Monthly Archives: July 2013
Fun, USA
It’s summer, which means one thing: when are we going to Disney World and Universal Studios!?
My childhood experiences of flying down to Orlando, Florida for a family vacation or national sports competitions are memories I will cherish forever. Disney World and Universal Studios are truly magical places. From Mickey Mouse to Goofy to Cinderella and her iconic castle to “The Haunted Mansion” to “Space Mountain” to “ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter” to “Jurassic Park” to “The Incredible Hulk” (thank Mom) to “The Terminator” to “Jaws” to “Twister” to “ET” to “King King” to “It’s a Small World” to “Nickelodeon” to “Splash Mountain” to “Big Thunder Mountain” to “Peter Pan” to “Harry Potter” to “Back to the Future” to countless other rides and characteristics, theme parks in and around Orlando, Florida are unequivocally some of the best attractions in the world.
The atmospheres are unparalleled and are overwhelmingly amazing whether walking, running, eating, shopping, standing and sleeping. Simply the best.
Imaginations are deliberately intended to run wild and the smiles on the faces of the children and the adults prove the magic is captured inside everyone. As Martha Stewart would say, “It’s a good thing!”
Yes, it’s hot and the lines are long. However, it’s all part of the unforgettable experience and the notion that we’re all enjoying this together with our family, friends and joyous people from all across the country and the world.
While my schedule and monetary resources have restricted my chances of going to these amazing theme parks this summer, I do hope to make a glorious return soon.
I just love the omnipresent inspiration for a kid to be a kid and for adults to once again act like kids.
Visiting these theme parks like Disney World/Disney Land and Universal Studios (plus Islands of Adventure) provides us all with one of those rare moments in life when parents and children see the pure wonderment of the world through the same lens.
It’s okay to get older, just as long as you stay young at heart.
In certain circumstances though, it may require a $20 wager.
The Two Scariest Words: Dun-Dun
Since I missed the world premiere of, “Sharknado,” tonight’s encore viewing at 7:00 p.m. on the SyFy Channel will give me the opportunity do a full body dip into a world where sharks are swept up into a giant tornado and subsequently scattered throughout the terrified city of Los Angeles.
“Sharknado!”
Few things on this planet can paralyze people like a shark. Actually, few things on this planet can paralyze like the idea of a shark. Pause for a moment and reflect on that sentence…We do not need to visibly see or definitively know a shark is nearby to be struck with fear and for our heart’s to pound right through our bodies. We can all thank the brilliant Steven Spielberg for this.
Oceans are magnificent, full of everlasting mystery and intrigue. Anyone who has swam in the ocean along a coast or at a resort can attest that it’s a refreshing feeling. Most of us do not live by the ocean, so it’s an adventurous luxury. Still, how many of us venture farther than where we can touch our toes to the bottom?
It was about six years ago when my family and I went on vacation to Hawaii. The laid-back state in the middle of the Pacific Ocean is stunningly beautiful with exotic treats and gorgeous women at every turn…Anyways, my sister and I were coaxed into swimming about a quarter-mile into the Ocean by our Dad. Let me put it this way: there was zero chance of our feet touching the bottom.
And why did we explore well beyond the sandy beach? Because our Dad had heard that were whales nearby and he wanted to swim out to try to see them in all their massive glory. It as a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Admittedly, whales were the last thing I was thinking about as we paced further and further from the beach. There was one thing on repeat the entire time in my head and it went like this…
During every single stroke of this watery trek, I was trying my best not to imagine all the creatures that lived in the ocean. I did my absolute best to rationalize that we weren’t really far enough from the beach to see a dorsal fin with a pointed top. I took as many deep breaths as any human being could to remain calm and not panic as I’m swimming with nothing but open water below my gliding body.
And then…
We saw something on the horizon break the ocean’s glassy surface. Looking more closely, it was a gigantic whale and we saw it slowly rise and fall back into the depths of the ocean. It was a majestic sight.
After basking in the glorious event, I quickly coaxed my sister and Dad to turn around and swim back (slowly and calmly) to the beach resort.
More than a decade ago, my family and I were on vacation down-under in Australia. Talk about an amazing country. One night in Darwin, we ate dinner at a wonderful restaurant at the end of a pier, which was about ten feet above the ocean. The food was delicious.
As we were walking back across the pier, my Mom told me to, cautiously, look down. A safe distance from the edge, I gently leaned over and saw the splash she was referring to. Puzzled, I asked her if it was just waves crashing? Why did she want me to see that?
She replied it wasn’t and told me to look more intently. I did and noticed something peering out of the water…it was a dorsal fin of a Great White Shark! Absolutely insane!
