The hilarious scene from Monty Python's Meaning of Life was actually based on a real incident at Carmine's in Manhattan.

This past Sunday, I joined Al, Michelle, Louie, Erin, Brian, and Ben to celebrate Mark's new job. Which, of course, was a perfect excuse to eat, drink, and make merry at Carmine's, a "family-style" Italian restaurant right in Times Square. An eatery with portions so large, that it has been known to bring low the most gluttonous pro-football lineman, or even sumo wrestler. And, indeed, the food is good, too.

The experience did not disappoint. We were treated to heaping platters of fried calamari, penne ala vodka, chicken parm (natch), and some bowl that clearly held the unholy coupling of Olive Garden and Red Lobster. Along with 4 bottles of wine, liberally shared between 6 of our party... we ventured into unknown territory... "the dessert menu."

"What is The Titanic?"

That was the question, when we saw the bold words etched across the menu. For $22.50, we had no idea what sort of concoction would be unleashed upon us. Somehow, between the nine of us, we consumed the delicious pile of wonderful. The titanic turned out to be vanilla ice cream, chocolate cake, chocolate syrup, thoroughly covered in whipped cream, and garlanded with bananas and strawberries. It was supposed to come with nuts... but my friends graciously deferred to my allergies and requested the Titanic, "sans nuts."

Congratulations, Mark. We're all proud of you!
(And if I ever manage to get these pictures off my cell phone, I'll be happy to post them here.)