Save the Bunnies

May 15, 2026May 15, 2026 ~ gigicatchesair ~ Leave a comment

Good evening. It is I Gigi the parti poodle here to introduce this week’s blog. As you may remember from last time all of us in the van were stunned by Bernard D. Bunny landing on the hood of the car with a distressed look upon his adorable furry face. His whiskers twitched wildly as if he didn’t know what to do with himself. He tapped aggressively on the windshield with his paw. “Let us in! Let us in!”

It was then that I saw his little sister Belle peek over his shoulder, her eyes wide and frightened as she clung to his back.

“Open the door, Ruffles,” I told Ruffles the bulldog. “They are in danger!”

“But the kidnappers are getting ready to leave,” he said.

“Open the door!”

“We’ll never find my sister if you let them in,” Artemis said.

“Open the passenger side door,” I said. “They won’t see us.”

“We need to leave the bunnies behind,” Charlotte the Chow said.

How utterly unreasonable. I leaped into the front seat and pressed the button on the door. The window lowered and our dearest two bunnies hopped inside. As soon as Belle’s cotton tail had cleared the glass, a snarling blur of angry jaws and claws lurched at the window, its long vicious snout poked inside. But what was most disturbing was the creature’s loud piercing howl.

As soon as it began to wail, the woman in the camo and the tattooed man whipped their heads around in our direction. This was one of the only times in my life I felt smart and stylish to be riding in a van with tinted mirrored windows. Through my opera glasses I could see them both mouth the word “coyote”. And by the look of the size of the monster, I could tell it was the dreaded Crispin.

“My word,” Madeline the British Shorthair said. “It’s a werewolf!”

“There are no such things as werewolves,” Edison the Manx assured her. “But that thing is horrifying!”

For the first time I have ever known them the dachshund twins were frozen in place. Their eyes wide with terror.

“They’re starting up the engine!” Artemis said pointing her paw towards the van. “We need to go!”

“She’s right,” Ruffles said. “We need to go!”

Suddenly, Crispin jumped on the hood of the van, his breath blasting steam on the window.

“They’re looking our way,” Ruffles said.

“Don’t move till they move,” Charlotte the Chow said. “Pretend we aren’t even here.”

“Give me those rabbits!” Crispin demanded, his bark was harsh and sharp.

“Certainly not,” I barked back. “You have no right to eat our friends.”

“I’ll eat you too,” he barked with menace.

“Don’t be absurd. That would be cannibalism.”

“A sarcastic poodle. Why am I not surprised?”

“We’re busy here. Try and remember you’re an omnivore and go eat some fruit, you uncouth twit.”

“They’re leaving,” Ruffles said.

“Drive!” Artemis yelled.

“We’re not done, poodle,” Crispin said sliding his paws off the door.

“We are for now,” I said as Ruffles hit the gas. 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: GOOD BOY (2025)-HULU**

After featuring a handful of television shows on the blog, I am going to turn the spotlight onto some recent films which have finally come to streaming. This first one is a sleeper of an Indi-movie with a new twist on the old monster in the house story. And unlike a lot of horror stories out there, this one has an unusual sweetness and depth you don’t often find in these types of films.

In his break-out performance Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever Indy who plays, well, Indy is the beloved and loyal companion of Todd (Shane Jensen). The story is seen entirely through Indy’s perspective. Todd is not doing well. When we first meet him, he is lying on his couch unconscious, blood leaking out of his mouth. His sister Vera (Arielle Friedman) finds him along with Indy who refuses to leave his side. Vera quickly gets him ushered to the hospital but not long after, Todd is released. He heads home with Indy and packs a couple of suitcases, throws them in the back of his car and he and Indy head out to a house in the woods that belonged to he and Vera’s grandfather.

Vera calls Todd and says she wants to come over and check on her brother, but Todd tells his sister he dreads every time the phone rings and it is her. The two discuss how the house is thought to be haunted and there is some indication their grandpa (Larry Fessenden) did not die under the best of circumstances. In addition, in their conversation they briefly discuss how sensitive dogs are and how much more alert to things humans often miss. Indy immediately starts to pick up signals something is wrong such as Bandit (Max) grandpa’s dog showing up and leading Indy to eerie parts of the house.

A View from the Van

May 8, 2026 ~ gigicatchesair ~ Leave a comment

Good afternoon. It is I Gigi the parti poodle here to introduce this week’s blog. As you may know from last week, Artemis, Madeline, Edison, Bruiser, Ruffles, Charlotte, Titus and Tyler, the twin dachshunds and I were all camped out in Ruffle’s owner’s van across from the kidnapper’s yellow house. We were waiting to see who was coming to purchase our dear Demeter from this monster or worse yet, who was coming to sell her on the black market. We were sitting with bated breath when a huge orange Hummer pulled up into the cul-de-sac. We all pressed our noses to the window to get a better look. Ruffles had a pair of binoculars and gave us the play by play. I also brought along a pair of opera glasses which seemed to work rather well.

We witnessed a woman in a silky camo print dress and a big orange fluffy faux fur coat, and a man with so many tattoos he had no more places to ink… at least none that were visible, disembark and head up to the house. When the kidnapper came to the door we noted he was carrying a can of cat food in his hand which implied Demeter must still be inside. We knew this because Edison and Madeline had overheard, he was selling “the Persian” on the black market when they were trapped inside. Which brings us to tonight.

“Do you think they’ll bring Demeter to the door?” Artemis asked nervously. “Do you think we’ll see her? What if we see her? What should we do?

“Calm down,” Edison told her. “You need to relax and not panic.”

“I can’t help it. It’s been so long since I’ve seen my sister.”

“Don’t fall apart on us now, Artemis. You and Gigi were brave enough to come rescue Madeline and I.”

“Yes, we were,” I said. “Keep calm and kick this kidnapper in the kisser.”

“Kick him in the kisser, kick him in the kisser,” the twins barked causing Bruiser to start jumping up and down again.”

“Kick him in the kisser!” he shouted nearly hitting his head on the ceiling. “Kick him in the kisser!”

“Will you calm down,” Charlotte said. “Or they’re going to notice us.”

“I think the kidnapper is heading back inside,” Ruffles said peering through his binoculars.

I looked out my opera glasses and sure enough the kidnapper, the woman with the camo dress and the tattoo man were all heading into the house. “Alright, everyone, remain quiet,” I said. The van became so quiet you could hear a loose rabies tag drop.

Several minutes passed and Titus and Tyler started getting restless. Charlotte and I gave them a stern growl. Suddenly, we saw the door to the yellow house open, and the tattooed man came outside. He swung open the rear hatch of the Hummer blocking our view. The woman in the silky camo dress sashayed out of the house carrying what could be a crate when I peered through my opera glasses.

