THE NOT SO DAILY DUMP #7


Kubo

Kubo is an animated film currently on Netflix. My daughter had talked about watching it for weeks. She had heard about it at school. I don't remember all of the details, but I know her teacher had watched it and recommended it. My older son, for whatever reason, was very much against watching it.

We did end up watching the movie, partly because it interested me. We watched it over two days because of kids' bedtimes and school start times. My older son changed his tune pretty quickly. He likes it as much as the rest of us. Well, maybe not my daughter. It's been her go-to TV choice quite a bit since the inaugural watch. The toddler even stopped and watched most of the movie intently. Part of that might be from the "animation effect." Kids are drawn to animated movies. Pretty simple and not surprising to anyone, especially those who have kids.

I recommend this film for ages young and old (and all of us in between). Email compadres, do me a favor and watch the video at the end of this link.




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New Posts To Consume

Kiss My Grass, the series — If you've been keeping up with this blog over the last few months, you will have noticed, if not have already read, the "Kiss My Grass" series I started this summer. How many posts will be in this series, you wonder? I don't know. I'll keep writing if I have something to say and it fits with the series. I DO know that I have another one coming at some point. Take some time to catch up, if you care. Oh, and the premise for the series is essentially about outdoor home improvements and upkeep I've done since we moved into our house in 2013 and my life within that.


R&D Workshop — It had been a while since I wrote one of these newsletter/update style posts. I've recently published two. What this blog feature tackles is the work I'm doing and plan to do, what I'm researching and developing (and have developed). While "No. 4" serves to bring the feature back up to date by focusing on the past, "No. 5" sets the stage for the future. Both touch on the present.


Social Media OVERLOAD — I started this post much earlier in the year but didn't feel like it was finished or had conveyed what I wanted it to; it's still a little hard to put it into words. I did go back and rewrite/modify the post before publishing it in September. What I cover isn't anything new when it comes to topics one can read about on the internet, but it does apply it to my life within the last year or two.




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Straight Up Pranksters

They got me with a fake spider. I'm proud of them for that. As a family, we like to scare and pull pranks on each other. My family usually has a hard time getting me. That's okay. It makes them try harder and makes their resolve that much stronger.

My daughter had seen a prank on the internet and wanted to play it on me. The whole family set to work on the trap. It was a Saturday and I was at work. I couldn't have been aware of their mischief in the least. Then, I came home and started my routine of preparing for the next day's shift.

They know that I always take a small bag of pretzels to work with me. That is what they adhered a large, fake tarantula to. Well, it wasn't just adhered to the bag. There was a string attached to both the bag and the spider as well. So, when I picked up the bag, the spider dropped a little, and as I pulled the bag toward me, the spider swung toward me. In mere seconds, my brain reacted and I threw the bag. I made a sound as well, which was NOT high-pitched screaming. More like an "Oh, what the!?" I wondered in that instant why a spider that large was in the house, but it was too late. They had already got me.

Instant laughter. My oldest son and daughter laughed and laughed and laughed. They got me and got me good. My wife had left to run a errand shortly after I got home and had just returned. My daughter opened the door and told her before she reached the house. She was now laughing with the kids. Then they explained the trick to me.

They got me with a fake spider. Respect.



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Observations

While writing the post entitled "Kiss My Grass, Part 3: The Trees Have Eyes," I noticed that I had been using backyard as one word but front yard as two. I decided to look into this and found that it's more complicated than one way being right or wrong. Technically, they both can be separate words and compound words depending on how you use them. Check out an explanation here. I suppose this means I'll have to be more thoughtful when using them!



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Shine That Spotlight, You Crazy Diamond

In this issue of THE NOT SO DAILY DUMP, I'd like to draw your attention to Nick Morris. While we didn't attend at the same time, he is a fellow alumnus of McNally Smith College of Music. Nick is currently living in Colorado working for a company named MakeMusic. Recently, he had an article published on their site titled "Using Garritan Sounds in Ableton Live 9."

Nick also produces music under the title Draze Force—an electronic music project. A Google search gives you many options on where to find Draze Force on the internet and where to listen to his music. Here are a few options to get you started.




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Harry and the Hendersons

A while back, we watched this movie. The kids couldn't agree on what they wanted to watch and I suggested it. We were looking in the kids' section on Netflix, and I was actually a little surprised to see this movie in the middle of more modern flicks. My suggestion wasn't appreciated. I wasn't necessarily convinced of it either.

The kids continued to disagree and argue about what movie to watch, so I started playing Harry and the Hendersons. I got some groans at first, but as I figured, they warmed up to it pretty quickly. We only had enough time to watch about half of it because bedtime came, but they were looking forward to finishing it after dinner the next day.

While I DID find it interesting to revisit this childhood memory with my kids, it didn't keep my complete attention, and I fiddled with my phone off and on. My wife was also nearby working on a project. The toddler played with the wooden train set, curious about Harry when he was on the screen. The two older kids were actually occupied by the movie the whole time.

Looking to take a stroll down memory lane? Give this a watch. Emailers, go!




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