Good afternoon. It is I Gigi the party poodle and I am under the weather today. I partook of a couple bites of a pork rib yesterday evening and it did me in. I had a rough night and a rough morning, so I am going to simply tell you to please enjoy Chapter Nineteen of my story today. And just as a reminder by summer’s end I will be delighting you with a new tale which is very different from the one I have been penning. Until I am recovered, I am begrudgingly handing the blog over to that insipid Maltese.

Hello. My name is Tucker, and I am a Maltese. Goody, goody, goody! I am introducing Gigi’s blog today because she cannot hold her pork. I am a more mellow breed, so it did not bother me. I enjoyed the pork. I could eat it in front of Gigi and upset her. Ha, ha. Of course, she has an awful terrible temper and would not let me enjoy myself. She does not like it when I am happy. But I like being happy. I like to be a happy dog.

Just introduce the blog, will you?!

Hello. My name is Tucker, and I am a Maltese. I am introducing Gigi’s blog. Today is Gigi’s nineteenth chapter. Please enjoy her nineteenth chapter. I know I am going to enjoy her nineteenth chapter. Have a happy nineteenth chapter.

What I Found in the Trunk

by

Gigi the parti poodle

Chapter Nineteen

“Go fish,” Rusty said to Gary as the four of them sat around the coffee table in Bennet’s cabin.

Gary reached over and drew a card off the pile. An eight of diamonds of which he had no match.

Rune turned to Gary and asked, “Do you have any queens?”

“I didn’t have any last time and I don’t have any now,” he replied. “Go fish.”

“Dude,” Bennet said as Rune drew a card. “I can feel the sexual tension all the way over here.”

“You should get your head checked out,” Rune snapped. “I think you’ve got a wrench jammed in there or something.”

“All y’all shut up,” Rusty said. “I’m about to win this game.”

“You’ve got the least number of pairs in front of you, bro,” Bennet pointed out.

“Shut up! I do not!”

“Let him live in delusion,” Rune said.

“Watch it, missy…”

“If you call me missy one more time, I’m going to palm heel you in the nose.”

“Yeah? Make my day.

“Check out these desserts man,” Bennet said. “I ordered like three different types!”

“What did you get?” Gary asked.

“Their signature triple chocolate brownie, tiramisu and profiteroles.”

“I’ll take the tiramisu.”

“You should seriously try the profiteroles, Rune. It’s totally your style.”

“Are we out of pizza?” Rusty asked.

“Completely.”

“Man, it was stellar! You should have ordered another pie.”

“Yeah, I undershot that one.”

“You ate two of them by yourself,” Gary said.

“I’m under stress.”

“We’re all under stress! It doesn’t mean you need to make a pig out of yourself!”

“Well, excuse me for building up an appetite helping you keep your ass from getting whooped!”

“My ass? Last I remembered I was picking your face off the pavement in the dealership parking lot and hauling you out here!”

“You wouldn’t have even gotten off the lot if I hadn’t fended them off!”

“That’s enough!” Rune shouted. “I don’t like this situation we’re any more than you do! But we need to keep our heads here!”

“Rune’s completely spot on about this, bros,” Bennet said. “We all need to chill and seriously partake of these outstanding desserts.”

“Hand me a brownie,” Rusty said.

“One brownie coming up.”

As Bennet was handing out the desserts the four of them were too distracted to notice the sound of the Mercades SUV pulling up nearby.

“Looks like the kids are home,” Durwin said to the first guy who was driving the vehicle.

“What do we do now?” the second guy asked.

“We wait.”

“You were totally right, Ben,” Rusty said after they’d finished eating. “Those desserts were outstanding.”

“Was I right or was I right?” Bennet said.

“The tiramisu was excellent,” Gary said. “I’m picky about my tiramisu and that was some seriously wicked tiramisu.”

“What did you think, Rune?” Bennet asked her.

“The profiteroles were exquisite,” she replied.

“Awesome! Who’s next?”

Just then the doorbell rang. Everyone froze.

“Were you expecting someone?” Gary whispered.

“No,” Bennet whispered back.

“We need to turn off the lights,” Rusty said heading for the switch.

“It’s too late,” Rune said stopping him. “They already know we’re here.”

“No,” Bennet said. “They know I’m here.”

The doorbell rang again.

“Okay, you guys. You need to get into the spare bedroom and stay quiet. I’ll handle it.”

“It’s too late for you to handle it,” Gary hissed.

“Let’s just do what Bennet said and hide,” Rune said. “It’s better than arguing.”

“Go to the guest bedroom,” Bennet said.

