Friday Favorites, Flops and Food
I was unsure about seeing the Disney remake of DUMBO.
The critics and the reviews haven’t been especially kind. Another reason I was unsure was because my youngest daughter Jill saw the original animated film (1941) in the 1980’s and she was inconsolable for days. It was too sad for adults let alone children.
Director: Tim Burton
With: Colin Farrell, Michael Keaton, Danny DeVito, Eva Green, Alan Arkin, Nico Parker, Finley Hobbins, Roshan Seth, Lars Eldinger, Deobia Oparei, Joseph Gatt, Miguel Muñoz Segura.
We took our granddaughters Morgan, (16) Avery, (13) Adriana, (9) and Peyton Elizabeth. (8)
The theatre was full. It was a mixed crowd of couples with no children and children of all ages.
Tim Burton deviates from the original animated version. The original was only an hour long and didn’t include humans.
This story has a disabled veteran returning from the war to care for his two children. His wife passed away while he was deployed. His future as a trick rider in the circus is doubtful because of his injury.
Danny DeVito, the curmudgedy (perfectly cast) circus owner offers him the role of elephant trainer.
His daughter Milly has an interest in science and performs an experiment on the newly born, odd elephant.
This version is much less sad and has quite a few “sweet” moments.
The 3D effects were good.
The real review for me was the audience responses at the end. All the kids in the theatre enjoyed the movie, even the smaller ones. Our granddaughters were probably the perfect aged audience for this one. The production was dark (not a lot of light,) which always bothers me but all in all I’m glad we went.
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Weird News
A young man in the Cincinnati area claimed he escaped captors and announced he was the missing boy Timmothy Pitzen.
In 2011Timmothy’s mother pulled him out of kindergarten class an hour after his father dropped him off, stating there was a family emergency.
The two spent a few days visiting theme parks and zoos. When the mother was discovered dead in a motel room of an apparent suicide, the little boy was no where to be found. A note was found claiming the boy was with responsible adults and would be taken care of well.
It turns out the “found” boy is a 23-year-old and his DNA did not match. He isn’t Timmothy.
My heart breaks for Timmothy’s family. I can’t imagine the emotions they’ve felt over the years and now to be inflicted purposely with the pain and shattered hope this hoax caused is incomprehensible.
Police aren’t naming the 23-year-old claiming he hasn’t been charged with a crime yet. They are saying no one gets away with stunts like this. Unfortunately, we know that’s not true. People get away with making false police reports and libelous claims against innocent people all the time.
Perhaps this 23-year-old will end up being the “example” and, actually be charged and convicted because he isn’t a celebrity. I hate thinking that way but…
The only good news to come from this case is the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children says continued publicity is vital in cases of long-missing children. More than 3,000 children have been recovered between 2014and 2018. Most had been missing for more than a year and 234 had been missing for a decade or more. Let’s let that sink in.
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I’ve been teaching a community social media class for the past 5-weeks at a nearby high school. The attendees were complete newbees, most didn’t even have Facebook pages.
I’m looking forward to following their progress.
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Our family was blessed with the birth of a great niece, Meadow Margaret. Such joy!
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Last week my husband John and I started binge watching Blind Spot.
On Wednesday we started season 3. We’ll probably finish the series this weekend.
I made a quick, easy and delicious binging snack.
Nacho Dip
1 lb ground beef
1 large jar of mild salsa
Package of shredded cheddar cheese
Small container of sour cream
Nacho chips
Brown hamburger and drain. Put in bowl and stir in salsa. Add package of shredded cheddar cheese. Stir until mixed well. Heat in microwave until cheese is melted.
Add sour cream and stir. I served with gluten free scoops. (Walmart)
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It’s still cold here in the Philadelphia area. I’m seeing signs of Spring everywhere, we’re only missing the warmth.
What have you been up to all week?
Have a blessed weekend,
Doreen
6 thoughts on “Friday Favorites, Flops and Food…”
Like your website and the way you lay out your stories. Interesting about the social media classes. That sounds really good. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you. The class was a lot of fun.
Congratulations on the new addition to your family. As much as it breaks my heart that this man ripped open the Pitzen family wounds, I can’t help but think that it’s possible that he really needs help as much as he needs punishment
I agree. I hope he gets the help he needs.
Well you’ve had lots of interesting things happening – interesting what you said about Dumbo – I’m still not sure if I’ll bother seeing it. Loved the new grand-niece name – very creative. And fancy there still being people in the world who don’t have FB accounts!
I was a bit stunned that they had 0 social media accounts. They do now:)