The Best Laid Plans

In case you hadn’t noticed, we haven’t published a new story since Kenneth Larsen’s August 28 article Harry Potter and the Mistress of Death. The reason for this is simple. On August 29, my partner John and I went on our first real vacation together in ten years.

The idea was that while traveling to Athens, the first stop on our tour, I would dash off a quick From Under the Desk Of column with a few tidbits of news.  Then I would end the column by saying I would be on vacation and that during my absence, Ken would post several stories and that I would, through the magic of the Internet, check in with a few brief travel notes.

Then reality set in.

No sooner had we boarded British Airways flight 278 than Ken, who insists on putting his day job ahead of writing for us (“you know, the job that actually pays”), was given a massive work assignment. Then there was the problem of me writing on a plane.

Cheap airline tickets mean cheap seats. We were crammed into the tail end of a huge Boeing 747-400 along with several hundred other people. As we boarded, we were marched past dozens of large club-like leather chairs, some of which fully recline into comfy beds with surrounding privacy walls.

Meanwhile, back in steerage, in the same amount of space that accommodated six of those luxury seats, we were sitting ten across, in three columns of tiny stiff chairs separated by two aisles half the width of the average linen closet door. The seats themselves were so narrow that even the relatively trim gentleman behind me found it difficult to keep his shoulders from jamming his wife up against a bulkhead.

Prior to take off, John was sitting in the window seat, I was in the center seat, and an attractive young woman was doing her best to keep from being squeezed out of her aisle seat into the path of everyone trotting back to use the lavatory, which, by the way, was spacious compared to our seats. The young woman had the good sense to ask a flight attendant if there wasn’t a seat available in a row with two less, um, full-sized passengers.

Even with the additional room to spread out a bit, our row of seats was claustrophobically tiny. The row in front of us was so close that my tray table practically came to rest on my chest. My laptop was nestled just beneath my chin and when the passenger directly in front of me reclined his seat, the screen folded forward to a headache-inducing angle. To type, my arms were held so close to my body that my elbows protruded like wings, the left one constantly being banged by the drinks cart or a fellow passenger on their way to and from the lav just three rows behind us.

After arriving in Europe, we encountered a series of problems with accessing the Internet. Our first hotel lost its Internet provider to the fires then ravaging Greece. Their sister hotel had Internet access; however, it was only available on an ancient Plato 347 BC PC running Windows 98 on a 12-inch monitor at speeds that made dial-up connections look good.

John at the Plato 347 BC PC.

Our cruise ship, the SS Luddite, had the worst satellite Internet access on the seven seas. Nearly two thirds of our time online was spent waiting to make connections. Oddly enough, you paid for this service by the minute.

The cruise ended in Italy where we spent an additional week sightseeing. Because of an odd Italian law limiting wireless Internet access, we had to find an “Internet Lounge” in each of the cities we visited. The service was excellent; however, the declining dollar and per minute fees once again made it cost prohibitive to send files around the world.

They’re Everywhere

We choose this particular time to take our trip because the dates for the cruise corresponded with our 17th anniversary and John’s birthday. John had only one request, which was that we not mix business with pleasure. To him, that meant getting me as far away from all things Disney as possible: “You spend more time with that damn mouse than you do at home.”

Turns out, as the pictures below will attest, that’s easier said than done.

Disney DVDs in the original Greek.

In Italy Mickey is pressed into service selling baby products.

From the window of the Disney Store in Venice just a few blocks away from Saint Mark's Square.

While You Were Out

So what did I miss? For starters, Jill Fritzo, a representative for High School Musical star Vanessa Hudgens, confirmed that a recent nude photo circulating on the Internet is indeed that of the 18-year old actress. No word on whether or not this contributed to the record-breaking traffic at Disney.com, which reported 23.03 million unique visitors in a single month.

Tom Staggs, Disney Company chief financial officer, in remarks made to the Merrill Lynch Media and Entertainment conference, said Disney's California Adventure has been a disappointment to the company. Who knew?

Staggs went on to say that the company likely will increase capital spending to beef up the Disneyland Resort’s underperforming second gate. And, in what has to be a disappointment for Disney theme park fans and the city of Anaheim, he added that the company is not likely to open any new parks in the United States in the foreseeable future.

In related news, the Disneyland Resort (DLR) announced earlier this week that, responding to a growing demand for guest accommodations in Anaheim, they were celebrating an expansion of Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa. This will increase accommodations by more than 30 percent and will include the first Disney Vacation Club villas in Anaheim, something DLR fans have known about since last spring.

This expansion, scheduled for completion in late 2009, will involve 300 union construction jobs and result in 100 new hotel jobs. It underscores Disney’s long-term commitment to growth and investment in Anaheim, which, not coincidentally, will vote next June on a Disney-sponsored referendum prohibiting the city from building housing within the boundaries of the Anaheim Resort District.

Mediaweek.com reported that nine stars from ABC prime-time shows are appearing in a series of 30-second public service spots sponsored by the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), which denounces the use of antigay words and homophobic jokes.

The actors and actresses include: Ana Ortiz, Rebecca Romijn, Eric Mabus, Michael Urie, and Becki Newton from the ABC series Ugly Betty; Kate Walsh from Private Practice; Sara Ramirez and T.R. Knight from Grey's Anatomy; and Rachel Griffiths from Brothers & Sisters.

The ad is part of a campaign entitled “Be an Ally & Friend.” GLAAD will release a number of versions of the spots in English, Spanish, and American Sign Language every two weeks during the coming year.

Among the TV networks that have agreed to run the spots are Fox Reality, GSN, IFC, Lifetime, The N, Sci Fi Channel, and the Sundance Channel, along with the syndicated broadcast show Access Hollywood. The spots will also air on local cable systems and broadcast network affiliates, along with YouTube, AOL Video, LiveVideo, and MySpace.

Ana Ortiz will also be the host of this year’s Gay Days Anaheim Kingdom dance party, which will take place Saturday, October 6 between 9:00 p.m. and 1:30 a.m. at the House of Blues in Downtown Disney at the Disneyland Resort. You can get ticket information here.

Speaking of the Disney ABC Television Group, they managed to pick up 15 Emmys during this year’s Primetime Emmy Awards, which, like me, you probably missed since this was the lowest rated Emmy telecast in years.

C’ya real soon!

All images copyright© obe-mediaone-.com.