Laughing in Germany About Fake TV

Rand has this wonderful laugh that is as contagious as a cold through a kindergarten class. Every now and then, it will push him to the point of no return, and he’ll end up in a sort of shaking, convulsive, soundless laughter with tears in his eyes. Our friends, when they see it, look delightfully alarmed, a mix between “Holy crap, that’s awesome!” and “Is he gonna be okay?”

Assessing the situation, I will usually reply with, “He’s gone. He’ll be back in a minute.”

It is, perhaps, a state that he reaches too rarely in his busy life, and it’s hard to predict what will cause it. The last thing to do so was this scene from Black Books, a program with which he is currently obsessed:

–

We rewatched that scene three or four times, and each time, Rand positively lost his nugget. I seriously wish you’d all been in my house to see it firsthand, but am glad you weren’t because it would have been very crowded and you’d notice how dirty my coffee table is.

Usually, whenever Rand is launched into a state like that, I am without my camera. I can only sit back and appreciate it and remind him to breathe or he’ll pass out. But this last time, I was armed.

We were at the Gasthof zum Rassen in Garmisch, home of the unidentified taxidermied rodent (note: the people have spoken, and apparently it was a marmot. Or something.)

If you happen to be in that area, lunch there is quite good, especially if you are looking for something heavy (if you want something lighter, go somewhere else. Like … Spain.) Even the salad will stick to your ribs. I still ordered one, though:

–

And fish that was posthumously swimming in a small puddle of butter.

–

My brother got the schweinshaxe and Rand got the schnitzel, and we ate until our stomachs and arteries were full.

–

–

At some point during our meal, my brother raised his son’s butt to his nose and took a whiff to see if he need a diaper change (the verdict: an ominous “not yet”). I realize that this is common behavior for parents, but it’s all rather new to us, so we found the bum sniffing to be positively hilarious.

Since my brother is very good at playing to a crowd, he started this weird narrative (occasionally employing a terrible German accent), about how guessing if a child had soiled its diaper or not would make for bad TV.

–

And Rand positively lost it.

–

There’s just something about preposterous ideas for TV shows. He can’t keep it together.

–

–

It was pretty spectacular, though I’m fairly certain the waiter wanted to kill us after that.