This past Saturday I had an opportunity to spend some special time with our children so I took them to see the sequel, Night At The Museum: Battle Of The Smithsonian, but I must tell you that unless you are a preteen just as my kids are, you might have wished that you were watching something else instead.

In brief, “Museum 2″ failed to live up to the original delivering a movie that was plodding, contrived and actually pretty dull. Fun for the kiddies (my children liked it), the 105 minute sequel was an endurance test, one that parents need to be aware of should your kids want to see this movie instead of Disney’s Up.

Caution: Spoiler Included

I’m not going to spoil things for the person who hasn’t seen Museum 2 (at least completely), but I will share enough things about the sequel to help you understand how difficult it was for me to sit through all of the commercials, endless previews and then the movie itself.  Let’s just say that Larry Daley’s (Ben Tiller) new career heading up a glow in the dark flashlight company was an interesting twist, but taking up his old career again was not.

After many of the artifacts at New York’s American Museum of Natural History were sent to federal archives in Washington, DC, Daley and company went to our nation’s capital to continue his exploits with a mind to rescue his trapped friends. Sure enough, the nineteen museums compromising the Smithsonian Institute became the drama point for the sequel which would have been fine except the entire story was drawn out perhaps a half an hour or so longer than necessary.

But, we know that 75 minute movies just don’t cut it with audiences wanting at least 100 minutes of entertainment in order to get their money’s worth and finish their popcorn. Or drink some five dollar soda.

Marrying New Characters With Old

Many, many of the old characters from the original movie returned for Museum 2. After all, when the American Museum of Natural Science decided to replace their dusty exhibits with the latest technological gadgetry, there was no longer room for the characters played by Owen Wilson, Robin Williams, Mizuo Peck and others to stay there. Instead, they were crated off to DC along with the famous magical tablet, given a fresh setting to reprise their roles as well as to come up against new characters representing Amelia Earhart, Napoleon Bonaparte, Al Capone and some of history’s most interesting people and cartoons.

By also including Darth Vader and Grover from Sesame Street that decision may have been fun for the kids, but just having the heavy breathing of Vader without the voice of James Earl Jones lost something of significance. Oh, and don’t get me started with comments about the trio of pesky floating, singing cherubs.

Mercifully, the movie was over some 2+ hours after all the commercials and previews began which were in themselves annoying enough to make the wait extra long. Unfortunately, by the time that the show was supposed to get going, it got hung up in several different subplots and a strange and forgettable scene where Stiller dueled it out with another Smithsonian security guard in order to gain access to the secreted archives dwelling beneath the Smithsonian.

Then again I’m a cranky old guy and there isn’t much other kiddie fare I’m looking forward to watching besides Cars 2: The Sequel. That movie won’t be coming out until Summer 2011 so in the meantime I’ll have to see if Disney’s Up meets the challenge or forces me to settle back, yawn and nod off.

Photo Credit: Jerry Avenaim

Prior to the terrorist attacks, a low flying jetliner wouldn’t have gotten any reaction from normally steely New Yorkers. But, 9/11 forever changed the way New Yorkers look up to the sky, raising suspicion, even panic whenever a low-flying jet is spotted. Yesterday, thousands of workers evacuated their offices, with many fleeing on foot to move away from the “attack zone” just as they did in 2001.

Not A Comedy, But Almost A Tragedy

Yesterday’s incident might have been dismissed as a comedy of errors had it been recognized for what it was: a poorly executed photo op. Worse, the jetliner was trailed the whole time by an F-16 fighter jet, suggesting to many people in the city that a follow up attack was underway, with the Air Force jet dispatched to intercept the wayward aircraft.

Most insulting of all was that Air Force officials, who were behind the assignment, asked that the flight remain confidential. New York City’s police department knew about the photo op as did a junior aid in the Mayor Mike Bloomberg’s administration. That aid never informed the mayor who was understandably livid over the communication snafu.

A Flying Photo Op

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) sent an email to City Hall which outlined a “flying photo op” designed to snap glamour shots of the 747 jetliner as it winged its way down the Hudson River, circling past the Statue of Liberty. Flight patterns were identified as was the 1100-1500 foot altitude of the shoot.

However, the FAA instructed that the only those persons “with a need to know” be informed with specific instructions to keep the public out of the loop due to public concern over low-flying aircraft.

Huh?!

Obviously, someone goofed within the FAA, failing to realize that keeping the information hush-hush would create more of a problem. The weather on Monday was beautiful not unlike the conditions on that fateful day in 2001. Take similar weather conditions, add in a low-flying jumbo jetliner and follow that up with a “pursuing” attack jet and you have the makings of 9/11 Redux.

Lessons To Be Learned

The rebuke from the Bloomberg administration was swift as was it forceful. That junior aid had a warning letter put into his personal file, but you have to wonder if the photo op would have taken place had the mayor known about it. Sensitive to the feelings of New Yorkers, Bloomberg most likely would have objected to the flight or at the very least insisted that the public had the right to know.

For his part, PresidentObama voiced his strong displeasure over the communication snafu, a mission which simply would have updated several photo files, but ended up causing panic that resulted in mental harm to fleeing workers as well as millions of dollars in lost productivity.

These days, many Americans simply don’t trust their elected officials. Yesterday’s events gave them one more reason to doubt the actions of local, state and federal officials, resulting in a fall out which cannot yet be measured.

Additional Reading: Lessons From The Great Cuil Failure

My wife grew up in the Bronx, NY so I am familiar with what she went through as a child. Apartment living. Dangerous neighborhoods. Overcrowded schools. Hot, gritty summers. There wasn’t much about living in the city that was positive, though sampling fresh made Italian ices offered the occasional respite. That is, when she was able to leave the confines of her apartment to make the trek to the shop under the protection of an older brother.

As a suburban kid, I was able to enjoy the great outdoors and the safety of my neighborhood without giving any thought to gangs lurking nearby, drugs being sold on the street, or countless other hazards around me. But, I do remember family friends of ours who opened up their home every summer for two weeks to allow a city kid to have a place to stay. I learned that they had responded to an ad everyone was seeing on television – for the Fresh Air Fund – where kids can be kids and enjoy all the privileges that most other children experience throughout the year for a brief amount of time.

The Fresh Air Fund keeps busy year ’round as they are seeking families to open up their homes to a needy child each summer. The requirements aren’t stringent – you need to have some room in your home and a large heart to welcome a child — giving him or her all of the love you would give to your own son or daughter.

You can take a Fresh Air Fun child to the park, to the beach, go camping, choose ice cream cones, visit family and friends, you name it. The time that you spend with the child in your care will benefit him or her, but also give you and your family a chance to understand what they’re going through. What you see on television, hear on the radio or read in the newspaper often fails to capture the human angle – your Fresh Air Fun guest is the real deal.

The Fresh Air Fund says that 65% of the children who stay with a host family are invited back the following year. Some children spend many summers with the same family, which allows them to escape boredom, avoid trouble and relish in the hope that their future can certainly be a promising one. Though summer is many months away, the Fresh Air Fund is looking for host families right now, people who can open up their homes to a child during Summer 2009.

Children come from New York City, but you don’t have to live in a nearby suburb to host a child. Families from Maine to Virginia (and Ontario too) are eligible to serve as hosts, which can give that child a much broader perspective of the world.

If interested, visit the Fresh Air Fund site to find out how you can make a difference in the life of one urban child. And, yes, donations are cheerfully accepted too.