So, you might notice that there’s a new layout here at The California Chronicles. How do you like it compared to the last one? I like that you can actually see the background picture, but maybe that’s just me. Give me some feedback on the layout if you can, ‘cause I’m still trying to find a look that works.
Anyway, hopefully you’ve noticed that I missed an update this week. Wednesday’s vlog post didn’t make it online…in fact, Wednesday’s vlog post didn’t even get recorded. To be honest, per usual, I just got too ambitious in my planning and simply ran out of time…though I’m definitely composing the tools to put together a pretty awesome post for this Wednesday. I really am serious about keeping this regular and keeping you all updated, so watch for it next week. From here on forward, just watch for posts here on Sundays and Wednesdays, though I may put up other stuff if I have the time or if something particularly awesome happens. If I happen to do anything else that’s worth checking out, I’ll post a link here.
So, the week at Nemo has been pretty crazy, actually. The ride actually went down for an hour on Friday, and today all sorts of nutty stuff happened. I’ll start with a quick run-down of how the ride works so I can explain Friday’s situation:
Finding Nemo’s Submarine Voyage is a series of submarines that run in sequence through “the Great Barrier Reef,” taking you on a under-sea exploration with Nemo, Marlin, Dory, and tons of the other Finding Nemo peeps (well, they’re not “peeps,” they’re fish…but you get it.) This video does a great job of explaining the background and how it all works:
Fascinating, isn’t it? Honestly, seeing the animation techniques from inside the sub is pretty intense, and the coral reef and whatnot outside in the lagoon look really great. But one of the subs froze up out in the lagoon on Friday right in the middle of everything! It’s a bit of a complicated story to explain why (a story I’m not sure if I can tell, so I’m erring on the side of caution), but the summary is that the sub’s battery died. The place that it died in was a critical point in the ride’s travel track, so we had to shut the whole thing down and evacuate people from inside the ride. Then, since the sub was stranded in the lagoon with no power, maintenance workers had to throw a rope to the submarine and then pull it in, Greek-style. That’s right; 4 men pulled a 92,000 lb sub into its dock…it was awesome to watch. I really wanted to record it to show all of you, but I was working at the time…figured my supervisors would frown on me whipping out my camera. And there were LOTS of supervisors there.
Anyway, today was the start of what looks to be a three-day heat wave. I’m used to Midwestern Septembers where the weather starts to get really chilly right near the end of the month, but apparently it doesn’t get cold out here until mid-October. We were up in the 90s today, and apparently we could reach 100 by Monday. TERRIBLE. I swear that the heat has an odd effect on guests and staff members…people were a little more short-tempered all day, but I guess that happens when you stand in line for 45 minutes to ride a submarine. Two of our subs went down unexpectedly today, so that made things a little worse than usual. But the Nemo crew made it work, and everything came out alright!
Well, I’m going to go ahead and wrap this entry up for the day. Just so you know, Wednesday is Q&A Day; I’ll use the video to go through the comments I’ve received and answer all the questions I’ve gotten. Seriously, comment it up! I love comments! In the meantime, let me wrap up with Video Blog 3 (unposted content!) This is a shot of a me and a couple of my friends standing outside of the Tiki Room, Disneyland’s animatronic parrot show. I had video of the actual show, but I had to delete it to make room for other vids I was taking…in the meantime, check out the outside of the Tiki Room! And the Dole Whip….
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Sunday, September 19, 2010
How Did I Get Here, Again?
If anyone ever tells that no good comes from spite, tell them they're completely wrong. Frankly, there's no way I'd be in California if it hadn't been for a pretty healthy dose of spite combined with a strong serving of intended sarcasm. Well, when all you're really versed in is sarcasm and pessimism like myself, you've gotta find something positive to do with all the lemonade you turn into lemons, heh.
I was thinking about what I was going to write today, and I realized something really important...since I didn't start this blog until a month into the program, all that critical information about how/why I got here is, well, absent. And maybe people who want to know about the College Program will stumble onto this and wonder, "Hmm, did he just apparate into Anaheim?" (Sorry for the Harry Potter reference) So, here we are: My Disney Origin Story.
Source: Natalie Dee January Archives
Google image search "lemon" sometime. MOST DELICIOUS SEARCH EVER.
