Good afternoon. It is I Gigi the parti poodle and this week our novelist abandoned us.

I am Tucker. I am a Maltese. Gigi and I were left with a babysitter.

Babysitter indeed! I am perfectly capable of fending for myself. You don’t even know how to open the dog food cans.

Neither do you.

On the contrary, I know exactly how to curb my hunger.

How?

By ordering from Doordash.

Really?

Absolutely. I must say I have had a hankering for crepes lately. I must order some soon. I simply would have to jump up on my novelist’s office chair and start striking keys. Then someone would come to the door, and I would bark at them until they left the food and went away.

How would you open the door and retrieve the food?

You and your logistics! I would find a way.

How?

This is my blog! No one wants to hear about your thoughts. Leave now, please.

You don’t know how to open the door, do you?”

Balderdash! I am a poodle. We are highly intelligent.

I have never seen you open a door.

Ignore him! And please enjoy my seventeenth chapter of What I Found in the Trunk.

What I Found in the Trunk

by

Gigi the parti poodle

Chapter Seventeen

Gary returned to the suite with Rune’s coffee. “Alright,” he said to her. “Here’s your triple raspberry mocha. Explain this thing you took.”

“I still don’t think you’re going to get it,” Rune said.

“Try us.”

Rune sighed and took a sip from the paper cup. “Let’s say you were a boy who grew up in the middle of nowhere. Let’s say you got bored easily. One day you are searching around your dad’s shop or whatever and you find a tin container. And you pick up the tin thinking it was empty and you find money in it. A lot of money. And at first the money interest you but after awhile you get to wondering what your dad might have done to amass all that cash.”

“Moonshine,” Rusty said.

“No. But something illegal.”

“Shrooms,” Bennet said.

“No, not shrooms. Let’s say dad was into something bigger.”

“Government secrets.”

“See,” Rune said to Gary. “I can’t explain this to you and your buddies.”

“Try,” Gary growled. Then he turned to Bennet and Rusty. “Shut up and let the lady talk.”

“So,” Rune continued. “You’ve found a large tin with a lot of money in it in your dad’s shop, and you know it’s not from moonshine and it’s not from drugs. At first you think he’s great at saving money. But then you start to wonder if he stole it. Or maybe he’s been skimming money off the family budget.

“But dad’s always been a good man. He doesn’t drink, he doesn’t smoke, and he doesn’t cheat on your mother. He’s just a guy with a shop who makes a decent living.”

“He’s like that guy in that movie who didn’t tell his wife he was an assassin and then the bad guys came to town,” Bennet said.

“Gary,” Rune said. “My understanding of our deal was I was to tell a parable about what I took from the trunk and yet I keep getting interrupted.”

“Let her finish the story,” Gary snapped. “After all we’re stuck here for at least a couple of days, and I could use the entertainment.”

“Thank you,” Rune said. “So, you decide to see if the bills are marked. Maybe you were wrong, and you can’t trust dad after all. Maybe he stole it from a bank, and you want to check to see if the bills are marked. You open the can up and take out two or three bills and slip them in your pocket, put the can back where you got it and leave the shop. “You ask yourself how do you go about finding out if the bills are marked? You can’t just walk into a bank and ask, “Hey, are these bills marked?” or “Hey, is the law on the lookout for these serial numbers?” So, you decide to spy on dad.

“You start making a diary of any time dad leaves the house. Then you realize that every Wednesday he goes to get supplies at the same time every week. After a month goes by you see he does it like clockwork.

“Then early one morning you hear something. It’s nearly dawn, and you sneak downstairs and look out the window at your father’s shop. There’s a strange truck parked outside. You scurry over to your dad’s desk where he keeps his binoculars. You look outside with them, and you watch a man and your father step out of the shop. You see your father hand the man the tin with all the money in it. The man looks inside the can and closes it. You wonder what your dad has bought from this stranger who upon closer look does not seem friendly. You become concerned this guy might hurt your dad. But then he hands your father an envelope. Your father looks in the envelope and shakes hands with the stranger. Then the man gets in his truck and drives off. Your dad puts the envelope in his shirt pocket and returns inside his shop.

“You set your alarm for this same time every morning, but the lights in your dad’s shop stay off and no one comes…until two weeks later. Then the stranger returns. And then two weeks later he comes back again. And every time your dad hands him a can full of money, is given an envelope and returns to the shop.

“You start to think whatever your dad is buying may not be worth what he’s spending. I mean he is keeping a lot of money in those tins. He must be getting ripped off. You decide when the stranger comes back this time, you’re going to get a better look. It’s summer now and you won’t freeze to death when you go outside. You’ve saved up for a pair of small compact binoculars and a digital voice recorder. You put them into your jacket pocket and head out to dad’s shop.

“When the stranger comes, you sneak along the side of the shop. You listen and when they greet each other you start the recorder. But they don’t say much. They talk about yesterday’s ballgame and the weather. Then your dad goes inside, and you can’t hear anything. There’s only a small window to look in but it’s mostly obscured except for a tiny piece of a corner. You look through the glass with your binoculars but all you see is your dad retrieving the new can from the shelf. He leaves the shop, and you look around the corner with your binoculars and your recorder going. The stranger tells your dad that his work is the best around, takes the can and hands him yet another envelope. But this time you see your dad open the envelope and with your binoculars you can tell what’s in it.” Rune took a sip of her coffee and looked at Gary.

“That’s it?” Gary asked.

“That’s all you need to know.”

“Is he laundering money?” Rusty asked.

“Like I said,” Rune replied. “That’s all you need to know.”

My Books

You can check out my books Chicane and the five installments in 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: LET HIM GO (2020)- HBO Max

It is difficult these days to find a new thoughtful film. In fact, some of the experts say cinema is bad, gone or even dead. And they are not entirely wrong. Both Martin Scorsese and Riddley Scott discuss it in this article and Barry Diller discusses it in this article. It’s essentially what happens when a pack of executive SPs backed by a bureaucratic SJ army tell artistic NFs and NTs what to make. Nothing good ever comes of it. However, sometimes a flower breaks through the concrete and thus I present week’s riveting sleeper from 2020. Based on the novel by Larry Watson the story takes place in 1951 Montana where retired sheriff George Blackledge (Kevin Costner) and his horse trainer wife Martha Blackledge (Dianne Lane) lose their only son James (Ryan Bruce) to an accident. James leaves behind his wife Lorna (Kayli Carter) and an infant son Jimmy (played at different ages by Otto and Bram Hornung), the Blackledge’s only grandchild. But when three years later Lorna decides to get remarried and the couple runs off in the middle of the night taking Jimmy with them, Martha decides to make a voyage across state lines to bring the boy home.  

Good morning. It is I Gigi the parti poodle here to delight you with the sixteenth chapter of my story. This is an important time of the year for my novelist as it is the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale. If you are not aware of it, every year Nordstrom puts brand new fall clothing, shoes, accessories, and products for the home on sale in July (although due to Covid19 it was in August last year). My novelist always saves her money so she can splurge a little at it. It is most bizarre how she intensely analyzes and lays out a strategy of what to purchase. She is choosy about fabrics and yarns because she took a costume class for her drama degree at the university and was always taught that natural fabrics and yarns trump synthetics. But she has managed to find good choices this year she thinks will be warm as it is forecasting to be a cold winter here in the northwest. But enough about all that. Here is chapter sixteen of What I Found in the Trunk. Njuta!

What I Found in the Trunk

By

Gigi the parti poodle

Chapter Sixteen

“Wakey, wakey.”

Gary’s dad fought to roll up the heavy shades on his eyes.

“Looks like he’s coming out of it.”

“What the blazes…?” Gary’s father said, his tongue heavy.

“Yep, he’s coming out of it.”

Gary’s father, his head sloshing around in the sleepy haze fought for consciousness. His eyes focused and he realized he was in some house somewhere with a wood floor and a lot of empty space. And then he saw three young guys staring down at him. He studied their faces and said, “You guys look familiar.”