“Does it look like a crate to you, Ruffles?” I asked.

“I am not sure. The rear door is in the way.”

“Drat.”

The man closed the back door of the Hummer and marched towards the driver’s side.

“Hold my binoculars,” he told Charlotte. “Let’s get ready to roll.” We all waited, our eyes on the Hummer.

Suddenly, something landed on the hood of the van. We all jumped and turned our heads to find a visibly shaken and distressed Bernard D. Bunny! Until next week, I bid you adieu.

MY BOOKS

**STREAM OF THE WEEK: SHERLOCK (2010)-HULU**

This week’s pick is a modern take on the beloved classic stories of Sherlock Holmes. Now, because I am a fan of personality types, I should note that in the original book series, Sherlock Holmes is considered an ISTP, likely because Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was himself an ESTP. Thus, it wasn’t a huge stretch for him to create an ISTP character which is often a personality type that would naturally go into police work of various types. This explains the books’ centuries long popularity and why Sherlock has been likeable to a large audience. Because approximately 40% of the general population is SP and 40% of the general population is SJ and these personality types are complimentary to each other. That’s why television has always been sickeningly slathered with cop shows, doctor shows and game shows. SPs and SJs eat this stuff up.

However, in the modern version Sherlock is likely an INTJ and the phenomenal actor who plays Sherlock happens to be an INFJ. Why is this important to note? Because INTJs and INFJs have Introverted Intuition or in other words, “a perceiving cognitive function that allows individuals to process information internally, seeking patterns, trends, and hidden meanings rather than focusing on immediate sensory input.” And INTJs and INFJs take up a whopping 2% of the population…combined. I am an INTJ. And yes, INTJs and INFJs to varying degrees can do these things. So, when fans of the show say it is not believable that Sherlock can pick up on as many clues as he can…they are wrong. Especially since Sherlock in addition to having introverted intuition also has HPI or “high potential” which would indeed make him capable of picking up on a variety of clues others would not.

The show also points out he is not well liked by many of the people who work with him. This is accurate. People who really know what they are doing are often disliked. Especially if they are introverted and even more so if they are intuitive. Why? Because intuitive personality types take up only 20% of the world population. And only about 4% of the world is made up of introverted intuitive personality types. So those of us who are introverted intuitive personality types live in a world where the odds are always stacked against us. We constantly find ourselves engulfed in a sea of garish colors, bright lights, loud troglodyte-appealing noises and vapid television shows and movies.

A great example of this conflict is tension featured in the classic film The Flight of the Phoenix. The characters must realize they are going to die unless they trust the knowledge of the one guy they don’t like. And I believe that despised character is an INTJ. We INTJs and I imagine INFJs can’t always explain how we come to correct conclusions, but we do. And everyone hates us. Maybe because of this ability. But you’re not getting that broken plane off the ground without our help.

The modern incarnation of Sherlock was created by Mark Gatis and Steven Moffit. And although the show falters in its final season for breaking the carnal rule that television show that don’t end well always do which is they refuse to Give the Audience What They Want, it is an exciting, energetic, thrilling ride throughout and well worth the watch.

The show stars the excellent Martin Freeman, known for playing Tim on the original BBC The Office , as Dr. John Watson and the highly talented Bennedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock Holmes. The chemistry they have is superb. Characters from the book also are in the show such as landlady Mrs. Hudson (Una Stubbs), Lestrade (Rupert Graves), Mary Morstan (Amanda Abbington) and of course Professor James (Jim) Moriarty (Andrew Scott). Some characters which aren’t in the book have been added to the cast such as Mycroft, Sherlock Holmes’s brother, well played by Mark Gattis and Molly Hooper, a forensic pathologist who has a crush on Sherlock played by Louise Brealey.

Orange Hummer

May 1, 2026 ~ gigicatchesair ~ Leave a comment

Good afternoon. It is I Gigi the parti poodle here to introduce this week’s blog. The others were most disturbed by the realization that Crispin the Coyote was on the prowl. It concerned all of us, but we knew we had to take a chance and attempt to rescue our precious Persian cat Demeter, especially since we had a van and could remain inside where Crispin could not reach us.

Ruffles the bulldog parked the van across the street from the yellow house and we waited. I was most concerned that the Dachshund twins had brought an extra-large bag of Cheetos Puffs. Titus ripped it open while Tyler began munching them down. Not to be outdone, Titus began munching them down as well.

“Don’t get that orange stuff all over my owner’s van,” Ruffles barked, “or you’re going to get it!”

Artemis who’d had just about enough of their tomfoolery reached out and swiped her claws across the back of Tyler’s head. He yelped and put his back paw up to his ear. She glared at Titus, who dropped the bag of puffs from his mouth and sat.

“When do you think these buyers are coming?” Bruiser the Jack Russell asked. “I’m getting restless. I’m climbing the walls.”

“They’ve got to be coming soon,” Madeline the British Shorthair said. “We’ve been here for at least—”

“Half an hour,” Charlotte the Chow said.

“Yes, half an hour.”

“Augh!” Bruiser said jumping up and down. “It feels like a year!”

“It’s not been a year,” Edison the Manx said. “I do wish you’d stop bouncing around.”

“I can’t help it! I can’t help it!”

“You’re going to bang your head on the ceiling of my owner’s van,” Ruffles said. “If you guys don’t settle down and start acting like civilized pets I’m going to—”

“Someone’s coming,” Charlotte the Chow said.

All of us turned to see a bright orange Hummer SUV drive up the hill and turn into the cul-de-sac and up in front of the yellow house. I pressed my little black poodle nose against the glass and watched. The gigantic Hummer door opened and out stepped a woman wearing a silky camo print dress and one of those big fluffy faux fur coats in the same color as the Hummer. A man got out as well. He wore jeans, Dr. Martin Boots and a leather vest. He had so many tattoos I do not believe he had any area left on his body to add another drop of ink.

The two of them headed to the front door and we all held our breath and waited. Then we all gasped in shock when the kidnapper came to the door. He had something in his hand. Ruffles looked through his binoculars and said, “It’s a can of cat food.”

“My goodness!” Artemis said. “She must be inside.”

“Where do you think he kept her?” Edison said. “Madeline and I never saw her when we were trapped in there.

“It doesn’t matter. What matters is that we get my sister out.”

Until next week, I bid you adieu.

MY BOOKS

**STREAM OF THE WEEK: COLUMBO (1971)-AMAZON PRIME**

If you are stressed out, wired up, mad as hell and not about to take it anymore, then this show is for you. One of the best television series (each episode averages around a full-length 90-minute movie) of the 1970’s, this is much more relaxing to watch than many modern shows and every episode is about a murder. Imagine that. Someone pointed out to me that the color schemes in modern shows are much brighter and bolder looking than their 1970’s and 1980’s counterparts which shows a demand for spectacle over substance. Not only that, but the best ones of these eras also take their time and unfold with a more cerebral quality than a visceral one.

