December 1, 2012: You're the apple of my eye.

Today is the day that our 6^th grade students have been working toward since we started league back in September, the 6^th grade showcase. A total of seven schools will visit Louisa Middle School to compete in Written Composition, Math, Science, Social Studies, Language Arts, Arts & Humanities and Quick Recall. We have 18 students participating, the largest number of students in the competition, and they have proven their mettle in battle for the last two months. We wish them the best and the same to the other schools in the competition. God bless them all.

As I write these blogs the night before, I have just left my daughter’s Christmas Concert at Kentucky Christian University. The evening was wonderful as always. It is fabulous to watch talented students not only perform well but glorify their Lord & Savior, Jesus Christ, when they do so. Allison is a junior and she will be graduating in a little more than a year with a degree in Music Business. She’s a sharp kid and a top notch human. Hire her.

How about some excuses?

The Boogie Woogie Bugle Girl of Company C, Bette Midler was born on this day in 1945. Bette has had a long and luminous career as a singer and actress. In fact, the Divine Miss M has made several movies for Disney. Bette hosted a segment of Fantasia 2000; she played one of the witches in Hocus Pocus and was the voice of Georgette in Oliver & Company. To celebrate her birthday, let’s fall back to one of our perennial favorites, Fantasmic!, at Disney’s Hollywood Studio.

Today is “Eat A Red Apple Day.” “An apple a day keeps the doctor away,” unless the apple comes from a certain evil queen when an apple a day means sleeping for years and years (or maybe even death). I miss Snow White’s Scary Adventure but you can still pass by the location and remember the classic and look forward to the Seven Dwarf’s Mine Ride (soon to come in the Fantasyland expansion).

Remember, your best excuse is always: waiting for your dreams to come true.

November 30, 2012: Rolling down the Mighty Mississippi

Tomorrow, we have the Kentucky Colonel’s Sixth Grade Showcase, an opportunity for our sixth grade students to show just how smart they really are. Year before last, our students placed third, last year they placed second and this year we hope to equal or excel that. Whatever happens, we have an excellent complement of sixth grade students who have worked hard for us all year and we wish them all the best in Saturday’s competition.

Now, on with the excuses:

In 1835, Samuel Langhorne Clemens was born in his beloved state of Missouri. Clemens grew up on and around the mighty Mississippi River where he picked up the pen name Mark Twain. One of my favorite books of all time is The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Both Huck Finn and Mark Twain are iconic characters essential to American culture and literature. There are a host of Mark Twain related attractions at Walt Disney World and other Disney Parks. At the Magic Kingdom, Tom Sawyer Island and the Rivers of America, at EPCOT, Twain helps narrate the American Adventure with the assistance of Benjamin Franklin and either makes a fitting excuse for visiting the World on Mr. Twain’s birthday.

Take the raft to Tom Sawyer Island

Bring back the paintbrushes

Hopefully the paintbrushes are back.

Robert Guillaume was born on this date in 1927. My first memories of Guillaume are from the insane television series Soap. If you’ve never seen the show, take time to check it out. But in a more direct tie to Disney, Guillaume was the voice of Rafiki in The Lion King and related releases. “Follow old Rafiki, he knows the way.” And you should definitely get to the Animal Kingdom where you can enjoy Rafiki in the Lion King Musical over at Camp Minnie Mickey or Rafiki’s Planet Watch where you can check our all sorts of animals to enjoy or even pet.

Remember, your best excuse is always: waiting for your dreams to come true.

November 29, 2012: Shall we dance?

Conductor Brittany is about to make her way back to the Magic Kingdom to take care of your mass transit needs inside the Magic Kingdom.  Brittany gets to do what I hope to do when I grow up, work at Walt Disney World every day that she wishes. Ohhh, Wishes. I love Wishes. It is my favorite fireworks show of all time. But I digress, look for Conductor Brittany and tell her that you’re using her as your excuse to visit Walt Disney World.

Need another excuse? How about National Square Dance Day? Grab your partner and Doh-See-Doh. I recommend that you hit Frontierland in the Magic Kingdom. You can check out the newly refurbished Country Bear Jamboree and pick up a turkey leg, hot and juice. Now that’s what I call Dinner and a Show.

Today in 1895, legendary choreographer, Busby Berkeley was born in Los Angeles, CA. Mr. Berkeley was behind many of the dance scenes in the great movie musicals. So get over to The Great Movie Ride at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, which features a scene from the great Busby Berkeley musical, Footlight Parade.

Remember, your best excuse is always: waiting for your dreams to come true.

November 28, 2012: You've Got A Friend in Me

I am exhausted. I have been sick since Sunday and yesterday we hosted Written Composition competition for Sixth Grade Showcase and then hosted Russell, KY for an academic team meet. We have the other sections of Sixth Grade Showcase this Saturday.

So a quick excuse and then I’ll excuse myself to bed.

You’ve got a friend in me. I remember him from my youth, singing songs like, “Short People,” “It’s Money That I Love,” and “I Love LA.”  Like so many other people that I admired, Randy Newman hooked up with Disney and today is his birthday. There is not a single Disney Park that cannot be tied in with Randy Newman. He has songs in so many Disney movies and he is Pixar’s go to guy. Just check out this list:

            Toy Story 

            James and the Giant Peach

            Toy Story 2 (Which features one of my favorite songs, “When She Loved Me”)

            A Bug’s Life

            Monsters, Inc.

            Cars

            The Princess and the Frog

            Toy Story 3

From your favorite toys...

...to your favorite princess.

Just pick your favorite and go to the park where it’s featured. It’s as simple as that.

Remember, your best excuse is always: waiting for your dreams to come true.

November 27, 2012: To be or not to be... wed.

Back to school, and only 17 school days until Christmas break. Half of our school year will be over in two weeks and tonight is our toughest academic team challenge of league play, Russell. It is nice to have challenges like Russell each year to find out where you stand in the region and know how much work we have to do moving into the Governor’s Cup playoffs. We learned that we will host District 71 Governor’s Cup and there’s nothing like being home in the playoffs. We are so proud of our students and here’s wishing them the best in all they do. It’s appropriate to quote Walt Disney, “Keep moving forward.”

Even though we still need school excuses, let me offer you a couple of Disney excuses.

On this date in 1582, William Shakespeare marries Anne Hathaway. Now, unless she has a wayback machine, this is not the same Anne Hathaway we all know and love (or she looks really good for 450+). To celebrate Will, get to EPCOT and enjoy the World Showcase Players, a travelling troupe of thespians who have been know to discover raw talent in the audience at their performances.

Hi, my name’s Bill and I am a science guy but I’m not that science guy. November 27, 1955 was the cessation of gestation and natal moment for Bill Nye, the Science Guy. Bill Nye has had a host of scientific contributions to Walt Disney World but his constant presence is in EPCOT at Ellen’s Energy Adventure where he helps Ellen discover the importance of energy in our world. This is one of my son’s favorite attractions at Walt Disney World and one of my favorite places to cool off and relax (realllllyyyyy relax).

Remember, your best excuse is always: waiting for your dreams to come true.