annie blog

It’s Been Quiet Around Here
My middle two boys have been with their Mama Susie and Papa Joe– my mom and dad — for the last week and a half. By all accounts, they have had a blast. First off, I should say that my mom has a lot of energy and she has taken them everywhere. They’ve been to a zoo more than once, they’ve been on a safari, they’ve had an extensive tour of a dairy farm, they’ve visited another farm with exotic animals, they’ve been to parks and chased ducks and looked at bullfrogs. They have been swimming every day. In short, I don’t know if they’ll want to return with me to Missouri when I go fetch them. I think that Mama Susie has had a good time too. She loves her grandsons. They can be quite entertaining.

Every night that they have been gone, the boys have called us and talked for 30 minutes to an hour. Isn’t that so different from when we were children? I mean, even if you did call once a day when you were away, you certainly didn’t talk for anything like a half of an hour. Now we talk on the phone as long as we want whenever we want. Anyway….so, the second night we talked to them my 2nd oldest related the following that had happened at the pool after dinner.

Jon: So did you have fun swimming?
N: Yes, they have a great pool and a waterfall. We had fun. But there were some kind of mean kids there and they took our ball and wouldn’t give it back.
Jon: Well, what did you do?
N: Um, well, we asked them to give it back to us but they wouldn’t so C started hitting them with his noodle.
Jon: He was hitting them with the noodle he floats on in the pool?
N: Yea. It is a good thing that Mama Susie wasn’t sitting on her float in the pool when it all happened.
Jon: Why was it good that she wasn’t on her float?
N: Because she was laughing so hard that she would have probably fallen off of it into the pool.

To totally understand this, you have to know my 3rd son, C, and know that he must have felt wronged in the greatest sense in order to leave his dream world long enough make his own justice by whacking someone with a noodle. And, his aim is so bad that I bet that he didn’t make contact with that noodle once. Watching the champion of daydreaming become a noodle wielding vigilante is funny, indeed.

It’s Been Quiet Around Here
My middle two boys have been with their Mama Susie and Papa Joe– my mom and dad — for the last week and a half. By all accounts, they have had a blast. First off, I should say that my mom has a lot of energy and she has taken them everywhere. They’ve been to a zoo more than once, they’ve been on a safari, they’ve had an extensive tour of a dairy farm, they’ve visited another farm with exotic animals, they’ve been to parks and chased ducks and looked at bullfrogs. They have been swimming every day. In short, I don’t know if they’ll want to return with me to Missouri when I go fetch them. I think that Mama Susie has had a good time too. She loves her grandsons. They can be quite entertaining.

Every night that they have been gone, the boys have called us and talked for 30 minutes to an hour. Isn’t that so different from when we were children? I mean, even if you did call once a day when you were away, you certainly didn’t talk for anything like a half of an hour. Now we talk on the phone as long as we want whenever we want. Anyway….so, the second night we talked to them my 2nd oldest related the following that had happened at the pool after dinner.

Jon: So did you have fun swimming?
N: Yes, they have a great pool and a waterfall. We had fun. But there were some kind of mean kids there and they took our ball and wouldn’t give it back.
Jon: Well, what did you do?
N: Um, well, we asked them to give it back to us but they wouldn’t so C started hitting them with his noodle.
Jon: He was hitting them with the noodle he floats on in the pool?
N: Yea. It is a good thing that Mama Susie wasn’t sitting on her float in the pool when it all happened.
Jon: Why was it good that she wasn’t on her float?
N: Because she was laughing so hard that she would have probably fallen off of it into the pool.

To totally understand this, you have to know my 3rd son, C, and know that he must have felt wronged in the greatest sense in order to leave his dream world long enough make his own justice by whacking someone with a noodle. And, his aim is so bad that I bet that he didn’t make contact with that noodle once. Watching the champion of daydreaming become a noodle wielding vigilante is funny, indeed.

And, While On the Subject of Movies…
How did I miss that Wes Anderson has a new movie coming out sometime next year? It’s going to be called The Darjeeling Limited. The cast looks great. I’m really looking forward to it since he is one of my favorite directors. People seem to either really like or really hate his movies. If you are in the first group, the likers, then you might be interested in reading a bit more about The Darjeeling Limited here.

