Come tomorrow, Santa won’t be the only fat man flying through the skies.
Yep, just like Mr. Claus, I’ll be spending most of December 24th high up in the air. Only I won’t be riding in an open sleigh. I’ll be soaring (in some comfort, one would hope) in an enclosed airplane. Where — after over 12 hours of flying — I’ll finally land in Honolulu.
Once there, I’ll only be spending 28 hours on ground in Hawaii. Which is just enough time to share a little Christmas with my ex-wife, Shelly Smith, as well as collect our 11-year-old daughter, Alice. Then the two of us get on another plane and reverse directions. Just so that my daughter can then experience what the holidays are like back here in New England.
Sooo … Given that I’m going to be on Divorced Daddy Duty ’til January 7th, the pickings here at JHM are going to be a little slim for the next week or so. Just so you know.
Speaking of the holidays … I wanted to toss out a very belated “Thank You” to everyone who came out to the Doubletree Guest Suites Hotel back on December 3rd to take part in the first-ever JHM Christmas Party. As you can see, Scott Liljenquist of Mouseketrips.com laid out a truly excellent spread …
Photo by Stephen Solovitz
… in the Buena Vista Room. While Jim Korkis and I traded off telling stories about the Walt Disney Company. Truth be told, though, I mostly served as that evening’s MC. Handing out door prizes (Like this great copy of the Golden Anniversary of “Mouse Tales,” which was oh-so-generously donated to this event by the book’s author, David Koenig. And then eventually won by the man pictured here, Jack Pattillo)
Photo by Stephen Solovitz
… while it was Mr. Korkis who did most of the heavy lifting that night. Telling great story after story about Walt, the holidays and the history of the Disney corporation …
“Disneyland Detective” author Kendra Trahan, Disney historian
Jim Korkis and original Tinker Bell model Margaret Kerry (l to r)
smile for the camera at the first JHM Christmas Party
(Photo by Stephan Solovitz)
All in all, people seemed to have a really great time at the JHM Christmas Party. I mean, I assume so. Given that Kendra Trahan — the new president of the N.F.F.C. — has already invited Jim & I to do a similar presentation at that group’s next convention. Plus the first question I got from virtually everyone who actually attended the party was “You’re going to do this again next year, right?”
Mind you, the other question I got from everyone attending the JHM Christmas Party was “What’s going on with your Unauthorized Disneyland History CD?” Well, due to some unforeseen production problems, that project is now running behind schedule (Yeah. A project that’s associated with JimHillMedia which is running behind schedule. Like that’s a real shock … Anyway …) The plan now is that these disc will be shipped out in mid-February.
Beyond that … I also wanted to thank everyone who took part in the JHM reader poll that we ran here at the site toward the beginning of this month. Over 500 people took part in that on-line poll, offering up their opinions and suggestions about what we can do to improve this website. So — as 2006 rolls around — we’ll begin using that data to help fine-tune JimHillMedia.com. Bring you more of the sorts of stories & features that you’ve really been looking for.
Speaking of which … When we asked “What can we do to improve JHM?,” the No. 1 suggestion that we received was “Please bring back ‘Why For?’ ” Well, your wish is our command, folks. Starting in 2006, “Why For” will return as a regular weekly feature here at JimHillMedia.com.
Anywho … On behalf of the entire staff here at JHM, I want to wish you & yours a safe and happy holiday. I’ll be sure and drop you guy a line once I get back from Honolulu, alright?
Til then, you take care, okay?
Best Regards,
jrh