Where In The World

We've got a winner! That's right sports fans, George Taylor of Imaginerding, successfully identified our last entry as being found in the Morocco Pavilion. To be precise, it is shooting through an open door of the Tangierine Cafe, promenade side, facing towards Japan.

Alright, now onto a new challenge. Where In The World would you find this?

Have an adventure. Have fun.

More to follow...

UPDATE: I Am Resolved

Sometimes it just helps to be accountable! I mean, if you're going to make a resolution and have any hopes of keeping, it just makes sense to share, or provide a status report from time to time. So let's see where we're at. If you need to, look back at my 01.01.10 post for the score card.

Number 7 - looking at dates for a solid week of doing absolutely nothing at all on the Gulf coast. I have to manage this against what traditionally tends to be a busy time (Labor Day week) in my calendar.

Number 6 - currently reading The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Yes, it is on the list and I somehow managed to never get around to reading it earlier in life. In fact this whole "Essential 100" thing has grown into a much larger project which we'll discuss here in the future in more detail.

Number 5 - my first trip to Walt Disney World is scheduled for February 26th. I am flying down for a few days to visit with a friend from the UK. We used to play in a band together in the late 90's and I have not seen him and his family since just before Christmas 2000. A short trip, yes. But it will be memorable one.

Number 4 - still taking pictures, but I am learning that when a tripod is in use, it also a good idea to use the remote shutter release. Don't trust a steady hand.

Number 3 - what can I say about weight loss? Well, I don't like being successful at it. You see, if you have no luck with one of those sucks-your-will-to-live diets, it is easy to quit. But when you've lost 12.2 pounds since beginning a diet earlier in the month, well, you just got to keep at it. I have and I am, but I sure would like a big plate of french fries.

Number 2 - for those of you keeping score, this is my 10th post for the month of January. This is landmark way to start a year and make a real attempt of making this experiment worthwhile, for you and for me. How far have I come? Well, in all of 2009, there was only one month when I had posts in the double digits - that was April and I had 10 posts. And I am not finished with January yet. But do me a favor, if see something you like, leave me a comment. If there is something you'd like to see, leave me a comment. Comments are fodder for bloggers - they are what inspire us and keep us going.

Number 1 - my family. Let me just say that Mrs. Doc, well, she is my heartbeat. And as far as my family is concerned, nothing has changed my firm belief that my family is the best part of me. Without them, I am nothing.

So there you have it. Thanks for letting me share how I am doing and I hope whatever goals you set for yourself are progressing as you like. If not, press in. Remember Uncle Walt, "If we can dream it, we can do it."

More to follow...

In Doc's World - PC vs. Mac (The Age Old Question)

So, what do you do when the weather outside is frightful? Why, bundle up and take a walk with the dog. And that is just what Mrs. Doc and I did this morning. Where we live we do not experience a snow of consequence very often so we get out in it and enjoy. At least until we decide it is too cold and that puttering around the house, eating leftover Jet's Pizza and considering an afternoon nap are a better use of time.

I posted a few photographs via my Twitter account earlier today. One was the view from my office. That made me think about how I haven't posted an In Doc's World in quite sometime. I am actually working on something that fits that bill. But it isn't ready yet. So in the interim, here is a bit of Doc's World. This morning there was the picture looking out of one of the windows in my office. This afternoon, here is looking into my office.

First, the PC view...


And then, the Mac view.

As we go on (there is a song in there somewhere), we'll take a closer look at some of the things that make it difficult to walk and work in my office, but provide a great deal of enjoyment and give me cause to recall memories of wonderful trips, times with family, and the friends that I miss all too often.

More to follow...

Ka-chow!

You know, somedays you're just walking along the Streets of America with your grandson and you turn a corner. You've just arrived in Walt Disney World a few hours earlier, and you are really enjoying a nice late afternoon. Then, you hear some rumbling not too far off. You turn a corner or two, and then you find this.

Again With The Where In The World?

Let me take you back to 01.03.10. Yes, a full two weeks ago. It was back then during all the fervor leading up to Marathon weekend that I posted this photograph:

And so far, there has not been a single guess made. Does this mean that no one knows Where In The World this is found? Does it mean a few people know, but are not saying, thus giving others an opportunity. Or, am I missing something here?

Come on. Give it go.

