: </b>While this one has fun with Homer's ideas about college and studying, since it's focused at the college level, there is less here for future public school teachers.</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white;">"The PTA Disbands" Bart helps start a teacher's strike, then tries to end it when his mother ends up subbing in his classroom.<br /><b>Comments: </b>The scene featuring Krabappel and Skinner debating over funding for the school in front of the town is priceless, and does a great job of capturing all public funding debates. The larger issues of funding, unions, and conflict between administration and teachers are all relevant, and the scenes featuring other Springfield residents trying to sub for the teachers are hilarious. The "solution" reached at the end is priceless.</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white;">"Lisa Gets an 'A'" Lisa discovers the joys of procrastination, and, in a panic, turns to cheating. But when her high score gets the school additional funding, she feels the need to come clean.<br /><b>Comments: </b>This episode covers cheating, use of student scores to measure school performance, and funding of schools. </span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white;">"The President Wore Pearls" Loosely a parody of<i> Evita</i>, with Lisa playing the starring role running for (and winning) as school body president.<br /><b>Comments: </b>Although a fun episode which does briefly deal with issues of student power and with the cutting of classes like art and music, I'm not sure there's really much here that would generate discussion among future educators. </span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white;">"The Monkey Suit" Springfield outlaws the teaching of evolution, and a Scopes-like trial ensues when Lisa is arrested for trying to keep it alive.<br /><b>Comments: </b>Possibly a fun way to introduce the difficulty science teachers (and others) may have with some topics, including evolution.</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white;">"Girls Just Want to Have Sums" Springfield separates boys and girls math classes, but Lisa finds the "girls" math class unchallenging and sneaks into the boys class.<br /><b>Comments:</b> Single sex education is a big topic these days, and the way the school handled "girls" and "boys" math classes is indicative of common superficial approaches to closing the gender gap. (And I refer you to <a href="http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=1962">this comic</a>, which makes the point perfectly.) </span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white;">"Little Girl in the Big Ten" Lisa ends up being mistaken for, then impersonating, a college student.<br /><b>Comments: </b>There is some good material here about smart students and the problem of "fitting in" with their peers.</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white;">"Bart Gets a 'Z'" Bart conspires to get his teacher fired, then feels guilty. A "hip" young teacher replaces her, making heavy use of technology and entrancing the students with his "coolness."<br /><b>Comments: </b>There is an opening montage showing Ms. Krabappel getting ready for school which is a priceless (and enormously human) commentary on teacher burnout. The episode spoofs a lot of educational fads centered around overuse of technology, and the "too cool for school" teachers who try too hard to bedazzle their students.</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
TMWAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04664163604820340653noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15112881.post-58355331511236247812012-07-06T16:11:00.001-04:002013-01-22T00:36:37.002-05:00Xanadu, (Past) House of the FutureWhile looking through some lost Florida roadside attractions (at the nifty <a href="http://www.lostparks.com/">http://www.lostparks.com/</a>), I ran across
"Xanadu, Home of the Future." Built using foam insulation sprayed
inside balloons and using computers to control everything from
lighting and windows to security and heating, this tourist attraction in
Kissimmee (near Disney World) had sister houses in Wisconsin and
Tennessee. It was supposed to be a model for houses in the future. Now, the houses are all shut down and demolished. The Kissimmee
house went last, closing in 1996 and torn down in 2005. In between,
someone visited the dilapidated ex-house-of-the-future and recorded the
state of the site. Attached below is the first of a five part YouTube
series exploring the decaying remains of the house.<br />
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After watching this urban explorer check out the end of the house, I
also found this video from the 1980s, showing a documentary of sorts
about the "House of the Future" at its prime:</div>
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It's kind of a cool design. I actually like some of the architecture, like the big central room with the tree, fountain, and balcony. The upstairs rooms are are way too small, and I think no one thought through the idea of having these be for children: Children will eventually <i>grow up</i> and no longer fit in these rooms, but we hope the house will last more than one generation. (Not that it appears to have survived very well.) I <i>did</i> like the upstairs balcony 'though, and I love the master bath with hot tub and multi-directional shower.<br />
