February 18, 2013: It's National Battery Day. Hey, get that rabbit out of here!

We had a wonderful day yesterday at the 54^th Annual Morehead Clinic Concert. Our son, Matt, was the number one tenor sax out of the 12 who qualified for the clinic and Austin Cisco was the number two trumpet out of 66 who qualified for the clinic. Students must audition for admission to the clinic, then audition once again after arriving for their placement in the four bands that perform. Matt and Austin both placed in the Top High School Honor Band and their performance was marvelous. Attached below is a clip from the performance. Enjoy.

I was in the generation that was greatly influenced by the work of John Hughes, born on this date in 1950. Hughes made a number of films that were considered definitive representations of our generation: Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Home Alone, and Planes, Trains & Automobiles. All iconic movies but he also did work on a couple of pictures for Disney including the 1997 version of Flubber and the 1996 live action 101 Dalmatians. Let’s take a little detour to honor Mr. Hughes and visit Journey through Imagination with Figment at EPCOT. In this ride you will find at least one reference to Flubber, look for it and enjoy.

Susan Egan was born on this date in 1970 at Seal Beach, California. If you don’t recognize her name you will certainly recognize her credits: Belle in the Broadway version of Beauty and the Beast, Lady and the Tramp II, House of Mouse, Spirited Away and Hercules (both movie and TV). My daughter is always aggravated that Hercules and The Hunchback of Notre Dame are not better represented at the parks. If you want to honor Susan with a Hercules related event, it almost has to be Phantasmic! with Meg on the boat at the end. Of course you could visit Tony’s at The Magic Kingdom or the Beauty and the Beast stage production at Hollywood Studios and we have met Belle and the Beast at various EPCOT locations.

Today is National Battery Day and when it comes to Walt Disney World there is one attraction that immediately comes to mind, Buzz Lightyear. Fight Zurg, save aliens and shoot… batteries. Yes, batteries. I don’t think shooting batteries is what they had in mind for National Battery Day but who can resist?

It's a giant... D Cell.

February 18, 1885, Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was published. This is one of my favorite books and what I consider to be one of if not THE first truly American novels. To tie directly into the novel, hit Tom Sawyer Island at the Magic Kingdom. To honor Mark Twain, settle in and enjoy the American Adventure at EPCOT.

Come in and meet your hosts, Benjamin Franklin and Mark Twain.

Finally, on February 18, 1930, Clyde Tombaugh discovered Pluto, the former planet and present dwarf planet.  Walt was such a fan of space that he named Mickey’s dog Pluto that brings up my now famous corny quote, “Pluto may no longer be a planet but he’s still a dog.”

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