Knocked Up

...is a wonderful film starring New Cannan’s own Katherine Heigl, and comedic stalwart Seth Rogen. Although uncharacteristically long for a comedy at 2 hours and 9 minutes, the film moves at a respectable pace, fusing both real-life drama and hallucinogenic comedy. Chris Kaltenbach of The Baltimore Sun acknowledged the comic value of the film in spite of its shortcomings, saying, "Yes, the story line meanders and too many scenes drone on; Knocked Up is in serious need of a good editor. But the laughs are plentiful, and it's the rare movie these days where one doesn't feel guilty about finding the whole thing funny.” And for those who like action, the movie doesn’t disappoint. As the title suggests, there are several fighting and boxing scenes that are a sterling tribute to the finale of Karate Kid and the Ivan Drago / Apollo Creed sequence in Rocky IV.

On a rather unrelated note, we’re expecting!! Susi and I are besides ourselves with excitement as we wait for the arrival of our beautiful baby grand piano! Actually, it’s a Yamaha Clavinova CLP-555 digital grand piano, since we couldn’t realistically fit even an upright in our apartment without sacrificing some of Susi’s flower arranging paraphernalia. Admittedly, I’ve become quite rusty at the old 88 since moving abroad (and frankly, I wasn’t that great before I left). I’m hoping to find a local teacher who can help me get back into some semblance of musical form.

Much more importantly, we have news!! Yes indeed, I’ve finally cashed in on the gift certificate Susi bought me last Christmas for a 3 month subscription to the Times. With the ever growing gaggle of media outlets, it’s a rare treat to sit down with the broadsheets, and get up to date on all of the latest news and gossip. Unfortunately, the traditional print industry is a bit backward, and I’ve been on the phone for over an hour trying to delay delivery until after I return from the US. It would be quite a disappointment if the papers arrive prematurely.

And nearly finally, we are pleased to announce that Susi currently has a bun in the oven! It took far longer than we ever expected, and was much more difficult than people had said. The main problem with baking a monster 18-inch cinnamon-raisin Danish is that it’s almost impossible to shape it so that the dough in the middle cooks fully without the outer edges getting burnt. I told Susi that it would be much easier to make 8 or 10 smaller buns, but she insisted on making this giant “family sized” monstrosity… and to her credit, it’s baking away in there, and so far everything looks good.

And finally finally, we are all very thankful that I could only find 4 or 5 usable mild, inoffensive, relatively uncontroversial phrases for the word euphemism. Likewise, I could only find a similar number of good euphemism’s for being in a delicate condition. All kidding aside, we are expecting little Mortimer or Morticia to wreak havoc on our independent and serene lifestyles this April!!! Really – I’m really saying it now – Susi is pregnant with a child of currently-unknown gender, and is due late April. This is not a test… No crying wolf here… just lots of crying!