Uh, Noooooooooooo.......

This leaves me almost speechless... For those that have read my posts from/after our Disney trips, you know this has been my favorite restaurant on the planet for about the past 20+ years! No, I don't think it likely I'll get there before closing. Have to book a trip to Italy instead....

(From MousePlanet.com)

Get your Le Originali Fettuccine All'Alfredo while you can

In news that will thrill some and traumatize others (people either love or hate this restaurant), L’Originale Alfredo di Roma Ristorante will be the first of the original table service restaurants in Epcot's World Showcase to disappear from the park. The restaurant will close at the end of its current contract on August 31, to be replaced by "a new Italian restaurant concept."

Disney has not released any details of what the new restaurant concept might be, only that they are "currently finalizing negotiations with a strategic partner." They have confirmed, however, that the new "dining experience" will continue to have International Program cast members staffing the location. That would seem to rule out the fears expressed by some that a domestic Italian-American chain would move into the location.

Alfredo's has not announced any plans to open another location in the Central Florida area, so if a trip to Rome is not on your itinerary, you'll need to head to New York City for the only other location in the United States. (Another location is planned for Las Vegas, though.)

It's not known why Disney and Alfredo's are parting company, but it's a pretty sure bet that Disney either made the break or created a situation that led to the break, as the location was certainly not a money-loser for Alfredo's. In fact, for the year 2004, Alfredo's was number 13 on Restaurant and Institutions Magazine's Top 100 Independent Restaurants listing in terms of food and beverage sales. It's not likely that the restaurant would look to leave with that kind of income rolling in.

Still Ain't Dead....

Just lost, as happens from time to time, my muse again for a while... hey, it's winter, alright?

James Kim, R.I.P.

For the past week I've been closely following the story of James Kim and his family, who disappeared on their way home to San Francisco after celebrating Thanksgiving in Oregon. The family got stuck in snow on Oregon back roads and it was 9 days before they were found on Monday. Miraculously James' wife Kati, and their two young daughters, were found alive and in very good condition. James though had set out on his own a few days before that to seek help and didn't make it, his body just recovered this afternoon. More details on the story can be found here and of course elsewhere on the web.

This story touched me as I've been watching James for many many years on TV and on podcasts that I frequent. He used to be a "lab rat" (product tester) back at TechTV, and a frequent and favorite guest on "The Screen Savers", a tech show that we all watched regularly. Since then he has been an editor and regular contributor to CNET.com, and I'd not only read his stuff there but see him regularly on the CNET tips vidcast that my TiVo downloads every week.

James always touched me as I recall on "The Screen Savers" when his first daughter was born, and how happy and proud he was. He would frequently use his daughter as a subject when testing new digital cameras, for instance. I found myself emotionally invested in this story, and I'm very saddened that he didn't make it... but praise the Tiki his family survived, as difficult as this must be for them! The saddest thought I have of this is James died alone, without knowing that his family was found safe.

Godspeed, James Kim. You were a true hero to your family. And to me.

Ah, Trek in the 70s!

So I'm delighted yesterday to get my new DVD set of Star Trek: The Animated Series, the Filmation cartoon show from the early 70s that so many of us enjoyed as kids. The set is nicely presented, though I haven't watched the discs yet (the weekend's coming!). However, I'm reading the liner notes from the box set tonight, and these have got to be the funniest liner notes I've ever seen... though sadly, unintentionally! They look like they were written by Jordan (McAuliffe kids, ask your folks!).

Here's a few samples, starting right in the introduction where they apparently couldn't decide which way to go so they proudly proclaim:

"To boldly go where no one man has gone before"!

Huh?
(from the description of Beyond the Farthest Star) "When the creature takes control of his ship, Captain Kirk uses bold tactics to convince the creature that is being lured to its death".

Isn't this the ultimate Trek no-no?
(from Yesteryear) "Dr. Spock is removed from history, despite being very much present aboard the Enterprise!"

Isn't that what planet-destroying clouds do?
(from One of Our Planets in Missing) "A massive planet-destroying cloud threatens to destroy every planet in the galaxy."

I hate it when that happens!
(from The Survivor) "However, when [Nurse Chapel's fiance] turns out to be a shape-shifting alien who later impersonates Kirk and orders the Enterprise into the dangerous Romulan Neutral Zone, the situation takes a turn for the worse."

Oh no, not that... Get, the SOFT CUSHIONS!!
(from The Infinite Vulcan) "When the cloned scientist cripples Spock by trying to clone him, Kirk resorts to philosophy."

Starfleet's Funniest Home Videos....
(from The Practical Joker) "The ensuing chaos proves to be amusing but extremely dangerous."

Believe me, there's more!

Another Bluesmobile...

At left is the gift I received from Jake this week, a large-scale replica of the Bluesmobile II he put together from me! It started life as a toy Crown Vic, but Jake did the paints and markings, and fashioned the push bars and spot lights himself. This photo doesn't do it justice (I'll take some better ones this weekend when I dig out the "good" camera) but I had to share it. (That's a standard 12-ounce beer behind it, for scale.) Thank you, brother!!

Trek Thoughts

I've been watching the re-mastered classic “Star Trek” episodes the past few weeks, featuring the newly-rendered CGI special effects. For the most part I've thought the remastering was excellent, with clean prints and vibrant colors; the new CGI has been okay, but only just. Some shots looked good, some looked very flat.

Until this week's episode, “Space Seed”. They have a much improved CGI Enterprise model, that looks fantastic, and they really used some excellent creative angles on the exterior SFX shots of the Enterprise and the Botany Bay (the semi-derelict 1990's ship they come across in this episode). For the first time I really thought the new effects did in fact improve the show. Bravo!!

Of course, watching this syndicated has sucked as the episodes are still cut up, with many scenes chopped. I still doubt I'll be buying these on DVD when they're released as I did splurge for the original classic DVD box sets but at least they're really showing they are truly committed to improving the show without changing it.

A Night at Symphony Hall

Buster & I had a busy but very fun weekend. Friday night I took him to see B.B. King... a 3-hour concert is a bit much for a 9-year-old (even one who likes blues!), but B.B. is 81 now and probably won't keep touring much longer... with Buster old enough that he may actually remember this show it seemed a worthy adventure to let him see this blues legend! And yes, it was long for him and he had moments of boredom and fidgeting, but whenever a song he knew was played he'd bounce right back and on a few occasions start singing along! It was his first real concert, and when it was done he was very glad he went. He was even able to go down near the stage at the end of the show and scored one of the little souvenir pins B tosses out to the crowd when he's done.

I've seen B.B. many times over the past 20-odd years, and have also met him twice... once even singing with him, a story I'm sure most reading this know and have heard enough of! It's been both fun and bittersweet watching B.B. maturing, and of course noting how I myself have gotten so much older... time marches on, the ultimate blues. Each of the past several times I've seen him B has looked a bit older, a bit more tired... and yet hasn't backed down from giving the audience what he's always given us: himself. An evening with B.B. really feels like you're meeting the man... no on-stage patter for him, he talks to the audience with true stories and lessons from his own life. The man is amazing, and amazingly humble. As always lately, I'm hoping this wasn't the last time I'll see him!

On another quick note, The Hey and I saw the new James Bond movie last night ("Casino Royale"), and came away very happy! I've always been a big Bond fan, but the movies have become more and more "Blowed Up" stunt extravaganzas with over-the-top stories and cartoon-character characters. This had its share of stunts but was still a genuine spy story with overall fairly believable characters... not perfect by any means but a great story and a good return to the basics for my favorite secret agent. Here's hoping they can build on this and keep moving in that direction!