CaptainsCast 020 - Oh cheese, oh cheese, oh cheese

Ben & I discuss our trip to Disney World. Tonight's episode covers the Magic Kingdom. We also squeeze in a quickie review of Transformers 2, and chat about Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, & Michael Jackson.

What a day for my childhood

As a purveyor of pop culture from the 70's,80's, & 90's, this week has seen some of the more visible icons from my childhood disappear. Trying to explain to Ben about these people is difficult because he doesn't really have any idea how they contributed to the world and to my youth. I explained to him today that I still remember where I was when the news broke of Elvis Presley's death. I told him to remember this day as well, so he could explain it to his kids someday on his pop culture holocast.

First off was Ed McMahon. Before I knew the man's name, he was just known as 'Heeeeere's Johnny!!" to me. I used to share a bedroom with my brother Jon when I was a tyke. From what I recall, when I was in a crib up to 5 years old. When I was sent to bed, it was reasonably early, but Jon had two things in the room. One was a Soundesign hi-fi stereo playing Boston, ELO, Genesis, & hits of the 70's. The other was an orange Zenith black & white 11" television playing the Tonight Show on Dayton channel 22. I would stay up and watch Johnny and Ed quite a bit growing up in that room. I was also a crabby kid the next day for not going to bed early.
I also remember when the end of summer came, and it was time to go back to school. The Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon was on. I don't remember it for Jerry Lewis, but I remember Ed McMahon helping co-host.

Farrah Fawcett. I was too young for the"poster", but I do remember Charlie's Angels. Most importantly back then, Charlie's Angels trading cards. Yes, that's right. Trading cards. They weren't easy to find, but every year we took a fishing trip to Rice Lake in Ontario, Canada. There was a little general store down the road from our fishing village that sold gumballs, toffee, and various trading cards. I'm sure they sold other things, but what did I care. Me and my cousins would buy as many packs as we could and try and comlete the puzzle on the back of the cards that showed the famous silhouette of the Angels from the tv show. You had Sabrina, Kate, but the best was Jill. It was sad to lose her today.

Michael Jackson. This is a shock. I don't think anybody expected this at all. Jackson was the epitome of 80's pop culture. Who didn't have a Members Only jacket trying to be like Michael? There was the moonwalk, and of course, Thriller.I played drums as an adolescent and took my love of that, & Michael's glove, and combined the two. I would play fake drums with a golf glove on. I don't know. I guess I was imitating Michael in the only way I could. I knew I couldn't sing or dance like him, but it was the closest thing I could do to be like the King of Pop. My mom even had a birthday cake made with Michael's glove and drum sticks on it.
Later in life, he had some rough times and very suspect actions. Hopefully the world will remember him for his contributions to the music world.

Vacation wrap-up

I thoroughly enjoyed my time with my family on this vacation. We truly had a terrific time together. Right now I am sorting out pictures, video, and notes from the trip. Ben & I will be doing our vacation CaptainsCast show this week to talk about everything on vacation including our favorite parts of it. This may expand into multiple shows if we can't fit it into one. In the meantime we have our vacation photos up on flickr at this link - http://tinyurl.com/m87pqe

Vacation day 12

The return.

Time to head back home. We could stay a few extra days if we wanted to, but it's just too hot in Florida. We hit the road at 8:39AM and made it back to Cincinnati at 10:00PM that night. I drove the whole way. I'm tired. Goodnight.

Vacation Day 11

This was exciting. For Father's Day we planned a trip to head over to Kennedy Space Center. It has been 30 years since I was last there. The shuttle was still undergoing testing and would not launch for another two years at that point. We set off early that morning for KSC. It was about a 2 hour drive over there. I was a little surprised by all of the tolls we had. There were quite a few. $6 to get over that way. When we arrived we parked in the Wally Schirra section of the parking lot. They've named the sections after astronauts. Here's the real kicker. How much would you pay for two adults and two children to get into something like this? $50, $60, $75? Try $140!!! Ouch. I know the space program needs financial help, but wow. Getting in to the KSC is also like the security line at the airport. Metal detectors, bag searches, etc. In a post 9-11 age I guess that should be expected.

We started off on the bus tour, a 3 hour tour of some of the facilities across the center. We started at the Complex 39 observation gantry. It's a four story platform where you can see both pad 39A and 39B. The gantry is wired for sound, and for some reason, they were blasting the Wrath of Khan soundtrack. A little too dramatic. Although we didn't see a launch while on vacation, we did get to see the shuttle. Technically. We could see the tip of the external fuel tank several miles away.

