When Animals Take Over: Why My Wife is More Excited About Rise of the Planet of the Apes Than Everyone Else

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LaK6khs8aMw

It’s a tremendous relief that Rise of the Planet of the Apes probably won’t suck when The Wife and I go and see it tomorrow morning. The reboot to the classic science fiction series has an impressive 80% on Rotten Tomatoes. (Expect a short post later this weekend with my take on the picture.)

This is one of those movies that it’s doubtful we could have managed to avoid without April giving me a hard time about it. Why? Because the premise is one of her big fantasies: cute animals overthrowing the hegemony of a corrupt, evil human race. (April is the kind of person who cries when she spots a squirrel that’s been hit by a car. And every time she encounters a less-than-friendly person it’s not long before I’m hearing about how animals are much better than people.) This is her summer action film.

To show how seriously we take the concept of animals conquering humanity I now present a cell phone photo essay of Rise of the Planet of the Siberian Huskies, some photos I took of a play session I had last weekend with Maura, the animal family member currently asserting her dominance over our household:

There she is lying there, irritated at having to wear her bark collar after being loud and disruptive while I was trying to get some work done.

You can tell by that look in her eye — the pretending to ignore me look — that she’s getting ready to strike.

“Well, might as well get up if you’re going to come over here and bug me.” That’s my knee in the shot there.

Here she is stretching before the attack begins.

Maura pounces, knocks me onto my back and goes for one of my vulnerable spots: my toes. That’s some of April’s artwork hanging in the background.

My knee takes up most of the frame as she jumps on top of me again.

She goes back for the foot — she knows all my weak spots to try and hit. Other times when we play she’ll play-bite my fingers.

I try and get back on my feet.

Now it’s time to fight back. I grab Maura’s lower jaw.

And manage to hold her still long enough to get a picture that’s in focus.

“We aren’t done playing yet are we?”

No we’re not but I’ll let the PJM commenters decide if they want more pictures of Maura at PJ Lifestyle.