Sept. 11th, 2001 - My Story

I have rarely spoken about the events from 10 years ago. I can't believe its been that long. It seems so long ago and yet it just seems like it was yesterday. Maybe its because the events of that day are so ingrained in my mind. Maybe I really want to forget, or better yet, I don't want to believe what happened on that day. But for better or worse, that day is part of American history. Its part of the World history. It's part of my history.

In my 20's, I used to visit New York City at least twice a year, every year. I would go for extended weekend trips. The trips served three purposes. One, I would go see as many Broadway shows as I could. I would see one show on Thursday & Friday, two shows on Saturday and Sunday and maybe one more show on Monday before heading back home on Tuesday. Over the span of 5 to 6 years, I saw so many great performances in some great shows. I saw Ricky Martin in Les Miz. I saw Lea Salonga in Miss Saigon. I saw Carol Burnett in Moon Over Buffalo. I saw Julie Andrews in Victor, Victoria. I saw Betty Buckley in Sunset Boulevard. The list goes on and on. What can I say, I'm a Broadway Baby at heart.

Secondly, I would go to enjoy the Gay New York scene. I think its fair to say that New York in the 90's was an exciting time for a visiting 20-something year old gay man. There were so many bars and clubs to choose from. The gay scene in Chicago could not compare to that of New York's. I would go to my favorite gay clubs, grab a drink, hit the dance floor and dance all night long. That's what made me happy: the dancing. I would just listen for a great song, feel the beat of the song and I would just dance, dance, dance. It was especially fun since I would go alone, by myself. I didn't travel with friends that much because it would just be a different 'vide'. I could dance all night long, by myself, and not care about who was watching me. Plus, I was a great dancer. Actually, I'm still a good dancer. I still 'bust a move' maybe once a year at some wedding. Spending the night in a gay bar in New York, dancing all night long was My Paradise.

Thirdly, I would just go to New York to just get away. I would take in all the different sights of New York. The shopping, the arts, the museums, the opera, the tourist spots, the dining. I could get away to NYC very quickly. Just hope on a plane, find a hotel and then hit the road running. I would walk thru Central Park, hang out in Battery Park, ride the Staten Island ferry. And I would visit the World Trade Center.

In the mid 90's, I started dating my current boyfriend. And I stop going to New York. We would take trips to other cities and places. He really was not excited about visiting New York. He said he would probably would not like Manhattan: the noise, the crowds, the dirty city. Well, after a few years I said we needed to visit New York just once. If he liked the trip, good for me. If he did not, then we probably would not go back.

So planning this trip went into high gear. We planned on visiting New York starting on Thursday, Sept. 13th. We bought tickets for a few Broadway shows. We looked into some restaurants that we wanted to dine at. We planned a trip to Hoboken, New Jersey to see the birthplace of Frank Sinatra. We wanted to attend the Feast of San Gennaro in Little Italy. And we planned on having breakfast at Windows on the World before taking the ferry boats to Ellis Island and Liberty Island. Windows on the World was located on the 106th and 107th floors of the North Tower of the World Trade Center.

On the morning of September 11th, I decided to go to work late because I wanted to go to the Illinois State Center to renew my driver's license for my upcoming trip. The DMV center is located in the lower level of the Illinois State Center. Basically, the basement of the building. So at 9am, I am waiting line with other people who are renewing their id's and licenses. Music is playing in the back-ground. The station we're listening to is LITE-FM Chicago. And like any other day at the DMV, the lines are long and slow. Around 9:45 am, I'm almost to the front the line. I should be the next customer in a few minutes.

All of a sudden, the music stopped playing in the center. I started to notice all the workers behind the counters. They started to grouping together and talking among themselves. I kinda felt something was up. I was called up to a window. The agent quickly reviewed my paperwork and everything was in order. I paid the renewal fee and waited to get my picture taken and get my new license. As I sat and waited, I noticed a hush in the room. Usually, the DMV is one the loudest places one can visit. But that was not the case this day.