We then saw the Saturn V complex. They walk you through a simulation of the Apollo 8 launch from here, including shaking glass in the windows. They have a Saturn V rocket on its side here. This is an amazing site to see. Just the size of this vehicle blows your mind.

We were then off to the International Space Station Facility. It was here that you could see actual components of the ISS being prepped and tested for future launches to the space station.

After that we were back at the main area where we ate ($$$$), hit the gift shop ($$$$$), and later got a drink for the ride back to mom & dad's ($$$$$$). all in all a great time and an awesome place to visit. I enjoyed my early Father's Day with my boys at the Kennedy Space Center. Ben & I will be talking about this particular trip to the KSC on a future episode of the CaptainsCast.

Vacation Day 10

Sorry about the delay, but I walked away from the computer for a few days to relax and recharge. Here's a quick summary of the rest of vacation.

Today was spent lying around. After a week at the house of the mouse it was definitely time for a respite. We slept in, ate lunch, then hit the pool for a few hours. We then hit Chili's for dinner. At this point we could definitely tell the boys were tired of vacation. They were rotten at dinner. They haven't been this wild in ages. It was time to go home.

That was the extent of the day. We watched TV and I planned our trip for our early father's day festivities to Kennedy Space Center on Saturday.

CaptainsCast Supplemental #3 - Kim Possible Adventure

I got the Flip to work one last time. Here's Ben working on the Kim Possible Adventure in EPCOT.

Click on the header above to view.

Vacation Day 9

The final day of our trip to Disney. After getting packed this morning, we headed out to the Magic Kingdom for some marathon riding. We started out on the Astro Orbiter, Carousel of Progress, Buzz Lightyear, Tomorrowland Speedway, the Teacups, and finally, the merry go round. We then had a final lunch at the Liberty Tree Tavern. After lunch we headed over to the Animal Kingdom and saw Finding Nemo the musical. The storms started to fire up again, so we cut our day short. We headed back to the hotel, got into the car and headed to mom and dad's house in the Villages. We picked up a pizza for dinner, and vegged out for the evening.
I will never forget this family vacation at Disney. What a wonderful time. Ben & I will be podcasting about this when we get back to Ohio, but for now, we have a few more adventures on our vacation. Stay tuned.

Vacation Day 8b

Time for our 15th wedding anniversary dinner. We went to the Hoop de Doo Revue to celebrate. We had dinner here 15 years ago on our honeymoon. It is basically a vaudeville dinner show. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and the boys really loved it. I think I overdid it on the chicken & ribs, but hey, it was a celebration.

Vacation Day 8a

Time is wearing down on our vacation, and there is still plenty to do. We promised Ben we would head back to EPCOT and do the Kim Possible adventure. I have a bit of video of that coming up. We first started out at Test Track. The wait said it was only 30 minutes long. 2 HOURS LATER we finally rode the stupid thing. That was the only thing to sour my vacation other than my cold.
We then started the Kim Possible adventure. We hit our Kim Possible kiosk in Italy. The agents there gave us a Kimmunicator, which is a GPS equipped cell phone and much, much more. He explained that our mission would last about a half hour and that all the information we needed was on the Kimmunicator. The Kimmunicator is a really neat device that speaks your instructions to you while displaying animated characters on the device screen. You’re instructed to go find clues in certain locations. In our case our entire adventure took place in the Germany pavilion. Besides giving instructions, the Kimmunicator interacted with objects in the pavilion. For instance pressing a key on the device opened doors, moved objects, etc. This adventure was amazing.
We then hit Soarin' one last time before we had to head back and get ready for our anniversary dinner....

Vacation Day 7

Vacation is wearing me down. I have now caught a cold. I have had a nasty sore throat, sneezing, and coughing. Blergh. Today called for an easy day. We spent the day at the main pool. The boys loved the waterslides, cannons, and pirate ship fountains and play area. Baking my cold out in the sun really helped.
Later that day we headed over to Disney Hollywood Studios for dinner reservations and the Fantasmic!! show that evening. While there, we hit the Great Movie Ride. Ben freaked out when we hit the Alien section of the ride. Way to hold it together there, pal. After dinner we went on the studio backlot tour. Somehow I got stuck on the left side of the tram that always seems to get wet during the Catastrophe Canyon sequence. At this point the skies started to turn black. MAJOR storms were approaching. From what the radar showed on the iPhone, there was no show for us that night. We rushed back to the bus stop where we got hit with the rain. Flash floods, lightning, cats & dogs. That was it for our evening.
Oh yeah. the sunburn started to kick in at that point, too.

