

Family Movie Night
By Karyn Bowman
With Pumpkin Fest coming and the theme being Pumpkins in Paradise, my mind keeps playing the old Jimmy Buffet song, Cheeseburgers in Paradise.
Wrong, so wrong and yet there it is.
Instead, I am trying to focus on the fun aspects of the annual fest with the parade going by my house, pumpkins on our steps for decoration, and the need to make sure all cars are properly parked and out of the way before parade time.
Well, at least our steps are filled with pumpkins.
But this week has also seen the release of the latest Marvel Comics movie, Captain America:Civil War.
For fans of action movies and movies with a bit of fantasy, this is a winner.
I like Marvel for allowing characters to grow and develop. I like that they explore themes and realistic emotional scenarios. Most of us may never deal with aliens trying to take over our world. But we do have family members dealing with post-traumatic stress. And for those who follow politics, we know people who may like each other but really disagree on how to keep America safe.
In fact, that issue drives this movie. Because of the events in past movies and lives that have been lost and cities that have been damaged beyond repair, it has been decided by the UN that superheroes need to register and that they will only ‘help’ in situations in which they are called upon to help.
Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) agrees with this policy and feels superheroes need to be reined in. But Captain America (Chris Pine), the WWII hero, feels this is the wrong way to go. He is a veteran of the war in which people were separated out for their differences and does not want to be impeded to give help whenever help is needed.
The fight becomes brutal and personal when Bucky, the Winter Soldier, resurfaces as the possible culprit of a nasty bombing and assassination of an African king. There will be long time repercussions from this event. Soon, people are divided and they are recruiting new and old members to join the fight.
I find this to be a well done addition to the series. It is the last of the Captain America movies, although not the last time for us to see Captain America. It features the inclusion of new characters (Ant-Man and Falcon) while unveiling a few new friends (Spiderman and Black Panther), one of whom are clearly in awe of everyone he is fights for and against.
It is an entertaining movie with it’s one-liners and smart retorts. Characters still speak to each other as friends, even when they hate each others’ guts. There are plenty of explosions and fights to the death, including the last big fight between Cap and Iron man.
This may not be a movie for your youngest child or one that has a short tolerance for the action violence. There is one spot that might make a protective parent wary. But in the end , I enjoyed the movie for being willing to ask tough questions about power and the wielding of it.
Until next week, see you in the rental aisle.
Wordless Wednesday
When is it too early to put out Halloween decorations? I am not sure. Some of these were taken last week, others this week. Nevertheless, there is something enjoyable about a good and safe scare.
Family Movie Night
By Karyn Bowman
As some of you might know, I have a blog running on wordpress.com.It is called Notes From Rumbly Cottage in which I discuss life issues, books, movies, political opinions and gardening.
I usually have a post once a week featuring pictures. It is really a smorgasbord of stuff. I mention this because last year I did a post on the scarecrows we have decorating the downtown area during Pumpkin Fest.
Lately, it has become one of my most popular posts as people look at the different scarecrows. What surprised me is that people really love the “Lucy” scarecrow in her black polka dot dress. It made me wonder if people across the country were planning their own scarecrows and were searching for new ideas.
And then it made me think about how interesting that our little town on the edge of the prairie is showing others the way to making a cute or scary or fun scarecrow. I mentioned this to Carol O’Connell, creator of the event as I was walking Storm. He had to talk to her sheep dog, so the humans were able to talk for a few minutes about how well the scarecrows dress up the town for Pumpkin Fest.
We talked about how much the event is a lot of fun for various groups and which parts of creating the scarecrow is the hardest. For Carol, it is coming up with a head. For me, it is the hair. I fail at that aspect every year.
We talked about what we plan to make for this year’s group and Carol gave me a great idea on how to make a wide skirt. I am hoping we can get together this week and make a great scarecrow or two.And then I am going to put it up on my blog.
How about finding out what movie is coming out on DVD. This week, comic book fans are going to be happy because Thor makes its way to the home theater market.
In the run up to the Avengers series, Thor tells the story of a prince whose arrogance re-starts a bitter war on his home realm. His father gets so mad that he takes away the powers Thor has and exiles him to Earth.
A strange man in a strange land.
But then he meets a beautiful scientist (Natalie Portman) and through her love he learns to grow up. When an old foe threatens the Earth, Thor steps up to the challenge as the mature man he has become.
This movie has it all: Gods battling, huge action, great love, references galore throughout the movie, hints at movies to come. And did I mention that the actor playing Thor, Chris Hemsworth, is a total hottie. The rating is PG because of some violence and intense science fiction action.
Here is what I know. This Friday when it is pizza and movie night at my house, I am making sure that there is room on the couch for me. The kids and the dog might have to fight over who get room on the floor.
Until next week, see you in the rental aisle.
Halloween has been gone for a week now but the candy remains.
All week the kids have been eating their stash of candy – an impressive haul this year. The chocolates are just about gone and we are down to sweet-tarts and lollipops. What remains are the wrappers.
I find them on the floor, under the coffee table and couches. If I am going up the stairs, looking for laundry in the bedrooms or sweeping up in the kitchen – there they are. The bright colors of red, blue, yellow and green were wonderful when they wrapped chocolate lovelies.
The problem is I am not the only one finding the leftovers of a quick snack. So is our lovable dog, Storm.
This is not good.
Dogs should not have chocolate and Storm always feels the after affects of snitched chocolate. The sweet delight wears him out, loosens the stool and makes life unpleasant for him. He lays about more and farts more but none of that stops him
It makes our walks interesting. As I clean up piles I never know what color of wrapping will appear. What also amazes me is that a dog lives through some of the things that they eat. A candy wrapper or punch ball balloon comes out all in one piece.
All of this has lead to edicts of proper clean up whenever snacking occurs. I enforce wrapper sweeps. When I see wrappers, I make everyone take part in the clean up. When everyone has gotten to bed, I find myself resting my hand under the couch and finding a Snickers or M&M package.
I am not the only one. The dog is going on foraging missions behind the couch, under the couch, behind the dining room table and into the pantry. I have to be armed with the water bottle to make him stop.
Soon, the Halloween candy will be relegated to one bag of suckers and gumballs. Halloween will give way to the Thanksgiving feast as pumpkins see a better use to be made into pie and other goodies. I will have to be on the lookout for other candy wrappers soon.
While our dog thinks he is human, he has learned how to sit on a chair, he is not allowed to eat from the table. While he tries to find leftovers, the table is his favorite hunting ground. Just because Grandpa likes to feed him tidbits from the table, does not mean he is allowed that privileged year round.
Should he ever learn to use a fork and spoon, I might relent.