Old Long Syne

In all honesty, I'm terribly sad to see 2011 pass away. There has been no greater year in my entire life than this one. All my education combined could never amount to the things I have learned on my own, and from others this year. This past year has been very nostalgic for me, and I will never forget it.




"Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind ?
Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and old lang syne?"


Ever since I've first heard this song, I've pondered the lyrics and what they meant. Should an old acquaintance be forgot? Should we not remember them? It never made sense to me. But the truth is, we don't remember every little thing we did each year. I know I don't. Perhaps that's why this song is for New Year's, because that previous year was your acquaintance, and now this acquaintance has passed on.


Truth is, there are things this past year that have happened that I will never forget. I thank God everyday for this year-long journey. Some of my adventures have included 4 Disney trips, getting to tour the Walt Disney Studios and Archives, the D23 Convention, and changing jobs.


I thank God everyday for the incredible people I have had the privilege of meeting this past year. From my brother, to incredible co-workers who I've built a life-long relationship with, to those of you online who I have yet to meet. I don't think I've ever been closer to friends until now. You guys know who you are, and thank you for inspiring me and being by my side. There is nothing more meaningful to me than that.


This year, I have learned so much about God. I realized that in previous years I wasn't trusting him completely, and looking back I now see how much I doubted. After some hardcore prayer sessions, and after he answered some of my requests in the most obvious of ways that totally had me dumb-founded, He taught me not to doubt, and to trust with all my heart. I don't think there is a more powerful message and feeling then that. I thank Christ everyday for what he has done for me. I truly do not deserve it.





As much as I'm going to miss 2011, I look forward to 2012. I have some really big plans that I can't wait to share with you guys. I'm running after my dreams now, and for the first time ever, they seem to be in reach. I plan on changing for the better this year, and being more family/friend oriented. After all, they are the ones who've got my back and are there when I need them.
I've always said that my New Year's Resolution was to not make a New Year's Resolution, because no one keeps them. This year I'm changing that. This year's Resolution isn't to go on a diet, or stop drinking soda. It's deeper than that. I'm going to shape my life to be the man God wanted me to be. It's all for him.



So, should old acquaintances be forgot? I don't think so. I think they should be forever alive in our memories. However, this version of the song was not the original version. This song is so much more than acquaintances, and remembering them. Perhaps the original version by James Watson, which was written in 1711, will make more sense to you. It did to me.


Before I say goodbye, I want to wish you a very happy New Years. Thank you for everything- I look forward to new adventures in 2012.

 -------------------------------------------------------

Should Old Acquaintance be forgot,
and never thought upon;
The flames of Love extinguished,
and fully past and gone:
Is thy sweet Heart now grown so cold,
that loving Breast of thine;
That thou canst never once reflect
on Old long syne.

CHORUS:

On Old long syne my Jo,
in Old long syne,
That thou canst never once reflect,
on Old long syne.

My Heart is ravisht with delight,
when thee I think upon;
All Grief and Sorrow takes the flight,
and speedily is gone;
The bright resemblance of thy Face,
so fills this, Heart of mine;
That Force nor Fate can me displease,
for Old long syne.

CHORUS

Since thoughts of thee doth banish grief,
when from thee I am gone;
will not thy presence yield relief,
to this sad Heart of mine:
Why doth thy presence me defeat,
with excellence divine?
Especially when I reflect
on Old long syne

Merry Christmas

I hope you all have a very merry Christmas and Christmas Eve. Remember that it's all for Jesus.

Wishing you the best and safe holiday,
And as always, thanks for reading The Random Post.

-Austen

The Power of Mickey Mouse

Maleficent had no chance of beating Mickey in Fantasmic!, his power and imagination really has no limits. I'm reading the book "How to be like Walt", and in this particular chapter it talks about Mickey Mouse. Us Disney fans know the story of how Mickey was created, but they don't realize how his popularity spread so incredibly fast and far. Here are a few paragraphs from the book, explaining this powerful mouse: 



"President Franklin D. Roosevelt admired the spirit and resourcefulness of Mickey Mouse, and ordered that the cartoons be shown at the White House. England's King George V demanded that Mickey Mouse cartoons accompany every film shown at Buckingham Palace. Mickey brought cheer and hope to a world falling under the shadow of the Great Depression. His relentless optimism, so much like Walt's, was good medicine for an ailing society.
Mickey's last black-and-white cartoon (Mickey's Kangaroo) and his first color cartoon (The Band Concert) premiered in 1935. That year, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade featured a fifty-foot tall Mickey Mouse-and Walt received a special medal from the League of Nations, recognizing Mickey as "A symbol of universal good will." To top it off, 1935 was the year Adolf Hitler banned Mickey Mouse cartoons from German theaters.
Later, during World War II, Mickey Mouse encouraged Americans to support the war effort by purchasing War Bonds. During the London blitz, English children were issued gas masks with pictures of Mickey on them. The terror of the bombing raids was made more bearable because the Mouse was there. When Allied forces prepared to storm the beaches of Normandy on D-Day, June 6, 1944, soldiers were given a password by which all friendly forces would be recognized: 'Mickey Mouse'".




"Mickey Mouse to me is the symbol of independence. Born of necessity, the little fellow literally freed us of immediate worry." -Walt Disney

A+ Teachers

When a teacher/professor actually has a sense of humor, it makes the class SO much more enjoyable and lightens the tense atmosphere. Recently my Government teacher cancelled our written report, and this is what he said that I thought was pretty funny:

"Due to circumstances beyond my control there will not be a written Report due this semester as had been anticipated.  My apologies for those sorely disappointed.  For some this may be proof certain that there is a God and that he answers prayers.  Trudge on my young friends."
Dr. Pease

A Failed Attempt

Today, while my dad and I were working on some light strands in the garage, we watched a man a woman attempt to jump our neighbors fence across the street. This was a failed attempt, since the gate opened and they fell. Not quite sure what was going on, we sorta stared with a blank expression as they proceeded to walk up to us, in the garage. The man, standing so close, less than a foot away from me close, started talking to us, telling us his life story.

I'm not going to type word for word what he said, since literally every other word was the F-bomb or another form of unappropriated words for my blog. (I try to keep it PG-13). But, his story went something like this: Their car tire popped a few streets over, and they need a ride back to it, so they can call a tow truck and their insurance company. They are willing to pay us $80 (he pulls out 20s from his wallet) to take them back. The woman then tells us how she is pregnant and can't walk in the cold rain. My dad starts to question them a bit, like where do they live, how far away is the car, etc. The man, still standing where I can smell the liquor on him as he drops his 2 cigarettes and wallet repeatedly, gets jumpy and starts walking away. The woman then says: "Can you or not? I need to know! No? Fine! Let's go!" And they walk down the street.

We then walk over to my neighbors house across the street and let him know that 2 people just came through his backyard. He tells us that he saw them jump the fence in his backyard, then jump the gate.

Their story didn't add up. For one, she is pregnant and can jump 2 fences, but can't walk? Secondly, why are they jumping fences in the first place? How did they get so far away from their car? Everything was off, and I'm glad they decided to just leave. Hopefully they won't return.

I don't understand choices people make sometimes, but I'm not here to judge or question their actions. If they leave me alone, I'll leave them alone. I have a feeling they might have tried taking the car or something if we would have given them a ride. Thankfully everything turned out alright, and is back to normal. At least for us.

The Many Adventures of Wal-Mart

I would like to apologize in advance for any thing I'm about to say that doesn't make sense. I'm running on very little sleep, and I've been trying to write this post for a few days now. So, instead of procrastinating some more and possibly forgetting the details of my story, I thought I better just sit down and type. So here I am, exhausted from the day, with hot chocolate and my laptop.

I'm going to tell you three adventures that happened at Wal-Mart. Now, here in California, just going to Wal-Mart with the Walmartians is an adventure in itself. But I have three things that happened to me, that makes me ponder the thought of people's attitudes, and also made me laugh on the inside.

Story one- As you know, I'm working on my light show. Wal-Mart, being open 24/7 and a few blocks from my house, is the perfect place to buy late night supplies. And that's just what I did. I went at 9PM, and bought a few boxes of blue LED lights that I needed. I'm checking out, and this was the conversation between me and the cashier:

Cashier: "Is your tree up!?"
Me: "Nope, these are for outside."
Cashier: "Oh. Whatever."

Story two- I'm back, buying more lights. This time it was afternoon, and I had 2 boxes of 300-count icicles. I'm checking out, and the lady behind me says: "Wow! That's a TON of lights!" To which I reply: "Not really, I need 7 more boxes of these." Lady: "WHAT!?" Me: "Yeah, I have over 15,000 lights." *The whole line turns around and stares at me* Me: "Oh, I do a light show." Everyone returns to their normal behavior. Some how me saying I do light shows makes it normal.

Story three- So I'm looking around the Christmas stuff, and I turn around in the isle, and across the little path, on the next isle down, there is a family of 4, who I have never seen before, waving at me. I have no idea why, but I slowly turned around and walked off. Walmartians these days are becoming more and more brave. 

Morning Thoughts

So instead of writing several different posts with all my different stories, I'm going to just write one, due to time.

Our Disney Park Secrets blog has a new twitter account, that you should follow. So far it seems as though many people like the blog, and we have some exciting new ways to promote it in the future. If you wish to stay even more updated, check out our Facebook page. Thank you everyone who has helped support Jake and I's blog. We just enjoy talking about Disney, and we hope you enjoy reading about the secrets.


Remember my Stats rant awhile back? Yeah, this time it's my online Philosophy class. No question I answer is good enough for him. Yet, two of my friends who are in his class have A's, and say how it's a fun class, with a fun professor. However, online seems to be a different story for some reason. I'm happy that my grade is better than my Stats grade! Just not pleased with it completely.


Winter Light!. Wow. I've been working on it whenever possible. So far I have half of the finale up, half of the icicles, and half of the C9's. Tomorrow it looks like we are filming a section for the show, and today I'm continuing to set everything up. My goal is to start programming by this Friday or Saturday. The show is coming fast! You can stay up to date on this as well through my Facebook Page.




That seems to be all that's on my mind at the moment. Now I have to get ready and meet some people for lunch, then head home to put up more lights!

Made My Night

On Friday night, I was on the Drive-thru window at work. We all were pretty hyper, and I was dared to say something funny to the next guest at the window. For those that haven't been to our drive-thru, the path is a long one, wrapping around another building. So I decided to say "Congratulations on making it to the window, your total is..."

I opened the window, gave my spiel, and this older guy just stared at me for about 5 seconds. He and his wife then busted up laughing. He said that it was so true, and that he'd had a horrible night, and I made his night so much better. As I got his change, he still was laughing and by this time was in tears. He kept saying "Hell! That's funny!".

While I might have made his night, he really made mine.

I'm a firm believer that you should have fun at your job, while working and getting your things done of course. I'm happy I get to do this every shift. I enjoy making the guest's experience a special one.

Disneyland Trip Report 11/6

Sunday's Disneyland trip was nothing short of being epic. With lines no longer than 20 minutes, and amazing people in our group, we all had a blast! Filming of the Christmas Day Parade added to the excitement also. The weather and rain was actually kinda nice, and the afternoon sun was nicer. Overall it was a great trip, and I'm glad I got to take my second family- Megan and John- to Disneyland once more before they move out of state.

Before I show you the pictures, I wanted to share a few things.


Indiana Jones worked flawlessly. Everything in the ride went perfect. I haven't seen Indy in that great of shape in over 2 years now. Remember during the summer I kept saying it was horrible and needed a refurb? Not quite sure what happened, but I hope it stays in this shape for many months to come.

Pirates was still down, and there has been no sign of a "ship" being added to the entrance. I can pretty much confirm that is a rumor.

Flotsam and Jetsam has been missing in Fantasmic! for a few months now... Not too sure where they went.





Well, here are some pictures of the day. Enjoy!

See the Christmas tree?

A cool detail I just noticed...

A few pictures under the sea with Nemo

Kinda a cool effect for my cheap camera

You might see this picture in a Disney Park Secrets post...

The group

Filming for the Christmas Day Parade

New Orleans is in the spirit!

Merry Christmas?

The "Man Eating Wreath"

Hey look! Me.

The Matterhorn had some rocks open...

Harold recently snatched a guest...

It's interesting. I do like the flowers on the bottom right.

Carsland will be amazing.

I'll be there opening day.

See anything new?

Here's a panned-out view, so you can see where this is at...

My bro Mainstreetjake and I

And so ended our day. We all had an amazing time! 


Until the next trip,

Dream in Disney.


-Austen

Halloween 2011

Four months in the making, Halloween flew by and is now over. My main project this year was the giant talking face that I've kept you all updated on so much, and it's something that I hope to continue to improve and add to in the future shows.

I procrastinated the show this year quite a bit since I was so busy with work and school. So setting up the day of was a mess, and I was running around like crazy. But I'm really happy with how everything turned out, even if it is a small display. It's fun, and people enjoy it. That's all that matters.

As always, the show will continue to grow. This was only my second Halloween show. I've always set up decorations and various effects, but I've only had 2 Christmas-like shows for Halloween, so I look forward to doing more Halloween shows in the future, and already have a few ideas down.

Thank you to everyone who helped me in any way with set-up, take-down, tech-work, and thanks to my parents who let me invade the office for 4 months while I programmed.

To everyone that came out and saw it- Thank you. I hope you enjoyed it, and I can't wait until you all can see Winter Light! I promise you, it will be incredible.

Without further adieu, here is the video.


Halloween 2011

My Final Stats Rant

I've always tried my best in school, and for the most part, I've always had pretty decent grades. Yeah, some subjects (English, History, Government, Etc.) was better than others (Math), but I've always maintained my GPA. College was no different, and the past 3 semesters my GPA has been higher than high school.

This semester however, I have been stressed to the max on Statistics and Philosophy, both which I thought I would do (somewhat) well.

Statistics has been hell on earth for me. The first few chapters were easy, all about mean, median, and mode-things I learned in elementary. I didn't need tutoring because I felt like I had a decent understanding of it, and I was getting 10/10 on all my homework, and passing all my quizzes and tests. Then everything started to fall, little by little. I realized I needed help, tutoring, advice, something. I've spent the past few weeks researching books to get, like Statistics for Dummies, and finding out tutoring times at my college. Then I found out this week that I have another Exam, plus a huge project due in less than a week.

What I was afraid of happened. It's too late to catch up. As I was trying to take notes tonight for my exam tomorrow, I had no clue what to do. None. It is so far over my head that it hit the Orion Belt. (I'm passing Astronomy!)

I have decided to drop the class. However, since I'm dropping the class so late, I will receive a "W" on my transcript, something colleges don't like to see. But what is worse, failing the class, or receiving a W? Failing the class is going to bring down my GPA.

As most of you know, I want to transfer to a 4 year down south. But to be perfectly honest, I don't know how my grades, GPA, and transcripts will allow for it. I am at a point where I have no idea what's going to happen. I have no idea what I want to do. I am unsure about a lot of things right now, and all I can ask for is your prayers that God will help me through this, where I will still be able to accomplish my Dreams and goals in life. I'm still very determined, and I won't give up. I'll go down with my Dreams if I must.


Your prayers are much appreciated. And thanks to all those friends out there that have stood by my side. You'll never know how much you all mean to me.


As for tonight, I will sleep well. I will not worry about Stats; a huge stress ball has been rolled off me. Goodnight.

Andrea

A few weeks ago, a cute girl came into work and I helped her by taking her order. Her name was Andrea, and she is extremely nice and very pretty. My manager saw I was being "friendly" to her, and saw that I kept checking on her, making sure everything was alright. My manager said I could no longer see her, and to move along. This then became a joke, and I started to say the same thing to her when her guy friend came in.

This went on for a few weeks and grew into a huge inside joke that I'm not going to completely share with all of you. However, once in awhile to irritate my boss, I'd say "Andrea is here", and she would 1. Hit me on the arm, then 2. Inform me how she "took care" of Andrea.

Well today, guess who came in to eat. And guess who ran to the back to inform the manager who was in? This guy right here. What happened? Well first of all, I was punched in the arm again. (Sounds like abuse, right?) Then, I catered to her for the length of their stay. (She was with her.. uh, brother. I hope.)

Every time my manager walked by me, I had to rub it in on how I'm making sure she's alright. Needless to say, I started to be ignored. That didn't stop me though.
Well, Andrea had to leave, so she got up and dumped her tray. (I wasn't able to take it from her, I was helping another guest.)

About 30 minutes later, the phone rang. My manager's face was blank. Someone named Andrea, who was just in, lost their credit card. Apparently the last place she had it was on her tray, which means it's most likely in the trash. Who get's nominated for dumpster diving to find the missing credit card? I do! I just about volunteered. I was going to save Andrea's day!

The rubber gloves went on, and the trash was poured out. No credit card. To be honest, I was kinda disappointed. I told my manger the news, and went on with my day.

A few hours later my manger's shift ended, so she walked out the front doors to leave, and there it was! Andrea's credit card! It turned out to be a happy ending after all, even though I didn't get to save the day. (Next time though...)

Not gonna lie, I feel like a creeper writing about some girl that I don't even know, and her adventures at CFA. However, I thought this was an ironic story that I had to share.

Mini Show Update

With Halloween 2 weeks away, I'm in a serious time crunch to get the show done and running. Here's my list to complete-

1. Finish programming the face
2. Program the lightning and pumpkins
3. Put out the lights/spider web/other props the week of.


I procrastinated on buying the projector, and they are currently sold out. It is supposed to ship in the next few days though, so I might have my singing pumpkins in the show. Or might not. Either way, it WILL be here for Christmas!



Christmas- I am still begging for your pictures! It's going to be awesome when your out there, watching the show, and suddenly your pictures comes up. I'm trying to not give away everything, but I still need a lot of them. For those that already sent some to me, thank you!

I recently updated my "Current Projects" page on the website, you can check it out here: Winter Light!

As for everything else to do with Christmas, there's a lot going on, and that needs to be done. It's going to be a busy few weeks, but Thanksgiving night it will pay off! This year is going to be incredible. I'm so excited to show you everything.


If you want to continue to stay updated on it all, please "Like" our Facebook Page.

Thanks!

-Austen

That's Your Lifestyle

While I was at work today, I glanced out the front windows to find a homeless lady sitting outside on the grass. She had a dog, a bag, and a carton of cigarettes, chain smoking her way into happiness. I left work, to find another homeless man on a corner with a sign on how he was a Vet, and how God will bless us if we help.

I really wish I had the time and money to rehabilitate these types of people. I think some do deserve a second chance. However, I also feel that most of these people have chosen this lifestyle. They may have had family trouble, or the simple fact of peer pressure gaining on their lives, pushing them into drugs and other problems.

There is an almost homeless man, close in relation, in my extended family. I'm not quite sure where he went wrong. Perhaps it was the times he cussed out his mom, or bribed his brothers and sister for money, which has continued to this day. My grandma has bought him 2 cars, a motor home, plus hundreds of dollars in food and gas and also has paid his cell phone bill just so she has some type of communication. What was his thanks for all this? Sold both cars, sold the motor home, and cusses her out for not giving him more money.

This guy is 100% able to work. He is an amazing mechanic, and can take a motor apart and put it back together faster than I can say supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. Yet he refuses, and does drugs or whatever it is he does. He has chose that life, when he could very well get out of that horrible lifestyle. I just wonder how many other people refuse to turn their lives around. Perhaps everything is handed to them too often.

I feel bad for sounding so mean and negative. I feel bad that these people freeze on a winters night, when I'm in a warm bed. But I just feel they could change their life around. Maybe they just don't care, or aren't inspired enough to. I don't know. They have a story, and I have mine.

I Need You...

Your pictures, that is! As most of you know, for awhile now I've been asking people to email me their holiday pictures so I could use them in my Christmas light show.

No? Don't know what I'm talking about? Let me explain...


My best friend and I have come up with a new effect for Winter Light! We are going to project YOUR pictures that you send in during certain sections of the show. Why? Because this year's theme is Memories, and what better way to incorporate memories and stories than through pictures? A picture is worth a thousand words, and since our show isn't very long, we are using pictures instead of telling several thousand word stories.

Here's the deal: Find a picture of you and your family or friends in the snow, in front of the Christmas tree, opening presents on Christmas morning, drinking hot chocolate in-front of your own Christmas lights, the list goes on. As long as it's related to Christmas or winter, we will accept it.

We ask that you email your pictures to this address: ehurdag@hotmail.com

However, all I need is to save the picture to my computer, so if you follow me on Facebook or Twitter, just send me a message or tweet with your picture and I can grab it.

We  need a ton of pictures, roughly around 100 or more. The more the better though.
Since this project is quite large, and we still have a lot of other things to work on, the deadline to send your pictures in is October 28th. Please don't wait until the last minute, send them in as soon as you can.

You could find more information about this Here.
And don't forget to like us on Facebook to stay updated on all things Christmas and Halloween.
We also have an Event on Facebook going, so please "attend" and "share" it with your friends. Again, the more pictures the better!

If, for any reason, you have a question, I encourage you to ask, via email or comment on this post.


Thank you for helping us to create the best year ever for Winter Light! I promise, you won't want to miss this!

Kern County Fair 2011

Well the fair has finally ended, and I'm sad to say that I missed a lot this year. Out of ten years, this was my least-attended fair. Since I was an adviser for the Jr. Fair Board this year, I wasn't really required to be out there for the activities. Also between school and work, finding time in-between was a little tough. I did make it out there for a few activities though, and I had a few nights to just hang out with friends which is always nice and relaxing.

The fair this year was bittersweet to me. I was pleased with the entertainment, and how that improved from previous years. But even with this improvement, I didn't see a huge attendance increase. Actually, it felt like one of the worst years for attendance. Perhaps that is just due to the economy, which is totally understandable. For a family of four, it can get spendy quick.

For me personally, I'm getting bored of the same things. It's always the same food places, the same rides and games, the same people on the little stages scattered around. I know I'm out there more than most people and I do see everything several times each year, so I'm probably more tired of it than everyone else. However, I still would like to see some small changes throughout the place. Just keep it fresh and updated.

Overall it seemed like a very successful year, and I've heard some positive reviews about everything which is always reassuring.

For any members of the KCJFB reading this- I'm happy with how the group turned out this year, and what you all accomplished. We successfully finished another year, and this year seemed smoother than some of the previous years. My only advice to you all is to stay professional at times. (I hope you get what I'm hinting at here...) Good job though. :)

If Mr. Bill Blair happens to read this, I'd just like to thank him for his time and hard work he has put in to make the Kern County Fair a great one each year. I wish him the best with retirement and the future. So thank you.


While I'm looking forward to 2012, I'm not sure if I'll make it out there with college. I know I probably won't be returning to the Jr. Fair Board as an adviser or member, so if I do come out it will only be once or twice. I'm not sure how I will feel about that... I've never been to the fair just twice. Well, not since I was 5 anyway.

Here are some highlights of this year~


Jr. Fair Board-

 Some awesome Disney collections!

 Around the Fair

 Jr. Fair Board Stage Activities

 Friends

  (Hidden Mickey?)

I can't wait to hear what next year's theme is... I was surprised how well "It's Magic" worked out. Always something to look forward to, I guess.

The wait for a deep fried Snickers, Oreo, Twinky, and Kool-aid begins. And a long wait it will be!


Hope you all had a great time out there this year. And congrats to all the Champions in the barns! Your dedication has finally paid off! (Amazing feeling, isn't it?)

Now time to relax and catch up on some sleep. I have over 12,000 lights that aren't going to hang themselves!


-Austen