Vacation Day 6

We have now hit all of the parks. Time to play cleanup and head back to do the stuff we didn't get to do the first time, or want to do again. We started the day with some much needed sleeping in. We then headed out to the Contemporary Resort for a late breakfast at Chef Mickey's. Chef Mickey's is a character breakfast where the different Disney characters come to the table and greet you. The boys loved it.
We then headed over to the Magic Kingdom for some fun. We hit Stitch's Great Escape. Hunter chickened out, so I headed to the gift shop with him. That's when a robot trash can came up to me and wished me a happy anniversary. Really. We then hit the Buzz Lightyear ride, and headed over to Frontierland. At this point, it was freaking hot. We then rode Pirates of the Carribean to cool off. Very helpful in the oppressive heat. After that was the Tiki Birds Under New Management. I liked the old version better. Then the rain hit, and hit hard. Torrential downpors that dropped the temperature 15 degrees. That was awesome.
Next was Big Thunder Mountain. Hunter was still in a mood, and would not ride, therefore, we got to use the rider switch with our fastpasses. That meant we all rode the ride twice sans Hunter.
That night was spent swimming at our local pool.

Vacation Day 5

Animal Kingdom today. We stated the day with a tour of some wildlife at the park, then a safari trip. A pretty good ride today since so many animals were out. We then hit the Dinoland area, rode Triceratops Spin, Primeval Whirl, then sat in the hot sun at the Dino Dig playground that just seems to bake under the Florida sun. We then ate lunch at the Rainforest Cafe. After lunch we hit one more ride for the day by riding Expedition Everest - a roller coaster that reaches a peak, the track shifts, then you run backwards down this new route. Ben did not ride this, but Hunter did. A very brave child, but he had a blast.
We then went to EPCOT in the evening to tour the International Pavillion. I tried to drink beers from every world, but I just couldn't keep up with it. I ended up eating a lot though - nachos in Mexico, bratwurst & pretzels in Germany, & sushi in Japan. We then capped it off with the fireworks show, and then back to the hotel room for a late swim. Pretty darn good time.

Vacation Day 4

A busy day as we hit Star Wars Weekend at Disney Studios on Saturday. You would not believe the crowds for this weekend. We stated off hitting Wicket's Warehouse - a Star Wars shop where I bought a couple of Star Wars Disney t-shirts. We then set off and hit Muppetvision 3D, then Star Tours. We then saw the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular. During the day, we were picked to be a part of the Star Wars parade. Ben got to wear a jedi robe and carry a lightsaber in the parade. I got to walk behind him with a bunch of other parents. Hunter, being the 5 year-old he is, refused to do it. It's funny how things work because his spot was filled by a child on a Make-A-Wish visit to Disney. Funny how things work, and even though Hunter didn't purposely do it, I'm still proud he gave up his spot for this sick boy. after the parade, we ate lunch at the Sci-Fi Dine In Theater. The entire place looks like a drive-in movie that plays old 50's sci-fi trailers and cartoons.
We then took a nap, and then hit the Magic Kingdom late for the Spectromagic parade and fireworks. A very full day.

Ben was picked to be onthe Star Wars parade today. I got to walk with him too

Ben was picked to be onthe Star Wars parade today. I got to walk with him too
Originally uploaded by akirk45239

Andy

Vacation Day 3

No video this time. My Flip camera crashed and won't function anymore. That sucks since I had plenty of video of today at EPCOT. The longest line I stood in all day was to get a Fastpass for Soarin'. We hit the following today: The Seas, the Land, Soarin', Journey Into Imagination, Mission:Space, & Spaceship Earth. We then swam back at the hotel, then hit Downtown Disney for shopping. Mostly to but Legos for the boys.

CaptainsCast Supplemental #2 - Magic Kingdom

We started our Disney adventure today with a trip to the Magic Kingdom after getting checked into our room. We started off with Mickey's Philharmagic, It's a Small World, the Haunted Mansion, Tea Cups, Tomorrowland Speedway, Goofy's Barnstormer, the Disney train, Splash Mountain, & Big Thunder Mountain. And all that was done after 2pm. Friday is EPCOT. Stay tuned for more.

