The Thanksgiving holiday weekend was full of fun and surprises. It all started on Thursday when Roger and I headed up to his hometown near San Luis Obispo for some turkey. It is always nice to get out of town, and since both of our schedules precluded any long getaways, a quick drive up the coast was perfect.
On Friday, we braved the crowds at the stores for about 30 minutes before raising the white flag and heading to the video store. We picked up three movies (We only wanted two, but the store was having a rent two and get one free sale): Jet Li’s “The One“, Margaret Cho’s “Notorious C.H.O“, and Ben Affleck’s “The Sum of All Fears“. All three were movies we missed in the theaters. “The One” was a bit disappointing, especially since the previews of it were so cool. “Notorious C.H.O” was funny, but I found it not as pee-in-the-pants funny as her last movie. We didn’t make it to Sum of All Fears yet, but we have until Saturday.
Speaking of Saturday, after work, Roger, Daniel, and I all headed over to Downtown Disney (Uptown Fun!) to catch the latest Disney animated feature “Treasure Planet“. The best part about watching the movie there is that we get to use my cast member discount. I really like what Disney is doing with their animated movies. They are not content to be in a rut like they were in the 90’s when after a few blockbusters, they tried to make everything into a Broadway musical. Thankfully, since Mulan, they have been experimenting and advancing animated features. That being said, I think Treasure Planet is a mixed bag at best. It is supposed to be a very exciting movie with lots of action and adventure, but I was bored throughout most of the film. At least one other person agreed with me in the theater when he began to snore so loud that Roger thought it was part of the sound effects. Daniel’s quote: “Well, there is a movie that I will only see once.” After the movie, we decided to hang out at the park to watch the fireworks and get some dessert. Sadly, the best we could manage was a Churro since most of the restaurants closed at 10.
Out of the blue on Sunday, I received two telephone calls. One was from Nathan in France with an HTML question. It’s always a pleasant surprise when he calls. I have to remember to return the favor soon. Nathan would also like a disclaimer on some of the older photos of him on the site from 1995. My favorite quote: “I can’t believe I wore my hair like that”. That’s OK Nathan, I can’t believe my hair was so long in 1996 either.
The other call was from Matt and Steve on their way back from San Diego to Sacramento. They spent Thanksgiving with Matt’s sister and husband and brought their dog Riley in Steve’s new Subaru Outback. I was a bit shocked that Steve got the Subaru, but I forgot two key facts: Subaru’s are very popular in Northern California and since they travel to Tahoe a lot, the All Wheel Drive and room for the dog is a perfect combo. They stopped by Solley’s in Sherman Oaks for some dessert and it was great to see them. I think Matt was a bit shocked at my appearance since when I saw him last I have lost almost 25 pounds. It was great to see them and hopefully, I’ll get a chance to go up to the Sacto area to see them again as well as the entire Davis crew soon.
It was quite the busy weekend which contrasts to this week at work. We have the Disney Family Holiday Parties this week, so I will be working until the wee hours of the morning, but its the time of year when I get to eat onstage and ride attractions in costume.