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- Steve and Amy

The Official Album of Disneyland (2008)
Posted by Tannerman on August 31st, 2010 07:19 PM

If you were to take a look at my iTunes collection, you'd notice two genres that are substantially larger in song quantity when compared to an "average" person. The first is "Christmas", which isn't a surprise for anyone who has participated in my annual Steve's 25 Days of Christmas Music countdowns. The other is "Disney Theme Park", which features songs, area music, soundtracks, and other related audio from Disney-owned theme parks around the world. The Official Album of Disneyland (2008) Thus, you have to understand my excitement when I'm able to add some new audio to this collection. There is quite a bit of Disney theme park audio out there, and to be honest, most of it is unofficial and obtained via "underground" means. However, since 1980 Disney has released what they termed "Official Albums" for their parks, eventually growing from a single LP into multi-CD sets that cover Disneyland or Walt Disney World. Other special sets have also been released to compliment this genre, such as 2009′s 5-disc Walt Disney and the 1964 World's Fair set or 2005′s elite 6-disc release to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Walt's original park, A Musical History of Disneyland. Track Listing My most recent acquisition via eBay is 2008′s The Official Album of Disneyland. This 2-disc release is a sister album to Four Parks, One World — Walt Disney World's 2-disc 2008 release. As there were no new Official Album releases for 2009 or 2010, these are the most recent Official Albums to be found in the parks. Of course, the trick is that they are only available in the parks, so unless you know someone traveling there (which is how I got my WDW version), it's a little tricky to get your hands on a copy. Disney does make them available directly via an insanely complicated mail order process, but astonishingly, you can't even order these albums online from them. Thus, the secondary market thrives for Disney Official Albums. The Sister Album: 2008's "Four Parks, One World" for Walt Disney World As explained by album executive producer Randy Thornton of Walt Disney Records in this 2008 article on MouseClubhouse.com, the "Official Album" really is an oddity in the music world. I mean, here you have a music release that at its core, cannot change much because tourists pick them up as souvenirs from their vacations. Thus, you have to make sure that there are always those evergreen components represented. For example, can you image a Disneyland album with no audio from The Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, or It's A Small World? This presents a challenge to keep the album fresh, with newer versions of these tracks appearing or retired attractions being left off. Thus why a new Official Album appears every couple of years. 2-disc collection This constant release schedule makes it challenging for a Disney theme park music enthusiast like myself. While we all get excited at the prospect of a new Official Album release, the reality is that 90% of said album will be reruns. However, it's that 10% you always look out for, hoping to find a new track to add to your collection. Disney Official Album Track Tracker Because of all these releases, it gets quite complicated for anyone new to figure out what is on which album. This is one of the reasons I started a Google Docs project last year called that "Disney Official Album Track Tracker". The goal of this project, which is still in progress, is to document what songs and versions appear on each Official Album release, noting changes along the way. While it's not completed yet, you are invited to take a look! I've gotten some great help from other enthusiasts as well as Mr. Thornton himself on the documented changes with the albums over the years. There are some tracks that make their debut on the 2008 Disneyland album, so I'm excited to listen and add them to my collection. And you can just have pity on Amy as she puts up with all this! View "The Official Album of Disneyland (2008)" on SteveandAmySly.com

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Django, Gypsy Jazz, and Millennium Park
Posted by Tannerman on August 21st, 2010 12:18 PM

