Disney's Hollywood Studios: Part 5 - Beauty and the Beast Stage Show

Erin's favorite Disney princess story is Beauty and the Beast - a beautiful brunette who loves to read books... if I were a giant hairy beast it would be our life story!

Here's a great way to avoid being bored while waiting in lines or for shows to start: watch a Disney movie on your iPod!  In our case, we were watching Wall-E.

The stage show is a bit like a baby broadway musical with acting, singing, and dancing.

And of course there is a happy ending - it's Disney World!  Everything has a happy ending!

And at the end of the show one lucky little girl from the audience is given the enchanted rose as a souvenier.

Sky Watch Friday

If you are ever in downtown Jacksonville, FL look up and search the skies for... a U-Haul moving truck!?  

Yes, they have an office downtown and there is a U-Haul on the roof of the multi-story building...

Visit http://skyley.blogspot.com to see what else in the skies might move you!

Downtown Jacksonville Views: Part 3

More shots from inside the Main Library:

These last two are from the atrium at the center of the building:

ABC Wednesday: "F" is for Forbus General Store and Family

ABC Wednesday this week is brought to us by the letter "F" and a 2004 family vacation to Tennessee, where you can find the Forbus General Store - halfway between Davidson and Pall Mall.  "Where in tarnation is that!?" you ask?  Good question.  While the immediate answer may - accurately - be "the middle of nowhere", you can truly find it here, not too far south of the border with Kentucky.  You are truly out in the sticks if you find yourself in Forbus.  In fact, the main reason to pass through the tiny place is to visit the Sergeant Alvin York State Park - home of American World War I hero Alvin York, immortalized on film in the movie starring Gary Cooper from 1941.

How does one come to find such a small place?  Well, marry into a family with relatives that live nearby, of course!  My wife has family originally from the hills of Tennessee and so the whole family took a trip to visit a few years ago and we took a side trip one day. :)

Visit ABC Wednesday, where you never know what neck of the woods you might find yourself in - or what sentences might end with a preposition... :)

Downtown Jacksonville Views: Part 2

Inside the Jacksonville Public Library Main Branch:

Downtown Jacksonville Views: Part 1

Hemming Plaza as seen from the 5th Floor of the Museum of Contemporary Art.  The large blue-windowed building is the Federal Courthouse.

A large sculpture outside the entrance to M.O.C.A.

Looking up Main Street - the tall pointed building is the Bank of America Tower, formerly the Barnett Building, formerly...

Bicycles parked in front of the Main Library.

Main entrance to the Main Library... inside shots coming tomorrow.

On Exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Art!

Ok, so it isn't exactly on par with being shown in New York or Paris, but our local Museum of Contemporary Art held a photo competition of sorts to run in conjunction with an exhibit they are showing called "Why We Look at Animals" - so they got together with the city newspaper and held a photo contest for residents of the city to submit their favorite animal photo they had taken.  I received notice last week that my entry was one of 100 that were chosen by the museum curator and newspaper photo editor to be part of the exhibit!  They held a reception and opening ceremony this afternoon at the museum that we were able to attend:

Museum goers looking at my photo:

And the proud papa posing next to our kitten Mischa, gorgeous as always, looking quite smashing in her black frame and white border:

No money involved, no prizes, but very, very cool to have one of my photos hanging in a real museum, even if they are all amateur photos from a fun contest through a newspaper.  She has a wall tag and everything!  Uber cool. :)

Disney's Hollywood Studios: Part 4 - Hollywood Blvd Shots

Sky Watch Friday

Caesar says, "Watch the sky!"

Visit the Skywatch blog for all the great shots each week.

Sorcerer Mickey Topiary

A sorcerer Mickey topiary, using the famous animated brooms to...

Plant more flowers, of course.

ABC Wednesday: "E" is for Everest

Being a native Floridian with an aversion for cold and any mountain higher than 350 feet - the highest point in Florida is only 345 ft above sea level (actually, I love the mountains) - the below photos are about as close as I am ever likely to get to the real Mount Everest.  Instead, I am perfectly happy visiting it while at Disney World, where, in the Animal Kingdom, you can find a very small (relatively speaking) replica of the mountain - which is actually home to a roller coaster - you can "ride" the roller coaster by viewing this Youtube video. :)

Visit the ABC Wednesday blog for all the thrilling posts each week. :)

Disney's Hollywood Studios: Part 3 - Toy Story Mania Interior

Heading inside the Toy Story Midway Mania ride you first enter a hallway that is intended to make you feel like you have shrunken down to the size of a toy - this is a night light on the wall that should only be a few inches tall to a human but to you toys is ginormous.

Some of the other "giant" toys you'll find inside:

In the far back of the main queue room you find a giant animatronic Mr. Potato Head that is amazing - it moves so smoothly and talks and is programed to interact with the crowd in a way that very nearly makes it seem alive.  It is a magnificent effect.