Hello Dear Readers! Soooo, who went to Mickey’s Halloween Party last Friday? Did you have fun? I have to say I had a great time, but the party was not without some disappointments.
It was way too crowded (did Disneyland oversell the tickets?) and I hated how all the treat stations were grouped together instead of scattered around as they were last year. Scattered seemed better as grouping made for some very congested walkways to navigate through if you weren’t seeking sugary treats.
I was also hoping the Headless Horseman would show up, since he’s featured on a lot of the Halloween merchandise and Disneyland raised the price of this year’s party tickets (making me think there might be the sound of a galloping horse at this year’s celebration), but alas, no Horseman for Disneyland. (That's Walt Disney World's Horseman, in a photo by Kevin Yee, at last year's events there.)
There was nothing much new, period (unless you count Miss Piggy in the parade). That was a bit of a let down, I’ll tell you. You’d think we’d get something new. And really, we need the Horseman! He’s shown up at a past Disneyland event, so I know he’s lurking about somewhere in the dark recesses backstage.
Oh well, the party’s still fun and if you don’t have an annual pass, it’s a dandy bargain for a one-day ticket to the happiest place on earth. |
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Enough of that, let’s get started with our list of today’s topics.
In the Not Too Far Away Future — Star Wars • In the Kind-of Far Away Future — A Day at Pixar • Farmers Market Celebrates • Touring the Chinese • Discovering How Green Was My Valley • Phoenix Is At It Again • The Haunting of Angelino Heights • Haunted Hollywood • Get Skeleton Craftiness
Our first item is one for the future, the Discovery Science Center; a few miles down the 5 freeway from Disneyland, will be hosting an exhibit that Star Wars fans are definitely going to want to see. Mark your calendar for November 18th, the opening day of Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination:
Imagine a world with humanoid robots translating languages, landspeeders whizzing down the highway, and X-wing Starfighters protecting the skies. Could these technologies, limited only to the fantasy worlds of Star Wars, actually become a reality?
Beginning Friday, November 18, Discovery Science Center will host an out-of-this-world exhibit, Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination, presented by Bose Corporation. The exhibit, featured in three viewing galleries, explores the futuristic technologies depicted in the Star Wars films, the real science behind them, and the research that may someday lead to real-life versions of the technologies seen in the films. The exhibit also features props and costumes from all six Star Wars films.
Tickets will go on sale to the general public on Wednesday, October 12th. The Discovery Science Center is located at 2500 North Main Street in Santa Ana. For more information about the exhibit, special events, online ticket sales and more, visit this link.
Next up is another planning ahead/mark your calendars event of note, the annual Cartoon Art Museum Benefit — Spend the Day at Pixar Animation Studios:
The Cartoon Art Museum, the only museum in the western United States dedicated to all forms of cartoons and comics, is delighted to host its eighth annual benefit, at Pixar Animation Studios on Saturday, December 10, 2011. This year, there are two new ways to experience the magic of Pixar up close and personal at the studio’s Emeryville home:
• The Fan Tier allows exclusive access to Pixar Animation Studios while helping to support the Cartoon Art Museum. Guests may tour the studio’s main gallery and view pre-production artwork from Cars 2. Tickets are $250 per person ($200 for members of the Cartoon Art Museum).
• The VIP Tier, in addition to all of the benefits of the Fan Tier, will also be escorted to Brooklyn, Pixar’s new facility, for a late afternoon tour and a screening of the studio’s latest animated short La Luna with director Enrico Casarosa in the Presto Theater. The day will finish with a wine and dessert reception. Tickets are $500 per person ($450 for members of the Cartoon Art Museum).
Pixar Animation Studios is located at 1200 Park Avenue in Emeryville, CA. Free parking will be available on site. Tickets will not be sold at the door. For more information, visit this link.
Next up, another save the date, but this event is a little closer to today. The famous Farmers Market in Los Angeles has been around since the 1930s. I’ve been going there since I was a wee kiddy and I just love that place. It’s kitschy, it’s fabulous, and they have the greatest variety of food around. Some of my faves are Bob’s Coffee and Donuts, The French Crepe Company, the Normandie Bakery, and I love shopping at Mr. Marcel’s. Right next door to Farmers Market is The Grove. Why, it’s a veritable shopping paradise and it’s never more fun than it is during holiday times which brings us to our event, this month the Farmers Market will be hosting a fall festival:
Save the date for The Farmers Market Fall Festival 2011 — Saturday & Sunday, October 15 & 16 — In honor of the Fall harvest, the Farmers Market hosts a two day festival featuring live music, arts & crafts, face painting, and an entire street filled with barnyard fun including a Petting Zoo, Adventure Land activities for kids, a pumpkin patch, carnival games and more.
Fall Festival's world-famous pie-eating contests return along with Gerry the Scarecrow, the friendliest (and our most favorite) scarecrow around. Bring your cameras, Gerry the Scarecrow loves taking pics! Join us all weekend for great music and entertainment, delicious food and fun for the whole family! Fall Festival begins at 11am both days and takes place throughout the Market.
The Farmers Market is located at the corner of 3rd Street and Fairfax Avenue in Los Angeles, CA. For more information, visit this link.
