The Weblog of Sean

California recap Pt. 1

Tuesday - Got out of class early, went to airport. Hung around with everyone for a few hours until hour plane arrived. Ate chinese food in the meantime. Once we boarded (which was a little bit of a clusterf***, as the drum major was in charge of re-arranging seats, which I’m pretty sure isn’t okay with the airlines), the plane sat in line for the use of the only working runway exiting Philly. After an hour of waiting, we started our 6 hour plane ride. The food that cost $5 wasn’t that good (some asian chicken salad, but I wasn’t very hungry, either). We finally landed, spent an hour on bus from LAX to Anaheim, where we stayed. To top things off, we weren’t fed, nor were we given the opportunity to get any food once we landed. The directors’ logic was “It’s 3:00 am in Bensalem and you probably don’t eat very often at 3:00 am.” Sorry for the cliché, but Worst. Logic. Ever.

Wednesday - Get up, eat a subpar breakfast. Consisted of runny eggs, undercooked hashbrowns with a poor pepper:potato ratio (which favored the peppers), undercooked/otherwise disgusting sausage, under-/overcooked bacon (at the same time; I can’t figure out how they did that one) which wasn’t terrible, semi-fresh fruit (not too bad), average selection of danish, average quality croissants, slightly bitter OJ, and some pretty good apple juice (from what I’ve heard). This wasn’t just me being a cynic; many others agreed with me. Spend 1 hour on a bus ride to LA for Universal Studios Hollywood. Bus ride was tolerable at this point, although we all expected to be with the choir girls (or any girls for that matter). Universal Studios was fun, especially Revenge of the Mummy, which messed with my stomach a bit. Once I recovered, it was amazing. Finished off with dinner in City Walk from the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company. Despite what the name might suggest, the shrimp wasn’t that great. Had something to do with the oil used to fry it. After dinner, headed to the busses, which weren’t there, so we passed the time watching this guy dance. He was really good until we realized that he only really had about 5 different moves. Spent another hour going home (once again, just guys). Once at the hotel, the pool was closed, and we weren’t allowed in the rooms of the opposite sex, so many hung out in the weight lifting room not lifting. Fun until some guys/girls got caught intermingling (playing poker with the doors wide open, and many of the band parents walking in without making a fuss). Then bed.

California recap Pt. 2

Thursday - by far the worst day. After waking up, and eating the same disappointing breakfast, we proceeded to get on buses again. Another 1-hour ride into Las Angles (again, with no girls whatsoever). Tour of the WB studios in the morning, which wasn’t bad until I found out about the other groups’ tours. My group hardly got to get off the cart, and also toured the set of Gilmore Girls, the most girly show on TV. Only good parts were seeing Uncle Jesse’s/Boss Hog’s house from the Dukkes of Hazzard (they used the front/back as different houses), seeing some costumes and other memorabilia from The Departed, and seeing a Lotus Elise in the parking lot. The other group got to see the inside and outside of the set of ER (we only saw outside), and George Lopez’s pimped-out golf cart (done by GAS, formerly West Coast Customs). After that, we went to a farmer’s market for lunch , which was terrible in comparison to Reading Terminal, and picked up our tour guide.
Now this tour guide deserves a separate paragraph. Her name was Judy and she had zero personality. Not “no personality;” “Zero personality.” Her voice was grating and annoying and many of the people on my bus wanted to kill her/themselves. We saw the Hollywood Bowl, which was neat, as it had some good views, and the acoustics were great, but the was she talked it up was annoying. We then went to Hollywood Blvd. where we saw the usual tourist traps: the Chinese theater, Kodak Theater, the stars (complete with Godzilla, Big Bird, and some musician named “Lefty Frizzell.” I have pics, so it definitely did happen.), etc. We went to the first Guitar Center, which had the Neil Peart set from Rush (very big and very gold. Once again, pics so it did happen. Comment if you want them.). We then finished our bus tour by going by some of Beverly Hills (but not in, I don’t think), the Sunset Strip, Rodeo Drive, etc. Judy (the tour guide) was so bad that, when we sat a red light for a particularly long time, she proceeded to point out an apartment building on the left. It was very nondescript, and there was pretty much nothing interesting about it. All of the students on the bus were making fun of her in the back, while the parents in there front were “playing along” with it, only for the drumline director to make fun of her over the loudspeaker when she got off the bus. In total, the bus tour lasted roughly 3 long, boring hours.
After the tour, we spent about 20-30 minutes going BACK to Universal Studios for City Walk, where we ate at the Hard Rock. It was a very nice place, and the music and atmosphere were good (as it was a Hard Rock), but my table got its food almost last. It was so much later that other students had already left the place. After some more walking around in there (there wasn’t much to do), we finally left and went straight to bed. Definitely the worst day.