I happened to have my Sony Walk-Man cassette player with me. I tired getting a radio signal on it, but because we were located deep in the lower levels of the building, I could not. Then I started hearing from the other people in line that a major accident had happened in New York. That a plane had crashed into a building. That's all I knew at the time. About 15 minutes later, I had my new license and I left the Illinois State Center and I started to head to work.

As I got to the street level, I knew something serious was going on. I could tell people were walking and moving in an frantic pace. Not your typical 'I'm rushing to get to work' mood. I turned on my Walk-Man player and quickly found a radio station. I then heard that a second plane had crashed in New York. This time I learned that the planes had crashed into both towers of the World Trade Center. I then heard that a third plane had crashed in the Pentagon and that a fourth plane was high-jacked and was missing. As I stood in Downtown Chicago listening to the news on the radio I turned my attention to the tallest building located Downtown. The 108th story tall Sears Tower building.

I started moving to an elevated 'EL' train station. It should only be about a 15 minute train ride to my job. I needed to get to my job fast so that I could call my mother at her job. My mother worked at a school for the Chicago Board of Education. I needed to know where my mother and sister were located. I needed to make sure that they were OK. I started to feel sick. I could not believe what I was hearing on the news. When I got to work, everyone was listening to the news on the radio. I quickly called my mother and she was still at work. She said she had not heard from Headquarters if the schools were being closed and sending students home. I told her to let me know her every move. I told her I would be at work until something changed.

My office was located in a warehouse district with many factories. Across the street was another factory. The owner of that business called our office and told us if we wanted to watch the news on TV, we could go over to watch. So I went over with three other co-workers. We went into the owner's office and started watching the news unfold on TV. That's when I saw the live footage of the collapse of the World Trade Center. That's when I went numb and I can't remember what happened next.

We know what happened after that day. Airports were shut-down. No flights were allowed anywhere. The whole world had gone numb. Everyone was glued to their TVs for days. Life had come to a stand-still. Of course, my vacation plans for New York were cancelled. I was hoping things would change in a few days, but that was not the case. I felt angry that my vacation was 'cancelled'. I still wanted to go to New York. As if nothing had happened. I was in bad frame of mind. I really could not take in what had happened. I thought everything would still be up and running in New York. Instead, everything in New York, and much of the world, had stopped.

As the weekend approached, my boyfriend decided maybe we should take a weekend trip to near-by Milwaukee, just to get away from the news and sadness and non-stop news coverage. Looking back, I really appreciated that. I knew it was something that would help us 'move on'.

On the 1st anniversary of the World Trade Center attacks, I went to New York on my own. I actually went Labor Day weekend of 2002. I went to some Broadway shows. I ate at new places. And I went to 'Ground Zero', the site were the World Trade Center once stood. I won't go into details about I how I felt that day. Those are my personal, private feelings and I don't want to be-little my feelings or those of anyone else. At least, not now. Maybe in another 10 years. Maybe never. I have not been to New York since that 2002 trip. I don't know if its painful. I don't know if its emotional. Maybe its because New York seems different to me now. I almost planned a quick last-minute trip to New York this weekend, but I decided against it. But I do feel that a New York trip is due. Hopefully I can make that trip sooner than later.


Back in 2007, I made a video montage as a reminder of what happened 10 years ago. It's a tribute to the New York I knew. The New York I fell in love with. I've attached the video below. If the audio works, you will hear the Green Day song 'When September Ends'. If not, then You Tube might have an issue with the copyright of the song.





Thank you for reading my story. Never Forget.

John

Madonna Music Monday - 09/05/2011

Happy Lador Day Everyone! Well I guess today marks the un-official last day of Summer 2011. Where did the time go? Fall will be upon us shortly and the coldness will take over. So I thought it would be fitting to end Summer with a dance song. One of my favorite Madonna songs is DEEPER AND DEEPER, from the under-appreciated album EROTICA. The song has a great retro vide. The video also has a great 70's Disco look to it. So let's say Bye Bye to Summer 2011 with a great Madonna song. Here is Madonna's video to Deeper an Deeper. Enjoy! John

Trip Report - Walt Disney World - 07/19/2011 - Part One

So today is an early day. I want to be at Disney Hollywood Studios by 8am. Some how we got up early, showered, got dressed and were on our way. We get to the Studios just before 8am. Yeah! There was only a couple other families in line. So I feel good about getting to ride Toy Story Mania as soon as the park opens. I rarely get to a park before opening. Its really interesting to see an empty park. But it is kinda cool. So I have to decide my course of action. Do I ride Toy Story Mania 1st and then get a Fast Passes for later in the day, or do I grab Fast Passes 1st and then jump in line?