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I appreciate the computer control of the house, and I actually wonder why we don't see more of this in contemporary design. As I try to maintain the temperature in my central-air-lacking apartment by raising and lowering blinds and windows, I've often thought that a computer-controlled system could optimize this much better (and more easily) than I can. It would also fix the dilemma I have in the summer, where I want to leave my bedroom windows open at night to let the place cool off, but end up having to get up at (literally) the crack of dawn to close them again so I can keep the light out. This appears to be part of what Xanadu's computers actually did. Maybe someday.<br />
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Anyway here's a bit more history about Xanadu at <a href="http://www.lostparks.com/xanadu.html">Lost Parks: Xanadu, Home of the Future</a>, <a href="http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/32774">Roadside America: The Last of the Xanadus</a>, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xanadu_Houses">Wikipedia: Xanadu Houses</a>, for those who find this as interesting as I did.TMWAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04664163604820340653noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15112881.post-77989096909071789582012-06-20T22:51:00.001-04:002013-01-16T22:30:19.484-05:00A Visit to Splash MountainTwo years ago I went to Disneyland in January, in between the fall and spring semesters. I was passing by on my way to a conference, and it was the second time I went to Disneyland by myself. (By the way, if you are considering going by yourself but are dubious about the idea, as I was the first time, you should <i>totally</i> do it if you have the chance. It's wonderful (and very relaxing) to be on your own schedule to do whatever you want all day long, whether that be sitting on a bench, taking a mid-afternoon nap, or going on "it's a small world" fifty times in a row.)<br />
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It should be mentioned that I don't really like roller coasters, or thrill rides in general. I usually skip most of these when I visit a Disney park, but I had started going on a few in the previous years. Weirdly, I found myself really loving Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (which is a "runaway mine train" genre coaster) during this trip, which is pretty much the last thing I would have expected. So I decided the time was right to try Splash Mountain, which is an ornately themed log flume ride based on characters from the movie <i>Song of the South</i>. (Side Note 1: Of <i>course</i> it's ornately themed; it's at Disneyland. Side Note 2: Despite the fact that Disney introduced this major attraction using characters from the movie, it is <i>still</i> not possible to get this movie on DVD in the US.) The flume ends with a huge drop into the "briar patch". (The huge final drop is of course the reason why I had avoided Splash Mountain in my previous trips.)<br />
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But this trip, I decided to give it a try, and I got into one of the logs one morning. As proof, below are two pictures taken from the top, while the logs were queued up waiting to start down the first (short) drop of the attraction and begin the winding trip leading up to the harrowing conclusion:<br />
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The above picture gives a great view over the park, and has an interesting feature that I didn't notice until later. On the left, you can see the black and gold smokestacks from the steamboat circling the Rivers of America. And <i>just</i> at the top of the rightmost stack, you can actually see the roof of the hotel I was staying at.<br />
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In the second picture (below), we see the row of logs waiting to get through the first gate, because there was a minor holdup (which allowed me to take these pictures of course):<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit9LJNrO7yb1rAt7XcJMIb7d4lB-jAV6IAsrSLFUKR8Nst3VzfqWnoNIlz90KjWaZalusgshgve2S8GAfDkwbv-iA_BfRl96rVlmZeoSG_INxYKYCAGzIDIrSQK93ISLYyhlw5Dw/s1600/SPMAdv1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit9LJNrO7yb1rAt7XcJMIb7d4lB-jAV6IAsrSLFUKR8Nst3VzfqWnoNIlz90KjWaZalusgshgve2S8GAfDkwbv-iA_BfRl96rVlmZeoSG_INxYKYCAGzIDIrSQK93ISLYyhlw5Dw/s320/SPMAdv1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
And finally, below you can see everyone being led out of the logs, and then taken backstage and outside again, because it turned out that the minor holdup turned into a major technical problem, and the ride had to be shut down:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdgPA-cdOl1IoNCUP2pNSZAOuabAtIxWQLbBr2OpZpz1D1bO4o-Zkn8XLqSaZe0mRswNUfadflysyAwEEqqCB31eRa4F44GofHNpCol2qOuuUneZ1I2hJZuWW-Ht3VWD7YAEQYdA/s1600/SPMAdv3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdgPA-cdOl1IoNCUP2pNSZAOuabAtIxWQLbBr2OpZpz1D1bO4o-Zkn8XLqSaZe0mRswNUfadflysyAwEEqqCB31eRa4F44GofHNpCol2qOuuUneZ1I2hJZuWW-Ht3VWD7YAEQYdA/s320/SPMAdv3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
