Our neighbor Tony is a SAHD and cineaste manqué. He makes the best home movies ever. They are in direct contrast to any home film ever attempted by me. He actually edits them (good idea, that), splices in bits of other movies, adds on soundtrack music and does all the special effects….quite impressive. His films are very entertaining to sit through, which cannot be said of most folks’ home films. He’s also done a great short film of the Winyé mask festival. I like Winyé drumming, don’t get me wrong- but I find that the mask dancing is only improved by the addition of James Brown.
Anyway, Tony has applied his crazy Australian sense of humor to our Christmas holiday in Ghana. He and his wife Kirstin came over last night with little Zoe and we all watched it together.
The story is: our two families went down for a 10 day vacation in December. We went on Antrak Air, the Ghanian national line. It was the only plane I have ever been on that actually had cockroaches. Well, maybe I have been on roach infested planes before and didn’t know it… but these were numerous and bold. They waved their antennae at me in an insolent manner and then demanded that the air hostess bring them drinks. They were out of control. For some reason, Tony left out the roaches and also the part where Zoe (his sweet, small daughter) vomited continuously in the minivan for four hours. But he got lots of beach footage and it’s interesting how he put it together. I can be seen dutifully smearing 4000 spf sunblock onto all four of my kids. Then Tony cuts to JP yawning and scratching his head as he lounges in a beach chair. Then you see me tirelessly pulling the kids out into the surf on boogie boards. Cut to JP looking even sleepier. Then again Beth, industriously helping the kids build an enormous sandcastle. This all finally culminates in a great shot of JP deeply asleep, mouth gaping open.
As a stay-at-home-dad, Tony seems more attuned than the average male is to the division of labor in family life. Sadly, he is less than attuned to the fact that someone with thighs like mine would probably just rather NOT be included in the “Fun at the Beach” video.