So I never did get a chance to play chess in the park this weekend like I had planned. It was too hot outside – around 104 in the valley.
We ended up going down to the Disneyland Resort on Saturday later in the day (into the belly of crowds and tourists). Our afternoon felt a little ruined when we were rushing to see the last Playhouse Disney show of the day (at 4:15?) we were running with our daughter and her gear, like refugees, across the park and showed up at the door at like 4:18. They wouldn’t let us in because, we were told, JoJo or Bear would go postal at our tardiness or because the show was packed, I don’t quite remember. Our day was redeemed though because Disney’s California Adventure is never crowded, even on Labor Day weekend. The longest line is 5 minutes and everybody sort of walks around the park looking for something to do. I’ve got a secret about that park; in reality there really isn’t much to do.
When we got bored we went across to Disneyland. We really like Disneyland, and so do millions of other people who were there on Saturday, because the place was packed. We ended up giving in and took our daughter onto “It’s A Small World” (yeah, I know “why?”…Babies and toddlers love that ride. It’s like baby-crack) and then later watched the fireworks. While watching all I could think about was how much I would hate to live near Disneyland. Those fireworks are much louder than our neighbors dog.
Sunday we did something very cultural, we went to Dim Sum in Chinatown with friends. I like Dim Sum, you never address the women pushing the food carts as “Excuse me, madam, what kind of entrée might you have there?” it’s more like “Hey!! You!! #43 with deep fried Chicken feet!!” (They have nametags with only numbers) It’s so demeaning. The only other place that’s worse is Medieval Times; you get to address the waitresses simply as 'wenches'.
Later in the day we did a neighborhood block party potluck. This is something very rare here in L.A., we actually get along with the majority our neighbors and do stuff like this every few months. There are 7 houses on our street and only 2 of them are occupied with those “weird” people. So of course the topic of conversation sometimes skews at them.
So the last weekend of the summer is going pretty well and then I hear about the Crocodile Hunter’s tragic death. It’s really depressing. My wife and I love watching his show on occasion. I even remember watching the episode of where he drags his cameraman along with him for the birth of his daughter –that was very moving – here’s this guy who’s been bitten by crazy mutants and never sheds a tear and then practically bawls when he holds his daughter for the first time. I just can’t even imagine what his wife and kids are going through. And now that they’re in the world news dumb reporters are going be asking them really stupid questions like "Are you sad about this really rare tragic death?". I hate reporters questions on the obvious.
Being the world-travelers that we are (or imagined) we’ve always planned on one day going to visit Australia and going to the Zoo he started. I think we still might.
9 comments:
Yeah, Croc hunter's death hit pretty hard here too.
p.s. as a sophomore in high school I dropped acid and rode 'small world' like a dozen times - I blame a lot on that experience.
Oh, I KNOW... Crocodile Hunter's death was just terrible. Just awful for his family.
Yeah, I scared the bejeezus out of my husband when I read the news - I'm not a big "gasp of horror" person, but seeing that news on my home page wrenched one out of me.
Disney on a Saturday sounds crazy many, especially on Labor Day weekend...but you survived that's the important thing.
I had Dim Sum in LA's Chinatown.
Between Andre Agassi's retirement and Steve Irwins' passing, it's been a stressful weekend, celebrity-wise. But at least Irwin died doing what he loved most. I feel sorriest for his son who is not yet 3. He will only know his dad through TV shows and movies.
I totally remember that show when Steve's baby was born. I was up late nursing Annabelle and it was on in the middle of the night. It was very moving.
I decided that we'll go to Disneyland whenever Annabelle asks to go- but not before then. It's close (only about six or seven miles) and we hear the fireworks every summer night at 915pm. You can see them from my parent's second story!
Thanks for the Disney tips- My inlaws live in LA and we visit them with the kids for a few weeks each summer. We're planning to take my 2-year-old to Legoland next year; the girls LOVED it when they were her age. I want to take her to Disneyland, but it's such a hassle, I'm thinking I might wait another year or two, until I'm sure she'll remember it!
Love your blog. :)
That news about the crocodile hunter was so sad! I think someone else mentioned the Wiggles DVD that had him on it and I agree, my kids absolutely loved him. When I was in high school, I lived in Melbourne for a while so for whatever reason I feel connected to him even though I never met him. He had such an infectious enthusiasm for life. At least his kids will get to see that in all his videos.
It IS sad that he died young, but I have to be honest and say my first reaction was sort of, "Well, that was bound to happen some day, wasn't it?" It's ironic that he did all these other crazy things and apparently was careful and knowledgeable enough to pull it off, but that this, which was apparently not as dangerous as it sounds by a long shot, resulted in a freak accident. Sad.
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