Friday - possibly the best day. After the waking up late (the wakeup call didn’t work) and rushing through same boring breakfast (I think they added ice-water that day), we boarded the bus for a three hour ride to San Diego, which I believe is Spanish for “a whale’s vagina.” (Sorry, couldn’t help the Anchorman reference). The day before, someone tried negotiating for Becky Buscher (my prom date), Katie Fuhr, and Kiersten Smith to be on our bus the next day, but it didn’t work out. Instead, we got Amanda Logan, Amanda Dunmore, and 3 other girls because the busses were smaller and their bus was full. Once Amanda Dunmore decided to sit next to me, I knew I was in for quite a trip. 1-1.5 hours later, my MP3 player died, making the ride even more interesting. We finally arrived in San Diego for our adjudication in Copley Hall, which was nice. (Seemed like just another concert hall to me, but what do I know?) Afterwards, we went to the San Diego zoo, which is supposed to be the largest zoo in the country, or something like that. As I was about to enter the park, I receive a call from Noah on Vince’s phone. They were apparently all at someone’s house (probably Josh’s), because I also believe I heard Neil and Sean Kelly , and possibly even Chance . God that was bitch to write in HTML. Anyway, after talking to them and finding out all of the happenings in Bensalem (many of which I didn’t actually find out until the next Tuesday), we took the bus tour of the zoo, when we found a nice little field. We then tried to play a little Ultimate Frisbee, but there were kids on the field, so alas, I felt bad kicking them off (this is the part where I start to have show some morals). After walking around for a bit and meeting up with other people, we went back to play frisbee, and no one was around. Very fun time, and was the best part of the day. On the way home from the zoo, Bring it On: All of Nothing was watched. Very typical teen movie, practically the same storyline as Drumline, but was good because Hayden Panettierre was in it (she’s the girl who can re-assemble herself in Heroes if you didn’t know).
We got back to Anaheim early that night, and many of us went swimming. Most of the choir girls were in the pool, and a bunch of band (mainly drumline) people were in there as well. I went back to my hotel room to get my frisbee, and being the idiot that I am, I ran around the pool to get my room card. My right leg slipped and went towards my left side as a turned right, and I landed hard on my right hip, sliding into a plastic and metal legged table. I showed that table what for, and now I know why you should never run around a pool. Many other people fell in that same spot, apparently, such as Jordan D’Albenzio and Shannon Barletti. Once we got out of the pool, most people showered before the choir girls who were in the pool and the drumline members in the pool all went to the IHOP next door. I hadn’t a chance to shower, as the 2 people before me took too long, and everyone else left early. I struggled to get to IHOP on my very painful hip, and finally got some good food. Corn cakes, viscous eggs, properly cooked bacon, and good OJ. After hobbling back to the hotel, I got 3 advil from the nurse, showered, and went to bed.

California recap Pt. 3

Saturday - good day, until the night. Same breakfast, then we walked over to Disneyland (2-3 blocks), during which my mom got flipped off. First stop was Space Mountain, but seeing as how it was closed temporarily, we decided to do the Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters ride/game. Very similar to the Men In Black ride/game in Universal Orlando, its a rail-mounted laser tag game with control over your rotation. After coming in second in my group (and destroying Amanda’s score, who shared a car with me), we finally made it to Space Mountain, which was a 65 minute wait. Definitely worth it, as I had never done any Space Mountains before that point. It was two people across, 6 to a car, and 2 cars to a train. We met up with Katie Fuhr, who joined our group prior to getting in line. At this point the group was Me, Isaiah Leonard, Jordan Stewart (Bryce and Vince’s little brother), Kevin Walsh, Kyle Pennypacker, Meghan Mirsch, Amanda Logan, and Alyssa Myers (not the same one who was in Mr. Bates’ Honors Bio class. This one is a sophomore), and Katie Fuhr. Once in the ride, we got a train to ourselves and rode. Apparently Disney made a deal with the Red Hot Chili Peppers, as it was “Rockin’ Space Mountin,” which played the entirety of their cover of “Higher Ground” throughout the ride. The experience was 50X better because of it.
Afterwards we ate, then went to meet in Toontown for the parade. If you’re not familiar with Toontown, it is in the same style as the “Timeless River” level in Kingdom Hearts II, except in color. Its likeness is especially eerie when viewed in black-and-white and with no humans in the shot (Again, I have shots, so it did happen). The parade was very short but fun, as I got to play on brand-new drums (which weren’t ours). Afterwards, the same group as Space Mountain met up with some more choir girls (Kiersten Smith, Jordan D’Albenzio, and Katie McGregor) in front of California Adventure. They all went on the Tower of Terror while Alyssa Myers and ate dinner, as we didn’t feel like going on it.

