Tank, Trank

This morning before work, Daddy and Madison returned to Lowe's, this time to build a tank.  But the tank did not have any weaponry on it.  It was an armored car.  I just looked up the definition of tank, and each time I find it, there's mention of weaponry.  The vehicle we built this morning had none of that - it was just an armored vehicle.  I think we should complain to someone about false advertising!

Seriously, it was a fun little project, another chapter in the Marvel series at Lowe's this summer.  Today's character was the Hulk, who likes to smash tanks.  As this is clearly not a tank, it appears to be safe.

We've enjoyed building these over the years.  How many have we done by now?  You could count the patches on her apron, each one earned after building this or that.  She's just about filled the apron up by this point.  But she still likes doing these, one after the other.  Today's tank sits proudly in the living room, next to all the other Marvel creations.  We've got one more, Thor's chariot, and we're good to go with the Marvel theme.  Daddy has to sign up for this one first thing on Monday, as these tend to fill up rather quickly.

Anyway, speaking of tanking, the latest "Fantastic Four" movie came out this weekend, and appears to be doing just that.  Part of the reason for this may be the fault of comic book fans, who are disappointed that the movie doesn't really respect the original source material.  It looks too dark for Madison, and heck, maybe Mommy and Daddy too.  We don't know.  Eventually we might see it down the road.  Daddy loves these characters - Madison does too.  It's just that the movie probably doesn't treat them right.  Which may be a good thing the movie is tanking, as this could get the Fantastic Four back into Marvel's hands, so they can make a movie about them right.

So it's another bad comic book movie, and now the director is joining an elite team of other movie directors who have completely messed up some of our favorite superheroes.

IN AN UNDISCLOSED ROOM FOR A UNIQUE GROUP OF DIRECTORS

TRANK:  "Hi, I'm Josh Trank.  And apparently nobody likes my movie."

THERAPY GROUP:  "Hi, Josh."

TRANK:  "But 'Fantastic Four' was good about a year ago - until the studio stepped in!"

RATNER:  "Denial is the first stage, friend."

TRANK:  "The studios messed it up!  Seriously, my vision was going to be so killer awesome."

SCHUMACHER:  "We're here for you, and will walk through this with you.  The next few years may or may not completely suck for you.  It's all up to you."

TRANK:  "You don't understand!  It's not my fault that the actual fans of the Fantastic Four don't like it!"

RATNER:  "Yes, I tried that angle too."

SCHUMACHER:  "Yes, it will be easier if you just apologize now.  That took me years to do.  Brett here still has issues."

RATNER: "Now wait just one minute!  My movie made a ton of money!"

TRANK:  "Exactly!  And my movie… well…"

SCHUMACHER:  "Right.  Well, I learned it helps to actually read the comics before making a movie about comic book characters.  Instead, I sort of did my movie based on the old television show."

RATNER:  "And I watched a few of those 90's cartoons on Fox.  How about you, Trank?"

TRANK:  "I… uh… it was the studio's fault!"

CAMPBELL:  "Look, let me just step in here."

TRANK:  "Who are you?"

CAMPBELL:  "Martin Campbell.  I directed Green Lantern."

TRANK:  "Ouch."

CAMPBELL:  "Tell me about it.  But I also directed Casino Royale, Goldeneye, and The Legend of Zorro.  What I'm telling you is this - your career can bounce back from this."

SCHUMACHER:  "Exactly!  Tell them what else you've done since Green Lantern, Martin."

CAMPBELL: "I did a television episode of 'Last Resort' back in 2012.  Did you ever see that?"

TRANK: "No."

CAMPBELL:  (looking down) "Yeah, I know."

SCHUMACHER:  "The point is this.  You're not alone in this."

TRANK: "You're right.  I've got all the real fans of the Fantastic Four behind me!"

AWKWARD PAUSE

RATNER: "Right.  Sure you do.  Hey, so what's with Dr. Doom looking like an evil C3-PO?"

TRANK:  "I don't know, Brett.  What's with tossing everything good about 'X-Men 2' out the freaking window, Brett?  What were you thinking with Juggernaught, Brett?"

SCHUMACHER:  "Calm down everyone.  The point is this, Josh:  You have a few friends that can help you through this."

LEE:  "Yeah, and everyone else wants to kill you!"

SCHUMACHER: "You're not helping, Ang."

TRANK:  (rising) "But I didn't do anything wrong!  I made a superhero movie different than any other made before!"

PITOF: "That's not true, Trank."

TRANK: "Wha?  What do you mean?"

PITOF: "Your movie stinks."

THERAPY GROUP LAUGHS

SCHUMACHER:  "Okay next order of business - strategies for dealing with DC directors in the upcoming years…"

Okay, anyway.  That was just me goofing off.  But hopefully the first family of Marvel will be able to return to Marvel soon now that the other movie studios have had their go a couple times.

Back to things that affect Madison a bit more:  The new series "Time Travelers" is moving along well.  Daddy wrote some more messages today - here's one about a Time Traveler from the Bible, a guy named Moses.

     With God’s help, Moses did many astounding things.  But did you know he was also a time traveler?  Moses got to see it all, and without a time machine or a DeLorean!

     Consider this:  he wrote about the creation of the world, thousands of years back in the past.  Did you know those first words recorded in the book of Genesis were written by Moses?  He saw God’s creation, and how perfect everything was.  “It was good,” God said.
     But Moses also saw how sin, and terrible choices entered that world, messing it up.  Yes, we live in a fallen world.  And before you start blaming Adam and Eve, remember that no one is perfect.  Our own choices can be really bad ones too!

     Yet God gave us a gift, and He wanted Moses to see it for himself.  Setting the clock thousands of years into the future, Moses appears much, much later in the Bible.

     Jesus went high up a mountain with James, John and Peter.  And right there and then, his physical appearance changed:  his face shown like the sun and his clothing became white as light.  And suddenly, Moses and Elijah appear from the past, there to see God’s glory, and talk with Jesus.

     Moses got to see God’s grace.  Jesus came to fix the problem, and pay the price for our sins.  Though we deserved punishment, Jesus took it in our place.  And because of that, we can live with him forever in heaven – that’s the power of love!

     The story on the Mount of Transfiguration is an amazing one.  Jesus was transformed before their eyes – but we too are changed when we accept Him and His grace.  Our old life is gone, and our new walk as Christians stands out as a brilliant light shining bright in a world full of darkness.

     Moses the time traveler saw it all:  he saw creation, he saw grace, and he saw transformation.  Yet you don’t need to travel time to see God’s grace and transforming power.  His loving forgiveness is just one sincere prayer away, as is that power that can change lives.  That’s the power of love!

We didn't watch a time travel movie tonight.  No research there!  We watched something different - it was actually a movie with LEGO Yoda and company, a video we found at the library.  It was actually pretty funny for grown-ups too.  Madison was laughing pretty loudly a few times.  But so were we.

With lots of work done at the office, it was a busy day there.  But at least we have Lowe's.  And Madison and Mommy have been working on a new puzzle with teddy bears on it.  Apparently, there were no more cat puzzles.

But it was a good day.  A hot one, but a good one.  With all that said, it's time for some rest.  Goodnight!