Initially, it startled me. Just a second or two later though, I was fascinated and completely in awe.
It’s somewhat mind-boggling how it’s the very idea of a shark, not necessarily the sight of one, that can strike a paralyzing fear and cause out-of-body heart pounding. This dynamic perfectly lends itself to being a superb psychiatric study.
Was there a big shark swimming relatively close to us during our oceanic adventure to see the whale in Hawaii? I have no doubt. And I didn’t have to see a fin for it to scare the hell out of me!
Fool’s Gold
The United States Men’s National Team (USMNT) defeated Costa Rica last night 1-nil on a counter-attack goal courtesy of Brek Shea in the 83rd minute that started with a beautiful over-the-top service from Landon Donovan and concluded with a decent enough finish to rattle the net. With the result, the United States won their group in the Gold Cup. They will face El Salvador next in one of the quarterfinal match-ups this Sunday.
A good result with a good goal sequence. One certainty for the USMNT is that Landon Donovan knows how to counter-attack, when he doesn’t disappear for fifteen or so minutes every once in a while during the most important games…
But was the result really good enough?
The question during the Gold Cup and the World Cup qualifying in the CONCACAF group is not whether or not the USMNT wins games, but it’s how they win and play. Do they have a reliably dynamic style that meets world-class standards? Let’s be candid: CONCACAF is not overly difficult and wins should consistently be achieved on the road and should definitely be achieved at home. During the home matches, there should be an abundance of spectacular goals and stellar performances from the goalkeeper up to the forwards. At this point, these games should not require a counter-attack goal after the 80th minute to secure a narrow victory at home. At this point, the USMNT should be running circles around the Gold Cup and CONCACAF competition with consistent 3-0-like victories.
Have the recent results really been good enough?
The teams from the Gold Cup and CONCACAF represent the weakest competition they will potentially face in the World Cup in Brazil in 2014. Does the team that struggles to defeat Costa Rica at home and other similar competition have the roster, style, toughness, talent, strategy, resilience and intelligence to defeat or compete with Spain? Brazil? Germany (their first team)? The Dutch? Portugal? England? Argentina? Belgium? Uruguay? Ghana?
Frustratingly, each time the USMNT roster is announced, there is a steadily uneasy feeling that half of the selected players should not even be there…especially one year out from the World Cup.
However, don’t paint me as a pessimist. I am an eternal believer in the “glass is half-full” mentality. I have long said Jürgen Klinsmann has the intelligence and insight to coach a USMNT that wins a World Cup. But, sadly, that team has not come very close to being organized on the field during his tenure thus far. Amazing things can happen in games that are predicted otherwise. Unlikely players show up and can change a game in an instant. Upsets happen and the USMNT has pulled off a few magical ones. They undoubtedly have the potential.
Yet, I am also a realist and am cognizant of the talent level of the aforementioned teams. There is a distinct difference between qualifying and playing in a World Cup and qualifying and competing for a World Cup.
It’s less than a year from the 2014 World Cup in Brazil and it needs to said that 90 minutes is a long time, especially when you’re having to chase a ball while simultaneously climbing a mountain of goals against.
P.S. The U.S. v. Mexico game at Crew Stadium in Columbus, Ohio on September 10th will once again be epic! Importantly, it will reveal the talent and overall readiness of the USMNT going forward…
Defining Bruce
Because of the nature of life, each of us faces an infinite number of choices and makes a finite number of decisions in our lifetimes. Just as it’s fascinating to study history on a decade-by-decade basis, the same goes for ourselves when reflecting on the person we are at various ages. For some of us, there is dramatic change and, for others, not so much. Our lives are impacted by controlled settings, while also being influenced by variable happenstance.
Relative to our own lives, with every passing minute, we make cognizant and subconscious choices about the person we want our peers to see, both familiar and unfamiliar. Do we appear to be nice? Are we seen as attractive? Do I look intelligent? Are we the same great kid we used to be? These are just a few sample questions we may ask ourselves before venturing out into the public. For most of the people we encounter, they have never met us and, therefore, don’t know who we really are. The window of opportunity is small, but the right impression can make a lasting impression. Some of us put more thought and consideration into whether or not our aura is appropriately glowing (thank you Topanga!).
Understanding what we want on a random Friday night, or in life, can be easy. Or, it can be difficult and spark deep, introspective reflections. The answers can be clear one moment and cloudy the next.
Coming to the right conclusions requires a continuous education of ourselves and of the world that surrounds us, both in relative peace and chaos.
Expect the unexpected and remember the key is being able to recognize when it’s time to swim and when it’s time to act, whatever that means.
(Please turn the volume up)
Jimmy's Daily Planet 