That was how it stuck in my memory all that time. But when I saw it was going to be on tv, I decided to watch it again, see if it lived up to my memory or if I should give it some slack. (I even bothered to take notes on my thoughts for future reference, if anyone’s wondering why I’m writing this two years and one month later.)

My first impressions, I like the Greek art that’s apparent in parts of the movie, and how that style inspired other parts of the movie as well. It reminds me of Sleeping Beauty, how that movie was animated to look like medieval art.

I like the muses, even back when I first saw the movie I liked the muses. I did back then what I always do, I analyzed the girls’ outfits and hair styles and picked my favorite ones. ahaha. (My favorite back then: the one with the long hair, of course.)

I also, surprisingly, like Hades. The first time around I didn’t like him, for reasons I can’t remember. Was he too loud? Was it because he was the Greek equivalent of Satan? I don’t know. I can’t remember why I like him now, either, since I didn’t write notes on that… Maybe he was funny.

The second viewing, I found that I don’t like Hades’ two sidekicks. One guy’s voice just grates on my ears. (Oh man, I’m looking through Wikipedia at that actor’s filmography, and he was the sandman in Are You Afraid of the Dark?! So that’s where I remember his voice from. Creeepy.) The both of them I find to just be bumbling idiots, not funny at all but annoying.

Philoctetes, I never liked him. He’s ugly and annoying and gross and I don’t enjoy his scenes at all. blegh.

Another complaint I had when I was a kid was that Disney mangled the Greek mythology! I did not like the old stories being changed just to fit the current story. For example, why is Hera all nice and motherly with Hercules? She isn’t even his mom in Greek mythology! Now, though, it’s just a minor complaint. After all, I did decide to take movies at face value. Of course it wouldn’t have fit into Disney’s storyline that Hera, who is most undeniably Zeus’ wife, isn’t Hercules’ mom. There has to be a bad guy, and it can’t be Hercules’ own “mom”!

Now for my favorite part of the movie, now and even back then: Megara! And her song “I Won’t Say (I’m in Love).” Megara wasn’t like other female Disney characters at all, and that’s exactly why I liked her then and now. She was sassy, cynical, and she wouldn’t have cared for anyone’s wounds (Belle) or wanted to sacrifice herself for others (Pocahontas, Mulan). And her voice is so un-Disneylike as well, it’s so low, not like a certain high-voiced sixteen-year-old (Snow White).

Overall, the plotline is pretty standard fare for Disney, and some characters I like, some I detest. I don’t think of this movie with distaste anymore, though. And I don’t feel guilty about liking Megara and her song while hating the rest of the movie, because I don’t hate it anymore!

(But what’s number one on my disliked Disney movie list now…?)

After the earthquake, we went on to California Adventure. On the way we passed by a lot of people who were leaving the parks. Found out that all the rides were shut down until there were maintenance checks to make sure nothing was damaged. First we sat by the lake for a while then went on to get fresh tortilla and sour dough bread. XD I never would have thought to go in there myself. It was my cousin who told us about it. Wish she could have gone on our trip, but she said she was Disneylanded out. :(

After that … got drinks near that pier place/boardwalk or whatever … Daddy and I shared a root beer float. It was good, but … ice cream ain’t so good on a hot day if it’s heavy on the cream side …

On to Toy Story Mania, where we stood in line for about 45–60 minutes, I don’t really remember. It was really fun! I got the highest score, 158,000. XD; Really surprising, ’cause I suck at Astro Blasters. >_> I was the only one to get a cat for a prize…

After that … Mulholland Madness? Then that giant spinny ride next to the swings. Umm … I think we checked Tower of Terror next, and it was a 45 minute wait which we weren’t willing to … withstand.

Now I don’t remember the order of things. We never got on Tower of Terror on that trip. :( First ride I go on next time!! California Screamin’, dinner at the Pilots Test Grill or whatever, umm I guess some people went to wait at Soarin’ over California. D, W88, and I went to the animation studio area.

Looked through the store there, saw a book on Disney animation I really wanted. It was $60 thought, and it looked like many, many hands had handled it, and I couldn’t find another copy on the shelves. :( Then in the animation studio place, went through the spinny drawing room, skipped the character test and the singing room (both were so crowded!) Sat in the main room watching all the animation/music roll through.

