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This past weekend Rach and I headed up to Duluth to attend the reception for a  wedding that we went to a month ago or so. It was a pretty good party, though the dancing portion left much to be desired. Still, I soldiered on and valiantly made a fool of myself on the dance floor doing the YMCA and air guitaring to Queen.

We also got to see Rachel’s parents and hang out with them for a while. Rachel forced her mom to start watching Planet Earth with us, which was jaw-droppingly amazing. Even if you don’t like animal/National Geographic documentaries you will like this gorgeous masterpiece. Things like swooping silently through snow covered trees, seeing the full extent of a caribou migration and the incredible tactics of African Wild Dogs on the hunt are just spectacular experiences.

 

I also got to see Where the Wild Things Are last night, and it was pretty good. It does feel a bit stretched out at points but the entire thing is beautifully done and very true to the book’s artistic style. It’s definitely not so much a movie for kids as it is a movie about kids, as all of the Wild Things represent different child archetypes. There’s the rambunctious child who flies into a tantrum at the slightest provocation, the quiet loner looking in from the outside, the universal crush, the couple, etc. as well as plenty of the activities that kids tend to do. But they're not just children- they are also Wild Things that are large and have very sharp teeth. As one of them said, "If you have a problem, just eat it. It's what I always do." It's pretty, it's funny, it's scary, and it's pretty enjoyable for those who want to see a great look at what being a kid is like. Just don’t expect kids to be incredibly entertained by it.

Well, that’s it for now. Until next time…

 "Children have but little charity for one another's defects."
- Autobiography of Mark Twain