I’ve lived in the LA area my whole life, but one thing I’ve never done, is see a movie at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre. Sure, I’ve been there like millions of other tourists & placed my feet in the star’s footprints at the entrance to the theatre, but I’ve never been inside. I need to fix that. Now, there’s extra incentive to visit the Chinese, a Hollywood memorabilia exhibit:
The famed Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, CA is holding a special exhibit of Hollywood memorabilia starting September 30th. The “Hollywood Legends Collection”, exhibit will feature almost 1,000 rare and well-known costumes and props from some of the most iconic films ever created. Highlights include:
- Judy Garland’s blue and white dress (above) she wore as Dorothy in “The Wizard of Oz“ (MGM 1939)
- Marilyn Monroe’s gold pleated dress used to promote “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes“(20th, 1953)
- Vivian Leigh’s‘ green drapery gown from “Gone with The Wind” (Selznick/MGM, 1939)
- Rita Hayworth’s black satin gown from “Gilda“ (Columbia, 1946)
- One of the pairs of tablets (5-6 were created) used in the Charlton Heston film, “The Ten Commandments” (Paramount, 1956)
- Elizabeth Taylor’s jewelry and headpieces from “Cleopatra” (20th, 1963)
The exhibit is open during normal theater hours and is free for movie ticket holders and included as part of the theater’s VIP Tour. The Chinese Theatre is located at 6925 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood CA. For more information, visit this link.
Pressing Matters’ reader Don alerted me to the next two items on our list and they both sound fabulous, thanks Don!
Malibu Creek State Park has been the site for many movies and this weekend, Park Ranger Mike will lead an exploration of the site that was used in the film, How Green Was My Valley:
On Saturday, October 8th, hike into movie history with National Park Service park ranger, Mike Malone, as he guides you to the location of the Welsh mining village from How Green Was My Valley (1941). When you’re done hiking, visit the Malibu Creek State Park Visitor Center for the historical film exhibit commemorating the 70th Anniversary of How Green Was My Valley, the film awarded the Oscar for Best Picture of 1941. The exhibit features posters, photographs, and set drawings of the Welsh village built in the park when the site was known as Brent’s Crag
The event takes place at 10:00 AM, October 8th at Malibu Creek State Park. There is a parking fee at Malibu Creek Park, here’s the link for directions to the park. For more information about the hike (which lasts approximately 1-1/2 hours), call 805-370-2301 or download the PDF of the NPS Autumn 2011 Outdoors brochure (event is listed on page 10) at this link.
Next up, everyone’s favorite host, the master of kitsch, creator of the cherpumple, and collector of vintage Disneyland tourist photos, Charles Phoenix ... he’s it again with Home Movie Day LA:
Home Movie Day is an annual celebration of amateur films and filmmaking at many local venues worldwide, providing an opportunity for individuals and families to see and share their own home movies with an audience in their community. It’s a chance to discover why it’s important to care about and how to care for these precious films. Bring your home movies to view with others – it’s fun and sometimes even historic. Drop off your home movies October 15th beginning at 11:00 AM. Formats supported, are: 8mm, Super-8, 9.5mm, 16mm, 28mm and VHS.
The event takes place from 12:00 Noon to 4:00 PM and is hosted by Charles Phoenix at the Academy Film Archive — Linwood Dunn Theater at 1313 Vine St. in Hollywood, CA on Saturday, October 15, 2011. Admission and parking are free. For more information, visit this link.
Let’s move on to Halloween-ish topics, shall we? Here are a couple of scavenger haunts, er, hunts I know you will materialize at::
3rd Annual Haunt of Angelino Heights - Are you familiar with the "evil of the thriller" house? Perhaps you prefer to be "charmed" by the ghosts of this Victorian neighborhood. Well, then, make plans to join Out of the Box Events and the Los Angeles Conservancy to explore the spirits, secrets, and legends of one of the oldest neighborhoods in LA. And ... bring a camera for this hunt, you never know what you will capture! A portion of the admission benefits the LA Conservancy. The Los Angeles Conservancy is a non-profit organization dedicated to the recognition, preservation, and revitalization of the architectural and cultural heritage of greater Los Angeles.
The event takes place on October 22nd and 23rd from 4:00 PM to 6:30 PM. Tickets are $30.00 per person (with up to 6 people per team), Each team needs a flashlight and a digital camera —starting location will be revealed upon registration. For more information, visit this link.
The Victorian neighborhood is not your thing? How about something much more sinister in Hollywood, then — join the 5th Annual Haunted Hollywood Hunt:
Did you know the Los Angeles is the #5 most haunted city in the US? Many tortured souls still haunt Hollywood Boulevard. Discover these ghosts as you participate in the Haunted Hollywood Scavenger Hunt. Team up to uncover the haunting secrets of Hollywood. The Hollywood Hunt stars the ghosts of the Roosevelt, the Knickerbocker Hotel, with many of the theaters and other secret locations revealed during the hunt. No prior ghost hunting knowledge is required to solve the challenging clues, but a flashlight is helpful. Costumes not required, though encouraged! Swap ghost stories and witches brew after the hunt, this haunted adventure ends at Hollywood’s own “te-kill-ya.” It’s up to you make it out alive…
The Haunted Hollywood Hunt takes place on October 8, 9, 15, 16, 22, 23, 28, 29, and 30th from 6:00 PM to 8:30 PM. It costs $25.00 per person (with up to 6 people per team). Bring one flashlight for your team. The starting location will be revealed upon registration. For more information, visit this link.
We’ll end today on a crafty note. I love art time, how about you; want to have Halloween fun with the kiddies? Or maybe you just want to be your own artsy self, forget the kiddies. I thought I’d share this skeleton tutorial I found.
It looks like fun, doesn’t seem too hard or complicated to make. The supplies are few and aren’t costly (you may already have them in your art stash), and the skeletons look just like the Dia de los Muertos skeletons in Disneyland’s Frontierland (what could be better?). So gather together a bit of wire, a blob of polymer clay, and fashion a few skeletons of your own. You’ll find the tutorial at this link.
Okay, we’re all through here for today. If you want to know what I’m up to, you need to follow Pressing Matters on Twitter. You never know what you’ll find there — food, museums, shopping, Disneyland, Halloween! Follow along as I search for the all the latest Pressing Matters & tweet about what I find:
I say goodbye until we meet again to discuss more... |
