by Ron James

Created on: November 08, 2010

“Well, That's Another Nice Mess...”

My wife and I frequently travel with another couple, our longtime best friends. The outings are always enjoyable, whether they be week-long vacations or weekend getaways.

In the past, I once mistakenly accused my buddy of over-planning. I have since come to the realization that he doesn't really over-plan; he just likes to make sure that everybody gets the most out of their investment of time and money. Be that as it may, my comment that he behaves like a general planning a military campaign has come back to haunt me on many occasions.

And so it elicited a great deal of shock and awe when, on a recent trip to Atlanta, my friend unexpectedly veered off the all-too-familiar route along I-20. After getting off at exit 183, the GA-47 E/US-221 S/Appling Harlem Rd/Ray Owens Rd exit, I had to ask; “What are you doing?”  In reply, he simply pointed to a small brown informational sign that read, “Laurel and Hardy Museum.”

It's safe to say that I have probably whizzed past that sign at 70 mph a hundred times over the years and had never paid it much attention, other than to perhaps idly wonder why there would be a Laurel and Hardy museum in The Middle of Nowhere, Georgia. Thanks to my suddenly spontaneous friend, I was about to find out.

The sad fact is, nobody pays much attention to Laurel and Hardy anymore. Once the undisputed kings of comedy, they have become largely unknown to anybody born much past, say, 1980. Oh, there are buffs out there, to be sure, and revivals and retrospectives pop up regularly. Through their flawless slapstick routines and impeccable comedic timing, the duo of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy influenced generations of comics that followed their heyday from silent movies through the early days of the “talkies” and well into Hollywood's “Golden Age.” But mention “Laurel and Hardy” to the average kid raised on “Spongebob Squarepants,” and all you'll get is a blank stare.

Of course, as one born considerably before 1980, I am quite familiar with the iconic images of the befuddled, lanky Laurel and the pompous, rotund Hardy and of their hilarious misadventures that often culminated in Hardy's famous catchphrase, “Well, that's another nice mess you've gotten me into.” (The phrase is frequently misquoted as, “Well, here's another fine mess.....”, but the line was never actually delivered that way by either

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