Laurie

Welcome one and all to a special morning video edition. This week we’re celebrating 10 plagues (or “pleggs” as Zoe and Lucy say), the unlikely parting of the red sea and the discovery of matzoh, one of the world’s most perforated foods. Yet despite the proliferation of perforations (sorry, I had to do it), breaking a big square of matzoh in half can be a crumbly endeavor at best, a disappointing mess at worst. Well fret no more — enter the Japanese to save the day! Happy Passover everyone! Let my people go!

Okay, this is a crazy one y’all. I know you probably don’t have time this morning to watch this, but I just stumbled upon the entire movie of The Breakfast Club. The whole thing. All 1:37:07 of it. So later, when you take your lunch break. Or when you kid goes to take a nap. Or when you’re tired of working on that thing you’ve been working on all day. You can watch it here at Upside Up. I was hoping to provide you with some choice quotes to get you revved up, but the thing is, I would really…

When I was growing up we had lots of Aunts & Uncles who weren’t actually Aunts & Uncles but who played Aunts & Uncles in my life. My parents’ closest friends were granted familial status and our relationships with them were as close as the names Aunt & Uncle would imply. Even the long-distance ones. Most of my pseudo Aunts & Uncles had kids whom we called, true to form, cousins, and although we cousins don’t see each other all that terribly often, we still love each other and behave as if we were actually cousins. It can get a…

For the entirety of 2007 so far, I’ve been obsessed with this song, by Sufjan Stevens. The writing is astonishingly good. And the banjo is so poignant. And the song conveys innocence and loss so sincerely, and with a lighter touch than just about any I’ve ever heard. And this line: “In the morning, when you finally go, and the nurse runs in with her head hung low, and the cardinal hits the window.” This line shocked me to tears the first time I made out the words. Here he is live, singing it for you. Have a lovely weekend.

The Sopranos returns in April for its final run of 8 episodes all leading up to the series finale. Even though the show ultimately veered away from its original premise of “Baby-boomer-dad-with-typical-everyman-insecurities-meets-mafia-boss,” and toward the more typical “See-what-the-mafia-is-really-all-about” style, I’ve always loved it. Crisp writing, engaging characters, gripping stories, and plenty of cussing, my favorite vice. Here’s a send-up of the preview for the final half of the season. A glimpse inside the mind of Tony Soprano, replete with the cultural icons of your average Baby-Boomer’s life (or, for that matter, any Gen-Xer’s). (And here’s a link to the real…