Now that was a Saturday night

Life, I've been told, is all about risks. And last night we took one, daring to be in the presence of a purveyor of "moral evils" who "espouses the destruction of innocent human life." Oh, wait, that's only what we did according to an Archbishop bucking to be Cardinal. What really happened is that we saw Sheryl Crow in the form of a surprisingly hot rocker chick (the days as a mellow singer songwriter type are long gone) put on an absolutely awesome show, but only after Billy Crystal had us helpless with laughter for a solid hour. If there's a twinge of envy there, just feel it, as it really was that good, and I'm sure the chunk of change I donated to the Bob Costas Cancer Center for the privilege of floor seats is enough to balance it out for all of us.

Although the Archbishop provided punch lines for both emcee Bob Costas and Billy Crystal, Crow never mentioned him by name. She did say her parents had come up for the occasion: "If there's any trouble," her dad said, "I'll be here to protect ya." But there was no trouble, unless someone was trampled when St. Louis society rushed the stage when they heard the opening notes of "All I wanna do." I'm not kidding. The prime seats are reserved for the black tie corporate types, as that's how the hospital foundation gets the big bucks; if you can't laugh at Muffy going ga ga for the song she heard on Y98 that one time, what can you laugh at? Sheryl Crow dedicating "Strong enough" to Karl Rove, perhaps?

Everyone except the Archbishop seeming to understand what's appropriate, that was about the extent of the politics on the Fabulous Fox stage last night. Oh, Billy Crystal did compare 1965 to 2007: both had an unpopular president from Texas and an unwinnable war, but that's not politics, that's just facts. Otherwise, it was just great entertainment for a great cause. I wish, right now, I could remember more specifically what was sung and said (about life with Billy Crystal's grandfather and the basketball game his school played against Lew Alcindor's in particular), but I was laughing too hard, enjoying myself too much to be carefully filing it all away. Oh, it will come back to me, now and then, here and there. Because life is not only about risks, it is also about moments. And last night, from the comedy, to the music, to the late night dinner at the counter of the well-worn Courtesy Diner, was full of them.