dwgm: Kimi Birds (Five Cats (Laurel Burch))
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Beautiful drive to Anaheim yesterday--a perfect Fall day, and with all the rain we've been having the hills are already turning green! Also, snow was visible in the mountains as I came over the pass into The Valley.

Had a great time at Disneyland with niece, [livejournal.com profile] gingersnapps. New Orleans Square is already decorated for the holidays with a Nightmare Before Christmas theme. I really must see that movie. Failing to get into the Blue Bayou for lunch, we opted to eat at the French Market, which had the most delightful NBC themed foods. The dessert we had was particularly wonderful: a bone shaped chocolate and raspberry cake topped with a light and crispy bone-shaped merangue and a red bow. There was a spectacular NBC Gingerbread House decorating the restaurant, and an even bigger one in the "ballroom" scene in the Haunted House, which is entirely given over to NBC: very cleverly done.

Went on Pirates, and Thunder Mountain (NO line for that, which was nice), then took the Monorail to Downtown Disney. I bought me a Cafe Mocha with an extra shot of espresso and was actually able to stay awake while we watched the Sneak Preview of Finding Neverland.

Finding Neverland, which stars Johnny Depp, was actually filmed before PotC, and it is one superb movie. It's not perfect in it's entirety, but it's pretty darn close and both [livejournal.com profile] gingersnapps and I enjoyed it from beginning to end. It appears to have been largely filmed on location in England, the sets and costumes are stunning, the music is lovely. As for the cast, they were every one of them wonderful. Dustin Hoffman, Kate Winslet, and the four little boys were great. The actress playing Barrie's wife was excellent, and there are minor characters that I loved, including one played by the actor who played Mullroy in PotC. But it's Mr. Depp's movie, and I cannot imagine him not being nominated for an Oscar for this. It's a beautiful piece of acting, understated to exactly the right degree, the accent flawless as far as I could tell, and as near perfect as can be imagined. That someone should be that talented, and look that good besides, is almost criminal.

In spite of being rated PG, it is not a children's show. There are intense emotions and themes explored, and I can see some little kids being bored by some of it simply because it will be beyond their understanding. It has some amusing scenes, but it's not a comedy. Altogether a wonderful show, and deserving of high praise.

After the movie we went for some Gumbo, Red Beans & Rice, and Beignets at the Creole restaurant down the way, sitting outside at a little table and watching the live music, and then the fireworks. Then we window-shopped our way back to the tram and left for the [livejournal.com profile] gingersnapps's new residence where I spent the night. Drove her to work this morning, then drove back home and arrived by 9:00. Went out to breakfast with Mom later, while [livejournal.com profile] weemonkey6 slept off the effects of the party she attended last night, then came home and wrote this, a sequel to the one I posted on Friday...


Rumor of Heaven



Grieves’d been wrong. It was sixteen stitches, and every one of them felt like bits of hot lead against Jack’s arm.

The fever started before the evening was out. When Bill came to check on him, after standing First Watch, Jack was in a bad way, aching and thirsty, his arm afire. Bill helped him sit up to drink some rum-sweetened water. That stayed down all right, but when morning finally came breakfast was out of the question. Bill fetched Grieves, who scowled over the look of the wound, and cursed the Black Pearl’s present lack of opiates. Grieves spoke tartly on this subject to Captain Tobias, who was next to crowd in, and whose hearty cheer made Jack wince. He did considerably more than wince, however, when Grieves cleansed his wound with rum a second time before rewrapping it. Grieves then bled him, and after that he’d drifted into a haze of pain and evil dreams, punctuated by occasional visits from concerned mates, including Tobias’s Second, Barbossa, exuding spurious sympathy. The faithful Bill looked more worried with every passing hour.

Jack’s fever rose further as dusk came on, and he dozed uneasily as night deepened . It was after Bill went on watch again that he fell into a deeper sleep, and thus was unable to pinpoint the time of his next visitor.

The clean, sweet rose scent was his first hint of her presence. Funny how he could smell that, rather than the usual tar and wood and sea, overlaid of late with less pleasant odors. But then there was the touch of a soft, familiar hand on his forehead. Familiar…but it had been so long….

He moved restlessly against the rough blanket and opened his eyes to the faint lantern light and the sight of her, standing beside him. The beautiful face. And her hair: still lustrous black. And she was slim again.

A calm smile touched her lips, seeing him wake.

“John! Darling!”

She sat on the cot beside him--he could feel the swell of hip against his side, only the blanket between them.

He stared, and spoke in a raspy whisper: “You’re…you’re well!

“I am. I would I could say so of you.”

“It's my arm. Fellow…cut it.”

She shook her head, though the smile still lingered. “I know.”

“Do you?”

“Yes.”

“Oh.” He closed his eyes. He could feel her, caressing his face, then moving to run her hands lightly down his bandaged arm. Oddly, there was no pain.

A kiss on his forehead. “Sleep now,” she said softly. “I must go. Your brother is waiting.”

He murmured agreement, then slept, undisturbed.

* * *

A hand on his forehead, again. He licked fever-chapped lips. “Mother?”

“No, lad: Bill! Thank God. Your fever’s down.”

Jack opened his eyes and lay frowning as Bill unwrapped his arm.

“Jack, this looks better!”

Jack’s expression lightened. “Good. But Bill…”

“Hmm?”

Jack looked at Bill for a long moment. Then said soft and slow, “My mother was here.”

Bill gave a nervous laugh. “Here? And…you told me she died, Jack.”

“She did. Childbed fever. My brother, as well.”

“Ah.”

His friend was looking at him closely, worriedly, and at last Jack smiled, crookedly. “ ’s all right. Couldn’t be, eh?”

Bill’s expression cleared. He opened his mouth, to turn it off with a light word. Then paused, and was seen to change his mind. He gave his own crooked smile. “Couldn’t it?”


~~

Sounds like a lovely day

Date: 2004-10-31 11:15 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] rennie1265.livejournal.com
I'm quite envious of your outing. Never been to Disneyland, or world or any of them. It's nice that you are in a place where you can take advantage of it and really enjoy it all. The food descriptions are quite lovely, too.

By the way, did the peach tree get planted properly by the tree-killers? I've been wondering how that turned out.
Ciao

Re: Sounds like a lovely day

Date: 2004-11-01 06:01 am (UTC)
ext_15536: Fuschias by Geek Mama (Default)
From: [identity profile] geekmama.livejournal.com
The food descriptions are quite lovely, too.

They do have great food, if you know which restaurants to go to. Our favorite, of course, is the Blue Bayou, which is done up like a garden party on a summer night in New Orleans, with live music, chinese lanterns, and the night sounds of the local "fauna" coming from the river just beyond the wroght iron fense where the PotC boats are floating by. It also has some of the best service, and lovely meals.

I could go on and on about Disneyland, having been going since it opened in 1955 (I was 2). When my kids were teens, we had year-round passes (as did their friends) and big groups of us would go together on a regular basis. I renewed my pass this year, and probably will for next when they have their 50th anniversary--they are very busy getting ready for that at the moment--lots of construction. If you ever can get down here for a few days and want to go, I'd love to help show you around!

Re: Our new peach tree. Yes, they finally did plant it, and it's a good size one so we should get some peaches in the Spring. I should post about it--I had so many sympathetic comments about that apple tree post. Made me feel much more cheerful, knowing so many people cared.

I owe you tons of feedback. I am glad to see you are posting A Kettle of Hawks to Live Journal. You should do a link from [livejournal.com profile] pirategasm to your journal, so all those readers know it's there. You're doing a great job on it.

Hope you have a lovely day up there in beautiful Vancouver.

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