Walt Disney World 2012: Epcot
Thursday, May 3rd, 2012
The week had finally arrived for the big family Walt Disney World trip, partially courtesy of my Mom and Grandpa Murphy, whose inheritance provided some funds to supplement our park tickets. I think you all know how I treasure my vacations, so I wasn’t all that thrilled to be wasting a Saturday when we could have begun our trip on that day. But truth be told, it was nice to have a full day to tie up some loose ends, and get packed and ready for the week-long adventure. I was able to get to sleep at a fairly decent hour, especially considering that at 3:30am on the morning of Sunday, April 15, 2012, my alarm would be going off and I would be getting ready for the awesome travels ahead. Read the rest of this entry »
I recently began an initiative of watching the highest rated critically acclaimed movies of all-time and this includes many foreign films, where my knowledge is considerably lacking. Thus far, my favorite of the overseas offerings has been Federico Fellini’s 8½. It is a film that is intensely difficult to describe, since the purpose of the film is not really to tell a story but to overpower you with the dazzling images of people, places, and things that Fellini committed to film. One of those people in the film was actress Barbara Steele. 
Even though I’m the consummate Superman fan, I must admit that I have yet to work my way through the four seasons of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. (Mind you, the DVDs are all sitting in my basement ready to be watched – and will be soon). Even still, when I learned that Tracy Scoggins was going to be present at the Hollywood Show on April 2, 2011, I had this nagging feeling that I knew her from something non-Superman related. 
Slipping in between the immensely popular Pulp Fiction and the Kill Bill duology, was a the more subdued and subtle Quentin Tarentino film Jackie Brown. Not quite as impactful as its surrounding sister films, it is nonetheless a masterwork that I enjoy tremendously. One cool aspect of the film is that Tarentino chose the largely forgotten Pam Grier for the lead title role. She wasn’t exactly out of the business at that point, but had been appearing in minor roles in such films as Mars Attacks!, Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey, and Above the Law. 
Following the Easter holiday, my focus was mostly on getting prepared for my upcoming trip; there was a lot of grass cutting, laundry folding, finding autographs, searching out DD&Ds and movie locations, getting slightly ahead on this here website, uploading CDs, visiting the library, and getting Mindy and her daughter Taylor prepped to take care of Tiny and Baby. So with the lone exception of having lunch at Chick-fil-A with Mom on Thursday the 12th, this was aobut all that I did with my week.