Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life

This post is about movies, television and one night of peace. Tonight marks a milestone in Team Urf!’s social evolution. Tonight was the inaugural flight of Midtown Movie Night, where two families with five kids would attempt the unthinkable. We gathered at Casa de S.A.M. for a feast from Fresh Slices, homemade ice cream and a showing of Minnesota native Andria’s own Garrison Keillor in A Prarie Home Companion. And it went off without a hitch. Really. We made it through the entire movie and heard almost all of the dialogue, finishing with a good grasp of the plot if not of why so many people would star in a public radio variety program. Keep in mind, too, that this is a Robert Altman film, a man who, before his death, had carte blanche to make a nine hour film if he felt like it. I questioned the choice of movie, not because I didn’t want to see it, but because I knew it would be dialogue-heavy, and who would have thought that we’d be able to hear anything being said with all these … well, with Miss M and S in the house? I thought, perhaps, a Jason Statham film would make more sense, something where the only thing that had to be understood was whose ass was getting kicked at any given moment. But I was proven wrong, and because of that I want to thank The Quartet and Miss M for being quiet. That’s all, just being quiet for a couple of hours so adults could sit, stare at the television and laugh with each other. When you have kids, it’s the little things you have to be grateful for.

In other television news, I’d like to announce C’s sudden appreciation, thanks to PBS, of Monty Python’s Flying Circus. Have you ever watched a nine-year-old laughing at 38-year-old British comedy? It is truly something to behold.