Little Miss Gina

This is a ritual nearly all parents participate in, I say nearly because I failed horribly at this obviously important and life changing tradition and it has irritated my mother to no end. I am one of five children and the only one that has been unable to supply "Nana" with her bi-yearly, professional pictures of my offspring. Sigh. No worries, I am not one of those mother's who hold up my parenting skills against every seemingly perfect parental unit I see. I know my strengths and my weaknesses, and I more than make up for where I fall short. I did teach my children to read early on and gave them a love for knowledge, reading, and travel. HA! Take that picture takers of the world!

But I digress. Here is a cute picture of miss Gina at her two and a half years mark. See how on top of things her parents are?  The back of the picture has Gina's name, 2 1/2 yrs old, and August 1982. Little Gina would be.....whoa, 32 years old! I swear 1982 didn't seem like that long ago. And now I am aging myself! Cute picture Miss Gina. And, again, sorry mom.

The Olsen Gang Sees Red

This paper is about 3 by 5 inches and is actually rather flimsy. I honestly thought at first it was an advertisement for a place to eat. Turns out, its promoting a movie. Olsen Gang Sees Red, which was released in 1976 and has a 7.6 rating on IMDb. Who knew! 

So here's the skinny. The Olsen Gang is a fictional Danish criminal gang in the eponymous film series. The gang's leader is the criminal genius and habitual offender Egon Olsen and his accomplices are Benny and Kjeld (Kjell in Norwegian). The gang members are harmless and never use violence. A Norwegian version of the film series was also made (a total of 14 films from 1969 to 1999), in most cases based directly on the scripts for the Danish films. Later, starting in 1981, Sweden also produced their own version.

In The Olsen Gang Sees Red, Egon and the gang are hired to stage a robbery of an antique Chinese vase for an economically challenged baron. Naturally they fooled, which infuriates Egon. The gang tries to get back at the baron by switching the vase with a cheap Hong Kong copy. One attempt is made during the barons hunting party, where Egon ends up being bricked up in the catacombs. In another attempt, the gang has to coordinate breaking through several walls at The Royal Theater in Copenhagen with the "Elverhøj" overture.

While my poor, secluded self in San Diego has never heard of this series of movies, I am sure my friends in Europe have.