In Other Theme Park News...

Potterworld.

It's no joke. I just can't believe it's taken this long. I guess with the last book coming out in July (weeee!) and the end of the movies in sight, they want to prolong the magic (read $$$). My only question is why the hell would you put it in Florida? Nothing about Florida is reminiscent of England.

More info: http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2007250210,00.html

I Miss Disneyland Already

I already want to go back. Five solid days of Disney and I am having serious withdrawals. Derek, Michael, and I had too much fun. The weather was perfect. The first few days were a bit chilly, especially once drenched on Splash Mountain, and the guys had to break down and buy sweatshirts. Then it turned sunny and warm with a cool breeze and we couldn't have been happier.

We were at the park at opening everyday and were sad to leave it at night. We hit up the Tower of Terror, California Screamin', Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, and Pirate's of the Caribbean at least twice a day each.

Michael even wore a sport camera and tapped a few of the rides so we can relive them now that we are back home. You will not believe the quality of the video. I was shocked. I kept busy taking pictures that I hope will tide me over until the next visit... 551 photos to be precise. Granted a lot of them are of lanterns, but that's another story.

There were a whole lot more kids there than we thought. Turns out, in southern California every kids group and graduation party (girl scouts, boy scouts, youth outreach, kindergarten, 6th grade, 8th grade, 12th grade) you can think of goes to Disneyland to celebrate. I don't mind kids in small doses, but when they are let loose into a theme park all they do is talk about stupid crap really loud, try to show eachother just how "cool" they are, and generally get in my way and piss me off. Now I know not to go anywhere near the park at the end of May.


I'm going to try and get the photos organized and into a slideshow format for my iPod so I can plug it into a TV at a moments notice. You want to see the pictures and hear the stories just give me a call.

Disneyland is too far away.

Swarley Lives!

You don't know Swarley? What the hell is wrong with you?! Swarley A.K.A. Barney Stinson (brilliantly played by Neil Patrick Harris) is one of the funniest characters on television, with some of the most memorable lines. You doubt me? Here are some examples:

1. This is going to be legen… Wait for it! I hope you're not lactose intolerant because the last word is… dary!"
2. "That's because she did porn… wait for it… ography."
3. "Asking someone to come see your play is like asking them for a ride to the airport or to crash on the couch or to help you move. Call a cab, book a room, hire some movers. Friends don't let friends come see their crappy play!"
4. "Excuse me miss, you dropped something -- your jaw."
5. “You look so classy and nice, you're gonna stick out like a sore thumb. Have you seen how the kids are dressing these days. With the Ashley and the Lindsay and the Paris. They all dress like strippers. It's, ‘Go ho or go home.’”6. “You’ll be at home with the kid, while I’m out awesoming.”
7. And we can’t forget the many variations of “Suit Up!”… Snowsuit Up! Flightsuit Up! Birthday Suit Up! Slut Up!
8. “One of the 24 similarities between women and fish are they're both attracted to shiny objects. Don't you ever read my blog?”

This is the point where you go to his blog and read all the awesomeness. Why all the love for Swarley? Because CBS picked up ‘How I Met Your Mother’ for another season… yes! New shows CBS added for next year include these train wrecks:

Viva Laughlin: A drama, based on the BBC's Viva Blackpool, is a mystery about a casino owner. It's also a musical (you heard me right) produced by Hugh Jackman.

Moonlight: A vampire detective. -- Seriously.

Swingtown: About a town of swingers. -- Wow.

Oy vey!

The Greatest Show You Didn't Watch

Here are five reasons why NBC sucks:

1. NBC has canceled Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.
2. NBC has canceled Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.
3. NBC has canceled Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.
4. NBC has canceled Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.
5. NBC has canceled Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.

Why do all the shows I love get canceled? Strike that. Why do all the smart shows get canceled?

Now what show am I supposed to obsess over? Ugh! I can't even form a coherent sentence I am so angry. NBC's reason for cancelation is that it is too expensive to make each episode. Not ratings, or lack of studio executive support, but freaking budget reasons. Well here's a solution for you... don't stick it in the crappy Monday at 10pm timeslot and maybe advertisers will pay more for a spot and people will freaking watch it. These people are idiots! Proof of their idiocy is that ER is still on the air and got picked up for another season. They need to give that show a DNR (Do Not Renew).

If you haven't seen the show watch it. It's really good. I have all the episodes on my iPod and have watched them so many times I can't even count. You can get the old episodes from iTunes and you can watch 6 new episodes starting next week. Yeah, you read right. They are airing new episodes after they canceled the show. Talk about a slap in the face.

Among the new NBC shows introduced at this year's upfronts, there are only two that I am looking forward to:

CHUCK — From executive producer, Josh Schwartz (I will watch almost anything from Josh Schwartz. I heart The O.C.) and executive producer-director McG. Chuck is a one-hour, comedic spy thriller about Chuck Bartowski (Zachary Levi) — a computer geek who is catapulted into a new career as the government's most vital secret agent. When Chuck opens an e-mail subliminally encoded with government secrets, he unwittingly downloads an entire server of sensitive data into his brain. Now, the fate of the world lies in the unlikely hands of a guy who works at Buy More. Instead of fighting computer viruses, he must fight assassins and international terrorists. With the government's most precious secrets in Chuck's head, Major John Casey of the NSA assumes the responsibility of protecting him.

THE IT CROWD — Based on the critically acclaimed British comedy, that offers a humorous behind-the-scenes peek at the people who truly keep the office humming. Roy (Joel McHale, The Soup) and Moss (Richard Ayoade, The IT Crowd U.K.) are the misunderstood masters of their high-tech domain, but they lack the people skills to befriend anyone but each other. Their company's head is Denholm, who wants the IT department to stay segregated and forever banished to the basement.

I must thank Kara for introducing me to the brilliance of the original IT Crowd from the UK, it is too funny for words. And I love that they are bringing over the original actor to play Moss.

This year's Upfronts continue on Tuesday with ABC, CBS on Wednesday and the CW and Fox on Thursday. So expect more ranting as the week continues.

Green Babies

I didn't like Shrek, and I didn't like Shrek 2 even more. So I don't anticipate liking Shrek 3 but green babies in the mud are just funny.

Is it me or do kids like the movies more than adults? I am just too creeped out by the lady ogre. I'm okay with dude ogres but for some reason the lady ogres creep me out.

Connect Four

This ranks right up there with inflatable Monopoly. I support the notion that things are usually more fun when they are tiny, but look at giant Connect Four. That would only be cooler if it was as tall as the house and you needed a ladder to reach the top. I wonder how much lumber it would take to build that?