On Thursday night, Amy and I headed downtown to Millennium Park to catch some music as part of the “Made in Chicago: World Class Jazz 2010″ series. We did this last year as well and really enjoyed the night of quality tunes under the stars. Jay Pritzker Pavilion at night In effect, taking part in something like this is a lot like going to Ravina, with the suburban “snootiness factor” dialed down considerably. Since there is a large lawn at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion, you can bring along a blanket and chairs, dinner, and some wine, and just enjoy some great jazz. Steve apparently finds a program The program for the evening was “Django: A Celebration featuring Alfonso Ponticelli and Swing Gitan“. Basically, it was a 100th birthday celebration of Django Reinhardt, a guitarist who popularized the “Gypsy jazz” or “Hot Club” style (including the concept of “lead guitar” and backing “rhythm guitar”). Interestingly, I was introduced to this type of music years ago when building one of my collections for “Steve’s 25 Days of Christmas Music“. We featured a version of “Jingle Bells” performed in the Django-style and I was hooked with the swing-infused musical approach. Quite a large turnout for the music (Can you spot the CNA building?) We grabbed a bite to go from Epic Burger, a place we learned about during an end-of-rally party for EPIC, a non-profit founded by our friend Erin Huizenga. It was a similar event to one we’ve previously written about featuring lots of jumping! Epic Burger is known for their quality ingredients, natural beef, and fresh cut fries. Amy approves of Epic Burger We had some coupons sitting around so figured it would be a good stop on State Street before heading over for some music. We weren’t disappointed in the food! Pre-concert distractions As for the night itself, it was quite fun. We killed some time by playing a few hands of Five Crowns, where Amy proceeded to beat me. Well, more like crush me. That game did not go well for me at all! I think I do better with Ticket to Ride Spell Check anyone? The evening also gave me a chance to check out the newly deployed Facebook Places application on my phone. I found it funny that the location name for Millennium Park was misspelled. I reported the page as “inaccurate” but that’s all Facebook seemingly lets you do in situations like this. I’m not dropping it for Foursquare anytime soon, that’s for sure. Swing Gitan, via crappy digital zoom! As for the music itself, it was quite awesome. They just kept bringing out more musicians and building the band larger as the night went on, layering different instruments and textures with guitar, violin, bass, harmonica, saxophone, piano, and even something called the Romanian dulcimer. It was a very enjoyable musical experience… plus it was free! View "Django, Gypsy Jazz, and Millennium Park" on SteveandAmySly.com

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Movies in the Park: "Clue"
Posted by Tannerman on August 19th, 2010 10:04 AM

Last night we headed over to Indian Boundary Park on the North Side to catch another one of the Chicago Park District’s summer “Movies in the Park” showings. Over the years, we’ve experienced many of these free showings, including Surf’s Up, Kung Fu Panda, and The Bourne Ultimatum. This time around it was one of our favorites… Clue. Eerie evening sky over "Clue" We were joined by our friend Nick Rosario as well as his sister Heather and her two daughters. We made some food and brought it with us to have a little picnic ahead of time, “poor man’s Ravinia” style! Amy & Steve They brought out the oversized inflatable screen for this showing, which was great. We’ve been to a couple of Movies in the Park where they literally seemed to project on the side of a building… with poor results. Amy & Nick Actually, this technically was our 2nd park movie of the season. Earlier in the summer, we saw part of Planet 51 at Sauganash Park. I say part because that animated trainwreck was so bad, we left early. I think the Park District must have gotten a great deal on their license of it, however, because it’s been showing a lot this summer. Heather and her girls The online description of this showing of Clue noted the following: “Ever wonder if you’d be a good detective? Show your skills before the movie as we play a life-sized version of Clue.” Having helped run a couple live versions of Clue, I was curious how this would play out. Unfortunately, they didn’t really do anything like this. "Sorry kids, you are stuck with this version!" Instead they broke out a brand new boardgame of Clue and invited kids to play on a nearby table. It wasn’t even a good version of Clue. Sadly, it was the Clue: Discover the Secrets remake (a.k.a. Clue Reinvention) that Hasbro is shoving down the throats of retailers these days. I feel sorry for the mental abuse those kids must have suffered playing the game! Really nice turnout Fortunately, it was a beautiful evening, the movie started up, and we were enjoying an old favorite. There was quite a large crowd that turned out for the film. What’s fun about watching Clue with an audience is the laughs and reactions to the comedy. From what we could hear, there must have been quite a few folks who had never seen the film. Good stuff! "OK, who killed Mr. Boddy?" About halfway through, however, the DVD they were using to project the moving kept freezing up. Eventually, the movie had to be stopped so the Park District crew could clean the disc. There were quite few cheers and then a big shouting match to help the operators select the right chapter to return to. It was pretty funny! Get in line for free popcorn You know, it’s sad that a film like 1985′s Clue has yet to receive a DVD Special Edition release or even a soundtrack release. It’s grown to be a cult classic and deserves so much better. Unfortunately, that means that Hollywood instead will be making a new version that probably has nothing to do with the boardgame. Overall, it was a fun summertime evening with friends and a favorite film. Great times! View "Movies in the Park: “Clue”" on SteveandAmySly.com

