Good morning. It is I Gigi the parti poodle here to joyously welcome a new member of the Bunny family brood, Brendan D. Bunny, cousin to Bernard D. Bunny and Belle D. Bunny. I met him for the first time this morning. He is a whopping six inches from his head to his cotton tail and possibly three inches tall. He was rather taken aback by suddenly seeing a gorgeous parti poodle for the first time. I know how much beauty can be stunning to one so young and he scampered off into the bushes. Bernard has invited me to the family celebration, and I have saved the date. I am not sure what type of gift to bring. What should one gift for a baby bunny? I am looking into Bunnies by the Bay to see if there is something his family might find cute or useful. Perhaps a Roly Poly Bunny. That is always a good choice. And a bunch of parsley. I hear bunnies like parsley. At any rate, the whole event is quite joyous, and I cannot wait to attend. I have also alerted my novelist, so she is extra careful when backing out the car. Until next week, I bid you adieu.

MY BOOKS

You can check out my books Chicane and all five installments of the 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: DAZED AND CONFUSED (1993)- AMAZON PRIME

If you have never seen this movie, you really, really should. And it’s the perfect time of year to do so. Set in Texas in May of 1976, the movie is simply one day and night on the last day of school for both high school and junior high school students in a small town. But what a great slice of life this is. Funny, honest and accurately depicted in both costume and setting, this is Richard Linklater’s small masterpiece that sports an unbelievably talented cast of young up and comers, some who would become Oscar winning writers and actors, Golden Globe nominees, huge TV stars, and famous Indi Film darlings. Why can’t all teenage films be this good? They do not cost that much to make and the payoff, if the script is good and it’s filmed right, is huge. There are not enough teenage films about…teenagers. No teen is a superhero. Most teens are not the banal subject of slasher films. And most of them are not much different through the eras whether it be Rebel Without a Cause, Breaking Away, Napoleon Dynamite, The Edge of Seventeen, or The Breakfast Club. I would like to see a lot more of these types of films come out of studios and then I might go back to the theatre.

On the last day of school in May 1976, high school quarterback Randall “Pink” Floyd (Jason London) has been given a paper to sign he must turn into his football coach before the end of the year. It denounces using drugs, sexual promiscuity and in general breaking the law. To say the least, Randall is not pleased. His fellow football players Benny O’Donnell (Cole Hauser) and Don Dawson (Sasha Jensen) encourage him to sign it. His stoner friends Ron Slater (Rory Cochrane), Michelle Burroughs (Milla Jovovich), and Kevin Pickford (Shawn Andrews) tell him its bull and his intellectual friends Mike Newhouse (Adam Goldberg), Tony Olson (Anthony Rapp) and Cynthia Dunn (Marissa Ribisi) are just happy to be invited to the afterschool party.

In the meantime, junior high school students Mitch Kramer (Wiley Wiggins), Sabrina Davis (Christin Hinojosa), John Hirschfelder (Jeremy Fox), and Carl Burnett (Esteban Powell) are getting ready to be hazed and not enjoying it. Darla Marks (Parker Posey) ruthlessly leads the hazing of the girls while paddle wielding  Fred O’Bannion (Ben Affleck) brutishly leads the raid on the boys. Already graduated ex-football quarterback David Wooderson (Matthew McConaughey) hangs out with the teens kicking back, saving the party and shelling out good and bad worldly advice.

Rounding out this stellar cast are Randall’s would-be girlfriend Simone Kerr (Joey Lauren Adams), and Mitch Kramer’s older sister Jody Kramer (Michelle Burke).