Beal's arrival was rather funny, much like everything involving him. He arrived in the middle of the night while I was on-call, so I left him a key and expected to return home in the morning to find him fast asleep on the futon after a hard night's drive. Well, I walked in at 9am to find him sitting up, drinking a Coca-Cola Classic, watching the Goonies. Pretty typical Beal style.

That night, we went with Jives to Clarke's to eat dinner; it is a little diner downtown Evanston. Now, all the times I've eaten there in the past, I've noted their affinity for the onion. Not the satirical paper, but the vegetable. Well, about halfway during the meal, Beal began to slow down eating and drinking a lot of water. Then, he began having a hard time breathing. Yep. Allergic to onions. I ask if we need to go to the hospital, because anaphylactic shock is no cup of tea. He says no, that he is not that allergic to onions. We pay, leave the restaurant and head to the movies to get tickets to see The Village, M. Night Shyamalan's new film. While we're in line, Beal takes a seat on the floor and I know we need to do something. He insists all he needs is some water and to sit down, so we get him that, but keep a close eye on him. Mentally, I'm mapping out the quickest route to the nearest hospital and thinking about taking the boy anyway. But, after a while of some sitting in Border's and some water, the spell passes. Really, don't let him eat any more onions.

Now, the film we saw was pretty decent I thought. It had a good story and a good twist at the end, Shyamalan's hallmark. But, I'm thinking he needs to come up with a new hallmark because I go into him movies now with an eye for the most unexpected thing to happen, which leads me to figure out what is going to happen, or at least get pretty close. I"d see it if I were you, and if I, being you, were a fan of his movies. But, in my opinion, Signs is still his best work.

-R