And the acting here is excellent. The show drew such actors as Roddy McDowall, Janet Leigh, Vincent Price, Faye Dunaway, Leslie Nielsen, Johnny Cash, Leonard Nimoy, William Shatner, Dick Van Dyke, Kim Cattrall, Bruno Kirby, Jamie Lee Curtis, Martin Sheen, Celeste Holm, Robert Culp, Joyce Van Patten, Ruth Gordon, Mariette Hartley, John Cassavetes, Gena Rowlands, Blythe Danner, Myrna Loy, Ray Milland, Eddie Albert, Suzanne Pleshette, Don Ameche, Anne Francis, Vera Miles, Dean Stockwell, Donald Pleasence, Anne Baxter, Valerie Harper, Laurence Harvey, Martin Landau, Robert Conrad, Robert Vaughn, George Hamilton, Lesley Ann Warren, Ricardo Montalban, and Jack Cassidy. In fact, the very first episode was directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Steven Bochco. Try and get that level of talent for a show today. In fact, it’s a shame that it’s difficult to do a show like this in the modern world because, if the concept was good and it was written right it would probably be a hit.

Every episode starts out showing you how the murderer committed the crime. And then here comes this bedraggled scruffy looking detective driving a beaten-up bland looking 1959–1960 Peugeot 403 Cabriolet. Sometimes accompanied by a basset hound named Dog. But do not be fooled for Columbo (iconically played by Peter Falk) is a genius INTP. INTPs are usually the valedictorian of their high school class. They may wear their pants on backwards occasionally, or talk obsessively about their favorite video game, but they are also the ones who come up with such gems as E = mc2. The joy of each Columbo mini movie is watching this guy do his work. He is polite, well-mannered, embarrassingly humble and a bit of a doofus. But all of it adds up to him solving the crime and wearing the perpetrator down until they screw up and entrap themselves.

Currently, half the fun of watching the show is to get a glimpse of life at that time with the opulent 70’s décor and the far-out clothes. Columbo, however, could likely walk on screen today and look as if he were from this era. Maybe that’s part of the magic.

Crispin

April 24, 2026 ~ gigicatchesair ~ Leave a comment

Good afternoon. It is I Gigi the parti poodle here to introduce this week’s blog. As you may remember the kidnapper was going to sell “the Persian”, or in other words Demeter, to a buyer on the black market. The other Canis lupus familiaris and Felis catus and I are going over to the house in Ruffle’s owner’s van, and we plan to follow the black-market customers just as soon as—

“I have news.”

“Bernard D. Bunny? What is it?”

“Crispin.”

“Crispin? You mean—”

“Yes. Do you want me to tell them or should I?”

“I shall. Dear reader, the following words I tell you are most chilling. As you may remember from the beginning of this catnapping tale, Bernard had mentioned coyote sightings in our neighborhood and how he had to stay back at his hutch to protect his little sister Belle Bunny. There have been coyotes that come and go but the most disturbing one of them all is Crispin Z. Coyote.

Crispin is a Goliath amongst the Canis latrans. My novelist once witnessed him wolfing down a squirrel from the ears to the tail which dangled out of his mouth momentarily before it was ghoulishly devoured whole. My novelist forced me to go outside continuously with a harness and a leash for a while after that. The monster was also spotted nearby having mangled and munched on a bunny. He is a bloodthirsty beast with neither morals nor mercy.

After my novelist witnessed the terror and spoke to me about the dangers, I had a nightmare about Crispin. I was sleeping quietly, curled up next to my novelist on my soft blanket which I always make into a nest. The blinds were closed and the soft music my novelist likes to play at night had stopped. Suddenly, I heard something. My ears perked up and I listened intensely. Something was moving about in the other room. I did what any respectable poodle would do. I stood on my novelist and began licking her face. “Gigi,” she said. “Go back to sleep. It’s dark outside.” I could not wake her up and I can always wake her up. I heard the noise again. Footsteps…no, paw steps.

I hopped down off the bed and went to investigate. With cautious steps I trotted towards the door to the bathroom. I nudged it with my nose. The door creaked open and I held back nervous as to what I would find inside. I could see the soft glow of the nightlight plugged into the outlet over the sink counter. My ears perked again thinking I heard a low growl. My swift paws stepped back out of the bathroom. I hightailed it back to the bedroom. Blindly, I ran to the bed and flew into the air, sailing and hoping I would land on the mattress. I did…only to find the growling was louder. I ran to my novelist and jumped on her, trying to get her to wake up. “Go back to sleep, Gigi,” she said. “It’s dark outside.

Suddenly, I heard the growling again, closer this time. I turned to look. The bathroom door creaked open and there stood Crispin, his glowing red eyes fixed on me, his jaws salivating. I woke up in a sweat yelping, my novelist gathering me into her arms trying to get me to calm down.

And now it appears he is on the prowl again. But we must rescue Demeter. If she is sold off tonight, we will have no chance of retrieving her and bringing her home. This will not do. We must be brave, even if the evil Crispin is lurking about.

“Shall we tell the others?”

“Yes, let’s go.” Until next week, I bid you adieu.

MY BOOKS

**STREAM OF THE WEEK: ZODIAC (2007)-PARAMOUNT+**

The most chilling and terrifying thing about David Fincher’s near masterpiece film is that it was never nominated for a single Oscar. No, instead they decided to nominate such wonderful mediocrity as Michael Clayton and Juno for a bevy of awards including Best Picture. But not one Oscar nod went to Zodiac. Not for Harris Savides’s cinematography, not for Angus Wall’s editing, not for Mark Ruffalo’s supporting performance or Jake Gyllenhaal’s lead performance, not for its brilliant screenplay by James Vanderbilt based on the best-selling book of the same name by Robert Graysmith, nor for Fincher’s flawless direction, and not for Best Picture of the year. This movie is better than any film I saw this past year, even One Battle After Another. If you have seen Zodiac, you know what I’m talking about and if you haven’t, it is absolutely a hands-down must-see experience that will leave an eerie feeling with you long after its credits have rolled.

The story is based on a real life infamous serial killer named “Zodiac” who hunted and killed people during the late 1960’s and 1970’s in the San Francisco Bay Area. He was fond of attention and frequently sent letters with detailed information about the killings to the Bay Area newspapers. Information only the police would know. He took credit for the killings and had a fondness for cryptograms which he included in his letters as well.

