More Fun Than a Barrel of Monkeys...

Tomorrow is Jackman's Birthday - he'll be 33 - This isn't one of dad's expressions - but he's said it I'm sure, and it applies perfectly to Jackman. Jackman (Lots of people don't know his first name) is one of the most fun people I know - he's silly, witty and smart - Tough combo to pull off, but he manages - he's also busy - he's got three boys, a lovely wife and two cats.

The above picture is us with his youngest boy - and my godson - Maxwell Theodore - he's tall, has big blue eyes and is blond - he's going to be a handfull in a few years - watch out ladies.

This expression has always puzzeled me a bit - I don't know if you've ever actually sat down and played with a barrel of monkeys (The Toy) but they aren't terribly exciting, you string them together - that's about it - but If you were talking about a barrel of actual monkeys (Chimps), that you opened, after being cooped up in a barrel for any period of time - I'm sure they's be up for some fun and into just about everything.

The chimp thought was what got me thinking about this story - one night while returning home from downtown, we (Jackman and I) decided that the shortest distance between two points (King St. and Beaverbrook St.) was a straight line - and to be efficient we had to cut through some backyards, for the most part this was easy - but we came upon a chain link fence behind one of our friend's apartments - it was going to take some monkey skills, so we went to climbing this fence, and just as Jackman was pulling himself up on top of the fence, his shirt caught a snag, and ripped - he wasn't happy as it was a Roots shirt with a Canada Flag on the front - anyways - he looked up and saw this great tree limb a few feet away - I had just climbed to the top as well and he says "watch this" so he dove out LIKE A CHIMP, grabbed the branch, swung under, everything was going perfectly, when I hear a loud "SNAP" and I see Jackman plummeting earthward, laying flat out, still holding the branch, which was now more of a souvenir - he landed flat on his back ( from about 7 feet up) - I jumped down at the same time to help him out, and a few of those motion lights turned on - Jackman popped to his feet and the two of us, fueled by adreneline sprinted out of that backyard and onto the street. We laughed the entire way home, but decided to stick to the streets, the walk may have been longer, but it wouldn't be as dangerous, or funny.

So here's a Happy Birthday wish for you my Friend: May all your rebounds be that quick, all your landings soft and may you celebrate all your birthdays surrounded by the people who love you.

Have a great day buddy!