Wilbur!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Wait. Is that Dawn? Suddenly, she's looking very sultry. I know I should focus on the tragedy, but, really, Dawn? Looks like she's blossoming just in time to become an independent woman.
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Monday, July 30, 2012
Mary Worth 1,363
Wilbur, please don't try to swim for it. Do not let Dawn talk you into the murky depth of the turbulent ocean with her entrancing siren song! You are by far our favorite character in Mary Worth. You've won two Worthy Awards in a row, and we fully expect you to threepeat in 2012. Do not jump off of that ship!
Sunday, July 29, 2012
Mary Worth 1,362
Another fun Costa Concordia fact: "Others, blocked or delayed in getting into lifeboats, threw themselves into the water and swam toward the rocks at Point Gabbianara, 100 yards way" (Vanity Fair, May 2012).
It's like history repeating itself... well, maybe not history... more like current events.
Meanwhile, people continue to jump overboard in full business attire. Not jump, really. They actually prefer to dive because, as many faithful readers have pointed out, they have Olympic fever. Nothing adds to your degree of difficulty like diving head first into a murky ocean full of debris from a shipwreck.
Saturday, July 28, 2012
Mary Worth 1,361
My son just saw this panel and asked, "So their cruise isn't going so well?"
Speaking of my son, here's his latest video:
Friday, July 27, 2012
Mary Worth 1,360
Another fun Costa Concordia fact:
"A Spaniard... yelled, 'There’s no other option! Let’s go!' And then he jumped." (Vanity Fair, May 2012)
That guy is definitely a Spaniard, if ever I've seen a Spaniard.
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Mary Worth 1,359
Since Moy and Giella are pointing out the obvious humor of 4,000 people fighting for room on a lifeboat, and since they've employed a comedy technique known as reincorporation, I'd like to do a little reincorporating myself by sharing what I found to be the funniest quote from the Vanity Fair article on the sinking of the Costa Concordia:
"That night, on the far side of the island, a 49-year-old hotel manager, Mario Pellegrini, was pointing a remote control at his television, trying in vain to find something to watch... The day before, he and a pal had gone fishing, and when the motor on their boat died, they ended up spending the night at sea. “The sea is not for me,” he sighed to his friend afterward."
For those who may be new to Mary Worth, you might miss why this quote is so funny. Instead of explaining it, I'll just remind everyone to always read your free secret message. It's free, so what do you have to lose? You can find your free secret message by holding your cursor over each image.
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Mary Worth 1,358
Another fun fact from the Costa Concordia disaster: "By the time (Captain) Schettino called to abandon ship, roughly 2,000 people had been standing on Deck 4 for an hour or more, waiting. The moment crewmen began opening the lifeboat gates, chaos broke out" (Vanity Fair, May 2102). Can history really be repeating itself so horribly? This is really surprising.
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Mary Worth 1,357
Another fun fact from the Costa Concordia disaster: "It is the largest passenger ship ever wrecked. The 4,000 people who fled its slippery decks—nearly twice as many as were aboard the R.M.S. Titanic in 1912—represent the largest maritime evacuation in history" (Vanity Fair, May 2012). It looks like the Unità del Mare may beat the record!
Monday, July 23, 2012
Mary Worth 1,356
Judging by the voltage radiating from the passengers, it's obvious that there's no problem with electricity.
Sunday, July 22, 2012
A note from Wanders
I just want to comment that yesterday I spent a great deal of time reading about the Costa Concordia disaster. The images and stories were harrowing. After reading so much, I considered not commenting on our current Mary Worth story, but simply boycotting it until it wraps up because it is clearly in awful, awful taste. But you know what? I'm going to do my best to post a running commentary and allow readers of this blog to post their thoughts because I find that when I read Mary Worth in a vacuum, without our support group, I just end up getting even more depressed. Life is brutal. So despite the fact that 32 men, women and children died six months ago in the real life disaster, we're going to follow Karen Moy's story and enjoy the ride as much as possible, even if that isn't very much. Also, thanks to faithful reader Sandi Ego for referencing this Vanity Fair story in yesterday's comments section.
Mary Worth 1,355
Will someone please explain to Captain Sharkbait the meaning of "We don't have control of the ship." Also, the "stern section is flooded" doesn't sound good.
Saturday, July 21, 2012
Friday, July 20, 2012
The Prestige: Batman vs. Wolverine
Last night our family rented The Prestige, Christopher Nolan's third installment in his Batman trilogy. We were excited to rent it before it opens this weekend. Nolan's third effort takes a different spin on the Batman character, but Michael Caine as Alfred really provides an anchor of continuity. Throw in Scarlett Johannson as Poison Ivy and David Bowie as the crazy mad scientist, Dr. Nikola Tesla and you have the ultimate DC/Marvel/True Science mash up.