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Damaged Tree at the Condo
Posted by Tannerman on August 17th, 2010 08:55 PM

On June 18, we had a pretty fierce storm blow through Chicago, which brought rain and high winds to our neighborhood. When everything was calm, we assessed the area around our condo buildings and found that a large branch from one of our trees had broken off and fallen into the street. Storm-damaged Tree (6/18/10) I’m the kind of person who loves what little natural growth we have here in the city, so this really bummed me out. Big time. This particular elm tree had tree different “spurs” running off the main trunk. The storm had broken one of those spurs away from the connection with another, in effect destroying 2/3 of the tree growth. On a side note, this is one of the many “beverage review trees” I use for photography on BevReview.com. Please read my note! Knowing how crazy Chicago’s Streets & Sanitation Department is when it comes to trees (i.e. they like to just cut everything down, it’s easier), I attempted to label the broken limb of the tree so that when crews did come out to clean up the mess, they would only remove the damaged portion. (Technically, these trees sit on a parkways that are the domain of the city). 2/3 of the tree removed by city When I talked with one Streets crew that dropped by after the storm, they felt the entire tree had to go. These trees were planted when our condo was built, which makes them approximately 10-12 years old. However, when crews eventually removed the damaged portion, they removed the fallen limb and the other spur that it pulled away from (because it was unstable). However, they left the rest of the tree standing. Amy is the president of our condo association, so exterior issues like this come under her jurisdiction. We talked about having a tree service come out and take a look at the damaged tree, as well as the 5 others on property. These trees had not been pruned since we lived here. We felt it might be a good idea to get a professional opinion about what to do with the damaged tree, as well as to get a quote on trimming up the other trees, which would clean out dead branches, raise their “canopies” to not touch parked cars, and remove some branches from touching the roof of our condo buildings. Owner Ron Finn After talking to two tree service firms, both concluded that the tree could be saved and just needed to be trimmed. It didn’t pose a structural damage threat to the building or parked cars. After many appointments, red tape, board votes, and quotes, we finally got the trees trimmed here in August. We used Finn Tree Service out of Palatine, owned by Ron Finn who came out himself to climb the trees and trim that. I should note that Ron is 73 years old! Crew trims the trees It was amazing to watch this guy fly up a tree with ropes and a chain saw like it was nothing. I talked to him a bit about how he got into tree trimming. He told me that after “the War” he got a desk job… and hated it. So he thought he’d try his hand at working in trees… and has been doing it every since. Cleaning up the debris Overall, they did a nice job on the condo property. The damaged tree was cleaned up and pruned back… and frankly, looks pretty skimpy now. We’ll see what happens to it long-term. Over time, it will fill out, but that will take a while. Still, I’d like to see what will happen to it rather than just hacking it down. The alternative is growing a pencil-thin replacement tree planted by the city. We already have one of those on property. No thanks. The “tree situation” seems to have been something that has taken up a lot of our summer, ironically. I’m glad it’s finally taken care of, however I’m still quite saddened by the damage the tree experienced. Go figure. View on SteveandAmySly.com

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Thoughts on "Ticket to Ride: USA 1910 Expansion"
Posted by Tannerman on July 20th, 2010 08:18 PM

