Saturday evening was weird, but fun.
Weird because we went back to our old condominium complex, a year after moving away. It was remarkable how little things had changed. It’s still next to impossible to find parking, because the residents all use the guest spots, so we ended up parking roughly eight miles away. Fun because we met up with our old neighbors, David and Andrea, for the first time since our impromptu drunken Super Bowl party in 2014. They recently learned that Tara and I had never seen This Is Spinal Tap and declared this a grievous cultural omission that must be corrected. So they invited us over for dinner and the movie.
After our long hike to their front door (in which I had to force myself to turn left when I reached their front porch rather than right, where my old door is located), we rang their bell and quickly commenced on catching up. There isn’t much I miss about the townhouse (especially after hearing that the HOA fees have gone up to $250/month), but D & A are good people and I do miss having them as neighbors. And, well, the covered back porch was nice. But that is it. Ironically, this was the first time they’d ever had us over for dinner. It only took us moving away and a year to pass before it finally happened.
This pretentious ponderous collection of religious rock psalms is enough to prompt the question: ‘What day did the Lord create Spinal Tap and couldn’t he have rested on that day, too?’
Dinner was awesome. Andrea showed off by whipping up a spinach salad with a balsamic vinaigrette, a Moroccan chicken with garbanzo beans and quinoa, and fresh berries for dessert. Man, if I knew she could cook like that, I’d have invited myself over years ago. And the movie? Loved it. It’s very Christopher Guest-ish, which is a good thing, especially if you’re into Best In Show. Funny stuff, and very quotable. The movie does for rock ‘n roll what The Sound of Music did for hills. We had a great evening.
Friday wasn’t too shabby, either. Tara and I had tickets to see Pigs On The Wing, a Pink Floyd cover band we had seen perform Dark Side of the Rainbow soon after she moved out here. The show as at the Doug Fir Lounge, a favorite Portland venue, which gave us an excuse to grab a few drinks and settle in for a fun night of rock ‘n roll. They played the Animals album in its entirety (my favorite – awesome!) and followed that up with tracks from Dark Side of the Moon, The Wall, and Wish You Were Here. There’s nothing like a great rock ‘n roll show to set the tone for the weekend.
Mark Petruska 
Where are the armadillos?
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Oh, mother. It’s a line from the movie – I’d rather not go into detail here! I’m sure a quick Google search would lead you to the scene.
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I’d like to find a coupla hunnert$ in my trousers.
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Same here. The most I’ve ever found was a quarter, though.
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“The movie does for rock ‘n roll what The Sound of Music did for hills.” lol
I can’t imagine the life path that had you see Best in Show BEFORE Spinal Tap.
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In the interest of full disclosure, I saw that quote online. It might even have come from the movie poster or DVD packaging. No idea, but it’s funny so I went with it.
Best in Show was the first C. Guest movie I ever saw. No idea why I didn’t go back and check out Spinal Tap earlier!
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“And the movie? Loved it. It’s very Christopher Guest-ish, which is a good thing, especially if you’re into Best In Show.”
Mark, I’m a HUGE Christopher Guest fan but can you believe that I’ve never seen This Is Spinal Tap? Best In Show is my favorite, and then Waiting for Guffman is my second favorite.
Sounds like you had a great night and weekend. And that meal Andrea prepared sounded absolutely delicious!
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In my defense, for some reason I never knew that Christopher Guest was behind Spinal Tap. After seeing Best In Show, I went back and watchedmost of his other movies. I guess I’m just not into rock ‘n roll.
Yeah. RIGHT….
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We don’t need no education . . . Pink Floyd has stood the test of time. Sounds like a great weekend.
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Have you heard anything from their new album, The Endless River? I agree: it’s timeless. Even without Roger Waters.
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No, but I guess I can look it up!
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I need to have a Christopher Guest marathon. We were just talking about A Mighty Wind. I recently finished reading Martin Short’s memoir, I Must Say, and the man that convinced him to try acting was none other than Eugene Levy! Good book! I really enjoyed it. I picked up Born Standing Up, Steve Martin’s book at the library book sale last month.
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Not only is Steve Martin one of my favorite comic actors, but he’s also a helluva writer (and banjo player!), so I bet Born Standing Up will be a good read. I may have to pick it up myself.
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I’ve ready “Born Standing Up” and yes…. it’s a very good read. Martin has been a favorite of mine since childhood. I bought the albums, I watched those wild and crazy guys on SNL, loved him in “The Jerk” and even got to see him perform live (because performing dead wouldn’t be all that interesting) at the NY State Fair more years ago than I care to admit.
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I don’t know, Pamela – I’d pay good money to see him perform dead!
The Jerk is definitely in my Top 5 favorite comedies of all time!
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