Everyone's Hero

Saw that flick Everyone's Hero last night. Surprisingly good movie. Can't believe I'd never heard of it before. It was either that or Bad News Bears, as I had promised my eight-year-old, whose in the middle of Little League season. I'm quite glad we chose Everyone's Hero as a last minute replacement. My neighbor had recommended it, and I had forgotten about it until we saw it on the shelf at Blockbuster.

It's an animated flick that Christopher Reeve's directed. It's got some great actors doing voices like William Macy and Rob Reiner, and Joe Torre even makes a cameo. Fairly entertaining story about a 10-year-old that helps recover Babe Ruth's stolen bat. It's got some good family value stuff as well as baseball stuff in it. So, it made it a perfect movie to watch with my son, who loved it. I've been putting off letting him watch Bad News Bears for awhile, as that's really an adult movie about kids, and it looks like I've succeeded for one more week at least. Of course, personally, I love Bad News Bears, and I even think I saw it in the theatres when it first came out, and I was about nine or 10.

One more note: We finallycaught the vole that has been haunting us for the past few nights. Since last week, he has been sneaking into our bedroom and burrowing down into a plant pot there to get at some roots. Last week, we discovered dirt from the plant had mysteriously been spilled on the floor and none of us could recall bumping the plant. Then, a few nights ago, we heard footsteps that sounded like a ghost near the plant. We flipped on the light and saw the little guy scurrying out of the room. That night, we began setting mouse traps. But this vole was tricky. He was able to clean the peanut butter, which had historically been so effective on mice, right off of the trap without triggering it. The war was clearly on. My wife began comparing me to Bill Murray in Caddyshack. Finally, last night, I laid like five traps. I felt like one of those old French trappers setting his lines. I used an apple in one and strategically placed the peanut butter on a couple others. About 12:30 a.m., the vole's usual feeding time, we heard the snap and found him lying in a trap with his back broken. A sad end for Mr. Vole, who has been like a playmate for me this past week, as we've matched wits in a game of cat and mouse. Well, the cat has prevailed and I uncerimoniously dumped Mr. Vole into the garbage last night. What will I do to keep myself entertained now?

This may explain some of my difficulty in catching the vole. It appears they are not your average rodent...

Cheers.

Ralph