I just got The King and I on DVD. I need to watch it. And the Japanese film “Shall We Dance” (with the title taken from the song from that show) is really excellent. Just in case there are people out there who haven’t seen it.
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@Faheem - have you seen To Be Or Not To Be? It has one of the funniest songs ever by Anne Bancroft and Mel Brooks. They sing Sweet Georgia Brown in Polish. Even if I hear it on the radio it cracks me up and I have to pull the car over so I’m not a danger to the traffic. Maybe it’s just my weird sense of humour…
Sorry for the off-topic interruption. 
@faheem I was part of the orchestra for Yul Brenner’s final tour of the King and I. We rehearsed for two weeks, and then opened at the Dallas State Fair. The rest of the tour took us all over the US. I was a mess for months… crying at exactly the same moment, night after night. Of course, after so much rehearsal, I could weep and play that damn solo without issue.
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It is 21 in the U. S. everywhere. Some states used to have lower minimum drinking ages. The lobbying group, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, successfully lobbied to have the Federal Government withhold highway funds from any state with a minimum drinking age lower than 21.
The reason that hosts in the U.S. are focused on minors drinking alcohol is that there are civil and criminal penalties for giving or selling alcohol to a minor and for supplying a place for a minor to drink alcohol.
A minor’s parent is legally allowed to give the minor alcohol. We recently had two French guests, mother and 19 year old son. The mother asked if it would okay for the son to have a beer. I told her that as long as she was the one to hand the beer to her son it would be fine.
I understand this but am I right in thinking that in the US people can be legal to drive when they are 15 or 16?
@jaquo The age range is 14-17 depending on the state. The younger states are very rural so young people being able to drive at a younger age allows them to travel to regional high schools and drive farm equipment.
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Interesting - thank you. 
It’s just me but I find it incredible kids can drive at 14!
It is a bit scary. They do have severe limitations as to what hours of the day they can drive and what their destinations should be. When I lived in Montana, ranch kids in the Eastern part of the state flew their planes to school on Sunday nights, spent the week in town, and then flew home Friday night. The number that didn’t make it one way or the other was very sad.
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That was true until 1984 when National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984 was effectuated. Currently the national minimum drinking age is 21.
Oops, sorry. 20 characters.
Hi @jaquo,
No, I’ve not seen that film, though I’ve heard of it. I remembered it as a “Springtime for Hitler” sort of thing. A look at the Wikipedia page shows me that it’s set during WW2, at least.
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Hi @smtucker,
Impressive, I didn’t know you were a professional musician.
Touring with Yul Brenner sounds cool, but I expect it was a lot of work. Though I don’t understand the
Did you find the King and I particularly upsetting for some reason?
The King puts the two lovers to death, so yes, this was a sad moment in the show.
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Yikes. Is that in the movie too? I haven’t seen it yet.
I have never seen the movie, only done the original show.
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Not just you! It sounds so dangerous. But laws are strange things sometimes, like how you can get married at 16 in Scotland and have children but you can’t go into a pub or watch 18-rated films. Madness.
And if I’m understanding correctly in the States you can fight for your country, get married, have kids, drive a car but not buy a beer.
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In the state of Texas you can go to state prison if convicted of a crime at age 17.
But still not have a glass of wine!
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