You have to be careful with It's a Wonderful Life - good cautionary tale of how you can't just go ask the one rich guy in town. On the other hand, don't let people (ahem, some boards) think you can skip to the end - just work for an hour or so and people will show up to pour money in your direction!
Dan, I love the courage you exhibited in discussing the second-worst Rocky movie ever made (6 is the worst for anyone wondering). I have this pet theory that the Rocky movies (and definitely the Creed sequels) are all about how awful men are at understanding and making arguments. Literally anyone can goad Rocky or Creed out of the wealth and comfort that they've earned and into the ring for a shot at taking it all away. Did none of these guys ever play Nintendo's Punch Out? Everyone has to work their way up before they get a title shot!
Thanks, for the shout-out, Dan! I have my movie selections for you, don’t worry. But first, I want to introduce myself to all the fellow waffle-eaters. I’m Kaitlyn, author of Brains of the Operation. Dan’s a persuasive person, and he encouraged me to write about living with epilepsy on Substack. It sounds like kind of a bummer, but I promise it’s not. I’m going to pretend I’m as persuasive as Dan for a minute and encourage you to read, subscribe, laugh, and learn a little something about a topic you might not know anything about. Then you can be a waffle-eater and a brainiac. Exciting!
Okay, here are my movie recommendations: -Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (the Save Ferris t-shirts are unforgettable.)
-Mean Girls, the 2004 version, not the garbage musical one (I’m not 100% sure if the candy grams they sell are for fundraising purposes, but let’s pretend they are. The scene where they give them out is iconic.)
Keeping with a Christmas theme, A Christmas Carol is a great example of a fundraising moment in a non-fundraising movie (and gave us the famous line: “Are there no prisons? Are there no poor houses?”). The Muppet Christmas Carol is my favorite rendition of this scene as Beaker and Bunsen got thrown out into the snow but an angry Michael Caine. Also, Happy Gilmore is technically a fundraising movie, and the sequel is being filmed at the golf course where I worked my first job. It’s no ponderosa steakhouse though!
Okay... mine may be slightly unconventional here but bear with me on the message. I'm thinking of two car wash scenes... one in Dodgeball (Vince Vaughn and Ben Stiller, a true classic) and another in House Bunny (Anna Faris and Emma Stone, epic chick flick). Both are certainly not fundraising movies but do have some fundraising themes embedded.
- Before the gang decides to play Dodgeball for a $50,000 cash prize to save the Average Joe's gym, they decide to try fundraising the money with a very horrifying and hilarious car wash. They fail miserably.
- In House Bunny, Anna Faris takes over a failing sorority of misfit girls and has to come up with ways to gain pledges before the sorority gets shut down. She proposes a car wash, but has a hard time getting the introverted girls to play along. Another fail.
While both car washes are absolutely hilarious and inappropriate, I think the message is the same. It's actually a bit of a spin on our takeaway from Troop Beverly Hills: aside from letting the right people do the asking, we should be doing the asking in the right way. Fundraising methods should align with who we are so it's believable, trustworthy and not as wrong as seeing grown men in speedos.
I only watched it once when I was young, but The Chocolate Wars is a disturbing riff on the late 80s teen movie that is burned into my memory. It is about a very complex candy fundraising system at an all boys Catholic school. I remember the headmaster pulling off menacing without being an outright villain very well.
Not a movie, but my mind goes to Little House on the Prairie when Pa got in over his head financially and all of Walnut Grove pitched in to help so the Ingalls didn't go into financial ruin - fundraising lesson - it is about neighbors helping neighbors and that is what we do at United Way!
Not entirely sure I understand the assignment, but here goes. . .The Money Pit, starring, again, Shelly Long and America’s Dad, Tom Hanks. my favorite line: Here lies Walter Fielding. He bought a house, and it killed him. Fundraising lesson: don’t get drunk with your ex fiancée so that your current fiancée thinks you slept with him to get money for house repairs.
Things I never thought I'd read from Dan: " ... sometimes you must become Thunderlips in order to defeat Thunderlips."
You have to be careful with It's a Wonderful Life - good cautionary tale of how you can't just go ask the one rich guy in town. On the other hand, don't let people (ahem, some boards) think you can skip to the end - just work for an hour or so and people will show up to pour money in your direction!
