A Textbook of Irony in Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado” (LIT 2100 Response Paper)

            Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado” is a tale of revenge, yet portrayed in the midst of irony.  This is evident right from the beginning of the story as Montressor, the main character and narrator, states his intentions towards his acquaintance, Fortunado, to the reader.  The reader does not know what Fortunado’s crime is against Montressor, yet Montressor deems it necessary to kill Fortunado for the insult against him, whatever it may be.  Despite the fact that the reader knows little about Montressor at the beginning of the story, the reader is forced to listen to the story from his point of view (Moore).  The story reeks with the feeling of entrapment in a dark setting, but I will show how both men have become victim to the entrapment that was meant for one man through the use of dramatic, verbal, and situational irony.

            Aside from the carnival, the setting is predominantly taking place in the catacombs.  These very catacombs were used as a storage area for the Amontillado, the renowned wine for which Fortunado could not turn down a chance to taste.  Montressor uses this Amontillado to lure Fortunado away from the company of the carnival.  Of course, he needed incentive to gain Fortunado’s interest, so he mentioned Luchesi, a rival wine connoisseur, in the midst of his conversation with Fortunado.  Montressor’s intentions toward Fortunado are the foundation of the dramatic irony that will ensue as the story unfolds since the reader already knows that Fortunado is marked for death.  Fortunado made several harsh statements regarding Luchesi like, “Luchesi cannot tell Amontillado from Sherry.” (Poe, 15)  Montressor has knowledge of Fortunado’s distaste for Luchesi, but this vendetta is used to fuel Fortunado’s obsession over the Amontillado.  Montressor places the pieces strategically, and the fine placement was due to reverse psychology, or better known in the world of literature as verbal irony.

            Montressor not only knows Fortunado’s motivations, but also that of his servants.  He had given them explicit instructions to remain in the home for the night since he would not be coming home for the evening.  Montressor knew his servants well enough to realize that they would not remain in the house if their master was not around to watch over them, so the servants indulge in the carnival or other affairs they had for the night rather than remaining in the house.  Another example of verbal irony that is displayed is Montressor’s concern for Fortunado’s health.  A sign of foreshadowing is when Fortunado says that he will not die of a cough, yet Montressor responds with a mere, “True – true.” (Poe, 16).  Montressor even drank to Fortunado’s “long life” (Poe, 16) despite the fact that Montressor will be the one who is responsible for his life to cease.  He knows that Fortunado will not return home because he cannot resist the Amontillado.  As Montressor begins constructing the wall around Fortunado, we can see that not only is Fortunado intoxicated with the Medoc, but Montressor is intoxicated with his desire for revenge.  Before the last block of the wall is placed, the reader is pelted with irony.

            The situational irony can be seen in the fact that Fortunado, also known as the fortunate one, is enduring an unfortunate end.  Fortunado is chained to the wall, he’s one stone away from being buried alive, yet he is in denial and believes his situation to be a joke.  The mason, Fortunado, is walled in by one who Fortunado did not believe to be a mason.  Even though Fortunado is trapped in the room, Montressor is trapped in his demented mindset.  No one knows what Fortunado was guilty of, but that does not seem to bother him to the point where he would perceive Montressor as an enemy.  He was unable to relate to the basics of human society, but lived inside his own vengeful mind, an enclosed area in which space was sparse, much like that of Fortunado’s masonry coffin.  Montressor lived on, yet he was wrapped and trapped within himself (Moore).

            The story is dark, and Montressor is not a man to be trifled with, yet Fortunado’s crime must have been so obscure that he may have not realized committing it.  This unsaid crime could have been committed while Fortunado was inebriated.  No one knows for sure, and Poe does not reveal such information to the reader.  The reader believes the story to take place in the present, yet it is revealed to take place about fifty years in the past from when it was told.  The reader realizes this within the last paragraph which reads, “Against the new masonry I reerected the old rampart of bones.  For the half of a century no mortal has disturbed them.” (Poe, 19)  This time offset can also be considered as situational irony.  Irony comes to the reader in all directions in this story, so much that it could be considered a textbook of irony.

