An education steeped in the classics
Aug. 13th, 2010 12:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
slipjig3As we reach the end of a week of chasing the kidlings around, now would be the appropriate time to discuss the myriad cultural events and educational experiences I've shared with them. This, of course, entails listing all of the pop culture drivel from my childhood that I succeeded in cramming down their throats like I was packing a down comforter in a Grolsch bottle. Here follows an assessment of the damage to my dear children's psyches:
Monty Python and the Holy Grail: During their Praxis visit, one passing statement from me ("You know, Abbey and Nik have never seen Monty Python") triggered shocked gasps from my housemates and the insistence from C that they were going to sit and watch Holy Grail right freaking now lest the seas boil and a plague of locusts descend. They liked it, I think, although they're of delicate enough constitutions that they had a few issues with one or two of the bloodier bits. Geeks remain victorious!
The Bugs Bunny Road Runner Movie: They'd seen all the original Warner Brothers cartoons, of course, but this is the movie that gathers all of the prime Chuck Jones material: "Bully for Bugs," "What's Opera, Doc," "Duck Dodgers," "Duck Amuck...." Ohhh, yeah. I cued it up on Netflix On Demand, and they cued it up themselves another four times over the next three days.
Ren and Stimpy: Contra dancing plans fell through last night, so the three of us ended up hanging out with![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
fiddle_dragon and her clan. After wrench Abbey away from the anime fanvids with Daughter the Younger and Nik away from the PS3, we somehow landed on R&S. Brains melted. Realities crumbled. The "Log from Blammo!" jingle was sung—loudly. Ahh, the simpler, gentler times!
The Super Mario Brothers Super Show: THIS WAS NOT MY FAULT. One afternoon, Abbey was flipping through the Netflix children's movie recommendations when this title came scrolling by. "Gods, that sucks," I said. Abbey cued it up. Thirteen episodes have followed since. I'm praying for a nuclear strike. GAHHHH.
Monty Python and the Holy Grail: During their Praxis visit, one passing statement from me ("You know, Abbey and Nik have never seen Monty Python") triggered shocked gasps from my housemates and the insistence from C that they were going to sit and watch Holy Grail right freaking now lest the seas boil and a plague of locusts descend. They liked it, I think, although they're of delicate enough constitutions that they had a few issues with one or two of the bloodier bits. Geeks remain victorious!
The Bugs Bunny Road Runner Movie: They'd seen all the original Warner Brothers cartoons, of course, but this is the movie that gathers all of the prime Chuck Jones material: "Bully for Bugs," "What's Opera, Doc," "Duck Dodgers," "Duck Amuck...." Ohhh, yeah. I cued it up on Netflix On Demand, and they cued it up themselves another four times over the next three days.
Ren and Stimpy: Contra dancing plans fell through last night, so the three of us ended up hanging out with
fiddle_dragon and her clan. After wrench Abbey away from the anime fanvids with Daughter the Younger and Nik away from the PS3, we somehow landed on R&S. Brains melted. Realities crumbled. The "Log from Blammo!" jingle was sung—loudly. Ahh, the simpler, gentler times!The Super Mario Brothers Super Show: THIS WAS NOT MY FAULT. One afternoon, Abbey was flipping through the Netflix children's movie recommendations when this title came scrolling by. "Gods, that sucks," I said. Abbey cued it up. Thirteen episodes have followed since. I'm praying for a nuclear strike. GAHHHH.
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(no subject)
Date: 2010-08-13 04:21 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-08-13 05:18 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-08-13 04:53 pm (UTC)I'm glad I saw Holy Grail first, though actually the first Python footage I think I ever saw was a behind-the-scenes TV special about how they blew up Mr. Creosote. I saw that on cable when we lived in Virginia Beach in either 1983 or '84; I watched that with fairly wide eyes. (On top of that? The same special talked about the effects in John Carpenter's The Thing! I'm amazed I actually got to watch this special!) I managed to handle that disgusting thing, but that could've put me off Python for life. In either late '84 or '85, I finally saw Holy Grail -- thank you, PBS! -- and my march into Python had well and truly begun. Maybe some of it was more adult than my parents would've liked 11-year-old me to watch, but it helped that they liked it too. (Years later, when we went to see The Hunt for Red October and Sam Neill got shot, Dad leaned over to me and said "Just a flesh wound?") I like good chunks of Meaning of Life, but that's a HARSH flick -- the offensive stuff isn't funny enough to redeem it being offensive, I think. I figure the Pythons were at times trying too hard on that film.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-08-13 05:05 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-08-13 05:19 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-08-13 05:27 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-08-13 06:08 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-08-13 05:34 pm (UTC)Do you remember what your first viewing of Holy Grail was like?
(no subject)
Date: 2010-08-13 05:18 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-08-13 05:29 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-08-13 05:34 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-08-13 07:43 pm (UTC)The youngest is still not sure he appreciates me introducing him to the Smothers Brothers though.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-08-13 08:26 pm (UTC)"Swing, your, arms, from side to side, come on it's time to go, DO THE MARIO."
(no subject)
Date: 2010-08-14 06:24 am (UTC)