Life takes us to strange and unexpected places, but we all know that. So six years ago, when a friend of mine was going to introduce me to a friend of his who was looking for an apartment, while I was looking for a roommate, I braced for the strange and unexpected. Later that evening, the fellow in question & I found ourselves singing the Genesis classic “Supper’s Ready” together over pints of fine beer. The roommate not only turned out to be a great fit for that apartment (that was a pretty cool place) but also turned out to be one of my favorite people and best friends.
He also seemed to win every debate with me by backing up his points with message board threads from this “Straight Dope” place. Intrigued, I signed up and tried to learn the better points of television smashing . That particular thread didn’t work out too well, but the Dope has become a part of my daily routine, thanks to my friend.
That apartment, and the even cooler house that followed, are in the past now. Somewhat sadly, life has pulled us in different directions. We don’t talk all that much anymore, and see each other even less. The great thing though, is that when we do get together, it only takes a minute to slip right back in and remember…it could be months gone by without seeing each other, and after a minute or two, it’s like we’re still the 2 bozos sharing that apartment debating the plausibility of things getting “over-dried” or simply reaching a point of being dry, and not being able to get any drier. It just takes a minute.
Anyway, I know my life has been enriched by simply knowing this guy. I don’t feel that way about many of the other folks who have entered my life. I mean, I have some cool friends and all, but I feel like I am a better person for having being friends with this particular smart-ass.
Happy birthday, Moe. As soon as we can get a chance, the first round’s on me.
As the “friend” who put introduced my two very good friends MOE and AndyPolley, I feel the proverbial lump in my throat upon reading this post (okay, that’s an overdramatization, but a warm feeling in my heart is a fine way to put it).
Yup…we’ve been great friends for some time, and I had the priviledge of sharing a house with these two jokers for two years; a house that rocked with perpetual impromptu jams, more than occasional ass kicking parties, and great debates spanning from the significant to the rediculous.
I concur with A.P.; happy b-day, Moe. And, as we discussed earlier, hopefully knocking a few back at the B.G. tonight will be in the cards.
Ya know, we’re both so busy these days with our own stuff that I might not have the energy to get drunk enough (when next we drink, perhaps tonight?) to say this then, but the feeling is entirely mutual my friend. You’re in that special category of people in my life I put above all the others, even though we go waaaaay too long without contact.
OK, that’s enough of this old sappy shit. Let’s talk about that round you were mentioning
Oh and freewill, I got a special category for you too.
But I have to say that what caught my eye was the “six saintly shrouded men” subject line. I well remember (well, these memories are, you will understand, sometimes fuzzy) “Supper’s Ready” by Genesis, and I have to ask, Moe, are you the Guaranteed Eternal Sanctuary Man or Winston Churchill, dressed in drag, who used to be a British flag?
Just had to ask. Again, Happy Birthday, and I’ll raise a glass to you myself tonight!
Happy Birthday Moe. [insert beer-clunking glasses and slobbery attempts to blow out the birthday candles here]
That was a lovely tribute Andy, and brought a bloody great lump to MY throat too.
May you guys have a great celebration, wherever you are.
[hijack]
Moe is also the name of a town of dubious repute here in rural Victoria. It’s where haute cuisine is when you eat in at McDonalds, and fine wine is that which you pour into a glass instead of inserting a straw into the five-litre cask of Fruity Lexia. It’s where your first employment experience will be standing in the dole queue, and where having your first child at 16 or 17 is the norm, not the exception. Moe came to national fame a few years ago when a little child was murdered, and his body found months later in a dam: the resulting media infestation laid bare a town that was depressed and abysmally dysfunctional on all levels.[/hijack]
I’m not sure he’s any of these, but I do know that he’s been stamped “human bacon” by some butchery tool.
Freewill39, welcome back old friend. You’ve raised the count of Dopers I know in real-life to like…2 I think. Maybe 3.
Moe, my brotha, I hope you had at least a not-so-unpleasant day yesterday. Soon shall we raise a toast in your birthday honor. Let’s just go somewhere nicer than that town of Moe mentioned in kambuckta’s post. Maybe someplace more like the Mos Eisley Cantina.
So can you find butterflies in Moe? flutterbyes? perhaps gutterflies? Because if you can it sounds a little like this other place I know.
Andy my friend, let’s do that toast thing soon, like within a few days. (You too Freewill). I need to crash really friggin’ hard* but I’ll respond to your email tomorrow so we can take this part of the conversation there (thus keeping the thread free for more Supper’s Ready references).
*on the subject of my day yesterday and needing to crash, remind me to tell you the story of how I ordered Indian food for pickup, drove out to rt. 25, then realized I ordered from a different place than usual, one that I had never ordered from and had no idea where it was or what it was even called, drove around for about a half hour to see if I might stumble across it, decided finally to just get lunch from a random place called Kirin which I assumed when I passed it multiple times to be Japanese because of the place on 25a with the same name, but actually turned out to be the place I ordered from!!!
Oh, and remind me to tell it in a far more coherent manner
Yeah, that subject line caught my eye too. Anyone who can sing along with “Supper’s Ready” is a definite keeper. I just saw the Foxtrot show re-created by the Genesis tribute band The Musical Box, and it was so cool that just about everybody there knew that song by heart. When the whole audience started singing along to the last part, “And it’s hey babe…” there were tears in my eyes.
Again, Happy Birthday, and I’ll raise a glass to you myself tonight!