Works Cited

Poe, Edgar Allan. “The Cask of Amontillado” Literature: A Portable Anthology, Second Edition.

            Eds. Janet E. Garner, et al. Bedford: Boston, 2009. pg. 14-19.

Moore, Dolores. “Literary analysis: Claustrophobia in The Cask of Amontillado, by Edgar Allan

            Poe” Helium. 11

Shattered Dreams in Guy de Maupassant’s “The Diamond Necklace” (LIT 2100 Response Paper)

            Guy de Maupassant’s “The Diamond Necklace” is a story of deception, greed and martyrdom.  The main character, Matilda Loisel, is obviously unhappy with her station in life, so her husband gives up everything he has been saving for just to make her happy.  Her vanity shows that she firmly believes that her beauty was not being put to proper use.  She imagines that her looks and her charm belonged to high society instead of where she currently is on the social ladder.  Throughout the story, horrible things happen to those who covet what others have.  Although the necklace is not only beautiful but also a fraud, I will show how the necklace possesses the power of illusion, and how false assumptions about it shatter one’s dreams.

            Matilda’s dream was for the life of an aristocrat.  She is described as beautiful, yet took her looks for granted, disillusioned with the belief that everyone who is beautiful should be rich and upper class.  Her husband knew she longed for such things, so he went out his way to secure invitations for a party at the Minister of Public Instruction’s residence and even bought her a dress using the money he had been saving for a gun just to make her happy.  Unfortunately, her happiness had to come from someone she looked up to, Madame Forestier.  These scenes alone reveal and symbolize Matilda's apathy for the love and life her husband offers her, based on his lack of wealth (Drusset).  She showed appreciation to her friend, and all she did was lend her a necklace as opposed to buying her things like her husband has done for her.  It turns out that she loved the rich and looked down on what she considered to be poor; her husband.  She wanted to impart the illusion that she was rich, beautiful, and charming at the party.  Madame Forestier’s diamond necklace would suit her fine in accomplishing that feat, for it was also a fraud, just like Matilda.

            Losing the necklace brought about a realization to Matilda.  She wanted to be respected, and if she were to tell Madame Forestier that she lost her necklace, she would lose that respect.  She saw absolute value in the necklace since it was beautiful and presumably real, so she worked for over ten years to replace something she considered valuable with something just as authentic in her mind.  The box that the necklace came in even had the name of the jeweler who presumably sold it.  When they paid a visit to the jeweler, one hint to the fact that it was fake was disregarded when the jeweler said, “It is not I, Madame who sold this necklace; I only furnished the casket” (32).  She was not alone in this endeavor of compensation; her husband gave up his inheritance along with several years of his life and stood by her every step of the way.  In the end, Matilda was in denial when she encountered Madame Forestier after ten years.  She blamed Madame Forestier for how she and her husband have become impoverished by saying, “Yes, I have had some hard days since I saw you; and some miserable ones – and all because of you” (de Maupassant, 33).  However, it turns out that Madame Forestier did not respect Matilda enough to give her an authentic diamond necklace.

            Madame Forestier did not tell Matilda outright that the necklace was a fraud, since she probably wanted to convey the misconception that she was richer than Matilda gave her credit for.  The reader realizes this in the last quote of the story, “Oh!  My poor Matilda!  Mine were false.  They were not worth over five hundred francs!” (33)  Matilda thought if her friend was rich, then the necklace must be real, no questions asked.  She had the belief that if she questioned the quality of the necklace, she would insult her friend who has been nice enough to let her borrow it in the first place.  Matilda believed the jewels in the necklace were diamonds, therefore she perceived diamonds.  With these diamonds adorning her dress, she became infatuated with the illusion that she was rich; therefore others saw her as rich.  The necklace did not only look real, but it enhanced the perceptions of those around it like a mirage.  The years of disappointment would have been less severe if Matilda were more humble and willing to accept her fate, but her dignity was at stake if she were to reveal such a thing to a friend that she held in high regard.  Her dreams and ambition were shattered since they assumed the necklace was real, yet she still held onto those lingering memories of the party they attended before the necklace was lost.

