Let Joy and Innocence Prevail

In going through the special features on the Mary Poppins DVD, the reason I am a Disney fan was crystalized for me. Over and over again people gushed about having the privilege of working with Walt Disney. They talked about his love for children and the inner child and what he loved most about children was their joy and innocence. When I heard that, everything inside me yelled, "That's exactly it!" That's what I love about children and what pains me most is when it's not there. What I love the best about most of the stuff the Disney company has done is that it fosters joy and innocence. I have been concerned about Disney as of late because I think they are starting to lose that.

It got me thinking about the movie Toys again. The theme of the movie is etched on the statue of Milton the Friendly Elephant - "Let Joy and Innocence Prevail." There are so many things that threaten to steal them away from us and, while war is antithetical to joy and innocence, we need to fight to preserve them.

Planarity: Turn Your Mind into a Pretzel

Planarity: Turn Your Mind into a Pretzel: "Planarity is complete waste of time. It's also fiendishly addictive, lots of fun and a perfect de-stresser for a Friday Afternoon. The idea is this: you drag dots around a graph until none of the lines cross each other."

I'm a puzzle guy and I found this quite absorbing. Levels 1 through 10 increase in difficulty and, while you can go past 10, it doesn't get any harder after that. (I stopped after level 11)