Safe at Home 2: The Continuing Adventures of The Arndts

[JenniferJuniper]

6 hours ago, 16strong said:

It's disturbing how old the oldest boys men are looking. 

Now, now, we can't all stay in our 20's forever.  Or our 30's.

Time moves so fast.  In three years the first of them will be in his 40's.  And the middle age Arndt floodgates shall open.

[Howl]

Do we know how barber duties are delegated?  I'm sure it's done in house. 

[Jana814]

3 hours ago, Milly-Molly-Mandy said:

He has alopecia

Yup that is what he has. Cathy said in one of the TV specials they did. It got in his early teens I think. 

[Carm_88]

21 minutes ago, Howl said:

Do we know how barber duties are delegated?  I'm sure it's done in house. 

Cathy does the barbering, I'm pretty sure.

I don't know how you would word it but it was probably supposed to be Mark and his 5 closer in age brothers went out. The 80s babies so to speak. So I think John probably did take the picture and Mark wasn't counted as one of the 5. But who knows? It's the Arndts, they are actually stranger than fiction. 

[Howl]

I found the drone delivery of the stuffed toy penguin to be fascinating, because the details of the landing seemed to be done by committee, with much commentary and a bit (a lot?) of anxiety that the drone might hit the house. 

To be a fly on the wall at Casa Arndt. 

Another thing about the Arndt house is an apparent lack of clutter.  With, what, 16 people living there, it doesn't seem like there is any room for expression of personality. 

 

[MamaJunebug]

On 8/2/2017 at 6:42 PM, Carm_88 said:

Mama has that claw hand out. I wonder how many takes that took!

There's still a Pantera's pizza somewhere? I gotta find that!

3 hours ago, JenniferJuniper said:

Now, now, we can't all stay in our 20's forever.  Or our 30's.

Time moves so fast.  In three years the first of them will be in his 40's.  And the middle age Arndt floodgates shall open.

I do notice a slightly less enthusiastic smile on the older brother way to the left.  

[MamaJunebug]

2 hours ago, Howl said:

Another thing about the Arndt house is an apparent lack of clutter.  With, what, 16 people living there, it doesn't seem like there is any room for expression of personality. 

As a newly minted minimalist,* the lack of clutter is the only thing that seems logical to me about the family.  How else would you swing the maintenance of what's effectively a boarding house?

They don't need no steenkeeng self-expression in their sleeping / Lego-playing quarters. You want self-expression, suggest a new effect to sell in the wedding photography business. Or fly a family-owned drone.

Didn't we see a video of Kathy brag-lamenting the clutter in her closet -- and the thing looked like an "after" photo in an ad for Closets Closets Closets Closets (TM Modern Family).

When the first Junior Junebugs were little, indulgent grands brought them toys and souvenirs and gizmos without number, and our place was always a mess. In contrast, we've seen that Rick & Cathy strictly control the relationships with extended family, and so superfluous gifts have been probably very few in number. And I imagine toys were pruned from the collection pretty ruthlessly, with the ones that encourage group activity retained (Legos, e.g.)

But this is all speculation. I have no real idea. And my home features far more personality than The Arndt Hotel.  *Some minimalists consider a certain number of items - but no more - to be just fine, as opposed to having hardly anything. It's a spectrum.  

 

 

 

 

 

[hasunah]

Will anyone of them ever leave , move out , marry ? Anything ?

[Carm_88]

14 minutes ago, hasunah said:

Will anyone of them ever leave , move out , marry ? Anything ?

As of now, it seems unlikely. Unless there's a ton going on in Arndt world that we don't know about! 

[JermajestyDuggar]

48 minutes ago, Carm_88 said:

As of now, it seems unlikely. Unless there's a ton going on in Arndt world that we don't know about! 

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Once one gets married, more will follow. I think one just needs to take the five and set the tone for the rest. I hope it happens soon. Since they are getting older.

[MamaJunebug]

1 hour ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Once one gets married, more will follow. I think one just needs to take the five and set the tone for the rest. I hope it happens soon. Since they are getting older.

I'll say again: I don't see the first marriage occurring until after at least one parent has gone to her/his heavenly reward.  Most likely both, though. I really don't think I'll outlive the dynamic duo to find out!!!!

