How Did You Spend June 7? (National VCR Day)

National VCR Day is exactly my kind of holiday. Most people threw out their VCRs years ago. I think I still have three (or four).

This is a great day to celebrate in the garage! I pulled this JVC Hi-Fi Stereo VCR out of storage and dusted it off.

I ran this old head cleaner tape through the JVC, but that was mostly for nostalgia. I don't really think these tapes do much.

It's unnecessary, but I wanted to see if this universal remote would work with the JVC.

They don't print VHS codes for these remotes anymore, but the DVD/VHS combo machine code 0692 was successful.

I haven't seen this videocassette message in quite awhile. (See, it is Hi-Fi!) I wonder what the movie will be?

Charlotte's grandpa and grandma dropped off a box of VHS tapes awhile ago, and we found The Princess Diaries in the mix. Fun fact: Garry Marshall also directed Pretty Woman. Thematically, the movies are close, and Hector Elizondo plays a similar role in both films.

Daphne really likes The Princess Diaries, and now Char has become a fan. The VHS image looks pretty good.

The Princess Diaries is probably better than the VHS movie tapes that I picked out.

Yeah, much better...

Happy VHS Day!

FLIX@OURHOUSE

Although we didn't know it then, March 12 was our last day of school. We just thought it was the first afternoon of Spring Break. We decided to celebrate the beginning of our short vacation by going to see Onward at Flix Brewhouse.

I don't like pictures of myself, but I like goofing around with the Flix photo booth. Strong Bad approves of Barley's van, Guinevere.

As everyone knows, almost all businesses, including Flix, shut down a few days later.

The Monsons are lucky. We haven't gotten sick, and we still like being around each other. The grocery store might not have everything we want, but it has everything we need. We even got a puppy. Life is going to be different for awhile, but life is still good.

But, yes, there are some things that I miss. I imagine that many parents have a family photo as a background picture on their computer. Not me. This is my current background picture:

That's a supreme pizza from Flix. A pizza and a movie it is one of my all-time favorite combinations. As a family, we have had a lot of great times at Flix: dance performance celebrations, lazy afternoons, birthday parties, and retro movies on the big screen. I look at that picture and yearn for a vaccine.

To remind us of that fun, I tried to turn our garage into a "theater."

I placed our tank of a Proxima on the freezer and connected it to an old DVD player.

Two computer speakers and a sub provide the audio.

I'm projecting the movies on the back of the garage door. I ordered a white sheet from Target, but it is too thin for this application. You can see the garage door through it. We placed a blanket behind the sheet and added some picnic table cloths for the sides since the picture can be zoomed bigger than the sheet.

But can we enjoy Flix at our house? How about Frozen II? We saw that movie at the Brewhouse. 

Let's try.

Here's the screen with the lights on.

Here's the screen with the lights off.

Initially, the idea was that we would do a Harry Potter marathon and just watch all eight movies. We didn't know if the old projector would be able to last even that long. I set out some folding chairs and used the sawhorse as a table for supplies. 

The garage was so cold back in March we put on winter coats and hats. I also fired up a space heater. Time to watch Deathly Hallows Part 2!

I can't get a Flix supreme pizza, but the garage does serve dessert - ice cream and cookie.

It was really fun! When the Potter marathon was over, I wasn't ready to tear the theater down. But we needed to make some changes. Char got restless being stuck in her chair, so we eventually put down a rug, a blanket, and some pillows. We also added a dog bed for Ellie. 

Now the girls can get really comfortable.

No, this isn't a perfect setup. The "screen" has waves in it, and the image isn't nearly as sharp as it is on a TV. But Daphne says that is all part of the charm. Bless her.

I was so excited about being a dad when Char was born. I bought her a slew of animated movies on DVD at Goodwill even though it would be years before she could enjoy them. Since I can't connect a Blu-Ray player to the old Proxima,  I was glad to have that supply when everything shut down in March. The Urbandale Library has also been a great help. And since the DVD is not a dead format, Redbox is providing new releases.

Our routine is to watch one movie a night. So far, we have watched:

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (x2)
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (x2)
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (x2)
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (x2)
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (x2)
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (x2)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 (x2)
National Treasure: Book of Secrets
Abominable
Megamind
The Sorcerer’s Apprentice
Brother Bear
Brother Bear 2 (Better than you think)
Secondhand Lions
Brave
Tangled
The Lego Movie
The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part
Zootopia
WALL-E
Bolt
The Road to El Dorado
How to Train Your Dragon
How to Train Your Dragon 2
How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World
The Sound of Music
Cinderella 3: A Twist in Time
Treasure Planet
Sinbad
Atlantis: The Lost Empire
Open Season 2 (not recommended)
Napoleon Dynamite (Char's favorite)
Robots
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe
Sing
Tarzan
Hercules
Turbo
Eight Below
Moana
Big Hero 6
Coco
The Sword in the Stone
Paranorman (Scared Char, but didn't scar her)
Swiss Family Robinson
Puss in Boots
Oliver and Company
Mary Poppins Returns
Aladin (2019)
Peter Rabbit
Frozen II

The Queen’s Corgi (not recommended)

Sky High (should have had a sequel)

Paddington 2 (better than the original)

Because of Winn Dixie

Playing with Fire

The Princess Diaries (on VHS)

Mary Poppins

Trolls

Frozen Sing-Along Version (And we did!)

Alex Rider: Operation Stormbreaker

Nanny McPhee

Dora and the Lost City of Gold (kid-friendly Indiana)

Scooby Doo and Kiss
Trolls World Tour
SCOOB!
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules
Fly Away Home (forgotten gem)
The Princess Bride (Char's B-Day pick)
Space Buddies

When Char was out playing with friends or in bed:

Glory Road

Goal! The Dream Begins

Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring
Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (much darker and less fun than I remembered)

Indiana Jones and the last Crusade

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (I’d rank theses four movies as follows: 1, 4, 3, and then 2)

The Core

Kill Bill Vol. 1
Kill Bill Vol. 2
A Knight's Tale
Captain America: The First Avenger
Iron Man
Drop Dead Gorgeous
The Thomas Crown Affair (1999)
The Saint (1997)
Iron Man 2

Thor

Marvel’s The Avengers 

Iron Man 3

Thor: The Dark World
Guardians of the Galaxy 
Avengers: Age of Ultron (convoluted and not much fun)

Ant-Man

Captain America: Civil War

Doctor Strange
Spider-Man: Homecoming 
Thor: Ragnarok 
Black Panther
Ant-Man and the Wasp
Avengers: Infinity War
Captain Marvel
Avengers: Endgame
Spider-Man: Far From Home

By myself:
Death Race
Death Race 2
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

I know these are not the best of times, but I want to be able to look back and know we tried to make the best of them. Honestly, what else can you do?