Labrynthian Theory

I can't remember exactly what brought the movie Labyrinth to my attention recently. Was it talking with Biz-P? Or did our discussion come around because I was thinking about the movie for some reason? I'm just not sure. Either way, a conversation a couple weeks ago lead to the shocking realization that Biz-P did not adore Labyrinth as much as I did. In fact, he - get this - hated it!

It took me some time to remove my jaw from the floor. I'm not sure I was able to speak with BizP for the rest of the day. The next day I tried singing him some of the songs from the movie, but he was undeterred in his hatred. I was completely flabbergasted - how could this be? I told my husband, DigitalA, about it. "Can you believe he doesn't like it?" I said incredulously. "Yeah, I don't like it either." This was even more unsettling to me. "But... But... the only copy of it I have was actually yours from before we met!" I protested. "Well, it must have come from my mom or something, because I never really cared for it." My jaw remained on the floor of the car for days.

Having finally come to grips with the idea that my own husband didn't love Labyrinth, I moved on to determining how this situation could possibly have come to pass. How did they not love Labyrinth? David Bowie and Jim Henson Muppets - I find it magical and wonderful, Biz-P finds it disturbing and creepy, DigitalA just doesn't think about it at all. BizP and I eventually determined the deciding factor must be the age at which we first watched the movie. I don't remember exactly how old I was when I first saw it, but it was released in 1986 and I owned a recorded version from HBO on VHS by 1989. This puts both me and DigitalA in our late teens on first viewing. Biz-P did not see the movie until recently, putting him in his early 30's at first viewing. This must have had something to do with it.

Having formed our theory, I put it to a rigorous scientific test - I posted the question on an online forum I frequent and tallied the answers. I also rented Labyrinth from our local library and played it for my children. My results confirmed and refined our theory. I asked my forum friends and my children to rate the movie on a grade scale of A to F. A is AWESOME I loved it. B is It was good, I liked it. C is meh, don't really care one way or the other. D is I didn't really like it. F is I hated it, do not mention that drivel to me.

For males, the dividing age seems to be 13. I only had a few male respondants, but the only two that gave the movie an A or B rating saw the movie by age 12. Those that saw it from 13 up gave it a C or below.

For females, the dividing age seems to be 18. One respondant saw the movie over that age and gave it a C. The remaining respondants, with only 1 exception, who saw the movie by age 18 gave it at least B, with most of them giving it an A, or even an A+++++++++.

My children confirmed the results as well. Stringz (13) gave it a C, he really didn't care about it. Squeegy (12) gave it a B, enjoying it and wanting to see it again if we owned it. Giggles (8) gave it an A+++. Princess (4) seemed to enjoy it, but was too young for a proper grading.


So, the moral of this story? If you have children, or when you have children, be sure to play your favorite childhood movies for them by age 12 in order to assure that your love is passed on. Waiting too long could leave you at odds with your loved ones over the merits of your all-time favorite campy kids movies.

Mamma Mia

Excerpt from an IM conversation last month:

DA: So, do we have the Ren Faire this weekend, or can we put it off until later?

LPF: We've got Giggles' Girl Scout trip on the 16th, but so far open the rest of the weekends, we can do Ren Faire whenever. Why?

DA: Oh, nothing.

(time passes)

DA: You have plans on Saturday night.

LPF: Oh, ok. Given that Sunday is Mother's Day, I'm guessing I should keep my big nose out of it and leave it at that?

DA: Probably.

LPF: Gotcha.


Have you ever tried to plan an evening out, set up your oldest kid to babysit the younger kids, while having no idea where you are going? "Mommy, where are you going?" "I don't know. Out." "But where?" "I don't know. Out." "Daddy, where are you going?" "Out." "But where?" "Out." "But where?" "Kids listen! It's Mother's Day tomorrow - I Don't Know, and I Don't Want To Know until I get there!!!!"

DA told me to dress semi-nice. Slacks fine, but jeans probably ok too. I erred on the side of dressy and wore slacks with a plain dark turtleneck sweater. I did my hair and even wore make-up. (pause here to let you all recover from the shock.) I didn't poke around too much as I enjoy a good surprise, but I did skim the paper and didn't see anyone I recognized playing in the area that weekend. The only thing I could think of was a comedy club. Given that most clubs have a 2 drink minimum and DA can not drink at all, I grimly anticipated having to get sloshed.

Thankfully for us all, that was not the case. :)

We went out to eat (Tostado Nachos at TGIFridays - yum!), then headed to downtown Tulsa. All the way into downtown, parking the car, and even all the way into the Tulsa Performing Arts Center, I had no idea what we were doing. I saw many signs at the PAC for the upcoming Wicked tour. But that's not until July, I thought to myself, so we can't be seeing that. (Note to DA - I wouldn't mind seeing that if we can swing it.) We were in the theater, walking down the aisle to our seats before the big sign on the back of the stage finally told me what I was in for. "The Ten Tenors".

Once I got past the fact that the name of their tour is not a real word - Nostalgica? - I had a wonderful time. They do a mix of Opera, Broadway and Rock music, and the show was fantastic. I truly enjoyed every moment. It was probably about a 2 hour show, with a 20 minute intermission between. My opinion? I could have stayed another 2 or 3 hours if they would have continued singing for us.

Two interesting notes from the show:

1. How fun is it that out of all million or so songs to come out in the 1980's, they chose our song ¹ as one of the 5 - 7 for their 80's medley? (Yeah, I just saw the show and I already forgot how many. So sue me.)

2. Okay, who in their right minds throws an ABBA song into the middle of a Queen song? ² Sure, the lyrics fit perfectly and it was only 2 lines, but it was definitely the most unexpected moment of the entire night.

If you have a chance, go see the Ten Tenors. If you are a music fan and are even a little bit open to opera, you will thoroughly enjoy yourself. I'm sure the DVDs will not be quite as good as the real thing, but I do intend to add all their DVDs and CDs to my christmas wish list.

¹ Eternal Flame by the Bangles
² "Mamma Mia, here I go again" from Mamma Mia inserted into Bohemian Rhapsody. No, seriously. I'm not kidding. They really did.

Carol of the Bells

This sequence deserves a post all to itself.

The last thing we did Saturday afternoon before leaving the faire for the day was to catch the end of a performance by Cast In Bronze. Frank DellaPenna, known as the Spirit of the Bells, plays the only travelling carillon in America. It is made of 35 cast bronze bells, and is played similar to the way you would play a piano. Carillons are traditionally played from a "lofty bell tower" and therefore the carillonneur was never seen. Spirit of the Bells continues this tradition of secrecy by wearing a mask. The music is beautiful.

DD2 loved the music, and got up to start dancing.






In this one, you can see the carillon pretty well, although Spirit of the Bells is hard to make out. He's sitting to the left.


We bought a DVD and a CD to enjoy at home. Spirit of the Bells autographed the DVD for DS1.


Will you sign this?


Of course I will, Sweetie.


Can I have a hug first?










And she got the autograph too.



fin.

Got A Photograph, Picture Of

Continuing to enjoy the Scarborough Renaissance Festival on Saturday afternoon. While waiting for one of the performances to start I got some wonderful photos of the family.

Howdy Pardner!    


A Father's Love     I know this isn't DH's favorite picture of himself, but I LOVE it. He is looking down at DD2 in this one.


My Girl     The absolute best photo I've ever taken of anyone anywhere. Simply the best photo I've ever seen of DD1. Thank goodness for rapid fire, I never would have lined this photo up like this on purpose, and look what I would have missed!


Hey, You! What?     DS2 doesn't like to pose for photos, so when I get him it's usually by surprise and this is the look I get.


Zilch, the TorySteller    


Zilch tells stories in "Spoonerisms. He flips the first letter of nearby words around, and tells tales like "Rindercella and the Stoo Tugly Epsisters" and "Rittle Led Hiding Rood."


Jomeo and Ruliet    



Sisters    


Elephant Rides    


Camel Rides    


Cut, Thrust and Run     Comedy, fruit, swords, drinking - what more could you want?


We saw their last show of the day. Everytime they said "Are", like "What ARE you doing?" The audience had to yell "ARRR" and they would drink a shot of rum or whisky. They got very drunk.


I like this sequence of Cut spearing an apple out of Run's hand.










One more post to go, saving the best for last!

Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme

After lunch, we walked around and saw a few more shows.

Daniel Duke of Danger     This guy is a good acrobat, and very funny. We've seen his show several times, but he always makes it seem so spontaneous.




I couldn't find a website for Daniel, but if you google "Daniel Duke of Danger" there was at least one video of him up on YouTube.


Kids - Don't try this at home.     Now Jousting - that's good family fun. "Onward Fido, to Victory!"


Trying to get the sweat out of his eyes, and the image of a kid riding a beagle out of his mind.


Take the picture! Take the picture!


Water Fountain     I just liked the way this one looked.


Llamas and Ponies on the Carousel


Model ships     This shop was gorgeous. So many wonderful model ships.


Ships in a Bottle Lightbulb!


Motley Players III     These guys and gals do improv comedy while the audience throws water balloons at them. Given it is usually in the 80's and 90's, this is not a bad idea.


Spin


Spin


Spin


Spin


Spin


Taa Daa!


Suit of Armor



I have 2 more posts worth of photos from Saturday. Trust me, the last set will be well worth the wait. I hope you are enjoying these photos half as much as I am.