D's Notebook

Tag: movies (Page 8 of 12)

Weekend Notes

January 7, 2019 /

It is the last day of Christmas vacation in our house. It might hit 50 for the third-straight day, but no one seems real interested in getting outside and doing something. Probably has something to do with me telling everyone their rooms need to be cleaned up before anything else gets done today, and no one is moving all that quickly to start cleaning. C does have a volleyball practice in a bit, but other than that looks like one, final, lazy day to wrap up two-plus weeks of them.

So let’s look back at the weekend.

KU

Man, that’s about as shitty of a weekend as I can remember for KU sports fans. There were the big events: Udoka Azubuike getting ruled out for Saturday’s game at Iowa State because of an injury suffered in practice Friday, the Jayhawks getting run off the court in the second half by the Cyclones, and then Sunday’s announcement that Udoka is done for the season.

And then two smaller events, one of which that is, really, bigger: Gary Woodland getting caught by the red-hot Xander Schauffele and losing the Tournament of Champions by one stroke and former KU football great – and father of a current Jayhawk – Kwamie Lassiter dying of a heart attack at just 49. Seriously, there was a lot of bad texting amongst my KU friends this weekend.

The loss to Iowa State was miserable. Despite playing terribly, KU was still in a good spot with 1:00 to play in the first half. It was one of those “If they can survive the next minute, get into the locker room, make some adjustments, this is anyone’s game.” Then then gave up a bad and-one, followed by a bad possession on offense and a 3-pointer by Iowa State that, effectively, ended the game. The second half was brutal. Iowa State, who I had read was not a very good 3-point shooting team, hit just about everything they threw up. The KU defense seemed only mildly interested in guarding anyone and in the last 10 minutes often stood and watched while ISU had a glorified shoot around.

So a bad loss on paper, but in the grand scheme of things, it was just a single loss. One I had chalked up at the beginning of the year, a belief that was reinforced when Udoka’s injury was announced before the game. KU had a lot of work to do to get better, but Bill Self is always able to adjust and get the best out of whatever his mix of talent is. As long as Dok didn’t miss more than a couple games, KU would be fine, although the Big 12 race would clearly be a dogfight.

And then the Udoka news broke Sunday. This will sound dramatic to all you non-KU folks, but the season is over. In a season after a Final Four appearance, and in which they began a national title favorites, the loss of Udoka from an already flawed team means all the lofty goals of November are trashed. The Big 12 streak will end and KU will be fortunate to get to the Sweet 16.

If KU could suddenly find an elite shooter who had immediate eligibility I would hold out hope that they could right the ship. But this team’s fatal flaw is that it has zero reliable outside shooters in an era where you need multiple guys who can hit the 3. There’s no getting around that.

Some people have been saying today, “Well, if Silvio De Sousa gets eligible, that changes things.” He’s not getting eligible. If it was going to happen, he would have been cleared by now. I’m sure KU is doing everything they can to get him cleared, but that ship has sailed. He should head to Bosnia, or wherever Billy Preston went last year.

That’s not to say this is a terrible team, or that I will not still watch every game with great interest. In fact, this season suddenly becomes pretty much stress-free. Knowing the Streak will end this early in the season means there’s less pressure on the next 16 Big 12 games. Losses on Big Mondays won’t mean I’m awake until 3:00 AM replaying what went wrong in my head. The Big 12 race will suddenly be about KU being spoilers rather than favorites. Knowing they don’t have a chance to make a repeat trip to the Final Four should make March games much more tolerable to watch.

It all sucks, but it’s not the end of the world.

Colts

As KU was losing in Ames, the Colts were hammering the Texans in Houston. As I understand it only a pass interference penalty and a tipped interception kept the Colts from leading 35–0 before halftime. I was switching over during commercials enough to get the gist of the game without all the details. As impressive as the Colts performance was, I do temper my enthusiasm a bit knowing they were playing Houston, the biggest frauds in this year’s playoff field.

