It’s winter and there’s still cold seeping around most doors, causing us to dress in sweaters and bundle up under blankets. But that doesn’t stop time from marching on. Believe it or not, it’s time to start looking for summer camps.

I know. It’s hard to believe, but it is true.

Over the last couple of [...]]]> by Richard

It’s winter and there’s still cold seeping around most doors, causing us to dress in sweaters and bundle up under blankets. But that doesn’t stop time from marching on. Believe it or not, it’s time to start looking for summer camps.

I know. It’s hard to believe, but it is true.

Over the last couple of days, we’ve begun to receive many, many thick catalogs with ideas for different camps and summer programs in which we could enroll our little dude and our teen dudes. We’re lucky. We already know what they’re going to go away to do. Unlike some camps where the little dudes and dudettes go for months, we send ours to shorter, normally two-week, camps. They get a trip out of town on their own and we get to keep a few pennies in the bank account. A few, mind you.

There are many, many fine summer camps all over the country. A lot of the ones I’ve dealt with, either by attending or by sending a little dude there, are associated with the YMCA. For the most part, they run a great camp.

All three of our little dudes have attended Camp Cheerio (no relation to or association with the cereal) up in the mountains of North Carolina. Each of our dudes have really loved their time there. Two years ago, George of the Jungle aged out. Last year was Zippy the Monkey Boy’s last time at that camp. This year, Speed Racer will be attending without benefit of brothers. He can’t decide if he’s going to be sad or going to explode with joy because he doesn’t have to watch out for surprise noogies.

The two older little dudes are going a bit farther afield. Last year, George of the Jungle went to Costa Rica to help rehabilitate habitats for endangered animals on a wildlife preserve. He got 25 community service hours and had the time of his life traveling with Rustic Pathways, a teen travel and service organization. This year, he’s going with Rustic Pathways to New Orleans to help rehabilitate homes destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. He’ll be there working and playing for about two weeks. He actually said he didn’t want to go out of the country this time because it would be “too much hassle.” He stuck to it, even after we had the doctor check him over for hidden head trauma.

Zippy the Monkey Boy has signed up to travel to the United Kingdom and tour Scotland, Ireland and England with a number of his classmates and other high-school dudes from around Charlotte with Educational Tours. Not so many opportunities for service with this one, but he will be exposed to a different culture or two.

We know these are all expensive, but they’re worth every penny in the joy and horizon-broadening they bring to the little dudes. So start researching now if you want your little dude or dudette to experience the joys of sleep-away camp or even find a service opportunity.

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It’s a very strange thing to hear someone say you said something smart and you don’t even remember it. Of course, I’ll always take the compliment and start preening. Inside, of course. Bald doesn’t preen well.

Anyway.

My brother-in-law and his wife and two boys were at the house for a week after Christmas. The little [...]]]> by Richard

It’s a very strange thing to hear someone say you said something smart and you don’t even remember it. Of course, I’ll always take the compliment and start preening. Inside, of course. Bald doesn’t preen well.

Anyway.

My brother-in-law and his wife and two boys were at the house for a week after Christmas. The little dudes are 4 and 6, which means that adults can often be counted upon to pour their drinks.

So I was in the kitchen pouring some Juicy Juice (to which Speed Racer has now become addicted) for the youngest little cousin dude and I, without thinking (as I do so many things), poured him about a fourth of a cup. My sister-in-law, let’s call her Blondie, happened to be in the kitchen at the same time and watched me pour.

“Only pour as much as you want to clean up,” she said. I thought that sounded pretty profound. Turns out I was right. “You taught me that,” Blondie continued.

I was quietly flabbergasted. I couldn’t even remember having said anything like that. I can be profound. Who knew?

On further thought, I realized that saying could apply to a lot of things. Basically it’s talking about peering into the misty future and trying to foresee the natural consequences of your actions.

Say you put your cup near the edge of a table and there’s little dudes around. What are the odds that cup is going to hit the ground? I know it’s not realistic, but I’m thinking that the odds increase drastically if there’s nice white carpet under that fruit punch. Maybe it just feels that way.

I’m thinking it might even be a good idea to remember that one for the future, no pun intended.

