THE NOT SO DAILY DUMP #5

Tropic Thunder

My wife and I watched the movie Tropic Thunder about two or three months ago. It's the second time I've watched it from beginning to end, with other times seeing different chunks of it. I think it's a pretty funny movie at times and is a movie that has a lot of good lines. It's a bit of a "dumb, comedic" movie, but sometimes, those are the best. Also, there are quite a few familiar faces for the public at large.

I had referenced the movie many times to my wife in the past, so when I saw it on either HBO NOW or Netflix (I can't remember), and we were looking for something to watch, I decided to start playing it. It took three nights to watch, since I started it over a period of time that coincided with me going to work early the next morning. I think it's safe to say she enjoyed it, and now when I reference the movie, we can both laugh and be amused because she gets it. Life's more fun that way.

Here's a collection of good clips. Though, in my opinion, not all of them. Sometimes, we just gotta choose what's available! (Hey email people, click it or ticket!)




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Children's Museum Fight Club

We became members of the Minnesota Children's Museum this year. Whether I am with or not, the rest of my family visits enough that a membership made sense. It also made a great Christmas present from my parents since we DO have plenty of "things." It's nice to get experiences as a gift. We went there recently, this month actually, and the kids had a great time. It wasn't something we needed to cross off our summer bucket list, but it was a weather appropriate activity, unlike most of our bucket list items, and it was a rainy August day.

I hadn't been to the Children's Museum since their remodel over last winter and spring, but my wife and kids had. It was neat to see what they changed and what new permanent exhibits were installed. One thing I wasn't impressed with was how dirty and broken some exhibits were. Fix and clean them, right? Doesn't seem like a hard concept to grasp.

Another aspect I didn't care for was how busy they were. Perhaps they could put into place a capacity limit so that the kids can all have an equal chance to do things? We went on a Thursday in the middle of the day, and there were a lot of kids there, some of them assholes. I digress. Or, something. The kids did have fun, but I think they could have had even more fun with a little more elbow room.

On the plus side, my older son got one of his wiggly teeth kicked out. I swear it was wiggly for like six months, and it was getting unbearable to look at him with his two top, front teeth pointing in oddly different directions. It's his fault he got kicked, though, as he tends to crowd other people too much. He was going up a multi-platformed climbing area and a dentist, of all people, accidentally kicked him. My wife DID tell him that if he didn't wiggle that tooth out, she was going to have a dentist remove it. We could have never guessed how strangely accurate those words would end up being.



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Plane, Sky, Go!

A couple of weeks ago, we picked up my mother-in-law from the airport. We got there a little early, so we went to the cell phone lot where people who are waiting for flights to arrive can park and wait. The perk to parking there is that we could watch planes take off and land.

We've brought the kids to this place once before just to watch planes take off and land. We happened to be in the area, and well, it's actually an experience described in a post I wrote last year called "MEA aka Fall Break." I suggest you read it. It's a pretty funny prank we played on the kids, in my opinion. The older two remember this, the toddler would not have.

The toddler has been noticing planes a lot now, and when he hears one, he shouts words such as "plane" and starts looking around to find it. In fact, my wife told me he woke from a nap a couple months ago, and after hearing the sound from a plane, quickly rose to his feet shouting "plane" and "sky," pointing upwards. You could say he's enthusiastic about planes, and you'd be correct. But, he likes anything that "goes" or makes noise, not just planes.

Needless to say, he enjoyed the experience. In the least, he now knows that planes don't stay in the sky all of the time and that they are bigger than they look. The older kids enjoyed themselves as well, but I suppose it has become a bit old hat to them. My older son did come out and stand with me and the toddler for a little while. My daughter was mostly preoccupied with a book. Can't please them all!



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Shine That Spotlight, You Crazy Diamond

In this issue of THE NOT SO DAILY DUMP, I'd like to bring your attention to Ben Smith of Marvel Sewer and Drain. He's a great guy and runs a great business. Fortunately, I've only needed his services once, but I'll be a repeat customer every time I do. He's the real deal. If you're local, you should consider making Ben your go-to sewer and drain specialist.

I should mention here as well that his wife, Emily, deserves credit for her work and support of the business. Keeping their children alive and well is a full-time job that allows Ben to go all-in, 24/7, on calls to customers. Plus, a business requires plenty of behind-the-scenes work to stay successful. Serving your customers in the field is just half the job. Emily and Ben work together to make Marvel Sewer and Drain a premier company!

Bookmark, follow, file in your Rolodex, whatever, make them your go-to local business!

MarvelSewerandDrain.com

Like them on Facebook!

Watch them on Youtube!



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Dance With The Goblin King

Last night, my family and I watched The Labyrinth. I hadn't watched it since I was a kid, but the older two kids had watched it last year. I'll admit that I was on my phone for a decent portion of it, but I was still watching it. The toddler was taking a similar approach and was watching the movie while playing on the train table.

What made the viewing possibly a little more of a memorable, warm-fuzzy experience was that we dressed up as characters from The Labyrinth last year for Halloween. I was Jareth, The Goblin King. My wife was the door knocker who couldn't hear. My daughter was Sarah. My older son was The Worm. Lastly, my toddler son was the babe with the power, Toby.

Some interesting things from watching this '80s film? Jennifer Connelly is so young that she's barely recognizable (to me). Film has come a LONG way when it comes to special effects, and I'm not even talking about the muppets. My wife and I hadn't watched the movie in so long that there were quite a few things that we don't have the faintest remembrance of. I decided to add a clip of one of those things. (Cool people in the email club, give this blue text a clickety-click.)





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