One month after the Zodiac Killer murders Darlene Ferrin and seriously wounds Mike Mageau on July 4, 1969, he sends a letter to the San Francisco Chronical. The Zodiac killer insists that his letters including the cryptogram, which he says his name is burried in, be published in the paper. Robert Graysmith (Jake Gyllenhaal), a young political cartoonist for the paper, heads to the library and gathers up books on decoding cryptograms. He is correct in figuring out that even though the Zodiac said his name was in the cryptograms, it was not. Paul Avery (Robert Downey Jr.), a reporter for the Chronical and the other members of the staff think little of Graysmith’s contribution and ignore him. That is until Graysmith and Avery begin discussing the coded letters. The two begin to work together to figure out who the Zodiac is. Graysmith notes that in the letters the Zodiac refers to “the most dangerous animal of them all” which could be a reference to a 1932 film called The Most Dangerous Game in which the lead hunts humans for sport.

In September, the Zodiac strikes again, attacking law student Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard at Lake Berryessa in Napa County. After two weeks go by, the Zodiac kills again, this time a taxi driver named Paul Stein. San Francisco police inspectors Dave Toschi (Mark Ruffalo) and his partner Bill Armstrong (Anthony Edwards) are assigned to the case. Toschi becomes chief investigator. In 1971 they question a man named Arthur Leigh Allen (John Carroll Lynch), who bears a striking resemblance to the drawings, wears a Zodiac brand watch with the symbol on it that keeps appearing in his letters, and has a history of mental illness.

Chloë Sevigny also stars as Graysmith’s wife Melanie and Brian Cox stars as lawyer Melvin Belli.

Brainstorming

April 16, 2026April 22, 2026 ~ gigicatchesair ~ Leave a comment

Good afternoon. It is I Gigi the parti poodle here once again to introduce this week’s blog. We are all overjoyed to have our precious cats Edison the Manx and Madeline the British Shorthair back with our illustrious group after Artemis and I rescued them.

“I helped rescue them too.”

Yes, yes, Bernard D. Bunny also assisted in their liberation by bashing open the door with his remarkably strong hind legs.

“Thank you.”

Yes, of course. Apparently, even bunnies need validation. All of us, however, are dismayed that we still do not have our lovely friend Demeter the Persian, Artemis’s sister, home safe and sound. We know that Edison heard that the kidnapper is planning to do something with “the Persian” tonight and we all must hurry to put together a plan to thwart him before she is sold off to someone on the black market. Our biggest problem is when tonight the kidnapper is planning to meet his buyer or buyers and send our precious feline to some brutish monster keeping us from ever seeing her again.

There has been much debate among us as to how to go about our second feline rescue. Ruffles the Bulldog thinks we should park the van across the street as planned, wait until we see the buyer or buyers arrive, and then all of us should open the side door of the van and attack. Charlotte the Chow thinks we should stealthily position ourselves at all the entrances to the house and then wait for them to exit and attack. Bruiser the Jack Russell thinks we should sneak in the house and catch them by surprise. Titus and Tyler, the twin dachshunds, are chasing each other around the room.

I listened to all their proposals and said, “I think we should all stay together and whoever comes to the house we should follow in the van.”

“What if we follow the wrong automobile?”

“As long as it’s not a delivery truck coming to drop off a package, we will have the right vehicle.”

We all sat there for a moment and postulated the proposals. Then Bernard D. Bunny spoke up and said, “I think Gigi might be right. I think we need to stake out the house and see if a person or persons come to the house and if they leave with a cat.”

“But what if we cannot see well enough to know if they even have a cat in their possession,” Eddison said.

“I will bring a couple of pairs of my best binoculars.”

“You have binoculars?”

“I’m a bunny. Of course I have binoculars.”

Charlotte the Chow nodded. “I do think that waiting and following them may be the safest idea. We have all risked a great deal getting too close. Let’s see if we can make more progress at a distance.”

“Then we are agreed,” I said.

“But what do we do if we find Artemis and where she is being taken?” Bruiser the Jack Russell asked. “How will we get her back?”

We all thought deeply about this dilemma.

“I think I might have an idea of what to do when we find their destination,” Bernard D. Bunny said.

Until next week, I bid you adieu.

MY BOOKS

CONGRATULATIONS, BILLY IDOL

Before I do my stream of the week, I just wanted to say congratulations to all the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees. Last week my stream of the week was Billy Idol Should Be Dead which is a terrific documentary about his life and music. I was delighted to find out this morning that he made it in and glad Gigi and I chose his documentary as our Stream of the Week last week.

**STREAM OF THE WEEK: PINBALL: THE MAN WHO SAVED THE GAME (2022)-HULU**

This week’s pick is a comedic biopic sleeper about how a down-on-his-luck recently divorced college graduate saved the game of pinball. The film was written and directed by brothers Austin and Meredith Bragg. The film is set to act like an interview with the present-day Mr. Sharp (Dennis Boutsikaris).

In 1975, Rodger Sharp (well-acted by Mike Faist), a 25-year-old college graduate from Chicago, decided to become a writer. His wife Judy (Olivia Koukol), whose father owns a furniture store, recently filed for divorce from him. After signing the papers, Rodger moves to New York City and gets an interview with the fledgling G.Q. Magazine. On the way up in the elevator, he meets a woman named Ellen (Crystal Reed) and is smitten. She gives him her business card and exits while he rides up to interview with Jack Haber (Mike Doyle). Rodger also meets fashion magazine co-workers Harry Coulianos (Bryan Batt), Deborah (Victoria Giler), and photographer James Hamilton (Toby Regbo). He is given an assignment to see if he is suited for the job. Shortly afterwards he goes in search of a pinball machine, his favorite pastime. But he quickly discovers the machines are hard to find. The only one he locates is in an XXX Rated adult store where an apprehensive man named Jimmy (Connor Ratliff) works the counter.

Rodger gets the job at GQ and works up the courage to call Ellen and ask her on a date. She agrees to go out to lunch with him. At lunch he discovers she is a secretary and has an eleven-year-old son named Seth (Christopher Convery) from her previous marriage. She tells him she is 32 years old and planning in the future to marry again and have more children. The two find they continue to have good chemistry and agree to meet again for lunch where he takes her to the XXX Rated adult store and shows her the pinball machine.

Shortly thereafter, the pinball machine was confiscated from the adult store by the New York City Police. Baffled as to why, Rodger finds out from Jimmy that pinball machines have been illegal in New York City for over thirty years thanks to a politician named Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia (Carlos Lopez). In 1942 LaGuardia convinced the public pinball machines were owned by the mob and encouraged children to gamble. Thus begins Mr. Sharp’s odyssey to write a book about pinball and hopefully overturn the unfounded laws in New York and other major cities to make pinball machines legal.

