DLR LotD 05/27/22

Disneyland Resort

Line of the Day

Friday, May 27, 2022

"Well, if she is a decoy, then it sounds like you should look for her in the other direction." -- Katie, to Zam Wesell, in Tomorrowland

DLR LotD 04/30/22

Disneyland Resort

Line of the Day

Saturday, April 30, 2022

"Look!  There's Vi!" -- Cindy, ratting out a rebel spy, in Batuu 

Ssshhhh!

I Thought We Should Talk

I wasn't able to see "Marriage Story" in the theater (remind me never to try to park near the Los Feliz theater in the evenings), so I watched it on Netflix at my friend Linda's house prior to the Oscars.  She didn't want to sit through 3 hours of "The Irishman" again, so I didn't bother to ask.  I'll watch that eventually, though.

• So, Kylo Ren and Black Widow are getting a divorce...
• I really liked those "What I Love About..." letters.  That's one of the tools I would have used if I had continued to pursue my counseling career.
• I like that they both loved each other's competitiveness.
• I loved Laura Dern's role in this movie.  Laura Dern, Laura Dern, Laura Dern!!!
• I also loved how the film portrayed both characters with faults, and not just one being the villain (more Ben Solo than Kylo Ren, then).
• Both ScarJo and Driver were outstanding in their roles.  
• Baumbach's writing is incredible in this film, and I'm really glad he won Best Screenplay at the Spirit Awards.
• I thought it was hilarious when Cassie was trying to get her part right when serving the divorce papers.
• "It's all garnish, vegeterianism."
• Me:  "You need to go to a hospital!"  That observer woman couldn't even dial 911?!
• Loved all of the Hallowe'en costumes.  Must be nice to know costume designers that will make stuff for you.
• Aw, he didn't know where to bring the kid trick or treating.
• "You *were* happy. You've just decided that you weren't now."
• "I didn't even know what my taste was because I was never asked to use it."
• “And I’ll never stop loving him, even though it doesn’t make sense anymore.”
• Dude, Kylo Ren can sing!  Honestly, he did a great job, and I'd love to see Adam Driver in a musical, because he knows how to act and sing at the same time, instead of just singing whatever.  I really liked his rendition of "Being Alive"

I cried a lot, I laughed a lot; I really enjoyed this movie.

DLR LotD 01/18/20

Disneyland Resort
Line of the Day

Saturday, January 18, 2020

"Good talk." -- Stormtrooper, ending his interrogation of Sherry, at Batuu

DLR LotD 01/01/2020

Disneyland Resort
Line of the Day

Wednesday, January 1, 2020

"Nothing.  I just want to be here." -- Sherry, to Cindy, in Batuu

The Force Will Be With You. Always.

Sigh.  This post is difficult for me because it is the end of a saga that I love too much.  So pardon me as I cry geeky tears between bullet points.

Also:  SPOILERS!!!!!


Last week, my friends and I saw "Star Wars IX: The Rise of Skywalker" at the Cineramadome.  I wore the shirt that I bought after the title was announced, which lists all of the release dates of the saga. 

 I brought my Hallmark Itty Bitty of Old Luke.  Cindy brought her Tauntaun. 

 I felt all kinds of emotions before it even started: emotions like anxiety, melancholy, joy, excitement, and other feelings in between.  We saw trailers for other nostalgic movies coming up, like Wonder Woman 1984 and the newTop Gun.  Then it was time.  The Lucasfilm logo appeared on screen, and then came that trademark scrawl.  I already had tears in my eyes.