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Dudes, I have been to the mountain top and returned with a revelation. I have had an epiphany. Or, to quote Joliet Jake Blues, “I have seen the %^$^%$ ^&%%&ing light!” Yes, this movie really is that good.

Of course, I’m talking about Avatar, the new blockbuster movie by James Cameron. He’s the man who [...]]]> by Richard

Dudes, I have been to the mountain top and returned with a revelation. I have had an epiphany. Or, to quote Joliet Jake Blues, “I have seen the %^$^%$ ^&%%&ing light!” Yes, this movie really is that good.

Of course, I’m talking about Avatar, the new blockbuster movie by James Cameron. He’s the man who brought us such classics as Terminator, Terminator 2, Aliens and Titanic. At the time, Titanic was the most expensive movie ever made. There were many who doubted Cameron would be able to bring in even a fraction of the costs in box-office receipts. After all, everyone knew how the movie would end. The ship would sink. Please. No one’s interested.

Turns out, Cameron was right. Titanic went on to be one of the highest grossing movies of all time and won a number of Academy Awards. So now, with Avatar, Cameron faced the same sorts of criticisms. Too expensive. Too long. Experimental format. Blah, blah, blah. There’s even talk that the entire promotion budget and shooting budget and all the rest could creep upwards of half a billion (yes, with a b) dollars.

This movie was worth it. Every. Stinkin’. Penny. This movie was worth it. It really is just that good.

To start with, let me talk about the cinematography and the Real D 3D process. Here’s the skinny. You must see this movie in 3D. I know you’ll have to pay more than you would to see it in 2D, but, again, worth every stinkin’ penny. The 3D is flawless. It’s not so much the arrows shooting straight out into the audience (hint: there are none), it’s basically just the amazing feeling of depth that the entire movie is suffused with. The mountains in the distance look like they’re in the distance, not just small.

The jungle scenes (and there are a lot of them) are breathtaking. Literally. The wealth of imagination on display, coupled with the revolutionary 3D process, made this like I was walking on an alien world. It was that good. At one point, I thought to myself, I know this is animated, but it looks more realistic than live-action movies I’ve seen.

You’ve probably heard about the story now, but let me fill you in a little. Humanity in the year 2150 something, has basically used up the Earth’s natural resources and has moved on looking for more. They find it in Pandora, a habitable planet orbiting a gas giant a long, long way from home. Even better, the place is lousy with a precious ore called unobtanium. No, I’m not kidding. I wish I was. I mean, was cantfindium as a name taken? Anyway, the problem for the Earth corporation trying to mine the ore on this hot jungle planet, filled with an atmosphere toxic to humans, is there is an aboriginal population of giant, savage, noble Smurfs. Um, sorry. They’re blue. They’re called the Na’vi and they’re not especially friendly to the encroaching aliens.

Fortunately, the corporation has Ripley, sorry, Sigourney Weaver to bioengineer a mixture of human and Na’vi and then allow for a telepresence system for a human operative to drive a Na’vi. Jake Sully is a paraplegic former Marine who ends up as part of the Na’vi avatar program when his scientist twin brother dies. Jake takes his brothers place and then realizes he always loved Dances With Wolves. He eventually goes native, falls in love with a Na’vi woman and then leads the Na’vi in battle to expel the aliens.

Yeah, I’ve got issues with some of the plot. Don’t even ask me about the lightspeed lag or how the link can work in the vortex. (See the movie. You’ll understand.) Those are just a few of the problems I saw on a cursory first viewing. But it doesn’t matter. I’ll be going back. Heck, my wife, known to some as She Who Couldn’t Remember A Movie If Her Life Depended On It, came out of the movie and said the most amazing thing: “I want to go back and see that again.”

My little dudes were so enthused they wanted to give up video games so they could be a Na’vi. You really need to see this movie. In 3D. Save some time since it clocks in at around 3 hours. And, for those of you who’s little dudes have more sensitive ears, there a maybe a dozen instances of cursing, but nothing truly serious.

All in all, I’d give this six dudes out of five. The unprecedented extra is for the technical accomplishments. Yeah. That good.

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