Trickle Down Let-Down

So the studio I work for hasn’t been doing too badly in the movie department recently. They are still releasing a few more this summer, but the big ones they have release have been doing pretty good. Of course, we don’t see any of the residuals from that. I am sure upper management is going to their back-slapping, self-appraising cocktail parties and getting high on the notion that their work has rendered the company successful. I on the other hand realize that if I suddenly left, nothing would happen. Sure there would be some angry employees and execs that want their subscriptions or cart washed, but they would get over it. I guess in a way I was hoping that the good luck and extra cash flow would somehow trickle down to us grunts. Maybe they require some sort of ritualistic sacrifice? The only way I know how to oblige is to feed my only son to a huge fiberglass photo-op shark. Unfortunately, I’m pretty sure every immature dad has done likewise when visiting Universal Studios so I’ll bet money it’s not nearly original enough to qualify.

Vacation

The reason I have been gone so long was Vacation! The word that makes anyone’s brain salivate for the anticipation of relaxation. Ours brought my family to southern Utah where we camped near Bryce Canyon. That’s actually me and my son in a backpack out on the ledge overlooking the canyon. It was a fun hike, especially for my wife who is 8 months pregnant. We also went to a ranch for a family reunion and got to ride horses, swim in a lake, country dancing, roping, games and all kinds of stuff. Right now our son is at my Mom and Dad’s for Grandma’s camp, playing with his cousins and trains. This gave my wife and I some alone time in Las Vegas. Overall impression: hot (115 degrees), tiring, dirty, expensive. There were some good parts like the Mandalay Bay Aquarium, Bellagio gardens and fountains and Caesars Palace Forum. Other than that, you get a thousand times more for your money camping.

Suck It Up

This has nothing to do with film other than it could make an interesting premise. We have new neighbors upstairs who have an obsession with vacuuming. For some reason, they spend hours almost every day vacuuming their apartment. Now, these apartments aren’t very big mind you, we do live in LA; we’re talking about 900 sq. feet. So the other day, they are vacuuming the rooms, and then get to the Family room and spend about an hour doing one room! Per-chance, this ritual seems to always take place in the late afternoon, when our son takes a nap. We have a fan in his room creating some white noise, so it isn’t that much of an issue. What worries me is what is causing them to vacuum for so long, so often. Is there some kind of self populating dirt, a roach infestation, carpet bugs, genetically modified biological carpet growth? It concerns me since we live underneath it. The lady even seemed distraught when my wife mentioned that our son takes naps in the afternoon. She looked forlorn and said “I guess there’ll be no vacuuming then.” Now that’s obsessive compulsive.

Red Tide

This is a black tip reef shark in its death throws due to red tide. Now, I know fist hand what red tide is. I received a Fathers day present to snorkel off the coast of San Diego. It actually was very fun and peaceful and I did get to see lots of fishes and things that swim in the water. I also got to dive in some caves and rocks which were also very neat. However, vision was limited to about three feet because of the red tide that had drifted in choking the shores. I never knew what an adverse effect it would have on sea creatures though. The poor girl who took these pictures thought she was being attacked since it leapt out of the water and snapped at her. I guess we could blame all these shark attacks on red tide. Curse you Red tide and your bite inducing, blinding fog!