jimsjournal
| Disney thoughts -- 10/10/04 |
jimsjournal |
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I have been having Internet connection problems on my PC lately -- and I'm wondering if the problem could be with my ethernet card. None of the other computers in the house are having these problems. I can even have my laptop online while two feet away this desktop machine is claiming it can't find the Internet. (Yes, I've tried switching cables, but the laptop continues to connect and this machine continues to have problems.) It used to be that trying multiple times, even opening up multiple browser windows, over a period of three or four minutes would make it start to work. Now, the connection sometimes works when the machine is first booted up, and then it fails and nothing will seem to make it reconnect. Shutting down the machine and leaving it off for a while, and then rebooting will work sometimes... but after half an hour or maybe an hour, the connection is lost again. Since our other computers don't have the problem and the modem and the router appear to be okay and switching cables and connections at the router end does not change anything and switching cat5 cables at the PC end doesn't change anything either... and there has been no change in operating system or browsers where it worked before the change and stopped afterwards. Thus, I am beginning to suspect the ethernet card. So... next time I'm near a Staples or OfficeMax, I think I may pick up a new card. This week's Sunday Brunch is about Disney... 1) What is your favorite Disney movie and why? Cinderella. I have loved that movie since I was a little kid -- the mice were my favorite characters, something about them just caught my imagination. That is my favorite, but there are other Disney that I also recall quite fondly. Pinocchio is another Disney animation masterpiece that is one of my favorites; in fact, it probably ranks with Fantasia as the very best from Disney, but I still love those mice. Another Disney classic (one which Disney Corp. is trying to push down the memory hole, refusing to re-release it) is Song of the South -- now, admittedly, there are sections of the live action portion with its happily singing blacks on a plantation that are offensive to modern sensibilities (indeed, from a sociological point of view, they prompt the question of how they could have been morally acceptable even back in 1946!) but the magic in the film is its depiction of some of Joel Chandler Harris' Uncle Remus tales. Yes, they were Disney-fied, but as a child who loved reading those stories, I was delighted to see them animated. Those, of course, are the Disney movies from my childhood. In the early seventies Disney released Robin Hood, where the characters are animated animals and their voices and the musical soundtrack have a strong (and very incongruous) American country flavor. This movie, in VHS format, is part of my children's childhood and, although it is not one of Disney's best, it is rather pleasant and amusing -- and, sort of as a visual comfort food, it continues to be played. (Just a few weeks ago, when Jill was really feeling sick with infected tonsils, she popped this tape into the VCR.) Oh, and let me mention just one more -- Mary Poppins -- which came out in 1964. I saw it as a first run theatrical release on a date (and then came out of the theatre with this warm glow of pleasure from having watched the movie only to discover that somebody had broken into my car!) and have watched it numerous times with my kids, enjoying it each time. (What an incredible cast -- Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke, of course, but also Glynis Johns and David Tomlinson as the parents and Ed Wynn and marvelous cameo performances by Arthur Treacher and Elsa Lanchester -- oh, heck, the entire cast was just right.) 2) Who is your favorite Disney character and why? The mice in Cinderella. 3) What is your favorite Disney song and why? How about the entire soundtrack from Mary Poppins? 4) Disneyland or Disneyworld? Why? Why? Why bother? I've never been to either one and have absolutely no desire to go. Hate crowds. Think the whole thing is vastly overpriced for the value. C'mon, they're just amusement parks. Nancy and I have been to Sesame Place with Jill and Jeremy twice (when they were young), and had a marvelous time. We've also taken them to Ontario Place (in Toronto) which we also enjoyed. I just can't understand wanting to go all the way to Florida or to California just to go to a really big amusement park and spend your day mostly standing in long lines for one minute rides. I have have never felt an urge to go to either Disney theme park. 5) Do you have any decorations or articles of clothing in your home that are Disney and what are they? No, I can't think of any. |
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