Saturday, October 21, 2006



Edison invented the lightbulb on this day in 1879. A pure genius if there ever was one. He was active into his eighties and held more US patents than any other individual. Here's something I never knew-- Edison was mostly deaf from his teenage years. Another deaf genius! Like Walt Disney he sold candy and newspapers on a train and saved a friend from a runaway locomotive when he was seventeen years of age. The young boys father was so grateful to young Edison that he set him up with a job and a small laboratory. Amazing reading. A life unequaled I suppose! Well, I spent a few days at Disneyland and really enjoyed myself catching "Fantasmic" once again and finally seeing "Walt Disney's Parade of Dreams" -- that has to be the very best spectacle the Disney folks have ever created. Narrated by Julie Andrews, the firework show is a journey through Disneyland history giving a spectacle in fireworks for every major attraction including "The Haunted Mansion", "Pirates of the Caribbean" and "It's A Small World" Even past attractions like "Country Bear Jamboree" and "Journey Through Inner Space" got a small tribute. Walt Disney's voice could be heard dedicating the park as he had done in July 1955. It was a crowded day on Friday-- almost capacity-- very unusual on a late October day. John's mother came to visit and stay at the hotel with us and it was a wonderful way to forget one's troubles. We managed to get John to go on attractions, he normally would not-- like "The Tower of Terror" and "Splash Mountain". Bill Lewis and my nephew got us in and it was really some beautiful days. As I exited the park, last night, I looked up at the lamp lit in Walt Disney's old private apartment above the firehouse on Main Street. I saluted his memory and said aloud "Good night, Walt!" It was a magic moment! I was told the day before by a guide at City Hall that when Lillian, Walt's late wife would come to the park, she would only stay in that apartment because that's where Walt's spirit could always be found-- and it was here that she felt the most comfortable-- the only place where she could sleep peacefully! We ate at Carnation Cafe again just like I had in my youth and I had a wonderful time! Well, back to work, I guess.

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