Oh, before that we saw the spinny thingy of Toy Story toys in the animation place … that was really cool, except it hurt my eyes.

Then everyone joined us and we went to watch Turtle Talk with Crush. I still have no idea how that’s done … all computerized? That’s friggin’ … I had no idea computers could handle that much.

Went out to watch the light parade. Sort of not a good view, because there was a tree in front of me in the direction the parade came from … but then I could see lights piled up down the street as they went backstage, which was pretty.

On to Disneyland, got there as the fireworks were going on. I rememer the pirates part was going on … we went to Tomorrowland. Um, I think we did Astro Blasters, Finding Nemo, and Star Wars before the park closed.

That was the first time I went on Finding Nemo, and I did not see what all the excitement was about. But then again, I never really did like sitting in the sub. At least there was a bit more space than I remembered from my childhood … The show going on was good though, I have to admit. Sort of annoying, again, because the audio didn’t always match up with my screen. I’d hear something, then wait to see it. But meh. I guess riding in a sub is always novel…?

That night, our toilet flooded, and we had to unclog it ourselves, even though it was slow when we got there … but we got what we paid for I guess. ($70 a night.) Didn’t get to bed until 2. Um, woke up around … 8:30 or 9? I don’t remember. Got complimentary breakfast at 9 or 9:30. Was in the park after 10.

At the entrance we saw the band and Alice and Mad Hatter doing a show. :D But … we didn’t even catch a minute of it before it was over, and they walked away. :( I wanted to follow Alice and Hatter to wherever they were going XD but uh consensus was that we … follow through with our previous plans. A, M, and L went to get fast passes for Splash Mountain and the rest of us went to Autopia.

After we all met up again, some people got fast passes for Space Mountain and then we trekked over to Splash Mountain. I rode in the second to last seat and did not get wet. Maybe a little on my glasses. But that’s more annoying than anything. Boo. Oh well. Will not ride in the back next time. XP

Oh yeah, on California Screamin’ I rode in the second to the front row. Was not spectacular. (Going down the big drop, had to wait for the rear of the train to catch up before we went.) W88 and C rode in the very front row, and they said it was fun. Shall try that some time. Hopefully I won’t stop breathing though. :o

Then … Thunder Mountain? Or Haunted Mansion. After that was one or the other. Then some people went to Pirates. I didn’t go on ’cause the line was waaay too frickin’ long. It was probably only a 30 minute wait, but I didn’t want to stand in the sun for 20 minutes. So I caught up with Auntie and L and wandered around the shops there. ‘Twas cool, never did that before. Never really realized they were shops. XD;

Oh, before Pirates we ate at that restaurant near the shops. I had a Mint Julep. Meh. Wish I’d put more Sprite in it, then I would have liked it more. XD; I don’t like mint in anything but candy, ’cause otherwise I feel like I’m eating leaves … I know I’m weird.

Then … I don’t know, Space Mountain? Mum, Noelle, N, C, and I didn’t go on. After that … bah, I don’t remember. It must have been 2:30ish or 3.

I guess we went to the house of the future? It didn’t really wow me, mostly futuristic computer gadgetry which I don’t believe will happen. But I liked playing with the pictures in the “living room” area. XD (Yes I want HP’s touch monitor computer. :O )

Then we went to Toontown. Got fast passes for Roger Rabbit, wandered around Toontown for 45 minutes then went on Roger Rabbit. Wow, spinning the car is hard. When I went on it the first time (when I was 13? XD;) I didn’t touch the wheel. I don’t remember ever having gone on the teacups.

6ish or 6:30, left Toontown and caught the Parade of Dreams. Um. We stood on the cement planters outside Toontown/It’s a Small World. Had sort of a good view. There was a kid (teen really) who stood in front of me and decided to release a Micky Mouse balloon just high up enough to block my view. >_> When the parade stopped the first time, I think Pinocchio was in front of us. That was cool. But the second time it was Lion King. argh. Just a little farther was Alice in Wonderland!! I thought, noooo, so close!