            It would be no surprise that the reader would show contempt for someone as spiteful and condescending as Matilda.  She saw herself as a martyr, yet the true martyr all along was her husband.  He could have just left her with her debt, but he felt devoted to her because he loved her unconditionally (Drusset).  He helped her come up with reasons why they could not return the necklace, yet she never showed any appreciation for him throughout the story.  They were wealthy enough to have a maid, but they had to send her away since they could not maintain her services while making payments toward the replacement necklace.  In a way, the necklace put Matilda in her place, almost as if Karma was looking over her shoulder every step of the way.  Her dreams were shattered since her good looks diminished over time, and she was so far down the social ladder that her aspirations of aristocracy were beyond all hope.  After all, she was a pretender.  Matilda and the necklace share many common traits; they are beautiful, fake, and lost. 

Works Cited

Drusset, Alana. “Literary Analysis: The use of symbolism in “The Necklace,” by Guy de

Maupassant” Helium. 11 March 2008. web. 02 February 2012.

De Maupassant, Guy. “The Diamond Necklace” The Works of Guy de Maupassant. New York:

            Black’s Reader Service. pg. 28-33.

Fear of Change in Ernest Hemingway’s “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber” (LIT 2100 Response Paper)

            Ernest Hemingway’s “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber” is a tale of greed, lust, and self-realization.  The story is rife with foreshadowing starting with the title of the short story.  The reader can already venture a guess as to what happens at the end of the story, but what leads to the end of Francis Macomber is his own development from the man-boy he once was to the brave hunter he longed to become.  From the start of the story, the only thing Francis has going for him is his wealth and the amount of trophies he’s collected over the years, which is why he’s on a safari to begin with.  An ironic quality of the story is that his wife, Margot, was also considered a trophy, but I will reveal how both of the Macombers are afraid of change and how change lead to their undoing.

            Francis Macomber is the first character that the reader notices change in.  Over the course of the story, he’s noted by his cowardice and maltreatment from Margot, yet he has the wealth and assets to support such a wife.  Despite how unhappy Macomber and Margot are with their marriage, they will not leave each other.  Their reasons for not breaking off the marriage were because Margot was too beautiful for Macomber to divorce her and Macomber had too much money for Margot ever to leave him (Hemingway, 18).  Macomber’s change occurred during the buffalo hunt.  Margot noticed this and even commented based on her observations saying, “You’ve gotten awfully brave, awfully suddenly” (26).  However, there was more to Margot than what we were to believe in the beginning.

            Margot is a typical trophy wife: young, beautiful, and quite the opportunist.  Her beauty was enticing enough to sell cosmetics that she didn’t even wear (6), so long as her face was associated with the name.  She had wealth and financial stability as long as she remained with Macomber.  Despite these perks, she had a weakness for the brave, strapping, and red-faced Robert Wilson.  This weakness evolved into a sexual tension and she ended up in his bed for two hours following the second lion hunt.  Based on the conversation between Margot and her husband, the reader can draw the conclusion that her infidelity was not new to him.  This is revealed in the quote, “You said if we made this trip that there would be none of that.  You promised” (19).  This is one of the many ways she has been in control of the marriage for eleven years.  But despite Margot being a trophy wife, among all the fish and game that he’s hunted over the years, Macomber himself would be the latest trophy among a trophy in his own collection.

            As Macomber found his happiness on the buffalo hunt, it was short-lived when Margot “accidentally” shot Francis in the head from the car.  Throughout the short story, Francis wanted to change to become the brave man he idolized in his heart, yet was afraid of both lion hunts in the pursuit of that change.  Unfortunately, that change resulted in his death.  Margot was happy with Francis right where he was before he made his transition.  As he continued to develop, she figured out that Francis had found the courage to leave her.  If he did so, then she would no longer have access to his wealth or have the ability to belittle him for the many years to come.  She was losing control as her husband developed and continued to transform.  She felt threatened and could not bear the thought of going on further with someone like the new Francis Macomber in control, so she shot him from the car.  A trophy claims a trophy, but the claim comes with a price.

