Good afternoon. It is I Gigi the parti poodle here to introduce this week’s blog. As you may remember from last week, we turned the tables on the kidnappers and when the woman in the silk camo dress and the woman in the olive trench coat boarded the van. Under my command we slammed the door shut and Ruffles hit the gas. For a moment both women were stunned as the van barreled towards the parking lot exit and then pandemonium broke out.

The woman in the olive trench coat yelled, “Stop this van! Stop this van!”

Charlotte the Chow, bless her heart, hurried over, knocked the woman to the ground and stepped on her. The dachshunds, who are normally ditsy, sprang into action and started scratching their big thick paws at Demeter’s cage. Their efforts paid off and they managed to spring the lock on the cage open and Demeter rushed out.

Poignant is the word that came to mind when we saw the twin Persian sisters reunited. Much caterwauling ensued. But we had to burst into action to stop the woman in the silk camo dress as she ran up to the front to try and oust Ruffles the bulldog from the driver’s seat. This was no small task as Ruffles and Charlotte were the biggest of all of us. Charlotte already had her paws full keeping the woman in the olive trench coat pinned to the floor and Ruffles needed to keep the van from driving out of control. But one should never underestimate the power of the Felis catus. Madeline the British Shorthair and Edison the Manx leaped on top of the woman in the silk camo dress and forced her to pry her lime green acrylic nails off our dear driver.

Believe it or not, my next plan was to engage Bernard D. Bunny and his little sister Belle. Our magnificent Ruffles rolled out of the seat, knocking the woman in the silk camo dress to the floor. He then commenced to stand on top of her as the cats surrounded her and growled. Bernard hopped into the driver’s seat and Belle positioned herself at the peddles. Bernard clucked and honked out commands. He manned the wheel as she pressed the gas and the brake as we drove out of the parking lot.

“Get off me, mangy cur,” the woman in the olive trench coat roared at Charlotte.

“Watch your filthy mouth,” I barked at the woman with a growl. “I am the one running the show!”

“Don’t try to pull the fur over my eyes, parti poodle. You aren’t even all one color.”

“Do not try to pull the fur over my eyes, black market thief. Parti poodles were allowed to compte in dog shows in the United States in 2001. And might I add a parti Spaniel won Best in Show at the Westminster Kennel Club in 1921!”

“But a parti-color Poodle has never won Best in Show and never will!”

“Your harsh words do not affect me. Someday we will. Someday we parti poodles will win all sorts of Best in Show titles.”

“Of course, it would be a non-winning dog who would be behind this,” the woman in the silk camo dress said. “A common house pet.”

“I take offense to that. I am a common house pet who is driving away with you instead of you driving away with us. Bernard, let’s go see what Crispin is up to, shall we?” Until next week I wish you a Happy 250th 4th of July and 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: SHARP CORNER (2024)-HULU

This week’s pick is a smart, tense, psychological thriller featuring another terrific performance by Ben Foster. The movie was written by Jason Buxton and Russell Wangersky and directed by Buxton.

Josh McCall (Ben Foster) and his domineering wife, psychologist Rachel Davis-McCall (Cobie Smulders) have just purchased their dream house. The corner house lies outside the outskirts of suburbia on what seems to be a quiet and peaceful upper middleclass paradise. But as soon as they start moving in, their son Max (William Kosovic) takes an instant dislike of his room. Small wonder as in the late evening shortly after they move in, a car swerves around the corner and crashes into the tree outside their house, killing a teenage football player who was driving some of his friends around on a weekend night.

Josh is the first to run to the car and find the driver dead. He wants to discuss the incident openly with Rachel, but she wants to push it aside and move on, proving she might be one of the world’s worst counselors. Instead of allowing him to talk about his feelings, she belittles him by saying he should be thinking about his son first and foremost.

But as Josh watches the dead teen’s family place a cross at the location of the road where the car swerved off, he begins to think more about the incident and question his job, his value as a person, and his place in the world.