Arts ©Entertainment
Tuesday, November 7, 1995 Page 9
Mary Ann Muggy
‘M*A*S*H’
reminiscent
of childhood
When 1 was little, the most impor
tant person in my life was my daddy.
I loved everything about him — the
way he smelled, the way his mustache
tickled, the way he gave my sisters and
me piggyback rides on the way to bed.
Things don’t seem so easy now.
My dad and I don’t get alongas well as
we used to. We fight all the time about
money and my future.
The other night, after another one
of these fights, 1 retreated to the TV,
mumbling how we would never get
along, when 1 came across
“M*A*S*H.”
I suddenly found myself at age
three again, eagerly wanting to spend
time with my daddy. Grandpa sat on
the old green couch that sagged with
age, and Daddy lounged in the brown
leather recliner at the back of thediv
ing room.
My teddy bear, Radar, and I
climbed up on my daddy’s lap and
snuggled into his chest. The musky
smell of Old Spice mingled with the
warm smell of his pipe.
This is the way it was every week in
my house.
The show started, and I was in
heaven. My daddy looked like a cross
between Hawkeye and B.J. He was
tall and skinny and had the same black
hair as Hawkeye, mixed with a few
white hairs that reminded me of pep
per. He had a mustache just like B.J.’s.
It was brown and bushy, and it tickled
when he would kiss me good night.
I got scared as we watched the
show. On this episode, a sniper lurked
just outside the 4077.1 wasn’t exactly
sure what a sniper was, but there was
a lot of noise coming from the TV, and
the people on the show were getting
scared, too. But my daddy wrapped
his big, strong arms around me, and I
wasn’t so scared anymore.
I looked over to my grandpa sitting
on the couch, and I realized that he
lookedjust like Col. Potter. They both
had silvery white hair and wrinkled
skin that seemed to tell a story. They
both had short tempers, and yelled in
voices gravelly from years of smok
ing.
During the commercial break, I
went from age three to five, and I
remembered my daddy and myself
saying goodbye as he left for Army
camp.
He assured me that he would be
fine and he was only going to Kansas,
but I was afraid that Kansas was some
where near Korea. So many of the
army guys on “M*A*S*H” got hurt,
and I was afraid my daddy would, too.
I remembered how when Henry
Blake tried to go home, his plane got
shot down and his kids would never
see him again. Weeks later, when
Daddy would come home again, we
continued our weekly routine, but with
each return, I would hold him a little
closer.
As this episode of “M*A*S*H”
ended, I was back to my normal age.
The argument that my dad and I had
earlier in the evening didn’t seem to
matter anymore. I quietly went down
stairs to my parents’ room and opened
the door. Both were asleep. Into the
dark room, I whisper:
“I love you Daddy, and I’m sorry.”
Meggy Is a Julor aews-edltorial major.
Courtesy of Paramount
Adele (Anne Bancroft, left) and Henry (Charles Durning, center) react with surprise as Tommy (Robert Downey Jr.) accidentally
flips a turkey into his sister Joanne's (Cynthia Stevenson) lap in “Home For The Holidays.
‘Home’ shows warmth, truth of families
By Brian Priesman
Film Critic
Once in a great while, a movie comes along
that truly deserves to be a hit.
“Home For The Holidays” is one such film.
Director Jodie Foster has
gathered a superb cast to tell
this simple, heartfelt story of a
single mother trying to deal
with life and her family during
the most stressful time of the
year, Thanksgiving.
Claudia Larson, played by
the award-winning Holly
Hunter, always returns home
for Thanksgiving. She hates
it, but goes out of a sense of
duty, dragging her 15-year-old daughter with her.
But this year, she finds it hard to find anything
to be thankful for. In the span of 36 hours, she’s
lost her job, her coat and her cool. Even her
daughter’s virginity appears to be on a collision
course with a teen-age boy.
But what Claudia doesn’t expect to lose is her
sense of dread and loathing, and her desire to be
anywhere but home with her family.