• More floating rocks.
• First sight of Carrie:  tears.
• That Jedi Training is intense!
• What is all of this lightspeed skipping?  That's crazy!
• "You lightspeed skipped the Millennium Falcon?!" "You dropped a tree on my droid?!"
• The festival happens once every 42 years. Hey!  That's how many years this Star Wars thing has been going.  I see what you did there, guys.
• "Oh, they fly now." "They fly now?"  "They fly now!"
• That whole thing with the dagger lining up with the Death Star fragment?  That's "Goonies" right there.
• I liked all of the callbacks to the other films, especially the parallels to the original trilogy.  You know, like, who the heck are Rey's parents, anyway?  
• "It's OK that you're here." "It's good." "Does she do that to us?"
• So that teaser in the trailer of Rey facing Kylo Ren's ship and doing a somersault over it to cut it with her lightsaber...there was MORE?!?  Wow.
• No, you did NOT just kill off Chewie.  Right?  Right?
• "Taking one last look, sir, at my friends."  TEARS.
• Chewie's breakdown after Leah passed.  MORE TEARS.  Buckets.
• I was not expecting Han.   I did know that it was him immediately when he said, "Hey, Kid," though. I did like that they used the same dialogue from SW VII to illustrate Kylo's continuing struggle between dark and light.
• Wow wow wow wow: all of those voices!
• Force Luke does not condone throwing lightsabers away like Old Luke did.  "A Jedi's weapon deserves more respect."
• Dark Rey is cool-looking!  Also, her lightsaber is wicked.
• So the Emperor can create life?  He's too much, man.  Why did he make them look the way Snoke does?  They can't be pleasant-looking?
• Ohhhh....that's why Rey can heal things like that big serpent, and Ben.
• Luke lifting the X-Wing out of the water brought forth lots of cheers in our audience.  I loved that they used the same music as in SW V, too.
• I did like the red in the uniforms of the Last Order.
• That's a heckuva lot of Star Destroyers, especially considering they can each obliterate an entire planet.
• "We'll bring the war to them!"
• I liked the chemistry between Poe and Zorii.  
• Oh, Hux.  Still such a loser.
• Chewie finally got his medal!!!
• I like Jannah.  How is Lando going to help her find out who she is, though?  DNA test?
• D-O is like a puppy droid, so cute.
• I'm still not sure how I feel about that kiss.
• Yay!  John Williams cameo!  
• Wicket!
• That lightsaber battle on the Ocean Moon of Kef Bir was EPIC.  
• It doesn't matter that I saw that Kylo Ren and Rey could pick up material things from their connections to each other.  I still did not expect him to pick up the lightsaber when she dropped it behind her back.
• Horses!  In space!
• I see that nod to "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" as Ben's hand is shown at the top of the cliff like Indy's.
• "And I...am all the Jedi."  WHOO HOOOOO! (That last part was me in the theater.)
• "Skywalker."

After the movie, I was emotionally exhausted.  So many feelings.  I want to see it again many more times, in all formats possible.  I loved this movie.  

Thank you to everyone involved in my favorite franchise, especially George Lucas, John Williams, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, and Harrison Ford.  You have made this fangirl what she is today, and I'm proud to be a Star Wars fan for life.

May the Force Be With You.

Always.

A Star Wars Experience for All

As a Filipina fan of Star Wars, I have a natural urge to share this on my blog.  

I love that it's in Tagalog, although, as with most translations, the subtitles don't translate perfectly.

It made me cry.

Good viewing to you!

DLR LotD 07/04/19

Disneyland Resort
Line of the Day

Thursday, July 4, 2019

"First you go 'whoop' to go up, then push the buttons as you're coming down." -- Justin, to Sherry, in Batuu

DLR LotD 06/15/19

Disneyland Resort
Line of the Day

Saturday, June 15, 2019

"It's Chewie in the wild!" -- Sherry, to anyone within earshot, at Galaxy's Edge

It's Also Our Band Name

DLR LotD 06/14/19

Disneyland Resort
Line of the Day

Friday, June 14, 2019

"I love your shirt!  It's so cool!  Muftak is my favorite!!!" -- Awesome Star Wars fan kid, to Sherry, awaiting entry to Galaxy's Edge

Me in my Muftak Shirt, hanging out with my squad

DLR LotD 06/06/19

Disneyland Resort
Line of the Day

Thursday, June 6, 2019

"Rising Moons!" -- Multiple people, at Galaxy's Edge

Batuu Day 1

DLR LotD 03/12/19

Disneyland Resort
Line of the Day

Tuesday, March 12, 2019

Special Edition:  Coppola Wine Dinner at Catal

First Course:  Scallop Crudo with coconut milk, tomato water, young pickled ginger, mango, crispy garlic, fish skin chicharron

Director's Cut Chardonnay, 2015, Russian River Valley

"If I choke on a dandelion today, it's your fault, Glenn." -- Sherry

Second Course:  Poached Halibut with white asparagus, rhubarb, brown butter radish
Diamond Collection Pinot Noir, 2017, Oregon*

"Half a lush and boozles" -- Adrienne and Glenn

Third Course: Maple Leaf Duck Breast with tangerine, peruvian potatoes, lavender sesame vinaigrette
Director's Cut Cabernet Sauvignon, 2015, Alexander Valley*

"...and then she tried to get away from her own head..." -- Ryan B

Fourth Course:  Rib Eye with confit potatoes, wild mushrooms, truffle puree*
Eleanor Red Blend, 2013, Sonoma County and Napa County

"Stop.  Nobody's listening because they're too busy laughing." -- Cindy, to Adrienne

Fifth Course:  Apple Rose Tart with diplomat cream, rose water consomme
Sofia Brut Rose, 2017, Monterey County

"I can't remember.  Do you like Star Wars?" -- Cindy, to Ryan B

I won this!

