Colin
@csanberg
Looking for distractions...
Went to Binny's without spousal supervision for one bottle of wine. Showed great restraint.
RX Bandits were outstanding. 20th Anniversary Tour for ...And The Battle Begun. Love this album. Awesome show. A Mouth Full of Hollow Threats is very much a song for the times despite it's age. They played a new song in the encore closed out the night with Infection, a personal favorite.
Catbite opened up the show tonight. Most of my ska listening is nostalgia-based at this point, but they were fun and sounded really good live.
At that stage in our lives where a day off work just means an extra day for projects around the house. Anyway, here's the flowerbed I put in and a pair of hydrangeas I planted today.
Not at all concerned that our 8-year-old is eagerly making drinks for everyone who's willing. (The adults are adding their own alcohol, it's okay.)
All-in-all, a successful vacation. All the kids and adults had fun, and did all we wanted to do. Don't know the next time we'll make it back, but Universal definitely outdid the decades' old memories I had of it being Less Than compared to WDW.
Lastly, like any park, the popular attractions (Donkey Kong Mine Cart Madness & HP Battle at the Ministry of Magic) got busy and stayed busy all day long. 90 min wait minimum, usually 2-3 hrs. The app was a great tool to keep an eye on wait times to try and minimize time in lines.
The food in Epic Universe was above & beyond typical theme park food. The Blue Dragon restaurant and French patisserie in the Harry Potter land were standouts. But good God, was the food pricey everywhere. It's been 10 yrs since we did Disney World, but I don't recall feeling so gouged on meals.
The Jurassic Park VelociCoaster, Incredible Hulk coaster, & Hagrid's Motorbike in Islands of Adventure were loads of fun. In the OG park, the Simpsons Ride was a standout, and ET Adventure still had the old school charm/nostalgia.
Other specific highlights: Stardust Racers, Hiccup's Wing Gliders, and Curse of the Werewolf were all really fun & distinct coasters in Epic Universe. Monsters Unchained was a great interactive ride as well.
Super Nintendo World was thoroughly impressive. Amazed at the level of detail built into it. It really felt like walking through Bowser's Castle on the way to the Mario Kart ride.
I hadn't been to Universal in nearly 30 years, when it was only the one park. You can definitely see the evolution of theme park design from the original, updates to it, to Islands of Adventure, and then finally Epic Universe. They really embraced the world-building & immersion Disney pioneered.
Semi-large download since we've been busy & I don't like posting about travel while I'm doing it: We took the boys to Universal Studios Florida last week for #SpringBreak and stayed at the Helios hotel connected to the new Epic Universe park. We went w/ friends (& 12 yo's best friend from school)
Can kinda see a the aurora borealis from our house tonight. It's more visible in the picture than IRL, but still pretty cool.
The biggest surprise was Billy Corgan joining the band on stage to do Bullet with Butterfly Wings for the grand finale. Truly epic. They looked like they had a blast playing together. Most amazing and perfect way to end the show.
The MCR show at Soldier Field was truly epic. The Long Live the Black Parade part of the show was way more theatrical than I expected, but completely on brand. I think I enjoyed the second half of the show even more. The band and crowd completely cut loose and had a blast.
Brought the boys up to see my old man's band The Fource play at local summer fest in 95 °F weather. And yes, there are now six members of the band. cc: @alexsanberg.bsky.social
Goodbye Norm. Goodbye Bob Swerski. Leaving behind a whole bunch of Super Fans. 😢
So excited my copies of @jeffcannata.bsky.social's books arrived I burst out into rhyme: It’s been a long, patient wait for print, truck, and air freight. Now, two copies in hand. (I got one for my dad.) Jeff’s book is both witty and great.