Pastimes with a PellaPusher: November 2014

It's Katniss Time! Several of us headed out to the Cinerama Dome with a bunch of other people to see the 11:15 p.m. showing of "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part I", so we were technically there for opening day. I had bought Mockingjay pins for Cindy and me, so we wore them that night.

I watched the first movie of the series a lot during the weekend beforehand, as it was shown on ABC Family several times. It reminded me of stuff that happened, but I would have also liked to have seen "Catching Fire", too. Maybe when Part II comes out, I'll do the whole series in one day. My butt already hurts from thinking about it.
Effie! I love how she does her best with the drab gray uniform so that she can still feel fancy.
Loved seeing Phillip Seymour Hoffman, and got sad about it, too. I love that he is Katniss' champion, having faith in her that she needed to make her decision to be the Mockingjay.
This is the book that made me Team Gale, at least at the beginning. I'm pretty sure that I turn to Team Peeta by the end of the series. I was pretty fickle about the whole thing, because they each had their own merits.
I shudder when I see white roses now. They remind me of the blood in President Snow's mouth. This movie did not help with the shuddering.
Love the flirting between Effie and Haymitch, even though it was for a brief moment.
President Coin's hair needs work. I agree with Effie when she looks her up and down.
Cressida's hair, though, is very cool.
I had a hard time trying not to think of the Peacekeepers as Daft Punk.
Every time I think about the song "The Hanging Tree", it gets in my head. And now it's there again.
How does Katniss know which arrow she's reaching for when they're behind her? What if someone switches the order of the colors?
"If we burn, you burn with us."
"My sister gets to keep her cat."
"It is the things that we love the most that destroy us." <shudder>

Saturday, November 22, 2014

Simple Gifts 11/22/14

Simple Gifts
Saturday, November 22, 2014

Musicians

Happy St. Cecilia's Day!

DLR LotD 11/21/14

Disneyland Resort
Line of the Day

Friday, November 21, 2014

"Look, 'It's A Leg Day'!" -- Sherry, pointing to Ariel and Eric dancing (and repeating AVP's line), at the Very Merry Christmas Parade

Simple Gifts 11/21/14

Simple Gifts
Friday, November 21, 2014

Sit Down time with the chef at our favorite restaurant

Simple Gifts 11/20/14

Simple Gifts
Thursday, November 20, 2014

A friend offering a ride

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Simple Gifts 11/19/14

Simple Gifts
Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Baby bats

DLR LotD 11/18/14

Disneyland Resort
Line of the Day

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

"Jingle!" -- Jingle Cruise Skipper, many, many, times, in and out of context, on The Jingle Cruise

Simple Gifts 11/18/14

Simple Gifts
Tuesday, November 18, 2014

A Jingle Cruise Skipper that make us laugh throughout the entire ride

Monday, November 17, 2014

Simple Gifts 11/17/14

Simple Gifts
Monday, November 17, 2014

Ichabod's reactions to the lifestyles of the 21st century on Sleepy Hollow

Simple Gifts 11/16/14

Simple Gifts
Sunday, November 16, 2014

Dogs

Sunday, November 16, 2014

Zade? Is that you?

Arcadia Festival of Bands

Saturday, November 15, 2014

Arcadia and Monterey Park, CA

I met up with Bro in the morning and we watched most of the band review from the beginning of the competition area after following the Apache Marching Band back to the school in their last parade of the year. I like to hear the drum major speak to the band before they are dismissed, and she said, "One last time...Band." and they were at parade rest. "A Ten Hut!" "'PACHE!!!" I love that band too much. It always brings a tear to my eye to know that it's the last band review for the seniors.

Apaches

It's nice to have Bro back where he belongs, now that he's back to being a So Cal resident. We walked back to the cars to get chairs, and I had a folder to give to the new Spaghetti Dinner chair person, so we did that before sitting down at the beginning of the competition area. We like to sit there to watch Mr. Landes, the former band director, give final instructions to the drum majors before their competition starts. We met a woman named Heddy whom has a daughter in the Glendora band. I made sure to yell, "GO, MARY!!!" for her when Glendora approached.