So as it turned out, after psyching myself up to finally go on this attraction to see what it was like, I got up to the top and the ride shut down, leaving me to just walk down in the end. Somewhat anti-climactic I suppose, but perhaps I just wasn't <i>meant</i> to go on this ride.<br />
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Oh, I guess you <i>could </i>count the fact that I went back later in the day for some reason, and actually made it down the big drop, as the picture below attests:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7qFujbrPgkKkVT0TEmOyPnC2UbJeulTqtnD2VuiFZeZFcWfVdczDmjXQpGUDlIxxVDayaMwih-7bUQFQeO0-wZAIG9ewvdF-NQwECpyEQyABNtsicdY4U9dHm0Zri5l6ouajW7g/s1600/SPMAdv7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7qFujbrPgkKkVT0TEmOyPnC2UbJeulTqtnD2VuiFZeZFcWfVdczDmjXQpGUDlIxxVDayaMwih-7bUQFQeO0-wZAIG9ewvdF-NQwECpyEQyABNtsicdY4U9dHm0Zri5l6ouajW7g/s320/SPMAdv7.jpg" width="233" /></a></div>
You can also of course note that this is clearly a picture of <i>me</i> on the attraction, because you can see that when I started down the drop, my eyes are firmly closed and I look prepared for imminent death.<br />
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<br />TMWAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04664163604820340653noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15112881.post-8724713218521748242011-08-21T00:41:00.003-04:002013-01-22T00:40:53.190-05:00Lighted windowsWhen I started grad school, some other new grad students and I walked through campus one night before the undergraduates arrived. The dorms were empty, but clearly being prepped for students to arrive. Some windows were lit. Bunk beds and empty desks peeked out over the sills.
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Every year, I see the students getting ready to move in, and dorms, apartments, and rental houses getting ready to receive them. Living in academia does have a strange cyclical feeling to it. Falls feel like new beginnings, and springs feel like an ending. The end of December is a Pause.
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I see students and families scurrying around near the start of the year, buying pens and sheets, paper and wastebaskets, calculators and cans to stock a new apartment with. I see students moving into dorms every fall, and I'll see them move out in the spring. I'll soon see those lighted windows filled with activity, and I wonder what the stories are inside them when I pass by. I wonder too, who was walking past my lighted windows when I was in school, thinking about my stories?
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At a new beginning like now, it feels like a good life for all involved.
TMWAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04664163604820340653noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15112881.post-20325887892015253352011-05-09T22:22:00.004-04:002013-01-22T01:57:24.476-05:00Flatland and Social CommentaryI've recently finished <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Annotated-Flatland-Romance-Many-Dimensions/dp/0465011233/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1304994191&sr=8-4"><span style="font-style: italic;">The Annotated Flatland</span></a>. <span style="font-style: italic;">Flatland</span> was written in 1884 by Edwin Abbott, and tells the story of "A. Square", an inhabitant of a two-dimensional world called Flatland, who is visited by a three-dimensional sphere. I'd heard of the book before, but hadn't read it. It's fairly famous as a mathematical work which describes ideas about how two-dimensional creatures would perceive three-dimensional objects, and by analogy, how we might perceive the fourth dimension. This semester, one of our better students watched a <a href="http://www.flatlandthemovie.com/">recent movie</a> made from the book and was fairly excited by it. It led to a conversation with another faculty member who said she'd attempted to read the book, but had found it so sexist she couldn't stomach it. It turns out that the book's treatment of women is a point of contention for a number of people.<br />
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The book describes a two-dimensional universe with a strict class structure. All males are polygons of various sorts, ranging from the lowest ranked isosceles triangles with one very small angle, followed by triangles, then squares, then so on up higher and higher order regular polygons. (Irregular polygons are considered immoral, and are shunned, imprisoned, or executed.) At the top of the social order are high degree polygons called "circles", who are the elite priest class of the society. Women are only line segments, and are considered incapable of thought and essentially worthless.<br />
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So the story <span style="font-style: italic;">does</span> describe a fundamentally sexist (and horribly class structured) world. (It's worth noting that the strict class distinctions have a strong affect on the male inhabitants, too. The isosceles triangles with very small angles are considered mentally deficient and are caged in schools for the young to practice "feeling" angles on. Isosceles triangles with larger angles are only allowed low-ranked jobs, and equilateral polygons are ranked on the social hierarchy by the number sides they have, with the most honored jobs reserved for those with a large number of sides and large angles.)<br />
