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!"

Shark Week 2026: Group Photo #2

    The Sharknado soundtrack is by a band named Quint. They are named after Robert Shaw's character in Jaws. The band is fronted by Robbie Rist who is an actor who played Oliver, a new and young character added to The Brady Bunch TV show's sixth season. It was an attempt to revive their dwindling viewership. That didn't work. The show really jumped the shark when Oliver showed up, but that's not his fault.

    The Holiday Horror Shelf is also displaying Sharknado, Sharknado 2, Sharknado 3, and a souvenir magnet from our vacation at Oceanside.

  Anymore, the only souvenirs I want to bring home when I travel are pictures, magnets, and thrifted t-shirts.

Going Back to Oceanside

"We've been living in the city such a long time
You and I should live by the water
I'll shape up and you'll fill out
And we could buy a house
Maybe even have us a daughter..."

"Live by the Water" by Papas Fritas

    Neither Daphne nor I can remember exactly why we chose Oceanside in 2015 to be Charlotte's first out-of-state vacation spot. We think it had something to do with the price of the apartment we rented. Anyway, we have nothing but good memories about that trip, and we decided to go back this summer.

    It didn't hurt that both Daphne and Charlotte have discovered that they really enjoy vacationing by the water.

    On our first flight to Oceanside, all the screens in the back of the airplane's seats were showing scenes from the Discovery Channel's "Shark Week" programing (more on that later). That imagery scared Char quite a bit.

    This time the screens were much more welcoming.

    I was pumped that they still sell novelty license plates at the souvenir shops. I had one of these when I was a kid. Char used it as a book mark for her beach book. 

    I didn't spot Daphne's name anywhere, but we stayed in condo "D", and I figured that was close.

    

    The view of the ocean from the patio was great, and we spent every morning getting caffeinated to the sounds of the waves. Our walk to the beach was only three minutes.

    Oceanside still offers their Farmers' Market from 9 pm-1pm on Thursday mornings. Here's Char about to enjoy the cookie she picked out. She was almost five years old.

    

    This year Char graciously agreed to recreate the photo for me. Now she's almost 16.

    

    The same goes for these sunset pictures.

    Hopefully we can go back to Oceanside in ten years or so, and I can retake these pictures again.