Merry Christmas!

Took this picture last Saturday at Disneyland. Genevieve and I actually visited Disneyland twice in the last couple of weeks. On the 11th she was supposed to have had her office party -- on a cruise boat out of Long Beach. The traffic was dismal and we were running 20 minutes late -- and Long Beach was engulfed in such a thick fog we couldn't even see the docks. G parked and I went off to find our vessel -- which I eventually did -- just as it was giving a hearty "toot toot!"
and pulling out of the harbor. We drove about 15 minutes to Disneyland instead and had a nice supper at Brennan's Jazz Kitchen, got lucky and hopped on Haunted Mansion Holiday and saw the holiday fireworks and the snow (yes, they make it snow).

Last Saturday we went down again for the whole day and evening -- something we hadn't done in a few months. It was a beautiful, beautiful day and the park looks so wonderful with all the Christmas decorations. The castle has been totally repainted and shined up for the park's 50th anniversary next year, and many other refurbishments have been done -- it looks better than it did even a year ago, by far.

I only went on 3 rides. We were really there just to walk around, enjoy the atmosphere, people-watch, have a little lunch, etc. That's the great thing about having our annual passports. Totally takes all the pressure off our visits, and we can really enjoy them, even at extremely crowded times such as the Christmas holidays. Not to mention, for one annual moderate expense we can always do something fun all year, even if we're broke!

Sleeping Beauty Castle by day and by sunset (the colors looked especially fantastic at sunset, not well captured here by my cheesy cellphone-cam):




Main Street, alive with lights as the sun went down:



I picked up a Mickey Santa hat to get in the mood.



So that was the 18th. On the 19th I had a wedding to go to -- one of my fellow AFI students. It was a lovely and very ornate ceremony up in the mountains. I left mid-afternoon.

Later that day I had a chance to visit Walt Disney's barn. Now this might not seem very impressive to you, but Walt Disney is a big hero of mine. I have always been impressed and motivated by his persistence in the face of being told "it can't be done" when it came to virtually every important accomplishment of his life, from sound cartoons to Snow White (click the link for a fascinating article on the importance of Walt's persistence in making it) to Disneyland -- not to mention his enormous curiosity and creativity. Well, when Walt lived in the Holmby Hills on Carolwood Drive he had a large-scale steam train layout in his yard, called the Carolwood Pacific, complete with tunnels, bridges, the whole deal.



You can find out more about Walt's hobby at the website for the Carolwood Pacific Historical Society (I'm a member). The CPHS in association with the Disney family rescued an old barn from demolition on the old Carolwood property. This barn was Walt's workshop.

In a way, the barn was the birthplace of Disneyland and Imagineering. It was here that Walt first had some of his studio hands, accomplished machinists, help him build his steam trains. Walt's interest in trains and his experiments using studio staff to build them led directly to larger projects and eventually to Disneyland (it's a little more complex than that, but that's what the other web pages are for.) Anyhow, the barn was moved to the grounds of Griffith Park and rebuilt exactly, then filled with Walt's railroad memorabilia. It's very exciting to visit it; the site is located on the grounds of LA Live Steamers, a train society that specializes in these large-scale layouts and has several tracks active on the park grounds, giving rides to adults and kids alike each Sunday. On one of those Sundays a month, the CPHS opens the barn and grounds to visitors. It's very exciting to see all Walt's shop tools and train parts up close.





One of the exhibits is Walt's workbench, complete with his tools and parts and plans and the occasional note or two.



Had a chance to speak with CPHS president and founder Michael Broggie, whose father, Roger, was Walt's main guy, train-wise. Roger helped Walt build all his trains and eventually the designer in charge all the theme park railroads and transportation systems. In fact, they named a train after him at Disney World.

So, finally I am on break from school. Phew! A lot of stuff went crazy the last few weeks -- so so so busy. Next term will be even busier! I'll be working on 4 movies, not just 2. And of course baby Jack will be born -- God, I hope he cooperates and doesn't come in the middle of my projects! Yikes!

I must say it is a bit odd getting in the Christmas spirit when it's 70 degrees outside and palm trees are waving in the breeze (which is why going to Disneyland is so nice, what with their obliging habit of providing snowy evenings for us!). Had to really cut down on gifts and such this year, which has also diminshed our holly-jolliness this year. Dropping my salary for school has made life a little more difficult than we had planned. But it is only temporary. Hopefully, I will have a job next summer and part-time work, at least, during school. We knew this first year would be tough. We just weren't expecting a baby in the mix! But -- hey, we are grateful and happy and can weather anything together. We're both well -- though I really need to hit the diet trail hard after the holidays. G is a real trooper with the baby and all, although she does tire a little more easily these days.

Wherever you are -- I hope your holiday season is going well. Drop me a line at laughograms@hotmail.com if you want to be in touch.