Exit and Plan

April 9, 2026 ~ gigicatchesair ~ Leave a comment

Good afternoon. It is I Gigi the parti poodle here to introduce this week’s blog. As you may remember last week Artemis the Persian and I had crept downstairs and found we were face-to-face with a locked door. But because Bernard D. Bunny could not resist executing his Easter Bunny rock performance, he jumped up and opened the door with the power of his hind legs.

When the door blew open the three of us were stunned to see our kidnapped friends Madeline the British Shorthair and Edison the Manx inside. They looked distressed to say the least and they both had lost weight. Bernard offered them a carrot. They munched it down quickly despite being carnivores.

“Where is my sister?” Artemis asked.

“We don’t know,” Edison said.

“You don’t know?”

“We don’t know,” Madeline echoed.

Artemis sobbed a long sorrowful sob as I have never heard a cat sob before.

“There, there,” Bernard said patting her on the back with his paw. “There, there.”

“I overheard the kidnapper say something about a Persian cat,” Edison said.

Suddenly, everyone went silent and looked at him. When he didn’t answer I said, “Well? What did he say?”

“He said he wanted to take the Persian to market.”

“To market? What does he mean by take her to market?”

“I do not know what he means by take her to market. I only know he said he was planning to do it tonight.”

“Tonight?” Artemis said. “When did you hear him declare tonight?”

“Today.”

“Today?” Madeline said. “I never heard him say anything of the sort.”

“It was when he took us outside this morning. He got a phone call and I overheard it.”

“My goodness! I am so glad you did. I must have been preoccupied with something else, like being incarcerated.”

“We must set a plan in place,” I said.

“I concur,” Bernard said.

“But first we must get Edison and Madeline out and returned home safely. Let’s head back up the stairs.”

Artemis, Bernard, Edison, Madeline and I all stepped out of the room. I could hear both Edison and Madeline breathe a collective sigh of relief. We ascended the stairs one step at a time. When we reached the top step, we all looked around to make sure no one had come home. We then trotted over to the front door and Artemis, and I pushed the chair over so Bernard could hop up, turn the knob and let us out. But after devising a plan, we will be back to rescue Demeter. Until next week, I bid you adieu.

MY BOOKS

**STREAM OF THE WEEK: BILLY IDOL SHOULD BE DEAD (2026)-HULU**

So, how does a normal middleclass clean cut English boy who wears glasses named William Broad become a drug addled major punk rock icon named Billy Idol? That is the story presented in this engrossing documentary by Jonas Åkerlund. I must say off top I have seen Billy Idol perform twice and he and his band put on an exhilarating show. The first time I saw them play, woman after woman stormed the stage and were escorted out of the concert by security. The second time was tamer in that way and still a great show. I hope he gets inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this year.

The documentary starts in England with the dawn of punk rock. Born into a middle-class family, the young Mr. Broad started to observe the scene. At the time he was not a drinker, smoker, or drug taker. In 1976 he joined a band named Chelsea and the lead singer told him he should wear contacts instead of glasses and bleach his hair blonde. He took the advice and shortly thereafter he and a couple of other musicians left the group and formed the band Generation X. William Broad then changed his name to Billy Idol. He chose the name based on his chemistry teacher referring to him as “idle” on his report card. The band had hits like “Ready Steady Go” and “Dancing with Myself” and appeared on British television. During this time, he met dancer Perri Lister and the two started a long-term relationship. It was also during this time drugs started to hit the punk scene, and Idol became acquainted with heroine.

When he was only two years old, his father, an English salesman also named William, moved William, William’s mother Joan and his little sister Jane to New York where the family lived for four years before returning to England. Because he was familiar with the city, when Idol realized the punk scene in England was waning in 1981, he saw an opportunity to head back to where he had spent his early childhood and become a solo artist.

At that time a new phenomenon was about to take place called MTV and in 1982, Idol became one of the earliest artists to perform on it. He wrote the mega hit “White Wedding” and working with his new guitarist Steve Stevens. They came up with a concept for the video with his girlfriend Perri playing the bride, shot it in a few short days, it aired and the rest is history.

But success brought pressure, and pressure made the drinking, drugs worse. Idol’s paralleling success and harrowing drug and sex spiral play out in both interviews, footage and animation over the course of the film.

The Bunny Cometh

April 3, 2026 ~ gigicatchesair ~ Leave a comment

Good evening. It is I Gigi the parti poodle here to introduce this week’s blog. As you may remember Artemis and I headed downstairs to the basement where we heard a sound on the other side of the door. Artemis said, “I’d know that meow anywhere!” I leaned in and we both listened closely. She was correct. It was Madeline the British Shorthair’s meow.

“Madeline, are you alright?” Artemis said. “We’re here to rescue you.”

Then I heard a different familiar meow.

“Edison, is that you?”

He meowed again.

“We are coming to rescue you too, Edison. Artemis, we must find a chair to climb up on and pick the lock so that—”

“Hello.”

Artemis and I whipped around to find Bernard D. Bunny sitting behind us.

“Bernard!” I said surprised. “What are you doing here?”

“I’ve come to tell you something.”

“Wait,” Artemis said, a perplexed look on her face. “This isn’t in the script. You aren’t supposed to be in this scene.”

“You say Easter. I say Bunny.”

“What?”

“Bernard,” I said with a huff. “This isn’t funny. We’re trying to tell a story here.”

“You say Easter. I say Bunny.”

Artemis turned to me and whispered. “I don’t understand. We didn’t rehearse this. She pulled out her script and showed it to me. “Do you see? Bernard is not in this scene and “You say Easter, I say Bunny” is not on the page.”

“You say Easter. I say Bunny.”

“Do I need to call my agent?”

“You say Easter. I say Bunny.”

“Easter!” Edison shouted from the other side of the door.

“Bunny!” Bernard shouted back. “You say Easter. I say Bunny.”

“Easter!” Madeline shouted from the other side of the door.

“Bunny! You say Easter, I say Bunny.”

“I am fed up with doing this every year,” I told him. “I am not going through this again.”

“Easter.”

“No.”

“Easter.”

“Bernard—”

“Bunny,” Artemis said.

I turned to her. “Seriously?”

She shrugged. “Sometimes it’s good to go off script.”

Bernard put on a pair of Ray Ban Wayfarers. “You say Easter, I say Bunny.”

“Easter!” Everyone said but I.

“Bunny!”

“Easter!”

“Bunny!”

“Easter!”

“Bunny!”

Bernard pointed at me with his front paw. “You say Easter, I say Bunny.”

“This is absurd! We’re in the middle of an important plot advancing scene here.”

“You say Easter, I say Bunny.”

“For crying out loud, Bernard.”

“You say Easter, I say Bunny.”

“No.”

“Bunny.”

“Not a chance.”

“Bunny.”

“Ugh! Fine. Easter.”

“Bunny!”

“Easter.”

“Bunny!”

“Easter!”

“Bunny! Stage Dive!”

It was at this point that Bernard jumped up, his back feet forwards, sailed through the air, and kicked in the door. Artemis and I stared in shock at what we saw before us. Until next week Happy Easter and I bid you adieu.

MY BOOKS

**STREAM OF THE WEEK: HIGH POTENTIAL (2024)-HULU**

As spring break season is in full gear, I thought this would be a good week to feature a fantastic streamer that’s as fun and smart as it is addictive. Based on the Franco Belgian series Haut Potentiel Intellectuel (HPI) which is also streaming on Hulu, is show is a whodunit comedy mystery about a mother of three with a 160 IQ and HIP or high intelligence potential, a condition found in people with an IQ over 130 where they have significantly enhanced cognitive abilities. Her name is Morgan Gillory (played by the always likable Kaitlin Olson) who cannot seem to find her place in the world due to her unusual gifts which sometimes affect her concentration. She had gone from dead end job to dead end job with her most recent being a janitor working at the L.A.P.D. police department.

One night, as she is cleaning, she happens to notice the department’s crime board. Upon studying it she quickly realizes the board needs to be changed to crack the case. She makes the necessary adjustments and goes back to cleaning.

The next day detectives Adam Karadec (Daniel Sunjata), Daphne Forrester (Javicia Leslie), Lev “Oz” Özdil (Deniz Akdeniz) and their head of department Selena Soto (Judy Reyes) find their case board has been tampered with. After reviewing the security footage, they found out their night janitor Morgan was the one responsible. Karadec and Özdil head over to Morgan’s house and bring her in for questioning and detain her. They tell her that tampering with a crime board is a serious offense. Karadec is skeptical but Soto is intrieged. They release Morgan after Forrester does a little research to find Morgan is correct on her reasoning of the evidence. The release Morgan who meets her ex-husband the sweet and unflappable Ludo Radovic (Taran Killam) who is the father or their whip-smart son Elliot (Matthew Lamb) and their newborn daughter. Morgan manages to get into an argument with a couple of officers on the way out of the precinct and ends up back in the holding cell.

Soto gets her out of the incident and asks her to work with the no nonsense Karadec as his partner, an arrangement Karadec is less than happy about. But as they begin to work together the two discover they make a better team than each of them originally envisioned.

Rounding out the cast is Amirah J as Ava Sinquerra, Morgan’s daughter from a previous marriage in which her artist husband Roman Sinquerra, who went missing when Ava was a baby.

UPS Delivery

March 27, 2026 ~ gigicatchesair ~ Leave a comment

Good evening. It is I Gigi the parti poodle here to introduce this week’s blog. Artemis and I froze. Then she carefully climbed down from the chair.

“Do you think he’s returned?” she asked.

I hurried over to the window. I have a certain set of skills when it comes to peering out windows. Upon doing so, I saw a familiar nemesis. “No, he has not returned.”

“Who is it then?”

“Brown.”

“Brown?”

“It’s Brown.”

Artemis crept over and peered out the office window. Sure enough, a UPS delivery driver skipped up to the porch in his uniform and set a shipping box on the step. Then he hopped back into his truck, turned it around and headed right. Artemis looked at me and I looked at her. I knew what she was thinking. She knew what I was thinking. We were both thinking we needed to go get a look at that box.

Lucky for us there was a table near the door with a bowl to toss one’s keys into. Artemis jumped up on the table and flipped open the deadbolt. Then she jumped down like a gymnast, grabbed the handle and turned the knob. I pushed her back and the door opened with her. I trotted onto the steps, put my head at the back of the box and pushed it forwards until it slid inside.

“PetSmart,” I said reading the label.

“PetSmart indeed.”

“There’s cats here somewhere.”

“Shall we head downstairs this time?”

“Let’s go.”

We trotted down the stairs to find there was only one room option this time as opposed to upstairs where there were three. And it was shut. Shut and locked. We tucked our tails, sat down and pondered. And then we pondered some more.

“There must be a way to unlock the door,” I finally said.

“Hmm, yes,” Artemis said lifting her front paw and licking it.

“Do you think we could find a spare key around here somewhere?”

“Perhaps.”

“What do you think we are going to find in there?”

“Who knows?”

Suddenly, we heard a sound on the other side of the door. We both leaned in and put our ears near the door and listened. Artemis’s eyes grew large and round.

“I’d know that meow anywhere!”

Until next week, I bid you adieu.

MY BOOKS

**STREAM OF THE WEEK: THE PLASTIC DETOX (2026)-NETFLIX**

Believe it or not, this is a rather uplifting film about a downer of a topic. It will make you want to severely cut back on purchasing plastic in any form going forwards. Or perhaps even cut it out altogether. And halleluiah to that. Gigi and I often post about our dislike of fast fashion around school clothes shopping time every year here on the blog. And in addition, we discuss our intense dislike of man-made fabrics regardless of the brand.

The documentary focuses on the likable and renowned Dr. Shanna Swan who decided to conduct an experiment about lowering the number of plastics in the homes of six couples who have unexplained infertility. Dr. Swan is an environmental and reproductive epidemiologist who is Professor of Environmental Medicine and Public Health at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. She and her research team wanted to find out if switching out many plastic household items for healthier options would help the couples to conceive. Not only is this an engaging experiment, but it is also an excellent documentary on how to start ridding your own home of plastic toxins and begin to live a healthier lifestyle. Because I read there were some viewers out there who wanted more specifics on what the couples did to change their living environment, I worked with AI to provide a list of items Dr. Swan had her subjects take out of their homes and what she had the subjects replace those items with.

Here is a list of what Dr. Shanna had the couples change:

Scented products (air fresheners, candles, perfumes, fragranced lotions) → replaced with fragrance‑free alternatives

Plastic-packaged personal care items (lotions, shampoos, conditioners) → swapped for lower‑plastic or fragrance‑free versions (not always fully plastic‑free, but reduced exposure)

Plastic food containers → replaced with glass or stainless steel

Plastic‑wrapped foods → avoided when possible; couples were encouraged to choose fresh, unpackaged foods

Plastic water bottles → replaced with non‑plastic bottles (glass or metal)

Plastic‑wrapped foods → avoided when possible; couples were encouraged to choose fresh, unpackaged foods

Heating food in plastic → eliminated entirely (a major source of BPA/phthalate leaching)

Polyester and other synthetic clothing → replaced with 100% cotton clothing

Synthetic baby items → replaced with green/low‑plastic baby products (cotton clothing, non‑plastic bottles, low‑plastic gear)

Plastic baby bottles → replaced with non‑plastic bottles (glass or stainless steel)

Scented cleaning products → replaced with fragrance‑free cleaners (to reduce phthalates)

Plastic-heavy household goods (e.g., certain storage bins, organizers) → swapped for wood, metal, or glass where feasible

Plastic kitchen tools → replaced with wood, silicone, or metal (not always shown directly, but consistent with the swaps described)

Chewing gum (often contains synthetic polymers) → avoided

Books and items with plastic coatings (e.g., some children’s books) → minimized when possible

Plastic water filters, plastic kettles, and other heated-plastic appliances → replaced with stainless steel or glass versions (implied through the “remove heated plastics” guidance)

You can also get more information by going to this website: https://opsociety.org/theplasticdetox/

In addition to Dr. Swan’s study, the film also focuses on Reverand Lennox Yearwood Jr., President of Hip Hop Caucus. He is featured along with the founder of Rise St. James, Sharon Lavigne who have both worked on pushing back on petrochemical plants expanding in Louisiana in an area infamously known as Cancer Alley. You can get more information here: Resist | Rise St. James

Also featured is Lydia Wendt, a fashion model and the founder of California Cloth Foundry who designs all natural, sustainable clean and healthier clothing. You can read more about the company here: https://clothfoundry.com/

And finally, the film also features the brilliant Professor John Warner, Founder of the Institute for Green Chemistry. His website is here: https://johnwarner.org/

Investigating the House

March 20, 2026 ~ gigicatchesair ~ Leave a comment

Good evening. It is I Gigi the parti poodle here to introduce this week’s blog. As you may remember from last week, Artemis and I were perched on the catnapper’s kitchen counter looking down at the long drop to the Pergo floor. I turned my head towards the left and saw the glass topped stove and two kitchen towels hanging down from the bar handle. If we worked our way from the sink to the stove, we could each grab one of the kitchen towels and lower ourselves to the floor.

Artemis considers my idea and nods. She is, however, concerned about the slipperiness of the glass top stove. I agree with her but can see no other optimal way down. Except of course to jump which frightens me and my delicate poodle paws. We begin inching our way down the tan granite counter paw by paw until we arrive at the glass stovetop. Artemis deftly sinks her claws into both sides of the first towel and lowers herself to the Pergo. Unfortunately, my claws are not as deft. I slip and slide on top of the stove as I try to get my bearings. I reach down…grab the towel…and flip! I am dangling in midair about to slip! I could break my nails this way! Artemis quickly pushes a kitchen floor map under me and…plop! I land. Artemis looks at me shakes her head and licks her paw.

We look around at our surroundings and head towards the living room. Much like the kitchen, it is cleaner and neater than we expected. The place has cream-colored wall to wall carpet, a comfortable cloth couch and chair, an old-fashioned desk, a fireplace and a potted tree. I was stunned. Apparently, the catnapper vacuums.

Not noticing anything nefarious in the living room, we trotted on to the foyer. There were two flights of stairs. One that headed up and one that led down. And when you are trying to figure out where a catnapper might be up to something nefarious, down is the more likely choice. However, just to make certain this was indeed the case, we ascended the stairs to check out the rooms on the second floor first. After Artemis and I trotted to the top step, we found there was a narrow linen closet in front of us, and a door to a room. To the right there was one door and to the left there were two doors. We pushed open the first door to the left to find it was a bathroom. We trotted inside and saw it had grey walls and white tile with white fixtures with a dark brown fancy tile bathtub.

Next, we looked in the room to our right. It was set up to be an office. The room was painted mint green and had a computer desk, an office chair, a docking station, a printer, a bookshelf and a couple of file cabinets. Next to the file cabinet there was a wooden chair. I told Artemus there may be a clue in the file cabinet. She agreed. She hopped up on the wooden chair and was just about to open the cabinet when we both heard a car pull up in the driveway. Until next week, I bid you adieu.

MY BOOKS

**STREAM OF THE WEEK: ALL THE EMPTY ROOMS (2025)-NETFLIX**

Stanford University is one of the leaders if not the leader in studying mass shootings and the individuals that commit them. It’s important I point this out because there are some films out there, let’s call them Problem Films, movies and television shows that get awards and accolades which present skewed information, missing information, and/or swaths of false information. They play on emotion over logic because the creators have an agenda. Or as the kids say, these films are rage bait. And being a writer, I’ve run across enough emotional artists to know sometimes they’re idiots. Seriously stupid empathic dolts. They will refuse to do their research and instead follow their misguided arrogance, write with their heart and not their head, and deeply and profoundly annoy those of us who take the time to look up facts.

That said, this movie is not a Problem Film. This movie is superb in delivering not only its message but the reality of the situation. Yes, the movie is emotional, but it is not irrational. And it absolutely without question deserved its Oscar win this past Sunday. But before I get into this must-see short documentary let’s look at some facts from Stanford’s studies:

Stanford researchers were able to study 35 mass shooters and determine a diagnosis on 32. Of the 32 diagnosed 28 met the diagnostic criteria of at least one psychiatric disorder. The most common diagnosis was schizophrenia, which affected 18 of the patients. https://med.stanford.edu/news/insights/2022/04/investigating-psychiatric-illnesses-of-mass-shooters.html
Other diagnoses included bipolar 1 disorder; delusional disorder, personality disorder, substance use disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder.https://med.stanford.edu/news/insights/2022/04/investigating-psychiatric-illnesses-of-mass-shooters.html
The study also points out the following: “None of the assailants had received medication or other treatment before committing the crimes. Most had never been medically diagnosed using scientific criteria.” https://med.stanford.edu/news/insights/2022/04/investigating-psychiatric-illnesses-of-mass-shooters.html

You think maybe as a society we should make researching mental health a priority?

Moving on: in addition, it turns out, shock of shocks, it’s a very bad idea to have guns in a house where children live. Especially if their parents or siblings have any of the mental health issues listed above. In fact, it’s just a lousy idea to have guns and kids in the same house even if said parents, siblings, etc. are sane. Here’s why:

In 2020, gun violence surpassed car accidents as the No. 1 killer of children in the United States. https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2025/02/children-mass-shootings.html
Lo and behold, 59% of kids who died in mass shootings were at the hands of a family member. Over 22 million U.S. children live in a home with a gun. If a domestic disturbance arises in those homes, the risk of death dramatically increases. https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2025/02/children-mass-shootings.html
And most importantly, “…there may be opportunities to prevent incidents of domestic violence by removing firearms from homes where relationships between adults are deteriorating or mental health concerns are rising.” https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2025/02/children-mass-shootings.html

The point is there are essentially two problems involved in most mass shootings. Not all but most: mental health and easy access to firearms. It’s both mixed together like bleach and ammonia. It’s getting rid of lax gun laws and addressingthe urgent need to better advance psychology and neuroscience. That’s the bottom line. Some television and movies will often have you believe it’s a myriad of other fallacies from a person’s cultural background to visiting dark web online web sites to witnessing narwhals shooting confetti and glitter out their asses that invoke mass shootings. Where does this asinine stupidity come from? And even more befuddling, why do viewers believe these inane lies? Because they’re too lazy to fact check information? Because some filmmakers are too arrogant to get all the facts to make their film? Because a conglomerate of low-rent critics says said film is good? The last time I checked most critics and filmmakers weren’t scientists or professional researchers.