Mr. Landes and AHS Drum Major

Mary's in this rank

Bro and Heddy

Bro didn't want to go to the field tournament, so I went to East LA College by myself. First, though, I volunteered for a couple of hours at the ticket booth, which I enjoyed. I tend to go quickly because I know that people are there to see particular bands, and they need to be in the stadium by a certain time, so they don't have time for dilly dallying. Also, I know how impatient people get when they're in a long line. Tip for those of you attending high school events: bring cash, because they don't always accept credit cards. We didn't know where any ATMs were, either, because this was a new venue for us. We are usually at Citrus College, and their stadium is currently under renovation. We did take checks, though, so I know now to take my checkbook to these events, too. Thanks, Bro, for loaning me cash! One of the people taking over when my shift was done was a guy with whom I had a cross-age training class in high school. I had met his wife last year, and we talked about him because I recognized her last name. It was good to see Doug again, and I'm glad he remembered me. We were 2 people out of a group of 4 that hung out together when we were teaching physical education to elementary school kids.

I made it into the stadium for the last group of bands, the 6A Division.

MIRA MESA HIGH SCHOOL SAPPHIRE SOUND

Show title: "Beyond Perimeters"

Their color guard outfits look like something Santa Clara Vanguard (or SCV Cadets) wore one year, with red velour pantsuits and bright orange stripes on their chests. The saxophone player had a lot of solo sections, and was quite good.

RIVERSIDE KING HIGH SCHOOL KINGSMEN

Show title: "Into the Woods"

They have trees on wheels. They have trees on flags. At one point, the color guard posed like they were trees. There was no Elsa or Anna, which I know aren't characters in the play, but they had women dressed like Anna and Elsa walking beside them (with the staff) during the band review.

EL DORADO HIGH SCHOOL GOLDEN HAWKS

Show title: "The Evolving Light"

They had cool LED lights that they used as lanterns and accents. It was really neat. The last color guard soloist's rifle was sparkly when she turned it around on her last throw.

RANCHO BERNARDO HIGH SCHOOL ROYAL REGIMENT

Show title: "In Blood, There Is Life"

OK, so when they started to bring their props into the stadium, they carried wooden boxes as if they were pall bearers. So I wondered if they were supposed to be coffins, but they weren't traditional show-coffin shapes, if that makes sense. They were rectangular. Anyway, I thought I heard some Feeney "Dracula" in there, which made me smile. (Feeney's "Dracula" is the show that got me hooked on Pacific Crest). The show is good, and I'm not just saying that because I like the whole vampire thing. One of their formations looked like a bat, but not like Batman Bat. An ACTUAL bat. The flute soloist was excellent, and the solo music really added a lot to the eerieness of the show. (I tend to think that flutes have an eerie sound when they're not playing happy parade music).

CHINO HIGH SCHOOL 77TH CALVARY

Show title: "Out of This World"

Pretty screens with bright colors for the planets. I also really liked their CG uniforms, especially because the dark blue matched the band. Very pretty flags, too. I liked their show much more than DCI's Carolina Crown show with the same name. Maybe because they actually played stuff from Holst's "Planets", specifically "Jupiter" and "Mars". Maybe because they didn't talk during the show. Maybe because they didn't have trampolines. The guy sitting in front of me really didn't need to sing along with "Starry Starry Night", because he's not what I like to call "in tune".

MT. CARMEL HIGH SCHOOL MARCHING SUNDEVILS

I don't know the title of their show. It's not in the program. However, the color guard walked onto the field in colors similar to SCV's Scheherazade colors, and they were wearing veils on their faces. Then I heard some of those familiar notes, and wondered why Bro didn't tell me that they were doing Zade. He didn't know, I guess. Their new red band uniforms look great on the field, but I don't like them for band reviews. Also, they didn't really match the color guard's colors. Oh, AND they start their show with the one CG gal in the middle, while the rest of the band is in circles surrounding her. Had they used pillows, I would have lost my mind. The show wasn't all Zade, but it had several elements of it.

