We went to see the movie “Alice in Wonderland” last night. On the way home from the theater a couple wearing dark clothing stepped off the street corner (out of nowhere?!@#!!) and into the road right into the path of our moving car. They weren’t even looking for oncoming cars?! They were busy carrying on a conversation and just stepped off of the curb and kept right on walking?! Fortunately, the standard speed limit up here is 35 m.p.h. on most major roads
(tres annoying at times ... especially coming from Texas where its at least 60 mph. almost everywhere and 45 mph. is going slow) … even six lane roads … three lanes each direction with a center turn lane: the speed is 35 mph.
(light bulb moment … maybe people stepping off of curbs out of nowhere is the reason for this consistently low speed limit everywhere?). Luckily, Ken also has fast reflexes: he saw the couple and was able to stop the car in time to avoid hitting them.
Ken’s remark to the above couple’s “blatant display of stupidity”? “See that kids … that’s Darwinism in action.” Meaning that people totally lacking in common sense probably won’t be around long enough to contribute to the gene pool. Lauren laughs and adds, “Yeah that should be true, but that doesn’t seem to be true … stupid people seem to be everywhere and have a tendency to multiply much faster.” I cringe and think to myself … God help me … Big Ken and Little Ken … how do I compete? How do I instill a sense of love, compassion, and good will in my brilliant little genius of daughter? She’s already so critical and impatient with others at the young age of 12. Is that the price she has to pay for being so smart? Teaching Lauren the wisdom of compassion, I think, will be by far the biggest challenge of my parenting skills to tackle.
Anyway, we seem to see that a lot up here … people just wandering out into the road without even looking ... lost in their own 'wonderlands' perhaps? It’s a totally different mindset up here … a lot more free form …. which I happen to like, but in some instances … like our near collision tonight: it scares the hell out of me?! It just boggles my mind … people don’t even bother to look before crossing the street … they just assume that they have the right of way up here and go without giving it a second thought … call me a skeptic, but when my life is on the line … I’m NOT going to assume that the cars will stop … I’m going to look both ways and make eye contact before I step off of the curb. I thought that was what we teach our kids, right? Look both ways before you cross the street? Maybe I'm wrong ... is that old school?
But, getting back to the movie … “Alice in Wonderland” was a wonderful movie … very entertaining … but I probably enjoyed it more than most people because I so relate to Alice. She was my very first heroine, at the tender age of 8. I think Alice, in her return to wonderland, is an excellent heroine for young girls of today. Alice questions … reasons … rises to face her fears and challenges … is resourceful and most important of all she is imaginative … which in my opinion is a key factor to success later in life.
On a scale of 1 to 10 … 10 being the best … I’d give “Alice in Wonderland”, the movie, an 8. Tim Burton did an amazing job bringing Alice's wonderland to life and, of course, Johnny Depp was brilliant as always.
The movie didn’t follow the classic storyline, because this movie explored a new story … a return to wonderland … or “underworld”. Still the storyline was well written, fast-paced and very entertaining. So much of the story spoke to me on a deeper level … parallels in my own life even today … silly, I know … I also loved the symbolism and underlying themes.
The animation was impressive, the costumes creative, and the characters well developed, portrayed … played. We didn’t see the 3-D version, but I heard from friends that it was impressive. To my way of thinking, the storyline of “Alice in Wonderland” was actually better than the recycled and predictable story of the blockbuster “Avatar.” The animation in Avatar was truly remarkable … but I was disappointed in the overall story. The movie “Avatar” just didn’t live up to its potential in my humble opinion … but then again, what do I know?
Children of all ages will enjoy “Alice in wonderland” (return to wonderland) the movie. It’s not too frightening … but 4 and under may not enjoy quite as much, then again ... it just depends on the child ... Lauren would have loved it at the age of 4. So if you’ve been on the fence about seeing this movie ... I say: you should go. My only caveat would be: Boys 9 and up may not enjoy the movie quite as much … doesn’t quite compare with “Transformers” or “Avatar” for action and animation.
Song: "White Rabbit", By Jefferson Airplane
Alice to her father after her dream as a child
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"Have I gone mad?" ... "The greatest ones usually are ..."
