Well. I didn't win the $141 million lotto. So I'm back. =) I had won two $5 prizes with my usual numbers, so there was hope... oh well. back to the job search. Said search is going slowly despite the 4% unemployment level here. So many of the jobs are $8/hr or less than half what I was earning for a similar job. However, I have had a couple of interviews and liked those companies... so who knows.

Meanwhile, I' ve been working hard on selling ads for LaughingPlace.com. I've had some nibbles, but no bites yet. We're also getting ready to sell some LP Gear... So that should bring in some money soon.

Whew. Looks like Disney is getting its ass kicked at the box office. It's a shame really. Both are very entertaining movies that deserve a second, let alone first, viewing by audiences.

Of course, there are other movies coming down the pike this summer that are sure to be big hits. Steven Speilberg's filming of Stanley Kubriak's last project is one. As a matter of fact, "A.I." has already begun to be felt on the internet. Follow this search on google and see what I mean.

Here's a link to a very nice Douglas Adams tribute. Douglas Adams has heavily influenced my sense of humor and through his writings has inspired me to write some of my own material.

Btw, this weekend Stacey and I will be at Disneyland for a friends birthday and a special event.

Went down to LA for the weekend. Saw Disney's Atlantis... was very good. Only had a few week script moments. But loved the animation and the characters. It really is something the whole family can enjoy.

D-Day

Today is the anniversary of D-Day. Seeing as how I just watched 'Saving Private Ryan' I thought I'd watch 'The Longest Day' -- The other seminal D-Day flick. While the pure horror of war as brought to you through SPR was much more graphic, TLD had is fair share of horrifying moments as well. TLD definately was more of a patriotic rally the troops kind of fare. Made me want to bleed Red White and Blue. In the end, SPR was a story about how important it is to live your life the best you can everyday of your life.

I'd hate to see any warfare on the epic scale that was brought to us in WWI and WWII. But on the otherhand evil on the scale of Hitler and Japanese agresssion has to be stopped. For America to sit idly by for as long as it did probably resulted in millions of extra deaths. But you can't armchair quarter back these sorts of things. The best you can do is just learn your lessons and move on. Then hopefully you will be better at preventing these sorts of outbreaks of oppression and what-not in the future.

Which brings me to a tragedy that is ongoing in the world right now. The Taliban in Afganistan. As of late, they've taken to making anyone who isn't a strict follower of islam wear an identifying tag or color of clothes. Sound familiar? I don't think enough attention has been paid to this corner of the world... I really fear that before I die the conflict will grow to such horrendous proportions that D-Day and Pearl Harbor will be made to look like simple foreshadowing.

I hope I'm wrong.

Shrek!

I seem to have turned into a Movie review site... Hmmm. Stacey and I went to see Shrek a second time. See if there were more in jokes and parodies we might have missed. There were... in fact, there were so many, one really needs to get the DVD (which I hope is packed with kewl features) and pause the frame at the interesting spots.

Another thing we've noticed here in Lost Wages, the audiences are less sophisticated when it comes to movie humor than your typical Los Angeles audience. Many times Stacey and I are laughing at completely different places than the locals out here. I wonder if that will change once a few movie studios open up out here (they're in the works) and the industry moves a little east.

Pearl Harbor

Go see it. At least once. It's a good film despite what the critics say. It is not, however, a classic for the ages. Which is too bad, because the directors work so hard to make it so. What it is is a good love triangle story, albeit a bit predictable, and some incredible special effects. Together they combine to really drive home the horror of what happened at Pearl Harbor.

Not much news on this front. Been working hard on things for LaughingPlace.com. Got another contact for selling ads, been sending out surveys like crazy. But am still less than 10% done on that.

the other major event is doing inventory on all our collectibles. What I need now is a copy of filemaker pro for the PC. I have to make a database to track our inventory and print it out for insurance purposes.

I'm back!!!!

Went to Sam's Town Hotel and Casino last night. The also have some bowling lanes there. Stacey and I gave them a try. But I don't think we'll be going back anytime soon. The approach is way to hard, Both of us had problems sliding even an inch after planting our foot. Not good on the old legs... I think we'll try Texas Station next.

I've also been working on some stuff for LaughingPlace.com. Ordered T-shirts to sell. There has been a demand for LP merchandise, so it's about time we answered it. Now I have to hope the demand is large enough to make this effort worthwhile.

Stacey and I also had the pleasure of entertaining Ammy and Rick this last saturday. We met them at Mon Ami Gabi at the Paris Hotel and Casino. Good food and nice atmosphere, but I didn't enjoy the service at all. After that we traversed the newest hotels on the strip and wore out the soles of our shoes. But it was nice seeing them again.

Am amazed at how much work goes into getting a house in order. We need to do so much, but only have so many minutes in a day. It's frustrating at times. Gotta call the landscape people, the flooring people, the display people, the bank people. Etc... Homes really need to come with a full-time assistant as part of the mortgage cost. An end to unemployment.