I've Got A Really Good Feeling About This

While sitting at Rancho del Zocalo during Disneyland After Dark: Star Wars Night, I received a notification that tickets for "Solo: A Star Wars Story" had just gone on sale.  What a perfect time for my friends and I to purchase our tickets for opening night!  Punch it!

I realized when I got ready for the show that I didn't have anything Han Solo to wear.  I need to remedy that.  So I wore my Princess Leia pin instead, along with my shirt from Star Wars celebration.

Back to the El Cap!

• Ron Howard working with Lucasfilm on a Star Wars flick!  YAY!
• I didn't realize that Clint Howard was the mean guy at the droid fight where L3 is first shown.
• I didn't really like how Han got his surname, but I guess it makes sense.
• Ha, "The Imperial March" on that recruitment video!
• Loved, loved, loved the meeting between Han and Chewbacca.
• Also loved the shot playing homage to Han in the carbonite.
• Nice foreshadowing of Han maneuvering the vehicle sideways as he later would with the Falcon.
• Alden Ehrenreich did a fantastic job of being the essence of a young Han, even the smirk.
• That train was really cool, using both sides of the track and going sideways.  I'm glad I don't ride one of those on my daily commute, though.  That would not be relaxing for me.
• Donald Glover is so Lando it's almost meta.
• The closet of capes!!!  I would have done the same as Qi'ra and tried them, and probably would have held my own fashion show.
• L3 was less annoying to me upon second viewing, and I liked her a lot more.  I think she just talked too much for me when I first saw it.
• Hey, I recognize that helmet that Beckett is wearing!
• "Trust no one."  Is this the X-Files?
• "Assume everyone will betray you, and you will never be disappointed."
• WHAT is up with Dryden's red face and the marks?  He has anger management issues.
• Well, I didn't see THAT coming. I keep wanting to say "Crimson Tide".
• OK, so it was 12.something parsecs. 

The inside of the El Capitan had a bunch of murals of the different sets in the film.  

Downstairs, they had the costumes on display, including the capes!

Val and Beckett

Lando and the Cape Collection

Han

Qi'ra

Dryden Vos and Enfys Nest

Outside the El Cap:

I know he wasn't in this movie,
but it's STAR WARS!

Yay!

I saw the movie again a week later in my neighborhood.  When I saw a different movie at the AMC in Downtown Disney, I saw that they had all of the individual character posters hanging around the theater.  Oh, how I will miss this place.

I need to see this movie again so I can hear the "I know" after Lando says, "I hate you."  Also, I just need to see this movie again and again and again.

DLR LotD 05/04/18

Disneyland Resort
Line of the Day

Friday, May 4, 2018

"Please sacrifice your tauntaun to my wampa." -- Katie, to Cindy, at Star Trader

Happy Star Wars Day!

DLR LotD 05/03/18

Disneyland Resort
Line of the Day

Thursday, May 3, 2018

"I eat Darth Vader's head." -- Sherry, at Rancho del Zocalo

Licking the Dark Side
at Disneyland After Dark

WCon 2018

WonderCon 2018

Anaheim Convention Center

March 23-25, 2018

Friday, March 23: Day 1

I left work early to drive down to Anaheim to attend the first day.  Now that I have a few cons under my belt, I strategize for each day based on whatever special events or panels are planned during the weekend.  Fridays for me are the art shopping days: days when I visit the booths of the artists I follow on Instagram to obtain whatever I've had my eye on, or exclusives offered just for the weekend.  I also like to tell them that I appreciate their work, and sometimes have a question for them, although I don't know much about the art except that I really like it so I don't have much to say other than "I love your work".

Yes, I bought more than this.