            Margot was observant during the pursuit of the buffalo, so much to question the legality of chasing animals with motorized vehicles.  She gained the upper hand on Robert Wilson since he could have lost his license over an incident like that, but ended up losing the advantage once she shot her husband in the head.  There’s no question on what Robert Wilson’s testimony will be worth to her, along with the gunbearers’ silence.  Margot’s actions are debatable on whether or not it was an accident, but Wilson confirms the reader’s suspicions in the end (Ganter).  When Wilson says to Margot, “That was pretty thing for you to do, he would have left you too,” (Hemingway 28) this reveals that Wilson is paying as much attention to the situation between Macomber and Margot as he is to the hunt at hand.  Unbeknownst to Margot earlier on, her desire to keep things from changing could have possibly changed them for the worst in her case.  By having such a large number of witnesses, she might possibly spend the rest of her life indebted to these men.  In conclusion, no matter her course of action, she is still at a loss because of the change in Macomber.

Works Cited

Hemingway, Ernest. “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber” The Complete Short Stories

            of Ernest Hemingway: The Finca Vigia Edition. New York: Scribner, 1987. pg. 5-28.

Ganter, Ben. “Analysis of The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber” Wrytestuff. 05 July 2006.

                web. 25 January 2012.

The Bull’s True Colors in Flannery O’Connor’s “Greenleaf” (LIT 2100 Response Paper)

            Flannery O’Connor’s “Greenleaf” is a short story of struggle and redemption, primarily between Mrs. May and her farmhand, Mr. Greenleaf.  Throughout the plot, a bull is chewing up crops, her shrubbery, and has the possibility of ruining the breeding schedule for Mrs. May’s cows, yet it does not bother the dwelling of the Greenleafs.  The reader does not learn who the bull belongs to until the middle of the story, which is revealed to belong to Mr. Greenfleaf’s two sons, E.T. and O.T. Greenleaf.  The bull is a strong symbolic figure throughout the story, and none of the characters are eager to rid Mrs. May of the bull except Mrs. May herself, yet the tables turn on her in the end when the bull gores her through the heart.  Although she died because of the bull, I will show why the bull was necessary for the redemption of Mrs. May in the end and how it is a suitable figure to resemble Jesus Christ.

            It does not take long for the reader to gain clues to identify what kind of character Mrs. May is.  She is morally smug and sees herself as superior to the Greenleaf family through means of education, social status, and the fact that she owns the farm and gave Mr. Greenleaf his job fifteen years ago.  The bull is seen by the Greenleafs as a force of nature that is bigger and far more powerful than Mrs. May can comprehend, yet she wants to control it by the means of either containing it or having it shot to death, as long as it is no longer on her property.  Her crops and livestock are held in higher esteem than anything else, which depicts how shallow she is toward everyone she associates with on a daily basis.  As she tries to keep the bull off her property, it is symbolizing her efforts to keep Christ out of her life (Durso).  She believed that if she hired Mr. Greenleaf, then he would handle all the grunt work and do as she commands, despite his best wishes.  However, the bull is a messenger that would make her think otherwise.

The bull wore a wreath around his horns which resembled a menacing prickly crown (O’Connor, 312).  Based on scripture, Jesus of Nazareth had a crown of thorns around his head before he was crucified.  The author mentions that Mrs. May was a good Christian woman had a large respect for religion, but was not a believer herself (316).  This correlates with Mr. Greenleaf’s spouse, Mrs. Greenleaf, doing the spiritual healing out in the woods with the newspaper clippings of various offenses against humanity.  Her most foreboding quote was, “Oh Jesus, stab me in the heart!”(317)  Mrs. May looked down on Mrs. Greenleaf not only because she was flat on the dirt while doing these spiritual healings, but also because she did not do motherly things that were considered the normal housewife obligations to the family, such as washing her children’s clothes.  Mrs. Greenleaf’s quote is a foreshadowing device which is later resolved at the end of the story.

