Treasures of the Walt Disney Archives

I'm back in Chicago on business, but after setting up the booth, I had some free time. So of course I decided to head out to the Museum of Science and Industry to see the Treasures of the Walt Disney Archives exhibit.

Now, I've seen this twice before: a smaller version a few years ago at D23, and then at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Library. However, there were a few pieces in this collection that I hadn't seen before.

I'm posting a few pictures now, but will find a way, and time, to post all of them.

For more details about the exhibit, as well as purchasing tickets, click here.

It's Official Over

After 20 years, it's officially over. We knew the day was coming. Part of me is sad, and at the same time, part of me is glad.

The Walt Disney Classics Collection had a fantastic run, but yesterday, Precious Moments made the announcement that the line is officially being retired. It's hard to imagine that I, along with many other friends, will no longer be able to add to our collections.

Sure, I should be happy with the hundreds (Yes, hundreds) of boxes and pieces I have, but it's been more than just collecting. It's been about the life-long friendships I made along the way. It's about the fond memories of all the conventions I attended. It's about searching for and finding that Holy Grail. For over 20 years, it's been my life.

While that's the sad part, the glad part is that they made the right decision to retire the Collection on a high note and with dignity. Some of the crap (Sorry about the non-Disney word) that they were trying to showcase under the WDCC Brand was beyond sad, and quite frankly, crappy.

So this post is dedicated to all the great Disney friends I've continued to make over the years, and especially to Don, who is so diligent by keeping a website and a blog dedicated to keeping collectors informed about the line as well as being a liaison and spokesperson back to Disney about what collectors wanted to see. 

Life will go on, but each time I look at my WDCC pieces, I will continue fun times and great friends.


To read more about the announcement and to post your favorite memories, visit the Duckman's Blog. See more about my collection at My Circle of Life.

Time for a New iPhone Case

 

I just noticed that my current iPhone case was cracked. Speaking of cracked, here's my new case. It's new but obviously it has a crack(pot) on it already.


Click here to see Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

49er

Well, today starts the last year of my forties. Since I'm bad at math, I already had been telling people I was 49. Not the brightest bulb on the tree to make yourself older instead of younger, but oh well. Age is relative.

Because I haven't had a birthday since last year, I was unaware that Google updates their Doodle on your birthday. So I had a nice little surprise this morning. See for yourself. Click on the picture below.

Happy Halloween!

I'm sure my family and friends will tell you they agree.

Coming Soon (Hopefully!): More Disney Infinity Power Disc

The past two days I finally played the Toy Box edition in Disney Infinity. All I can say (again) is WOW! There are some fun games in the Toy Box.

Without getting totally into, there's one feature I wanted to share because apparently no one has is the Hall of Heroes. Whenever your Disney Infinity figure earns medals in games, or you use any of the power discs, they become part of the Hall of Heroes.

The more you do in the Play Sets, as well as games in the Toy Box, the more your Hall of Heroes builds up.

When you put your discs in, they become part of the floor decoration in the Hall. Not only have I seen all the power discs that are currently out, but you can see others that must be coming in the future!

There were a few we've already seen in promotions, but I can't believe the Disney Infinity community has talked about these! Here are two that have me totally excited and hoping we may see a Fantasia Play Set!

There's one that my friend, Don, might be interested in seeing. Could this be the piece that gets him hooked? (Probably not!)

I also played the limited edition Crystal Lightning McQueen for the first time. I haven't really seen any pictures of the character on screen, so I'm posting a couple pictures of him. They are fuzzy because the character wouldn't stay in a front view and kept spinning around. But this gives you an idea of what the Crystal versions will look like. They have the same adventures as their 'regular' counterparts.

What you see in the background is the Castle background, but with both the Rapunzel/Tangled power discs. I really like the Alice in Wonderland discs!

Second Chance at Second Harvest Heartland Food Shelf

On Thursday, August 8, 2013, several coworkers and I volunteered for a 3-hour shift at the Second Harvest Heartland Food Shelf for our annual employee event. The afternoon consisted of sorting and re-packing food collected from food drives and donations; re-packaging bulk food such as pasta and cereal; and sorting bags of potatoes into consumer size packages for those in need.

I can't remember all the stats, but I do remember them saying one person in ten goes hungry in Minnesota and western Wisconsin. And to think how much I eat, how much we as a country/state/community waste food. They can make a dollar stretch, and with so many causes looking for money, this is one that really can help out a lot of people.

We had about 30 people from our office, but there were two other companies volunteering. Most of us went into the 'clean room', where we donned our lunch lady hairnets and surgical gloves. We started bagging pasta, moved on to bag granola cereal, and finished with bagging rice. Some of our group as well as the other companies bagged potatoes.

In our three hours of work, we roughly filled over 400 pounds of pasta, 500 pounds of cereal, and 800 pounds of rice. I think the potatoes were in the thousand-pound range. In all, we did enough work that would provide over 8,000 meals to families of four.

As a company, we bonded, and I got to learn a bit more about some of my coworkers. It was a great team building event and while we had fun, this activity serves a greater good.

I would do this again in a heartbeat and I highly recommend it to companies, groups of friends, or if you feel like you want to 'pay it forward'.

Pictures say thousands of words. Just look at all these happy volunteers. 
It says it all.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/2harvest/collections/72157631635829239/

Of course, in our group of bean counters, there are some who don't know how to smile. And look at how some awkwardly pose for pictures. That's never the case for yours truly!
(Click on the picture to view all those happy faces!)

But they say there's one in every crowd. Our office actually has two. Thank goodness for Greg!

Second Harvest and the families who receive assistance from the volunteers are very grateful for the help and the donations. Find a local food shelf today to support your community.