“How are you doing old man?”

“Where am I?”

“Is he awake?”

“Yup.”

Durwin strode over and joined his three buddies all towering down over Gary’s dad. “Well, well,” he said. “Gary’s father I presume.”

“Where’s my son?” Gary’s father demanded.

“Funny. That’s what we were going to ask you.”

“Are you friends of his?”

“Acquaintances.”

“What do you want with him?”

Gary’s father tried to move his hands and realized they were tied to his chair.

“Is this a kidnapping?!”

“More or less. Look old man. Your boy took something that belongs to me.”

“My son doesn’t take things that don’t belong to him.”

“Well, you’d be surprised.”

“What is it you think he took?”

“That’s none of your business. Your business is making Gary give it back.”

“Fat chance, kid.”

Durwin glared at Gary’s dad. He shoved a Ritz cracker in his mouth and munched it down. “I’m going to ask you one more time, old man. Where did Gary go?”

Durwin glared at Gary’s dad. He shoved a Ritz cracker in his mouth and munched it down. “I’m going to ask you one more time, old man. Where did Gary go?”

“Kid, I’ve been on this big round ball of a planet for a while now and I’ve seen a lot of punks like you. If you think you’re going to strong arm information out of me, you’d better think again.”

“This isn’t the time to play the tough guy. If you don’t tell me where Gary is I’m going to do a lot more damage to the both of you then if you speak up now.”

Gary’s dad laughed. “I’m in the business of used cars. I know a con when I hear one.”

“Well, aren’t you the tough guy.” Then he turned to his buddies and said, “Go to town on him.”

Durwin walked away as the first guy stepped in front of Gary’s dad and pulled back his fist. Suddenly, Gary’s dad’s phone played “Achy Breaky Heart” by Billy Ray Cyrus.

“What the hell is that?” the first guy asked.

“It’s country music from the nineteen nineties,” the second guy said.

“It sounds like ass.”

“It’s his phone you idiots,” Durwin said marching over and grabbing the phone out of the pocket of Gary’s father’s blazer. Durwin looked at the caller ID. “Well, looky here. Gary’s calling. Answer the phone, pops.”

Durwin accepted the call, put it on speaker, and shoved the phone in Gary’s dad’s face.

“Hello?” Gary’s dad said.

“Hey, dad it’s me,” Gary replied.

“You didn’t show up for work today.”

“I…Bennet had an emergency…at his cabin in Soap Lake. I tried calling you earlier, but you didn’t pick up.”

“Today has been a blur.”

“I apologize. I didn’t mean to leave you in the lurch, dad.”

“That’s alright.”

“I’m not going to make it back for a couple of days. There’s a wildfire here.”

“Wildfire?”

“And we’re trapped till they get it under control.”

“When will that be?”

“Couple of days maybe. Rusty is here too.”

“Rusty? Why’s he there?”

“It’s a long story. Anyway, I didn’t want you to worry.”

Gary’s dad looked at Durwin and his crew. “Are you in trouble?”

“Trouble?”

“Gary?”

Gary fell silent. Then he said, “Someone thinks I took something from him.”

“Did you?”

“No. But I had to find the person who did.”

“Go to the police.”

Durwin hung up the call. “Shouldn’t have told him that old man. Now you’ve hurt my feelings. One of you guys find out where that cabin is. Then we’ll take the old man for a ride.”

My Books

You can check out my books Chicane and the five installments in 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: ULEE’S GOLD (1997)-Amazon Prime

It’s hard to believe this fantastic sleeper was only nominated for one academy award for Peter Fonda’s career best performance. Victor Nunez should have also been nominated for his original screenplay, but the academy decided to nominate Woody Allen for Deconstructing Harry instead because let’s face it, Oscar voters prize manipulative narcissistic pedophiles over cinematic art. Ulee (Peter Fonda) is the only survivor of his Vietnam War platoon which he credits to cleverness and luck. He is the grandfather of two girls, likeable grade school aged Penny (Vanessa Zima) and teenage Casey (a young Jessica Biel in her first full length major motion picture). Ulee’s son Jimmy (Tom Wood) is in prison for a robbery gone bad and his strung-out wife Helen (Christine Dunford) is nowhere to be found. Ulee struggles to raise his granddaughters as he attempts to harvest his Tupelo Honey all by himself until he gets a phone call from Jimmy who has run into a little problem with the money he hid from his partners in crime.    

Good afternoon. It is I Gigi the Parti Poodle here to bring you the fifteenth chapter in my story. This week the Maltese and I have been enjoying the cooler weather and on the Fourth of July we watched one of my favorite drawing room dramas, Jaws. It is a delightful story about a misunderstood fish with Intermittent Explosive Disorder. As for myself, I am no stranger to the condition as the Maltese can tell you.

I am Tucker and I am a Maltese and Gigi can get terribly angry and it is scary and sometimes I want to hide.

Anyway, the fish may have picked up a chemical imbalance due to his random diet. One cannot go around eating small boats and expect to have a healthy outlook on life. That said I hope you enjoy today’s episode.  Buon divertimento!

And remember to stay out of the water.

What I Found In The Trunk

By

Gigi the parti poodle

Chapter Fifteen

“What happened?” Durwin asked his three buddies after they returned from the car dealership and entered the house.

“We lost him,” the first guy said.

Durwin shoved a Ritz cracker into his mouth, munching as he narrowed his eyes. “You lost him.”

“Yeah. He and his guard left in another car.”

“His guard? Gary has a guard?”

“We followed the signal on his car all the way to the dealership, so we knew he was there but while we were knocking his security guard around, he charged us with a different car, picked up the guard and took off,” the second guy said.

“What other car?”

“We don’t know. It was coming at us too fast.”

Durwin shoved another cracker in his mouth and munched it down. “Too fast?”

“He drove straight at us,” the third guy said. “I mean I jumped out of the way and yelled to these two to keep us from getting hit.”

“So, Gary switched cars. Which way did he go?”

“He took the freeway.”

“Right. So, now Gary is on the freeway with a witness, a car without a tracker and he’s headed…somewhere and we have no idea where he is.” Durwin shoved another Ritz cracker in his mouth and munched. “We need to talk to dear old dad.”

“He’s not going to tell us where his kid went,” the first guy said.

“That’s not the point. The point is to find out where Gary went, and which car he drove off the lot.”

“Maybe he won’t even realize it’s missing,” the second guy said. “He’ll know it’s missing because one of two things is going to happen. Either Gary’s going to tell his old man he took the car for some reason or other. Or dad who’s a guy who’s sensitive to things like grand theft auto is going to know a car is gone after he thoroughly checks his car lot tomorrow which he does every morning. Especially since I’m betting Gary isn’t showing up for work in the A.M.”

“But we already went to the dealership yesterday,” the first guy said. “The old man will recognize us.”

“You know,” Durwin said retrieving another cracker, “that’s why I like you. You always see the obvious.” He shoved the cracker in his mouth, picked up his phone and typed a text. “One of you go get me a beer,” he said.

The first guy lumbered into the kitchen. As he was looking in the refrigerator Durwin’s phone chimed. Durwin responded to the text.

“What did she say?” the third guy asked.

“She’ll be there at nine tomorrow,” Durwin replied.

Gary’s dad was livid. Rusty wasn’t there, his son hadn’t shown up for work and a Buick was missing from the lot. He’d called his son’s phone several times but never got an answer.

“Irresponsible son of a…!”

“Good morning,” a female voice called out in the front.

Gary’s dad stormed out of his office to find a twenty something woman standing there. She looked like a college girl with a bank account. “Can I help you?” he said his voice laced with charm.

“My BMW gave out, and I wanted to see what kind of cars you had.”

“We have some wonderful BMWs.”

“Well, I wasn’t really particular about the brand. I was more concerned about reliability.”

“Are you looking for a sedan or something sportier?”

“Well…if you were my dad what kind of car would you want me to drive.”