The doorbell rang a third time.

“Go!”

Gary, Rune and Rusty all looked at each other, then crept towards the back room.

Bennet glanced over at the pile of food boxes on the table. “Coming!” he called as he looked around for a solution. He started ripping off his shirt, shorts, and underwear. When he was buck naked, he grabbed one of the pizza boxes and held it in front of his shortcomings and moved over to the door.

Durwin and his three henchmen all stared at the nude guy with the pizza box strategically placed. Durwin tilted his head and said, “Is this your cabin?”

“Totally,” Bennet said.

“Where are your clothes?”

“Over there,” Bennet said pointing to the couch.

“Why aren’t they on you?”

“I’m like working.”

An amused look formed on Durwin’s face. “Really?”

“I’m a performance artist.”

“I’ll bet.”

“I’m working on this project called Naked Lunch.”

“You can’t call it Naked Lunch,” the first guy said. “That’s a William S. Burroughs novel.”

“Really?” Bennet said. “I thought it was totally original. You guys selling something?”

“In a matter of speaking,” Durwin said.

“I for one think the project sounds cool,” the third guy said.

“Thanks, bro,” Bennet said.

“We heard from a little birdie we might have some mutual acquaintances,” Durwin said.

“Really? You guys into the northwest art scene…?”

“And they might have stopped by to pay you a visit.”

“No artists have stopped by here…”

“Is that tiramisu?”

“Why, yes.”

Durwin walked over and picked up the tiramisu in his had and took a huge bite. “This is some tasty tiramisu I tell you what,” he said. “I mean this is unbelievably good.”

“Totally.”

“Sorry. I didn’t catch your name, bro.”

“I didn’t catch yours either.”

“Durwin.”

“Hi, Durwin,” Bennet said holding the pizza box with one hand while extending his other hand to shake Durwin’s.

Durwin glanced at Bennet’s hand but did not shake it. “And you are?”

“Uh…Bennet.”

“Bennet. Interesting name. So, where are they, Bennet?”

My Books

You can check out my books Chicane and the five installments in my Musicology book series Musicology: Volume One, Baby!, Musicology: Volume Two, Kid!, Musicology: Volume Three, Twist!, Musicology: Volume Four, Sweetie! and Musicology: The Epiquad on Amazon in Kindle and Paperback editions. You can also check out Musicology’s web site at www.musicologyrocks.com and vote for who you think will win Musicology!!!

How Independant Films Should Be

STREAM OF THE WEEK: SEX, LIES AND VIDEOTAPE (1989)-Showtime

It would be impossible to make a list of how independent films should be without mentioning the masterpiece which ushered in the great independent movie era of the 1990’s. A 26-year-old unknown writer director named Steven Soderbergh with the help of Robert Newmyer and John Hardy, and executive producers Nancy Tenenbaum, Nick Wechsler and 34-year-old Morgan Mason (actor James Mason’s son) changed the course of film history. Important to note the film is dedicated to Ann Dollard who was Soderbergh’s agent at the time who tragically died at the tender age of thirty-two before she could see the movie come to life. She and Wechsler presented the script to Mason who had his wife, the talented Belinda Carlisle read the script. Mason was a child actor and played Elizabeth Taylor’s nine-year old son Danny in The Sandpiper. He quit acting at a young age but later starred with his wife in two of her music videos, “Mad About You” and “Heaven is a Place on Earth”. I will briefly note the song “Mad About You” by Belinda Carlisle is highlighted in Musicology: Volume Four, Sweetie.

The film went on to extraordinary success winning the Palme de’Or and best actor for the tour de force performance by James Spader at Cannes and the Audience Award at Sundance. Soderbergh won the Writer’s Guild Award and was given an Oscar nomination for his brilliant original script. It cost 1.2 million to make and grossed $24,741,667 domestically and $36.74 million worldwide. Every performance in this film is outstanding and all four of the leads went on to have solid if not spectacular careers which they all clearly deserved.

The story is deceptively simple. Set in Baton Rouge young lawyer John Mullany (Peter Gallagher) is cheating on his likable homemaker wife Anne Bishop Mullany (Andie MacDowell) with her sexy bohemian sister Cynthia (Laura San Giacomo). Into town comes John’s old friend Graham (James Spader) who used to be more of a fraternity boy like John but has clearly gone through a transformation. Graham has become a drifter but gives the impression he’d like to plant roots back in Baton Rouge. But Graham’s metamorphosis is not conventional, and his peculiar new self gives sometimes funny sometimes disturbing meaning to the words sex, lies and videotape.