Totally right, Deb. Great point
Dan, I love the courage you exhibited in discussing the second-worst Rocky movie ever made (6 is the worst for anyone wondering). I have this pet theory that the Rocky movies (and definitely the Creed sequels) are all about how awful men are at understanding and making arguments. Literally anyone can goad Rocky or Creed out of the wealth and comfort that they've earned and into the ring for a shot at taking it all away. Did none of these guys ever play Nintendo's Punch Out? Everyone has to work their way up before they get a title shot!
Thanks, for the shout-out, Dan! I have my movie selections for you, don’t worry. But first, I want to introduce myself to all the fellow waffle-eaters. I’m Kaitlyn, author of Brains of the Operation. Dan’s a persuasive person, and he encouraged me to write about living with epilepsy on Substack. It sounds like kind of a bummer, but I promise it’s not. I’m going to pretend I’m as persuasive as Dan for a minute and encourage you to read, subscribe, laugh, and learn a little something about a topic you might not know anything about. Then you can be a waffle-eater and a brainiac. Exciting!
Okay, here are my movie recommendations: -Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (the Save Ferris t-shirts are unforgettable.)
-Mean Girls, the 2004 version, not the garbage musical one (I’m not 100% sure if the candy grams they sell are for fundraising purposes, but let’s pretend they are. The scene where they give them out is iconic.)
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire!
The Weasley Twins engage in a series of clever fundraising antics to start their “Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes” shop.
Keeping with a Christmas theme, A Christmas Carol is a great example of a fundraising moment in a non-fundraising movie (and gave us the famous line: “Are there no prisons? Are there no poor houses?”). The Muppet Christmas Carol is my favorite rendition of this scene as Beaker and Bunsen got thrown out into the snow but an angry Michael Caine. Also, Happy Gilmore is technically a fundraising movie, and the sequel is being filmed at the golf course where I worked my first job. It’s no ponderosa steakhouse though!
Immediately downloading Troop Beverly Hills. 🤣
TBH rocks!
Total classic!!!
Okay... mine may be slightly unconventional here but bear with me on the message. I'm thinking of two car wash scenes... one in Dodgeball (Vince Vaughn and Ben Stiller, a true classic) and another in House Bunny (Anna Faris and Emma Stone, epic chick flick). Both are certainly not fundraising movies but do have some fundraising themes embedded.
- Before the gang decides to play Dodgeball for a $50,000 cash prize to save the Average Joe's gym, they decide to try fundraising the money with a very horrifying and hilarious car wash. They fail miserably.
- In House Bunny, Anna Faris takes over a failing sorority of misfit girls and has to come up with ways to gain pledges before the sorority gets shut down. She proposes a car wash, but has a hard time getting the introverted girls to play along. Another fail.
While both car washes are absolutely hilarious and inappropriate, I think the message is the same. It's actually a bit of a spin on our takeaway from Troop Beverly Hills: aside from letting the right people do the asking, we should be doing the asking in the right way. Fundraising methods should align with who we are so it's believable, trustworthy and not as wrong as seeing grown men in speedos.
Also, who should star in the remake of TBH?
I only watched it once when I was young, but The Chocolate Wars is a disturbing riff on the late 80s teen movie that is burned into my memory. It is about a very complex candy fundraising system at an all boys Catholic school. I remember the headmaster pulling off menacing without being an outright villain very well.
I'm totally checking this out, Walker!
Not a movie, but my mind goes to Little House on the Prairie when Pa got in over his head financially and all of Walnut Grove pitched in to help so the Ingalls didn't go into financial ruin - fundraising lesson - it is about neighbors helping neighbors and that is what we do at United Way!
Not entirely sure I understand the assignment, but here goes. . .The Money Pit, starring, again, Shelly Long and America’s Dad, Tom Hanks. my favorite line: Here lies Walter Fielding. He bought a house, and it killed him. Fundraising lesson: don’t get drunk with your ex fiancée so that your current fiancée thinks you slept with him to get money for house repairs.
I love the Money Pit!!!!!!! Are they testing nuclear bombs here?