Gran Torino

Clint Eastwood continues to amaze me with his delicate touch.  I guess thats what happens when you have a career in front and behind the camera that spans 50+ years.

52 Blocks

Came across this story in the New York Times and it reminded me of growing up in the South Bronx.  I would see people practice this “style of fighting” and thought they looked ridiculous.  That feeling hasn’t changed but it’s interesting to see how it has gained momentum.

iPhone 3.0 OS

Packed to the gills with new features and improvements the following is a short list of the most notable.

Cut/Copy and Paste
The ability to copy and paste text anywhere we please.

Multimedia Messaging System
Photos via text messages.

Search Enhancement
Spotlight for your phone.

Voice Memo
Record a voice message and play it back on demand.

Landscape Typing
Simply turn your iPhone on its side and type away.

Safari Upgrade
Faster performance, autofill user names and passwords, and more.

New York Moves

Twice a year Pab invites us to these amazing magazine release parties. Held at swank venues and filled with gorgeous / interesting people these parties have become a highlight in our collective social calendar.  Tonight NYM celebrated the release of its Spring 2009 issue at Pranna.  Cover girl Carla Gugino even made an appearance but I never saw her cause I was to busy making friends.

America is Fat

I think the most important thing I learned at Disney World is that America is fat! I’m not talking a few pounds I’m talking obese. Day after day I saw extremely overweight people sweating through their clothes as they tried to make their way through the park. The whole while stuffing their faces with junk food.

To their credit, eating healthy at the the theme parks and resorts was a difficult feat that might stump the most shrewd nutritionist.

PS To those people that say I should have gotten a salad; Caesar and Mediterranean salads slathered with cheese and cream based salad dressing don’t count as a healthy choice.

My Disney World Vacation

Disney’s Hollywood Studios

Tower of Terror was easily the best ride / attraction of the whole trip.

Based on a Twilight Zone episode (my favorite television show of all time) the ride builds tension while you wait to enter the haunted elevator that will transport you to the Twilight Zone. SICK!!!

EPCOT

I’d describe Epcot (Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow) as the future that never happened.   Puzzeled by some of the design decisions I decided to do a little research and discovered some interesting facts on Wikipedia.

Walt Disney’s original vision of EPCOT was for a model community, home to twenty thousand residents, which would be a test bed for city planning and organization. The community was to have been built in the shape of a circle, with businesses and commercial areas at its center, community buildings and schools and recreational complexes around it, and residential neighborhoods along the perimeter. Transportation would have been provided by monorails and PeopleMovers (like the one in the Magic Kingdom’s Tomorrowland). Automobile traffic would be kept underground, leaving pedestrians safe above-ground. Walt Disney said, “It will be a planned, controlled community, a showcase for American industry and research, schools, cultural and educational opportunities. In EPCOT, there will be no slum areas because we won’t let them develop. There will be no landowners and therefore no voting control. People will rent houses instead of buying them, and at modest rentals. There will be no retirees; everyone must be employed.” This vision was not realized. Walt Disney was not able to obtain funding and permission to start work on his Florida property until he agreed to build the Magic Kingdom first. Disney died before the Magic Kingdom opened.

After Disney’s death, The Walt Disney Company later decided that it did not want to be in the business of running a town. The model community of Celebration, Florida has been mentioned as a realization of Disney’s original vision, but Celebration is based on concepts of new urbanism which is radically different from Disney’s modernist and futurist visions.

I can’t help but laugh at how wrong Walt and his Imagineers were when they designed Epcot.

Thankfully, Epcot isn’t all rides and exhibits of earths future. They have The World Showcase, a collection of pavilions representing eleven countries containing shops and restaurants.  Basically I ate and drank my way around the world.

The Magic Kingdom

Even the miserable weather conditions (95 degree / 85% humidity) could not stop the the love bomb from detonating in my heart.  Warm memories of all my Disney favorites came rushing back, effectively transporting me back to my childhood.  Disney World is truly a magical place.

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

Normally when I head to JFK airport I take a cab.  But in an attempt to save money / go green I decided to take public transportation.

Step 1: The New York City subway – E train
Step 2: JFK monorail to JetBlue terminal.
Step 3: Board nonstop flight to Orlando
Step 4: Jumped on a Disney Express Bus to hotel.

Talk about crazy.  I kind of regret not working a boat, hovercraft or submarine into the mix.