I was definitely the resident cynic in my friend group back in Charleston. And my friend group back in Rockford. And I'm still the resident cynic in my group here in Anaheim. Sometimes you've just gotta do what you're good at, I suppose. So when a few of my friends in Charleston took off to Florida for the Disney College Program there, I did quite a bit of talking. My mind dwelled on thoughts of brainwashing, of Mickey Mouse ears surgically fused to the skull and episodes of Hannah Montana looping with Jonas Brothers music over the top. They left for a semester, and when they came back to school, most of them had nothing but good things to say about their programs. Still, given my relative dislike of children, happiness, and all those other things Disney is about, I held some pretty strong reservations.
Source: The Daily Green
Yeah, 'bout that...
So, one day last semester I got a Facebook invite from my friend Stephanie (I miss you, Shrink!) to a program overview that was being hosted in the University Union. Much scoffing ensued. I talked to both her and my friend Teal (no more dinners... ::sniffle:: ) about their programs, and they loved them. So, what did I decide to do? Show up to the session purely to antagonize them. I wasn't going to be an ass and ask outrageous questions or anything like that, but I just wanted to surprise them. Besides, I had a grad seminar that day that I wasn't a big fan of, so missing a bit of it didn't really hurt me too much.
Source: MTV Buzzworthy
Kinda like this guy, but more productive.
So, I show up at the info session and start chowing down on free pizza, much to the surprise of my friends. But, inevitably, the joke was on me...turns out the presentation was actually pretty awesome. Anne Thiese, recruiter for the Midwest region, put on a pretty good presentation. And I was a little bowled-over by the number of companies that Disney owns in the entertainment industry...ABC, ESPN, all sorts of things. Honestly, I ended up realizing that there were tons of opportunities that I could scrounge up after working for them. (Or so I hope...)
There are two different programs for the Disney College Program. One operates out of Walt Disney World in Florida, and they hire on around 5,000 people a season for their program because their resort is HUGE. I've never been there, but that's just what I've heard. Disneyland in California, on the other hand, only takes on around 300 people. Drastically different odds...but I applied for the California program anyway. I figured that all the opportunities for writing movies, TV shows, and the like were out in Cali (or, at least, not in Florida), so it seemed like a good call. Besides, I figured that if I got into a smaller program, it'd be easier to make connections and do networking.
Time will tell if my theories were correct...see you all on Wednesday, everyone!
HOLY UNEXPECTEDLY SUDDEN ENDING, BATMAN!
Source: Easy Recipes Online
Spiteful Lemonade, coming to a store near you. I could brand it, for sure...
I was thinking about what I was going to write today, and I realized something really important...since I didn't start this blog until a month into the program, all that critical information about how/why I got here is, well, absent. And maybe people who want to know about the College Program will stumble onto this and wonder, "Hmm, did he just apparate into Anaheim?" (Sorry for the Harry Potter reference) So, here we are: My Disney Origin Story.
Source: Natalie Dee January Archives
Google image search "lemon" sometime. MOST DELICIOUS SEARCH EVER.
I was definitely the resident cynic in my friend group back in Charleston. And my friend group back in Rockford. And I'm still the resident cynic in my group here in Anaheim. Sometimes you've just gotta do what you're good at, I suppose. So when a few of my friends in Charleston took off to Florida for the Disney College Program there, I did quite a bit of talking. My mind dwelled on thoughts of brainwashing, of Mickey Mouse ears surgically fused to the skull and episodes of Hannah Montana looping with Jonas Brothers music over the top. They left for a semester, and when they came back to school, most of them had nothing but good things to say about their programs. Still, given my relative dislike of children, happiness, and all those other things Disney is about, I held some pretty strong reservations.
Source: The Daily Green
Yeah, 'bout that...
So, one day last semester I got a Facebook invite from my friend Stephanie (I miss you, Shrink!) to a program overview that was being hosted in the University Union. Much scoffing ensued. I talked to both her and my friend Teal (no more dinners... ::sniffle:: ) about their programs, and they loved them. So, what did I decide to do? Show up to the session purely to antagonize them. I wasn't going to be an ass and ask outrageous questions or anything like that, but I just wanted to surprise them. Besides, I had a grad seminar that day that I wasn't a big fan of, so missing a bit of it didn't really hurt me too much.
Source: MTV Buzzworthy
Kinda like this guy, but more productive.
So, I show up at the info session and start chowing down on free pizza, much to the surprise of my friends. But, inevitably, the joke was on me...turns out the presentation was actually pretty awesome. Anne Thiese, recruiter for the Midwest region, put on a pretty good presentation. And I was a little bowled-over by the number of companies that Disney owns in the entertainment industry...ABC, ESPN, all sorts of things. Honestly, I ended up realizing that there were tons of opportunities that I could scrounge up after working for them. (Or so I hope...)