As the hour passes, more people show up and are forming lines. Next thing I know, there are TONS of people getting ready to enter the park. I started getting a bit nervous. I don't want my 8yo nephew to get run-overed by the masses. Here is a video clip of the people who are waiting in line:

At about 8:45, the turnstiles were opened and we make our way towards the rope drop, which is at the end of Hollywood Blvd. The Cast Members instruct us on how to proceed to Toy Story Mania. As we waited, we were filmed for a 'promo commercial' by a camera crew. It was pretty funny.

At 9am, we were escorted to the Toy Story Mania Fast Pass machines & attraction. Since we were up close to the rope line, we were one of the first people to grab Fast Passes and then jump into the line. YEAH!!! This was my main goal of the day. My nephew LOVES anything to do with Toy Story. And he's been excited to ride this attraction. The wait is about 20 minutes, which is great. My nephew is just overwhelmed by the pre-show area. He loves the over-sized toys and board games. And he loves the talking Mr. Potato Head.

My nephew is LOVING this attraction. We're going thru all the games and shooting at everything and just laughing our heads off! He's having a great time. He loves the idea that we're inside a huge video game. As we exit the attraction, I look to see how bad the line is. Its now a two hour wait! Our Fast Passes are for 11am. So we have time to ride other attractions.

So we walk over to Muppet-Vision 3D. As we approach Muppets, I see that the turnstile is still locked. So I look around for a Cast Member to see if Muppets is open or not. But all of a sudden I see two Cast Members walk up to the turnstile and open the gate. After we go thru the turnstile, I make my nephew look under the mat that is located next to the turnstile. I'm sure you Disney Geeks know what he's looking for. I won't tell you what he finds, but on your next Disney trip I suggest you do this and see what you find! (HINT: Look at the next pic for a clue!)

As we enter the pre-show area, I start looking for the tribute to one of the original Mouseketeers, Annette Funicello. I look above me and I find it hanging from the ceiling. Look at the following pictute and see if you can figure out the tribute:

We go into Muppets 3D and enjoy it. This is one of my favorite 3D films. Plus I love The Muppets! After the film, we walk around because we still have time before returning to Toy Story Mania. As we walk towards Mama's Melrose's restuarant, we find the Phineas & Ferb photo location. Phineas & Ferb is another favorite of my nephews. So we get in line. This photo op has a theme. A 'movie crew' and 'director' show up to entertain the crowd before Phineas & Ferb come out for photos. The 'crew' select kids from the line so they can do skits. My nephew gets picked to perform in a 'band'. It was fun to see my newphew enjoying himself and having a good time.

After our Phineas & Ferb meet & greet, its time to head back to Toy Story Mania to use our Fast Passes for a second spin. This ride just gets better and better with every ride. Again, I get the high score but that's not important. Sharing some 'dork' time with my nephew is all I want.

Now that I have accomplised my goal for the day, everything elese is bonus. But now its time for lunch. Plus it has gotten very HOT! So we need to cool down fast. We head over to Toy Story Pizza Planet for our lunch. I had the pepperoni pizza and my nephew had the chesse pizza. After our lunch, we head back out to the park and see what we can do next.

So another goal I had for our visit to the Studios was to ride the new version of Star Tours. I was really doubting that we would get to ride Star Tours even once. Well was I surprised. As we neared Star Tours, I checked the stand-by line time. It was only a 30 minute wait. But before we got in line, I got Fast Passes for later in the day.