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So was Abbott a wretched sexist and classist? As it turns out, <span style="font-style: italic;">no</span>; Abbott was in fact fairly progressive for his time, and in fact argued for the education of women at a time when many believed (as the Flatlanders did) that women were incapable of education or of rational thought. What he wrote was in fact a <span style="font-style: italic;">critique</span> of common attitudes toward women, the disabled, and the class structure. At the time, it would have been a thinly veiled satire of Victorian social norms, although apparently there is some evidence that even at the time, some people did not get that he was making fun of, rather than encouraging, those attitudes. (Which means that <span style="font-style: italic;">Flatland</span> may in fact be a 19th century example of <a href="http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Poe%27s_Law">Poe's Law</a>.) Of course, by the 20th and 21st century we are far removed from Victorian social mores, and it makes it hard to recognize this as a satire when the social context has been removed. Instead, it ends up looking horrifically retrograde. Once read with the idea of a satire in mind, however, it becomes remarkably clear. In fact, there are occasional clues in the text that the line segments are more intelligent than A. Square (or the rest of Flatland) credits them with being.<br />
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Interestingly, the movie altered the story to remove the sexist elements. The protagonist's grandson (a hexagon) is recast as a hexagonal<span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"> </span></span>grand<span style="font-style: italic;">daughter</span>, Hex; women are no longer represented as line segments or considered unworthy of education. However, the class structure of the original is preserved. Perhaps we are more able to recognize the critique of class than of gender. The movie is also given a happier ending; through the intervention of the three dimensional visitor, the Flatlanders come to understand the reality of the third dimension (and the fourth is hinted at), and it is implied that the class structure dominated by the circles is being overthrown at the end.<br />
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So what about this movie alternative? The social critique has been altered. The critiques of class and orthodoxy remain. The idea of truth--as revealed by reason and observation--taking priority over authority, is a familiar (and needed) social criticism for our culture, but isn't far from Abbott's original text. The removal of the gender dimension (ahem) might be wise, since a careful recasting of the story to satirize our own prejudices might be more difficult, and require more time than the movie allowed. Our contemporary approaches to sexism have become more refined and less crudely stated, and exposing these may require different tools than Abbott used. So perhaps the movie is a good "translation" into modern language of some of what Abbott intended, without being literal.<br />
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Plus, the graphics are pretty cool.TMWAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04664163604820340653noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15112881.post-45763421990183636102010-10-24T12:30:00.002-04:002010-10-24T12:38:09.378-04:00New Vegetarian RestaurantWe have a new restaurant in town, a vegetarian place which (apparently) moved down from Erie. I went to the grand opening with a few folks from the department this past week.<br /><br />I was excited about, but the actual experience left me underwhelmed. The food was good, but it was basically all just standard sandwiches of some sort with the meat replaced with fake meat. So you can get a variety of veggie burgers, or a tofurkey club with tempeh bacon, and so forth. I can see why this would appeal to a vegetarian, but as a non-vegetarian, if I want a burger or a turkey club, I'll just go <span style="font-style: italic;">get</span> a burger or a turkey club. <br /><br />It's a college town, so there might be enough vegetarians to keep it running, but I don't think this is getting added to my rotation. I'm generally interested in more creative vegetarian options.TMWAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04664163604820340653noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15112881.post-23875474344101348952010-10-15T21:20:00.002-04:002013-01-22T00:40:34.960-05:00The AntiphanyI'd like to coin the term "antiphany" or anti-epiphany. It represents a sudden insight or understanding which is not in any way transcendent, but in fact horrible and gut wrenching. A moment in which you put the pieces together, and feel not enlightened, but as though you understand how much you've missed, and that things are much worse than you ever thought. Not just when you feel your stomach drop, but when you know it just entered the express elevator to hell.<br />