There are two different programs for the Disney College Program. One operates out of Walt Disney World in Florida, and they hire on around 5,000 people a season for their program because their resort is HUGE. I've never been there, but that's just what I've heard. Disneyland in California, on the other hand, only takes on around 300 people. Drastically different odds...but I applied for the California program anyway. I figured that all the opportunities for writing movies, TV shows, and the like were out in Cali (or, at least, not in Florida), so it seemed like a good call. Besides, I figured that if I got into a smaller program, it'd be easier to make connections and do networking.
Time will tell if my theories were correct...see you all on Wednesday, everyone!
HOLY UNEXPECTEDLY SUDDEN ENDING, BATMAN!
Source: Easy Recipes Online
Spiteful Lemonade, coming to a store near you. I could brand it, for sure...
Saturday, September 18, 2010
A Bit of Retrospective Perspective
Well, those of you who follow my Facebook with a near-religious fervor (I know there are PLENTY of you out there) know that some time last week I attempted to install Windows 7 on my computer. You'll also know that I wiped my computer clean, remembering (like all good computer-repair amateurs) to back up all of my files onto an external hard drive. The event included a positive status:
"Point of optimism to the day: Installed Windows 7 Professional."
That positive status was almost immediately contrasted with the following status:
"I stand corrected, because apparently I can't restore the files I backed up on my external hard drive. The backup program is incompatible with Windows 7. Fantastic."
Oh, Facebook, how I reach out for you to stroke my ever-so-fragile ego when the world seems to fail me. Instead I ended up inciting a flame war between Apple users and PC users...I don't want to go back to that at all, actually, since this post has nothing to do with the actual back up that went awry. I actually ended up restoring all my files after about three days of work and emo moping (ask any of my roommates, they'll tell you that was the case), so I suppose the story's a happy one in the end. But the interesting thing is that I've been going through all my files that I restored, trying to figure out what I want to keep and what I want to scrap, and it's kinda made me think a bit.
Truth be told, there's some pretty good writing buried in the deeper corners of this hard drive, and even though I always talk about expanding on it, I truly want to this time around. I've made a lot of positive changes this month already, and I think I'm on the track to continue to make more. So my goal? A realistic one? I want to finish a book by the end of my internship. It may just be the end of my first draft, it may not be a good book at all, but I want to have it done. And I'm not sure whether or not I'll take on NaNoWriMo this year, but if I do, I certainly want to win this time. No excuses, no sicknesses, nothing but success.
You see, I want to prove to myself that I'm ready for the real world. This Disney internship is a nice buffer between the end of college and the beginning of unemployment, but I need to show myself that I'm ready to take myself seriously. I plan to show you all, too!
Here is my writing schedule. I plan to keep to this every day for the next 30 days.
Sunday: Blog on The California Chronicles
Monday: Blog on Struck Lightning
Tuesday: Gaming Blog? (Still in the works)
Wednesday: Vlog on The California Chronicles (OOH, VIDEO!)
Thursday: Write for Project Storm (OOH, MISS-TEER-EE-US...)
Friday: Post for The Hero's Accomplice
Saturday: Blog on The California Chronicles
The catch to all this? Public accountability. Notice the "Post" for The Hero's Accomplice? That's the name of the book that I attempted to write for NaNoWriMo last year, and I plan to post chapters/segments as I get through with them. Also notice that this plan includes a revival of my old opinion blog, Struck Lightning! I really love that blog, and I really love forcing my opinion on others. So why not?
My real goal is to end this program with a portfolio of work that I can show off, both to potential employers and myself. I know I'm capable of more than I'm giving myself credit for, but I've gotta start acting like it if I expect anything to come of it.
So, everyone, I need your support! Make your friends read this blog! And the other stuff! Leave comments! Make me feel loved! I love feeling loved! WHEE!
In the meantime, I leave you tonight with the second vlog I made about life here in California! Caution, 'cause it rambles a bit...have a great night!
"Point of optimism to the day: Installed Windows 7 Professional."
That positive status was almost immediately contrasted with the following status:
"I stand corrected, because apparently I can't restore the files I backed up on my external hard drive. The backup program is incompatible with Windows 7. Fantastic."
Oh, Facebook, how I reach out for you to stroke my ever-so-fragile ego when the world seems to fail me. Instead I ended up inciting a flame war between Apple users and PC users...I don't want to go back to that at all, actually, since this post has nothing to do with the actual back up that went awry. I actually ended up restoring all my files after about three days of work and emo moping (ask any of my roommates, they'll tell you that was the case), so I suppose the story's a happy one in the end. But the interesting thing is that I've been going through all my files that I restored, trying to figure out what I want to keep and what I want to scrap, and it's kinda made me think a bit.