Now it is on to Kansas City for a very, very interesting matchup. The Chiefs should be healthy favorites; I give the Colts about a 10% chance of winning. As good as the Colts’ defense has been this year, they’ve not faced an offense like the Chiefs’. But the Colts’ suddenly stout running game makes an upset not entirely out of the question. Get a lead, start pounding the rock, convert third downs, anything can happen. Not that the Colts have ever beaten the Chiefs in the playoffs before, so there’s really nothing for my Chiefs fan friends to worry about Saturday…

Other Football

I caught parts of the other three playoff games. I’m really not sure what Seattle was thinking on offense, although I’m not an expert on these things. I laughed at all the people who were saying “No one wants to play the Ravens!” a week ago after the Chargers pounded them. I did see that stretch at the end of the third/beginning of the fourth quarters when the referees somehow managed to totally botch three consecutive plays in at least five different ways. All those guys should be done for the playoffs. And the last couple minutes of the Eagles-Bears game were simply fantastic for neutrals. What an ending!

Spidey

C, L, and I went to see Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse yesterday afternoon. It was really, really good! I was a little surprised at how much I enjoyed it. I’m not into movies based on comics,[1] nor was I a comics fan when I was little. I do recall owning some Spider-Man comics, though, and recognized the sense of humor that was unique to them in the movie. L has always been a Spider-Man fan, so she really enjoyed it. As we were walking out, we saw a little guy, maybe four, in his Spider-Man costume. She had the same costume when she was younger and I bet she would have worn hers if the movie had come out back then.

Weather

I think M is the only one complaining about our mild weather. She was supposed to go on a middle school ski trip yesterday to some hills down near Cincinnati, but with it being well over 60 down there, the trip had to be postponed for a couple weeks. She was most annoyed about having washed dishes for a month to pay for the trip. “If it doesn’t happen, I will have washed all those dishes for nothing!” she whined. I let the comment go, lest she think it through a little more and demand cash in exchange for her services.

Back to the grind tomorrow. M and C will get their volleyball schedules soon. We’re counting down the days until spring break. And after the first semester wraps up next week, M will be in her final semester at St. P’s.

  1. I don’t think I’ve seen any of the modern Marvel or DC movies other than Ant-Man.  ↩

Friday Notes

June 29, 2018 /

Dear readers, I apologize. Between all the craziness of week one in our new home, I’ve not been able to sit down and share some updates with you all. And I realized last night that given part of Monday’s post, some of you may be worried about C.

I can happily report that she is back to normal, acting goofy, annoying us with her hyperactivity, and generally being herself. We never determined, with complete certainty, what caused her issues last week. We have a theory, though, after a visit to another doctor. It’s nothing serious or on-going, but I won’t share anything more than that about it here. The good news is that she seems to have put last weekend’s suffering behind her.

Beyond that, it’s been a week of trying to get settled in. We love our new home. But we are also building up a list of minor annoyances, or questions of “What were the builders thinking when they did that?” For example, our only completely furnished gathering area is what we will eventually call the Girls Lounge on the second floor. We have a sectional, some chairs, and the TV in that room. However in the builder’s plans for this room, there were several options, including one where the room doesn’t exist and the space is open to the main family room below. Because of that, there is no duct work into the floor. Instead, the two central air vents are both in the ceiling. Combine that with being on the second floor, having west-facing windows, in a very insulated home, and this room is like 10 degrees warmer than any other room in the house. We have to run a couple fans and it is still almost too warm to hang out in. Hopefully it is this toasty in the winter, too.

No cable/internet yet. No idea when we will get it. Fuckers. I met a neighbor from down the block tonight and he said he has AT&T Fiber coming into their house. So I’ll be calling them soon to beg them to do what I asked Comcast to do four weeks ago: come out and see if they can hook me into the line that is a block away. Not holding my breath.

Honestly, it’s been kind of refreshing to not be constantly connected. This is the time of year to do it. The Royals are terrible, so I hadn’t been watching them anyway. I miss watching every World Cup game, but we can still see the games that are on Fox. We miss our HGTV and Food Network, the girls miss their Disney and Cartoon Network. L keeps telling me how bored she is. It doesn’t help that it’s been hot and humid lately, so don’t want to play outside much. We can survive living like it’s the early 90s. For awhile.

We’ve been putting together Ikea furniture for the girls’ rooms. That’s always a blast.

It seems that the movers damaged both our washer and dryer in the transition. We had a technician out Wednesday. He got the dryer running; a connection had just come loose that prevented the heating element from firing. But the washer wouldn’t repeat the issue I had with it while he was here. When he left, M threw a load in, and about 15 minutes into the cycle, it started making a terrible, grinding noise. I called back immediately but they couldn’t get someone out again until Friday afternoon. We all really need to do laundry so I’m really hoping they can get it figured out.

I took the girls to see The Incredibles 2 Thursday. We all really liked it. L loved the first one and when the first trailers hit for 2 last winter, she was very excited at first. However about a month ago, she started telling me, “I’m worried it’s not going to be very good. The second movies are never as good as the first.” I loved that! A cynic already at age 9! But I also reminded her that her favorite Toy Story movie was the second one, and The Empire Strikes Back is the best Star Wars movie. She was very pleased that The Incredibles 2 followed their leads and did not suck.

We’ve still been making at least one trip a day to the old house. We can likely get everything that’s left out this weekend. The buyers’ inspection was Thursday. Knocking on wood, rubbing rabbits feet, lighting candles, etc. that there are no surprises and we can potentially move closing up by a week.

Closing on the lake house Monday went off without a hitch. That was another huge load of stress off of us. Seriously, what were we thinking doing all this at once?

We have a very busy weekend planned. Today we are watching one of my nephews part of the day. M is having her first school buddy over for a couple hours. Hopefully our washer gets fixed. M and C’s buddies from the old neighborhood may spend the night. Saturday L is going on a nature hike with some school friends. We have a designer coming over to help us plot out what furniture and accessories to buy. And there will be a lot of unpacking, rearranging, and stacking of boxes for recycling.

If babysitting pauses allow, I’ll do my best to get a playlist or video up later today.

D’s Notes

March 5, 2018 /

It’s been awhile since I’ve done a random notes post. As I’m kind of between longer posts, right now feels like the perfect moment to revisit that favorite of blog readers worldwide.

Hoops

A shame KU got blown out at Oklahoma State Saturday. But I A) wasn’t super surprised and B) didn’t really care. My blood pressure rose only slightly because so many of the KU players seemed utterly uninterested in competing. As I told several friends before the game, I was cool with KU losing that game and then losing before the Big 12 tournament championship game next weekend. They accomplished this year’s biggest goal: winning the Big 12 again. Despite all the metrics that say otherwise, I don’t think this team deserves a #1 seed. I’d rather they go into the tournament as a #2 seed, and I don’t care what region they play in. I don’t see a deep run in this team, and I’d rather the inevitable end be about 25% less frustrating because they aren’t a #1 losing to an 8 or 9 in Wichita next Sunday.

Weather

Man, we had a good run of weather. For about a two-week stretch the highs were always well above normal, with a couple days up into the 70s. Our lawn has already started to green up a bit. Buds are popping out on some trees and bushes. Flowers are emerging. This is Indiana and it’s still early March, so the inevitable cool down arrived this morning, and this week looks to be cold again, with a couple chances of light snow. For the third straight year we ended meteorological winter[1] with less than 10” of snow. Our biggest snowstorm came while we were in Denver, so we missed the 2.5” we got in late December. And it was the fourth straight winter with less than 20”. Not that I’m complaining, but our snowblower has gone unused so long I’m not expecting it to work the winter we finally get snow again.

Oscars

I only saw Coco among movies nominated for Academy Awards this year. I don’t say that with pride; I’d like to get back into watching movies again. But with a deep Netflix queue of great TV shows and 800 books to read, it’s hard to devote three hours and the hassle of going to a theater to seeing first-run flicks. And with our girls going to bed at 9:00, it’s hard to squeeze in a DVD or streamed flick after they go down. Maybe some year I’ll devote my time to catching up on all the great movies I’ve missed over the last 15 years or so.

Beer!

Two weeks ago the Indiana state legislature passed a bill amending the state’s liquor laws and allowing Sunday sales of alcohol. The bill came with a late amendment that put the law into effect on the first Sunday after it received the governor’s signature. That signature came last Thursday, so yesterday was the first day in the modern history of Indiana where you could go to a liquor, grocery, or convenience store and buy beer.[2] To celebrate the day I went out to a local liquor store mid-afternoon. It was the busiest liquor store I’ve ever been in! The parking lot was full. The aisles were cramped. It was pretty funny. I bought six and four packs of two local beers, which were both 25% off in celebration of the day. I imagine next Sunday most liquor stores will be rather quiet, but it is nice to finally have the option.

  1. December 1 through March 1.  ↩
  2. But you can still only buy cold beer at liquor stores. That lobby refuses to cave on that one.  ↩

The Last Jedi

December 20, 2017 /

OK, a quick five-minute listing of thoughts on The Last Jedi, which I saw last night. Spoiler alert!

Conclusion first: The Last Jedi was very good. I had a few problems with it, but overall it was very entertaining, very well shot, had a decent story, and was worth two-and-a-half hours of my time.

What I liked most: Man, was the movie action packed. The natural comparison is going to be with The Empire Strikes Back. In Empire there were long segments that moved the story forward but lacked action. Here Rian Johnson did a lot of chopping those longer scenes into smaller segments then going back-and-forth to avoid any moments that dragged. It seemed like every five minutes or so here came another action sequence.

And the action sequences were pretty epic. The opening space battle. Rey’s training. The escapades on the casino planet. Rey and Kylo Ren’s battle, which, let’s be honest, isn’t just one of the greatest scenes in the entire franchise but is one of the all-time great action sequences. The final moments of the space battle in which Laura Dern’s character does something amazing that was shot in a brilliant manner. The resulting battle on the First Order ship. And then the final battle scene. It was all the goodness of the end of Rogue One without the 90 minutes of waiting to get there.[1]

Also glad that Carrie Fisher filmed all of her parts before her death. I was kind of surprised at what a big role she played in the movie. Watching her scenes did make me a little sad.

Favorite line: Finn, upon the arrival of the Millennium Falcon to the scene of the final battle, “They HATE that ship!”

Things that were problematic: Leia drifting in space for awhile then using the Force to revive herself and float back into her crippled ship. I mean, come on. Last Jedi isn’t as beholden to the original trilogy as The Force Awakens was, but I still thought there were too many moments that were call backs to the movies of 1977–83. Sometimes they were little, subtle things, but I don’t think those are necessary at this point. And I found the final minutes rather Spielberg-ian. The surviving resistance group, small enough to all fit comfortably in the Falcon, all hugging and celebrating? Come on, they just got totally wiped out. That should be a somber moment. Yeah, yeah, I know. They carry the spark of hope that will bring about the downfall of the First Order. But that felt way too light to me. And then the closing scene, with the little kids playing felt cheesy to me. Again, I get the point: hope is sprinkled around the galaxy and in episode IX it will bloom. Still, I didn’t like it.

Still can’t believe Harrison Ford only signed on for one movie and they had to kill of Han.

That said, I don’t have any big problems with the movie. My brother-in-law and I both avoided reviews and spoilers, but were aware of this “backlash” against the movie. Afterward we were both confused about why people would be upset about the movie. It’s not perfect, but to say it’s a failure is dumb.

I read an article this morning that suggested some of that disappointment came from people who had invested too much time in parsing out details from the trailers, what Rian Johnson and actors said before the movies release, etc. and bought into theories that were based purely on speculation. One of the big points seemed to be the reveal of Rey’s parents. Some folks are disappointed and let down by who they are. But their hopes were based entirely on rumors and Internet gossip. I don’t see how you can be pissed about that when there was no concrete reason to expect that outcome to be different.

Oh well. I enjoy the Star Wars movies but I’m not like super into them. I’ll get the BluRay for L when it is released and watch it again with her then. But then I’ll probably not think about it much until episode IX is about to be released. I’ll be interested to see where that episode goes with Rian Johnson not being involved at all. I think Last Jedi is better than Force Awakens. What happens when JJ Abrams re-takes the reins for episode IX?

OK, so that was more like 15 minutes.

  1. And I loved Rogue One. But it does take awhile to get to the really good stuff.  ↩

On Roger Moore

May 24, 2017 /

You probably heard that Roger Moore died yesterday. History has been very kind to Sir Moore. Once upon a time, his run as James Bond was laughed at and derided. Eventually, though, people figured out that his portrayal of Bond was perfect for its time, and making his Bond dramatically different than Sean Connery’s was necessary. Connery might have turned Bond into a sensation, but Moore turned Bond into a franchise that fills theaters to this day.

Everything I ever read about Moore made it apparent that he was a very gentle, kind, and gracious man. Lovely was the word often used to describe him. That makes me happy. I think the easiest thing to do when you gain fame and fortune is to become jaded, spoiled, grumpy, or outright hostile to others. I like that Moore didn’t view fame as a burden, but as a glorious blessing.

This story, which I’m betting many of you have already read, is just a perfect summation of who Roger Moore was. Since it was posted to Twitter, there’s no good way to share it other than linking to the original post. It’s worth the hassle required to read it.

A Chance Meeting

Carrie

December 28, 2016 /

Yesterday was one of those weird afternoons where you take a brief nap and, after waking, nothing seems quite right for an hour or so. The cobwebs seem too thick to push through and you’re left feeling like you’ve taken a bunch of cold medicine. As I was sitting there, trying to find solid ground again, I picked up my phone and began scrolling through Twitter, soon finding the news that Carrie Fisher had died. Suddenly I felt even more unsteady.

I don’t think Carrie Fisher was my first celebrity crush, but I do know I, like all the other boys my age at my school, was totally in love with her after seeing Star Wars. I’ve shared before how, the morning after I saw Star Wars for the first time, I went outside and sat on our front step and just stared into the distance, still trying to make sense of what I had seen. A healthy portion of that was caused by Fisher’s presence on the screen. I don’t think any of us ever lost that love for 1977 Carrie. I admired the way she lived her life after getting past her addictions in the mid–80s. She was smart, funny, outspoken, courageous, and brutally honest about her many failures and battle with mental illness. I can’t think of a better way to publicly live a flawed life.

On Christmas Day it was George Michael who died and sent a wave of shock through Gen X. I was never a huge Wham! fan, or George fan in general. But I did love a handful of his songs.[1] I listened to the first half of Faith yesterday. Those first four songs are an amazing reminder both of the times – when epic albums filled with massive hits were common – and Michael’s talent. He also lived a flawed life. Like Fisher he battled the expectations of fame, and fought to hold onto his sanity and manage his career on his terms. Word has it he was very generous and shared his wealth with many organizations that helped others, often doing it with minimal or no publicity.

I wrote on Facebook yesterday that, now that our generation has reached middle age, the heroes of our youth are climbing into their old age years. And they seem to be slipping away with shocking frequency. As upsetting as their deaths are, they also make sense. Muhammad Ali was 74. David Bowie was 69. Fisher 60. Prince 57. Michael 53. While the last three were still fairly young, they’re also into the years when the actuarial tables begin to catch up with them. Especially when they’ve often lived rather hard lives thanks to the trappings of fame. That doesn’t make these loses any easier.

I wrote in April that Prince’s death was the first celebrity death that ever floored me. It still shocks me when I’m walking through the grocery store and I hear “Raspberry Beret,” as I did last week, and I am reminded that he’s gone. While not to the same extent as with Prince, I did have a few moments of genuine sadness yesterday after learning of Fisher’s death. And I’m beginning to dread learning who is next.

  1. “Everything She Wants,” “Faith,” “I Want Your Sex,” “Father Figure.”  ↩

Thanksgiving 2016

November 28, 2016 /

A mostly-good Thanksgiving weekend here. Hope you had a fine weekend as well.

Our actual holiday went off quite well. We were not hosting this year, so only had to provide a couple dishes. I was doing the mashed potatoes and used a different recipe than I’ve used in the past. It became a little problematic as it took longer to get completed than I anticipated. But we were driving exactly two blocks, so we didn’t delay the family meal or anything. Excellent food all around. And the big highlight of the day was it being the first big, family gathering where all three of the new boys in our family were there. The girls loved being around their new cousins.

Friday was our annual tree puttin’-up day. I think I’ve been saying “this could be the last kid Christmas we have” for three years. But based on the enthusiasm level, I think I was finally right last year. Pre-teen #1 is clearly not into anything that has to do with the holidays and spending time with the rest of her family. Pre-teen #2 still seems into things, but I just get this undercurrent to her mood that she’s torn between acting like a single-digit kid and a double-digit kid. And #3, who is the pleaser of the group, is laying it on extra thick to prove to us that she’s still all-in; she’s the only one who seems excited to find Elfie in the morning or watch Christmas shows with me. I’ll admit my excitement for the season has been a little slow to ignite this year because our girls are clearly in a different place than they were a year ago. Maybe their moods will shift the closer we get to Christmas.

Quick question: is there a better day than Christmas card picture taking day?
Answer: Yes, there are approximately 360 days better than Christmas card picture taking day. We’ve struggled with this day ever since we became a two-kid family in 2006, I think. When they’re little, it’s just impossible to get everyone situated properly and cooperating for the time it takes to snap off a few frames. As they get bigger, there’s always one kid who is in a bad mood, which pisses the parents off, which in turn affects the other kids. Yesterday was no exception. One kid was moody. Another kid was hyper. And the other kid kept closing her eyes during pictures.

We’ve farmed out the actual picture taking to others in the past. But this was the first time since M was a baby that I was manning the camera. I shot about 250 or so frames in about at hour at two local parks. You all know I’m not a very religious person. The fact we actually got a couple keepers out of those 250 shots makes me think that miracles are possible. We were pretty happy with the final result, which should be arriving in your mail boxes in a few weeks.

Despite the drama at the parks, the girls were given the chance to pick something fun to do afterward. They selected going to a movie. So we closed out the weekend seeing Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them. The girls are all way into the Harry Potter universe, S has been watching the movies, and I’m four books into the series myself. The girls liked the new movie a lot. I thought it was pretty solid. I liked how it blends some of the elements of classic comic book-based movies with the Potter/fantasy world. I’m interested to see where the series goes.

There was a lot of lying around and watching TV, reading, and brief visits from friends and family sprinkled into the break as well. Despite the usual stresses and annoyances, it was a pretty good holiday weekend.

End Of Summer

August 11, 2016 /

Summer is done. At least the school vacation part, that is. The girls went back to school this morning. They were excited to see their friends, find their school supplies on their desks, and get back into their routines, I think. There certainly wasn’t any grumpiness this morning. I bet that changes early next week. Sixth, fourth, and second grades this year. Good times.

School Shoes
School Shoes

So how was the summer of 2016? I think it was decent. We kicked it off with a bang, heading to Boston and Cape Cod as soon as the break began. There was swim team for six weeks, which the girls always enjoy. Two new cousins to play with. Lots of weekends at the lake. A few trips to local water parks and the zoo. Family visits from folks in Boston and Denver.

We closed out the summer with one more first. We spent last Saturday with friends who have a lake house down near Bloomington. We swam, ate dinner in town, and made a walk around the IU campus. After that, we headed to the local drive-in theater for our first family outdoor movie.

This place was awesome! Everything about it felt like we were back in 1975 again. The aging screen had visible seams where it had been repaired over the years, and one side of it was curling away from the parking area. I guarantee the building that held the concession stand and bathrooms has not been updated in any meaningful way since the Carter administration. There were hand-painted signs on the meandering drive to the viewing area reminding folks to keep their headlights off, no fireworks were allowed, etc. In fact, other than using iPad’s to take payment at the front gate and the lack of the old-school audio boxes you hung on your car window, it felt exactly like going to the drive in in Hays, KS when I was 4 or 5.

The other cool thing was this was a country drive in. Unlike those big urban ones that were generally built into hills that created a natural amphitheater, this one was carved out of a small, wooded area 15 minutes outside town. There were little rises built into the lot for cars to park on. The screen itself was tucked into the trees, aiming away from the road. Remember when we were kids and you could pass a drive in and see a few moments of the film? That wasn’t possible at this place.

The only downsides were the late start time and the movie itself. It was a double feature of Suicide Squad and Jason Bourne. With a 9:35 start time, we knew the kids wouldn’t last until the second show, so weren’t worried about them seeing that. I had read that Suicide Squad, despite being a DC Comics story, wasn’t the most appropriate movie for kids. There was lots of violence, but no blood at all. Plenty of adult language and sexual innuendo. Our girls all checked out within the first 30 minutes and were back in the car doing other things. Our friends have two boys – 12 and 10 – and the 10-year-old was the only kid of the five kids who paid attention the entire time.


We would have picked something else for our girls’ first drive in movie experience, but there aren’t a lot of options these days. They enjoyed playing in the lot for an hour before the film began, and the overall experience. After they had stopped watching, I pointed to the sky behind us and how the Milky Way was visible, something we definitely can’t see at home. They all thought that was pretty cool.

The only disappointment of the summer is we were a little lazier than normal. Last year we got out of the house and did something new almost every week, even if it was just finding a park we had never been to before. The girls learned to enjoy taking nature hikes at parks that had trails. We only did that a couple times, and there were a few ones I had hoped to hit that we missed.

As active as the school year is, though, I don’t really mind giving the girls 10 weeks where not every day has something on the calendar. Once you subtract trips, visitors, camps, etc., there really weren’t that many days when we had nothing to do or anyplace to be. Another week would have been nice, but I’m not super sad that the summer has ended.

Memorable Events

July 18, 2016 /

Summer continues to fly by. We’re just three-and-a-half weeks from school beginning. Today is our annual trip an hour north to watch the girls’ cousin show his pigs at his county fair. Taking the city kids to the county fair is always fun!

Last week we watched Apollo 13. The act of watching it was nearly as epic as the flight of Apollo 13. One of the girls learned about the flight at school way back in the winter. When I told them there was a movie about it, they all wanted to watch it. I checked our library’s website, saw the Blu Ray was checked out but due back soon, so I put a Hold on it. We were first in line. I told the girls we’d probably get to watch it in a week or so. That week went by, no disk. Then another. And another. And another. I’d check every few days to see our hold status still listed as pending, and the disk showing it was past due. After about six weeks, we figured whoever had it lost it or damaged it to the point where it was unusable. We kind of forgot about it, never even checking Amazon to rent it there. Then on July 8 I finally got the notice that the disk was available for pickup. Weird.

The girls liked it a lot. There were many moments of me having to explain different parts of it. After the movie, I looked on several sites to see how much dramatic license Ron Howard took with the story to translate it to film. I was pleased that with minor exceptions, and a few composite characters, the movie was pretty faithful to the real story.