Dinner was pizza. We ordered two pizzas and barely finished them. :o Then M, W88, and N split off to ride the Monorail and the rest of us went on to Main Street, but the three called and wanted their tickets so they could get fast passes in case they couldn’t get back on the Monorail in time to get back for the fireworks. Then a whole mess of people not finding each other and simplifying plans all around and skipping both Ms and just sitting on the ground waiting for the fireworks. Yaaaay! :D

Sat to the right of the castle, best seats ever! Well except for possible in the very middle of the circle, or maybe closer to Main Street. But oh well. The kids, sans L, rushed over to the Rivers of the World for Fantasmic on R’s advice, and got really good seats by the river. woot! Of course lots of people rushed there too, so everyone was holding on to the person’s shirt in front of them. XD; People near us were commenting on feeling like cattle. Yeah, I have to agree. But it was worth it. For that once. XD

After, waited for the crowds to thin. Also gave us time to gain the feeling in our feet. :o We are old fogeys, no longer little kids able to sit cross-legged for hours on end! Met up with everyone else on Main Street. Checked out the Emporium, saw Star Wars Potato Heads XD then went to a music store across the street. Then went back to the hotel for sleeeep.

Up again at, what, 9? Went to Denny’s next door for breakfast. Disneyland, I don’t remember, maybe we went directly to Fantasyland. Storybook Land, so cute! I loved all the little miniature everythings. But there were life-size ducks in London Park. :P

Next Alice. I dunno if my childhood memories smoothed over it or if Disneyland is running down, but man the cars of that ride kept seriously vibrating. If my butt had been sore from walking for two days straight, it woulda been heaven. >_> Went to meet up with people who walked over to the It’s a Small World area to sit down. Sat … and sat … and sat. X|

Finally L and I went back to Fantasyland to go on Snow White and Pinocchio. While queuing for Snow White (I think?) saw some of Merlin’s show. :] Couldn’t really hear anything though. Boo. Skipped Peter Pan because I just didn’t want to wait 45 minutes.

Went back to lame-os who don’t appreciate Fantasyland. :P Saw Alice and Hatter walk by at the end of their shift to the backstage area. *CRY* I seriously kept my eyes open wide for any sign of Alice/Hatter or Brianna while in Fantasyland, but saw no one! *sniffle* Very disappointed. (I really really really was going to say something to Brianna. Just “I love your art.” You know how little I want to interact with the people I admire? I just don’t want to “slime” them, as Wil Wheaton would put it. And yet … I would have … :(

After I realized I missed everybody I was willing to go on. I think we went on the Monorail next. Don’t really remember. We stopped in the Gibson ice cream parlor for some seriously good ice cream. Then back to CA Adventure. People who did not go on Soarin’ last time because the ride malfunctioned and they were sent back to the end of the line (…that just makes no sense, ride operators; why?) tried a second time and got on.

D, C, W88, Noelle, and I went on California Screamin’ again. Actually we’d planned to go on Toy Story Mania again but we saw that the coaster line was only 25 minutes, and the Soarin’ ride was something like 50 minutes? So we snuck on the coaster before going on Toy Story. XD While standing in line by this point, I really really felt drained after three days of this with all the sun (forgot the sunblock!) and lack of sleep, and I was considering stepping out of line but meh I just stuck it out.

Then we went to see the Aladdin show. (Auntie got in a nap during then. Wish I could have done the same.) Then we used fast passes for … the raft ride (I keep wanting to call it Bigfoot Rapids, but no that’s Knott’s…). 5:30ish. We all got at least moderately drenched, and Daddy got soaked.

Then we went to Downtown Disney, looked through the big Disney store (only one really tacky license plate frame? come on Disney, give us a nice stately-looking design, you’d have four sold right away!). Had dinner at the mexican restaurant. Was good, but I was so tired that I ordered the wrong thing and didn’t really get much of a dinner. >_> I filled up on chips and guacamole, and had the leftovers of C’s sides.

Said goodbye to Noelle’s family, took the Monorail to Disneyland, went on Peter Pan. N said it’s not a high capacity ride like Pirates so there’s always a long wait. I wondered what you could do to make it faster, but … there’s nothing. If you cram in “boats” like in Pirates, the magic of the ride just disappears. Then there’s just a bunch of flying boats all around you. We got on the ride a little bit before they closed the line for the fireworks. XD

I wanted to look in the store by the castle with all the little princess dresses, but it was closed before we got off the ride. :( Went on Astro Blasters again. I said I didn’t know what I wanted to do anymore, but I just didn’t want to leave Disneyland. XD We went back to the music store so N could buy a book.