The significance of Mrs. Greenleaf’s prayers actually come true, yet the recipient is Mrs. May.  The day comes when she finally goes to Mr. Greenleaf’s dwelling on her property and tells him several times to get his gun because they were going to shoot the bull today.  She had been told before that the bull had a loathing for car horns and noisy vehicles, but the noises she made with her car horn to signal Mr. Greenleaf were the catalyst of what would be her death.  The bull, which represents Jesus, stabbed her in the heart.  As she experienced death, it was as if she realized her relationship with God through the means of grace, God’s unmerited favor.

The majority of Flannery O’Connor’s writings have a main character that does not have a proper relationship with God.  In this case, it was Mrs. May since she respected religion, yet was not a believer until the end.  Despite how much contempt she had toward the Greenleafs, she was still given grace in the end.  The visions Mrs. May had in the end were vivid, yet she could not hear what was happening from the moment she was gored by the bull.  She saw the tree line as a dark wound in a world that was nothing but sky accompanied by a light that was unbearable to the eyes (333), quite possibly the vision of heaven.  The bull was the messenger which conveyed several religious references, mostly relevant to Jesus Christ and a relationship to God.

Works Cited

Durso, Eric. “Literary analysis: Greenleaf, by Flannery O'Connor” Helium. 04 March 2008.

web. 19 January 2012.

O’Connor, Flannery. “Greenleaf” Flannery O’Connor The Complete Stories. Ed. Farrar, Straus,

            and Giroux. New York: pg. 311-334.

 

 

Redemption in Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” (LIT 2100 Response Paper)

            Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” is a story about a family of six that meet their demise in the hands of a criminal known as The Misfit.  There are several examples of foreshadowing that can lead the reader into what will ultimately be the family’s demise.  O’Connor does not show any sympathy for the characters in this story, not even the innocent children or the baby in the family.   Despite the terrible outcome of the family, I will show how this story can be considered a tale of redemption, which is given to the grandmother from one who is to become “a good man”.

            The reader first hears of The Misfit when the second quote of the story is spoken from the unnamed grandmother while she rattles a newspaper at Bailey, father of the family and her only son.  This was her attempt to convince Bailey to not take the vacation to Florida, but to east Tennessee instead.  As the story unfolds, the family ends up encountering The Misfit after surviving a car accident, leaving the family stranded in the middle of nowhere.  While The Misfit’s other two cohorts start taking family members off to the woods for execution, he begins revealing details of his past to the grandmother of the family, explaining why he ended up renaming himself.  At first he mentions when his father told him he was a “different breed of dog from his brothers and sisters”(O’Connor, 405).  This could imply that he is an illegitimate child, which is considered a misfit in the family.  When asked if he had ever prayed before, he mentions that he was sent to the penitentiary for killing his father when he was nineteen, even though his father actually died of an epidemic flu which he had nothing to do with.  Despite this claim, he was still sentenced to time in the penitentiary.  With conviction, he states, “I call myself The Misfit because I can’t make what all I done wrong fit what all I gone through in punishment”(O’Connor, 408).  But the irony of The Misfit does not end there.

            There are more ironic qualities in The Misfit mainly because of the unnamed grandmother in the story.  The grandmother posed a question asking if he would shoot a lady, his response was, “I would hate to have to”(O’Connor, 404).  It’s ironic in the sense that he did in the very end.  Another ironic moment of The Misfit is when he looks up at the sky.  He sees no sun and no clouds, which would make the reader believe that night is upon them, yet the grandmother says that it’s a beautiful day.  That passage is filled with irony since the reader would believe that a criminal mind would operate their deeds at night time, yet it’s still day time according to the grandmother.  This void they converse about is foreshadowing for the grandmother’s transition to the other side being in sight.  However, she’s not ready to accept it.

            Some of the family went in the back woods with the two cohorts of The Misfit willingly, yet the kids were against the thought of doing so.  During the family’s encounter with The Misfit, the grandmother of the family keeps telling him he’s a good man.  As she keeps trying to flatter him and control him, it is as if she is trying to postpone her end because she is not ready to face death.  Based on their conversation, it’s safe for me to assume that all her life she had been relying on her social status, flattery, and public opinion to deal with her predicaments.  She tells stories over the short course of the trip.  Her morality fell apart like her blue straw hat, which was symbolic of her morals fading away.  She was privy to the knowledge of Christianity, but she never embraced it since she had doubts of the resurrection of Jesus near the end of the story.  Therefore, all her talk of praying was flattery, postponing her end.

