Today is a great day in film history.

My little brother has informed me that today the Mel Brooks masterwork Young Frankenstein has been added to the national Film Registry. Since most folks are not the huge pop culture geeks my brother and I are he was even nice enough to send me an explanation, culled from the Hollywood Reporter story announcing the film's inclusion, so all you normal folks can see just how cool this is.

Each year Librarian of Congress James Billington selects 25 "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant motion pictures for the Registry. The list is designed to reflect the full breadth and diversity of America's film heritage, thus increasing public awareness of the richness of American cinema and the need for its preservation, Billington said.

"Our film heritage is America's living past," he said. "It celebrates the creativity and inventiveness of diverse communities and our nation as a whole. By preserving American films, we safeguard a significant element of our cultural history."

For each title named to the registry, the Library of Congress works to ensure that the film is preserved for all time, either through the Library's motion picture preservation program or through collaborative ventures with other archives, motion picture studios and independent filmmakers. The Library of Congress contains the largest collections of film and television in the world, from the earliest surviving copyrighted motion picture to the latest feature releases.

(Read the full story here.)

While this is indeed very cool I'm still wondering why Blazing Saddles didn't get in first since it is a much funnier movie and tackles great social and moral issues with sensitivity and panache. Maybe since it was shot in color they're holding that against the film...

Oh yes.

Also, our little One Year Anniversary shindig at Ten56 went swimmingly last night.
We got very drunk but didn't fall down.
We rocked very hard but didn't cause any internal bleeding.
I caught both guys and girls working their rump-shakers.
There was only one sighting of the unfortunate high-rise-thong-paired-with-low-rise-jeans syndrome.

All in all I'd call it a grand success!