What's Next??

It's been 3 days now since the completion of the 2009 Walt Disney World Half-Marathon, and I'm still enjoying the post-race high. Now that I'm back home in chilly Massachusetts, it's fun to re-live the experience by sharing all the stories, pictures, and souvenirs with friends and family. I'll post more on the actual race and the week in general in a future post. The question I want to answer now is, "What's next?"

Jonathan announced some big news about his "What's Next." John Corigliano (sp?) announced his "What's Next." Rae, Deb, Chris, & Matt have all shared with my their plans for their "What's Next."

So what's next for me?? The short answer is...something. I don't have any specific plans for another race, but I know there will be one.

Before this past weekend I saw the Disney Half-Marathon as a finish line. An end goal to a long journey of self-betterment. But something changed during my week in "The World." I saw an amazing cross section of people challenging themselves to be better. Some were slim and fast, others were Pooh sized and slow moving. Some were young, some were old. Some were agile, others were dealing with injury. But everyone was doing it...and I was doing it!! Every time I crossed a mile marker along the way, I really felt a little euphoria at knowing that I was getting closer and closer to a goal I had been working toward for over a year, and when I crossed the finish line and saw all the other Team Voice members who had finished, I felt a true high. Now...I want more. I want that feeling again, and what's stopping me from getting it?? Nothing!! The line at the end of the half-marathon wasn't a finish line...it was starting line.

Like I said, I don't have any immediate plans for another race, but I'm going to continue to train and continue to move towards a healthier me...and with Team Voice pushing me along through cyber space, there is nothing that can stop me.

January 11th

Down the street from me lives this nutty professor, Dr. Brown. I was taking his dog, Einstein, for a walk yesterday when the leash slipped out of my hand and he took off toward an old garage on Dr. Brown's property. Einstein slipped into a slightly open door and out of sight. As I entered the garage I found Einstein, but more importantly, I found an old Dolorean covered up with a tarp.

Being the car nut that I am, I decided to take it for a little test drive. It was a very smooth ride, and befor I knew it I was hitting 88 miles per hour. I thought I was being pulled over by the police as I saw some flashing blue lights, or mybe they were sparks. Next thing I know, I'm in the parking lot of the Magic Kingdom and it's January 11th. Judging by the look of things, it was a very good January 10th. I was able to snag a video tape from a local news crew that was doing a story on a very special event taking place at "The World." They were honoring a very special person who has inspired many along the way. Please take a look at the video. I think you'll enjoy it.

Christmas Lights

Excuse me while I opine about Christmas Lights. As I drove home the other night I thought to myself; "what are some people thinking when they make the very important decision as to what kind of exterior illumination the will subscribe to during this most holy of seasons??"

When it comes to Christams Lights, I feel that there are certain rules that must be subscribed to:

Rule #1 THEY ARE CHRISTMAS LIGHTS NOT HOLIDAY LIGHTS!!
I could write a 5 page post just on this topic, but I will summarize my position here by noting that if you celebrate Hanukkah, you have Hanukkah lights...if you celebrate Kwanza, you have Kwanza lights...I celebrate Christmas, therefore I have Christmas lights.

Rule #2 PICK A THEME AND STICK TO IT!!
There are two options here; white and multicolored. A strand of all blue, all red, all green, etc...is not acceptable. If you decide to go with all white lights...that is classy and regal. If you decide to go with multicolored lights...that is fun and traditional. If you mix the two, side by side...you're and idiot.

Rule #3 CANDLES CAN ONLY BE WHITE!!
If you have candles in your window, they must be white. Red candles are scary, anything else is weird.

Rule #4 NO L.E.D.'s!!
Unless you have a scale model of Cinderella's Castle in your yard and it is covered in such a way to give the impression of a snow covered castle, dont' use LED's. They are immediately obvious and offensive to the eye. Technology is not always a good thing.

Rule #5 BLINKING LIGHTS ARE A CREATION OF THE DEVIL!!
Unless you want to see if that annoying neighbor really does have epilepsy...don't use blinking lights. The different strands almost never blink in sync and they drive me friggin' nuts. *Note* The one exception to this rule is if you have your lights syncronized to some kind of Christmas musical score. That is cool!!





