Hey Howdy Hey!

Good news everyone: I am now twenty years old. I am no longer a 'teenager,' and have moved on to an entirely new phase of life known as 'my twenties.' Exciting, I know.

My birthday was really a great day. The celebration was perfect for such an occasion. Stefani, my girlfriend, started the weekend off by surprising me with her presence. She had told me for weeks that she would not be in attendance during my birthday celebration, but she secretly got plane tickets and showed up for my birthday. She is really something, that Stefani Wood.

Anyway, we went to Disneyland on my Birthday and I finally got to enjoy the new Celebration: A Street Party, without having to clean up the confetti afterward. It was really quite the street party, and Stefani and I were brought out several times to join in the dancing. After the Street Party, we strolled trough Frontierland to set the mood for the most anticipated part of my birthday: dinner at the Celebration Roundup and Barbecue. I shot some rifles, tried on a cowboy hat, and thrust my thumbs in the strap of my fanny-pack (I don't care what you say, the fanny-pack was very useful).

We got to the barbecue and Sheriff Woody met us right at the entrance. Jessie, the yodelin' cow girl, came by and Chip and Dale were there too. We got a table right at the front and in the center, so we could enjoy all the cowboy songs, and playful cowboy banter. We were served an endless amount of Barbecue Ribs, Barbecue Chicken, Baked Beans, Corn Wheels, Corn Bread, Cole Slaw, and all the Coke you could swallow. During our entire meal, Miss Chris, the 'owner' of the ranch, would check up on her guests. She would also sing songs accompianied by Tex Tumbleweed and Sasparilla Sam. I knew most of the songs, thanks to my secret love of cowboy music and also my 5 years in the Tucson Arizona Boys Chorus, but there were some new ones I really enjoyed. I sang along through a mouthful of meat and beans, stopping only to steal quick sips of delicious Disneyland coke. The whole experience was topped of with a 'Cowboy Cone Cake- A Party on you Plate.' Basically, a yummy cupcake baked into a waffle cone. They were good.

I loved it. Every minute of it. I loved talking like a cowboy, singing the songs, eating the food, and being with friends. I ate so much I literally had to loosen my belt. Then we had the fantastic idea of getting on the Matterhorn and squashing all four of us into one sled. Without getting too graphic, lets just say I was very lucky my pants were still clean when I got off. Later that night we watched the fireworks, then Stefani and I danced to the music of a live Big Band Orchestra. It was the perfect ending to a wonderful day.

Here are some photo highlights of my birthday and the rest of my weekend:

Stefani at the 'Street Party'


My friend, and my roommates' Girlfriend, Anna and Me


Me shooting a rifle at the Shooting Range. I shot many things


The Big Thunder Ranch Celebration Roundup and Barbecue


Brent, my roommate, Anna, Me, and Stefani (with ears on)


Me and Jessie the Yodelin' Cowgirl


Chip and Dale with Stefani and Me


Stefani and Me in Laguna Beach


Sunset at Laguna Beach

I Love Online Petitions and Facebook Groups Dedicated to Causes

Nothing floats my boat more than being able to voice my virtual opinion using an online petition or a Facebook group. Seriously. Give me any cause, I'll sign up for it, as long as I can do it online. "End Genocide!" Does it have a website? Cause if so, sign me up! "Stop Babies!" Check out their Facebook group! I'm in! "A Petition to end all online Petitions!" Hey, I found it in my Inbox, so it's right up my alley. I'll sign it twice!

I know many of you are asking right now why I would sign an Online Petition banning my favorite thing, Online Petitions. I'll tell you-- They are all pointless. It is perhaps the most ineffective way of voicing an opinion. It isn't just ineffective, but it's lazy. Why would joining a Facebook group called "Make Genocide History in 2007" help in any way to stop the act? I'm sure the people committing genocide will one day look at the group, notice taht it has 2604 Members, and they will think to themselves, "OH! These people don't like this! Well let's stop then."

