Hi gang! Miss me?
My sincerest apologies for being off the air for so long here, kids. But first there was last week’s lightning fast trip down to Walt Disney World (and back) to get through. Which – sadly – didn’t leave a whole lot of time to visit with all of my favorite folks in Central Florida. (Sorry, Arlen. Sorry, Michelene. But the very next time that I’m in Orlando, I promise that we’ll all get together again.)
And then – just as soon as I got back home late last Tuesday night — there was all of this backstage drama going on at the site. What exactly was happening? Sorry, but I really don’t want to get into that here. Suffice it to say, that mess took another couple of days to clear up. The end result is that the JimHillMedia.com discussion boards will now (hopefully) be a much more pleasant place to visit. With fewer readers getting mugged just because they dare to express a less-than-popular opinion.
Why make any changes to the site? My ultimate goal for JimHillMedia.com is that the site becomes an inclusive, informative, fun spot to visit on the web. Not a place where you literally have to take your life in your hands if you want to post a message on our discussion boards.
Anyway … enough about all that back-of-the-house stuff … let’s get to the real news. Which is: What’s coming up at the site over the next couple of weeks.
First, I am pleased to announce that JimHillMedia.com is beginning an alliance with Patrick Hurd’s wonderful website, Doom Buggy Productions. Each week, we’re going to highlight one of the many great Disney related craft projects that Patrick currently has on file at his site. So – if you’ve ever wondered how to make “Chicken Six Feet Under” (a seasonal favorite at Disneyland’s French Market restaurant) and/or build your very own Haunted Mansion Holiday wreath – this is the place that you’ll want to be every Thursday from here on.
We’re also going to be starting a weekly book review here at JimHillMedia.com. (Which – particularly this time of year – should prove to be most helpful to those of you who are trying to find an appropriate gifts for all the hardcore Disney Dweebs on your holiday shopping list). We’ll be kicking that feature off next week with an in-depth piece about Alain Littaye and Didier Ghez’s excellent “Disneyland Paris: From Sketch to Reality.” In the weeks that follow, we’ll also be doing reviews of Brian Burnes, Robert W. Butler and Dan Viets’ surprisingly entertaining “Walt Disney’s Missouri” as well as Jeff Kurtti’s latest “making of ” book, “Treasure Planet: A Voyage of Discovery.”
FYI: These two new features will (hopefully) become a regular part of the Thursday morning line-up here at JimHillMedia.com. So drop by on Thanksgiving morning to scope out their debut. Which (hopefully) will be a real holiday treat for JHM readers.
Also … The people have spoken! Based on all those votes that you nice people sent in last week, the unfinished series that JimHillMedia.com readers would most like to see wrapped up ASAP is (Drum roll, please!) “Remembering Light Magic.” That “Light Magic” series wracked up a truly impressive number of votes (209, easily more than double the number of votes that its nearest competitor got – “When You Wish Upon a Frog,” which only pulled in 78 votes). Which is why I’ll get started with finishing up that series on Monday, December 2nd.
Just be aware that – due to a huge amount of new research material that’s come my way since I first started that “Light Magic” series back in the spring of this year – I will be starting that story over. Right from the very beginning.
Now there’s no need to groan, folks. You see, you won’t just be getting the same old tired text that you’ve already read once or twice before recycled yet again. You’ll actually be getting top-to-bottom rewrites of Chapters 1 – 4 of the series, featuring lots of stories that you’ve never ever heard before about Disneyland’s ill-fated streetacular.
I’ll also be folding tons of new material into the installments that follow. My ultimate goal is to have “Remembering Light Magic” (which – given the significant rewrite that I’ve currently got in the works for that project – that series should now end up being 10 – 12 chapters long) will either wrap up on Christmas Eve and/or Christmas Day. Which – given that Disney actually had tentative plans in the works for a special holiday edition of the streetacular (plans which will be revealed for the first time here in the closing installment of the series) – seems only fitting.
All that … plus a photo filled feature that covers Disney-MGM’s recent “Super Soap Weekend,” and Jeff Lange’s charming pictorial essay of the city that played a significant part in the creation of Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” (Fishkill, NY?). And – as a special early holiday treat – we’re going to take you guys down to NYC where you’ll get to see how the technicians inflate all those balloons for next week’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade.
Plus some great new business-related stories by Diz Biz (By the way, Chuck’s just started up his very own consulting website. Please go check it out www.dbitconsult.com) as well additional entertaining articles by Andrea Monti (AKA Mickeyfantasmic!, who also occasionally writes wonderful stories about the Disneyland Paris resort for www.dlp.info). And – if we’re lucky – JimHillMedia.com’s discussion board’s resident wit Roger Colton might chime in with a new tale or two.
Plus that piece about the new Harry Potter film that Michelle has been promising me for lo these many weeks. So – given all the great new stories and features that we’ve got lined up for the next six weeks – I’m hoping you’ll be willing to forgive that the site hasn’t been updated quite as often as it should have over the past 10 days. Hopefully, the huge new pile of content that’s headed your way will make up for that unfortunate lapse.
So come back tomorrow when we’ll kick things back into gear with another fun-filled “Why For.” And – after that – Well … get ready for six weeks that will be full of great reading. Our holiday gift to you.
Thanks again for all your patience. See you tomorrow, okay?
jrh