As you might know, Star Tours got a MAJOR over-haul. New films were made for the attraction. And depending what sequence you ride, you get different storyline everytime you ride Star Tours. Plus, the films are now in 3D. All I can say is WOW! This ride is fantastic. 1st, the digital films look amazing. They are so sharp and beautiful to watch. 2nd, the various storylines make it fun to see what story and characters you'll see. This is great for any Star Wars fan. And 3rd, the 3D effects are thrilling. All these elements combined make a great attraction. The 1st thing you notice as you enter the pre-show area, are the new films that are shown on the jumbo screen where R2-D2 and C-3PO are located. Here is video of one of the film sequences you might see:

After walking thru the pre-show, you then get directed to your ship to board. Before boarding, you get handed very cool looking 3D glasses that you need to ride the attraction.

The basic concept of Star Tours is that you board a 'Star Speeder' that is hiding a rebel spy. Various charcters appear demanding the release of the spy. The Empire Force then chases after you, but you eventually escape and are able to deliver the spy to safety. With the various beginnings, middles and endings, there are 54 possible 'storylines' that you might see when you ride Star Tours. Here is video of what you see right before you board the ride attraction:

This is a great improvement for this ride. Let me say I was impressed beyond my expectations. The ride experience is very realistic with the 3D effects. It was thrilling, exciting, surprising and fun. I highly recommend this re-vamped attraction. After riding the 1st time, my nephew and I were hooked. We wanted to ride over and over and over, just to see if we could see different storylines. So we did! When we checked the line, it was still a 30 minute wait so we rode again. And we got a different storyline! It was great! After the 2nd ride, we decided we would defintely ride again, but later in the day or at night.

After Star Tours, we decided to see what the wait times were for Tower of Terror and Rock N' Roller Coaster. Well both had waits of over an hour and the Fast Pass return times were for later in the evening. Gee, I wonder what might have caused that? Yes, the Brazillians were everywhere. But I could not get any Fast Passes because I was still locked out with the Star Tour Fast Passes I had gotten earlier. This was fine. I thought Rock N' Roller Coaster might be too rough for my nephew because this coaster does go up-side down. So I decided we would skip this attraction on this trip. I also thought it might be better to ride Tower of Terror at night when everyone is watching Fantasmic! and the crowds are smaller. Plus, Tower of Terror is much scarier at night-time!

So we make our way towards The Great Movie Ride. This is one of the last attractions I wanted to see before we take our mid-day break. Plus its another attraction where we can cool off and get out of the hot sun. This is another fun attraction. My nephew thought it was cute, but he was itching to go back to the resort for a much needed swim. After The Great Movie Ride, I wanted to see what the wait time was for Star Tours. This time it was only 20 minutes, so we rode again! One more ride before heading back to the resort.

Well I think this is a great place for a trip blog break. In my follow-up report, I'll write about our dinner at 50's Prime Time Cafe, One Man's Dream attraction, riding Tower of Terror at night, attending the 2nd showing of Fantasmic! and riding Star Tours. Again. Four Times In A Row!

John

Madonna Music Monday - 08/29/2011

So the 2011 MTV Music Video Awards were presented last night. Its funny that MTV still holds this awards show even thou they don't air music videos anymore. But there was a time when MTV did show videos and this award show meant something. It used to be the 'main event' every year. Some of my favorite VMA telecasts were those when Madonna performed on the show. Back in 1993, Madonna was in the midst of her limited run Girlie Show Tour. So it was fitting that Madonna would open the 1993 award show. So here is Madonna performing Bye Bye Baby from her Bedtime Stories album. Enjoy!

Madonna - Bye Bye Baby (MTV VMA 1993)



John

Haunted Mansion Pre-Show Walk Thru - Magic Kingdom

Without question, my favorite attraction at the Disney Parks is the Haunted Mansion. For the past few years, my favorite version has been the original at Disneyland. I love the attraction building, I love the pre-show area before you board the 'Doom Buggies', and I love that this was one of the last attractions Walt Disney was working on before he passed away. Well something happened this year at the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World. The Haunted Mansion now has an elaborate walk-thru before you enter the attraction. After seeing the new additions for myself this past July, I can say that I love the Magic Kingdom version alot more than before. So if you are visiting Disney World any time soon, go check out this attraction and make sure you take the time to check out the new walk-thru. Here is video of my recent trip. Enjoy!!



