Short&sweet

V for Vendetta stars Jack White (right) and a 12-year-old skinhead boy.

Ah, the visit.

Amber and Craig rolled in Monday morning at 12:30 or so. We sat up until 4:30 or so clucking.

Quick Craig Report

I really, really like Craig. He is smart and funny and courteous and generous and generally a solidly good guy. As you might have heard, he does quite a David Brent. It's spot-on. But more importantly, he's perfect for Amber and they seem really, really happy together so I hope they're together for a long time.

-#end Craig Report-

Monday we got up and went down to Beale Street to wander around, looking for some food. We were frightened and annoyed by the Ride the Ducks people, who were always right behind us, quacking their annoying little quackers. At some point while walking, Amber lost an earring (one I'd given her for her birthday just hours before) and found it later, nestled in her cleavage. All happy accidents, after all, end with cleavage nestling.

After lunch at Al's (?) on Beale (which was predictably overpriced and mediocre, as are most Beale establishments), we drove around downtown a bit before returning to Midtown, then spent a good 45 minutes in Burke's, which has quickly become my favorite way to spend money I don't need to spend (but how can you say no to a $3 book?). From there it was down to Cooper-Young. The House of Mews (where I've decided to take all my out-of-town visitors from now on) was closed, so we just peered through the windows and watched the cats strolling around inside.

Painted Planet had its doors open and it was starting to rain, so we ducked in quickly to look around at the local art and jewelry for sale. So much of the art is so expensive — $500 to $800 — that I imagine you would have to make at least one sale a month just to keep the electricity in the store on.

We took a detour into the liquor store for some wine. They didn't stock the particular kind I'd had a good experience with earlier this week, so Amber (who lives with Pete the sommelier) and Craig helped me pick out a couple of bottles that might be similar to what I'd liked so much. I got a pinot noir and a merlot. We tried the pinot later that night, and it was really good but not as deep and heavy as what I had in mind. So tonight I'll try the merlot. And if that's still not it, I'm on to the cabernet sauvignon.

I'm throwing out these words as if they actually mean something to me. I'm reading up on Wikipedia, and maybe some day I'll know the lingo and actually be able to buy bottles according to something besides their funny names.

We decided to see V for Vendetta. Craig's a bit of an actor (a talented, award-winning one and not at all pretentious about it), so he's always up for a movie, so Amber tells me (they go see a lot in New York, anyway).

I was surprised by how much I liked the movie. I was not a Matrix-head, so I feign no Wachowski worship. But this film had superb acting from everyone, and it played with ideas about violence and torture and information and moral relativity, and while it was cautionary in nature and a tad too meta-political to be truly meaningful, it was still entertaining as hell and I would actually see it again.

I just kept thinking about Jack White the whole time, though. I mean, Jack White got into his Guy Fawkes phase more than a year ago, right? Did he purposefully time his new schtick with the run-up to and release of V? Because V for Vendetta not only had an entire city of Jack Whites running around at one point, but it was also adorned with red and black — two of the White Stripes' favorite colors. What a coincidence.

But there are no coincidences. Just the appearence of coincidences. Or so says V.

After the movie, we visited Phil at his place and nuzzled all the animals for a bit, before retiring back to my place to imbibe and chatter and watch the Bobby tape and forget that the time was nearing for Craig and Amber to leave. But that time came quickly and, before I could even process it, I was down in the parking lot, hugging them both goodbye and hauling a six-pack of Coors Light back up to the apartment.

As always, it was too short. But it was exactly what I needed.