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Archives
Author Archives: steve
Rock of Ages more like Gravel
For a decade we held season tickets to the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, which hosted some of the best productions in the Southeast, but then they terminated their affiliation with Broadway Across America, and stopped getting the interesting touring … Continue reading
Christmas 2010
We had a lovely Christmas, leisurely opening our packages all day. The best gifts were homemade. Dani wrapped up a LOST-themed Dharma pillow in DHARMA “Standard Wrapping Paper” that she made herself, and she also gave us a world map … Continue reading
Christmas Eve at Victoria & Albert’s
Christmas Eve we went to Disney’s Grand Floridian for our traditional dinner at Victoria & Albert’s. We’ve gone every year for more than a decade. Here, Dani poses in the lobby in front of the jazz band. The enormous gingerbread … Continue reading
Posted in Dani, Dining, Orlando, Theme Parks
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Jean Pierre’s Bistro
For some time I’d been wanting to try Jean Pierre’s Bistro, a French bistro and bakery in Water Tower Place, the cute shopping village in front of Disney’s Celebration. Orlando doesn’t really have any true French bistros, with the possible … Continue reading
Silvertone Model 4587A Tuning Indicator
My friend Jim Carstensen restores old radios as a hobby. His latest project is one that belonged to his father-in-law’s father. It was made by Sears in the 1930s. He hasn’t yet begun restoring the beautiful wood console, but he … Continue reading
Posted in Alcorn McBride, Technology
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Theme Park Book PR
Some nice PR from the December 16, 2010 West Orange Times, courtesy of Loren.
Posted in Alcorn McBride, Books and Writing, Orlando
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Alcorn McBride Christmas Party 2010
We had a great time at the Alcorn McBride Christmas party last night. This year we hired Puff ‘n Stuff to cater the event, and they did a great job. It was nice to have more time to spend with … Continue reading
Posted in Alcorn McBride, Dining, Orlando, Wine
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Flight of the Cranes
Linda was up early this morning and happened to notice the sun slanting into the kitchen and lighting our cork crane diorama. She quickly grabbed this shot with my iPhone.
Posted in Linda, Orlando, Photography
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Decorating the Tree
An 11-footer this year, with lots of branches, that required a run to the store for a few more boxes of ornaments.
Gingerbread House
Dani’s annual tradition of making a gingerbread house got a bit more complicated this year, as she baked the gingerbread herself. We were all a bit skeptical of whether it would hold together for final assembly, but we shouldn’t have … Continue reading
Evanston Seasons
Dani took these three photos from her balcony, showing the different seasons in Evanston.
Posted in Evanston
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Thanksgiving in LA
We’re spending Thanksgiving week in Los Angeles with Linda’s mom. It’s given us an opportunity to catch up, since we haven’t seen her in two years. Dani flew in from Chicago on Wednesday, and we met her at LAX, where … Continue reading
Posted in Dining, Los Angeles, Wine
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Elton John
Elton John has devoted this year to resurrecting the career of Leon Russell, his early inspiration. At Daytona Beach last night Sir Elton even came out first to introduce Leon’s half hour set. Leon’s long white hair and beard make … Continue reading
Victoria and Albert’s Chef’s Table
Last night we enjoyed a wonderful evening at Victoria and Albert’s Chef’s Table with Ron and Bev and some new friends, Keith and Parlo Edwards and Adam and Gigi Chilvers. Chef Scott Hunnel outdid himself with the ten course tasting … Continue reading
Pull
Another of my writing students has been published! Barbara Binns developed her book, Pull, while in my online class. It’s been published by WestSide Books and is available on amazon. Here’s my review: Becoming A New Person The greatest books invite … Continue reading
Posted in Books and Writing
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IAAPA 2010
This year’s IAAPA show (and the next ten years!) is back in Orlando. I did a book signing to benefit Give Kids the World. It was nice to see so many old friends who dropped by, but I think I’m … Continue reading
Posted in Alcorn McBride, Books and Writing, Theme Parks
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Via Napoli Pizza at Epcot
Via Napoli is a new pizzeria constructed at the rear of Italy at Epcot. Their claim to fame is that they import their flour from Naples and carefully match the water used to make the dough. Linda and I tried … Continue reading
Posted in Dining, Theme Parks
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Festival of the Masters
This weekend is the 35th annual Festival of the Masters at Downtown Disney. Linda and Ryan and I went to Paradiso 37 at Pleasure Island. (Ryan is a programming intern from England, working on iPad apps. He’s here for IAAPA.) … Continue reading
Posted in Alcorn McBride, Dining, Orlando, Theme Parks
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Delish New York Bakery
For dinner I made Bacon Wrapped Scallops and Cilantro Lime Rice. That meant a trip to Whole Foods for wild caught sea scallops and uncured hikory smoked bacon. Whenever I go to Whole Foods I like to stop in at … Continue reading
Marketing a Book
Theme Park Design is my latest book. It’s based upon the text of my Imagineering class. I published it through createspace.com, which is a division of amazon.com. I decided to publish it because David Green’s and my previous book, Building … Continue reading
Posted in Books and Writing
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The Eagles
The Eagles played the first big concert at the new Amway Center. The event was actually rescheduled from an earlier date because Don Henley was sick. At nearly the last minute we decided to get tickets and were surprised at … Continue reading
Flashback
Last week Linda’s wallet was stolen, which started the process of replacing her credit cards and IDs. To get a new Driver’s License you now need all kinds of documentation (never mind that you’re right there in the system, picture … Continue reading
Posted in Linda
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Chateau France
Today we went to St. Petersburg for a book fair, to hear a presentation by Michael Connelly, whose latest book, Reversal, is number one on the bestseller lists this week. He signed my copy, and also a small chapbook he’d … Continue reading
Posted in Dining
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Winter Garden Noises Off
Tonight we had dinner at Thai Blossom in Winter Garden, a restaurant in the Edgewater Hotel around the corner from The Chef’s Table. The Thai food was mostly quite good, and the place was packed by the time we left. … Continue reading
Hamburger Mary’s
Since it won Scott Joseph’s readers’ poll of best hamburger in Orlando, Tommy and I decided to check out Hamburger Mary’s downtown on Church Street. While the rest of Church Street is still in the early stages of recovering from … Continue reading
Wine Bottles
We loaded up three cases of empty wine bottles and took them up to one of our favorite restaurants, The Chef’s Table at the Edgewater Hotel in Winter Garden. They’re going to use them to decorate their new dining room. … Continue reading
Del Frisco’s 39 Steps
It’s been more than a couple of years since we’ve been to Del Frisco’s, and it was near the Shakespeare Center, so we decided to have an early dinner there on Friday. Since our last visit they’ve completed the seamless … Continue reading
Book Purge
Turn your back for just a minute and the library is overrun with books again. Whilst looking for a couple of misplaced ones I purged a hundred or so from the cupboards (I think they reproduce faster in the dark). … Continue reading
Posted in Books and Writing, Orlando
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Epcot First Bites
This is the first year for a new event at the Epcot Food and Wine Festival. It’s called First Bites, and it gives you the opportunity to sample some of the food and wine that will be on the promenade, … Continue reading
Posted in Dining, Orlando, Theme Parks, Wine
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Orlando Magical Dining Month
Today marks the last day of Orlando Magical Dining Month (although last night was our last foray, since tonight we’re going to “First Bites,” the opening event in the Epcot Food and Wine Festival). During September, a wide array of … Continue reading