Good afternoon. It is I Gigi the parti poodle here to introduce chapter six of my story Power Grid Failure. The holidays are here and with them comes film awards season. The Golden Globe nominations came out this week and we are anxious to find out who will take home the statues. My novelist and I are excited to watch some of the releases which are available on streaming in the coming weeks. I love to cozy up with the Maltese as my footstool and take in a great story. Occasionally, I will wear a silk robe and sip Starbuck’s Cocoa when I partake of such activities but that is a subject for another day. Until then, here is Chapter Six of Power Grid Failure. Joyeux Noël!

Power Grid Failure

by

Gigi the parti poodle

Chapter Six

Windy returns from her office carrying a pair of sheers. “Here you go,” she says cheerily handing them to Adams.

“These are great,” Adams says taking them and cutting the end of the pen.

“This better work,” Sloan says. “I’m fiending for food.”

“What if it doesn’t?” Crystal asks.

“What do you mean?”

“What if the food doesn’t satiate you?”

“I’ll turn into a big harry monster.”

“Like a Muppet?”

“Are you plugged in? It’s an expression.”

“Oh.”

Sloan turns to Tiffany and mouths “Wow”.

Adams cuts the back of the pen into four sections. He slides the cut end into the lock with his right hand and holds it. He grabs the lock with his left hand and shakes it. “That’s it!” he says as the “wheel of death” pops open.

“Hand me that turkey sandwich on the hoagie roll,” Sloan says.

“Now, wait a minute,” Martin says. “We are going to ration this out properly in an orderly manner. Windy, you are the most socially adept person here. I say you do the rationing.”

“Why thank you, Martin!” Windy says. “This is going to be fun.”

“How does that transfer into her overseeing food?” Sloan asks. “And what makes you think Windy is the most socially adept person here anyway?”

“You definitely aren’t,” Tiffany says.

Sloan looks at her shocked. “What do you mean?”

“You’re a jerk.”

“I’m not…I’m hungry and…under duress. And I’m worried about my poodle.”

“That’s not an excuse.”

“Windy,” Martin says. “Please commence.”

“Well, alright,” Windy says. “It looks like the machine is due for restocking. I thought they would have done it Friday…”

“They couldn’t,” Tiffany says. “The guy said all the vendors were having their annual holiday dinner party.”

“Oh, that’s right! Well…it looks like we have four sandwiches…some red delicious apples…a few hummus and pretzel packs and cracker and carrot packs…four milk cartons…no, wait…there’s a chocolate one as well so five milk cartons all together.”

“Thank you, Windy,” Martin says. “How shall we divide this?”

“I’m a vegetarian,” Tiffany says. “So, I would be happy with the hummus and pretzel pack and an apple.”

“Fabulous,” Windy says. “Is anyone else a vegetarian?”

“Are you kidding?” Sloan says. “I’m halfway to a carnivore.”

“That goes without saying,” Tiffany mumbles.

“Well,” Windy continues. “We have a roast beef sandwich, a turkey sandwich, a ham sandwich and a vegan meat sandwich.”

“Vegan meat,” Sloan scoffs. “What a complete waste of bread.”

“Perhaps you would like the roast beef?” Windy says.

“Exactly.”

“No,” Martin says. “He needs to find out if anyone else has a reason they can’t eat the chicken or pork.”

“I can’t eat pork,” Adams says.

“Why?”

“I don’t like it.”

“Anybody else?” Windy says.

Sloan really wants the roast beef sandwich. But he knows he’d seriously lose points with Tiffany if he takes it. “I’ll have the pork,” Sloan says. “Give Tech Guy here the roast beef.”

“Hold your horses there, pal,” Reynolds says. “I’m a carnivore too and I say I have just as much right to stake claim to that roast beef and ham as you do.”

“But you’re the janitor,” Adams says. “Don’t janitors always bring their own lunch?”

“Not necessarily. In fact, that burger place on the corner is open until one and I had planned to grab a bite from there tonight.”

“How much does a trip to that food cart cost you on average?” Sloan asks.

“I usually get the Mountain Meal.”

“What does that consist of?”

“A Mountain Burger, Fourteener Fries and a large Stardust Soda.”

“Do you buy dessert?”

“Sometimes I’ll get one of those Blueberry Mountain Pocket Pies.”

“Okay, so all together with tax what does that set you back?”

“What difference does any of this make?” Crystal asks.

“What do you mean, what difference does it make?” Sloan says. “It makes an enormous difference. Do you have a Mountain Man Meal Card, Reynolds?”

“Of course, I have a Mountain Man Meal Card,” Reynolds says. Everyone in their right mind has a Mountain Man Meal Card!”

“What is the importance of having a Mountain Man Meal Card?”

“Every eleventh Mountain Man Meal is free. And I mean a burger, fries, and a shake!”

“Look,” Martin says. “No one can get a Mountain Man Meal tonight. Now, let’s finish picking out what everyone wants so we can all eat.”

MY BOOKS

You can check out my books Chicane and the five installments of 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!!!

STREAM OF THE WEEK: EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE (2022)-SHOWTIME

The Golden Globe nominations came out this week and to kick off the awards season I thought I would offer up some of the nominees that are available on streaming. Two weeks ago, I talked about the superb miniseries Dahmer–Monster: The Jeffery Dahmer Story which received four Golden Globe nominations including one for Evan Peters for his outstanding performance in the title role. This week I am going to focus on a film like none I have ever seen before. This is a fast paced, complex multi-verse story about a frustrated overworked middle-aged woman named Evelyn Wang (Michelle Yeoh) who runs a laundry mat with her mild-mannered husband Waymond Wang (Ke Huy Quan). They have a grown daughter named Joy (Stephanie Hsu) who Evelyn struggles to understand. And addiding additional stress to their lives is Joy’s grandfather Gong Gong (James Hong) who lives with the Wangs.

The laundry mat is being audited by IRS officer Deirdre Beaubeirdre (Jamie Lee Curtis) a frumpy grouchy woman who scrutinizes every detail about the Wang’s business. When the Wangs arrive at the IRS office for the audit, something unexpected occurs: Evelyn is visited by a different Waymond from another universe of many Evelyn could have lived.

This is a challenging, complex script that is a lot of fun albeit at times a little frenetic and not perhaps as deep as other unique scripts like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Truman Show, Memento or Donnie Darko but well worth the watch for its exploration of a subject rarely shown in film. The movie is nominated for six Golden Globes including Best Picture (Musical or Comedy), Best Actress (Musical or Comedy) for Michelle Yeoh, Best Supporting Actor for Ke Huy Quan, Best Supporting Actress for Jamie Lee Curtis, and Best Director and Best Script for the team of Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert.