Catching up

[Murfreesboro]

I'm sorry to hear about your Uncle Mark. It's hard to lose people, even when they've Iived long, good lives and appear ready to go. I'm not surprised, either, at your Aunt Millie's reaction. Thirty years ago I saw a tv spot about centenarians, what traits they appear to have in common, etc. One of them was that they don't hold onto grief. It's not that they don't grieve, but rather that they somehow let go of it.

[Andybev01]

Detachment is sometimes a difficult thing , but in the long run it can be healthy.

[TheHeadlessHorseman]

I was having a conversation with one of my employees about my recent trips to Florida, and she was shocked that the trips were for 2 funerals and a birthday, and she said that most people would guess the oldest person that had the birthday is the one that you would expect to be burying, and not the others that probably should have had more mileage in them. I told her that sometimes that's just the way life is, and you really don't know what to expect, so you just go day to day and live the best way that you can.

On a side note, Sam has been doing well since she started working at the restaurant, the employees and customers love her, and she looks adorable in her little uniform. I'm paying her hourly to be there, and she's even got some decent tips, so I asked her what she intends to do with the funds that she's making this summer, and she said that she wants to put it aside for later, and maybe wait until something really good comes up that she wants to get with it.

Most kids that have any extra cash usually find something stupid to blow it on immediately, without ever giving it a second thought. I was 13 when I started working, and that was for survival, to help my mother cover the bills, but it taught me the value of a dollar, and to appreciate what you earn by working hard. With Sam, she doesn't have to worry about the things that I did, everything is provided for her, and she doesn't have to be working right now, but she chooses to, not for survival, not to waste on cr*p that she doesn't need, but to build something for herself for later. I'm so proud of her.

Her birthday is next week, and my wife and I have a nice party planned for her. Also, Phoebe has some gymnastics performances coming up next month, she's been training for it day and night, and she's excited for it.

So, what's new with you guys?

[Andybev01]

That gives me a great idea to combine gymnastics and the martial arts I would love to see full contact floor exercises and bare-knuckle balance beams!

Not very much new on this end, eyes are still slowly getting better and I recently got a stand mixer and am having fun trying new stuff in the kitchen.

[Murfreesboro]

Sam sounds like a very well grounded young lady. You and your wife are doing such a great job with your girls.

Nothing much new on this end. Lydia spent last week with her brother in Chicago, and I think they had fun, but it was a bummer that all that smoke from Canada moved in the second half of her trip. They had to cancel a couple of outdoor plans they'd had. Still, I'm glad she went.

Karl will be headed up there the second week of August. He and his brother share early August birthdays. I've checked, and it seems it's OK to send baked bread on the airplanes, so if I can get my act together I'll send him up with a loaf of zucchini bread. It's become kind of an August tradition with us. Unlike Lydia, Karl has never been to Chicago, so I hope the weather cooperates for him.

[TheHeadlessHorseman]

Thank you, Murf.

You mentioned about sending baked bread on airplanes, is that a legitimate concern for airport security? It's the first I've ever heard of that, though, we did have issues trying to get candy through security at the airport before. I guess they will look for any excuse to harass travelers.

It's nice that your kids are spending some time together this summer, and I hope that your younger son enjoys his first trip to Chicago. We got hit with the smoke from Canada as well because we're close to them, the skies here were orange for a whole day before they cleared up.

Andy, I think that would be a interesting combination, basically a reversal of what she already does incorporating her gymnastics skills into her martial arts, but now implementing her martial arts skills into her gymnastics routine. I think it would definitely result in some unique performances, but I don't know if it's something that the gymnastics judges would allow, as they are already strict about regulations, and what the performers can and can't do.

On a unrelated note, we just let our kids watch the 28 Days/Weeks Later movies, as well as the recent 28 Years Later sequels for the first time. We were hesitant at first, but we think they are old enough to start watching some good horror movies, so we asked them which movies they wanted to watch, and they picked those. Sam is almost 12, and Phoebe is 9, and when Sam was 9 there was no way we would let her watch any horror movies because we knew she was sensitive about them, but with Phoebe, she's already seen her share of blood during competition, so we knew she could handle it.

It's interesting to watch the way they each react differently to the movies, Sam jumped and turned away during the scary and gory scenes, but Phoebe didn't flinch once, she sat staring intensely through each movie, there were even a few times that I saw her smiling. After the first movie was done, we asked them what they thought about it, and if they wanted to watch the other movies. Sam was a bit shaken, and quiet at first, then she said that she thought it was pretty scary, but she wants to watch the others. Phoebe was very enthusiastic about it, and couldn't wait to start the next movie.

The next night, and after we had watched the other 2 movies, we asked them what they would do if rage plague zombies actually happened in real life, and how would they react to it? Phoebe said that she would kill each and every one of them to survive, obviously, it didn't surprise us that she said that. Sam thought about it for a moment, and then said that she would try to find a cure for them like the old guy in the sequels did.

I think their answers tell us a lot about their personalities, and what type of people they are. Sam always wants to help others, and she looks for the best solution to achieve that, even in a hypothetical end of the world scenario. While Phoebe is the type of person that will do what has to be done for the survival of herself and those around her.

A very interesting social experiment, indeed. Next week we are going to watch the whole Alien franchise.

[Murfreesboro]

I've never seen any of those 28 Days movies, although my curiosity about them was piqued back in 2023, when Cillian Murphy was on everyone's. mind. Well, every moviegoer's mind, at least.

You really do have to make judgment calls re your children's sensibilities. I showed The Exorcist to Colin when he was 16, but I didn't show it to Lydia until after she'd graduated college. She's always been hypersensitive to visual violence. When she was 3 I recall she was freaked out by scenes of the crucifixion in religious movies from the 1960s, an era when those scenes were really toned down. She still hasn't seen Passion of the Christ and maybe never will.

She had an interesting observation about The Exorcist. She said that the most terrifying thing about that movie was how the society had blinded itself to what was clearly happening right in front of them. They had become so secular that when they were obviously confronted by a demon from hel, they couldn't see it for what it was.

ETA: re the bread on airplanes. I don't fly very often, so when I do I'm overwhelmed by all their rules about what you can and can't take on board with you, and in what sizes, etc. So I wanted to make sure that a loaf of homemade bread would be OK. They said it was, but you need to wrap it in clear plastic (not foil) and place it near the top of your carry on in case they wish to inspect it.

[TheHeadlessHorseman]

I definitely recommend the 28 Days Later series if you're a fan of zombie and horror movies, they aren't your typical zombies though, they are infected with a contagious rage virus that causes them to attack people violently. The first movie, 28 Days Later, came out in 2002, and it is considered by most fans to have redefined, and reignited the interest in zombie horror movies, and even though most people in this country won't ever admit it, The Walking Dead flat out copied the plot of the first movie. The franchise also had some actors that would later become famous, like Cillian Murphy and Christopher Eccleston, you probably know him better as The Doctor from the first season of the modern Doctor Who show, though he was a real a**hole in 28 Days Later. On a side note, the girls giggled during Cillian Murphy's nude scene in the movie.

As for The Passion of the Christ, I remember watching it and thinking, what were people complaining about? Was it violent? Yes, but it isn't as brutal as most people say it is, then again, I have a different perspective on violence than other people do. The only thing that bothered me about the movie was the subtitles, it was annoying having to sit there and read for 2 hours while watching the movie. I only watched it when it came out, and I haven't watched it since, but maybe I'll let the kids watch it next year.

There is one biblical movie that I would suggest that you don't waste your time watching, unless you have already watched it, and that's the movie Noah, with Christian Bale as Noah. I hated that movie because they made Noah come across like a a**hole for the whole movie. It really tainted the original story.

I watched The Exorcist when I was 5 and it didn't bother me at all, most horror movies with supernatural stories, or gore intrigued me, they didn't scare me. It was a different time, and the kids of my generation were just built differently. My parents didn't care what we watched at any age, and where we lived us kids could go to the video store and rent R rated movies without a adult with us, so movie franchises like Poltergeist, The Omen, the Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th series, and countless other horror movies were easily accessible to us, and they just became a part of our generation.

[Murfreesboro]

I've never seen Noah. I think I heard enough negative stuff about it that I knew it wasn't for me.

I watch Passion of the Christ every Good Friday, but I usually watch it alone. No one else in my family wants to see it more than once, and my daughter has never seen it at all. To me the worst part of it is the flogging. The actual crucifixion doesn't seem as brutal as that. It borrows lots of elements from horror movies, too, though I wouldn't classify it as a horror movie, since the suffering has a purpose.

Karl mentioned something to me about the whole crucifixion drama this year that I'd never fully considered before. In our family we tend toward the view that Judas was not condemned by God to Hell, since somebody had to betray Jesus to set the wheels in motion. Rather, we believe that, if Judas went to Hell, it's because he sent himself there. He seems to have believed that he committed an unforgivable sin, but really, what he did was no different than Peter's denial, and Peter was forgiven. So forgiveness was there for Judas, too, if he'd taken it.

Well, building on that interpretation, and on his close reading of the Bible, Karl pointed out this Easter season that in the OT, there is a sacrificial lamb, but there is also a scapegoat who is driven out into the wilderness to fall over a cliff. We are very accustomed to calling Jesus the "Lamb of God," but we often fail to see that Judas is the scapegoat. And he really does seem to function that way, because for thousands of years Christians have vilified him as if he were the worst person who ever lived. But really, we are all Judas in one way or another.

[Murfreesboro]

And, since we're talking movies, have you seen The Odyssey? And does either of you intend to? I've wanted to see it, but my husband does not, because he's read all the negative reviews on line from people who resent the changes Nolan has made to Homer's poem. I gather that it is not so much "Homer's" Odyssey, but Nolan's. I don't actually mind that so much. The poem will never go away, and I have liked many of Nolan's movies, especially Oppenheimer. Where do you all fall in this debate? Does it interest you at all?

[TheHeadlessHorseman]

We haven't watched The Odyssey yet, but we intend to when it's available on streaming, I'll let you know what I think after I watch it. I don't ever listen to online reviews or critics, I prefer to watch the movie myself to determine if I like it, there have been lots of movies that other people say was terrible that I liked, and movies that I think are cr*p that other people praise, so I guess it's about personal preference. A perfect example is the new Supergirl movie, so many people said it was awful, but I watched it and I thought it was fine for what it was. It wasn't the greatest comic book movie, but it certainly wasn't the worst either.

Speaking of Judas, I just remembered a movie called Dracula 2000. Yeah, I know what you're thinking, it's THAT Dracula 2000 movie, Wes Craven was the executive producer, and he co-wrote the movie as well, and it's starring Gerard Butler. The movie's reputation is well deserved, the casting, acting, cinematography, effects, and execution are just sh*t, but even with that said, I absolutely love the revelation at the end of the movie. I love a good story, and I personally thought that the way that they connect the biblical story to the origin of vampires was just beautifully written, and unfortunately most people won't ever get to appreciate that plot twist because it is overshadowed by a really bad movie.

You can probably find it on DVD for a buck, or less, or you can watch the whole movie for free on youtube. There are 2 links below, the first is the full movie, and the other is the specific scene with the revelation. Again, bad movie, but beautiful story.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPJm6PC0f7U

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwMmxh3r8YM

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[Murfreesboro]

Thanks for the links. I'll check that shorter one after while.