So it looks like I touched a few nerves with my last bad Christmas song pick! Well, it takes all types, they say ;).
New Orleans Square, also known as the area I basically haven’t covered yet, is really cool at night at Christmas. You may remember this shot from Where In Disneyland?:
Looking up
The “where” is above the Cristal D’Orleans shop. This shop is another crystal shop, not to be confused with the Crystal Arts shop on Main Street. Which is kind of like, how many crystal shops does one amusement park need? And I really hope that people buying these items have the sense to not take them on rides or something.
You know it's French because it's not spelled "Crystal" and there's the d' in the name.
The doorway actually looks really cool at night
I'm kind of impressed with this picture
The Cristal d’Orleans carried much of the same glass stuff as the Crystal Palace, but it seemed to me like there were fewer figurines.
Also, over on the Crystal Palace post I complained about how the window said “glass cutters” and that there wasn’t any glass cutting going on. And a sharp-eyed reader said, “Dude, wait! There is glass etching in New Orleans Square, so stop dissing the Crystal Palace!” (paraphrased).
Sure enough, here it is.
The little lamp illuminates the class etching table
So if you want to get your name on one of these…
stylish drinking vessels
…you can.
There’s also a very wide assortment of the Beauty and the Beast rose thing
You know, from the movie
Although the petals do not fall from the glass roses.
I have to wonder if those are less popular than they were when the movie first opened.
And my Standard Research Methodology also revealed that the Cristal d’Orleans is actually owned by Arribas Glass. Go figure!
In a rare double-header, two Christmas songs come in to represent #6. Neither are good songs, but the final nail in their collective coffin is the ear-shattering aspect. These two songs make me want to shove my fingers in my ears, which is dangerous because I listen to radio Christmas music when I’m driving. But here they are:
#6 The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don’t Be Late) -and- I Want A Hippopotamus For Christmas (by Gayla Peevey)
Ear protection is advised…
Alllllvvvvviiiiinnnnn!!!!!
Now first let me fully disclose that I was an Alvin and the Chipmunks fan as a youth. Not the current Alvin with his weird computer-generated body and hip-hop songs, but the original. I thought the song was funny. The constant “Me, I want a hula hoop” was giggle worthy. Now I’m like GIVE THE KID A DAMNED HULA HOOP! HOW MUCH CAN THEY POSSIBLY BE? LIKE $20 AT WAL-MART???
Now much in the same way that the Singing Dogs changed recording history, so did the chipmunks. In fact, the chipmunks won three grammy awards in 1958: Best Comedy Performance (remember, they were probably still recovering from the Singing Dogs), Best Children’s Recording, which definitively showed how valued children’s recordings were in 1958. And also a Best Engineered Record, which I think is one of those awards you give away the day before so you don’t gum up the telecast with boring thank-yous and such, or at least make an attempt.
Anyway, unlike the Singing Dog, it did not have an actual renaissance. It has simply been a stowaway on other more legitimate Christmas albums and then then those get played, the Chipmunks come too. And the amount of effort it would take to remove this song from our collective lexicon is not greater than the inertia of the people with the power to do it. And so we are stuck with a plane that loops the loop.
AND THE STUPID HULA HOOP!
And to fully disclose, I have to admit that I have a son named Theodore, and an internet friend of mine has a son named Simon, and if we ever find an Alvin there will be cause to meet up in joyous celebration. But we will still not be playing that song.
And as for the hippopotamuses…
People often fondly look back on the 50s era as a time of wonderful music. What they don’t realize is that the same time era was producing the Singing Dogs, the Chipmunks, and something found in the Jungle Cruise.
This is sad.
I really don’t have a lot to say about Hippopotamus other than that the ear-screeching quality makes me wonder if I tilt my head, will blood come running out of my ear? The song does get better in the middle, if you still have any kind of hearing quality left, but the screeching starts up at the end. There are few songs that make me immediately shut the radio off, and this is one of them.
However, if you have a sardonic, quirky sense of humor like I do, you might want to review the plight of the animatronic hippos of Disneyland.
First I have to say that I almost didn’t include this because of the sheer awesomeness of the video. I mean, the video encompasses everything that the 80s had to offer hair. The mullets are top-notch, especially George Michael’s, and the bangs and perms on the ladies are classic. There’s even a woman sporting a David Bowie ‘do!
(sorry for the ad there)
But in the end, the song did make the cut because it’s so frequently played on the radio.
Now let’s deconstruct this. The chorus goes:
Last Christmas, I gave you my heart
But the very next day, you gave it away
This year, to save me from tears
I’ll give it to someone special
Okay, I guess I can get onboard with that, although if it’s been a year, it’s kind of well beyond time to get over it.
Once bitten and twice shy
I keep my distance, but you still catch my eye
Nothing I love more than a good cliche.
Tell me baby, do you recognize me?
