i actually saw something cool on 'the hour' yesterday. at least i think it was yesterday. i pvr the show now so i get confused as to what day episodes actually run. anyway, i saw something cool, and it has inspired this post.
'the hour' ran an interview with rob stewart, the director of sharkwatch. (you can watch it here.) i mentioned during my strombo recap that alex said hated the guy's voice. and that i was inclined to agree. i haven't seen the movie yet, but i do think that the guy's voice would be annoying for a long period of time. but i am anxious to see it. the clips they showed were fascinating. and of course, it got me thinking about sharks.
when i was a wee lass, i loved going to the aquarium. i spent a lot of time at stanley park in the summertime but the aquarium was always a special treat. i loved all the marine life but the sharks fascinated me. and yet, i was always terrified going to see them. it wasn't the sharks so much that scared me. it was the fact that it was so dark in the area of the aquarium where the shark tank was. and there never seem to be any people around. on the ceiling of the aquarium hung these plastic models of various sea life. as a child, i had this irrational fear of them. especially the stingray. i have no idea why. it wasn't like they were very life like. and even as young as i was, i knew they weren't real. when i think back, i can remember standing in the aquarium, shaking inside, trying to work up the courage to go and see the sharks.
when i was a few years older, around nine years old, my family and i drove down to california. it was my second trip down there. as a kid, whenever we traveled, we ended up seeing a lot of movies. although, very rarely did i see any kid movies. my dad basically treated me as an adult when it came to movie choices. as a result, i saw a lot of mature movies at a young age. sometimes i understood them, sometimes i didn't. anyways, on this trip, i saw that 'jaws' was playing in a theatre (gotta love big cites with tons of rep theatres) and decided that i wanted to see it. so my dad took me. my mom was too chicken and my brother had already seen it, so they went elsewhere. i can remember sitting in the dark cinema, big container of popcorn in my lap. as the movie went on, and i got more and more scared, i remember lifting my feet off the floor and bringing them up so i was sitting cross legged in my chair. rationally, i knew nothing in the theatre was going to come up and grab them. but it made me feel better. my mom was so mad at my dad for taking me to the movie. my dad just shrugged his shoulders and said, she wanted to see it. my mom was convinced i would have nightmares. and she did have a right to be 
concerned as she and i were sharing a bed. and i did dream of sharks that night. but it wasn't scary 'jaws' sharks i dreamt about. it was funny jabberjaw type sharks i dreamt of. i still remember parts of that dream. it was about the shark trying to get onto the boat at the african safari ride at disneyland. i woke up because it was funny. not because it was scary. it wasn't until i woke up that i remembered how scary 'jaws' was, and then couldn't sleep. my mom yelled at my dad the next day. my dad had a sense of humour tho. the next day, he took us to the beach. i did not go in the water.