John

Madonna Music Monday - 08/22/2011

Today I wanted to hear a classic Madonna song, but with a musical twist. In 2004, Madonna traveled the world with her Re-Invention Tour. On this tour, Madonna performed songs from her vast musical catalog with new musical arrangements. One of the highlights was a rock version of the dance floor classic Burning Up. In concert, it was all about guitars. So here is Madonna performing Burning Up, from her debut album MADONNA. Enjoy!

Madonna 'Burning Up' Live Re-invention Tour



John

Trip Report - Walt Disney World - 07/18/2011

So today is the second day of our trip. Today we have Animal Kingdom, All Star Movies and Downtown Disney planned. We also have dinner plans at Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary Resort.

Today we got up early so that we can make it to Animal Kingdom as soon as it opened. I'm not looking forward to visiting Animal Kingdom this day. On most days, Animal Kingdom can be pretty warm and stuffy because of all the foliage and the people. Today is another hot day, so the park is going to be much, much warmer. We get to the park shortly after opening, around 9:15am. We make a bee-line to the Kilimanjaro Safari. The wait time is 15 minutes. So we get on right away. I love the Safari. Today we get to see a lot of animals out and about. One of the better tours I have been on.

After the safari, we headed to Expedition Everest. I figure it might be best to ride this before we have breakfast. There is a posted time of 25 minutes, but it seemed more like 20. I wasn't sure how my nephew would handle roller coasters. I would soon find out that he LOVES them. We had a blast. We decide to ride Everest a second time. Its always better the second time!

Now that we are fully awake, we are hungry. So we head to Pizzafari in Discovery Island. We get a Breakfast Pizza, Egg & Sausage, apple juice and a large coke. We use our dining plan to pay for this. I'm loving the dining plan more and more every day. Now that we ate, we tour Animal Kingdom some more.

After breakfast, I ask my nephew what show would he like to see: Festival of the Lion King or Finding Nemo. Nemo wins. So we have time before the next show. We go to DinoLand USA and see what we can ride. I see that Primeval Whirl is still closed down from the terrible accident that took place. Hopefully Disney will make this ride safer for the workers and riders. Then I see that Triceratop Spin has a 15 minute wait. So we get on. Yes I know its a Dino version of Dumbo, but its still a cute ride. My nephew enjoys the attraction. And that's what counts.

After Triceratop, we head towards Finding Nemo. Its almost full, but we find seats towards the front, left side of stage. It's a good view. Not too close that we can't see everything. While not my favorite show, my nephew enjoys the show. He has seen the Finding Nemo movie many times but has not seen The Lion King movie. What is wrong with this kid? LOL! Well, Uncle Johnny will change that when The Lion King 3D hits the movie screens later this year.

After Finding Nemo, I decide we have one more attraction to see before we leave. That will be Its Tough to be a Bug, the 3D film. One of the things I love about this show is that its an in-door attraction with AC. Yes, its another HOT day at Disney World. We go in and get our 3D glasses and take our seats. This is a funny, but sometimes scary show for young kids.So I told my nephew not to get scared by anything that happens while we watch the film. And for the most part he is fine. Until the end of the film. You know what happens at the end of the film. My nephew got a 'sting' from one of the insects from the film. He jumped off his seat so fast, it made me laugh!

I think we have seen enough of Animal Kingdom, so its time to move on. I want to take my nephew to the All Star Movies resort so that he can see the Toy Story section of the resort. We jump onto a bus and make our way to All Stars.

After a very quick ride, we are at All Stars Movie resort. We go thru the main lobby and head out to the Toy Story section. Why? Because my nephew LOVES anything that has to do with Toy Story. So I show him all the over-sized statues of the various Toy Story characters. There's a jumbo Buzz Lightyear, a Woody statue, Little Bo Peep, RC and Rex. We take various pics and look around the resort. I really like the All Stars resort. I've stayed at the Movies and Music sections. I really love the Three Caballeros pool at the Music section.  After our tour, its time for lunch at Downtown Disney.