Host Band in exhibition:

ARCADIA HIGH SCHOOL APACHE MARCHING BAND

Show title: "Follow the Leader"

I love that they march onto the field, unlike the other bands that just walk casually. It looks weird when they disperse to set up, but whatevs. Music was Beethoven's Toccata and Fugue, Dvorak's New World Symphony, and something else that I can't remember. Ooh, CG costume change! I would wear those red sequin tank tops. Well, maybe not to work, but you know what I mean. Nice to see the "A" of their uniforms on the field (they usually change to the red with gold bars for field shows). I like that they can put their pink flags into their briefcases, but some of them were sticking out a little bit. I enjoyed this show.

Apache Percussion

I like to stay for awards for Arcadia's tournament because I get to hear their drum cadence. They never get the arc right for the student leaders, it's like tradition. I don't know why Arcadia's CG captains weren't wearing their capes, but at least the other bands' leaders wore theirs, because that's probably my favorite thing to see during awards. El Dorado's drum majors had LED lights on their uniforms during their salute.

Mt. Carmel Leaders Saluting Arcadia Leaders

Results can be found on World of Pageantry's website. The Grand Champion (combined parade and field show scores) aren't there, though, but this is what I remember:

Auxiliary: Mt. Carmel

Band: Rancho Bernardo High School, continuing their 14-year winning streak, beating Mt. Carmel by 0.7 point. (187.2 Mt. C; 187.9 RB).

Rancho Bernardo is like the Blue Devils of the Arcadia Festival of Bands. Crazy good.

Congratulations to all of the bands participating today. Thanks for being there!

Simple Gifts 11/15/14

Simple Gifts
Saturday, November 15, 2014

Watching the Arcadia Festival of Bands with Bro

Friday, November 14, 2014

Simple Gifts 11/14/14

Simple Gifts
Friday, November 14, 2014

Walt Disney's "The Little Mermaid"

Happy 25th Anniversary, Ariel!

http://hellogiggles.com/happy-birthday-little-mermaid

Thursday, November 13, 2014

Simple Gifts 11/13/14

Simple Gifts
Thursday, November 13, 2014

"Under the Sea"

http://www.buzzfeed.com/jaimieetkin/how-well-do-you-know-the-lyrics-to-under-the-sea?bffbent

17 out of 18.

Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Simple Gifts 11/12/14

Simple Gifts
Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Getting a different perspective in the morning by sitting on the other side of the train

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

I Am Satisfied With My Care

I had seen the sneak preview trailer of Big Hero 6 at Disneyland, in which we were treated to some added effects. Even without those effects, the movie looked like fun. After having dinner at Dave & Buster's at Hollywood & Highland, we saw the full movie at the El Capitan Theatre in 3D. Baymax starred in a laser show. That was cool.

Baymax with lasers

The opening short was "Feast", and it was adorable. I love a dog who loves food. I also love a dog who loves his master so much that he would give up his food for him. I half expected Lady or Tramp to show up when I saw the meatball rolling across the floor.

On to Big Hero 6:

Hiro's robot is awesome. So innocent-looking, yet so battle-worthy.
Why? Why do they always have to make me cry?! Multiple times, even.
"Bloobilloobilloobilloobilooop!"
I love Baymax, especially when he's kinda droopy and drunk-like.
"Hairry Baby! Hairy Baaaayyyybeeee."
"I am not fast."
I want a t-shirt of the "On a scale of 1 to 10..." faces.
Fred's Dad! (People really should learn to stay until the end of the credits).
Wait. Wasabi's name in the comic book is "Wasabi No-Ginger"? That's like me!
"There are no red lights in car chases!"
"This may undermine my non-threatening huggable design."

Loved it.

Simple Gifts 11/11/14

Simple Gifts
Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Our Nation's Veterans. THANK YOU!

Monday, November 10, 2014

DLR LotD 11/09/14

Disneyland Resort
Line of the Day

Sunday, November 9, 2014

"You can't tell me what to do!" -- Mox, to Sherry, on the way to the New Orleans Square restrooms