Good afternoon. It is I Gigi the parti poodle here to introduce this week’s blog. If having a bobcat named Bebe roaming about the neighborhood isn’t bad enough, my novelist has misplaced her glasses. They are not her only pair, but they are her favorite pair. When she loses something, anything at all, she hunts and hunts until she finds the missing object. To be fair, she is very good at finding things but remains trapped in tunnel vision until she recovers her little lost lamb. I make valiant attempts to get her to sit down and not focus on finding whatever it is she has lost. I tell her that taking a break from searching may help her find her missing object sooner. But my attempts are often in vain. And so, I sigh, sprawl on my pillow and watch her roam around the home in a frantic trance trying to locate her missing treasure.
Her distraction did come in handy this week, however, as it allowed me to sneak to the computer and set up a meeting on Nextdoor for all the pets, bunnies, and squirrels to decide what to do about our dealings with Bebe. We resolved to meet at Ruffles house as we could all sneak into the van and have a covert tete-e-tete. Edison the Manx was the first to speak.
“I don’t see what more we can do,” he said. “We have given her a reasonable portion of our cat food as payola.”
“I am aware of that,” I told him. “However, I believe it is something other than food she wants.”
“But clearly it must be food,” Madeline the British Shorthair said. “She wants to dine on our neighborhood bunnies and squirrels. That’s her goal.”
“I know that’s what she’s implying, but I believe it is not the heart of the matter.”
Charlotte the Chow tilted her head. “What do you believe to be the heart of the matter?”
“To be honest, I have not figured it out yet. But she is leveraging us for something.”
“The bunnies and squirrels, the bunnies and squirrels,” the dachshund twins said chasing each other’s tails.
“I do not want her to eat our squirrels,” Ruffles the bulldog said. “I do not want her to eat our bunnies. I do not want that at all.”
“Nobody does. But we do need to protect Bernard, Belle, Sergio and the rest of the wildlife around our neighborhood. So, we need to figure out what she wants so she will stop trying to attack our friends.”
Artemus the Persian scoffed. “Exactly how do you propose we do that?”
Her sister Demeter scoffed as well. “Yes, Gigi. Exactly how do you propose we do that?”
“It is easy for you to scoff,” Sergio the squirrel said suddenly indignant. “You have owners who protect you, a roof over your heads, and a steady diet. We bunnies and squirrels are left out in the elements to defend ourselves.”
“That is your choice.”
“You must know that neither Sergio nor Belle nor I can be domesticated,” Bernard D. Bunny said. “Some bunnies can be domesticated, we can’t.”
“And yet you want our help.”
“Order, order,” I said banging my walnut gavel on the walnut sound block. “The point is we must work together and find a way to call another meeting in the park with Bebe. If we are all in agreement with that plan, I will contact Crispin the Coyote to set it up.
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: THIEF (1981)-AMAZON PRIME, ROKU, TUBI
Continuing my pics of hidden gems is this film from 1981. What makes this week’s movie so good is James Caan’s superb performance, the research that went into the actual procedures the thieves use and its excellent third act. In many ways, this is a deconstructionist piece with its own structural build up and tear down and its fantastic character study of a criminal who is fighting to acquire the goal of living a normal life. The film was directed by Michael Mann in his debut outing. Mann also wrote the gritty script based on the memoir The Home Invaders: Confessions of a Cat Burglar by Frank Hohimer. It is noted, however, that Michael Mann did not actually use any of the content from the book. Tangerine Dream composed the original score which is outstanding and helps drive the tension of the story.
Frank (James Caan) is a highly competent professional thief. He owns a car dealership for which he launders thousands of dollars he and his partner Barry (Jim Belushi) make stealing diamonds. Frank has recently been released from the Joliet Correctional Center where he served time and was tough enough to survive the brutal experience.
Frank has very specific goals. One of them includes a cashier named Jesse (Tuesday Weld) who works at a restaurant he frequents. Frank has become smitten and plans to lead a normal life by marrying her and raising children.
After completing a jewelry theft with Barry, he gives the diamonds to his fence Joe (Hal Frank). Unfortunately, Joe owes money to the mob who kill him by tossing him out of a window. The mob boss Leo (Robert Prosky) outwardly a friendly fatherly figure and inwardly a cold-blooded killer, offers Frank a deal to work for him. At first Frank is apprehensive. He and Barry work alone. But after some persuasion, Frank agrees to take the position only to find out it may be the worst decision of his life.
Rounding out the cast are Willie Nelson as Frank’s longtime friend David “Okla” Bertinneau, Tom Signorelli as Attaglia, and Dennis Farina as Carl who, having been a real-life police detective, also worked as a technical adviser on the film. Look for William Peterson as a bartender.