As we ride over to Downtown Disney, I am loving the intense cold on the bus. Its such a relief from the heat of the day. However, I will regret the cold buses in a couple of days. More on this later.

We get to the Market Place section of Downtown Disney. So we need to get some lunch. And a huge drink. Near Cap'n Jack's Oyster Bar, there is a snack stand that had hot dogs. So we get a lunch meal of hot dogs, bag of chips and drinks. We find some tables and chairs along Village Lake and enjoy our lunch. Has anyone else had these bagged chips that Disney is now selling? They are AMAZING! They have regular and BBQ flavor chips that I know of. They are so tasty and addictive!!!

After lunch, we head to the Mega Lego Store to see what statues that have that are built with Legos. We go inside and guess what we see? We see statues of Buzz Lightyear

While at Downtown Disney, I was updating my social media status. I was on Gowalla, Twitter and Facebook. While updating my Facebook profile, I saw that my cousin's wife sent me a message saying that she was at Downtown Disney. My cousin and his family live near Orlando. I immediately replied and hoped that I had not missed her. It would be nice to see her since I didn't have any spare time on this trip to visit my cousin and his family. I then got a response that she had already left because was too hot to do any shopping. Now that's a first!! Too hot to do any shopping!!! LOL! I thought women loved shopping under ANY situation. I guess there are limits. Now it was time to head back to Pop Century and swim for a bit before dinner at Chef Mickey's.

Back at Pop Century, we went swimming for about two hours. While swimming, I realize that I forgot to use sun tan lotion. I will pay for this too in a couple of days. All I can say is OUCH!!!

After our swim, we rest a bit in our hotel room. We watch some more Phineas & Ferb. We watched the ending of Wall-E. Then we got ready and headed to the Contemporary Resort. I'm was looking forward to dinner at Chef Mickey. Plus its been awhile since I've visited this resort.

As you know, there are no buses that go from resort to resort. So we took a bus to the Magic Kingdom. From there, we took the pathway that leads to the Contemporary Resort. As you walk along this path, you get to see the Space Mountain building.

So we make our way to the 4th level of the Contemporary Resort. There you will find the Outer Rim food lounge, the quick service Contempo Cafe eatery and Che Mickey's Buffet. We check in and we have our picture taken with a Chef Mickey statue. About 15 minutes later, we are seated for dinner.

Chef Mickey's is a great place to eat. Plus you get meet Minnie, Donald, Goofy, Pluto and Mickey Mouse. We are told by our waiter that everyone will come to over table for pics and autographs shortly. So we to the buffet and get some food. I love the buffets at Disney, the food is always good and there is something for everyone to enjoy.

As we eat, music starts playing and the characters start dancing around. All the customers start twirling their napkins. It turns into a party!!! It was so much fun. We enjoy our dinner and we get lots of pictures taken with the characters. All in all, a great time at Chef Mickey's. I also buy the photo package of the picture we took when we arrived for dinner.

After dinner, we walk around the resort for bit. We see that a pirate party is taking place. We see Mr. Smee and Captain Hook lead pirate children thru the lobby. It was so cute to see.

After touring the resort, we decided to do a night-time ride on the monorail. I figure we could just ride the monorail for one loop and see the other resorts along the monorail  loop. It was nice to just relax after dinner and go on this 'mini ride'. We also got to see parts of the Electrical Water Pageant. It was so cute. After we returned back to the Contemporary, it was time to head back to Pop Century.

Well if you read all of this, you realized what a LONG day we had at Disney World. We grab late-night snacks and head to our room. We watch a little TV and we're soon fast asleep. Tomorrow is an early day for us. I want to be at the Disney Hollywood Studios by 8am, an hour before they open. Why? Because I want to ride Toy Story Mania when the park opens and I want to get Fast Passes for this ride so that we can at least ride it two times. My nephew is really looking forward to this ride. So hopefully my plan will work. Until then, Magical Dreams!

John