“A Mercades C Class. They’re one of the safest cars on the road.”

“Sounds good.”

“Any particular color?”

“I’m not picky.”

“I’ll show you what we have. Would you care for a cup of coffee?”

“That would be wonderful,” she said.

Gary’s dad led the young woman to the coffee machine. Now why couldn’t his son find a girlfriend like this one he thought. “What can I get you?” he asked.

“A latte, please,” she said.

“Coming right up. You a college student?”

“Yes.”

“What are you studying?”

“I haven’t declared a major yet.”

“My son majored in business.”

“Did he?”

“He should be coming in any time now.”

The young woman’s latte finished, and he handed it to her.

“Thank you,” she said. “Aren’t you going to brew one for yourself?”

“Would you mind if I did?”

“Please, do.”

“I appreciate it.” Gary’s father set the machine to brew him a double latte. “We have some beautiful Mercades on the lot. I think you’d love driving one. Classy looking car. Gorgeous in Jupiter red.”

“I’d love to see one.”

“The blue’s gorgeous too. Can never go wrong with a Lunar Blue Metallic.” He reached in and grabbed his coffee. “You ready to go pick out your new car?”

“Absolutely…it looks like your son is coming in.”

Gary’s dad turned to look out the window as the young woman slipped a pill into his coffee.

“I don’t see anyone,” he said.

“Must have been a reflection in the glass. My bad.”

“Alright, well let’s go.”

As Gary’s father led the young woman out the door and towards the lot she asked, “If I see something I like can I take it for a test drive?”

“Absolutely. How about this Jupiter red one here? It has exceptionally low milage and it’s in mint condition. As you can see it has a leather interior and an exceptional sound system.”

“It is a great looking car,” the young woman said. “I’d like to see how it drives.”

“Absolutely. I just need to make sure you have a valid driver’s license.”

“Of course,” the young woman said taking out her fake driver’s license and handing it to him. He looked it over and decided it was good. “Let’s go get the keys,” he said elated that he might be making a deal so early in the day. They headed back inside where he retrieved the key from the safe while the young woman waited in the room outside the office. Then the returned to the lot and he unlocked the Mercades. They got inside and he handed her the keys. She started the engine as she watched him sip his coffee.

“I think you’ll really like how smooth the car drives,” he said.

“Sure,” she said with a smile as she drove the car off the lot.

My Books

You can check out my books Chicane and the five installments in 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: THE LIMEY (1999)-AMAZON PRIME

Where Bryan Mills may have a certain set of skills, Wilson also has a certain set of skills…and deep-seated unbridled rage. The film, though an arthouse picture, is a thoroughly entertaining crime movie about a career criminal who learned how to be a serious bad ass after spending nine years in prison for robbery. Upon his release he finds out his adult daughter Jenny has died in a car accident. But he believes she was murdered. Wilson (brilliantly played by Terrance Stamp) is an intense unstoppable force to be reckoned with as he leaves the UK en route to the United States where he hunts down his daughter’s friend Eduardo (Luis Guzmàn) who sent him a letter alerting him of Jenny’s death. Eduardo then leads him to a ring of criminals who grossly underestimate Wilson. This encounter leads him to his daughter’s much older boyfriend Terry Valentine (Peter Fonda), a wealthy neurotic music producer with a bad taste in swimming pools. Eduardo also helps Wilson find Jenny’s acting coach Elaine (Lesley Ann Warren) who provides insights into Jenny’s character.

The film has an effective and unusual editing style thanks to wonderful work by Sarah Flack and director Stephen Soderbergh. Soderbergh uses clips from the 1967 British film Poor Cow as flashbacks for Wilson’s younger days as a fledgling father, boyfriend, and robber.  

Good afternoon. It is I Gigi the parti poodle here to bring you another installment of my story. It has been hot here, and I mean record breaking hot. Last weekend thru Monday we were hitting temperatures of 104 degrees and higher which is most unusual for us. As you may know, I detest baths. But the Maltese and I did not complain when our novelist put us in the bathtub one at a time, adjusted the handheld showerhead to mist and sprayed us with cool water so we could sleep through the night without endless panting.

It was hot this week. I was hot this week. I was miserably hot this week. I am Tucker and I am a Maltese.

As you can see the Maltese, despite his recently acquired grooming was sweltering.

It was hot. I was hot. I did not like being hot.

Yes, yes. They get it. You may go now.

I am Tucker and I am a Maltese. Happy 4^th of July!

I was going to say that! Anyway, Happy 4^th of July and God bless America. Enjoy!

What I Found in the Trunk

by

Gigi the parti poodle

Chapter Fourteen

“What are we supposed to do now?” Gary asked as they headed back into Leavenworth. “We’re trapped here!”

“We’ll just get a hotel room and hang out there,” Rusty said.

“With a hostage?”

“Sure.”

“Because that’s normal.”

“Look on the bright side, man,” Bennet said. “At least Durwin or David or whatever the dude’s name is can’t get into Leavenworth.”

“I hope not. What if he’s here already?”

“He’d have to know where Rune would run. Hey, Rune?”

“Shut up!” Rune yelled before kicking the back of Bennet’s seat from the trunk.

“You’re smart, right? Would Durwin think you went to Leavenworth?”

“Yeah, I’d go straight where he’d think I’d go.”

“So, you and Durwin don’t have any joint affiliation with this place?”

“He’s never even been here.”

“Did you ever tell him you wanted to come here, or traveled here or…”

“He doesn’t know I’m here. End of story.”

“We’re going to get a suite at one of the hotels…”

“Suite?” Gary said. “Whose paying for a suite?”

“Calm down, man. We need a suite. There’s three of us guys and one gal.”

“Okay, well where can we get one cheap?”

“I’ve already started looking for one,” Rusty said searching on his phone. “Looks like that one on the road above Front Street is good. You know, the one that looks like a chalet?”

“How much a night?”

“Not bad.”

“What’s not bad?”

“Four hundred a night.”

“Are you serious?!”

“Uh…yeah.”

“I can’t afford four hundred dollars a night for an indeterminate amount of time!”

“Well, you’re going to have to. Otherwise, we’re going to be sleeping in the car or the woods.”

“Rusty and I will chip in,” Bennet said.

“Speak for yourself,” Rusty snapped. “His dad pays my wages.”

“Look,” Bennet said, “let’s just do this. Gary knows I’m good for it. He can pay for the first two nights I’ll pay for the second and then we’ll figure it out from there. This fire thing can’t last long.

“Okay, fine,” Gary grumbled. “Let’s just book the suite and get to the hotel. What do we do about Rune? We can’t just take her out of the trunk in the parking lot and pull her into the place kicking and screaming.”

“We’ll lay down the back seat,” Bennet said. “Then we can guard the car as she crawls through from the trunk and gets out the back door. The windows are tinted so no one will wonder what we’re doing.”

“Alright, let’s figure out what we’re going to do next,” Gary said once they all got into the suite. “And Rusty, thanks for the hand cuffs.”

“My pleasure,” Rusty said beaming.

“Alright, Rune,” Gary said walking over to the end of the bed where she was attached. “You tell us where this thing Durwin…”

“David,” Rune said correcting him.

“David’s looking for and we’ll take you wherever it is you were planning to go.”

Rune looked from Gary to Rusty to the weird looking guy with the rock star hair and back to Gary. “You couldn’t handle it.”

“What?”

“You couldn’t handle what I took from the box.”

“Don’t play mind games with me.”

“I’m never going to tell you what I took nor am I going to tell you where I put it.”

“Listen up, Rune,” Rusty said. “If you don’t tell us what and where this thing is we’re going to hand you over to Durwin or David or whatever silver platter and all. We are done with you involving us. What did you steal from him?”

“If I handed it over to you, you wouldn’t even know what it was.”

“Try me.”

Rune laughed, “I’ll never try you.”