            The grandmother’s most lucid moment was when the final gunshots went off in the woods.  Upon analysis, the reader can consider this to be her sanity leaving her since she has a hole inside of her and needed a family to fill it, perhaps another Bailey since it was only his name she was calling out in his time of duress.  She may have been confused, or just having a mental breakdown, but The Misfit was also wearing Bailey’s shirt at the end of the story.  She calls him “one of her own children” for a reason, but I believe she was longing for a son.  This startled The Misfit as he shot her three times.

 In conclusion, there is an underlying Christian meaning to this scene since Roman Catholics believe that we are all God’s children, hence we are all related.  It is as if God is speaking through the grandmother before her execution.  The Misfit underwent a transformation afterward by putting his gun down and taking off his glasses.  O’Connor described The Misfit stating, “Without his glasses, The Misfit’s eyes were red-rimmed and pale and defenseless-looking”(O’Connor, 408).  He had a different outlook when his cohorts expressed their joy in killing, but The Misfit said, “It’s no real pleasure in life”(O’Connor 409).  She had seen the truth of our existence in a biblical point of view, her stereotypes and loose opinions had diminished, and the grandmother was redeemed.  The Misfit is most likely on his way to redemption as well, thus becoming a “good man”.

Works Cited

O’Connor, Flannery.  “A Good Man Is Hard to Find”  The Norton Introduction to Literature.

            10^th ed.  Ed. Alison Booth and Kelly J. Mays. New York: Norton, 2010.  pp. 396-409.

Christmas in Disney World

Okay, here's the scoop on spending holidays like Christmas at Disney World in Orlando, Florida.  DO IT!  The lines were less than 10 minutes long on just about every ride, which is hardly measurable.  All the Christmas themed parades were top notch, and most families just stay at home, not sacrificing their time in the park.  There were no difficulties, everyone was happy at work (or so it seemed).  Again, no lines whatsoever.

The part of my trip that started getting other people pouring in was the 28th.  Around this time everyone starts celebrating their New Year holiday.  Everyone was pouring into the Animal Kingdom on this day.  The line for the Kilimanjaro Safari ride was so long that it extended past the bridge to the Africa portion of the theme park.  There were so many people around that park that I couldn't see the ground.  The parks were so booked up that they had all the ticket booths closed before noon that day.  I can imagine that the rest of the time beyond New Years Day was just as bad.  When you see a line go so far out from the entrance of a ride that you can't even see the entrance, may as well give up.  Fast passes were gone for most of the rides before noon.

On the 27th of December, my lady friend and I went to Hollywood Studios.  This was my first time there, so I didn't know what to expect.  Most of the attractions were wonderful.  My lady friend wanted to go on the Toy Story ride, and I had no idea what it was.  Apparently it was a shooting game of some sort where you went to different screens and shot some of the targets.  Note that the Buzz Lightyear ride in the Magic Kingdom is a bit more analog.  The ride was already packed at a 170 minute wait before noon, so I grabbed a fast pass and it wanted us to come back at 7:10pm...  I'll tell you this, it was worth the wait!  Fun fun fun!!!  The gun on the ride was a cannon.  You had to aim and pull the cannon string...  For guys, the pulling might seem natural (huh huh huh...).  Still, you were in a double sided car (two cars per track) that rotated.  In total, the entire platform seated 8 people comfortably.  You get scores, bragging rights, yada yada...  Anyway, it was a swell ride, but I think Fantasmic was the highlight of the night.

At night, the entire area lights up, music plays and the lights shift with the music.  It was quite a scene.  Hollywood Studios also had an Indiana Jones stunt show demonstration, which teaches you about the stunts that actors and doubles go through during the making of a movie.  There was also some American Idol experience for those of you who are into that...  Another star attraction was the Muppets in 3-D.  I've always been a fan of the Muppets.  For anyone who likes good use of 3-D, see the Muppet attraction.  There was also a look through the movies, but I forgot the name of it.  You have a tour guide taking you through movie scenes, when some gangster takes over your car.  I won't spoil the ending of that one, but it was fun!

