Good afternoon. It is I Gigi the parti poodle here to introduce this week’s blog. Before I go forward with our story, I must tell you some details I may have left out. Bebe is no ordinary bobcat. You see, here in the Pacific Northwest we can get a rarer form of bobcat. You were picturing a wild cat with tawny fur with spots and thin tufts on the top of the ears I imagine. But that is not what Bebe looks like. Bebe is a rare melanistic variant of the Lynx rufus. More specifically, a Melanistic Bobcat. This means she has long black silky fur and all you can see of her face are her intense amber eyes. She is utterly menacing and looks like a big round furry beachball. And she never, and I mean never, runs. She saunters. Slowly. She moves without fear and is utterly terrifying.
I woke up early one morning this week, about five-thirty a.m. to be exact. My novelist begrudgingly arose from bed and was about to take me out when she scanned the natural world outside after turning on the lights. That’s when she spotted Bebe. Or at least the back of Bebe strolling away. She turned to me and said there was no way either of us were going outside until daylight. Can you believe it? That ominous beast has taken over my walking grounds and I am most displeased. Most displeased indeed.
Ever since that night I have not seen or heard from Bernard D. Bunny or his little sister Belle. I am deeply concerned. There were no messages, no meetings for afternoon tea and I am having difficulty waiting it out. Every tick of the clock makes me anxious. I know they are brave and careful creatures. But Bebe is behemoth in comparison. My novelist has become protective of me and stays close by. I have not been able to gather up the neighborhood pets for another meeting, and I am going to have to arrange a Zoom call instead. This is not as simple as it sounds as some neighborhood pets are technology challenged…such as the dachshund twins.
That said, I just wanted to make sure you were caught up on that bit of information. 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: SOUTHERN COMFORT (1981)-AMAZON PRIME, ROKU, TUBI, YOUTUBE
In my continuing hunt for cinematic gems, I came across this terrific, overlooked psychological thriller from director Walter Hill. Co-written by Hill, Michael Kane, and David Giler, the story is about a group of National Guardsman who are out for a routine exercise down in the Louisiana bayou. The squad of nine soldiers is led by Staff Sergeant Poole (Peter Coyote), a Vietnam Veteran. To boost morale, one of the squad members, PFC Spencer (Keith Caradine) has arranged for a group of prostitutes to be the entertainment after the maneuvers are complete. This goes well with the other members of the group which include Simms (Franklyn Seales), Cribbs (T.K. Carter), Stucky (Lewis Smith), and hot head Reece (Fred Ward). But it does not sit right with married newcomer Hardin (well-acted by Powers Booth), a chemical engineer recently transferred from the Texas Army National Guard. Hardin is leery about the cavalier attitude of the members of the squad and does his best to keep his distance and not to volunteer for any positions.
The squad starts heading out on their exercise expecting it to be a mundane routine. They realize after studying their map, their walk is going to be a long and rough one. While heading along their way, they happen to come across three boats owned by local Cajun hunter-trappers. Pool hesitates to borrow the vessel, but most of the squad urges him to take the boats anyway. Reluctantly, he agrees and they head out into the water. After getting a little way from the bank, they happen to see a group of local Cajuns standing on the shore watching them. Loose-cannon Stucky decides to fire blanks in their direction. His actions do not go over well with the Cajuns who fire back with real bullets hitting and killing Pool putting by-the-book Sgt. Casper (Les Lannom) in charge. The squad quickly drag the boats ashore to protect themselves and rethink their strategy, which causes a mentally unstable private, a high school football coach named Bowden (Alan Autry) to seek revenge for Pools death when the group continues on and comes across the abode of one of the Cajun trappers (Brion James).