“You smartass little…”

“Hey, Rune,” Bennet said. “I’m not really involved here. I wasn’t kidnapped by your boyfriend and his thugs. I wasn’t beaten up by them in a used car lot. I didn’t throw you in the trunk of a car…”

“You’re involved, scumbag.”

“Okay, let’s say you’re right. Let’s say I wouldn’t understand what this thing is you have. But let’s say you could explain it to me simply. Could you maybe…I don’t know…use a story problem or a parable or something like that to simplify it for me.”

Rune rolled her eyes. “I want a coffee.”

“Not a chance, sister,” Rusty growled.

“I’ll get you a coffee if you explain to Bennet as a parable what you took,” Gary told Rune.

“What?!” Rusty exclaimed marching up to him. “Don’t give her what she wants!”

“I’m willing to negotiate if she’s willing to negotiate,” Gary said checking to make sure he had his wallet. “So, am I getting you a coffee or not, Rune?”

“Raspberry Mocha,” she said. “Triple.”

“Really?”

“Do you want the parable or not?”

“Alright. I’ll get you a triple raspberry mocha,” Gary growled. “You guys watch her,” he told Rusty and Bennet before he left slamming the door behind him.

MY BOOKS

You can check out my books Chicane and the five installments in 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: FOOTLOOSE (1984)-HULU

I am not sure why Footloose is such a polarizing film. Some critics liked it and others hated it (for example Gene Siskel liked it and Roger Ebert didn’t). And yet the movie which in 1984 cost an estimated $8,200,000 to make grossed $80,035,402 in the US alone which is 9.76 times its original cost. The movie was remade in 2011 and was reincarnated into a Broadway musical which ran from October 22, 1998 until July 2, 2000 for 709 consecutive performances. Not to mention it is based on a true story and actual people in the town of Elmore City, Oklahoma. The town had banned dancing for almost eighty-two years from its founding in 1898 until 1980.

There are also some critics who complain the film didn’t have enough dancing…perhaps missing the point that the original film was not a musical. Nor was it intended to be in 1984. It was instead meant to be a film about liberty regardless of whether the subject was geared at adolescents or sophisticates.

It was indeed teenagers led by junior class president seventeen-year-old Rex Kennedy who fought against the Elmore City law. Kennedy and his classmates went toe to toe with Rev. F.R. Johnson of the United States Pentecostal Church in February of 1980. The kids wanted a prom, and the town was concerned about teenage pregnancies which they believed were linked to dancing. Ironically, every year the kids did have a banquet and every year the kids drove drunk to fields or the local bowling alley. Dancing apparently was more dangerous than drunk driving. The students’ battle was no small matter as court orders to keep the kids from dancing were an actual threat. The school board voted on the issue, and it was a tie: 2-2 which left the decision to the board president, a rancher named Raymond Lee. Lee had a daughter named Mary Ann Temple-Lee who was a junior class officer who wanted to go to the then non-existing prom with her boyfriend and date Leonard Coffee.

Leonard who moved to the town when he was in sixth grade didn’t even realize that dancing was illegal in Elmore City until the question of the Junior Banquet came up. Coffee who was also a class officer was in a meeting with the other class officers trying to decide on what activity they would do after the banquet and he said, “We dance. We dance at a prom.” And that’s when he found out about the law. After that Leonard, Rex and Mary Ann began to build a case against the decades long law and fight for a prom. The name of the lead character Ren is a combination of Rex and Leonard. Dad (Raymond Lee) gave his daughter the gift of a lifetime when he became the deciding vote to end the ban saying the words, “Let ‘em dance!” He even danced with Mary Ann at the prom. A good reason why there is such a thing as Father’s Day.

Since then, dancing has become an important part of Elmore City, Oklahoma. In 2010 the town re-created the famous prom on its 30^th anniversary and again made national headlines. In 2011 it held its very first Footloose Festival. In 2012 Hennessey’s 40-student show choir recreated the famous finale of the movie on Main Street with choreography a smoke machine, a confetti cannon and 80’s vintage prom attire. What a difference changing a flawed law and mindset can do.   

The Elmore City, Oklahoma high school students stood up to a stalwart adult force which needed to change because it was harming teenagers. It is like albeit on a microcosm scale the high school students from Parkland standing up to a stalwart adult force who refuse to change laws which are harming teenagers. It is young people forced into rectifying the idiocy of the adults.    

The part of Ariel (I love the name because it is a difficult dance move) was turned down by the following actresses: Daryl Hannah (she took the role of Madison the mermaid in Splash instead) Elizabeth McGovern (she took the role of Deborah Gelly in Once Upon a Time in America instead), Melanie Griffith, Michelle Pfeiffer, Jamie Lee Curtis, Rosanna Arquette, Meg Tilly, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Heather Locklear, Meg Ryan, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Jodie Foster, Phoebe Cates, Tatum O’Neal, Bridget Fonda, Lori Loughlin, Diane Lane and Brooke Shields. I must wonder why so many fantastic actresses made such a strange decision not to take on this strong feminist role.

Places like Elmore City, Oklahoma do/did exist. Here in the pacific northwest the town of Lynden, Washington which is near the Canadian border still holds a dancing ban where dancing and drinking are not allowed in the same establishment. In fact, Lynden had a Sunday liquor ban for forty-one years which started in 1967 and ended October 20, 2008. Something to think about while you are watching fireworks this Sunday.

Good afternoon. It is I Gigi the parti poodle here to introduce my blog and present Chapter Thirteen of my story. This week the Maltese has been suffering from the heat. I feel sorry for him. He has been panting a lot at night and my novelist had to put a cool wet towel over him. He will be feeling much better soon because he will be going in for his spa appointment where he will be tortured for an hour or two and come out looking…adequate. I still have a sharp looking style from my last appointment and do not feel the heat. I am beautiful and extraordinary in every way. That is why the blog is called Gigi Catches Air instead of Tucker Faceplants on the Floor. Without further ado here is my story. Frui!

What I Found In The Trunk

by

Gigi the parti poodle

Chapter Thirteen

“Stop that banging!” Rusty yelled.

I knew we shouldn’t have done this!” Gary said as he turned the car around the corner and headed down Front Street. “This is bad! This is seriously bad!”

“It’s a felony, isn’t it?” Bennet asked.

“Yes, it’s a felony! Are you kidding me?!”

“Just drive back to Soap Lake and we’ll work it out.”

“Why did I listen to you guys? I must be out of my mind!”

There was a banging from the trunk again.

“Stop that banging!” Rusty yelled.

“I’m going to kick you in the nuts!” Rune shouted from the trunk her voice muffled.

“Good luck doing that from the trunk, sweetheart!”

“Don’t call me sweetheart, you prick!”

“Stop agitating her,” Gary snapped. “You’re making it worse.”

“Are you going to put up with that banging all the way back to Soap Lake?”

“She’ll stop if you shut up.”

“No, she won’t.”

“Yes, she will.”

“She won’t.”

“She will!”

“Dudes,” Bennet said. “Let’s chill. If we’re all worked up about this, we won’t be able to solve the issue at hand.”

“Bennet’s right,” Gary said. “I can’t believe I’m saying this but he’s right. We need to focus on the issue at hand.”

“I’m more than willing to focus,” Rusty said. “But she needs to shut up back there and quit her banging.”

“We grabbed her, shoved her into the trunk of a Buick and took off. I can kind of see her point of view.”

“Yeah, but I can’t take that kind of racket. I have a sensitivity to loud noises.”

“You’re a security guard! You spend your free time at the shooting range!”

“Yeah, but I don’t listen to constant banging sounds. That just grates on my nerves.”

“You know what you need, dude?” Bennet said. “Meditation. I have this like meditation app on my phone…”

“Are you both nuts?!” Gary yelled. “I just want to get out of this tourist trap and head back to the cabin! I don’t care if she’s banging on the trunk or not!”

“It’s annoying,” Rusty said. “Just saying.”

“Okay. There’s the turnoff to the highway.”

“Are those cops up there?” Bennet asked.

“Probably just pulled someone over for speeding.”