Well.

Finally.

The phone line is in. Now to order DSL. Oh, and get serious about my job hunt. Start bringing some dough in instead of merely continuing the outflow. We should be returning to regularly scheduled iURL updates soon. So email me and let me know what you want to see.

Ack!... still no phone line to our house. So updates will be sporadic until then... but expect a full update soon there after.

Everything is great, however.

It's been a while since my last confession... and I must confess it may be a while more. The big move is in full swing and we really don't have much time to slow down and take care of the little stuff. I promise to write more once we're settled.

The carpenter always hammers twice

Oy. They've finally fixed my lateral file so I can rescue those last few personal files from the cabinet. Which means by the end of today all traces of John Frost should be gone from this cubby. (Well, maybe I'll leave a hidden mickey or two.)

Tomorrow is the last hurrah before a lightning drive through the cajon pass hopefully while the sun still shines. I can look out my window and see snow still falling on the pass right now. Should be interesting.

The Last Friday

It's the last Friday. The last weekend primer that I spend downtown walking around exploring nooks and crannies. Side stepping panhandlers and avoiding the eyes of those who look to hustle me for money.

It's also the last friday I eat at my favorite downtown lunch restaurant, California Pizza Kitchen, and am served by my favorite waitress -- Billie F. Gave her 100% tip today, no explanation why. Maybe she'll figure it out eventually. What's nice is that she took the trouble to learn the names of her best customers. I always left her a little more because of that.

So now, I'm packing up my desk in advance of my final three days. What do I leave behind, what do I throw away, what do I take. Hopefully I leave behind a deparmtment that is better off for my being her. More organized, better trained, better equipped.

Life changes like this are never easy.

Changing jobs and moving at the same time is a bit overwhelming. It's nice that I already have a couple of irons in the fire, but it is still very stressful. For those of you keeping track, we do our walk-through a week from today, then sign mortgage papers that afternoon. After that we can get our keys on the 8th.

I've also been working on selling Ad space on LaughingPlace.com. We're now listed in the major media selling directories. Next step is developing a media kit (online and dead tree versions).

Pop goes the weasel

Why do they call it 'popping the question'? I suppose because it is supposed to come as a surprise to the intended. In my line of thinking one's future wife should never not expect you to ask her hand in marriage.

Stacey has known from before we started dating that I wanted to marry her (but that's a story for another time). In fact, she did all of the leg work on the rings, as she wanted them to fit her exacting specifications. So the challenge for me was to make the time and place of the actual event a surprise for her.

We had talked about doing it at Disneyana on Main Street at Disneyland. We met there while standing in line for a merchandise event. I even conspired with a few Cast Members there about how I might go about doing it. But as it turns out that was just a ruse.

I think most people expected us to get engaged on Valentine's Day. I expected us to as well. I had tried to arrange a nice dinner and movie sort of thing, and then I'd ask her before dessert. But that failed as we didn't get to dessert until 11:30pm that night. (I'm sorry if you lost your bet, James).

I had even bought a disposable camera and planned to ask the waiter to snap a few shots of the moment. Stacey found the camera and I think she expected the question that night, so that kept me from asking her too.

The date I really wanted to propose was Feb 17th. I wanted to do it at Disneyland, but as it turns out we were scheduled to be in Las Vegas that day to meet my Dad and stepmom, Rosemary.

So, I thought, I'll do it at the house. We made a special detour to the property under the thin guise that we might meet more neighbors. And we did. However, we also discovered that our house was locked. We'd visited the day before and found it open, but not on the 17th. Oh well. I quickly thought up a backup plan.

One of the things Dad and Rosemary wanted to do was walk the strip and check out the pirates show at Treasure Island, the volcano at Mirage, and the new casinos like Paris and Bellagio. I knew Stacey loves the Bellagio water show, so things were starting to fall into place.

Eventually we ended up at the Bellagio water show at 4pm. The music was 'One' from 'A Chorus Line' which played into my hands. I started formulating a speech in my head and warming up the flash in that disposable camera I'd been carrying around since Valentine's Day.

After the water show, I handed my Dad the camera and asked him to take a picture of Stacey and I. After the first picture I got down on one knee and it quickly became apparent what was going on. He snapped away as I worked through my simple speech.

"Stacey, I wanted to do this at Disneyland, however, we're going to build a new life here in Las Vegas, so this seems appropriate ... You are my one. Will you be my one? Will you marry me?"

Thankfully, she said, "I will."

Afterwards, a small group of tourists that had gathered applauded. But there was no confetti.

I am glad my Dad got to see the moment. He really was tickled pink (as he promised he would be). I wish Stacey's Dad could have been there, I know he's watching us from above.

Thank you to everyone for the well wishes and congratulations. Stacey and I look forward to seeing you all.

-Indigo (John)

An AP Glut or Parking Famine

You may have heard that Disneyland stopped selling Annual Passes. They claim to have sold to capacity and selling anymore would endanger the experiences of the non-AP guest. They say 'if all the APs showed up on the same day, where would the ticketed guests go?' Gee, it's nice that they care about us APs. Even worse, this announcement was made on the same day AP previews were being offered for the new California Adventure theme park. While inviting us in to sample the merchandise, they were at the same time not allowing us to buy it long term. Or something like that.

And now... the new themepark and Disneyland are both experiencing incredible drops in attendence... coincidence?

So far 35,000 APs that allow entrance into DCA have been sold. The number of total APs for Disneyland alone is close to 400,000. Which leads me to this speculation... they must be worried about more than just how many APs will show up at the gate on a single day. Otherwise, they wouldn't have sold APs that total 5 times the capacity (70K is conservative) of Disneyland. What if all 400,000 showed up on a single day, what would they do then. That logic doesn't make sense. By that logic they would be able to sell 150,000 DCA APs. Before being worried about having to close the gates.

What does make sense is the parking situation. In fact, the opening of the Anahiem Stadium... er ... Edison Field parking lot on busy weekends, lends credence to the lack of parking theory. I have yet to hear any concrete numbers on the soonest they could fix this major blunder... but until then I imagine the numbers for both parks will remain low. Just the usual 70,000 day summer and holiday crowds, but split between the two parks.

I really think the number crunchers were planning on a lot more hotels being built. Instead, just a few new hotel rooms have been added... figure about 3500 rooms, less than the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. That means an extra 7000 to 15000 people in the Anaheim Resort area. Not all visiting DL or DCA on every day. Not enough to populate DCA.

Instead the DLR will continue to survive, thrive, or die on the local visitor. At least until more hotels are built and the resort is 'firmly' established as a multi-day destination. So Disney execs... why not treat these local visitors better, after all, we're your profit margin.

Happy VD

Ikea can kill your relationship.

The future is now...

I am about to do what I once said I never would stand for... sell ad space on the net. Way back in 1991 when I first joined the FutureCulture elist the internet existed without the cyberspace we now call the web. It was pretty much free of the .com domains withonly a few research oriented groups owning those domains. Then in 1994, one year after the debut of the WWW, everything changed... WIRED magazine online added banner advertising to their website.

There was much moanin' and groanin' at the time about the commercialization of the net. I did it myself. People saw themselves being squeezed out of the private playspace that had been theirs alone. But, much like Hong Kong Disneyland, when more space was needed, it was just dredged up with new technologies and added on. No one was squeezed out we just made room for more.

Even better... all those college nerds who spent hours mudding, coding scripts, writing software, etc... are now raking in the big bucks at the fore front of the 'new economy'. I don't hear nearly as much complaining now.

So it is that spirit that I have taken on the mantle of 'Sales and Marketing Manager' for LaughingPlace.com. I hope that I can make some money doing what I love, and in the same breath help thousands of Disney fans, like myself, partake in their obsession. Money will help LaughingPlace.com grow and provide new resources to bolster the Yahoo! and USAtoday acclaimed best 'Disney' site on the net.

No where else can you find a more complete Disney website directory--it's searchable, rated, and free to list. No where else can you find family friendly, PG-13, and active community discussion boards to talk about your favorite Disney topic. Only LaughingPlace.com provides daily news updates that cover the whole spectrum of Disney news and information. LaughingPlace.com also provides detailed travel guides for your themepark vacation needs.

And there's more.... LaughingPlace.com has games, trivia, respected columnists, themepark updates, balanced news coverage, event coverage, merchandise updates, and more stuff added all the time. Put it all together and you have the Number One Site for Disney News and Information on the web.

Now... can you think of a better place to buy ad space?

ssshhh---noooooo!

Drove through heavy heavy snow in the Cajon Pass last night. If we had waited perhaps 30 minutes longer to leave Jean, Nevada we would quite possibably still be in Victorville right now. Now Los Angeles County is under 'storm watch' and streets are flooding, lunch crowds will be down, and outside my window is one generally gray mess. It's difficult to see the building across the street through the low clouds.

The house in Henderson, NV is coming along quite well. As soon as we can get this mortgage approved they can start putting in the flooring and then working out the final touches. Looks like March 10th or so for a move in date. This last weekend we found a couch we love and put a deposit down on it, we found a fridge that is almost perfect and for 25% off (Wards is going out of business in case you didn't know) was more than 'good enough' and bought it, and we looked at area rugs and such for those dining areas. Now we just need a kitchen table set to give us someplace to eat until we can afford to furnish the rest of the house.

Speaking of Jobs. I'm looking for one in the Vegas area. I have a commission based opportunity to sell Ad space on LaughingPlace.com, and I'm excited about the potential there, but having some steady income to back it up would be nice as well. In any event, if you know anything about Ad sales, talk to me.