Essentially, Batman and Wolverine are rivals who battle each other using their cunning and super powers. Eventually, Gollum introduces Wolverine to David Bowie and then the movie gets really exciting.
It was too intense for our twelve year old, but the older kids and Mrs. Wanders and I all loved it. This one keeps you guessing until the very end, and eventually I figured out that Hugh Jackman was not playing Wolverine [I should have said "Spoiler Alert." Sorry]. However, my children have not yet convinced me that Christian Bale was not playing Batman.
Mary Worth 1,353
Fortunately the ship's Stunned Captain also has the Unphased Captain, Sunglasses Captain, and Patsy Captain on the bridge to help him cover up his mistake.
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Mary Worth 1,351
Well, as you may know, we just returned home from our camping trip in Niagara Falls. While our cruise did not sink, we did have a few bumps along the way:
- I sat on my Kindle and broke it!
- We had a flat tire.
- The ice chest drain opened in the back of the van and flooded the luggage well.
- My wife accidentally dumped a quart of Gatorade on my sleeping bag and it soaked all the way through for an hour.
- The last two nights we camped at a KOA where neighbors partied until 2:00 a.m.
- It poured rain on the morning we struck camp to leave
- We stopped at a hotel and our swimsuits were bleached out by the hot tub.
- And the worst thing of all, I was offered the senior discount at Wendy's.
And yet, as these photos prove, we had a wonderful trip!
Saturday, July 14, 2012
Mary Worth 1,350
Some of you may have heard of the recent blackouts we had here in the Washington D.C. area. We were lucky to have only lost power in our home for about 48 hours. Others not so lucky. I can certainly relate with the disgust on Wilbur's face. Something tells me he's not going to be one of the lucky ones. The important thing is that if Wilbur dies, at least "Ask Wendy" will go on.
Friday, July 13, 2012
Mary Worth 1,349
Bam? Did they say Bam? Because I have been worried about "Bam" all week! And now, on Friday the 13th, Bam! Bam?
Wilbur's excited because he thinks he heard "Ham!"
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Mary Worth 1,347
Now I'm really getting worried that this story is indeed going to be based on the Costa Concordia regardless of how poorly tasting that would be. Mary's ominous statement about testing, and, if my absolutely awful skill with languages is anywhere remotely close, I'm thinking that ship is named "One with the Sea," as in "We are Going to Sink!"
On the up side, it's 7-Eleven Day! Everyone get your free Slurpee!
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Mary Worth 1,346
I have heard a lot of you have given up hope on this story. Have you noticed how I am now using bigger pictures? You're welcome.
Monday, July 9, 2012
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Mary Worth 1,344
Holy cow! These were the exact words spoken by all the passengers of the Costa Concordia the day before it sank! It's even the same port! They set sail from Civitavecchia, and three hours later, while everyone is enjoying a nice candlelit dinner, BAM, they run right into a reef! It was an absolute real life disaster. At least 30 people died. I certainly hope that Karen Moy isn't going to trivialize this tragedy by incorporating it into a Mary Worth plot... but if she does, I hope she includes some horribly-out-of-context Shakespeare quotes.
Saturday, July 7, 2012
Mary Worth 1,343
Ah, yes. A cruise. The perfect diversion for a family not on a budget. I'm glad to see the economy hasn't had an impact on the world traveling residents of Santa Royale, California. Especially, the lowly local newspaper columnists.
It's nice to see Dawn back in purple. That should lift her spirits.
Friday, July 6, 2012
Mary Worth 1,342
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
Mary Worth 1,341
I never knew that Wilbur was such a fan of gladiators. A man born in the wrong age, clearly. He could have gorged and purged on ham sandwiches all he wanted in ancient Rome. Gorged and purged. And cheered for his favorite gladiators.
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Mary Worth 1,340
For those of you who may not be in the know, al fresco means "outdoors" or "in the open air," or something like that. In Italy, they have these special restaurants where you can actually eat outside. And it makes everything very flavorful. It also makes you talk about your food using funny words like flavorful.
Last night, we went to see a minor league baseball game al fresco. It was a great game. The Harrisburg Senators vs. the Erie Sea Wolves. The Senators came back from 5-0, and it was 5-8 in the seventh inning when the bugs came out. Swarms of them. Oh, they didn't bother me much, but the rest of our group was quite agitated by them so we had to leave. I don't know why. What do you expect when you are al fresco.
Monday, July 2, 2012
Sunday, July 1, 2012
Mary Worth 1,338
Dawn, I realize you are not having a great time on this trip, but you may want to filter some of your moping. This comment would have been better in a thought bubble. Not really something you want to say out loud. To your father. Ever.