All that said, this is a profound short documentary about two very brave, and I do mean brave men, correspondent Steve Hartman and photographer Lou Bopp. Hartman originally was given the job of going to schools where a mass shooting had occurred and present an upside story on the occurrence. These absurd missions took their toll and after a while Mr. Hartman concluded since he had a soul, he would rather do something useful and profound instead. Along with photographer Bopp, they decided to document and photograph all the bedrooms of children who lost their lives in school shootings. Bopp has an interesting ritual he does which is take what he and his daughter call “the morning picture”. Every day he takes a picture of her in the morning right at the time she is about to leave for school and has done so for years. He does it because you never know what might happen on any given day.

At the time of the filming, Hartman and Bopp had been doing this for seven years, which is remarkable, and they had three bedrooms to go. Looking at one of these rooms is brutal enough. Imagine what kind of courage and compassion it took to do this project for seven years. Their hope is to present their work on air. Everyone should see this short. There is no excuse. It should be required viewing as well as the short If Anything Happens, I Love You which I had as one of my streams of the week last year.

Enter Through the Window

March 12, 2026 ~ gigicatchesair ~ Leave a comment

Good afternoon. It is I Gigi the parti poodle here to introduce this week’s blog. Artemis and I had to sneak behind the fiend’s yellow house to get to the back door. Artemis, being a Persian cat, is more surefooted than I. However, I am a bold and clever poodle. After we sat in the van with Charlotte, Bruiser, Ruffles and the twins and watched the man pull his white Corvette out of the garage and drive off to whatever nefarious thing he does for work, Artemis and I looked both ways, crossed the street, and headed up to the house.

We had to go around the outdoor catwalk that sticks out at the front of the residence. A rickety disturbing thing if you ask me. I have not once seen a feline walk down it the entire time that we have been scoping out the house. In fact, we have not seen anyone, human or beast, enter or exit the fiend’s abode except the fiend himself. Artemis and I had to jump up and climb a wood fence to reach the rear side. My back foot slipped a little, but I regained my balance and followed Artemis. We tiptoed along the back of the house, surprised to find a rather lovely red wood composite deck. It was rather opulent and looked down a hill. Not the horror house we originally expected. We looked over at a window that according to the blueprints was the rec room. When we climbed up on a deck chair to get a better vantage point into the room, we realized it had blackout curtains which hung across the glass. I looked along the building to my right and saw the sliding glass door. I pointed it out to Artemis and said, “We could see if he left it unlocked.”

“Or possibly try the window,” she said. “He may have cracked it, and we could push it open and crawl inside.”

“Brilliant,” I said and we headed towards the door. We wanted to peer into the house but only saw the slats of Hunter Douglas blinds. I got down as low as I could and attempted to look under them but all I saw was darkness. Artemis and I saw a folding chair standing against the side of the house. It was light enough that the two of us were able to scoot it over. Artemis leaned her weight on one of the legs and I jumped up onto the seat to see if the door was open. I pushed against the handle and tried to get it to move. But my efforts were to no avail.

“We should try the window,” Artemis said. “Humans can be more careless with windows than they are with doors.”

“I indeed hope you are right.”

“Demeter used to talk about slipping into windows of houses at night all the time.”

“Did she get caught?”

“Not…usually.”

“Right. Let’s try it again.”

Artemis and I nudged the chair along till it was under the window. I climbed up on the chair and gave it a shove. Much to our delight it opened… to blinds. I pushed them forwards as I climbed in…and found myself in a kitchen sink. This petrified me because kitchen sinks are slippery and I did not want to be trapped. I put both my forepaws on the counter and hopped up. Suddenly, I noticed it was a long way down to the floor. Artemis scampered up the chair and into the window. She too found herself in the kitchen sink. She hopped up on the counter and looked down.

“It is rather high,” she said.

“We’re going to have to get down from here somehow.”

Until next week, I bid you adieu.

MY BOOKS

**STREAM OF THE WEEK: SONG SUNG BLUE (2025)-PEACOCK**

Sometimes the critics get it wrong. And they certainly failed to give enough appreciation to this underrated sleeper, about a couple of real-life down-on-their-luck musicians, who teamed up to create a sensational Neil Diamond tribute band. The film was directed by Craig Brewer who co-wrote the script with Greg Kohs based on Kohs’ 2008 documentary film of the same name. One of the most heartbreaking things about the movie is Hugh Jackman not receiving an Oscar nod for Best Actor for his electric performance.

Mike (Hugh Jackman) is a Vietnam veteran and 20 years sober alcoholic who has grown weary of performing covers of famous singers. One night he tells his boss Mark Shurilla (Michael Imperioli), a Buddy Holly impersonator, he’s not going to perform as Don Ho at the Wisconsin State Fair but rather wants to create his own persona and call himself Lightning. On that fateful night he meets Claire (Kate Hudson in a well-deserved Oscar-nominated performance), a versatile singer and musician who happens to be performing as Patsy Cline. They chat and flirt a little and then he watches her perform. He is informed by Sex Machine, a James Brown impersonator (Mustafa Shakir) that she is a very versatile performer who can sing just about anything from country to rock and even opera.

The two meet again a year later and Claire tells him he would make a terrific Neil Diamond. Mike thinks over her suggestion, contacts her again, and says he likes the idea provided she performs with him. The two begin to rehearse together and start to put together a Neil Diamond experience show all the while falling in love. Claire introduces Mike to her teenage daughter Rachel (Ella Anderson) and son Dana Cartwright (Hudson Hensley). Mike in turn introduces her family to his teenage daughter Angelina (King Princess) who lives with her mother.

Mike gets in touch with his agent and dentist Dr. Dave Watson (Fisher Stevens), who introduces him to Tom D’Amato (Jim Belushi), a bus driver for a hotel that can get them gigs. Shurilla swallows his pride and offers to be lead guitar for the band. But the road to success is rocky and just as the band starts to take off, the unthinkable happens.