Shark Week 2026: Group Photo #7

 We've made it to the end of Shark Week! Let's see what's on the Holiday Horror Shelf.

    2003's Open Water is an indie film based on true events that happened in 1998. Roger Ebert (a hero) wrote that he wanted to walk around in the sunshine to cheer himself up after seeing this in the theater.

   2004's 12 Days of Terror is a made-for-TV movie about true events that happened on the nothern New Jersey shore in 1916. The DVD's tagline said these events inspired the movie Jaws, but I don't know if that really true. I suppose it could be.

    Search for the Great Sharks is short documentary from 1995. The most exciting thing about this release is the DVD's cover photo of a great white shark apparently swallowing another shark whole.

    2004's Frakenfish was inspired by the actual discovery of northern snakehead fish in a pond in Maryland in 2002. These fish breathe air, can survive on land,  can "walk" to other bodies of water, and they can spawn several times a year. Oh yeah, they're also aggressive and have long rows of sharp teeth in their snakehead mouths. Their discovery also inspired the films Snakehead (2004), and Swarm of the Snakehead (2006).

    If you haven't noticed, today's theme is "based on true events." But I bet you did.

    Parting shots and thoughts:

    Gotta go back to the original Jaws for today's tee shirt. 

    

    A few years ago Daphne surprised me with tickets for a special screening of Jaws at Flix Brewhouse. Here are the souvenir  glasses we brought home.

    Okay, Monstro is a whale, not a shark, but here's a pic of his jaws that we sailed into when we visited Disneyland on our first trip to Oceanside in 2015.

    

Me, in Oceanside 2026, wearing my "Snorkel Bob Cares shirt" (Man, I love that shirt). I'm yelling, "Hope everyone had a great Shark Week!"

Faces From the Weekend

Daphne and I had our first date night since last October. Instead of going out for an "adult" dinner, we  drove five miles to Grimes to check out the Old School Pinball and Arcade. It just opened.

(picture taken from arcadeheros.com)

I counted almost 30 classic video games, but apparently they have about 20 more games they can rotate into the room. I was in junior high during the height of the arcade's popularity (1980-81), so I revisited a few old friends like Galaga, Millipede, and Turbo. But really we were there to play pinball.

Luckily, we didn't have to bring a bag of quarters. All the machines are set for free play. You just pay a flat fee for a wristband, and you can come and go as you please all day long and play whatever you want. The only exception is a few premium pinball machines in a back room require money - their earnings go towards buying more premium machines. The Wizard of Oz premium game was quite the stunner to see and play.

Since it was the weekend, the cost of a wristband was $13.50 per adult. When you consider the average cost of playing a modern pinball machine is 50 or 75 cents per play, the cost is quite reasonable. Daphne estimated she played about 60 games of pinball.

We ate dinner in the neighboring Mustang Grill. I ordered a Mustang Burger that was topped with bacon, a fried egg, and peanut butter. I was about to take a picture of my meal when I checked my "new" Casio watch, and my heart sank.

It was broken!

The top part of it's frame had broken off. Dang it! I looked around the floor of the restaurant, but I knew it was no use. I wouldn't know where to begin to look, and I'd never find it now. My watch was ruined, and I was crushed.

And I was right; I never did find the piece that had broken off.

Instead, Daphne found it for me. It was on the bedspread back home. Yea! Thanks, Daph!

I tried using the super glue that we had in our kitchen's junk drawer, but after curing overnight, the piece popped right off again. I wasn't sure how to securely attach it, but then I remembered Tim Arnold's list of things not to do to a pinball machine. 

Here's tip #15: Cheap Super Glue is no bargain!

I use Super Glue a lot! The only one worth anything is Borden's Krazy Glue in the tube! The pen is worthless! Cyanide glue will hurt your eyes... Same goes for tape! Scotch # 33 or 35 is the only kind to use! 

I bought Krazy Glue at Office Depot, and it seems to be doing a much better job. When you research a new hobby, you just never know what you'll learn or where it will come in handy

On Sunday we headed down to the Wells Fargo Arena for Disney Jr. Live on Tour! The Pirate and Princess Adventure. A good friend of the family gave us tickets. 

Char was really excited to see Sophia the First, but I believe she secretly enjoyed the pirate adventure more. But above all, what she talked about most was wanting to buy cotton candy.

If you invented wet wipes, I'd like to offer you my thanks.

If you invented the 25 minute intermission, I'd like to offer you something else.