Here is a photo of some of the actors in the film — Jason Schwartzman, Owen Wilson, and Adrien Brody. I got this photo on this blog. Just to give credit where it is due.

And, While On the Subject of Movies…
How did I miss that Wes Anderson has a new movie coming out sometime next year? It’s going to be called The Darjeeling Limited. The cast looks great. I’m really looking forward to it since he is one of my favorite directors. People seem to either really like or really hate his movies. If you are in the first group, the likers, then you might be interested in reading a bit more about The Darjeeling Limited here.

Here is a photo of some of the actors in the film — Jason Schwartzman, Owen Wilson, and Adrien Brody. I got this photo on this blog. Just to give credit where it is due.

And, While On the Subject of Movies…
How did I miss that Wes Anderson has a new movie coming out sometime next year? It’s going to be called The Darjeeling Limited. The cast looks great. I’m really looking forward to it since he is one of my favorite directors. People seem to either really like or really hate his movies. If you are in the first group, the likers, then you might be interested in reading a bit more about The Darjeeling Limited here.

Here is a photo of some of the actors in the film — Jason Schwartzman, Owen Wilson, and Adrien Brody. I got this photo on this blog. Just to give credit where it is due.

A Letter
Dear Mr. Tim Burton,
First off, I must say that my son J absolutely adores your movies. Seriously, The Nightmare Before Christmas is one of his very favorites. In fact, if he wants to, I bet he can put the movie on a loop in his brain. He is also a fan of the children’s books by Roald Dahl. Are you a fan of Dahl as well? I’m assuming that you are, since you did Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and produced the excellent James and the Giant Peach. I suspect that Dahl’s works for children resonate with you because there is a darkness to the worlds that he creates. Are you reading his books to your son? If so, good for you!

Now, I know that you are supposedly busy with doing Ripley’s Believe It Or Not. Maybe you are, maybe you are not. What I want to say here is that I know exactly what your next project should be — and that is a movie of Roald Dahl’s book, The BFG. It is a perfect book for an adaptation to a movie for children. And, I think that you are the only director that could do the awful giants justice while managing to highlight the sweet relationship between the BFG and Sophie. I think that this is the perfect movie for you — and the book itself is so short that I’m relatively sure that you could adapt it to a screenplay with very little trouble.

And, after you’ve made the movie and raked in buckets of money, you could send a little of it my way, if you like.

Sincerely,
Annie, mother of a tribe of Tim Burton/Roald Dahl fans

P.S. I don’t know if you’ve worked with her before, but Helen Mirren would be a good choice for the Queen. I’ve heard that she does a bang up job playing royalty.
P.S. #2 James Cromwell would make the best BFG. Also, he was killed off on 24, so maybe he has some time?
P.S.#3 Danny Elfman for the score, of course, or Randy Newman, if Danny is busy.

That’s all.

A Letter
Dear Mr. Tim Burton,
First off, I must say that my son J absolutely adores your movies. Seriously, The Nightmare Before Christmas is one of his very favorites. In fact, if he wants to, I bet he can put the movie on a loop in his brain. He is also a fan of the children’s books by Roald Dahl. Are you a fan of Dahl as well? I’m assuming that you are, since you did Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and produced the excellent James and the Giant Peach. I suspect that Dahl’s works for children resonate with you because there is a darkness to the worlds that he creates. Are you reading his books to your son? If so, good for you!

Now, I know that you are supposedly busy with doing Ripley’s Believe It Or Not. Maybe you are, maybe you are not. What I want to say here is that I know exactly what your next project should be — and that is a movie of Roald Dahl’s book, The BFG. It is a perfect book for an adaptation to a movie for children. And, I think that you are the only director that could do the awful giants justice while managing to highlight the sweet relationship between the BFG and Sophie. I think that this is the perfect movie for you — and the book itself is so short that I’m relatively sure that you could adapt it to a screenplay with very little trouble.

And, after you’ve made the movie and raked in buckets of money, you could send a little of it my way, if you like.

