so, this week has yielded a couple of nice surprises.

first off, some great tv/movie news, via tv guide online – an arrested development movie is in the works and will be in theatres in ’09! oh, how the husband and i loved this quirky tv show! for those of you who never watched arrested development, it’s about the very odd bluth family and all of the various wacky hijinks they participate in. the cast was first rate – jason bateman, michael cera, portia di rossi, will arnett, david cross – as well as various roles by carl weathers, henry winkler, judy greer, liza minelli, ron howard, and charlize theron. it had some of the driest humor – the kind the if you didn’t pay attention, you might just not get what it meant. we would sometimes watch episodes multiple times, laughing harder each time around.

i have so many, many favorite episodes and scenes, but i think if hard-pressed, motherboy xxx would be the very best. it’s about an annual mother/son dance that lucille bluth forces her sons and now grandson to participate in. she has absconded with george michael, pressing his father michael and his brother buster to track them down at a hotel. here’s a quote from my favorite scene, and i gotta admit, i was laughing so hard i could barely breathe as i transcribed it from a hulu video.

narrator: and soon michael and buster surveyed the hotel looking for george michael.
buster: there’s a very bored looking little sonny bono on that balcony.
michael: oh god, that means she’ll be dressed like cher.
buster: i have an idea. it is time for me to use something i trained for in army, but never got a chance to do.
michael: buster, you cannot zip-line over there!
buster: either i zip down, or he zips up! and that is a mighty long zipper on mother’s cher jumpsuit. you have to get on your knees to start it.
michael: this is much less scary. god-speed, buster.

go and watch the delightful episode here. i challenge you not to laugh your pants off!

the second surprise was to see my bee’s balm blooming. i had bought it several months ago, not even knowing what color it was going to be. and here it is, pink and lovely: