Into every life a little rain must fall.
Hi there. Zurg here Evil Emperor and joedisney wannabe.
To refresh, our cast includes Zurgswife, Kelley 10, a pair of Buzzes 7 and 8 and
Her Royal Majesty Delaney, Snow White, Cinderella, Jessie, Maleficent (DSWCJM)
3.
An Evil Emperor's Home away from Home is his Castle. In the close of Act I our
troop arrived at Boardwalk. This Castle literally glows as the sun breaks
through gathering morning clouds. It shines even more brightly
in the hearts of our cast as it puts the gloom of the night out at Days Inn
behind them forever.
We have returned to the regal scene of last night's royal ball. The knights of
bell services whisk us to our accommodations. We unpack reveling in vast space
of our DVC suite. Zurgswife turns on the weather in the master bedroom as we
unpack. Unpacking doesn't take long as we pack fairly light and make extensive
use of the in suite washer/dryer. I put the Grateful Dead's American Beauty
on our CD player. The kids sing along with the first song:
Look out of any window, any
morning, any evening, any day.
Maybe the sun is shining, birds are singing,
No rain is falling from a heavy sky.
What do you want me to do, to do for you to see you through?
For this is all a dream we dreamed one afternoon, long ago
The Weather Channel is reporting live on the latest storm of the century
bearing down on Philadelphia. Also it may rain in Orlando.
Once again I digress, those of you who do not live near Philadelphia may suffer
from the delusion that weather forecasting in the area is a function of
meteorology, a word that hear means scientific study of the interaction of
environmental factors and atmospheric conditions. Wrong!
As an Evil Emperor, and life long resident, I know Phily weather forecasts are a
function of the more sinister interaction of economic factors, broadcast
conditions, particularly stations' ratings, and the inventories of perishable
foods in the grocery stores that are buying ad time.
For example, in a non-sweep week in February, when few grocery ads were running
on the news, the city was shut down by a snowstorm that was apparently un-forecastable
even though it did show up on radar clear as a bell.
However now factors included; sweeps, the chance that the long suffering number
two station in town may bump #1 for the first time since 1978, and lots of ads
for grocery stores. The conditions were perfect for a weather panic. The heroic
staff at station #2 had been interrupting regular shows for three days before we
left to let everyone know the sky was falling. It was nice to see the national
coverage pick up the panic too.
Needles to say not a flake stuck to the ground in Philly. But #2 took first
place for the first time in two and a half decades and I am sure milk sold well.
Also it may rain in Orlando.
'It never does,' I say to myself. We have been bringing the same magical orange
Kmart plastic rain ponchos to Orlando for years. I think this may be the 3rd or
4th trip for them still in the original packaging. They are magic because if we
pack them it does not rain.
Checked in, unpacked and on the walkway to MGM before 10 am. Life is good!
The walkway is great. Pleasant and faster than the boats even if you walk to the
Swan and get on the MGM Friendship there. Kelley and I enjoy the look of the sky
against the Tower of Terror. The gathering clouds add to the theme. I take a
few digital photos but don't capture the great lightening effect.
We enter MGM. Younger Buzz, Kelley and I take in Doug Live. As we watch the
younger Buzz is changing, he now sees himself as Quail Kid. This will become an
obsession. And unknown to Zurg he and his Mom are plotting other changes too.
The sky opens up just as we get Rock n Rollercoaster fastpasses. The Kmart
ponchos finally see the light (or wet) of day. Their orange stands out in a sea
of yellow. Undaunted, we do Mermaid, Bear in the Blue House, Muppets, Rock 'n
Roll and Muppets. The rain effect at opening of Mermaid gets a big laugh.
Into every life a little rain must fall. But we are in MGM at Disney World so I'm
singing in the rain:
Just a box of rain, wind and water,
Believe it if you need in, if you don't just pass it on.
Sun and shower, wind and rain,
In and out the window like a moth before a flame.
Next: ACT III Who's the Blond?