Pictured, counter-clockwise from the tippy top:  Buffy the Vampire Slayer full TV series score + film score from the motion picture, from La-La Land Records; Black Panther "On the Prowl" by Maurice Abril; Buffy / Hamilton "Slay" by Karen Hallion; The Evolution of Luke Skywalker by Jeff Victor; Coco 25 cent wonder by Patrick Ballesteros; "The Little Wonderful Woman" Golden Book by Joey Spiotto; Rice Cooker pin by Genevieve Santos; Captain EO by Jeff Pina.

I saw on Twitter that tickets would be distributed for a sneak screening of "A Quiet Place" at three times: 3:30, 4:30, and 5:30.  I didn't know how this would work, but made sure to get in line at about 2:30 when I saw there was already a long one forming.  We were moved to the regular queue area, and people around me were receiving different information from different sources, so I decided to just wait to see what they would tell us at 3:30.  The only thing I found out that was definite was that the movie would be shown at the AMC Theater in Downtown Disney.  When the line started to move, I think they distributed 75 tickets, including a limit of 2 per each person in line.  This might have been fine if the people telling people they couldn't sit down were watching people cutting the line instead.  The not-sitting-down policy was ridiculous because we weren't in an aisle where anything else was going on, and we were all waiting for at least an hour, and there was plenty of space for our entire line to sit down.  Also, they didn't enforce it for everyone the entire time).  I was about 20 people from the front for the second wave at 4:30.  Luckily for me, I had chatted with the gal next to me and she agreed to save my place in line while I used the facilities.  Thank you!   I even made sure the guy in back of me would also vouch for me just so I had my bases covered.  At the 4:30 distribution, I got my wristband, and I happily went on my way to finish my last purchases of the day.  One of the last purchases?  Cupcakes from my favorite cupcake truck:  My Delight!

Clockwise from top:
Carrot cake; peanut butter;
snickerdoodle; breakfast (my fave!)

Happiness in hand, I walked back to my car to drop off my goodies, eat one of the cupcakes, and take the shuttle to the resort.  I'm glad I did that, because bag check would have been a pain.

When I got to the theater at about 6:00, there were already several people in line.  I was told that they over-distributed in case some people just picked up 2 wristbands for the heck of it and didn't actually show up.  So if everyone got in line, the last 30 people in line would not be able to see the movie.  I arrived early enough to get in, and we were given vouchers for free popcorn and a drink.  Nice!  I sat in front of some reserved seating for Paramount folks, but I didn't recognize any of them, and they didn't do anything special but take up seats that other people at the Con could have sat.  We were instructed not to film and that they had infrared technology to catch folks filming and whomever was caught filming would be kicked out.  The usher guard people stood watching the audience for the whole movie.  At least, they stood there.  I was too engrossed in the movie to see if they were watching us.  My thoughts about the movie will be in a separate post.

Afterward, I walked back to the shuttle pickup area, trying to walk as quickly as possible so I could miss the post-fireworks crowd.  Success!  I had a good sleep when I finally got home.  My legs were worn out after the day of standing and walking.

Saturday, May 24: Day 2

I arrived prior to opening time on Saturday, and when I got in line, I realized I was behind someone cosplaying as Sadness from "Inside Out".  I told her that she was my favorite character, but she didn't seem very chatty (she IS Sadness, after all), so I didn't have the nerve to ask to get a picture with her.  She looked perfect, though!  

Saturday is my day to attend panels and check out stuff that I missed on Friday.  I only had one panel that was a must on my list, so I mostly walked around the different booths.  Joey, one of the artists I talked to the previous day, tweeted that a figurine of his work was on sale at the Loot Crate booth, so I walked over there and purchased it.  The gal who sold it to me said that the artist would sign it.  She was right!

Joey Spiotti and the figurine of his Buffy piece
Love Spike with the blanket!

There was a droid-building club, because, of course!

Chopper between R2s

Shiny R2

I'm calling him Boba Fett R2

They're everywhere!

WALL-E rolled up to me and said "EVE"
I told him I wasn't Eve, I'm Sherry.

I had a little bit of time before lining up for the panel, and got in the line to meet the cover artist of this year's program, Dan Jurgens.  I love his drawing of Superman, which he had in print form to purchase, but since he was already signing my program, I figured I would get a different piece.  He graciously agreed to pose for a picture.

Mr. Jurgens with the print I bought

I wasn't able to get the signatures of the inker and colorist of the program because they all had to go to a panel, and I wasn't going to that one.