Well, it’s been a year, that doesn’t surprise me
Here’s where we start getting problematic. So you gave her your heart (whatever that means) and a year later she doesn’t recognize you? Are you, like, some creepy stalker guy or something?
Whispered: Merry Christmas
I wrapped it up and sent it
With a note saying, “I love you,” I meant it
Well we know you did not literally wrap your heart up and send it (with a note), so what exactly is “it”? What, did you go all Vincent Van Gogh on her?
Now I know what a fool I’ve been
But if you kiss me now
I know you’ll fool me again
Okay. Dude. She either doesn’t remember you or she wants you to think she doesn’t remember you (see above). Neither one of these is going to result in a kiss, so I think you’re pretty safe here.
A crowded room, friends with tired eyes
I’m hiding from you and your soul of ice
Oh SNAP!
My God I thought you were
Someone to rely on
Me? I guess I was a shoulder to cry on
Okay, so you’re the shoulder to cry on. So this breakup thing–was it along the lines of “It’s not you, it’s me” or was it “I love you like a brother”? And if you were some kind of shoulder to cry on, why doesn’t she remember you? Did she sustain a head injury that resulted in amnesia or something?
A face on a lover with a fire in his heart
A man undercover but you tore me apart
Very poetic, but I’m not quite following you here.
Now I’ve found a real love you’ll never fool me again
Whoa whoa WHOA, buddy. You’ve found a real love, so you’re going out with someone else? I mean okay, but does she know you’re still carrying a torch for this other girl? Plus “you’ll never fool me again”??? One chorus ago you were lamenting that if she kissed you now then you WOULD be fooled again. Talk about wishy-washy–I’m kind of seeing why she dumped your butt last Christmas.
And then there’s a couple more choruses, the poetic lines, and the thing about next year I’ll give it to someone special. Let me just put this plainly–have you considered counseling? Because the relationship described in the song is not a healthy one. Pining for a year over someone who was your girlfriend for a day? Not that I don’t empathize with getting dumped the day after Christmas when everyone’s hitting the mall for the 1/2 off sales, but seriously. Get a grip.
Although the tune is quintessentially 80s, I’m going to have to put this baby at #7.
PS. George Michael, I think you’re going to have better luck with the dudes next year.
Every so often I’ll take a picture of something and sort of file it away because it doesn’t fit into any real category or post, and then it just sits there, so I decided to weed through some and finally put them up.
First up–the Halloween Tree
It's a tree all decorated in pumpkins
So, yeah, like basically a leaf-less tree hanging with pumpkins. I also took a picture of the accompanying plaque that identified this as The Halloween Tree and said something I can no longer decipher about Ray Bradbury wanted to have something in the park so here it is.
Nice reflection of my camera there
Sorry, that was lame. And equally lame is a picture I took of a guy cleaning the fence.
This is in Downtown Disney
If I remember correctly, I thought this was cool because the guy was actually dusting inside of those twisty things rather than, I don’t know, hosing it all down and calling it a day, which is what I would have done. Or actually I probably would have left it dusty, because I’m lazy like that. But just another example of Disneyland’s attention to detail.
I really really REALLY want this. Should I treat myself? Please vote yes or no in the comments.
Front
This part just kills me
I can’t remember if I actually posted a picture of Tuxedo Mickey and his Mouseketeer companion, so here you go:
He didn't win this costume contest--we were robbed!
And over at the watch shop, the watchmaker was actually doing something with a watch!
Changing the links, to be specific
I don’t know if I could work in a fishbowl like that. The window faces out to Main Street. Any old weird person with a camera like me can just snap a shot.
Oh, also I got a new phone which I’m kind of ambivalent about, but it does have good camera functions and has video recording. I thought I’d try it out tonight. Of course, it was only after I shot two videos that Kevin pointed out that if I held the camera horizontally, then Youtube wouldn’t cut off my video frame. Oops. Also, it was difficult trying to keep the phone stable so the videos are a bit jumpy. Sorry.
First, the castle lighting. The video is long but pretty much all the action is over after 25 seconds so if you ditch out early, I’m not going to blame you. Also, turn your volume way down–we were standing right underneath a speaker. Also also, I tried to rotate it in Youtube so it isn’t sideways, but at the time of this posting it was still “updating” so we’ll see what it looks like in the morning. If it’s still sideways–well, lesson learned.
This video is even less exciting. We were standing near the Hungry Bear restaurant by Splash Mountain to watch the fireworks. The interesting thing I think is that when they moved the fireworks focal point to the castle and started doing castle effects, if you’re standing on Main Street or in the hub the fireworks all look like they’re directly behind the castle. However, from this angle you can clearly see the difference between the high fireworks being shot off the backlot and the low fireworks (on the right) at the castle. Also, keep your sound turned down here too–the fireworks are a lot louder in that area than in other areas, it seemed.
My Year With The Mouse 