There were others that I passed up, but it rained that day, making it hard to move around the park.  My lady friend didn't want to go on the Tower of Terror and the Rockin' Rollercoaster since she's soft like that.  It was a bummer, but I like her enough to make that kind of sacrifice.  It's also important that you check out Star Tours more than once...  They have 50 possible scenarios that you could experience.  Believe me, it's worth the wait!  And it's in a good 3-D too, not crappy at all!

Magic Kingdom hasn't changed much at all, but some of the 3-D attractions in there were pretty decent.  There wasn't much that caught the eye except the Pooh ride, the Stitch escape ride, the Haunted Mansion, the Jungle Cruise at night and The Pirates of the Caribbean.  I never seem to get tired of that last one, but my lady friend wanted to see it in English (as opposed to Japanese since Tokyo Disneyland is the closest theme park to her).

During one of the days, my hair was cut by the same person who does the staff haircuts.  This includes, but is not limited to Prince Charming, Prince Philip, John Smith, Prince Eric, and many more.  Most of the haircuts seem to be the same in some of the earlier movies, but I got me a Prince Philip haircut since my hair was well beyond the six inch mark for the majority of the strands.  Costs $19, but it was good conversation, I even got a good seat for the parade that was going on in the meantime.

Epcot is Epcot...  Still just as awesome.  Some of the changes were made to Spaceship: Earth.  They have these terminals that show you a future that you pick out.  Just be sure to hold still for the camera at the start of the ride so you can get a good vision of the future.

Captain EO was down for technical difficulties, but I saw it twice in Japan, so it wasn't anything I missed.  I believe I got fussed at by one of the photographers when I was trying to get my picture taken with Donald Duck.  The photographer told Donald to slap me because I had an Captain EO shirt on from Tokyo Disneyland.  Donald refused of course, but it was nice hearing that the guy used to work there.

Most of the eateries are the same as ever, mostly fattening.  Funnel cakes, hot dogs, ice cream, pizza...  It doesn't end there either.  Lots and lots of popcorn...  There just seems to be nothing worth eating in that park.  Reminds me of Death To Smoochy...

One of the characters which is new to the park is Duffy the Disney Bear.  He debuted at Tokyo Disney Sea before anywhere else, but he's very popular among the children and adults alike, especially the Japanese.  A Duffy bear costs well over $100 in Japan, where they are just $30 in America.  The clothes are a ripoff sine they are all licensed by Disney and cost over $20 for an outfit.  You can get most of the same stuff at a Build-A-Bear workshop for even less, and get boots with it.  Little did I know that the two companies have an agreement with each other.  I even have a firm belief that Build-A-Bear Workshop was a major influence on the creation and promotion of Duffy the Disney Bear.  This was probably the biggest thing that my lady friend was going on about all during the trip.  Anyway, the trip was wonderful.  Just be sure to grab fast passes as soon as you can.  Happy New Year everyone!

Board Game Night

Well, tonight went well.  I was hanging out with two of my friends at a church they attend.  We played two board games.  One was a board game that I know very well called The Omega Virus.  It's dated, but the computer does most of the narration.  It's a board game about a space station being overtaken by a virus.  Different alliances around the world are sending a champion to eliminate the virus and take over the space station.  In essence, it's an every man for himself type game.  If no one wins, the virus wins.  He constantly taunts you by calling you "human scum".  He takes great pleasure in taunting you and the space station computer.  It's up to you to defeat him.

When you turn on the game, you need to enter a skill level.  Either 0 (easy), 1 (medium), or 2 (difficult).  The skill levels govern how much time you have to hunt down and defeat the virus.  In order to find him, you have to enter a 2 digit secret code that no one else can know.  It can only be a limited number of combinations, but examples of this are 0-0, 1-2, 2-0, and so on.  Everyone starts with a green access card.  This means you are only restricted to exploring the green rooms when starting.  You can not enter the other rooms without finding the access cards first.  When you explore a room or endure a security breach on your turn, a code will be announced by the virus.  Depending on what you notate on your pad, you can learn where the virus is before anyone else.  But learning his location means nothing unless you have the antivirus weapons.

