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Once Upon a Time 1-17: Hat Trick

I’ll admit, when I learned that Once Upon a Time was going to introduce The Mad Hatter from Alice in Wonderland into the mix, I was both worried and curious. This definitely stretches the definition of a fairy tale character. A series of books I enjoy with a similar idea has included characters from that story in its fairy tale characters. And at the same time, it could be interesting. Fortunately, it turned out to be both entertaining and fit into the framework they’ve created for the show so far.

I was going to break with tradition and start with Storybrooke, but there are a couple of things we learned in Fairy Tale that came up later in Storybrooke, so we’ll keep with convention.

Our first shot of Jefferson (aka the Mad Hatter) in Fairy Tale is of him running through the forest. He’s trying to get away from…his daughter Grace. But she finds him right away. Unfortunately, Hide and Seek time is over and they need to get to the work at hand – finding mushrooms to sell in town the next day.

When they get home, they find Regina waiting for them. Jefferson sends Grace into the woods to hide before finding out what the Queen wants. She wants Jefferson’s help in retrieving something from “there.” He refuses, stating he won’t leave his daughter. “You just don’t leave family.” He’s not even tempted by her offer of making sure Grace never wants again. These two definitely have some kind of history as Regina makes some references to his past, but we have no idea what it is.Read More »Once Upon a Time 1-17: Hat Trick

Wonderland – The Ghost Theme Park of China revisited

Nestled outside of Beijing, China sits what was supposed to be one of the regions best theme parks – Wonderland Amusement Park. I first wrote about the Magic Kingdom Ghost Park back in August but it’s getting some attention again with a new story from Reuters.

Situated on an area of around 100 acres, and 45 minutes drive from the center of Beijing, are the ruins of ‘Wonderland’. Construction stopped more than a decade ago, with developers promoting it as ‘the largest amusement park in Asia’. Funds were withdrawn due to disagreements over property prices with the local government and farmers. So what is left are the skeletal remains of a palace, a castle, and the steel beams of what could have been an indoor playground in the middle of a corn field.

According to Reuters, it’s a sign of a decaying property bubble in China. Apparently it popped 10 years ago and no one noticed. With Disney building its own new Magic Kingdom outside Shanghai, you have to wonder about Shanghai Disneyland’s prospects for success if the Chinese bubble does finally collapse.

Check out the post from August to see an artsy video of Wonderland and even more links. Then click below the jump for a video from Trey Ratliff’s Stuck In Customs travel site:

Read More »Wonderland – The Ghost Theme Park of China revisited