Getting to Know I-5 Intimately

Kozumi's Quote of the Week:
"Nobody LIKES you."
--Overheard while passing by the Matterhorn Last saturday, and said w/ much venom and withering hatred (I still have no idea what that conversation was about....)

Father's Day, 2008. My father's best present for Father's Day is to take my sister and I down to Anaheim and hit Disneyland. I can't say why, but I still love going there. S'fun. He loves it too; its a chance for the rest of us to finally unwind and just have fun to chillax and oggle the MILFs (yes, I am not kidding; Mrs. Incredible is HAWT.... J/k....halfway). Family time is one of my greatest treasures, and the yearly Disneyland trip is one of those moments.

So I'm back from vacation to get back to the mundane hustle and bustle of summer life; registering for fall classes, drawing naked people on Mondays and Thursdays (like Sheldon Borenstein says, being an animator makes you a DPN, not a PHD), working, and painting in the free time.

Highlights of Disneyland:

-I-5/Grapevine closed both ways. So California decided it was a swell time to do something to the Grapevine (a narrow stretch of 5 that is in the mountains and occasionally closes in the winter for snow); road work i think. So when we drive up, we get detoured to a side road, going in the opposite direction. I haven't the foggiest of where I am until we hit a crossroad I recognize, then we make the appropriate plans to take one highway to another, some highway that escapes me atm to 58, then 58 to 14, which eventually gets us back to 5 in LA somewhere. Its a 3 hour detour.
But, if I ever take a road trip and we get detoured....well, I know most of the detours by now (this wasn't the first time we've been detoured off 5 to the barren wastelands of "Wherethefuckarewe, California".

-The Finding Nemo ride. The sub ride that has super neat underwater projections. There's a lotta craft in this ride, and ingenuity. Nice and relaxing too, esp. if you stood in line for 2 hours getting on. XD If a Fast Pass booth opens for that ride, I am on it like ugly on a troll.

-Space Mountain on early entry day. Mmmmm, nothing like a 5 minute wait for Space Mountain. So I rode it twice. With my dad. He loves that ride.

-People watching. It was Raver Day on saturday. So young hellions saw it fit to wear pants big enough for homeless people to live under (thank you Dennis Leary), and plastic beads on elastic strings covering every inch of their arms, while assaulting eyes with colors that look like a hi-lighter threw up on them. I didn't even know they had a day. Personally, I think you should go all the way w/ the hair and clothes, but some people got away w/ just millions of plastic beads. Cheating, I says.

-Tower of Terror. The best rides are the ones w/ the people who don't want to be on them in the first place. The girls in front my me and dad had one friend who didn't want to go on, but they dragged her (literally) through the line. I'll bet she screamed her damn head off. XD (didn't get on the same car, unfortunately). When she asked about what happens if the car *does* plummet and malfunction, they told her nothing like that could.
I added that if it did, you'd die instantly so there wasn't anything to worry about.
The look on her face was worth the 3-day park hopper. ^^ Her friends loved it.

-Soarin' Over California. Another ride that's hilarious w/ first timers. An older lady sat next to us and yelled and screamed the whole way....it was pretty funny cuz she really got into it. That's important to having fun.
That and just enjoying yourself in general.

-Fireworks. They just rock. ^^

-So, my dad lost his iPhone on the Indiana Jones ride. Yeah. Not the best place to lose a phone, you know? We realize its missing when he hit Downtown Disney for lunch (tapas, fuck yeah), and while my sister and I freak out, my dad orders his food and....well, chills.
Jenny: Aren't you going to go see if its still there?
Dad: No. I just ordered food.
I wish I had a bit of dad's lax nature ('course that'd really OP my procrastination tendencies XD); Dad barely lets things bother him, and when they do, he gets over it in a matter of minutes (which I I can do, its the chillaxing part I need to learn). When lunch was over, I head to California Adventure to hit the roller coaster before things get too crowded (yeah right) and Jenny goes window/real shopping, and dad heads back to indy to see if his phone was here and not languishing in Mara's temple of dry ice doom.
Im half way (or 30 minutes into waiting) through California Creamin' when my cell rings. The caler ID says its dad's phone. Overjoyed I answer, and dad says that someone turned in the phone, and they were waiting for me to finish. Good karma for all those involved.
Though I was sure my dad was lax cuz then he had an excuse to go get the new iPhone. XD

-BEST PART OF VACATION: The sneak peek at the new Toy Story ride in California Adventure.
The Toy story ride didn't officially open to the public until last tuesday, the 17th. But they let people ride a sneak peek that weekend, and as soon as I get off Screamin' we're in line for the midway themed, Pixar designed ride under the coaster and across from the giant ferris wheel.
Take the concept of a shooting gallery from Buzz Lightyear and combine it w/ an interactive 3D show like the Honey I Shrunk the Audience or any ride simulation that requires 3D glasses. Its a shooting gallery game, like on a boardwalk midway, only you sit in a car that takes to you "booths" (3D projection screens), where you use your lil pop gun (a pull string device mounted on your car) to shoot various objects like rings (for ring toss) or darts (for shooting galleries) at targets. If you hit a rocket, for example, it might shoot out at you and the ride will blow a puff of wind at your face, or if you pop a water balloon, you might get sprayed from above.
The pull strings are super responsive. You pull, it shoots; as fast as you pull, it shoots just as fast. The physics are spot on. The effects are so clear and the ride is just overall the BEST RIDE EVER INVENTED. Seriously. It was worth the 45 minute wait, it will be worth a 2-3 hour wait.

