Sunbeams illuminating a coastal forest in Port Orford, Oregon

Chuggnutt!

Tag: Disney

  • Star Wars + Disney

    Obviously it’s not news anymore that Disney bought the Star Wars franchise—or more specifically, Lucasfilm—but all the speculation about the announced new Star Wars movies (starting in 2015) is interesting, if amusing. I’m not particularly worried either way about this new trilogy of Episodes VII, VIII and IX, but I do wonder a bit at what tack they are going to take with them. After all, it’s been nigh on 30 years since the original cast were last on screen together, and while we would all love to see such an official reunion, it could be painful to watch.

    Plus, it’s not like there hasn’t already been stories told that take place after Return of the Jedi—that’s what the Star Wars Expanded Universe is all about, really—and much of it is already considered pretty official. Two post-ROTJ series of stories that post immediately to mind—starring the characters from the Original Trilogy—are Dark Horse Comics’ Dark Empire series and Timothy Zahn’s novels. In a lot of ways either one could be considered Episodes 7-9.

    And then on a completely irrelevant tangent, consider the possibilities of blending Star Wars with the other Disney properties. The Avengers vs. the Empire anyone?

  • Back from Florida; local happenings

    We’re back from Florida none the worse for wear; we actually got back Saturday late, missing hurricane Wilma by two days. As my friend Kerry said, ironic that the one time we should pick to visit Florida, the biggest storm ever tracked starts building up nearby.

    Florida was… flat and humid. No, really.

    Well, it was. Anyway, we had a good time. My wife’s grandparents have a swimming pool (of course) so we spent a lot of time in it. And of course we drove up to Disney World for a few days (three and a half hours each way), that was a trip; it’s utterly mind-boggling just how big Disney World is. We only had time to visit the Magic Kingdom (which is basically all of Disney Land), and part of Epcot.

    Some general Florida observations, from an outsider: what’s up with drivers there? Nobody uses turn signals! And apparently they’ll hit-and-run other cars in parking lots (which seemed to happen to us— borrowing the grandparents’ car— on our mini-trip to Disney) all the time, we’re told. Also, everywhere you go— and I mean everywhere— there’s air conditioning. All the time. Many times we were in restaurants and it was too cold— people were wearing sweaters or jackets. Not what you expect to see in Florida, of all places.

    Didn’t see any gators (in the wild, anyway). I was kind of hoping.

    Meanwhile, it’s interesting to note some of the local goings-on while we were away:

    • There was an E. coli outbreak at McGrath’s; Bulletin story here, Bend.com here. Damn, I knew there was a reason I’m always resisting going to eat there… What really worries me though is the Bulletin’s article states, “No changes in McGrath’s operating procedure were suggested”— say what? Yeah, I’m done.
    • More information has come to light regarding Deschutes County Commissioner Tom DeWolf’s sex abuse scandal: details from the investigation reveal that he allegedly put his hand down two separate women’s pants and groped their genitals. Bulletin story here, Bend.com story here. Not surprisingly, DeWolf is resigning. His statement is here. Not really much more to say, other than I’m not really surprised. That’s some seriously stupid shit to do, Tom.

    Anything exciting anybody wants to tell me about?