John Sciacca Writes...

Admit it; your expectations when it comes to eating at fast food restaurants are pretty low. You want to get in and out in the quickest time possible, hope that they get your order right – heaven forbid you have any customizations like “no mayo, extra mustard” – that the employee walking out of the bathroom thoroughly washed his hands of any Norovirus, and that you leave without being any closer to diabetes tha...

I made some comment on Twitter a little while back about finding the closest replacement to my most beloved candy bar, the Bar None. For those of you who remember this bar it was utter perfection molded into a dark chocolate rectangle. It was chocolate crème filled chocolate wafers covered in chocolate and then topped with peanuts and then the whole thing was slathered in more rich chocolate. The bar had firmness and texture and flavor that was just…well, let’s...

Obi-Wan: That boy is our last hope.

Yoda: No. There is another... The Empire Strikes Back

I first saw Star Wars in 1977. I was 7 years old. And I think it will be one of those memories that I will carry with me until the day the day that I die.

My parents were shopping in Carmel, California and they dropped my cousin and me off at this small th...

“I know a girl, she puts the color inside of my world. But she's just like a maze, where all of the walls all continually change. And I've done all I can, to stand on her steps with my heart in my hands. Now I'm starting to see, maybe it's got nothing to do with me. Fathers, be good to your daughters. Daughters will love like you do…” – John Mayer

Time flies. And at no point does in your life does it fly fas...

Fast Facts:

Day’s Big Event(s): I showed the group 1-hour of mercy; The Flower and Garden Expo was happening

First Ride: Spaceship Earth (the Big Ball)

Most Ridden: Soarin’ (2 times)

Ride with longest wait: Soarin’ (90 minutes)

Fast Facts:

Day’s Big Event(s): Lauryn’s first ever haircut, “Daddy, that’s the Castle!”

First Ride: Space Mountain

Most Ridden: Three-way tie: Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Pirates of the Caribbean (all 2 times)

Ride with longest wait: Peter Pan ...

Fast Facts:

Day’s Big Event(s): Lauryn’s first Disney experience; Lauryn’s first Disney ride

First Ride: Kilimanjaro Safaris

Most Ridden: Expedition Everest (3 times)

Ride with longest wait: Kali Rapids (90 minutes)

Clo...

“We love to be happy. We love to have fun. We love to play and laugh and we love to do it together. As a family. We do all of that at Disney. Because DisNeylAnd is in your DNA.”

--Sciacca Disney ad pitch

My parents used to both work at Disneyland in California. My dad was a ride operator – The Matterhorn, Autopia racecars and the Submarine Voyage – and my mom worked at...

So, you’ve probably noticed that there haven’t been any updates in the past couple of days…

Well, that’ because we’re at Disney World! And it’s a bit tough to write when you are up at 7, at the park when it opens, stay until it closes and then hop into the bed, exhausted, and preparing for the next day when you’ll do it all over again!

So, expect the regular...

Two completely disparate things – The Lonely Island and my wedding anniversary – combined to make for one serendipitously awesome moment yesterday evening. Allow me to elaborate…

So yesterday – January 28 – was Dana and my 17 year wedding anniversary. (I know; you’re probably thinking that I’m lying and that there’s no way that I ...

Remember that old Aesop fable about the ants and the grasshopper? (Or, for you modern, hipper readers, the Pixar retelling, A Bug’s Life.) The ants, they’re a hard working bunch; they’re out all day in the fields, sweating or whatever it is that ants do under the hot sun, harvesting and gathering and storing up food and working and bragging about who got to service the Queen more and biting the heads off of non-tribe member ants. Then there’s the ...

Will: Yeah, but this girl is like, you know, beautiful. She's smart. She's funny. She's different from most of the other girls I've been with.

Sean: So, call her up, Romeo.

Will: Why? So I can realize she's not that smart, that she's f***in' boring? Y'know--I mean...this girl is like f***in' perfect

Rumor around the Sciacca house is that I’ve been totally Bogarting the Netflix queue lately. I mean, sure, the latest batch of films MIGHT have included things like Captain America (liked the long, backstory opening, but it just kind of plodded alog), Of Gods and Men (holy CRAAAAAP was this thing stunning in its capacity to bore! What about “historical drama relates the ordeal of seven French Trappist monks in the mountains of Algeria who are ta...

The week away from blogging clearly left a pent up demand! This will be my final blog about the Disney Magic cruise bringing the total commentary on the trip to about 7000 words and meaning that you can either be A) sad that our magical journey is drawing to a close or B) happy that you will no longer have to read in seething, agonizing jealousy about all the great fun that I had.

To recap,

In the first part of my recap of our 7-day Disney Magic cruise, I talked about our state room, the dining and how Disney-clean the ship was. Sure, this nuts-and-bolts stuff is kinda interesting, but not really very fun. Today, I'm getting to the fun stuff.

This post is going to talk ...

Well, I’m back. After 7 nights with family aboard the Disney Magic cruise ship, I have once again returned to the land of the eternal grinding millstone. And first, I’d like to say with all due respect to you readers, that it was great to be away and that it sucks to be back! No matter how much you love your job, a good vacation is enough to let you know that you would really rather be off doing something else...

But back I am...

“I'm on a boat, I'm on a boat, Everybody look at me, 'Cause I'm sailing on a boat! I'm on a boat, I'm on a boat, Take a good hard look, At the mother blanking boat!

I'm on a boat and it's going fast. I'm the king of the world, on a boat like Leo, If you're on the shore, then you're sure not me, oh!” -- Lonely Island

For a change, this is a *very* literal title; I AM ...

About a month ago, I succumbed to the overwhelming Force pressure and bought the latest release of the Star Wars saga on Blu-ray. And while I haven’t gotten around to watching all six films – yet! – I did take a quick perusal of some key scenes for my

Thrice now over the course of my married life, Dana has made prophecies that have almost *instantly* come true. As in, the air molecules had barely finished vibrating their way from her lips to my ears before her words were fulfilled. In fact, come to think of it, that prophecy has really been more like a curse, a harbinger of instant doom, than an actual helpful warning.

The prophetic warning proclamation is always the same. “The ...

Lauryn the Artist is always pushing and challenging herself to find new ways to express the pent-up, ready-to-boil-over-rage of artistic expression that always seems to be ever-lurking just below the surface of that giant mount of curls and tangles which is her hair. While she has given exclusive artist interviews in the past she is generally more aloof...