The Danger Zone.

More on the move later. But first, a story about Friday, and a revealing one at that.

Friday was a day dedicated to two things: packing, and the 80s. I took the day off from work to pack the contents of my apartment into boxes before going to the Tainted Love concert. You may remember Tainted Love. They were the 80s cover band that made Fisherman's Wharf a cool place to be on July 4th, and we were amped to see them again at Bimbo's 365 Club in North Beach. So amped, in fact, that we all decided it would be a good idea to go dressed as figures from the 80s.

I had no ideas going into the day, so I felt relieved when I realized I had a leather jacket (gift) and aviators (used for Bay to Breakers)-- ideal for Top Gun (1986). I did a quick images.google.com search for "Tom Cruise Top Gun," and found that his flight jacket had a good number of patches. I took care of that by hitting up the military surplus store (now conveniently located three blocks from my new apartment), and things came together with my tightest pair of old, faded jeans and Mike's hockey tape.

So at this point, I was Maverick, the ace. I had the patches, had the jacket, had the shades, had the swagger. I had Katie Holmes under 24/7 guard in my Scientology compound. But the second that I walked out of the staging area in Mike and Alex's apartment, I was greeted with "What's up, Goose?"

Goose? Goose? The guy who dies? No, I'm supposed to be Maverick, see--

Judy walked in. "GOOOSE!"

No, no, you've got it all wrong. Goose was the lean-on buddy for the first half of the movie, who dies in an ejector seat accident. My costume is Maverick, the ace hotshot pilot who gets the girl despite his height.

John: "Yeah, you're totally Goose."

Jay: "Even Goose had a montage. Montage."

Goose was played by Anthony Edwards, who also figured prominently in Revenge of the Nerds, as opposed to Maverick, played by Tom Cruise, who figured prominently in and A Few Good Men and Mission: Impossible 2, not to mention Cocktail and Risky Business. I'd even take All the Right Moves at this point. Maybe things would improve under the low lighting at Bimbo's, among total strangers not trying to get a rise out of me.

"Hey Goose, like the outfit."

"Yeah, Goose!"

"Dig the shades, Goose."

It's Maverick. Maverick. Goose dies, and then he joins the cast of ER, where he gets to die again, whereas Maverick gets shot 450 times in The Last Samurai and lives. Come on, people. I'll take a Val Kilmer Iceman compliment at this point. Hell, even Tom Skerritt. Just please do not confuse the tall, goofy pilot in the movie for the tall, goofy dude in the front.

"You've gotta be dyin' under there, Goose."

Only on the inside, cute girl. Only on the inside.

***

Pictures of the other 80s characters (fun fact: we were the only group to dress up besides the band, making us unspeakably awesome) and thoughts on my new home later this week.