Sincerely,
Annie, mother of a tribe of Tim Burton/Roald Dahl fans

P.S. I don’t know if you’ve worked with her before, but Helen Mirren would be a good choice for the Queen. I’ve heard that she does a bang up job playing royalty.
P.S. #2 James Cromwell would make the best BFG. Also, he was killed off on 24, so maybe he has some time?
P.S.#3 Danny Elfman for the score, of course, or Randy Newman, if Danny is busy.

That’s all.

A Letter
Dear Mr. Tim Burton,
First off, I must say that my son J absolutely adores your movies. Seriously, The Nightmare Before Christmas is one of his very favorites. In fact, if he wants to, I bet he can put the movie on a loop in his brain. He is also a fan of the children’s books by Roald Dahl. Are you a fan of Dahl as well? I’m assuming that you are, since you did Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and produced the excellent James and the Giant Peach. I suspect that Dahl’s works for children resonate with you because there is a darkness to the worlds that he creates. Are you reading his books to your son? If so, good for you!

Now, I know that you are supposedly busy with doing Ripley’s Believe It Or Not. Maybe you are, maybe you are not. What I want to say here is that I know exactly what your next project should be — and that is a movie of Roald Dahl’s book, The BFG. It is a perfect book for an adaptation to a movie for children. And, I think that you are the only director that could do the awful giants justice while managing to highlight the sweet relationship between the BFG and Sophie. I think that this is the perfect movie for you — and the book itself is so short that I’m relatively sure that you could adapt it to a screenplay with very little trouble.

And, after you’ve made the movie and raked in buckets of money, you could send a little of it my way, if you like.

Sincerely,
Annie, mother of a tribe of Tim Burton/Roald Dahl fans

P.S. I don’t know if you’ve worked with her before, but Helen Mirren would be a good choice for the Queen. I’ve heard that she does a bang up job playing royalty.
P.S. #2 James Cromwell would make the best BFG. Also, he was killed off on 24, so maybe he has some time?
P.S.#3 Danny Elfman for the score, of course, or Randy Newman, if Danny is busy.

That’s all.

Questions and Great Answers
I’ve mentioned here before about my oldest son and how he used to ask interesting questions of people. He had to learn about facial expression, age, gender, etc. as part of his education. And, I think that is why he asked those questions. Or, maybe it was just his way of starting a conversation. I’ll probably never know.

Well, for awile a few years ago, the main question he liked to ask was, “Are you an old man?” All the older men that he asked were very gracious in their answers to him. Most of them said, “Yes, I think I’m getting on up there,” or “That’s what my wife tells me”. Anyway, I think that the very best reaction of them all was when he asked an octogenarian at our church. The man was on his way across the fellowship hall while finishing up his cookie when J approached him and asked, “Are you an old man?” The man didn’t miss a beat and, with half a smile, quickly whipped out his wallet and said, “Am I an old man? Well, I don’t know. Lemme see.” He showed us his driver’s license/I.D. that had NON-DRIVER stamped across it. He then explained to J that since he was born over 80 years ago, according to his I.D., that yes, he was probably an old man. “Oh,” said J, “and, how did your ears get so tall?” The old man gave me a look like he was trying not to laugh and we wished him a good day.

That dear octogenarian died today. We will all miss him.

Questions and Great Answers
I’ve mentioned here before about my oldest son and how he used to ask interesting questions of people. He had to learn about facial expression, age, gender, etc. as part of his education. And, I think that is why he asked those questions. Or, maybe it was just his way of starting a conversation. I’ll probably never know.

Well, for awile a few years ago, the main question he liked to ask was, “Are you an old man?” All the older men that he asked were very gracious in their answers to him. Most of them said, “Yes, I think I’m getting on up there,” or “That’s what my wife tells me”. Anyway, I think that the very best reaction of them all was when he asked an octogenarian at our church. The man was on his way across the fellowship hall while finishing up his cookie when J approached him and asked, “Are you an old man?” The man didn’t miss a beat and, with half a smile, quickly whipped out his wallet and said, “Am I an old man? Well, I don’t know. Lemme see.” He showed us his driver’s license/I.D. that had NON-DRIVER stamped across it. He then explained to J that since he was born over 80 years ago, according to his I.D., that yes, he was probably an old man. “Oh,” said J, “and, how did your ears get so tall?” The old man gave me a look like he was trying not to laugh and we wished him a good day.

That dear octogenarian died today. We will all miss him.