Why would typing your name to a Forwarded e-mail (something that cannot be authenticated, and could be done and repeated by anyone) raise 20 cents for a starving child in Africa? The logic doesn't even make sense. The reason we sign up for this stuff is due to Slacktivism: the search for the ultimate feel-good that derives from having come to society's rescue without actually getting one's hands dirty, volunteering any of one's time, or opening one's wallet (Snopes.com). It is so easy to just type your name, click "Join Group", or to forward to you entire contact list.

Instead of ranting for another several paragraphs, just read this. It's a great article about Slacktivism from Snopes.com, a website that confirms or denies Urban Legends.

Bro, Come on, Bro

Here is a little whimsical conversation I just heard in my room.

"Bro, I'm not even lying. I'm going to be honest with you. The girls downstairs aren't that hot, but Bro, they have hot friends. Bro, you get with them, and they hook you up with total hotties. Come on Bro! I thought you were cool Bro! I thought you were going to drink with us tonight Bro. Bro, we're in California! CALIFORNIA. Think about the total hotness babes that are out there waiting for you. Bro. Bro Bro Bro."

I'm not judging anyone else (at all), but I just want to say that I am so glad I have no interest in being like that.

My Secret Project...

'Zoo Be Zoo Be Zoo' has suffered the past couple months because some of my time and energy was being spent on my secret project. I know that some of you have noticed that I had a private blog that no one could read, and I will tell you now, that is my Secret Project.

The project is called 'The Happiest Trash On Earth: My Disney College Program Experience and the Adventures of Me, Carson Wright, a Custodial Cast Member.' If you remember back in October or so, I wrote about my acceptance into the Disney College Program at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. Well I am here now, and this blog is dedicated to my experience with the Disney College Program, and my adventures at Disneyland.

I will continue to post on 'Zoo Be Zoo Be Zoo' about my adventures that I can't write about on 'Happy Trash' (what I am calling my blog for short). So keep reading both blogs.

I hope that the time and effort I have put into my Secret Project has payed off. Please enjoy it and share it with all.

http://happytrash.blogspot.com

Las Vegas Was Cold

Christmas was wonderful. It's been a while, but now I'm back and getting into the swing of things again. Happy New Year, by the way.

I finished up at Mesa Community College and came back to Tucson for my Holiday Break. There was plenty to do. There was a lot of family to be with, a lot of packing and organizing to do, and a whole bunch of paperwork to do for the Disney College Program.

Christmas day was as cheerful as ever. I must have been good this year because I got a lot of wonderful gifts, including some great Disney gear. I got a really nice Mickey Mouse Watch, a TomTom GPS navigation system, some nice clothes, and (my absolute favorite) A Musical History of Disneyland. It is six discs worth of Disneyland music. It has the rides, atmosphere music, and music that can no longer be heard at Disneyland. It also comes with a 72 page book about the musical/audio history of Disneyland. It was exactly what I wanted.

The days following Christmas were somewhat uneventful. Just more family, friends, and packing for Disneyland. I spent New Years Eve packing with the help of my friend, Alando. I finished right as the we welcomed in the New Year. When I finished, I went straight to bed so I could get up and drive to Las Vegas.

I was going to Las Vegas because I was going to run in the 5k event at the 'Running from an Angel Marathon.' Steven and I were meeting Aaron, Tyler, and Aaron's friend Scott in Las Vegas for the race. Also, my Mom, Dad, Danniey, Becki, Joey, Miranda, and Becki's Mom came too.

It was my first time ever to Las Vegas, and it was cold. It was windy and cold. Bad mixture. Las Vegas itself gave me some funny feelings. It was very surface level, even more so than I expected. It is all about appearances. I did enjoy going into the big Casino's. They were beautiful. My favorites were the Venetian and the Wynn/Encore, but all of the Casino's are quite marvelous. What I really didn't like was the blatant smut on the street. It is bizarro town out there.

On Saturday the 3rd, all the runners rose early to get out to Lake Mead on-time for the race. It was really windy when we got there. My nipples instantly put holes in my shirt. I started to pity to fool who wasn't using nip-guards. Aaron and Scott took off on their Marathon, and shortly after Steven, Tyler, and I started our 5k. Steven beat both me and Tyler, and I beat Tyler by less than a minute. It was a very cold, and windy 5k. I've never had this problem before, but during this race, my shins cramped up really bad. I don't give that as an excuse for my loss to Steven. I lost by several minutes, and I couldn't help that. I was lucky not to lose to Tyler though. He has been running a lot lately, and is much more conditioned than I am.

