DreamTeam Auction 2008: Quilt Progress #2

Well, my wife has been really busy with life and such and asked me to blog another teaser post of her fantastic quilt that she is making for Lou Mongello's Dream Team Auction that takes place at Magic Meets 2008.

So, with no further ado, I present to you.......

The Mickey Mouse Dream Team Auction Quilt!!!

If you cannot find the Mickey Mouse motif running throughout this quilt, you will need to get an appointment with your eye doctor....LOL

All that she has left is to do the quilting and put on the binding (which will be black).

As you can tell, the highlight and centerpiece of this quilt is a giant applique side-profile Mickey which takes up the equivalent of 4 quilt blocks.  The quilt is designed with a color palette to compliment the Mickey Mouse colors (red, black and yellow).

The final product will hold some quilting details that I hope (and expect) will draw people to the auction table to take a closer look since no photograph will be able to give it due justice. 

I'm sure this sucker will be like a giant flashing beacon drawing people over to the Dream Team Auction table at Magic Meets where they can check it out along with the other fabulous items up for bid (some of which are rare not-easily-found collectibles).

Please don't drool too much. 

Nancy's quilts are very nice to look at and she feels that this could very well hang on the wall of whoever puts in the winning bid.  But her quilts also make great functional pieces as well. 

We actually sleep under a Mickey quilt that she made a few years back.  Since I'm sensitive to synthetic materials, she tries to make the quilts with as much 100% cotton as she can. 

That holds true for this quilt as well.  So it will have a cotton batting for the core which translates to some weight to the deceptively thin blanket.

I'm sure Tim Devine can tell you just how heavy the quilt is since my wife made his son, Billy, a crib-sized quilt.  This one is quite a bit bigger and should fit onto a twin bed nicely or make a great cuddle blanket on the couch when you are watching your favorite Disney movie.

So, don't forget to bring your checkbooks cash or credit cards (Disney Visa perhaps!) [edit note:  Pat Whitson just informed me that the following accepted forms of payment are:  Cash, PayPal or Credit Cards via Firstgiving.com (they now take Visa, MC, Amex & Discover)].  There are many wonderful items up for auction this year.  Some are collectibles, some are fun, some are functional.  Wouldn't you love to come home from Magic Meets with an item that can possibly be passed down to family members who share your passion for the Mouse :)

I apologize for the quality of the picture, I was experimenting taking the picture using natural light so the lovely Enchanted Rose (aka Nancy) is holding it up on our back patio.  Since she stands at 5'6", you should get an idea how big this quilt is.

If you click on the photo, it'll take you to a larger version.

EDITED TO ADD:

Pat Whitson, DWT Dream Team Auction Coordinator, has blogged about this entry on the blog she maintains on the DisneyworldTrivia.com website about this fabulous auction.  Check it out:

Hand Crafted with Love: Nancy's Quilt

Technorati Tags: Dream Team Auction, Quilting, Magic Meets

Grumptastic Distractions: News from the Parks

My sister-in-law Julie just called me on her way home from Disneyland to inform me there is some new Indiana Jones-based fun in Adventureland.

Apparently, where Jasmine used to be near the Jungle Cruise and the Indiana Jones Adventure is a new "Meet the Son of Indiana Jones" stunt show (spoiler perhaps)????

She told me that she'll be e-mailing me some pics when she gets home....stay tuned

Technorati Tags: Disneyland, Adventureland, Indiana Jones

Grumptastic Links: Announcing TMIP ver 2.0

It isn't uncommon for me to dispense with the accolades of my Jedi Master, Tim Devine, and his works seen over at The Magic in Pixels.  But, this time, I get the proud opportunity to announce something that I played a big part in helping make happen.

Over the past few months, Tim and I have been arduously and painstakingly working on a new and improved The Magic in Pixels site.

This has involved finding a new host, a new platform for the content and Tim painfully rebuilding his photo gallery with new pictures and layout.