“Home For The Holidays” is a human comedy
that explores the timeless traditions of holiday
family gatherings and reminds you just why you
left in the first place.
W.D. Richter’s script, adapted from a short
story by Chris Radant, is filled with all of the
quirks and peculiarities of families that people
love to hate. A timeless type of humor, “Home
For The Holidays” will appeal to those who have
been embarrassed, humiliated or felt a sense of
loathing toward their families.
Foster, whose only other directing job was the
film “Little Man Tate,” has done a top-notch job.
Besides Hunter, her ensemble cast includes Rob
ert Downey Jr. (“Only You”), Anne Bancroft
(“The Graduate”) and Dylan McDermott (“Des
tiny Turns on the Radio*).
Also appearing are Charles Duming (“The
Hudsucker Proxy”), Steve Guttenberg (“Short
Circuit”), Claire Danes (TV’s “My So-Called
Life”), Cynthia Stevenson (“Forget Paris”) and
Geraldine Chaplin (“Doctor Zhivago”).
“Home For The Holidays” is a poignant fam
I
Film: “Home For The Holidays”
Stars: Holly Hunter, Robert Downey Jr.,
Anne Bancroft
Director: Jodie Foster
Rating: PG-13 (Language)
Grade: A+
Five Words: Everything that’s good
about families
ily drama fdled with all of the subtle, maddening
details of home.
Perhaps Claudia says it best during a conver
sation with her sister: “We don’t have to like each
other; we’re family.”
That’s the entire point of the film. A few times
a year, we all have to gather together with people
we may not know well and maybe don’t even
like. But we do it anyway, because we’re family.
Wee Be Smoken’ barbecue hits hot spot
By Gerry Beltz
Senior Reporter
To Karen and David Fike, smok
ing is a way of life.
Wee Be Smoken’ (2441 N. 11th
St., next to Video Station), owned
and operated by the Fikes, was started
to helpwith David Fike’s homesick
ness for Alabama, Karen Fike says.
“He missed good barbecue,” she
said. “Originally, he built a smoker
and set up near Emerald where he
smoked ribs for people going to the
lake.”
Their current location, in Belmont
Plaza, used to be a laundry, she said,
but on May 1 of this year, things
began to change.
“He (David) and his friends com
pletely gutted this place,” she said.
Three-and-a-halfmonths later, on
Aug. 25, Wee Be Smoken’ officially
opened its doors for business.
Wee Be Smoken’ uses actual
hickory logs in the smoker, and
smokes meat for up to 24 hours after
using a dry rub for some extra flavor.
Of the three sauces available, only
two—mild and hot—are sitting out
at the tables. If the hot isn’t hot
enough, a trip to the counter will get
you the yellow bottle of barbecue
sauce called ‘911.’
“It’s got ground-up cayenne pep
pers and habanero peppers,” she said.
Five sandwiches are available:
pork, beef, combo, chicken and the
‘ Bubba, ’ which is a combo sandwich
garnished with BBQ slaw (cole slaw
mixed with a honey-dijon BBQ
sauce).
“That’s the way these kinds of
sandwiches are served down in Ala
bama,” she said.
Also popular at Wee Be Smoken’
are FielaMice,but these aren’tcrispy
critters, she said.
“It’s a half jalapeflo with the in
sides scooped out,” she said, “then
filled with cream cheese, wrapped in
a slice of bacon, then smoked.”
Business has been good at Wee
Be Smoken’, especially during the
lunch rushes, she said.
_ Tanna Kinnaman/DN
Gary Hartshorn demonstrates the appropriate eatinq
utensils fora full slab of beef ribs at Wee Be Smoken’, 2441
N. 11th St.
People just love our two-for-$5
lunch special, plus this location is a
food hub, where people try us one
day, McDonald’s the next, and so on.
“People come to us and say they
finally have a barbecue place that
reminds them of home.”
Wee Be Smoken’ Barbecue is
open Tuesday through Sunday 11
a.m. to 9 p.m.