The Philosopher Kings

When I travel, I pack a bag to keep myself amused, and I think of it as an Activity Bag. When the girls were little, I would pack Activity Bags for them with fruit snacks, crayons and coloring books, little travel games, audio CDs and maybe a movie if we had a DVD player in the minivan.

My personal Activity Bags don't have crayons and fruit snacks—it's a pity. It usually includes a book or two, a notebook and pencil, some Chapstick, some M&Ms, mints, my iPod and my iPad for magazines and Angry Birds. When I get bored with one thing like reading or listening to music, I dig around in the bag for something else to do.

Last week on the flight home from Hawaii, I had read and listened and played, and then I went to sleep. When I woke up, the plane was dark, and it was somewhere between 2 and 3 in the morning with a few hours left before Chicago. So, I plugged headphones into the armrest and tuned into the stupid TV. There was a sitcom, and then came a documentary. For a moment, I thought about unplugging and trying to go back to sleep with the introduction of the film, but I stayed tuned in and discovered something really good, "The Philosopher Kings."

This documentary was made in 2009 and got plenty of coverage, apparently, but where was I? I can't say, but at least I have discovered this gem now. It made such an impact on me that I watched it again when I got home, and now I have written today's column for Small Town Newspaper about it.

I think that if you are behind the game like me, you should catch up and watch "The Philosopher Kings" now. Right now. You'll find it here on the website.