It’s fund-raising time for the Arapahoe High School Marching Band! No buckets o’ cheese or cookie dough or magazine subscriptions — just a naked (but deserving) appeal for monetary donations, if you are so inclined.
It’s a great program and I promise this is the last school year I will bug anyone about this particular cause …
https://app.snap-raise.com/fundraisers/15689/participant/356899
Arapahoe High School Band 2017
Support Arapahoe High School Band 2017 and help us raise $10,000.00.
Margie was off on business all last week, which should have meant it was a perfect time for Katherine and I to binge on movies at night until our eyes bled. Alas, her band camps were running until 8pm, school started on Thursday, Tuesday we had a (quite pleasurable) time conflict, so … our movie-watching was perforce constrained.
Still, we managed to sneak a few in.
Under Siege (1992)
★★☆☆☆ (♥)
Actually I watched this solo. It’s a sort of guilty pleasure video, the equivalent of slightly stale Cracker-Jack you just can’t quite stop nibbling on. Steven Seagal does what he does best on this “hijacked US battleship carrying nuclear cruise missiles” thriller, slightly smothered by huge slabs of patriotism, pro-Navy propaganda, and period disdain for the intelligence community. But, hey, Tommy Lee Jones, too. Full Review
Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)
★★★★☆ (♥)
Remember when the Pirates movies were fresh, fun, and didn’t just focus on how hi-lariously goofy Johnny Depp could play Cap’n Jack? This one still holds up very well, in FX and music, but most of all because all the characters are (as writing school puts it) heroes in their own story. I wish this one didn’t turn into the franchise that it became. Full Review
Kong: Skull Island (2017)
★★★☆☆ (♥)
A sad waste of some potentially interesting characters in a nonsensical plot, it’s still got visually some of the best kaiju fights out there to date, both monster-on-monster and monster-on-people. Worth watching (and maybe even rewatching, if you’re not able to pay attention except during those periodic fights). Full Review
Pulp Fiction (1994)
★★★★☆
A great film full of good actors that established some new storytelling tropes and spawned a ton of quotable lines. I admire the repeated Tarantino conceit of lengthy mundane conversation punctuated by moments of screaming violence, and (slightly less) the seeming gritty realism punctuated by bizarre coincidence. I still find the unresolved nature of the film’s storylines to be personally irksome. Full review
Overall verdict for the week?: good (if violent) times. But always more enjoyable in good company.
Went to our final Western Welcome Week Parade with the high school marching band today.
Also sat through a bus-load of kids singing “Bohemian Rhapsody.”
Stop me before I break into a chorus of “Sunrise, Sunset” …
So Kay started Senior Year of High School today.
Yikes.
The most significant differences from previous such exercises were (1) Margie was off on a business trip and so had to be satisfied with pictures, and (2) there was self-driving to school, rather than taking the bus.
And, yeah, sure, there will be a “First Day of College” in a year (double yikes), but it won’t be the same.
Here’s hoping it’s a great year.
Oh, I remember some Disney World trips, I do …
[Original: http://www.fowllanguagecomics.com/comic/vacation/
Bonus Panel: http://www.fowllanguagecomics.com/vacation-bonus-panel/]
Maybe it's genetic, though, because neither my brother nor I were adverse to crusts, nor was my daughter.
And, heck, if I had told my mom I wanted her to cut the crusts off of bread, she'd have told me (1) I can pick them off myself if I choose to, and (2) then I can eat them anyway because we don't waste food.
[Original: http://www.fowllanguagecomics.com/comic/bread-crust/]
[Bonus panel: http://www.fowllanguagecomics.com/bread-crust-bonus-panel/]
This one's for +Kay Hill.
[Original: http://www.fowllanguagecomics.com/comic/good/]
[Bonus panel: http://www.fowllanguagecomics.com/good-bonus-panel/]
Y'know, my daughter keeps doing things like this, sending an instant message to Margie and me:
"Be very careful if you are going to be driving anywhere today. The bus is having trouble braking. It's almost as if there is a layer of ice underneath the snow. We are on the main road and it is better, but still be careful please."
I mean, I thought 15-going-on-16 was supposed to be well into the depths of the "sullen teen angsty rebellious combative teenager" phase. If she insists on giving hugs, clearing the table, and warning us about icy conditions on the road, she's going to completely miss out on all the drama.
As of 1 January, all Disney Princess figures, backpacks, costumes, and other swag will be made by Hasbro, rather than Mattel. The business is estimated to be worth up to $500MM in retail sales.