Rule #6 THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS TOO MANY LIGHTS!!
If you are in compliance with rules 1-5 know that the more the merrier!! Just ask Clark W. Griswold and his, "250 strands of lights, 100 individual bulbs per strand for a grand total of 25,000 imported Italian twinkle lights."




Merry Christmas Everyone!!!

Toon Disney??

Ok, so maybe this belongs over on the rant blog, but it's not political in nature. It's Disney in nature.

How did Toon Disney get it's name??

According to Wikepedia: "Toon Disney is a 24-hour American cable television channel owned by The Walt Disney Company that mostly airs children's animated television series. The network debuted April 18, 1998 (the date may have been chosen to commemorate Disney Channel's 15th anniversary). A spin-off of Disney Channel, Toon Disney shows children's cartoons 24 hours a day (except for minimal live action programming)..."

I take exception to that description. As I'm scrolling through the channels, trying to figure out what Christmas movie to have on in the background while decorating the Christmas tree, I stumble across "Toon" Disney. I notice...it's not very "toonish." Here is the upcoming schedule: Right now is Adventures of Shark Boy and Lava Girl (Live Action Movie), from 7 p.m. to 8:00 a.m. tomorrow it's Suite Life of Zach and Cody (Live Action Series), yes 13 hours straight. At 8:00 a.m. we get two hours of Pocahontas II, followed by American Dragon Jake Long (Animated Series). Then at 10:30 it's 4 more hours of Zach and Cody. A brief reprieve with Emperor's New Groove (Animated Movie), then right back into Zach and Cody for 15 hours!!!!

So my question is...when did Toon Disney become the Zach and Cody Channel?? Now I understand that sometimes you get these marathons in order to promote a particular show, but this is a bit much.

Overall, I have always been unimpressed with the direction the Disney Corporation has gone with Toon Disney. I understand that I'm not their target audience, but I could be. They claim to be after the 2-11 year old's with a 7-13 year old audience in the evening, but I don't know a lot of either age category that is watching after 9:00 or 10:00 at night. Why not show some old school cartoons from 10:00 p.m. until 4:00 a.m. I'm sure people smarter than me have done tons of market research and found that Oban Star Racers, Shinzo, and Gargoyles plays to a wider audience during these hours, but it's just painful. To think that a channel exists, supposedly dedicated to Disney Animation, and you can't find any of what put them on the map...it's depressing.

Am I alone on this one???

Quick Hello

Just wanted to write a quick post to let everyone know I'm still here. Thanks to Mike and Matt for asking. Training is moving along. I'm hoping to get in an 8 mile run next weekend and then a 12 mile the weekend after. Probably 1 more real long run (10-12 miles) some point after that, then it will be time to start winding down a little. I can't believe we are getting so close to race day. It truly is going to be exciting to meet everyone face-to-face, and accomplish a common goal, together. It's good to see everyone else doing well. I'm determined to post more often in this last surge to race day. I don't want to get down there and have everyone say, "who are you again?" "Oh yeah, you used to post, right?"

I made it back in one piece....phew!!!

I made it back...I'm not quite sure, but I made it back. I can't believe I was there for 8 days. It only seemed like a few hours. Ok, maybe I should start from the beginning and explain.

Last week, the 17th to be exact, I was simply checking my e-mail when I saw something interesting in my inbox. It was an e-mail from Jeff W. Not any ordinary e-mail, but one with an interesting audio attachment. As I read through the e-mail, the instructions specifically said, "So following your run and while your cooling down join Mickey, Donald, and Goofy as they play ghost buster to some bothersome spooks on my audio overlay of the Tower of Terror."

Now I've always been a bit of an impatient person and I thought to myself, "Why wait until you're done?? It can't hurt to get a little sneak peak of Jeff's most recent contribution. I'll listen to it while warming up and stretching before my run." Looking back on it I realize...this was a mistake.

I put my i-pod on and hit play as I begin to stretch out my hamstrings, then suddenly, I hear a loud pop and everything goes black. As I begin to come to I hear a ringing in my ear and I realize that it's a telephone. I still can't see a thing, so I begin to feel around. Suddenly, I realize that I'm in a closet and the telephone is on the other side of the door. Slowly I open the door and to my surprise I see Mickey, Donald, and Goofy wrestling to answer it. "Oh my god...I'm in the Ajax Ghost Exterminator's office...and I'm in Technicolor!!!!"

