Small and White, Clean and Bright

Last night my lobster and I sat down to watch a movie. Finally, after 15 years of owning it on VHS and knowing most of the words to all of the songs but never actually seeing it, I convinced her to devote the next three hours to The Sound of Music. I had seen it annually from ages 5-17 of course, but with my Music virgin at my side, it brought out a whole new side. (I should mention that I had two very potent beers and she had a zinger of a Malibu and Coke for the film.) Some highlights:

Near the beginning Maria is coaxing herself into bravery with "I Have Confidence". As her list of things about which she feels confident grows, she begins to swing her guitar case wildly about. We both decide that if we could effortlessly run at a full sprint down the sidewalk whilst swinging about large stringed instruments we'd have a hell of a lot of confidence, too.

About halfway through, we stopped for a pee break. I had the terribly morose "Edelweiss" in my head, and decided to replace it with a more upbeat tune. I began to sing out loud:

I am sixteen

Going on seventeen...

And that's it. That's all I knew, even after just watching it. Honestly, does anyone ever know any more of the words to that song than those six? Go ahead...try it now.


Erika: Rolf ends up being a Nazi, doesn't he.

Jenn: Yeah. How did you know?

Erika: Earlier. He did the "hail Hitler" thing.

As we're listening to the Captain sing about Edelweiss ("Small and white, Clean and bright"), Erika asks what edelweiss is. I tell her it's a flower, but it prompts us to think of what else it could be.

A well-kept, intelligent child?

That little pill he takes every morning to control his blood pressure?


(A background choir sings "How Do you Solve a Problem Like Maria?" as she is walking down the aisle on her wedding day)

Erika: My God, what an awful song for the processional. Way to take a swing at her on the happiest day of her life.


(Max announces the winner of the festival--"The Von Trapp family singers!" [applause] "The Family Von Trapp! [applause] Spotlight on the empty corridor. Long pause. Soldier runs through the hallway, appears at the entrance and shouts "They're gone!" Nazi man stands up in horror.)

Erika: A little slow on the uptake, isn't he.


This movie is a classic. It has its moments of hilarity and absurdity, but in the end I think we can all agree...

It would make a great drinking game.