A Night At the Pop: The 80's

The decade started with one of the most exciting moments in recent sports history. The date was February 22, 1980. The location was Lake Placid, New York. The event was the Men’s Medel Round in ice hockey. Perhaps you can recall the words of Al Michaels, “Eleven seconds, you've got ten seconds, the countdown going on right now! Morrow, up to Silk. Five seconds left in the game. Do you believe in miracles? YES!” With that, The U.S. Men’s Hockey team, a group of amateur and collegiate players, defeated the heavily favored team from the Soviet Union. We were in the early months of the Iran hostage crisis and having this moment provided a lot of American’s something positive to hang our hopes on.

We were shocked when the space shuttle Challenger exploded on January 28, 1986. The shuttle program was the resumption of America’s space program following the Apollo era, and this tragedy reminded us of the toll that exploration sometimes extracts. A nation mourned.

On June 12, 1987, Ronald Reagan stood at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin and challenged Mikhail Gorbachev to “tear down this wall.” On November 9, 1989 is started. With that came the reunification of Germany in October 1990 and the eventual demise of the Soviet Union on December 26, 1991.

The Eighties. It gave us Indiana Jones, advised us who were to call if we experienced any paranormal activity in our lives, and introduced us to a small alien botanist. Video gaming took a giant leap forward with the release of Pac-Man in May, 1980 and in the mid-80s, video gaming came back home with the Nintendo Entertainment System where Pong was replaced by Zelda.

Academy Award for Best Motion Picture to Ordinary People (1980), Chariots of Fire (1981), Gandhi (1982), Terms of Endearment (1983), Amadeus (1984), Out of Africa (1985), Platoon (1986), The Last Emperor (1987), Rain Man (1988) and Driving Miss Daisy (1989).

Grammy Award for Song of the Year went to What a Fool Believes by The Doobie Brothers (1980), Sailing by Christopher Cross (1981), Bette Davis Eyes by Kim Carnes (1982), Always on My Mind by Willie Nelson (1983), Every Breath You Take by The Police (1984), What’s Love Got to Do with It? by Tina Turner (1985), We Are the World by USA for Africa (1986), That’s What Friends Are For by Dionne Warwick (1987), Somewhere Out There by Linda Ronstadt and James Ingram (1988) and Don’t Worry, By Happy by Bobby McFerrin (1989). As an aside, on November 30, 1982, Michael Jackson released Thriller which went onto be the best selling album of all time.

As for former Beatles, Paul McCartney was nominated in 1983 for Ebony and Ivory; his duet with Stevie Wonder. It was said that the music died with Buddy Holly died in a plane crash in , but for me, it died on Monday, December 8, 1980 with the murder of John Lennon.

In Disney, The Fox and the Hound bound into theaters on June 10, 1981 followed by The Black Cauldron in June 24, 1985. We were introduced to Basil of Baker Street in The Great Mouse Detective on July 2, 1986. Disney gave us their interpretation of a Charles Dickens classic on November 13, 1988 with the premier of Oliver & Company. Then on November 15, 1989 a renaissance in Disney animation dawned with the release of The Little Mermaid. It was the last Disney film to use the multi-plane camera and one of the first to utilize the Computer Animation Production System, or CAPS. The score went onto win the Academy Award for Best Original Score and both Kiss the Girl and Under the Sea were nominated for Best Song, with Under the Sea taking the statuette. A number of live action films were released, most notably, 1982’s Tron, which is one of the first films from Disney, or any studio, to make extensive use of computer graphics. On June 22, 1988 we were asked Who Framed Roger Rabbit? Produced for $29.9 million, the film went on to become the second highest grossing film of the year and won Academy Awards for Sound Editing, Visual Effects and Film Editing.

The Los Angeles Lakers went to the NBA Championship on eight occasions during the 80’s and brought home the trophy in 1980, 1982, 1985, 1987 and 1988.

Next up, a trip back to the 1990’s.

It Is The Little Things

On a recent trip to Walt Disney World with my wife, the parks were crowded with the expected Christmas Week crowds. But this was okay. Though I go down to the parks fairly often, I am still like the kid in the candy store, in that I have to do as much as I can as quickly as I can. I know that I should slow down and enjoy all that the parks offer; especially those little extras that the Imagineers and cast members offer.

Because of the crowds, this recent trip allowed me to do just that. I slowed down and simply enjoyed being in the parks and enjoying my surroundings. It is then that you can appreciate the little things, like a fresh rose laying on the ground.