Around the World, join hands....

Monty Python rears its head again! In Civil Procedure we’re discussing methods of alternative dispute resolution (arbitration & mediation). The Professor noted that the best example of mediation appears in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, when John Cleese's knight storms into a wedding and starts killing guests in his quest to save the bride from a forced marriage. It turns out to be a misunderstanding (the SOS note came from a prince who wanted to sing and dance rather than rule his father’s kingdom) so he has to slink back into the big room and apologize. One lady in the bloodspattered crowd calls out, “He killed my auntie!” and Michael Palin's King Arthur replies, “Let’s not dwell on the past... what’s done is done, and it’s time to focus on the present...” or something to that effect. So! The Pythons serve me again.

Speaking of English imports, I really enjoyed my brief time in Epcot’s World Showcase. In particular, the United Kingdom was awesome. They replicated the cobblestone streets and short, stout pubs of England. You walk down a little street and there’s a stage on the road where British Invasion, a Beatles tribute band, plays almost constantly, alternating sets with the Lonely Hearts Club Band. I leaned against a storefront and stood there for four songs: “Yellow Submarine,” “Can't Buy Me Love,” “Eight Days a Week” and one I didn't recognize, something about when you wake up in the morning I'll be gone and you'll know I was the one, or something like that. (I would have stayed longer, but their latest set had expired.) Instead of a popcorn stand or something, they had a Fish and Chips stand, and a matching one for nothing but beer, stationed in front of an authentic English pub. Of course, all the college students were congregated here, hooting and squealing and whatnot.

I also immensely enjoyed France. You walk into a Perfumerie, thinking you’re just entering a store, and when you exit on the other side you enter this amazing replica of a Paris street, complete with a Boulangerie and everything. It looks just like the opening of Beauty and the Beast, where Belle walks around collecting bread and fresh groceries for her father. They had a sweet-smelling bread shop, a wine shop, a cheese shop, etc. And it was all kind of sequestered behind other storefronts, so it felt tight and close as I imagine the real Europe does. In the perfumery, I was poking around looking for something to spray on as a souvenir of sorts and one of the ladies in a massive, bright pink gown came over and asked me in a thick French accent if I needed any help. I replied in broken French that no, I was just looking, and she began speaking very quickly in her native tongue. I had to interrupt that I only possessed the capabilities to engage a bit of the language (and poorly at that) but she said that she was impressed at my effort and that very few Americans even attempt to communicate. So, that was nice. They even had a little abandoned spot where you would imagine a starving artist on a bicycle had just stepped away from sketching a portrait of a passerby, which invoked a nice ambiance. This was, of course, situated between the Crepes stand and the Wine stand, both vended like popcorn or pretzels.

Morocco was just scary. I kept walking.

Canada, of course, featured a bunch of outdoors-type stuff, and all the employees were decked out like lumberjacks (which recalled Monty Python's famous Lumberjack sketch). They had a store devoted to Maple Syrup, with all sorts of syrup items, even chips and other such rarities.

Darkness had settled in by the time I arrived in Japan to procure some “Japan Sushi Rolls” which are basically California rolls in fancy packaging. I was disappointed at how Americanized the whole thing was - you would think they’d have a whole big sushi bar, what with it being the #1 exported social contribution and all, but they just sold the little trays like at Sendik’s. I had a tray of rolls and a Miso soup (which was surprisingly good, notwithstanding the large chunks of seaweed lulling about). The three restaurants in Japan were packed (not surprising, considering Morocco was just next door and that chicken smelled suspicious). They had an entire store devoted to sushi, with one whole wall devoted to chopsticks. I couldn’t decide which ones to get for my sister until I came across these fancy teal ones with cute little dogs carved into the top - when in doubt, stick to something fuzzy! I wish I had gone earlier, and spent more time there, but I guess now I know for next time.

Wow, this turned out to be wordy and long-winded... that's what happens when I start talking Disney.

Today in 2000, Disneyland employees were allowed to sport facial hair for the first time, lifting a ban imposed by Walt himself; then, in 1987, the first Disney Store opened, in California.