Once your code is entered and the players are determined, you're ready to begin.  A buzzer sounds and the virus announces how much time you have before he takes over.  The turn order rotates clockwise, but the virus determines who goes first.  Once it is your turn, you can press 2 to explore a room, followed by the three digit room number.  The player must be aware of the fact that they can only move three spaces to a room.  They can acquire a robot that can move any number of spaces between rooms as long as they are connected on the map.  They can not bypass rooms.  Think of probes as an extension of your turn.

Take this for an example of a room exploration turn...

"Red, help me!"
*press 2*
"Enter room code"
*press 0-0-2*
"Probe found, Code: 2-0"

Then since you found your probe, the probe can now move.

"Red prove, hurry, we are running out of time"
*press 2*
"Which room...?"
*press 0-1-0*
"Access denied"

This is just for the sake of teaching, but let's pretend that Red had only a Green Access Card.  If the probe tried to enter a yellow, blue, or red room, it would say access denied.  The computer knows who has what access cards at all times.  You can not trick him while playing this game when it comes to entering rooms.  You can go from one side of the station to the other if you want, but why would you want to cheat?  If you are close to a docking bay on your turn, you can just push 0 to pass.  When you pass, you move to the nearest docking bay (considering you had the moves to do so) and teleport to the one you desire.  The docking bay is where all the players start out in the corresponding color (for example, Red player starts in the Red docking bay of the red sector, Green starts in the Green docking bay of the green sector and so on.).

Sometimes when you explore a room, you will trigger a security breach.  Other times you will be teleported upon entry.  These are known as hazards, and should be notated with a minus (-) sign to keep you from going there again.  But remember the code to the room on your turn...  That could be where he is hiding.  Here is an example of a security breach.

"Red, hurry, we are running out of time"
"Try and stop me you human scum!"
*press 2*
"Enter room code"
*press 2-1-0*
"Security breach!  Security breach at 2-1-0 *laser sound*  Red energize 1 shield"
(remember that when the virus attacks you like this, it's random)
*press R*
(miss sound)
"I missed, Code: 1-1"

When two players are in the same room as each other, they have the option to attack each other.  The codes for attacking are found at the bottom of the sector panel.  For example, to attack Red, it would be 1-0-0 (don't push any buttons before this or you can't take it back).  You can attack to gain an edge on the opposition.  You can destroy their access cards, their antivirus weapons, or even steal said items.  After all, it's a fight for the space station.  Once you have everything, you can find the virus and destroy him.  You will need the antivirus weapons before that.

The antivirus weapons are typically found in the rooms they are color coded to.  They are the Negatron, the Distruptor, and the Decoder.  One can battle the virus as long as they have these items.  Sometimes when the virus knows who has what items, he will say "Blue must be TERMINATED!"  That means someone is getting close to him, he sees Blue as a threat, and thinks the players should try to delay him.

As the time counts down, sectors will begin shutting down, which limit your search to the rooms that the virus occupies.  It gets easier to find him this way so you aren't searching every single room just to locate the virus.  Also, when the final minutes are at hand, the virus will taunt you almost every turn to delay you from destroying him.  His voice will also speed up during certain segments, which is very humorous!  Once you have all the antivirus weapons and enter the room code, you will hear "You found me!  Try and stop me!"  At this point, you will have to push one of the four buttons.  You have a 25% chance of getting it, but try not to show your opponent which button you pressed.  This way you as the player will know which button not to press next time in case you didn't get it the first time.  If you guess wrong, you will hear, "*BUZZ* WRONG!" which I can't help but laugh at.  If you push the right one, you will hear "*laser sound, BOOM* You human scum!!!  You win!  I... am... termina... ted...."  If you hear this, congratulations, the space station is yours. 

I hope you can still find this game floating around somewhere.  It's obviously out of print, but it was a great take on evolving board games with computers.  It wasn't perfect, it didn't always know where you were, but it knew what you had, which is very impressive for a board game that came out in 1993.