After Aaron and Scott finished their marathon, we ate the Paris Buffet, which was delicious. It was my favorite part about Vegas. Sunday morning we got the breakfast buffet at the old Main Street Station Casino. I really liked it there. Old and classy. The buffet was not bad either.

After breakfast, I parted ways with the rest of my family. They headed for Tucson, and I headed for California. As soon as I crossed the Nevada/California border an indicator light came on telling me to pull over immediately and contact my Toyota Dealer. I was in the middle of nowhere, and my car seemed to be driving just fine, so I kept driving. I made it to my destination without any trouble and took the car into the dealer the next day. I got it all fixed up with some help from the Twitchell's and I checked into the Disney College Program.

This has been a very brief, nutshell overview of the past few weeks. I am pretty busy getting settled in at the Disney College Program. I promise in the future my entries will be more thoughtful and planned out.

To Be Continued...

Happy Life Day

Tis the season, as we all know, and time for all that comes with it-- family gatherings, chestnuts roasting, crappy TV Specials... In one of my routine Star Wars research sessions, I came across a delightful little number: The Star Wars Holiday Special.

This year marked the 30th anniversary of the infamous TV Special, and I decided to expose myself to all it's glory in honor of it's 30th birthday. Officially, it has never been released to DVD, VHS, or any other kind of medium (probably because the creators wish no one would remember it), so I watched it on YouTube in twelve parts. The Special itself is only two hours, but it took me two days to take it in.

Basically, it is a variety show contained within a loose story set in the Star Wars Universe. The story goes like this: Han Solo needs to get Chewbacca home for Life Day but run into some trouble from the forces of the Empire. While Chewbacca is being delayed, Chewie's family (Malla, his wife, Lumpy, his son, and Itchy, his father) tries to pass the time by talking to Luke or Leia, or by watching The Jefferson Starship. Imperial forces come to their house in search of the rebel Chewbacca, but Chewie and Han arrive just in time to save them and to celebrate Life day.

The opening credits advertise that the program stars Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford, James Earl Jones, and Peter Mayhew, but each of them show up for about 3 minutes each. The 'Guest Stars' are the real stars of the program; Harvey Korman, Art Carney, Diahann Carrol, Beatrice Arthur, and The Jefferson Starship all made extensive appearances.

The Program opens with stock footage of the Millenium Falcon being pursued by TIE Fighters, but quickly cuts to Chewbacca's family on the Wookiee Planet. After about 15 minutes of watching wookiees growl back and forth, Lumpy watches the Hologram Acrobats, while Luke and R2-D2 show up via video comlink.

Malla tunes into Gormaanda, a cooking show bit done by Harvey Korman. Then, Art Carney drops by the house and drops off some Life Day presents. He gives Itchy a virtual reality experience that quite frankly was really weird. I felt like I should not have been watching it. Leia and C-3PO call via video comlink to assure that Han would get Chewie home safe when a knock at the door ends their conversation. Lumpy answer the door and two Storm Troopers and an Imperial Officer are waiting, weapons at the ready.

They are looking for any rebel activity and suspect that the missing Chewbacca is a sympathizer of the Rebellion. Art Carney distracts the Imperials by putting another Holo-Presentation: The Jefferson Starship. The Imperial soldiers tell Malla to keep Lumpy quiet, so Malla calms Lumpy by letting him watch his video viewscreen (this cartoon is the first official introduction of Boba Fett).

The Imperial search of the house is halted when the viewscreen activates with a required message for all Imperial Forces. This required message is apparently an awkward cantina scene in which Bea Arthur sings a song called "Good Night, But Not Goodbye." The song itself is nice. But still weird setting.

After the required viewing, the Imperials are called back to the base, however they leave one trooper behind. The trooper harasses Lumpy out onto the balcony, just when Chewbacca and Han arrive. Han disarms the trooper and causes him to break through the railing and fall to his death.