“No, seriously, dude. Those are cops.”

Gary studied the situation ahead of them. Bennet was right. There were several cops at the turnoff.

“My life is over,” Gary groaned.

“Calm down, dude,” Bennet said. “I’ll handle the situation.”

“No! You won’t handle the situation. I am going to handle the situation! You suck at talking to cops!”

“Who said I was going to talk to the cops?”

“You did! You said you were going to handle the situation!”

“Oh, no, I meant I’d deal with you know who in the trunk.”

“Wow! I feel so much better about this!”

“Dude she’s going to pull that glow in the dark emergency thingy in the back there and jump out the minute we stop the car if you don’t let me handle the situation. I’m great with chicks.”

“Is that why you’re all by yourself in a cabin in a resort ghost town, hos?” Rusty asked.

“I’m alone by choice, bro. And you seriously should try that meditation app.”

“Oh, man!” Gary said. “They’re stopping cars. They are seriously stopping cars!”

“Chill out, dude. I’ll talk to her.” Bennet turned towards the back and said, “Hey, Rune.”

“Screw you!” Rune shouted from the trunk smashing her foot into the back of Bennet’s seat.

“Hey, Rune. My name is Bennet…”

“I don’t care what your name is!”

“Look, we’ve got a snafu here.”

“Not my problem.”

“We’re not out to hurt you.”

“You kidnapped me!”

“But you’ve put my buddy here in danger and we need you to help us get him out of it.”

“Nothing’s in it for me.”

“We will get you to wherever you are running to if you help us out.”

“Good luck with that.”

“No questions asked.”

“You think I’m going to tell you where I’m going?”

“We’re the best chance you’ve got of getting there.”

“No, I’m the best chance of me getting there.”

“She’s stopping us,” Gary said to Rusty.

The sinewy armed police officer with the smart short haircut motioned for Gary to roll down his window.

“Good morning, officer,” Gary said.

“Good morning, sir,” the female police officer said. “We’re going to have to ask you to go up here and turn around and head back into Leavenworth.”

Gary’s brow furrowed in confusion. “Pardon me, officer. Why do we need to do that?”

“Fire.”

“What?”

“Forest fire. It’s surrounding Leavenworth.”

“Seriously?”

“Sir, just pull up here, turn around, head back into town and stay there.”

“How long do they think the fire will last?”

“As far as we’ve been told, a couple of days.”

“A couple of days?!”

“Yes, sir. Head straight up that way and follow the orange cones.”

MY BOOKS

You can check out my books Chicane and the five installments in 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: BULLY (2011)-Netflix

In the United States region best called The Devil Belt where Christianity is preached but not always practiced lies a searing burning hell known as the public school system. This is an accurate fly on the wall documentary that simply sits back and lets the subjects of the movie present their different forms of evil. One of the critiques of this movie amongst critics is that the bullies in the film are not interviewed or asked why they do what they do. Allow me to retort. Bullies are often psychopaths or those with ASPD better known as Anti-Social Personality Disorder. This used to be called Sociopathy. As psychopaths are highly manipulative compulsive liars having them talk to the camera is not nearly as effective as if you study them in the wild. If you would kindly turn to page 155 of, Please Understand Me Character & Temperament Types by David Keirsey & Marylyn Bates you will see that there is a section called Temperament in Teaching where the authors did a study of the California school system. There is an eerie distribution of personality types:

SCHOOL PERSONAL:  STUDENTS & GENERAL POPLULATION: DIFFERENCE:

SJ:                        56%                                    38%                                                 +16%

NF:                       36%                                    12%                                                  +24%

NT:                       6%                                      12%                                                  -6%

SP:                       2%                                      38%                                                  -36%

Because SJ’s who notoriously embrace institutions, tradition, and bureaucracy dominate the school personal population they do not see any reason why their stoic teaching or administrative philosophies which are based in the past and steeping in tradition should be questioned because after all everyone thinks just like them, right?

Now turn to page 208 of, Please Understand Me II Temperament Character Intelligence by David Keirsey. This section is called The Pygmalion Project. Or in other words who is sexually attracted to whom? You’ll find that per Keirsey’s studies although there are no right or wrong attractions, people most commonly pair up based on personality. People are drawn to what Jung called their shadow. You might think of it as an equal opposite. Taking this into account what divides people most is not extroversion vs introversion but rather sensory vs intuition. Sensory is attracted to Sensory and Intuition is attracted to Intuition. Goes like this:

ESTJ + ISFP         ENFJ + INTP

ESFJ + ISTP         ENFP + INTJ

ISTJ + ESFP         INFJ + ENTP

ISFJ + ESTP         INFP + ENTJ

A while back an innovated blogger did an experiment where she asked people on the internet to take both the LSPR (which measures psychopathy) and the MBTI (which measures personality) and send her the scores. She then laid out a grid of the results. Here is what she found:

As you can see the personality types which are more likely to have ASPD and psychopathy are more to the right and the ones who are less likely to have psychopathy are to the left. Knowing that psychopaths are always extroverted we can eliminate the INTP, INTJ, ISTJ and the ISTP from the equation leaving the ENTP the ESTP the ENTJ and the ESTJ. Also, all the types that are F or feeling personality types are on the left and the T or thinking personality types are all on the right.

So, if the Pygmalion project is correct and SJ is attracted to SP, and Keirsey & Bate’s study of school personal is right and SJs are the dominate personality type amongst educators and administrators who do you think the educational staff is going to reward? Themselves and their shadow. That means that NF and NT children are the most compromised students in school. They are outnumbered in the general population by a ratio of approximately 76% to 24%, and they are the least attractive to the education majority and other students at large. That makes ESTPs and ESTJs the most likely bullies on school campuses followed by a smaller population of ENTP and ENTJ bullies. This isn’t to say the introverted INTP, INTJ, ISTJ and ISTP couldn’t be bullies as well but they are less likely because of their introversion. Nor is it to say every ESTP, ESTJ, ENTP and ENTJ is a bully, but those are the personality types with a predilection towards callous behavior. In other words, educators consciously and unconsciously gravitate towards kids who are like themselves and kids with personalities they want to have sex with. Thus, educators enable bullies.

Watch the scene where the principal (an obvious SJ) forces the two boys who have had yet another confrontation to shake hands. The real bully (ESTP) gets off Scott-free and she further victimizes the other kid (NT) who is more intelligent than she is and argues the flaws in her logic. Why? Because she wants to go to bed with the bully. And so do all the other SJ teachers and SJ students who become part of the child killing machine. Also, bullies will gravitate towards students they are sexually attracted to and bully them as well making ISFJ and ISFP potential targets for ESTP and ESTJ bullies and INFJ and INFP potential targets for ENTP and ENTJ bullies. 

Because school systems are made up primarily of SJ (logistical) personalities and NF (diplomatic) personalities you have not employed personalities who readily recognize a dangerous person. SP (tactical) and NT (strategic) personalities will much more readily size up a threat because they have a unique internal understanding of their own kind because of their strongest aptitudes. If you employed more non-psychopathic/ASPD SP and NT personalities in schools and provided them proper training, there is a chance they would recognize and ferret out bullies faster than those who are currently the majority.

And you thought sex and violence had nothing to do with the education system. Think again.  

Good afternoon. It is I Gigi the parti poodle here to introduce my blog. I had a glorious week off and spent it lounging around the house watching the occasional art film. What could be better. I am back this week penning again and enjoying the prequel to summer. There are many things I look forward to in this glorious weather: walks, sunbathing, reading and of course viciously attacking the resident Maltese. I must say I would very much like to go to summer school and take courses in astronomy and logic as the two areas have always piqued my interest. For now, I shall put my efforts into my story and keep you entertained. I wish you a wonderful Father’s Day and offer up another helping of my scrumptious tale. Bon Appetit!   

What I Found in the Trunk

by

Gigi the parti poodle

Chapter Twelve

“Yes, I remember you,” Rune said looking up at Gary who seemed taller than she remembered.

