Father/son day

Saturday I got going a little later than I thought. I’d hoped to be gone by 12-12:30, but didn’t leave until 1. I still managed to stop by Best Buy to pick up the new Tenacious D CD and the CHAAMP bakesale to return some crate parts we found and make a donation. I did find a new term that perfectly descibes Illa – he’s a velcro dog. I made it to the East Falls Church Metro just in time to catch the train I wanted, and got to Foggy Bottom ahead of my dad.

We had a big day planned, starting with the new Bond movie. When I was younger, we used to go to a fair amount of movies together (it’s a brave man that takes you to the Rocky Horror Picture Show for the first time), but one thing we always enjoyed was the Bond movies. I missed the last couple Pierce Brosnan ones with him, but they weren’t that worthy of seeing in a theater. We got there right at 3:15 for a showing in Georgetown, but it was sold out. I hadn’t planned on that, so we did the next best thing and got tickets for 4:15. I cancelled the reservations I’d made at Chef Geoff’s and we killed 30 minutes walking around Georgetown, then went back to the theater and got some decent seats.

The movie was really good. They rebooted the franchise, taking us back to when Bond first became 007. Daniel Craig was a good Bond, reminiscent of Sean Connery as a very physical spy. The plot is fairly close to the original Casino Royale book, and it seems to me movies that follow the source material closely are usually the better for it. It felt a bit padded towards the end, but both us still enjoyed it. We got Dad’s car, then drove over to the Warner Theater and parked. It was 7:30 by the time we got to the bar at Chef Geoff’s.

Yes, even though we were too late to have dinner, I still wanted to get something at the bar. Dad had a Corona, and I had a 34 ounce “supermug” of Magic Hat – they have happy hour all day Saturday and Sunday. We ordered chipotle wings with jicama slaw and a pizza with soppressata and pepperoncini from the bar menu. Both were really good and hit the spot. We ate fast, but still didn’t leave until after 8. The Warner was right across the street, but we walked in after they started their second song.

We were there to see Brian Wilson. Now I’d seen him last year and it was pretty good. Dad had been going to see the Beach Boys for years, but never with their principal songwriter. I went to see them a couple months back and enjoyed it, but It didn’t grab me. After I’d told Dad about the Brian Wilson show, he told me he wished he’d gone, so after I heard not only was Brian coming back to the area to play his masterpiece Pet Sounds but bringing Al Jardine (another founding member of the Beach Boys) I knew Dad would like to go.

The show started off with an acoustic set, then an electric one, both packed with Beach Boys classics and obscurities. The second set was straight through Pet Sounds (much like his tour last year was “Smile” during the second set), finishing with a great run – “Johnny B Goode” -> “Help Me Rhonda” (with Al on lead) -> “Surfin USA” -> “Barbara Ann” -> “Fun, Fun, Fun”. I could tell Dad enjoyed himself, and I thought it was an excellent show as well. Interesting to me was that Brian Wilson vs. the Beach Boys was the mirror image of David Gilmour vs. Roger Waters as far as the one I preferred. Maybe the edge goes to have two of the original singers vs. just having one.

We went our separate ways afterwards. Jill was still up, but not for too much longer, so Illa and I watched SNL. Today’s been spent around the house. I made some scrambled eggs for breakfast as Jill ran errands, then I watched the game (a good debut for Campbell, if not a win). I swept the deck and raked the yard very quickly as rain began falling, then watched Comic Relief as I put away comics. Jill was cutting up a pineapple earlier, and I found inspiration in the rinds. I had chicken thighs, and I took the remaining pineapple off the rinds and mixed it with thyme, lemon pepper, and olive oil and marinated them for a couple hours. I grilled them while I sauteed fresh asparagus, then served the chicken with the reheated marinade and the asparagus with the last of my hollandaise sauce. It was good, though I blackened the chicken skin on the grill (Jill took hers off anyway). I think I can finish cleaning up the dining room tonight, but the basement will have to wait until tomorrow.