We had to walk around the circle in front of the castle while the fireworks were going on. Everyone slowed waaay down in front of the castle to watch the fireworks. I even heard one lady chide her young daughter, “Walk slowly!” Jerks. The whole lot o’ ya! But we go to see the part of the show with the Haunted Mansion right before we left the circle to Main Street. XD Sooo cool.

I didn’t realize I had to step to the right to get out of the circle so all of a sudden all these people were walking in front of me and people to my right wanted me to get out of their way and ahhh I couldn’t get through! Then this mom said to her son, “Let this lady through,” to which I said, “Thank you” (and thought, ‘Lady?!’ Do I look that old?????’).

So N bought a book about Disneyland through the years or something, and C bought a book on the Haunted Mansion. I’m glad C bought it, ’cause I really liked it, but didn’t want to spend more than the $15 I’d already spent on two Alice in Wonderland pins. XD; (Obsessed much? You can blame Where Curiosity Met Insanity.)

That was the end of a very, very satisfying trip to Disneyland. But we realized that next time (yes there will be a next time *grin*) we need to go four days so we can fit in some sleep! By the end of the trip I was very grumpy and tired. And I was sick after we got home, argggh.

We didn’t really get to spend much time looking at all the scenery and soaking in the “Disneyness” of the place. (Walt was at that park!) But I think summer probably is not the time for that. Despite low attendance, despite it being the middle of the week. We should go in early spring or winter and just sit. XD I still want to be on Main Street when the lights go on. o_o

Wow, I spent well over an hour on this entry. I remembered a lot more than I thought I would. Word count … 2569. hahaha…

All right, August 29 there was an earthquake somewhere around Chino Hills? 5.4, according to the USGS page on the quake. I’d heard numbers from 5.8 to 5.2, but I guess it’s settled down to 5.4 finally. Felt all the way to southern San Diego county (because it’s sandy there).

Where was I? With my family and Noelle’s family (sans her dad) in Anaheim, standing outside our hotel, just starting our 3-day vacation to Disneyland. Bwahahar!

Yes, we live in Southern California, what the heck do we need three days at Disneyland for? Well my brother, the one who recently has really fallen in love with Disney, never really went to Disneyland when he was a kid. Whereas I went quite often with my Girl Scout troop with our cookie sales money, and thusly got sick of it. (Mum said that it was much more crowded in the 90s, aka the Eisner years.) But now that my brother is working full-time, he has money to drag us all to Disneyland. *grin*

We didn’t just go on most of the rides there, but we looked through stores, caught some shows, and just generally took in the Disney atmosphere.

But before we got to that, we experienced an earthquake! This was the first time for everyone (I think?) that we felt an earthquake while outside. We were standing on the sidewalk, just talking about I have no idea what, when I felt this weird boom underneath my feet.

For a second I thought we were standing on a metal plate over some electrical works or something. But no, it was solid concrete on solid ground next to solid asphalt on solid ground. I automatically asked, “What was that?” and then the ground started moving sideways. :o I put my hand on my dad’s shoulder because I thought I might fall over, or maybe it was just for security, haha.

My mom asked, “Is that an earthquake?” and my dad said yeah, look at the windows of the hotel rattling. Then we noticed some hotel guests on the first floor standing outside their room.

Then it was all over, and everyone talked about what they thought and blah blah blah. C and my dad tried using their cell phones, but they didn’t work. :( Worked about an hour later though.

All in all, best ride of the day! (This entry is very long and Mythbusters is on in a short while anyway, so … hopefully I’ll write up our Disneyland trip. :x)

Also, last night, I listened to “Love” from Robin Hood, performed by Nancy Adams. When I read the title of the song I couldn’t recall how it sounded, but I at least didn’t not remember it. Then when I listened to it … omigosh! I was a kid again! I haven’t heard it in the longest time. Robin Hood wasn’t one of the Disney movies my family watched often. Mainly because it’s taped at the end of an Anne of Green Gables/Avonlea movie. O.o We never figured out how or why that happened.

