

Thank you @pwn20wnd and @sbingner for unc0ver 5.0!
I was once an annual passholder to Disneyland. Before that, my family made regular visits. From the stroller to my own legs, Disneyland is present in a large proportion of my memories and memorabilia. It has changed and yet it has stayed the same. Here are some of the things i noticed on my last visit.
I started in California Adventure alone. Out of habit, i started early, i was meeting friends later. It turns out that being alone has its advantages. The single rider program is an awesome way to zip through many of the lines. In truth, Disneyland has made many innovations to waiting in line since the original FastPass.
California Adventure’s changes went mostly unnoticed by me. I am less familiar with the park and as a much newer park there is less to remove. I did noticed the Pixar rebranding and enjoyed some of the additions to the coaster. The new lighting elements were very impressive. The World of Color show was something I’d never seen. I remember watching the building of it, but my pass expired before the debut and life distracted me for a while. That was going to change.
it was in California Adventure where i saw some of the famous Disneyland cats. that was exciting. (helps to show up early). Disney was celebrating the Chinese year of the mouse. Funny, I’ve always heard it referred to as the year of the rat, but that doesn’t match up with branding.






So much energy and excitement. Every time i turned around, the crowd was bigger! Great music and amazing speakers. I met so many incredible people.

So I did not “complete” my hat until very late Friday when i finally got it to announce its link status on its new set of 14 segment displays. It performed admirably all weekend. Thanks to Paul for safely transporting it to and from Vegas. I must also thank Stephen for his late night help on Wednesday. (tacos are not enough) Without his amazing soldering, i’d still be trying to figure out what i had done wrong. Here are some pictures from that night and the con to follow. . .











It was an incredible surprise visit to Comic Con! Exhausting and exhilarating! I finally made it to a Simpsons panel thanks to a very special fan of my own who provided me with a most coveted invite. I saw some incredible costumes, amazing artwork, and talented performers. I bought too many t-shirts and not enough comics and artwork. I went to an awesome panel on building communities in Sci-Fi and it turned into just an insightful talk on all manner of writing topics by some incredible writers (only some of which i have already read). Let’s just say that i have a pile of new books to read now. Until next year!




Finally done with the work part, i am able to explore the con. panels, shopping, and incredible costumes, oh my!
It has changed so much that it was basically an entirely new experience for me. I was learning stuff around every corner and walking miles to see so many incredible animals.




Continue reading “First visit to San Diego Zoo Safari Park in decades!”
Incredibly, we were provided with a seemingly endless supply of White Castle Burgers. These delicious tiny devils were a delight. I ate too many. #noregrets

Amazing art was on display prominently featuring Stan. The honors kept coming. The army provided a color guard with taps. Celebrity panels and pre-recorded messages from people across the spectrum of entertainment media. Even the mayor of Los Angeles presented POW Entertainment with a specially produced key to the city. The documentary and other videos offered incredible insight into the history of Stan and his many many creative endeavors. I probably watched 45 minutes of Stan Lee cameos. In fact, I am grateful that I had watched Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse before coming to this event. I teared up during Stan’s particularly moving cameo. I doubt it would have had the same impact seen out of context. I met many incredible people. From fans to speakers and even the event staff were all comic (or comic based movie) lovers. This was an experience I will never forget.
The offering I brought was nearly 100 lbs of technology from my childhood. I met some amazing staff and volunteers (they even archive their employees). Even visited the blinking lights of their servers. They archive even more then I knew. More then web, old software and films, they even archive music and have an impressive collection (i found several rare or out of print artists and albums in their archive).