I also had to explain to them what the space shuttle was! How crazy is that? I remember first reading books about space and astronauts in first or second grade, when the Apollo program wasn’t that far in the past, and the space shuttle was undergoing tests. Now our kids are growing up in an age where regular, manned space flight doesn’t exist.

Talking through the Apollo 13 flight, and the history of space flight in general, got me thinking about a meme from a couple weeks ago that was popular around the web: what was the first major news story that you remember? Common responses from folks in my general age range were the Iran hostage crisis and the Challenger disaster.

My mom worked at a TV station in the late 70s. And I had a TV in my room as early as when I was 7.[1] So I was watching Walter Cronkite on a nightly basis from a pretty early age. After thinking it through, I’m pretty sure the first major news event I have vivid memories of was the Jonestown massacre in November 1978. That’s a fun one to have stuck in your head.

Our girls have a very different connection with the news than I did as a kid. My grandparents always had the radio tuned to the local station and shushed everyone at the top of each hour for the news bulletin. My mom’s parents sat at their kitchen table all day with the TV on. Lunch and dinner were consumed to the noon and 6:00 news. And then I always had the news on in my room once I got my own TV.

We rarely watch the news with our girls. We don’t get a newspaper. And so many of the major news stories of this summer are ones we discuss quietly away from their ears. I wonder what major event they will remember most when they get older and look back on their childhoods.

  1. Benefits of being a *Latchkey Kid*: I guess my mom figured an old black-and-white TV in my bedroom would keep me out of trouble.  ↩

The Force Is Strong With This One

April 18, 2016 /

Finally.

L finally got to watch The Force Awakens Sunday. I believe that she thought it was worth the wait.

We had a pretty busy weekend, so I was worried we would have trouble squeezing it in. But we popped it into the player after breakfast yesterday and were able to knock it out before her first soccer game of the season.

I have been very guarded about spoilers ever since I saw the movie in December. If she, or any of the other girls, asked a question about whether this character was in it, or if that character died, I always refused to answer. I figured she picked up some insight at school, but for the most part, she seemed to be watching relatively spoiler free. Especially concerning the biggest moment of the film.

She loved all the new characters. She won’t say if she had a favorite yet, but she thought both Rey and Finn were pretty cool. BB–8 made her laugh. She thought it was cool that there were female storm troopers, too. And she giggled each time one of the old characters popped up. Especially Chewbacca, which is her favorite. She was very happy that the Wookie had a big part.

In fact, she was due for a new fish[1] and when we bought one on Saturday, she named it Chewbacca.

The whole time we were watching I was dreading the big scene. (Ok, it’s been almost five months so I figure it’s ok to drop spoilers.) How would she react to Kylo Ren killing Han Solo? At C’s softball practice Friday, I was talking to a dad about that exact scene. He’s been reluctant to let his first grade son watch only because of that scene. I honestly didn’t think it would have a huge impact on L. She tends to separate TV/movie myth from reality pretty well. And she doesn’t have the same connection with the original characters a lot of us grownups who were shaken by that scene had.

I think she did ok. She didn’t say anything, react negatively, or even get quiet after that scene. I, on the other hand, had kind of a tough time with it. It was a shock when I saw it the first time, and I felt more disbelief than anything. This time, knowing it was coming, man, it got a little dusty in our basement.

I say I think she did ok because after the movie she threw herself on the couch and started crying. She’s getting some molars and had been complaining of mouth pain for a few days. And that’s what she said was making her cry. But who knows, maybe she was a little overwhelmed by the movie as a whole or that scene in particular.

Last night I asked her what her favorite part was. She said, “Mmmmm, the whole thing.” And she asked how long until the next movie comes out. And she is waiting for our next free night to watch all the DVD extras.

  1. Grizzly, her Betta of over 2.5 years, finally went belly-up just before spring break. C’s fish Princess died last week; the cold house during our furnace-less stretch was too much for her old body. C wasn’t in the mood to get a replacement Saturday so she’s currently fish-less.  ↩
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