“Well, your boyfriend and his comrades wanted to take me for a little ride when I tried to return your strongbox,” Gary said.

“Why?”

“Because, Rune, you took something from him he didn’t want taken. And now he thinks I’m involved. But you know I’m not involved. And I know I’m not involved. But crazy Durwin thinks I’m involved.”

“His name isn’t Durwin.”

“Wonderful! Even better!”

“His name is David.”

“Wow. Is Durwin his alter ego?”

“It’s his twin brother’s name.”

“What does his twin brother have to say about that?”

“I don’t know. He goes to WSU.”

“Well, that sounds like a good way to stick your twin brother with a crime…or several.”

“Perhaps.”

“What did you take from him, Rune?”

“I don’t have to tell you that.”

“Well, as a matter of fact you do. Because I’m not getting beaten up and left for dead in the woods somewhere because Durwin, David or whatever his name is thinks I stole something from him that was actually stolen by you.”

“Yeah? Well, what do you think he’s going to do to me?”

“I have no idea and frankly it’s none of my business. Now, what did you take?”

“It’s safe and sound.”

“How do I know that?”

“You’ll have to take my word.”

“Your word is garbage.”

“I’m not going to hand it over to you if that’s what you think.”

“See, that’s where you’re wrong.” Gary motioned for Rusty and Bennet to come over.

“Dude,” Bennet said to Rusty over at their table by the window. “Do you think he wants us to go over there?”

“Looks like it,” Rusty said. “Yep, he sure does. He’s signaling us again.”

“Do you think we should just grab her and stuff her in the trunk of the Buick?”

“Not with all these people around. Let’s just head over and feel out the situation.”

The two guys got up and headed over to Rune’s table and stood beside Gary.

“You see,” Gary said to Rune, “I brought back up.”

Rune looked up at Gary’s two would-be mauls. “They look like clowns,” she said.

This comment did not set well with Rusty. “You’d better watch it,” he told her. “I happen to like clowns.”

“Well,” she said sitting back in her chair and folding her arms. “Firstly, I don’t have what David’s looking for on me.”

“David?” Bennet said. “I thought his name was Durwin.”

“Durwin is David’s twin,” Gary explained. “I’ll fill you in on the details later. In the meantime, I want Rune here to tell us what it is Davy boy is looking for and where she hid it. Because if she doesn’t, we’re going to have to go on to Plan B!”

“Is that what we talked about earlier that you didn’t want to do?”

Gary scowled at Bennet and nodded his head.

“When you say twin,” Rusty asked Rune, “do you mean identical or fraternal?”

“Identical,” Rune replied

“Get up out of that chair,” Gary told her. “We’re all leaving here together.”

“I’m not going anywhere with you.”

Gary looked at Bennet and Rusty. “Plan B,” he said.

Rune shot up out of her chair and ran for the door.

“Seriously?!”

The three guys took off after her and raced out of the café.

“There she is!” Rusty said pointing right. Rune was dodging around a group of elderly ladies who were window shopping for nutcrackers.

The boys rushed towards her shoving tourists out of the way as they ran up the sidewalk. Rune turned right and rounded the corner. An elderly man with a couple of Dachshunds was heading straight towards them. Bennet tripped on the leashes and hit the pavement. Rusty sidestepped the kafuffle and turned down the side street. He saw Rune rush down the sidewalk and turn right again. He picked up speed and headed after her.

Gary ran up to Bennet and the elderly man on Front Street. “I’m sorry,” he told him. “We had an argument with our…friend and she…”

“The car!” Bennet screamed. “Go!”

Gary whipped around, stumbled, and ran towards the Buick bumping into people and nearly tripping over a cat on a leash. His heart pounding and his hands shaking he fumbled for the key, unlocked the car, and jumped inside. He pulled out into traffic and clenched his teeth wanting to drive faster but the tourist traffic slowed him down. He watched Bennet run around the corner Rune had turned on. He veered left and drove two blocks not seeing her anywhere. Then he looked in his rearview mirror and saw Rusty running full speed.

Cranking the wheel and making a U-turn Gary sped up the street towards his nightwatchman. Still no Rune. He looked left then right then left again…then he saw her dash into the parking lot of the Obertal Inn. He cranked the wheel again, drove into the parking lot, threw on the break and with the car still running he burst out of the driver’s side and sprinted around the front of the car.

Rune saw him coming, turned towards the hotel entrance, and rushed towards the lobby door with Gary in hot pursuit. He lunged towards her but missed and her hand flailing for the handle when Rusty tackled her from the side.

Gary rushed up and slapped his hand over her mouth as they hauled her over to the car. Gary popped the trunk with his key fob and with her struggling and kicking shoved her into the trunk and shut the lid. Gary hopped into the driver’s side and Rusty threw open the passenger door. Gary whipped the car around, hung right and they drove up the street where they found Bennet bent over, huffing and puffing trying to catch his breath.

“We’ve got her!” Rusty told him after rolling down the window.

“Awesome!” Bennet said.

“Get in!”

Bennet grabbed the handle of the rear door of the passenger’s side, hopped in and they took off.   

MY BOOKS

You can check out my books Chicane and the five installments in 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: MEMORIES OF MURDER (2003)-Hulu

Firstly, allow me to say this is not a must-see film. This film is required viewing. The opening frame of the movie is a young boy in a field staring at something. Suddenly, he reaches out and with his thumb and forefinger snatches a bug, likely a cricket, studies it and places it in his jar with many other crickets. He screws the lid on and holds the jar behind his back out of view to the detective and everyone else at the site of a horrific crime scene which will become a manhunt for one of the most notorious murderers in Korean history. Is this not a masterclass way to introduce a movie about a serial killer? Bong Joon-ho who directed and co-wrote the script with Shim Sung-bo is best know for his Oscar winning film Parasite. But from where I sit Memories of Murder is his magnum opus.

Combining humor and the slow burn of tragedy the movie tells the true story of Korea’s first known serial killer. Starting in October of 1986 in a small Korean town the bodies of two young women are found, each one with similar modus operandi. They have been hog tied, raped, had their panties placed over their heads and were strangled with an article of their own clothing. Likable local detective Park Doo-man (Song-kang ho) with no background in serial killers and little forensic technology finds himself dealing with botched crime scenes and damaged evidence. He and his hotheaded partner Detective Cho Yong-Koo suspect a mentally challenged young man named Baek Gwang-ho (No-shik Park) who was known to follow around the first woman they found dead. He was seen doing so on the night she died, and they suspect he is the killer. Enter Detective Seo Tae-yoon (Kim Sang-kyung), from Seoul, a university educated man who sees things differently. When Park and Cho and their Sergeant Koo He-bong (Byun Hee-bong) think they have their man in Baek, they announce to the press the case is solved. But when they are quickly proved wrong Sergent Shin Dong-chul (Jae-ho Song) is brought to head the case and work with the three detectives to solve the crimes. But like an onion which falls apart layer by layer they find the killer is much savvier than they bargained for.

Ironically in 2019 when Parasite hit the theatres new information came out about the case. You can read about it HERE after you’ve seen the film.

Musicology: Volume One, Baby!

Musicology: Volume Two, Kid!

All insane things must come to an end. In the aftermath of the shocking Musicology finale Ruby takes off on tour with Robbie Sexton. Max assembles a music group with two of the contestants and another familiar face and books them a gig in Las Vegas. But unexpected events and smoldering relationships send the members lives spiraling out of control as they seek to establish life after reality competition.

Gigi Proudly Presents Musicology: The Epiquad

Bonjour! It is I Gigi the parti poodle and today is a most auspicious event! My novelist has published her fifth and final book in the Musicology book series and it is now available on Amazon for Kindle and in paperback. I am most pleased to have mentored her through this process. Although it took her three years to pen all five novels, she published all five books in eleven months thanks to my incredible tutelage, hand holding and all-around greatness. I could not be prouder of myself…

I helped too. Hello, I am Tucker the Maltese…

You did squat! I was the one who sat there and held her hand when she didn’t think she could possibly get through the rewrite. I was the one who assisted her when she was trying to figure out how to format that dreaded paperback. You just sat there and looked cute!