But I plan to buy the DVD for Robin Hood. heehee. I already bought the DVD of Bedknobs and Broomsticks. (Er, parents paid for it though. >.>) We used to have a tape of it, not a store-bought one, but it disappeared somewhere. One of the mysteries of our house. (Another item that disappeared without a trace leaving only the case was my mom’s tape of 60s girl groups.)

This post is password protected. To view it please enter your password below:

Password:

This post is password protected. To view it please enter your password below:

Password:

Lori said “crap” in a comment she posted on my journal. I don’t mean to be a hypocrite or anything. I don’t really care if other people cuss (at least I try not to ^^;). And I kinda think not-so-nice words every so often … but I don’t like certain people to cuss. Namely my relatives. ^^;;; One time N said “bitch” (not to anyone, he just said it) and I was so shocked, but C didn’t seem to make much notice of it, so I tried to play it cool. ^.^; *is a dork* But uh anyway I never ever ever use cuss words out loud, unless I’m just saying the word. And I’m gonna stop typing it out online where Lori can see it. Even if I am that pissed off.

I know I’m not supposed to say “bad words” because it might offend other people. I definitely don’t want to offend other people. Nor do I want to be offended when other people say them. ^^;; But I don’t know. Sometimes words just fit. Sometimes the world is just so negative … I wonder what it’s like, telepathy. Something that transcends words …

But I’m also trying to not talk about my beliefs because I know it makes everyone uncomfortable. <_< Like when Lori brings up NDEs and reincarnation at the dinner table and I know where she’s been getting it all from (Mum and me). ^^;; And then Auntie and Uncle say things that I want to correct, but I don’t, because it’s their beliefs and they’re not hurting anyone so why should I disrupt them? *shrugs*

I am also not liking Your-site.com. x_x;; I mean, it’s reeeeally nice, I like the people who own/run it, but it’s a bit more simplified than I was looking for. (I completely forgot to check that I could create more ftp accounts!!! ARRRRGH! >_<) I want a Cyberpixels account (or even iPowerWeb, even though I don’t have that much money ^^;;;;), but I can’t, because Noelle and Lori use Greymatter and Cyberpixels doesn’t allow that script ’cause of security problems. x.x Guh. I don’t get any subdomains with y-s.com, I can’t make more ftp accounts, I don’t have any MySQL databases, and only one domain per plan. *sigh* And with Cyberpixels I could have had a free third domain name. >b Yeah, I’m starting to want crimsoncut.com again.

Ummm … I also want a blog on there. Lately I’ve been feeling like I’m putting on an act with my blog/public LJ entries. I’m not— it’s me, but it feels like an act, because I know Lori and Noelle will be reading it, so I kinda up the happy chipperness a bit. ^^;; And that blog would not be associated with my current sites at all. I’d even use another nickname on there. I’d call myself Marcy. :b So that way there’re no ties to my real life. >b Yeay, happy dreams.

Sad thoughts: Amy Lee was mentioned on the egl community because the dress she wore was designed by h.Naoto. WAO! XD So cool! I didn’t know that, but I really liked her dress. I thought she designed it, like her other dresses, but she didn’t, and this is so cool because it’s h.Naoto!!!

I’ve decided that I like Atelier Boz and h.Naoto both. And when I get a fulltime job and am settled in a home, I shall blow big bucks on $200+ clothing items and pay someone in Japan to buy for me ’cause they don’t ship to the US.

But anyway. So on the egl community everyone (but one person) was saying they didn’t like Amy Lee. And one person even said Amy doesn’t wear her clothes very well. o_O I mean, okay, it’s their opinion, nothing to get riled up over. But it still makes me sad. Because I think she’s a great person. Human, yeah (thinking of the Cold incident), but she’s still a good role model for girls. (IE, she’s telling them to not wear skimpy clothing, unlike Christina Aguilera. Is it just me, or did the dress she wear at the Grammys look like she was spreading her legs on her chest? o_O [Yes I'm weird I know that. >.>;;])

And then they were all worrying that her wearing h.Naoto would make EGL or punk loli a fad in America, and that they’d all be called “Amy Lee wannabes” when they were all wearing it first. But she designs her own clothes (even though they go under the goth or punk label most of the time), and she’s not following someone else’s trends.

Okay now I’m just rambling and not making sense to myself.