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I've had two this week.<br />
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The lesser was a simple matter of realizing how little success my precalculus students ever seemed to have in understanding transformations of graphs. I thought about the fact that none but the best ever understood this topic very well, and that perhaps a tiny percentage of those going on to calculus would understand or remember virtually any of this. And I thought about episodes in my calculus classes when I would casually, as an aside, mention how some particular result could be viewed in terms of transformations of graphs. Calculus is filled with lovely insights which blend the tools of geometry and the tools of algebra. In many ways, calculus <span style="font-style: italic;">is</span> the blending of geometry and algebra. Analytic geometry makes calculus <span style="font-style: italic;">possible</span>. So I try to share these insights with my students whenever possible. I try to point out the wonderful connections which seemed so magical and delightful to me when I first studied calculus (and which I still find magical and delightful, truth be told). And I thought about how little my precalculus students understood about transformations, just one semester before they might enter my calculus course.<br />
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And then... Antiphany. My calculus students don't have the foggiest idea what I'm talking about when I share those insights, do they? They're missing a basic facility with graphs and functions to be able to hear anything other than an impenetrable wall of words, and without that basic facility, there is no way they <span style="font-style: italic;">can</span> hear it. Unless they are able to grasp the basic facts of analytic geometry intuitively, they can't hear an insight about those facts.<br />
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The second antiphany was an odder moment, and much worse. Without going into detail, it was the sudden understanding, in a brief revelation, that one project I've been working on for a few years was doomed from the beginning. The effort had generated stress and frustration for me (and for others), and I hadn't been able to succeed. I'd had to deal with the effects of the failure, and keep struggling to try to <span style="font-style: italic;">make</span> it succeed, and then in a single moment, I saw why success was impossible. I had in fact been sabotaged before I ever started, without knowing it. And I found out how I'd been sabotaged, all at once. I could see the past few years flushed down the toilet, wasted effort worrying about trying to push the damned rock up the hill when it kept being shoved back down from the other side.<br />
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Antiphany. It's a good word, even if I did make it up.<br />
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(By the way, a brief Google search turns up some previous coinages of <a href="http://www.pseudodictionary.com/antiphany">antiphany</a>, based on the same idea of an anti-epiphany. But I intend a somewhat different meaning.)TMWAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04664163604820340653noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15112881.post-90510318620766761462010-09-14T20:49:00.002-04:002013-01-22T00:35:45.009-05:00Ponderings on GeometryAt a conference this summer I saw an interesting invited talk about teaching geometry. The speaker discussed some of the historical challenges to Euclidean geometry, and discussed how these were eventually overcome. The problem for schools being that while mathematicians like Hilbert managed to fill in all the gaps left by Euclid, the resulting geometry was very complex. It took a great deal of work to get from the axioms up to the interesting Euclidean results. In fact it took too long for a single year high school course to even get to the <span style="font-style: italic;">beginning</span> of Euclidean geometry. As a result, the speaker claimed, most high schools eliminated axiomatic and proof-based geometry from the curriculum, replacing it with practical, computational geometry only. (He went on to detail a new approach, which allows a more rigorous approach to Euclid's geometry in a high school without starting from scratch, and using a book which is designed to be used in an inquiry based class. It looks fascinating, and I'm hoping to teach a class based on this book soon, but that's a digression.)<br />