Truth be told, there's some pretty good writing buried in the deeper corners of this hard drive, and even though I always talk about expanding on it, I truly want to this time around. I've made a lot of positive changes this month already, and I think I'm on the track to continue to make more. So my goal? A realistic one? I want to finish a book by the end of my internship. It may just be the end of my first draft, it may not be a good book at all, but I want to have it done. And I'm not sure whether or not I'll take on NaNoWriMo this year, but if I do, I certainly want to win this time. No excuses, no sicknesses, nothing but success.
You see, I want to prove to myself that I'm ready for the real world. This Disney internship is a nice buffer between the end of college and the beginning of unemployment, but I need to show myself that I'm ready to take myself seriously. I plan to show you all, too!
Here is my writing schedule. I plan to keep to this every day for the next 30 days.
Sunday: Blog on The California Chronicles
Monday: Blog on Struck Lightning
Tuesday: Gaming Blog? (Still in the works)
Wednesday: Vlog on The California Chronicles (OOH, VIDEO!)
Thursday: Write for Project Storm (OOH, MISS-TEER-EE-US...)
Friday: Post for The Hero's Accomplice
Saturday: Blog on The California Chronicles
The catch to all this? Public accountability. Notice the "Post" for The Hero's Accomplice? That's the name of the book that I attempted to write for NaNoWriMo last year, and I plan to post chapters/segments as I get through with them. Also notice that this plan includes a revival of my old opinion blog, Struck Lightning! I really love that blog, and I really love forcing my opinion on others. So why not?
My real goal is to end this program with a portfolio of work that I can show off, both to potential employers and myself. I know I'm capable of more than I'm giving myself credit for, but I've gotta start acting like it if I expect anything to come of it.
So, everyone, I need your support! Make your friends read this blog! And the other stuff! Leave comments! Make me feel loved! I love feeling loved! WHEE!
In the meantime, I leave you tonight with the second vlog I made about life here in California! Caution, 'cause it rambles a bit...have a great night!
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Welcome to I-NEMO
Alright, so it looks like this is finally getting started...sure, it's over a month into my California experience, but at least now I've got a handle on life and what's going on out here...maybe I'll be able to push out some more solid information now that I've got a grip.
Anyway, for those of you who don't know (I'm not sure who that would be), my name's Josh Boykin, and I was born and raised in Rockford, Illinois. I graduated from Eastern Illinois University in May 2010. Someone asked me what I wanted to do since I'd graduated, and I responded, "I'm going to Disneyland!" And that's what I did.
A bit of clarification: I was accepted to the Disney College Program in March of 2010. That's where I am right now, buried about a month deep into the grind. As you can tell by the background, I've got a bit of an attachment to the "lucky-finned" Nemo...it's a love-hate relationship. I work as an Attractions Host for the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage. That means I drive subs for I-NEMO: The Institute for Nautical Exploration and Marine Observation. So far it's a pretty interesting experience...then again, everything in California's an interesting experience when you grow up in Illinois.
Anyway, tonight I'm going to post a video I took a while back of the apartment I'm staying in, just to give you a taste of how they set us up here in the DCP-Anaheim. Hope you enjoy it, and I'll post again soon! Look forward to more videos, pictures, and great information in the future. Thanks for reading!
Anyway, for those of you who don't know (I'm not sure who that would be), my name's Josh Boykin, and I was born and raised in Rockford, Illinois. I graduated from Eastern Illinois University in May 2010. Someone asked me what I wanted to do since I'd graduated, and I responded, "I'm going to Disneyland!" And that's what I did.
A bit of clarification: I was accepted to the Disney College Program in March of 2010. That's where I am right now, buried about a month deep into the grind. As you can tell by the background, I've got a bit of an attachment to the "lucky-finned" Nemo...it's a love-hate relationship. I work as an Attractions Host for the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage. That means I drive subs for I-NEMO: The Institute for Nautical Exploration and Marine Observation. So far it's a pretty interesting experience...then again, everything in California's an interesting experience when you grow up in Illinois.
Anyway, tonight I'm going to post a video I took a while back of the apartment I'm staying in, just to give you a taste of how they set us up here in the DCP-Anaheim. Hope you enjoy it, and I'll post again soon! Look forward to more videos, pictures, and great information in the future. Thanks for reading!
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