Here’s where I need to make some corrections, but I don’t feel like actually using the edit feature and working info in. Stream of consciousness FTW.
Throughout the week, a freshman in the drumline, (who I will from here-on-out refer to as “Peter” in these recap posts) was being fairly touchy-feely with the girls in my group without their consent, and was reportedly attempting to use his cellphone camera to get pictures of said girls without their knowledge. The contents of the pictures not known with certainty. Others in my group had attempted to “ditch” him (for lack of a sufficient euphemism), but to no avail. On Saturday, after we checked Space Mountain the first time, we managed to get away from him. He called my phone, and when another in my group (who will remain nameless) answered the phone for me, he said “Dude, we don’t want you here,” and hung up. I called him back a minute later, telling him that [the nameless person] was being a [censored] and that he was just being a little to forward with some of the girls. Unfortunately, he met up with the drumline director, who later called me, asking to speak with [the nameless person]. If we ditched Peter again, [the nameless person]’s place in indoor drumline would be eliminated, and if we saw Peter again, he would have to go with our group. For the time being, Peter was with the drumline director, and could remain there indefinitely (until we saw him before the parade). After the parade, my group managed to leave quickly, and Peter was left with the directors again. Peter called me, saying that the directors told he needed to find a group, because said directors had dinner reservations at 8:15. Rather than listening to Peter complain and be angry at everyone for the rest of the indoor drumline season, I made plans to meet him, much to the dismay of my group-mates. Once we met up with the choir girls, Katie McGregor understood my course of action and agreed with me. I received a call from another freshman in drumline (Joe) when Alyssa and I were getting dinner, and when I told him the story of my plans to meet Peter, I expressed my concern that no one would go to meet him. Joe said that I could take Peter and hang with him. The last 3 hours of my night consisted of avoiding my former group by keeping them one step ahead of my moves, watching Muppet Vision 3D (which never gets old), and waiting roughly 30 minutes outside the exit of California Screamin’, a roller coaster which, due to Disneyland’s deal with RHCP, plays 20-30 seconds of “Around the World.”
When it was time to leave (at midnight), everyone met, and a few people thanked me. The entire group of Bensalem-ites had to walk back to the hotel, because the buses couldn’t make it to where we were.

Sunday - average. The choir left the hotel at about 5:30 am to catch their early flight out of LAX, and the band got up lateish. After the same breakfast, but they finally added cereal (only special K and something else that wasn’t particularly appealing), we went on another hour long bus ride to LAX, where we had another clusterfuck with the seating. I had McDonald’s for lunch, and almost left my wallet there. Whoops. My row on the plane was right in front of the marching band director, his wife, and the jazz band/concert band director, and two seats in my row were broken. Instead of reclining when pressure is placed on the back and when the sliver button on the armrest is depressed, only pressure on the back was needed. The marching band director got angry at us over something we had no control over, and didn’t seem to understand what was wrong with the seats. We (Jordan Stewart, Meghan Mirsch, and myself) should’ve kept my original row, which is in economy plus, meaning we would have had more leg room and non-broken seats, but we would’ve been far from other students. We finally got home after a 4.5 hour plane ride and a final 1 hour bus ride, unloaded everyones stuff (and by “we” I mean myself, my dad, a few other parents, the bus drivers, and Mr. DiGregorio), and finally made it home.

Overall, it was a fun trip. While I did focus on the negatives, the rest of the times were pretty fun, and it was definitely a unique experience. Keep in mind that I am a cynic, which explains the focus on the negative.