Ooh, I made a mini movie icon for Livejournal. :D It’s not very good and it’s a bit short and choppy and headache-inducing. But lj has insane limits. Har har. I want to make a mini movie of the scene where she’s looking at the kites (the part that’s right there) and then the part where she’s on the ground next to the tower ’cause she jumped off it. *blink* Am I being morbid? I dunno. They didn’t have that scene in the music video. So now I’m stuck with the old DVD player that freezes after ten seconds of this region 0 disc or the new DVD player which doesn’t take screenshots. >.<

So I was looking at the Lily Chou-Chou fansite ’cause I couldn’t remember why I didn’t download the movie clips (they’re in .mov format, and I don’t like Quicktime on my laptop), and now I feel like watching the movie again. ^^;;; Freaky schoolgirls who tell guy classmates to “scare” another girl classmate because they’re jealous of her piano skillz, then when the guys rape her, they say “Idiots! Oh well.”

And moving from that disturbing scene, I also want to see Dumbo again. ^^;; What? Last year I read that it’s supposed to be a “perfect imitation of a Disney film” because Walt had nothing to do with it and yet they were able to rehash everything he’s ever done in a movie. :b And someone else said the pink elephants scene was utterly pointless dribble, but I never thought so. It scared me as a kid, but I also thought it was really entertaining. ^^ I also have to see the Emperor’s New Groove. Is that what it’s called? I was reading this Disney book in the college library on Disney storyboards, and they were talking about this movie called “Kingdom of the Sun” about an emperor who was turned into a llama. Yeah. I also want that book. Preeeetty paintings! ;.; Mum has this book on Pinocchio and the art in it. There’s an amazing painting of that bar of soap. :P

And now I’m bored with typing so baibai. (5:53, wow)

But because of that book, I watched Fantasia and Fantasia 2000. Heh. I like them. I don’t think anyone has any right to say Walt ruined those pieces. But I’m not exactly a big fan of classical music. But I still say no one can fault Walt for seeing what he saw when he heard that music.

Mommy said, while watching Fantasia 2000, that they took liberties with the animation. O_o Oh. I forgot to ask her what she meant by that. Anyway. I like them. I think they’re fun movies. I finally saw that one with the green lady-thing with butterflies. ^^;; *braindead* Nice.

Is smartness a gene? … I think I’ve read too many Ralph Wiggum quotes today.

“She’s touching my special area!” “My cat’s breath smells like cat food.” “I bent my wookie.” “The doctor told me I wouldn’t have so many nosebleeds if I just kept my finger out of there.”

Ever wish you could close your eyes and just curl up inside a song? These Lily Chou-Chou songs make me feel like that. It’s odd. I still love that movie. Well maybe not love. But … o_o! Yeah. I wanna see Battle Royale. Some site said there’s a Battle Royale II in production. O.o Well anyway. I guess I’d have to buy the movie. ‘Cause how many video rental stores have a modern disturbing Japanese film on their shelves?

-.- And apparently … I am not getting it. $37 minimum. Nuh-uh. I don’t care if people say AALCC is a copy. I ain’t paying that much. …

I keep picturing the people in AALCC listening to Lily. ^^;;; Woooow, niice. *sigh* Now Battle Royale is buggin’ me like heck. -_- Oi. I owe Mommy $25 for the Ai Yazawa artbook. Don’t know why I bought it. The scanner’s not good at all. Well, it’s adequate for normal scanning. But not scanning art and stuff. Yuck. Also Mommy wants a legal size scanner. XP W00t! Support my side! Um. But I know nothing about scanners.

“Ai no jikken” whatever jikken means. Experiment. Ah. O_o *ahem* Remind me to translate Lily Chou-Chou lyrics.

Pardon my … oddities, but in one song, it sounds like she sings “death like life.” ^^; I don’t have the lyrics for all 9 songs, so i don’t know.

I also want the rest of Paradise Kiss. $30. Fun.

Well I chose a topic. Did I say that before? I think I’m getting mixed up with my journal. Well my topic is Michael Eisner is bad for Disney. He Is Not Disney. Yup yup. Let’s see how well I do with it. I hope I get by with a C in the class. (In other words, I don’t have high hopes for a good grade on this paper.)

It’s 11:00. Dangit. I don’t feel like going to bed. Hum.