July 9 - Those Kids from My School

Lately kids that I grew up with seem to be making news. I just talked to Emily on the phone and she told me that a guy we grew up with is in the movie The Devil Wears Prada. He plays Doug, the buddy of the main girl. In addition to that I was at the annual AFton 4th of July parade on Tuesday, and discovered that a kid that rode on my schoolbus is now running for US Senate, I think, with the Independence Party. He's two years younger than me (that's 27) so not much chance of winning but it's still a surprise to see. Especially because the way I remember him was a such a rosy-cheeked little boy. In my mental image of him I think he is about 10 years old.

The funny thing about the guy in the Devil Wears Prada is that I did have a vague sense of him looking familiar. But I thought he was just a minor actor that had appeared in other movies that I had seen. Even funnier is that when I went to see that movie there were THREE of us that actually had known this guy - me, Lauren and Nick - and none of us had actually recognized him. I guess that's because you never expect to run into somebody from your childhood on the big screen.

Finally, Nick himself seems to have been the origin of the cryptic penguin joke in A Prarie Home Companion Movie. He was working for a writing team that was somehow conencted with the Prarie Home Companion radio show a few years back. Garrison Keilor, our local celebrity and host of the show, asked for jokes for the annual joke episode. Nick submitted that penguin joke and it has become an infamous recurring enigma. Is that joke funny or not?? Of course all this only makes sense if you've seen the movie. Go see it if you want a glimpse into the character and mythology of Minnesota. (Don't tell Lauren I said that though. :-) He thinks all that is a big steaming of ox s*#t straight from Babe the Big Blue Ox).