After a quick reuniting of Han, Chewie, and Chewie's family, everyone somehow meets up magically in space at the Tree of Life. All the wookiees are dressed in red and after Leia gives a speech about Life Day and the Tree of life, she sings a song set to the Star Wars Theme.

Honestly, I enjoyed it. It was kind of like watching a house burning down; it isn't a good thing The variety show aspect of just fine, I thought. I enjoyed the numbers, but it all felt so out of place. It would have been perfect if the program was intended to be parodic, however it was not, and most people regretted it, including George Lucas himself.

At an Australian fan convention, George Lucas was reported saying, "If I had the time and a sledgehammer, I would track down every copy of that show and smash it." He admits it is not the brightest moment in Star Wars history and that he will just have to live with it. I'm with you George. We all make mistakes.

I think if you like Star Wars, you should see this. It is a goofy mix-up, but I have to admit that I have an awkward fondness for it. You don't have to watch it all in one sitting. In fact, you could watch one part on each of the 12 days of Christmas and make a little Christmas tradition out of it. If you watch it with an open mind, I guarantee that you will have a good time.

Happy Life Day everyone!

"That's L.A. you know..."

Last Friday I went to a Q&A session for the Disney College Program. Only about four other participants showed up. It was conducted by the Mesa Community College Campus Rep. Team. They are all alumni of the program. It was very informative and it got me very excited to go. The only problem I had with the whole experience is there are no reps from the College Program at Disneyland. All of them attended the College Program at Disney World. This is due to the fact that the College Program at Disneyland is much newer than the program at Disney World, so there are less alumni.

Friends and family were invited and even encouraged to come. Of the five people there, only one person brought their parents, ofr maybe their parents forced their child to invite them to come. This person is going to the Disneyland College Program in Anaheim and will work in costuming. She is very excited. Her parents are not as excited. Now keep in mind that this girl is twenty years old.

They came late and asked a lot of questions. So many in fact that the meeting would have only lasted about ten minutes. Instead is lasted forty-five minutes. They asked questions like, "Will there be other people working with her after the late night parades at one or two in the morning?" and, "Are there stores and things to buy your food?" I wanted to answer them for her:

"No there aren't any stores there. Anaheim is kind of a recent development, so you should come prepared for the entire eight months. Also, your daughter will be working all by herself at Disneyland at two in the morning. Absolutely no one else will be working there."

They asked a bunch of questions, most of which can be answered in the pages of information that came with the acceptance letter or that can be found online.

They were upset that none of the reps had done their Program at Disneyland, so they couldn't answer every question with 100% certainty, to which they asked their daughter why she hadn't applied at Walt Disney World? Sure it's 2200 miles away, but at least some of these people could answer our questions.

Really, it didn't bother me all that much. They are just very concerned parents who care about their twenty year old daughter.

I did find one thing pretty funny. They asked about the transportation and if their daughter would be safe traveling home if she had to work late. The campus reps told her that she would be there with many other people and most likely she would makes friends who have cars, but worst comes to worst, she would have to use the Public Transportation. After the reps finished their explanation, the parents offered this entertaining piece of dialogue:

Mother: I've been to Orlando and Downtown Disney at midnight or one o' clock and it is very safe. I've also been to Downtown Disney in Anaheim and well... (trails off)

Father: That's L.A. you know... (said with a 'no-nonsense' disposition and an informative tone)

Unfortunately, I thought that he was being sarcastic, or maybe he was poking fun at his wife, so I laughed. I received a prompt stare from the Father. At once, I morphed my laughter in a fit of coughs.

Honestly, though. Those are some seriously protective parents. This girl is twenty years old, and they will be going to Anaheim a week early to make sure that she knows where to go for food, how to get to Disneyland, and who to talk to when she has problems with her roommates. The poor girl was quite embarrassed.

Before the parents showed up, the girl said she could not wait to move out. She told us that her parents would not let her see rated R movies and she was twenty years old. I thought, "Wow...controlling, but how bad can it be?" Then the parents showed up and then I understood.

I just thought it was funny.