Click on the header to view the video or get it in iTunes.

CaptainsCast Supplemental - We're in Florida

Hi all. After an overnight trip down I-75, we have arrived in Florida. We're visiting my parents today and driving into the house of mouse tomorrow to check in and commence the adventure. Here's a little video. Click on the header above to play it.

Out first stop. The boy have no idea who these guys are

Out first stop. The boy have no idea who these guys are
Originally uploaded by akirk45239

Andy

CaptainsCast Vacation Coverage

We're on vacation for the next 2 weeks. Standby for vacation coverage and our misadventures along the way. I will be posting photos directly to the site and hopefully video too. Follow the twitter updates on the right side of the page to check out our progress.

CaptainsCast 019 - Colloquially...

Back again now that extracurricular activities are over. We talk Magic: the Gathering, Star Trek, Night at the Museum 2, and Up.

Today in the 80's

1982

Poltergeist is released

They're here.

And I am out. I hate this movie. I hate the chairs stacked in the kitchen, the face peeling, the meat exploding, the tree attacking, the tv, and of course the freaking clown. Why did it have to be a freaking clown?

The hands which pull the flesh off the investigator's face in the bathroom mirror are Steven Spielberg's.

As an homage to his friend George Lucas, Spielberg populated the children's bedroom with Star Wars toys. He did the same in E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial.

During the scene where Robbie (Oliver Robins) is being strangled, the clown's arms became extremely tight and Robbins started to choke. When he screamed out, "I can't breathe!" Steven Spielberg and Tobe Hooper thought that the boy was ad-libbing and just instructed him to look at the camera. When Spielberg saw Robbins's face turning purple, he ran over and removed the clown's arms from Robbins's neck.

The sound effect for the beast that attacks the house at the end of the movie is the source for the current MGM lion roar.

The skeletons that emerge from the swimming pool while Diane searches for help are actual skeletons. JoBeth Williams didn't know this until after the scene was shot.

Both of the terrors that plague Robbie came from Steven Spielberg's own fears as a child, a fear of clowns and a tree outside his window.

Today in the 80's

1983

Wargames is released

Is it a game, or is it real?

The studio had a Galaga and a Galaxian machine delivered to Matthew Broderick's home, where he practiced for two months to prepare for the arcade scene.

The computer used to break into NORAD was programmed to make the correct words appear on the screen, no matter which keys were pressed.

When David comes home the day after the NORAD computer break-in, the newscaster on the television is talking about a prophylactic recycling center.

NORAD HQ set was built in the Cascades, the "Oregon" airport was really Boeing Field, "Goose Island" is really Anderson Island in the southern part of Puget Sound (all in Washington). The last ferry off the island really is at 6:30, and you really are stuck there if you miss it.

The scene of the jeep trying to crash through the gate at NORAD and turning over was an actual accident. The jeep was supposed to continue through the gate. They added the scene of the characters running from the jeep and down the tunnel and used the botched jeep stunt.

The dual 8-inch floppy drive is an IMSAI FDC-2, the monitor is a 17-inch Electrohome, the keyboard is an IMSAI IKB-1, and the 1200 baud modem (on top of the monitor) is a Cermetek 212A relabeled with the name "IMSAI". The acoustic coupler prop was added for visual effect only.

The WOPR, as seen in the movie, was made of wood and painted with a metal-finish paint. As the crew filmed the displays of the WOPR, Special Effects Supervisor Michael L. Fink sat inside and entered information into an Apple II computer that drove the countdown display.

Today in the 80's

1987

Mariners draft Ken Griffey Jr #1

Ever heard of this guy? The Cincinnati Kid may turn out to be something someday.

Today in the 80's

1984

Star Trek III - The Search for Spock is released

Join the search.

Leonard Nimoy does the turbolift voice in the scene when Scotty says "Up your shaft", while exiting the Starship Execelsior. The end credits lists the voice under the alias Frank Force.

When the Enterprise enters space dock at the beginning of the movie, just before Uhura comments on the Excelsior's appearance ("Would you look at that!"), another docked ship can be seen, in shadow, at the upper left corner of the screen. This ship is one of the alternative models that was considered for use as the Excelsior. This alternate model also makes several appearances in "Star Trek: The Next Generation", usually as a wrecked ship or piece of space junk.

The shot of the Enterprise approaching Spacedock is later re-used in various episodes of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" with the Enterprise-D overlapping the original Enterprise (Another cost-saving method often used with Star Trek).