Let the countdown begin! We are just one week away from Thanksgiving. On that enthusiastic note, let’s get to tonight’s five topics in my latest Thursday Rundown…

Throwback Thursday – Last weekend, my Aunt Nancy sent me something that I had never seen before. It was a photo of me with Santa Claus at Northtown Mall on Black Friday in perhaps 1997. When I saw the image I remembered that specific day going Black Friday shopping with my relatives, including sitting on Santa’s lap. I also remembered wearing my Duke hat but I would be lying if I said I remembered that striped shirt tucked into my sweat pants. Regardless, it was funny to see my pudgy self a quarter century ago.

Me sitting with Santa at Northtown Mall in Spokane in probably 1997 or 1998.

Special Monopoly – So readers, what do you think of specialized Monopoly games? You know, the ones based off a sports team, movie franchise, or town? As crazy as it sounds, I don’t think I have ever played a non-classic Monopoly board game besides Jr. Monopoly. When I was at Walgreens last night I ran into this display of themed Monopoly games, which included a version based on the city I live in and the employer I work for. If this stuff interested me I suppose I would have had Mac and Cheese Monopoly or Don’t Blink Monopoly a long time ago.

I stumbled upon these Monopoly-based games last night at Walgreens.

Ron’s Gone Wrong – Last Saturday I took Sloan to the movie theater to watch “Ron’s Gone Wrong.” The film is about a future society where all children have “B-Bots,” basically a personal assistant robot who knows everything about their child owner and who helps that child develop friendships with others. I think it was a little over Sloan’s head but if you have a son or daughter in the 7-12 age range, I think they would like it. Gen Z and millennial adults will like it too as the film contains many parallels and jokes about the current digital age.

Besides the price for a matinee, there wasn’t too much wrong with “Ron’s Gone Wrong.”

Latest Movies – I discussed the movie I went to the theater to watch so I figure I should address a couple of the movies I went to my living room to watch. This week I watched “Awakenings” and “A River Runs Through It.” Robin Williams is a doctor and Robert De Niro is a mental patient in “Awakenings,” a 1990 film based on true events in 1969. It is a slower movie but told a fascinating tale about something I knew nothing about. As someone who lived in Missoula for eight years, I am embarrassed to say I had not watched “A River Runs Through It” until just this past Sunday. With that said, I don’t think I necessarily missed out on anything. I found the movie to have very little of a plot and even though it is “based” in Missoula it wasn’t even filmed there.

This week I have watched “Awakenings” and “A River Runs Through It.”

Sunset Scene – One current and unfortunate development with my weekly commute to Pullman is that the drive in the morning and the drive back to Spokane in the evening take place almost entirely in the dark. But a really cool sunset this past Tuesday added at least a little bit of beauty to the drive. Got to think positive!

I took this photo on my way back to Spokane after working in Pullman on Tuesday, Nov. 16.

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For those who will be slipping into a week-long Thanksgiving vacation after tomorrow, have fun! Thanks for reading and enjoy your Friday. Don’t Blink.