Jesse Ventura has long since moved out of Minnesota’s Governor’s Mansion, but instead of reaching for the wrestling tights again, he’s back to acting. Here’s the fun part: his latest role involves woodworking! Or, rather, shop class.
Not quite sure how I missed this, but earlier this fall Jesse’s new movie, titled “Woodshop,” hit a selection of theaters. The premise is pretty simple: a bunch of misfit kids have to serve Saturday detention time in the woodshop, and guess who’s the shop teacher?
Seems at least one of the delinquents should be nowhere near an operable power tool or a sharp edge. You’ve gotta check out this clip from the film to see the kind of bumbling shenanigans he gets himself into before being planted on a stool for the rest of the day:
http://www.woodshopmovie.com/home.html
I think there’s a Goldstein in every shop class.
This clip from the movie brings back some near catastrophes from the shop classes I took in school. Crazy, but back then one of our project choices was to make a working crossbow. Can you image that? Turns out, pencils impale themselves beautifully in the shop wall on the very first launch. Battery-powered motors made in electricity class will, in fact, pop the circuit if you plug them into 115 volts. Aside from spinning at light speed for a second or two, they also create a nice, arcing spark before melting down. And, scraps become daggers real quick when sculpted at the disc sander. Ah, the memories. It’s a wonder we survived.
Anyhow, if you’ve seen “Woodshop,” why not leave a comment here and tell us what you thought of it. Then, maybe some weekend soon, it will be time to pop some popcorn and watch Jesse do his version of “Breakfast Club,” shop-rat style.
Catch you in the shop,
Chris Marshall, Field Editor