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What caught me off guard was his statement that rigorous axiomatic approaches to geometry using proofs had been all but eliminated from most public high schools due to difficulty dealing with the challenges to Euclid. I had to wonder, was this actually <span style="font-style: italic;">true</span>? I certainly had a proof based and axiomatic geometry in high school, and that was... ok, a little over twenty years ago. (Geez I feel old now.) And while my high school was mostly fine, it wasn't really an elite school. (When I taught an analysis class, I actually used several problems phrased in the form: "My high school calculus teacher said <span style="font-style: italic;">___. </span>Prove rigorously that he was wrong.") So had schools actually eliminated proofs from geometry since I had taken it? Or had my school been an odd stand out for not eliminating it?<br /><br />Tonight I was about to start a geometry unit with a class. I asked the students for a show of hands of how many people remembered doing ruler and compass constructions. Less than a third--and maybe less than a quarter--raised their hands. Now I know from experience that some of the students may very well have seen constructions and just have forgotten everything five minutes later. But still, it seems that a number actually <span style="font-style: italic;">didn't</span> do constructions. And I'm inclined to think that if they didn't do any constructions, they probably didn't do any proofs, although I could be wrong on this. (And of course some may have done constructions but not proofs.) So maybe the summer speaker was right, and axiomatic geometry is mostly gone.<br /><br />But I question his reasoning about <span style="font-style: italic;">why</span> the proofs are gone. He believed it to be because it proved too difficult to fill the gaps found in Euclid. I can't imagine boards of education, state legislatures and such largely care--or even know--about that. My first suspicion was that someone, somewhere decided it was "too hard", or that students just couldn't do it, and replaced it with other things.<br /><br />But why too hard? Abstract reasoning and logic <span style="font-style: italic;">is</span> hard, but given time and effort, most people can make progress. Ah, but there's the problem: <span style="font-style: italic;">Time</span>. To do a good job with a class about proofs, it takes <span style="font-style: italic;">time spent</span> working on problems, trying ideas, failing, and trying again. Learning to reason is a long and difficult process. And curriculum tends to fill up with all sorts of nonsense as everyone and their dog proposes new lists of things that "everybody" ought to know. Most of those things are lists of facts and formulas. I can almost hear the litany start for a geometry class: "Students must be able to give the formula for the area of a circle, a semicircle, a rectangle, a square, a triangle, a trapezoid, a parallelogram, a rhombus; Students must be able to find the perimeter of a circle, a rectangle, a square, a triangle, a trapezoid, a parallelogram, a rhombus..." (And it's worth noting that the only really interesting things in the list I just gave are probably the area of the circle and the rectangle, and perimeter of a circle. The rest should be easily derivable from some good geometric <span style="font-style: italic;">thinking</span>. But the students will instead be given a list of formulas to memorize.)<br /><br />We add and add to curriculum, and nothing is ever taken out. We add numerical approximations and work with computers. We add calculators, then graphing calculators, then geometry software. We add three dimensional shapes, and trigonometric functions, and whatever else anyone can think of because ... well, because someone else happened to remember it and thought it would show how rigorous we were being if the list of things for students to know was <span style="font-style: italic;">really long</span>. (It should be noted that I am <span style="font-style: italic;">not</span> opposed to <span style="font-style: italic;">any</span> of these topics in high school math classes. But we must recognize that we cannot do <span style="font-style: italic;">every </span>possible topic all at once.)<br /><br />But a long list of topics is not rigor. That's just memorizing a bunch of stuff. Take any of those topics and spend some time with the students doing a long and careful analysis of some challenging problems, and you'd have a recipe for a great math class. The central questions will always be the following: What do you think is true? How do you know that? Why? Is this like anything we have done before? Can we generalize this result?<br /><br />All of this of course misses the biggest elephant in the room as to why high school math has dropped most reasoning and replaced it with lists of tasks and formulas: It's very easy to write a statewide multiple-choice test which to see if students can choose the formula for the area of a circle. It's very difficult (or perhaps impossible) to write a state-wide multiple choice test which determines how skilled students are at reasoning and solving complex problems. But I'd much prefer a student who can work out how to find the area of a trapezoid based on what she already knows than one who has only memorized the formula. I regularly have students who have memorized a formula corresponding to a figure, but can't figure out if it's the formula for the area or the perimeter. (When I ask how to find the area of a circle, I can guarantee about half the class will respond "2 pi r.")<br /><br />And I'd really love to have students who learned enough reasoning to write proofs in their geometry class, but apparently that's rare now. No wonder we have trouble teaching proofs later in college. TMWAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04664163604820340653noreply@blogger.com0