You think I’m cute?

No! Good heavens, go lie on your pillow! You’re messing up my speech!

Okay, but I helped…

Go!

Okay. Bye-bye.

Crazy furball! Where was I…oh, yes! Please enjoy this final installment in the Musicology book series. And as a bonus treat both Musicology: Volume One, Baby! and Musicology Volume Two, Kid! will be FREE on Kindle this Monday, June 14^th and Tuesday, June 15^th. I will return next Thursday with another chapter of my story What I Found in the Trunk. Au revoir!

Good afternoon. It is I Gigi the parti poodle. This week I am taking a break from my story to introduce my novelist who will be penning the blog today. Tomorrow is the release of her final book in the Musicology series entitled, Musicology: The Epiquad. My novelist is going to talk a little bit about this book which is an epilogue presented in four parts. Here is the synopsis:

All insane things must come to an end. In the aftermath of the shocking Musicology finale Ruby takes off on tour with Robbie Sexton. Max assembles a music group with two of the contestants and another familiar face and books them a gig in Las Vegas. But unexpected events and smoldering relationships send the members lives spiraling out of control as they seek to establish life after reality competition.

I very much enjoyed this final book in the series my novelist wrote under my tutelage. Very few novels make people laugh. My novelist hopes her books are amongst those which do. I will be back next week with the next installment of What I Found in the Trunk. Until then, here is my novelist.  

Tomorrow the final novel in my Musicology series entitled Musicology: The Epiquad releases. The Musicology series is a five-book comedy/satire compilation which chronicles the course of one season of a fictional music reality television show. The story starts out with two aging former lovers, a successful diva and a bankrupt music producer who are hired by their friend, a reality television host and producer, to save his dying show. The diva and the music producer agree to work together as mentors but not judges on Musicology and after being strongarmed by their television producer friend, find themselves voyaging together to five locations across the contiguous United States to scrape up any college age/new adult singers they can find to audition for Musicology. Along the way they pick up where they left off in their bizarre life in the fast lane relationship. When they finally find a solid handful of kids they return to Burbank, California where we get to watch them narrow down the contestants until they assemble a motley crew of disparate singers. The Circle of Ten (the ten finalists) are assigned rooms to live in at Max’s mansion where the kids become friends, enemies and more. Not to mention the diva has a secret concerning one of the contestants that could not only get the show canceled but could land Musicology in serious legal liability.

I wrote the book series with the idea that despite its length it would read fast and funny as well as having moments that were sometimes poignant and sometimes devastating. Because of its raunchy and highly explicit content, the book series is not intended for readers under 18 years of age. I watched and continued to watch hundreds of hours of reality competition shows over the course of the three years it took me to write all five books. In fact, I still watch some of them. The Epiquad in many ways was the most challenging of the novels because it takes place during the year after the show has finished its season and it needed to wrap up the story in a way that gives the reader a wholly satisfying ending. After I completed writing the books it occurred to me there were two plausible ways to end the series and so before I copyrighted all the books, I wrote an alternate ending. I have released only the original ending at this time.

I wanted the series to have a cinematic and highly entertaining feel to it with a lot of dialogue so the books could be easily transferred to film. I received a writing degree and an acting degree and then went on to finish a two-year professional actor training program in New York City as well as a yearlong screenwriting program at the UW and wrote a few screenplays before turning to novels. I often think of my novels as readable and comprehensive plays or screenplays. In fact, I tend to refer to my chapters as scenes. I like my characters to pop off the page. I like to be able to tell anyone what my character is like and be able to answer just about any question about them. In other words, I probably know my characters better than I know real people. In fact, it is difficult if not painful for me to have to move on and meet new characters as I am so married to them.

But a writer cannot continue living in one world alone and I am presently finishing up another satire which I will keep you updated on. Until then, Gigi is going to return next week with another chapter of her story What I Found in the Trunk. Until then, the first two books of the Musicology series, Musicology: Volume One, Baby! and Musicology: Volume Two, Kid! will both be FREE to download to Kindle on Amazon next Monday, June 14^th and Tuesday June 15^th.

MY BOOKS

You can check out my books Chicane and the first four installments in my Musicology book series Musicology: Volume One, Baby!, Musicology: Volume Two, Kid!, Musicology: Volume Three, Twist! and Musicology: Volume Four, Sweetie! on Amazon in Kindle and Paperback editions. The fifth and final book of the Musicology series, Musicology: The Epiquad will be releasing this Friday, June 11, 2021. 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: BAD EDUCATION (2019)-HBO Max

Earlier this week a story broke about a young thirty-year-old named Casey Garcia who is the mother of a 13-year-old middle school student. She decided to try an experiment: could she, after dying her hair, pose as her daughter and attend school. Would she get caught? And if she did how long would it take the school to realize she was an imposter? As it turns out not till the end of the day. She was able to enter the school, say hello to the principal and another faculty member and attend all seven of her classes, including eating lunch without a mask on, for the entire day. It wasn’t until the last teacher, thinking she was the woman’s daughter asked if she could speak with her at the end of class. The teacher was stunned when she found out the student was the student’s mother and responded with one word: “Why?”

I for one am on the side of Ms. Garcia and do not think she should be persecuted for her act. She proved a point and for that matter she is not the first young woman I’ve come across who has pulled something like this off. When I was going to the university there was a student a couple of grades ahead of me who went down to Pioneer Square and posed as a homeless woman for three days (do not try this at home). At that time she was taken in by the homeless community who treated her very well and provided her food and a place to stay. Nowadays they would probably just shive her and take her money. I hope I’m wrong.

I also knew a university student who was the editor of his college newspaper who came to my high school and posed as a new student to do a study on high school students. Now in this case the school knew about his experiment, but the students didn’t. He did indeed pull off his ruse and went to classes for about a week or more and fooled the entire student body. Bear in mind he was a senior in college and not a freshman, so he was about twenty-one or twenty-two years old at the time.  

The point is, as the Amazing Randy said, “No matter how smart or how well educated you are, you can be deceived.” The argument the mother is trying to make is we cannot afford to be fooled living in this now absurdly dangerous world. We need to change. The schools need to change. The public and private school system is so notoriously bureaucratic and filled to the brim with employees who can be scammed at the drop of a pin. Is this not the laughably perfect target for a dangerous person?

Which brings me to my stream of the week. An excellent little film about fraud. Fraud to the tune of eleven million dollars…stolen from the public school system…and it’s based on a true story. Dr. Frank Tassone (Hugh Jackman) is the superintendent of the Rosylyn Union Free school district in Long Island, New York, and Pam Gluckin (Allison Janney) is the assistant superintendent. Together they can boast under their leadership the school district has risen to number four in the number of students accepted into Ivy League universities. Because of their desirable schools the property values in the area have also risen allowing for a large flow of money into the school district. Dr. Tassone is a master propagandist who can schmooze just about anyone…except student reporter and co-editor of the school newspaper Rachel Bhargava (Geraldine Viswanathan) who is working on a “puff piece” about the expensive new sky bridge the school wants to build. After Tassone’s suggestion to make sure she investigates her piece well and Gluckin’s reluctant suggestion she looks through the school financial files, Rachel’s research leads to a paper trail of school credit card purchases that appear to be strangely suspect. By the way, Rachel Bhargava’s character is based on real Roslyn high school student Rebeckah Rombom who was the first to break the story via the school newspaper and went on to graduate from Dartmouth.

