Lost World Wanderers

I was once again up early, this time to get a few things done before the fire inspector arrived. I ate my breakfast, then made the bed and pulled out the vacuum. I was just getting it set up when Charlie and the inspector arrived. His only critique was that the fire extinguisher in my kitchen had been recalled and I'd need a new one. Fine by me. That one came with the house, and it's dusty as all heck. It probably needed to be replaced a while ago.

Put on No Holds Barred while I was doing the bed and continued it as I vacuumed. This is one of the later Sach/Slip-focused Bowery Boys movies. Sach discovers after he accidentally foils a robbery that his head has built up so much calcium, it's impervious to pain. Slip takes advantage of this by entering his buddy in wrestling tournaments. Trouble is, the calcium deposits keep moving around Sach's body. There's also the group of gangsters who try to buy Slip off, then go after the two of them when it becomes apparent that Sach is going to keep winning.

Did a Donald Duck short with a somewhat similar theme while getting ready for work. "Canvas Back Duck" has Donald and the nephews at a fair, with Donald showing off for the boys on the "test your strength" game. What Donald thinks is a kid claims his "uncle" can take him on. Turns out the "uncle" is really Pete, a boxer looking for an easy opponent. Donald tries everything he can to get out of the ring, but his nephews help him find Pete's one weakness.

Work turned out to be absolutely no problem today. I alternated between gathering carts and shelving candy when the heat and humidity started to get to me. Although it was sunny for most of the day, dark clouds had begun gathering around 3:30-quarter of 4. By 4, it was pouring. Good thing I'd already gone inside to do the candy! I did go back out briefly to help the head manager bring in electric carts before my shift ended. It was still raining when I got out; I ended up waiting ten minutes for the rain to slow down before heading home. (And of course, the sun came out an hour later.)

Went on the computer as soon as I got home and changed. Palpatine does manage to cut off Luke's horn and gains it's magic and that of the sun and moon...for a few minutes. Chewbacca, enraged that Palpatine harmed his beloved master and his master's mate, bites him in the leg. Leia gets the horn back and now has to return it to Luke, before the sun sets and he loses his powers - and his life.

Broke for tuna salad for dinner around quarter after 7. Played Lego Indiana Jones as I ate. While I did get through the Free Play on the Young Indy bonus round (no artifacts, but plenty of studs), "Shanghai Showdown" remains glitched. I went back to "City of Danger" just to make enough money to buy the remaining x8 and x10 extras.

I think I'm going to stop here. 98 percent isn't a bad place to be. This is the furthest I've gotten in any game since the Super Nintendo era. Tomorrow, I'm going to pick up with Lego Star Wars: Clone Wars and see how far I can get on the Free Play with that one.

Ended the night online while watching Atlantis: The Lost Empire. Milo Thatch (Michael J. Fox) has devoted his life to picking up his grandfather's search for the lost civilization of Atlantis. The museum he works for thinks he's crazy for spending so much time looking for a myth, but a millionaire who was a friend of his grandfather's (John Mahoney) believes in it and volunteers to subsidize his expedition. He even has the Shepard's Journal, the book leading to Atlantis. Milo is joined by a colorful crew of ragtag explorers, scientists, and military personnel with their own reasons to want to find the lost city. Turns out that the city isn't lost, merely submerged, and it's inhabited. The Atlanteans have lost contact with their own culture and language since their world was sent underwater. Kida, the chief's daughter (Cree Summer), is hoping that Milo and his command of dead languages will help them find their culture again. But someone in the expedition group is a traitor who only cares about the profit the "Heart of Atlantis" will bring. It's up to Milo and the others to stop these villains and prove that as important as money is, finding your tribe and realizing a dream are far more valuable.

I took Keefe to see this a week or so after it came out in the summer of 2001. I remember that the theater was empty, but we had a great time anyway, yelling and throwing popcorn at each other and making all the noise we pleased. Keefe loved it, but I wasn't as interested at the time.

Now I wonder why I was so hard on this. This is a wonderful adventure, with incredible animation (especially on the lobster-like Leviathan mechanical monster and in Atlantis), memorable characters, intense action, and some of the funniest lines in any Disney movie. If nothing else, it gave Jim Varney his last role before his untimely death as the cantankerous cook Cookie. I also like the hilarious explosives expert Vinny (Don Novello) and Mrs. Packard, the sarcastic old lady in charge of communications (Florence Stanley).

This was a mild flop in June 2001, but like the somewhat similar Road to El Dorado, it's gone on to become a cult classic. People had been too conditioned to expect musicals and princesses in their animated films then, not to mention it faced stiff competition from Shrek and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. Nowadays, I say if you have kids who are fans of the Tomb Raider games or Indiana Jones films, you'll want to unearth this lost treasure.