As I try to figure out how this could have possibly happened, I hear a loud booming voice come out of nowhere. Is that Rod Serling?? "You unlock this door with the key of imagination. Beyond it is another dimension - a dimension of sound, a dimension of sight, a dimension of mind. You're moving into a land of both shadow and substance, of things and ideas. You've just crossed over into the Twilight Zone." Yup...it's Rod Serling.

"Who are you??" inquires Goofy.

"I....I...I'm Heath." Is all I can mutter.

"Great. Nice to meet ya Heath. We could use some help on this job we just got," says Mickey.

"Wanna come?" asks Donald.

"Sure...why not?"

Off we go in the Ajax Ghost Exterminating mobile. As the van pulls up to a decrepit old house, I start to get a little nervous. We head inside and I accompany Donald to the second floor. We both start to hear strange noises, but can't find a source. After nosing around for a few minutes I see Donald suddenly start shadow boxing, but I don't' see what he's swinging at. Realizing that things are starting to get strange I decide it's time to head for the hills. As I head down the hall to make my way to the stairs I run into Goofy wrestling with a dresser, and he's blocking the stairway. I quickly look for an alternate means of escape and I spot a rickety old service elevator.

This was probably not a great decision either, but hey...I was desperate. I jump into the elevator and hit L for lobby. Now from the outside this house certainly looked to be only 2 stories...but in the twilight zone...anythings possible. The elevator shoots up about 75 feet, then comes crashing down, stopping just before making impact with the ground level.

I'm now completely freaked out and frantically looking for an exit when I spot what appears to be three gooey white ghosts. (I don't realize at the time that it is actually three very sticky ghost exterminators covered in molasses and flour.) This puts a little giddy up in my step and now I'm off and running, out the door and down the street. I find myself heading down the street and right back into town. I don't slow down until I find myself back at the Ajax office. It was a full 8.25 miles, and I made the trip in an hour and fifty-seven minutes.

As I enter the office, Mickey, Donald, and Goofy are back already and cleaning up from their messy endeavor. They explain what happened and thank me for my help. (Did I help?) They ask me if I need a drink after that long run back to the office. I gratefully accept a tug off of their bottle of Iowa's Finest Corn Whiskey. As I knock it back I hear another loud pop and again...everything goes black.

I come to and I realize that I'm laying at the foot of my driveway. What happened?? Did I electrocute myself with my i-pod?? Did I get hit by a car?? A quick self-survey shows that all limbs are in place and I feel fine. Maybe I just fainted?? As I get to my feet, the mail man pulls up and hands me today's mail. October 25th???? But it's October 17th...isn't it??? How did I lose 8 days?? It was all a dream right?? As I turn to walk up the driveway I see the empty bottle of corn whiskey feet. Wow...did I really just make it back from....the twilight zone!?!?!?!?

Disney Expert??

At what point did I become a "Disney Expert?"

Last night I found myself watching Monday Night Football, praying that Santonio Holmes catch at least one touchdown (sorry...fantasy football fanatic). As I was screaming at the television, the phone rang, and it was my wife calling from work. "Damn it...I'm in the middle of something here. What's she thinking calling me now?"

"Hi hun. There's a woman here at work who's going to Disney right after Thanksgiving and she needs some advice."

My wife's a genius. She finds the one thing that would distract me from football....Disney talk. Anyway, she explains to me that one of her co-workers is headed to Disney and she is looking for advice on dining. After explaining that she should have been thinking about this 4 months ago, I launched into 20 questions. How many people? How many kids? What kind of food do they like? Are they on the Disney Dining Plan? How much time do they want to spend eating?

20 minutes later, I had waxed poetic on everything from, not burning table service credits on kids meals, to the best places to go for a romantic night for the adults only. I even found myself giving some insight into the babysitting services offered.

Where did this info come from? 2 years ago I could have given a limited number of restaurant reviews based on personal experience, but now I feel like I can speak intelligently on a wide gamut of Disney related subjects, whether I've personally experienced them or not.

I have to give credit to the variety of podcasts and blogs that I ingest on a weekly basis. Being steeped in Disney has somehow transferred me into the resident expert for friends and family. I guess if I ever decide to abandon my current profession, I could go crawling to Main Street Travel Co. looking for a job.

Who else has turned into the go-to person for all things Disney?? I know I'm not the only one.