By Bob Hicks
Through a series of coincidences too complicated to describe, Mr. and Mrs. Scatter spent Valentine’s Day evening at the opening performance of the latest touring version of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. Mr. Scatter then wrote his impressions of the production for The Oregonian; you can read them here.
It may come as no surprise to you that Mrs. Scatter assumed the role of Beauty while in attendance, and Mr. Scatter stayed in character as Beast. Among other things, it was pleasant to see all the little girls in the audience in their party dresses and hair-bows, paying rapt attention: It was like The Nutcracker with mirrors and fangs. The chocolates and Cognac after the show were lovely, too.
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Photo: The Scatters celebrate Valentine’s Day. (Actually, that’s Dane Agostinis and Emily Behny.)
Mr. Scatter recalls being impressed as a child by the tale of Noah, who after steering his ark at long last into port dipped into the wine cellar and got so snozzled that he stumbled into his tent, stripped off all his clothes, and fell into a deep naked snooze. This caused considerable consternation once he woke up, and somehow Noah, who after all was “a just man and perfect,” pinned the blame on his son Canaan, who as winemaker had apparently amped up the alcohol content. (He might have been the same guy making all those head-thumping California zins in the 1970s.) It was a pioneering instance of better scapegoating through chemistry.
Just $249 for the 32-inch edition, but let’s go whole hog: You can get the 40-inch model, complete with “accurate crow’s nest, metal propellers and railings, and intricate cranes, ventilators, ladders, funnels, steam pipes, benches and skylights,” for $379. It’ll look great on your mant …