In addition to the content overhaul, Tim and I have implemented a brand-new store package.  This, in our opinion, is much more user-friendly than the former store and hope people will take the time to check it out as well.

The thing that makes us excited about the new site, is that the main content is managed through a Content Management System (CMS) rather than the code-in-notepad HTML method Tim was having to deal with before.

Now, with the same ease of my writing this blog post, a new article, review, or Photography tip up can be posted up to the site.

The forums have stayed the same and were moved to the new host as well.

Since rolling out the new site, Tim has managed to produce a couple new articles and we even got a submission from one of our very loyal members.

So, if you've never been to The Magic In Pixels, now is the perfect time to check it out.  If you have been there before and have become the prodigal child, please come back.  We don't bite, I promise. 

Officially, we are declaring this a "Soft Opening" (yeah we used Disney-speak).  So, bugs, quirks, oddities could happen, but aren't expected, as it gets it's first exposure to a normal load of visitors.

In honor of this "Soft Opening", Tim has decided to offer a 20% discount on your entire purchase in his store.  Just use the coupon code:  "SOFTOPEN" (no quotes).  This coupon can be used repeatedly until the promotional period ends.

As I've said on the TMIP forums, The Magic in Pixels may be populated by Disney Photography Enthusiasts, but it's is still a photography site at it's core foundation.  So, if there is anything you want to see discussed or written about, feel free to let us know.  It doesn't have to be a Disney photography related topic to get coverage.

This was a fun and exciting project for me to be involved with because I learned a lot in the process.  Have fun.

Technorati Tags: Tim Devine, The Magic in Pixels, Grumptastic Links

A Little Disneyland Cast Member Magic

Well, I don't really read a lot about outstanding things Cast Members do at Disneyland.  That may be because a preponderance of the Disney-themed blogs are focused on the East Coast Park

But, Enchanted Rose just called me to relay a story that her sister, Julie, told her over the phone.

My niece, Regan, is about to celebrate a Birthday in a few days, so Julie had decided to take her and a few of her friends to Disneyland for a day of fun.

Well, her brother Collin, was having a runny nose day and his school sent him home.  So, despite the original plans, Collin was brought along.

As often happens when Julie goes to Disneyland with Collin, his autism or various other symptoms of his disease causes him to not be comfortable.  This results in them having to pack up and go home.

Well, it happened this day after only being at the park for about an hour and a half. 

As they loaded back up on the tram to go to the parking structure, the tram driver recognized them from shuttling them to Downtown Disney earlier.

He asked why they were going back so soon (it was about noon) and Julie explained the whole story.  The Tram driver also noticed Regan's b-day pin.

At this point, he felt the urge to sing "Happy Birthday" to Regan over the PA System on the tram.  This one little act of kindness made her entire day. 

As many have said, it doesn't take much from a Cast Member to turn a bad day into a good one.

I'm glad that tram driver was there.....

Technorati Tags: Disneyland

The Grump's Opinion: Small World Big Controversy

For nothing is fixed, forever and forever and forever, it is not fixed; the earth is always shifting, the light is always changing, the sea does not cease to grind down rock. Generations do not cease to be born, and we are responsible to them because we are the only witnesses they have. The sea rises, the light fails, lovers cling to each other, and children cling to us. The moment we cease to hold each other, the sea engulfs us and the light goes out.

-- James Baldwin

Did you think that a controversy such as the changes to Disneyland's It's a Small World could pass without hearing my 2 cents?

Once I saw that Jeff Pepper dared to touch this rather sensitive subject, I felt it was ok to state my opinion.

I believe that all sides of this argument have valid points.  I don't believe anyone is wrong on either side of the fence because it's not right to say that someone is wrong when it comes to how they FEEL about a subject.  By doing so, all you are doing is telling them that their feelings are wrong.

But, when it comes to how I feel about the subject.  And since this is my blog and my post, it is all about my feelings, right?

