Dabbling (continued)

As I continue to experiment with High Dynamic Range processing and recently married the HDR image with a bit of artistic filtering in Photoshop Elements. The results, an enhanced image of the clock in the France Pavilion of Epcot's World Showcase. The filtering is a light film grain applied to the finished image.

Thank you for stopping by.

A Pause for Reflection

In the course of every vacation to Walt Disney World there comes a time when you wish to find a place you can relax. Some times this means going back to your resort. Personally, I don't consider going back to a resort as an option while a park is open. So I tend to find places within the parks where I can go and pause for a while, let my mind and body relax and simply enjoy being in the moment.

The World Showcase in Epcot affords many places for this. One such place is Japan.

When I walk into Japan a sense of tranquility overtakes me; my spirit quiets. I'll find a place near the koi pond and watch the fish for while, or perhaps find a place to sit in the small garden near the Yakitori House. Or I may walk back and visit the exhibit in the Bijutsu-kan Gallery. If I am visiting during the International Flower & Garden Festival, the opportunity to admire and study bonsai is an added enjoyment.

The Torii Gate is a symbol of Japan and marks the entrance to a sacred place. In the World Showcase, it welcomes you to walk inside, enjoy the offerings of the culture and perhaps most importantly, rest for a moment from the rush and from the crowds.

Welcome.

Disney As Art - Peace

Seldom will one find a line for the Tomorrowland Transit Authority. If you do, then you know beyond any doubt that the Magic Kingdom is busy. But if you don't, then prepare for a relaxing, peaceful journey. And as you return to Rockettower Plaza, and you see there is still no line to speak of, ask to go around again. Just put your index finger in the air and spin it in a circle few times, and you're on your way.

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.

What Is Your Favorite Park?

Just over a year ago my friend George Taylor of Imaginerding invited me to take part in a series of interviews he was conducting called "Meet Our Neighbors." In the interview he would pose a series of questions and invite other bloggers to answer them for inclusion on his site. I enjoyed this opportunity as it afforded me the chance to give some real thought to specific aspects of my Disney Obsession.

I have gone back and re-read his questions and my answers and thought it would be good if I were to take some of the questions and go into a little more detail. You might call if "fuel" for a few posts here. So to begin with, and for this installment of Disney As Art, I thought I would revisit the question, "What is your favorite park?" I answered the question:

"As special as the Magic Kingdom is, and most every trip begins with a walk down Main Street U.S.A., my favorite park is Epcot. That is where I renewed my love for Disney as an adult. The icon is like no other. The moment it became "the" park was when I first heard the sub-woofers kick in during Saint-Saëns "Organ" Symphony in Impressions de France. From that moment on..."

This has not changed in the year since I wrote that, or in the years since "I first heard the heard the..."

For most of my life I have held a fascination with France and specifically with Paris. There was time when I could say I had spent more time in Paris than I had in Walt Disney World. It was the first stop on a trip my parents gave me as a graduation gift. It was the city where my wife and I spent our honeymoon. It was a quick trip on the EuroStar while we lived in England and it was the city I always tried to route my travel through whenever I flew back and forth to Europe to teach.

When I am in Epcot, specifically in France, I allow my mind to wander into the realm of fantasy. When that happens I think back to days when I felt that the bohemian lifestyle would have suited my artistic temperment. I feel this when I look up at the window above the wine shop on Le Petit Rue and see a lone flickering light. I am drawn to the tragic story of Rodolfo and Mimi in Puccini's La Boheme. And if I listen close enough with my imagination I can just hear Rodolfo's anguished cry as he cradles the deceased Mimi in his arms. 

I can set on a bench and easily place myself in Somerset Maugham's The Moon and Sixpence. There I become Charles Strickland; a character based on Paul Gauguin. I am a painter exploring the reach of my creativity along side Van Gogh, and then finally journeying to the South Pacific to find a vision of "art" and "beauty." Or I can set with Hemingway, Stein, Fitzgerald, Pound and others of "The Lost Generation" at the side walk cafe that once stood on the promenade. There we would pour over the morning papers, have a cup of espresso, a pastry, and decide what the day will hold.

Fanciful? Probably. But this is what is conjured up in my mind anytime I cross the bridge from the United Kingdom or step across the change in pavement from Morocco. Is this the real Paris in the real France? No, not by a large margin. I doesn't contain my favorite table at my favorite cafe on the Left Bank. 

But, it is still magical. When I visit this little corner of the World Showcase I am transported, for however long, to a semblance of a place that holds many fond memories for me. I can travel, if but for a little while, to a place where my imagination can run free. And isn't that what Disney is about? A place where our imagination can be set free. 

I hope this piece of Disney as Art can help you reach into your imagination and cause you to smile.

More to follow...

This Just In...

Depending on what part of the country you live in, you may call them garage sales, rummage sales or yard sales. And our friends across the water call them boot sales (and I have picked up a fine trinket or two from a few of them; in fact almost missed a train because of one in Stratford-upon-Avon. But that is another story entirely.) Me personally, I call them yard sales.

My brother-in-law Russ is a connoisseur of yard sales. Seriously, he is a professional. He will visit sale after sale and come home with items as small as a set of coasters, or as large as a jet ski with trailer. He also came across a rather large collection of antique cameras. I am fairly certain these would sell for a considerable amount of money and he took them home for next to nothing. His collection of pencil sharpeners is rather impressive too. But whatever it is, Russ is a master!

Every so often, Russ, like other family and friends will think about me when they run across something of a Disney nature. For which, I am very appreciative. So, it was not surprising that a few weekends ago Mrs. Doc answers the front door and is given a rather large package addressed to me. Obviously, I am excited. I quickly opened the package and found a first edition The Art of Walt Disney by Christopher Finch. Wow! The book is huge and will take more than a few minutes to go through. You’ll see that the dust jacket is missing as is the paint bucket, but the raised image of Mickey holding a paintbrush is there as are the 458 pages of incredible content.

The stack of books I have to read has just gotten taller. And this, before I lay in a copy of Pierre Lambert’s Mickey Mouse.

Thanks Russ. I know you probably don’t read The Disney Obsession, but I thank you anyway. What a wonderful surprise!
More to follow…

Balloons

There are as many first day traditions as there are Disney fans. Whenever it is possible I like to take a stroll down Main Street U.S.A. on that first day. The music, hustle and bustle, the colors, the smells and all that happiness combine to say, "Welcome Home!"

Where In The World

Following up on last Saturday's Where In The World, let's review. We've had three suggestions on where these particular pieces of neon could be found. They were The Electric Umbrella, the Space Mountain Tunnel and Mission: Space. Now first, let me say, thank you to each person who has ventured a guess. Secondly, let me suggest that you look in another park.

While you're looking, let's consider another. This next offering is not only an installment of Where In The World, but also a glimpse at a new segment of work that I am working on. I call it "Disney as Art". But more on that later.

Now, consider this.

More to follow...