Yesterday in the theater before watching the second Guardians
of the Galaxy film, we saw again the trailer for Marvel's next
Thor movie. Zara was sitting to my left and Cara to my right
with Maxwell on her other side. During the trailer I could
see him excitedly explaining to her who Hel was and what her
role would be in Ragnarok. It's always a delight to see him
geek out like that, especially since I introduced that
knowledge to him by reading Neil Gaiman's Norse Mythology
to the kids at night over the past month or so.
Zara has been reading through Rick Riordan's novels containing
the Greek gods, so she's very into mythology right now. I had
originally bought Gaiman's book for her, but when the Ragnarok
trailer came out last month I decided I couldn't wait for her
to finish it and I would read it to them. This is always fun,
but sometimes counterproductive to the goal of settling them
down for bed at night.
Gaiman's retelling of some of the stories is an excellent
introduction to the nordic gods compared with some of the more
dry, academic works I've read on Snorri Sturluson. It doesn't
leave out the gory details though - we still get Odin hanging
himself on Yggdrasil and Loki tying his balls to a goat. I'd
recommend it for kids and adults alike.
Also in the Ragnarok trailer is a much more GOTG feel and Led
Zepplin's Immigrant Song. This has led me to relisten
my way through Led Zepplin's catalog. I remember my dad's
records - he had all their albums - and the taped copies he
made to listen to in the car. It's weird that records have
made a comeback. My dad's are long gone. They're kind of a pain
and not really that portable. I don't even really use CDs
anymore now there's Spotify. Of course, that means my music
can disappear. Like Megadeth's live Argentina album that is
no longer available. Things like that make me sad and remind
that they, not I, are really in control.
One last thought on the new GOTG film. It turns out that both
Tango and Cash were in it. Overall the movie was much darker
and less fun than it's predecessor, but having Sly in there with
all the CGI really made it feel like Spy Kids all over again.
There was even a race of whiny video gamers!
I'm writing this in the Cool Springs Starbucks, and every time
I'm here I end up thinking about Stallone because I can't flush
the toilet. Seriously. I feel like some out of place character
from the past. There's this little circle atop the tank, but it
might as well be three seashells. Maxwell says all you have to
do is wave your hand above it. I've tried that. I've waved
slow and I've waved fast. I've waved high and I've waved low.
I've tried tapping in gently. I've tried pushing hard on it.
Regardless, the toilet will not flush.
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