Hello. My name is Tucker, and I am a Maltese. Gigi is still recovering from her birthday party. I am a heavyweight, so I bounced back well. Maltese can party with the best of canines. Even the Great Mastiff…although there was a Borzoi once who really gave me a run for my money. Anyhoo, I am going to introduce Gigi’s blog today and make her proud of me. I will do a good job. Today is Chapter Eleven in Gigi’s story. Did you know the number eleven can symbolize chaos and disorder? I guess that explains why Gigi went so crazy on her birthday. It may also be why it is an important number in my novelist’s book. Oh, that’s right! That’s right! Our novelist wanted me to remind you that her fifth and final book in her Musicology book series called Musicology: The Epiquad is releasing next Friday, June 11^th. It is called The Epiquad because it is an epilogue in four parts…

Shut up! You are not supposed to tell them that, you insulant cur! That is a secret!

It is?

Yes! Good Afternoon. I am Gigi the parti poodle here to introduce Chapter Eleven of my story…

I told them that already. Aren’t you proud of me? I introduced your story.

You did WHAT? This is my story! MY story…good heavens I think I might just have the vapors.

Let me catch you…there, there. You should go lie down. You will feel better. Okay, here is Chapter Eleven of What I Found in the Trunk.

 

What I Found in the Trunk

By

Gigi the parti poodle

“Okay, Gary, here’s your coffee,” Rusty said when he and Bennet returned to the Buick.

“How long was I out?” Gary asked from the back seat yawning and stretching.

“Two hours,” he said handing him his java.

“Two hours? What did you guys do for two hours?”

“We walked around Leavenworth while it was closed,” Bennet said. “I showed Rusty Front Street and then we walked down some of the back streets before we bought the coffee. We sat down on one of those Bavarian benches and ate our hipster toast.”

“What time is it now?”

“Almost nine.”

“Almost nine! Rune could have skipped town by now!”

“Naw,” Rusty said. “She’s still in Leavenworth.”

“You’d better be right. I’m on the lamb here. My dad’s expecting me at work and I’m not there. I need to find Rune, or Durwin and his psycho posse are going to find me first.”

“Hey, I was beaten up by these guys at the car lot and I know they mean business.”

“Look, we’re wasting time here. Let’s get out of the car and start looking for Rune.”

“I think we should split up,” Bennet said.

“We can’t split up,” Rusty said. “Gary’s the only one who knows what she looks like.”

“Dude, have we thought about what we’re going to do when we find her?”

“Kidnap her.”

“What?!” Gary yelled. “Are you crazy?!”

“We need to show her we mean business.”

“We could go to prison for that!”

“Only if we get caught.”

“We’re going to get caught! And we’re going to go to prison!”

“I have to concur with Russ here,” Bennet said.

“Seriously?!”

“They were going to kidnap you so it’s only fair.”

“Yeah,” Rusty agreed. “That’ll really stick it to Durwin and his buds.”

“No one is going to kidnap anyone!” Gary said. “We’re going to get out of this car right now and find her and talk to her and convince her to give Durwin back whatever it is she took.”

“It’s your call, man but the whole kidnapping thing sounds pretty good right now.”

After window shopping on Front Street, Rune regretted not having anything but coffee at the hotel’s breakfast buffet. She partially blamed her hunger on the apple strudel and its otherworldly fragrance. She should have eaten breakfast instead of just having coffee in the quaint little brunch room at the Orbital Inn. Now she found herself coming upon The Danish Bakery with its red sign with the golden pretzel on it. In fact, the whole establishment was decorated with pretzels. She headed inside and stood looking at the wooden and slanted glass case filled with delicacies including Danishes, strudel, turnovers, kringle, cream bollen, Bavarian waffles and of course pretzels.

“I’ll take one of your giant pretzels with salt,” she told the plump blonde woman behind the counter.

“Anything else?” the woman asked.

“One of those strawberry and cream Bavarian waffles too, please. And a large cup of coffee.”

“Not espresso?”

“No, just a large coffee with cream and sugar…for here.” The woman took the pretzel and pastries from the case and set them on a plate while her assistant took one of the paper coffee-cups with a pretzel design on it and poured her a coffee with cream and sugar.

Rune paid with cash, left a tip, thanked the women, and headed for a green topped and wood tone two-person table at the back of the establishment and sat in the chair with her back to the entrance. She did not notice the three men walk in and immediately occupy a table near the window facing the street. But they saw her. They watched her wolf down the pretzel before slowing down to sip her coffee.

“I think we should join her,” Gary said. “If we sit down at her table, we can try and quietly get the information we need.”

“She’s not going to tell you anything,” Rusty said. “We need to stick to the kidnapping plan.”

“Dudes,” Bennet said. “We can’t waste time arguing here. We need to make our move.”

“I’m going to go talk to her,” Gary said.

“But she’ll see your face.”

“She’s already seen my face. I bought her car.”

“She might not remember you. How many times have you bought something from a salesperson and remembered their face?”

“How should I know? Sometimes I remember and sometimes I don’t. I’m going in.”

Gary rose from the table and made a beeline for Rune.

Rune lifted her coffee to take another sip and saw the guy she’d sold her car to glaring down at her. Gary watched her eyes widen as she slowly set down her coffee.

“Do you remember me?” he asked her.

My Books

You can check out my books Chicane and the first four installments in my Musicology book series Musicology: Volume One, Baby!, Musicology: Volume Two, Kid!, Musicology: Volume Three, Twist! and Musicology: Volume Four, Sweetie! on Amazon in Kindle and Paperback editions. The fifth and final book of the Musicology series, Musicology: The Epiquad will be releasing next month on Friday, June 11, 2021. 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: TWIN PEAKS (1990)-Netflix

The landmark television show Twin Peaks has been running on Netflix for ten years. On June 30^th, 2021, it will end its decade long run. The show which originally ran for only two seasons on ABC (Showtime ran the limited-edition reboot Twin Peaks: The Return set 25 years later) is set here in the pacific northwest in Washington State primarily in North Bend. David Lynch was born in Misoula, Montana and his family moved around quite a lot spending some of his childhood in Sandpoint, Idaho, Spokane, Washington (short a not long a), and Boise, Idaho as well as few other other smaller towns around the country. He has an uncanny way of perfectly placing his finger on the pulse of the great Northwest.

If you are a native Washingtonian or a native Northwesterner (Washington, Idaho, and Oregon) the story of Laura Palmer and the inhabitants of Twin Peaks are not dissimilar to Northwesterners and I for one have never found the show strange. One of the great moments in the pilot is where Benjamin Horne and Leland Palmer are talking to a group of would-be land development investors and there is a Norwegian interpreter. A lot of Scandinavian descendants live here or at least did at the time the show first aired which makes that scene quite funny. Now to be fair, the concept of Laura Palmer comes from the East Coast which is one of the elements co-creator Mark Frost (Hillstreet Blues writer) brought to the story. Laura is based on a woman named Hazel Irene Drew, an attractive blue-eyed blonde who was mysteriously bludgeoned in 1908 at the age of twenty (Laura Palmer is seventeen) and just like Laura, her body was found washed ashore. Her murder was never solved. Frost’s grandmother used to tell the story to him as a cautionary tale. Much like Laura, Hazel had many secrets and was involved with several men as well as having a cocaine habit. Cocaine is mentioned about one of the pieces of evidence in the pilot. I might also mention touching the side of the nose can mean a sign of secrecy or conspiracy if you happen to be in the red room.

Washington State is unfortunately known for its serial killers. At the time of the show there was one in one of Lynch’s hometowns called The Spokane Killer who killed from 1975 until 1997. He was later found to be Robert Lee Yates Jr. who had a predilection for picking up prostitutes, shooting them in the head and then engaging in postmortem sex. Another Spokane serial killer is Randy Woodfield (The I-5 Killer), Stanley Bernson who is thought to have killed 30 Northwest women during the late seventies and into the eighties. And The .22 Caliber Killer who is believed to be responsible for the deaths of three women the same year the show came out. His identity remains unknown. Other well-known serial killers who hunted in Washington State were Gary Ridgeway (The Green River Killer), Kenneth Bianchi (The Hillside Strangler) and Theodore Robert Bundy (Ted Bundy). Note the middle name Robert which is a name ironically often shortened to Bob.