The Stooge in me

I read an article on Yahoo today in which MGM and the Farrelly brothers are lining up the cast for a new Three Stooges movie, set to come out in 2010. As a self confessed Stoooge-aholic, this is big news.

I remember coming home from school, in the days before video recorders, and putting on the TV. Moe, Larry, and Curly were always on the UHF band, so the picture on many days was snowy or fuzzy. Didn't matter. My little sister and brother and I would watch these over and over again. If the picture got real bad, and I couldn't see what was happening, I'd fill in the scene in my mind.

During the commercial breaks, we had our chores to do. The house had to be clean and dinner had to be ready when dad got home from work. Mom always left a note on the table on how to cook dinner and being a few years older than my siblings, I usually started dinner. My brother and sister would get the table cleaned off and set with plates, silverware, and cups. Sometimes we would have things ready and sometimes not.

I always admired the Three Stooges. It seemed life was so serious, while growing up. The Stooges took all things cherished in my little world and made a mockery out of it. School, court, work, sports, girls, were the playground of the Three Stooges.

There was a time, as we got older, when my brother and I weren't getting along very well together. Dad gave us the job of painting the hallway that went upstairs. We began the job and over an hour into our chore, neither of us said a word. We were in close proximity to each other and I let my paint brush slip and hit him with paint. Oh, Sorry, nyuk nyuk nyuk, said I. He caught on and before long I was smacked with an errant brush stroke. Over the course of the next hour, there was more paint on each other than on the wall. We had fun, broke the ice between us, got the job done, and are best friends today.

You might even remember a song called the Curly Shuffle, so I went looking and found it on Amazon for you.

If the lives we live now are dictated by the life we had when we were younger, I wonder how much different my life would be if I just let my inner Stooge flow more frequently. Laughter is the best medicine, maybe I'll start today, I just won't poke anybody in the eyes.