Instead, I queued up for the Warner Bros panel for "Ready Player One".  We didn't see much more than a trailer and very little behind the scenes statements from Spielberg and others.  They really didn't want to give much away, but the visuals looked outstanding!

The panel was author of the book Ernest Cline, screenwriter Zak Penn, and cast members Ben Mendelsohn (Sorrento), Tye Sheridan (Parzival), Olivia Cooke (Art3mis), Lena Waithe (Aech), Philip Zhao (Sho), and Win Morisaki (Daito).  

Full panel

 Ernest Cline

Zhao and Morisaki

Waithe and Mendelsohn

Sheridan, Cooke and Waithe

Cline and Penn

Highlights:

• Question: What is your favorite video game?
• OC: I don't play video games.  Does Tamagotchi count?
• Q: What was your first direction by Steven Spielberg?
• TS: He wanted me to walk like John Travolta in "Saturday Night Fever".  When he asked me to walk, he turned on "Stayin' Alive" (TS bops his head back and forth), struts over to me with the phone, and says, "Like that."
• Q: I heard that a lot of celebrity visitors came to the set.
• ZP told a story about George Lucas coming to the set with his daughter and showing her all of the digital cameras.  GL said to Steven, "I thought you were never going to film anything in digital?"  Steven:  "George, that ended a long time ago, and you still keep asking that question!"
• OC talked about Tom Cruise visiting the set the day she had was dressed in the bodysuit with the ping pong balls for the CGI, and she wanted to hide from Tom because of what she was wearing, and she was sweating because they had just done a take. But Steven said, "Olivia, come on over and meet Tom Cruise!"  
• OC talked about the fact that LW's character is very tall, and she and TS kept forgetting not to look in her eyes, but to look up at the ball hanging above her.  LW:  "I was telling them, you're staring at my chest!"
• Ben Mendelsohn is hilarious and said that he agreed to be a villain again because they pay him extra money to do so.
• WM had an interpreter with him, and when the moderator was asking the video game question, he asked him to answer, too.  Win speaks English well, though.
• This was Philip Zhao's first film.
• EC said that he was starstruck for the first several times he spoke to Spielberg about the film, and geeked out about everything he said.
• Q:  I need to know: with this movie using different elements of Spielberg's other films, did he ever say, "Well, when we were doing 'JAWS', this happened?"
• ALL:  YES!!!

I'm sure I"m forgetting a bunch of stuff, but that was a fun panel.  I do remember that they were all asked about their favorite Spielberg movie, but I can't remember the answers.  Oh, yeah, OC likes "Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom".  Another person said, "Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade".  I know there were other movies mentioned that had nothing to do with Indy.

I wanted to get a couple of con-exclusive comic books, so I did that before meeting up with Dodie and her friends.  We walked around and they talked to people they knew at the different booths.  One of them used to work with an artist whose work is up above, and the other is friends with the guys from La-La Land Records, so that's cool.   This walk-around time gave me more time to look at the cosplay around us.   

Two Doctors!

As we were leaving, I saw this, and pointed it out to my companions.  We tried to catch up and guessed who it was:  Lego Wicked Witch?  Lego Gandalf?  Lego Tin Man? 

All we knew for sure was LEGO.

Then LEGO cosplayer caught up with his friend, and we got our answer.

LEGO Gimli and LEGO Gandalf

Dodie and friends had dinner reservations at Tortilla Jo's and invited me to join them, so I drove us all  to Downtown Disney.  We walked around afterward and somehow I refrained from buying more art at Wonderground.  Dodie's friend loves Disneyland popcorn, but doesn't have a pass, so Dodie and I went into the Park to get her a souvenir tub and popcorn. 

 I love being able to just go in for 10 minutes
 for necessities!

I said goodbye to my companions and went home.  Here is some of what I bought on Saturday.

Not a big art day, but still some.

Pictured, clockwise from top right:  Buffy figurine by Joey Spiotti froom Loot Crate; Gloomy Bear plush; WonderCon program; Superman #150 by Dan Jurgens; Unicorn heart pin and Mermaid art by Faheema from Unicorn Crafts; Supergirl #19 variant; Ariel and Eric wedding Funko Pop.

I didn't attend the Sunday of the Con because I needed to be elsewhere.  I'm glad my heart wasn't set on the panels I had planned, but I was still sorry to miss the last day.

Next up on the Con Agenda:  Whedon Con