That was my vacation in a summary. S'why Disneyland rocks. Even if the people can be rude, or the lines are long, you'll always find something awesome if you're willing to look. Stop stressing, just have fun.

*WHY IS SAN JOSE SO DAMNED HOT???*

Looking About

Kozmui's Quote of the Week:
"If some country ever tried to invade Japan, Japan should just send a small contingent of like 300 old women or something. Have this lady at the front, so she can scream "THIS! IS! NIPPON!" as she kicks some messenger right in his fucking nuts.
Messenger: Our arrows will blot out the sun!

Obasan: Then we will fight under our parasols. Bitch."
--Gaijinsmash.net

A different post of a different nature.
6 Things that are in my room that have been touched in the last 24 hours

1) The Wii
Brawl. 'Nuff said.

2) Red figurine from the Pokemon Trading Figure Game
Binh and I like to do things together, but one of his hobbies I don't really have much interest in is tabletop gaming. I used to roll a lil dice in my day in D&D, but I've always been, and always will be, a video gamer. He's got Warhammer, I've got Animal Crossing. He has Arkham Horror, I have Brawl. We play Warmachines on occasion, but not often, and I only play cuz I have a smoking HOT figurine for my lil army.
But recently we'd seen this Pokemon trading figure game w/ figures that spin. No dice, one playmat, and you can buy a starter set and have at it right off the bat. So I went and got meself the Red starter pack cuz....well, in case you missed it the first few times here (and on my DA), Red aka Pokemon Trainer (Brawl) is fucking HOT.
So Binh picked up the Brendon set, and we're prolly gonna start playing soon, just cuz its a tabletop and he's real keen on getting me off the Wii. XD The figures are really good; nice sculpt and great paint job. For anyone vaguely interested in tabletop games, pokemon, and ....um spinners, check it out. ^^

3) My DS
I got back into Pokemon recently, due to the release of the newest movie and Toys R Us giving away Darkrais. I finally caved and bought Fire Red and Leaf Green, since I reiterate the hotness that is Red, and I wanted to replay the old ones. Before Pearl/Diamond, the last time I played a Pokemon game (and not a spin off) was Red, Blue and Yellow. Same goes for the anime; I got as far a Orange Islands, then skipped whole seasons and regions (but I caught a few movies).
Well, nostalgia came and kicked me in my non-existent nuts, cuz I wiped out the first gym in FR w/ a charmander in my first hour or so. I haven't really put the game down yet, and in between, I'm trying to finish Pearl, so I can Pal Park my dream team (all 3 starters) into my main team in Pearl (w/ a Manaphy and a Darkrai....^^).
And yes. I still play Animal Crossing everyday. ^^ I have over 10 mil in my bank account. ^^

4) The Pink Panther DVD Collection
I love old ass cartoons. ^^ Gimme a box set of Loony Tunes and I'll be glued to the tv for the rest of the day. Sadly, I haven't bought any Tom & Jerry or Loony Tunes dvd sets, but I did get the Pink Panther collection (every ep ever made) from my boyfriend's mother one year for my birthday. I still haven't watched them all (its like 5 disks), but I love just leaving it on in the background while I do stuff. I wished I had Boomerang, cuz I just adore the old Hanna Barbara or Loony Tunes cartoons; I grew up on them, and it saddens me that they're not on readily available channels anymore. I remember before Cartoon network sold out, they had tons of the old stuff, from Birdman to Tom and Jerry, to the Bugs and Daffy Show. Fuck. Now those were the days. Good times.

5) Oil painting supplies
I need to get back and paint. I love painting, but oil painting is such a calming experience (whereas acrylic has now become more of a chore because most of my classes make us use it, and it ceases to be as fun as it used to be). I have about 2 dozen 5"x 7" canvases that I intend to paint more Playmobile bunnies. I still need to finish the Lucas painting and the Kirby for a friend. It might be nice to go back to watercolor, but my paper is too damn big (somewhere in the neighborhood of 30" x 22").

6) Bottle of Henry Weinhard's Root Beer
This stuff is freakin delicious. One'a those gourmet sodas (but not of the Jones variety, thank god) that have a draught style head and glass bottles. My dad gets a case on occasion, and its damned hard not to go through it quickly. I try to limit myself about 1 bottle every 2 days, but...XD And if it wouldn't overflow every time I put the damned bottle down (its super frothy), it'd be the best drink ever.

Well, this was fun. Perhaps I'll do it again sometime. ^^

*til next time, Lunies*