Strikes again...

I turned on my TV this evening instead of doing the puzzles in the Fresno Bee. I am a puzzle lover. Part of the joy in my life is figuring out a difficult, some would say vexing problem. I really enjoy it. On occasion I do forsake the crossword, the Jumble and the Sudoku, but only for really good reasons. Anniversary, children's birthday, that kind of thing, so tonight was truly a singular event.

I am not a big TV watcher in general and I cannot stand just going through the channels hoping, beyond a reasonable doubt, that I am going to find some program that will interest me. No, it's not that I am better than anyone, it's just not me. So imagine my surprise when I turn to some remote channel on our DISH satellite and see the title, "The Pink Panther Strikes Again!"

I couldn't believe it! One of the best comedies of ALL time, it pits Peter Sellers as Chief Inspector Clousseau against Herbert Lom's Former Chief Inspector Dreyfuss. The outcome is nothing short of a "5 Belly Laugh rating." But it got me to thinking, seriously, I guess, about the state of my own life and laughs. I don't laugh enough anymore...we, as a society, don't laugh enough.

The first time I saw the movie I was in a LARGE movie theater with 1,000 other people. We all laughed and laughed and laughed, all the way through. It was a shared community experience, a shared release of tension and joy, simultaneoulsy. I think I remember that everyone seemed a little nicer as we left the theater. I miss those experiences - although ... I did have one last year when Bill Cosby came to Visalia. Great comedy, clean, large crowd, hilarious. Kudos to Cosby for keeping it clean, making us laugh at ourselves.

When Bill is no longer with us, will there be others who carry that same ability, mission, integrity? The truly funny people of the world don't need angry words, epitaphs. All they need is the truth. My good friend, Mark Anderson told me once, "only the truth is funny." Hmmm.

"You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free," the Good Book says. The truth, if you laugh at it, will also make you easier to live with. Reruns anyone?