[December]

On 8/4/2017 at 8:53 AM, MamaJunebug said:

As a newly minted minimalist,* the lack of clutter is the only thing that seems logical to me about the family.  How else would you swing the maintenance of what's effectively a boarding house?

Same goes for a lot of the large family blogs discussed here... packing an outsized number of people (especially when a large percent are adults) into a single house would be a logistical nightmare if everyone owned the same amount of stuff that most Americans do. I guess it just feels normal if people grow up like that. Plus, if people don't move out for college, or renting their own apartment, etc. there's never  a time where they'll have the option to test whether they'd keep living so minimally.

(And then you have weirdos like me, who grew up in a cluttered house, and loved moving out because it meant I could pare down my possessions and keep everything very organized for the first time ever!)

[Letgo]

On ‎8‎/‎3‎/‎2017 at 9:11 PM, Suz8710 said:

Has John been voted out of the Arndt tribe!? Congrats James, you're no longer #6!

Okay, don't any of those guys look around the table and think, "Why are all of us still here? We're looking older, getting older. We are MEN, not teenagers. So why don't we behave like men? None of us are married yet? No one has a girl friend? We are sitting around celebrating yet another birthday, all of us ALONE? We're all still living together with Mom and Dad? Why? What is wrong with us? Why are we doing this? Our lives are passing us by and here we are still living in our parents' home. I need to get out! We ALL need to get out! ASAP!" 

That's what I think when I look at this photo. Why don't THEY think the same? Can't even one of them think it? And I can't stress this enough...You are all still living at home with your parents! Most men your ages have their own homes, their own families, college educations, wives, girlfriends, real lives as individuals...BUT YOU ARE ALL STILL AT HOME WITH YOUR PARENTS!!!

Rant over. Sigh....

[MamaJunebug]

@Letgo, I ask myself the same Q's about these guys and all I can come up with is, "Damned if I know!"  And I don't cuss often. But this conundrum drives me to it!

ETA: Anybody else in the 'hood think they're at Gallagher's in Waterloo? I can't even begrudge them getting there on a rare, pleasant night.  And without Cathy's paw on their stomachs.  They've earned it.

[Howl]

22 hours ago, Letgo said:

Okay, don't any of those guys look around the table and think, "Why are all of us still here? We're looking older, getting older. We are MEN, not teenagers. So why don't we behave like men? None of us are married yet? No one has a girl friend? We are sitting around celebrating yet another birthday, all of us ALONE? We're all still living together with Mom and Dad? Why? What is wrong with us? Why are we doing this? Our lives are passing us by and here we are still living in our parents' home. I need to get out! We ALL need to get out! ASAP!" 

OK, now i have the DEVO "Are We Not Men?" earbug. 

[Carm_88]

31 minutes ago, Howl said:

OK, now i have the DEVO "Are We Not Men?" earbug. 

Mulan always Mulan!  

[Palimpsest]

2 hours ago, Carm_88 said:

Mulan always Mulan!  

Nah, good though Mulan is,  I'm going for "I'm a lonesome ArndtBoy."  It fits the Vine Valley theme better.

 

[Lurky]

@Palimpsest I'm going to have to watch that whole film now.  Then West Side Story for the actors in both, and then, for no excuse at all, Singin' In The Rain & On The Town (well, the excuse for that is admiring the trousers Gene Kelly's had specially tailored, to let him dance freely, while showing off his backside in the best possible way... I'd turn for Gene!)

ETA What is the Arndt version?  Eleventy Brides for Eleventy Brothers?

[JenniferJuniper]

On 8/8/2017 at 4:00 PM, Letgo said:

Okay, don't any of those guys look around the table and think, "Why are all of us still here? We're looking older, getting older. We are MEN, not teenagers. So why don't we behave like men? None of us are married yet? No one has a girl friend? We are sitting around celebrating yet another birthday, all of us ALONE? We're all still living together with Mom and Dad? Why? What is wrong with us? Why are we doing this? Our lives are passing us by and here we are still living in our parents' home. I need to get out! We ALL need to get out! ASAP!" 

Just a guess, but yes, I think they do.  Probably not all of them, and certainly not all of the time but they are simply not sheltered enough not to think this from time to time.  Maybe the bravest of them is still not brave enough to make the first move.  Which is not to say they aren't suffering from various levels of Stockholm Syndrome, I firmly believe they are. But they've attended so many work outs at a co-ed gym, tons of weddings, pro sporting events, have many normal cousins...there is no way they don't wonder from time to time why things are so static.  A few may do it all the time for all we know, but I'm sure the brothers also serve as each others' accountability partners.

Rick's manslaves have just finished building a house for his brother and it sounds like they are moving forward with plans to build a new house on their own property.  May it serve as a sort of half-way house for the older sons....

 

[Palimpsest]

33 minutes ago, Lurky said:

I'm going to have to watch that whole film now. 

It may be politically incorrect of me but it is one of my favorite dance films.  Here's another of my favorite number to whet your appetite, although arguably the barn raising is even better.  I wish the Arndt brothers would go acourtin' like this:

I'm going to put the rest of my OT comment under a spoiler so those who don't like dance movies can skip it.

Spoiler

Yes, that is Russ Tamblyn (Riff in WSS) in the blue shirt.  You may also recognise the fantastic Jacques D'Amboise (dark green) from the ballet sequence in Carousel, but I think Tommy Rail (red shirt) dominates in 7 Brides.  He is fantastic.

I like your taste in films and I too adore Gene Kelly!  Also Donald O'Connor in Singin' in the Rain.  Wasn't On the Town the film where Frank Sinatra had his flat bottom padded to fill out his trousers?

 

[Lurky]

@Palimpsest I don't know about Sinatra having bottom padding, but I do know that in Anchors Aweigh, Kelly had to really downplay his own skills so he didn't outshine Sinatra, especially as it was (one of) the first big film Kelly had been able to choreograph himself.  I love this song (dodgy as some of the lines are) for Kelly trying to limit his elevation in the jumps, and generally mute himself

Spoiler

 

Plus, Class Gene Kelly trouser tailoring:

Spoiler

 

I always love Kelly for insisting actors/writers work on his films, like Betty Garrett, who were seen as communists.

[MamaJunebug]

19 hours ago, Carm_88 said:

Mulan always Mulan!  

I've never seen! I will, now!

2 hours ago, JenniferJuniper said:

Rick's manslaves have just finished building a house for his brother

What the ever loving heck?!

Those guys aren't going AN-Y-WHERE til Cathy & Rick are 6' under.... it's like when you ask for a promotion or transfer at work and your ninnyhammer boss smarms, "Oh, but you're just doing SUCH a good job for us where you ARE! We couldn't THINK of LOSING you!"

 Difference being, of course, that you can quit the job. These guys can't quit their family. Kinda pitiful, to say the least.

[Howl]

On 8/4/2017 at 10:53 AM, MamaJunebug said:

Didn't we see a video of Kathy brag-lamenting the clutter in her closet

Heh! 

[Red Hair, Black Dress]

Ooooo Gene Kelly.  I've taken adult tap for years.  In my dreams I'm Gene and Fred Astaire and Ann Miller and Cyd Charisse all rolled together.  In reality ... um....no. Although I'm not bad.

@MamaJunebug  Ninnyhammer boss --- Lol, I love that..  I've had one or two of them.  One actually really said  "Oh, but you're just doing SUCH a good job for us where you ARE! We couldn't THINK of LOSING you!"  The other told me he wouldn't promote me because I'd be moving up to the next level of the career ladder, and no one who did my job had ever done that = hence no precedent for a promotion. As you might imagine, I moved on from both those places. 

[Letgo]

5 hours ago, JenniferJuniper said:

Just a guess, but yes, I think they do.  Probably not all of them, and certainly not all of the time but they are simply not sheltered enough not to think this from time to time.  Maybe the bravest of them is still not brave enough to make the first move. . .  have many normal cousins...there is no way they don't wonder from time to time why things are so static.  A few may do it all the time for all we know, but I'm sure the brothers also serve as each others' accountability partners.

 

Good points. I was also wondering if they don't look at cousins, neighbors, or family friends and notice the difference in life choices. Some of them just have to think, "Gee, Cousin Joe is my age and he's been married for 8 years and has two kids... Mary is working on her PhD... Joe and Jane live in London and have traveled around the world..."  I keep thinking these differences would just have to bug some of the manboys once in a while. Just not enough to take action, I guess. It would be extremely difficult to be the first to break away from the family compound, but I sure wish one of them could do it.