I've previously written about our positive experiences with the boardgame Ticket to Ride (released 2004), as well as its first official expansion, Mystery Train (released 2004). Now we'd like to talk about the USA 1910 Expansion. In short, if you own the original Ticket to Ride game, then you MUST pick up the USA 1910 Expansion (released 2006). It's that simple. USA 1910 expansion was introduced in 2006 Why is this a requirement? Because compared to any other enhancement to the game, the USA 1910 Expansion not only "fixes" some of the game's perceived flaws, but also adds entirely new life and strategy to the base game... not bad for the $15 retail price! I won't go through re-explaining the game for those who aren't familiar with how it works. Watch the video in our first post in the series if you are new to this stuff! [Now that all the newbies are watching video, those of you who do have experience playing this game can keep reading!] Inside the box you find cards... and more cards The USA 1910 Expansion is really nothing more than a box of cards. Yup, that's it. A bunch of cards. Excited yet? But it's amazing how this box of cards greatly improves the game and makes it more fun. The "1910" name refers to the historical period of the game. You see, the setting for the original Ticket to Ride is 1900... thus this expansion is supposed to indicate growth in the railroad world 10 years later. Or something like that. Believe me, the year doesn't really matter. All you need to know is "1910 = Good". -- Card Size Changes -- Top: Original "Ticket to Ride" card size Bottom: Larger "USA 1910" card size So, what do you get with this box of 181 cards? First of all, you get a complete replacement set for the teeny, tiny cards that originally came with the game. The new set comes in a larger size more on par with the dimensions of a standard playing card deck. If you've ever struggled with the small cards that came with the game, the larger-sized USA 1910 Expansion is worth picking up on this basis alone. (It should be noted that all other versions of Ticket to Ride use the larger card size; only the original game still has small cards). -- Redesign of the "Longest Route" card -- Top: Original "Ticket to Ride" Longest Path card Bottom: "USA 1910" Trans America Express card Beyond the reissued size of the old cards, you are given a new set of Destination Tickets to add to the game. This combination of "old cards + new cards" basically gives you 3 new variants to play. I'll explain those in a second, but first here's the breakdown of all the cards found in the USA 1910 Expansion deck: 30 reissued Destination Tickets from the original game 35 new Destination Tickets (labeled with the "1910" logo in the upper right corner) 4 cards from the out-of-print Mystery Train Expansion (which originally used the smaller card size) 1 Longest Route Bonus Card (reprinted in larger size from the original game, 10 point value) 1 Globetrotter Bonus Card (a new bonus that rewards 15 points for Most Completed Tickets) 110 Train Cards (reprinted in larger size from the original game) -- 6 Destination Ticket types for different variants -- [From Top to Bottom] 1. Reissued original Destination Ticket 2. 1910-specific Ticket 3. Big Cities-specific Ticket 4. 1910 & Big Cities-specific Ticket 5. Mystery Train-specific Ticket 6. Mystery Train & Big Cities-specific Ticket So, you get a whole bunch of cards... some old, some new, all bigger in size. What can you do with them? Well, you can play with your original set of cards from the standard game you are already familiar with. But what fun is that? You'll really want to be playing these 3 variants instead! 1910 Your original game of Ticket to Ride came with 30 Destination Tickets. After playing a few times, you probably are getting familiar with them. I mean, it's pretty easy to guess when someone is building the route from New York to Los Angeles, right? With the 1910 variant, you instead play with 35 new Destination Tickets. New cards. New variety. Woo hoo! To add a little twist to the game, instead of using the Longest Route Bonus Card, you instead play with the Globetrotter Bonus Card. This gives you 15 extra points if you have completed the most Destination Tickets at the end of the game. (Thus, this card encourages taking more Destination Tickets, which was one of the motivations of the Mystery Train Expansion) Mega Game This is one of the best variants and the one I usually use when introducing Ticket to Ride to folks for the first time. Basically, take the 30 original Destination Tickets (plus the 4 reprinted from Mystery Train) and add them to the 35 new 1910 Destination Tickets. What you have in the end in a stack of 69 destinations... plus the 2 Bonus Cards (Longest Route and Globetrotter). What this does is really encourage you to take more Destination Tickets during the game (and thus earn more points). Because there are now so many possible routes, the odds are higher that any new Destination Ticket you take will be close to a route you may have already built. It also makes it quite a bit easier to complete destinations because there are so many additional options. It's a huge plus! Big Cities This variant is ideal if you want to add a little more cutthroat gameplay to your Ticket to Ride experience. It also "tightens up" the board quite a bit for 2 player games. In this variant, you use all the Destination Tickets from the deck that are labeled "Big Cities"... there are 35 total - 15 from the original game and 20 from the expansion. What these cards all have in common is that each features at least one of the "Big Cities" as part of the destination. These are Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, and Seattle. Now, if every Destination Ticket goes through one of these cities, then you can easily see how there will be some fightin' for routes to connect them... and