When I'm 100 years old and getting ready to breathe my last breath and I'm thinking back to my many, many laps on that little river that carries us through It's a Small World, I'm not going to be thinking longly about the way the attraction looked when it was unveiled in the 1960's.  I'm also not going to be bemoaning any changes that I felt were not to my liking.

What I'm going to remember is the look on the children's faces that I had seen over the years. 

For those who don't know me, my wife and I don't have any children.  But, I have had the privilege of logging some serious time on this great attraction with my niece, Regan, and nephew, Collin, and Billy Devine (son of Tim Devine).

I have also observed countless children of total strangers.

To the average adult, this ride is many things:

• An attraction with a song that dig into your soul like a parasite
• A piece of moving art
• A grand socio-political statement on world unity

But, to a child it's just absolute wonder.

I do believe many of the children will notice that something is different about the attraction when it opens back up.  Many of those same children will also be able to point out those changes. 

But, the only change that I believe will really upset them is one that causes the closing the doors of this venerable attraction.

I can say with 100% assurance that right now with the attraction down for refurbishment, my nephew Collin, who suffers from pretty severe Autism (among many other things), is suffering far more with his inability to get onto his favorite attraction than if the ride was changed to include a few Disney Characters or to include a tribute to America in lieu of the Rainforest Scene.

So my opinion about this controversy can be summarized with a picture

Technorati Tags: Grump's Opinion, It's a Small World

Grumptastic Links: New and Improved

John Frost, owner of The Disney Blog and all around nice guy, has been very kind to link to my posts on several occasions in the past within is Daily Roundup posts.

To repay the favor I have decided to do a quick post to point you his site.  I know many, many of you already read his blog, but you, like myself, may do so via RSS feeds.

That means you are probably totally unaware that he has dumped TypePad and switched to a WordPress blog.  So head on over and see the new & improved blog.

As his blog header now reads, "Keep moving forward" and that is what he seems to be doing with his site.

Love the new look John!

[Editor's Note:  For those keeping track......Yes, that's two posts in one day....haha]

Technorati Tags: Grumptastic Links, The Disney Blog

Grumptastic Links: Now for Something Completely Different

Well, I intended to blog this link to my sister-in-law's blog about her little family because she had a great time with a out-of-the-blue request to go to lunch at Downtown Disney at Disneyland with her mother and her mother's husband (my mother-in-law).

So, if yo want to check out a great post about someone who got a really last minute day trip to Disneyland from the eyes of a local, check out this post.  It's also nice because a good majority of the day was a day of fun and pampering to my niece, Regan, who often happily takes the back-seat to her very sick brother, Collin.  I felt it important to blog this so Regan can get some much deserved attention because she's as much of a Disney fan as your bother:

I love unexpected fun days!

Now for the part of the post that warranted my Monty Python reference.

We all know that Lou Mongello's Dream Team Squad's purpose in life is to try and raise mucho dinero that ultimately goes into the coffers of The Make-A-Wish Foundation in order to send extremely sick kids and their families to Disney.

Well, I don't know if all of you may know but Make-A-Wish does more than just send kids to the Happiest Place on Earth.

I have blogged many times about my nephew Collin who suffers from a very rare and very debilitating genetic disorder.  He already received a gift from Make-A-Wish several years ago, but as my sister-in-law's post indicates that once you are welcomed into the Make-A-Wish family, the gifts keep coming.

Well, Collin and guests got invited to go watch the opening game of the LA Galaxy (you know the soccer team the lured David Beckham to the United States).

Check out the blog post and see what other once-in-a-lifetime events Make-A-Wish does with our donation dollars:

We LOVE LA Galaxy and Make A Wish!!!

I know there is plenty of altruistic motivations to help Pat and her team with the Dream Team Auction at MagicMeets, but I thought I would provide another great perspective of this great organization.

Technorati Tags: Grumptastic Links, Make-A-Wish, Dream Team Auction