It's a really interesting article (written as the dad of a daughter who was never too Princess-crazy, but did have her moments of Aurora-worship), both in terms of how the business has evolved, and in terms of the changes that Disney and Hasbro (who also manages their Marvel and Star Wars stuff) have in mind:
– Promoting all the Princesses, including a number that Mattel had neglected (Pocahontes, Tiana, Mulan, etc.).
– Smaller and a bit more cartoony but more distinct characters (less just "Barbies with different colored hair and color coded dresses).
– Less emphasis on "happily ever after," more on "empowered heroines."
It's all very meta, but it's fascinating nonetheless.
The $500 Million Battle Over Disney’s Princesses
How Hasbro grabbed the lucrative Disney doll business from Mattel.
On the other hand, I'm buying +Kay Hill's ticket for Saturday night, so she can just cringe and bear it.
(via http://boingboing.net/2015/12/16/tom-the-dancing-bug-a-long-ti.html)
I'm not saying this is true. I'm also not saying it wasn't an unexpected side benefit.
Originally shared by +Chris Hallbeck:
Toys in the attic.
http://maximumble.thebookofbiff.com/2014/08/26/926-vicarious/
#funny #lol #comic #webcomic #toys #starwars #tmnt
Please. Really. We'll never pry it off of her.
(Go away, +Kay Hill.)
Originally shared by +Les Jenkins:
You know you want one.
Carry Your Cat with This Fluffy Neko Suit
It’s fall. It’s cold and wet. Maybe you don’t want to go outside. Maybe you don’t want to get properly dressed. Maybe you have a cat.
There's only one solution. And I'm looking at you, +Kay Hill.
How to Make a Real Difference in This Scary World [Comic]
A fantastic comic by my pal Brian from Fowl Language showing the only true way we can make a lasting difference in this world in the long term. [Sour
I didn't grow up with Richard Scarry, but Margie certainly did, so we had a number of his books around the house while Kay was growing up — including different editions of his Best Word Book Ever.
I noticed some of these changes at the time in comparison, and applauded them. Remarkably enough, I don't think there was any tremendous outrage over Scarry's updating, and by and large they are positive ones — though, to be fair, "beautiful screaming lady" is a bit more colorful and engaging than "cat in danger."
How Richard Scarry updated his children’s book to be more progressive and inclusive
Awesome.
Not so much of an issue for us these days — but I remember. Oh, Lord, do I remember. (And try to remember when buying gifts for other people's kids.)
Original: http://www.fowllanguagecomics.com/comic/irritating-toys/
Bonus panel: http://www.fowllanguagecomics.com/irritating-toys-bonus-panel/
Truth.
The bonus panel (at http://www.fowllanguagecomics.com/baby-shower-bonus-panel/) is pretty darned hilarious, too.
Originally shared by +Doyce Testerman:
"And look: the whole thing comes together in five intricate folds, like some sort of goddamn origami chrysanthemum. That's fantastic!"
Baby Shower – Fowl Language Comics
Bonus Panel
At least, anything beyond "Jesus is coming, so let's practice our hymns"?
Lucky for us, we get the Texas Supreme Court to make decision in the matter. Yikes.
Texas Case Mulls if Home-school Kids Have to Learn Something
A much-watched case headed to the Texas Supreme Court could have broad implications on the nation’s booming home-school ranks.
I linked to this video earlier (in connection to an unconnected story about a live-action Dora the Explorer movie being actually in the works. But it was so darned funny (for anyone who has had to sit through any of those cartoons) that I wanted to post it directly.
Enjoy.
Arapahoe High School has banned "grinding" at their dances (in particular the upcoming Homecoming Dance). Which, for some reason, made both the Denver Post and local network news.
+Kay Hill attends there, and said there was an assembly and all that. While the DP story indicates no reason given for the policy clarification (it was already policy), the school corridor scuttlebutt was that there had been an inappropriate (as in nonconsensual) grinding incident at the Back to School Dance a few weeks back, which prompted this particular thang.
Since Kay wasn't planning on attending Homecoming (both Band Season and nobody she's going with right now), it's fairly academic (so to speak), but she was more than a bit miffed to find out this whole thing is her high school's new claim to fame. At least until the next news cycle.
Arapahoe High School bans “grinding” at homecoming dance
Arapahoe High School has changed its dance policy to ban “grinding” as it kicks of its homecoming week
Having the +Kay Hill in the house has ever stopped us. In fact, it's sometimes encouraged us.