the hopes that you won't get cut off. Amy & I play this game when we are looking for more of a challenge. The strategy is also quite different because the Big Cities variant uses NO Bonus Cards. So forget all about Longest Route and the like. Just build! So with all that said, why do you need to pick up the USA 1910 Expansion. Couple reasons... Bigger Cards The larger size for both Destination Tickets and Train Cards makes the game easier to play, shuffle, and experience. It's a small thing, but you'll never go back when you play with the bigger cards. (Think the difference between dial-up and high-speed Internet!) Corrected Points Ever wonder how the point values on Destination Tickets were calculated? Theoretically, they are supposed to equal the lowest possible number of "trains" needed to connect the 2 cities listed. Guess what? In the original game, there are 4 cards that diverge from this formula, making them somewhat more powerful than the rest. In the USA 1910 Expansion, their value has been revised downward. These cards are: Sault St. Marie to Oklahoma City Sault St. Marie to Oklahoma City Original Value: 9 points 1910 Value: 8 points Los Angeles to Miami Los Angeles to Miami Original Value: 20 points 1910 Value: 19 points Los Angeles to New York Los Angeles to New York Original Value: 21 points 1910 Value: 20 points Seattle to New York Seattle to New York Original Value: 22 points 1910 Value: 20 points Fixing the West-East/Longest Route Flaw With the original game of Ticket to Ride, a common winning strategy was to build across the country horizontally (i.e. West-East), taking advantage of the longer routes for more points, mostly found in the western side of the map. Connect a bunch of these together and you often will claim the Longest Route Bonus Card... and will probably win. However, if you were dealt Destination Tickets that were found on the eastern side of the map, or involved routes that were more vertical (i.e. North-South) in nature, you didn't really stand much of a chance. The USA 1910 Expansion changes all that. 15-point Globetrotter Bonus Card First of all, by including the new Globetrotter Bonus Card, connecting lots of shorter routes is rewarded. If you have many low-value Destination Tickets, there is now a benefit to completing them, as you may earn 15 bonus points at the end of the game for having the most Tickets fulfilled. This bonus is higher-valued than the standard 10 point Longest Route and can change your strategy quite a bit. Now it actually is possible to succeed by connecting a lot of shorter routes on the eastern side of the United States map. Additionally, the influx of many new routes through the addition of 35 new Destination Tickets (pretty much a doubling of the deck) offers improved chances to score points on routes you may have already built, or at the very least, give you the option of building more shorter routes to counteract a couple long routes that other players may have. Encouraging Taking More Destination Tickets You will recall when I wrote about the Mystery Train Expansion -- the first officially released extension of Ticket to Ride -- that the primary motivator was to encourage players to take more Destination Tickets. The original game, while not hugely flawed, did seem to penalize you more often than not if you took more Tickets... mainly by offering a limited selection of Destination Tickets, thus resulting in routes you could not finish and in turn, negative points at the end of the game. Mystery Train attempted to fix this problem by introducing Character Cards that provided players with special "powers" to help out their point total. Thus, you were encouraged to take more Tickets in order to hopefully receive these extra powers. The success of that approach was questionable. Instead, the USA 1910 Expansion simply solves that problem by changing the odds of the Destination Tickets by giving you a wider selection. The probability that you well receive Destination Tickets that you can use positivity is improved in this expansion. Again, it balances the game out more than the original version by providing more value in the Destination Ticket deck. Mystery Train lives... kinda The Mystery Train Expansion contained 10 new cards to shuffle into your Destination Ticket deck... 6 Character Cards with "powers" and 4 standard Destination Tickets. Combined, the "mystery" was that you didn't know which type you were going to pick... a Character or a standard Destination. If you pulled a Character Card, great! However, if you didn't, the Destination Tickets were of such low value (2-7 point range) that if you couldn't complete them, they weren't going to harm your score too much. Thus it was worth the risk to pull these new Mystery Train cards. 4 "Mystery Train" cards appear in the "USA 1910" expansion In the USA 1910 Expansion, the Character Cards from Mystery Train are gone, but the 4 low-value Destination Tickets are now part of the new deck... they are even labeled as having origins from the old Mystery Train expansion. These provide 4 new cards that are easy to complete due to their low score, which is beneficial if you are working towards the 15 point Globetrotter bonus at the end of the game. Conclusion I won't hide the fact that we really like Ticket to Ride. The original game is rather expensive (~$50) so spending money on something like expansions can seem questionable. However, if you are looking to spice up the appeal of the original game or even some rule changes to make it seem more attractive, consider picking up the USA 1910 Expansion. I've found that we play the original game almost exclusively with these new cards since the improvements to the gameplay actually make this a far better game to introduce to friends and family. Heck, for only $15, the larger cards are worth the price alone!

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