I went to Disneyland yesterday to celebrate a bit belatedly my 59th birthday. My nephew, Kevin works there and he passed John and I and we had a wonderful day. The new Pirates ride is great. There's a great new sound system throughout the ride and of course the character of Jack Sparrow (who was played in the movie by Johnny Depp is all over. Everything looks repainted and refurbished and is really quite amazing. I'm sure Walt Disney would be amazed that a sequel had finally been amazingly successful at the Disney studios. Walt used to say "You can't top pigs with pigs!" and the sequels that he made were very limited. The Haunted Mansion was so much fun-- the imagineers added the Nightmare Before Christmas overlay very well this year and it really brings the old attraction alive! Even the Jungle Cruise had a new surprise! And speaking of this classic attraction, it looks like there will be be a movie made based on it! I'm not so sure about this one. I saw my old friend Bill Lewis in a new pirate themed show that he sings and plays the penny whistle in. It turns out that the songs in the act were written by an old co-writer of mine! Small World! But for Bill, it means employment through January of 2008 and if the park goes ahead with the transformation of Tom Sawyer's Island into a pirate lair-- it may be longer! All those years of Bill maintaining his talent in flute playing have paid off. It was great that Bill found another job at the park after being a part of the Dapper Dans on Main Street for eleven years. John's mother is coming to town in two weeks, so we'll be there again-- but I never tire of this wonderful place. I was reading this morning all about the last days of Walt. And of course, I had a good cry. I think I've shared in this space that when Walt Died in 1966, I was nineteen years old. I cried louder and longer for this passing of this great and good man at that time than for any other person before. Can you imagine what might have happened if Walt had lived just ten more years? Rotten cigarettes! They did my mother in and they did Walt Disney in! By the way, in this reading I discovered a lot of interesting facts! It was amazing just how much he loved his family and his many grandchildren. More amazingly was the fact that he kept in his office at the Burbank studio every drawing, every letter, every memento he had received from his daughters, his many grand children and his sister, Ruth. Well work beckons and I have many things to do.