Happy Oscar Weekend!

February 27, 2025 ~ gigicatchesair ~ Leave a comment

Good morning. It is I Gigi the parti poodle here to tell you yesterday was most horrifying. I was lying on my pillow in the office around nine-thirty in the morning when my novelist suddenly snatched me up and whisked me off into the car. Mind you, I had a comfortable blanket to lay on but that didn’t prepare me for one of my most strenuous mornings of this year. I was driven directly to the vet for a checkup. A checkup! I could not believe it. I thought my professional toothbrushing last summer was enough. But no. Apparently, I was due for my rabies shot. And another horrific shot. And then a blood-draw. At first, I thought all I had to do was look cute and stand on the scale. But the doctor came in and checked my heart which was beating like a mad drum. My novelist just stood there and let them paw me. I mean the nerve! Afterwards I was taken to the dreaded back room where the real horror befell me. There was no use in screaming for help. I was trapped. After the nightmarish ordeal I was whisked home as if the whole thing was perfectly normal. I am sore and traumatized and tired. It took everything I had just to get out of bed this morning. I am not speaking to my novelist right now. What happened yesterday was the most unforgivable affair. I shall have to spend the entire rest of the week and all weekend trying to recover. Until next Thursday, I bid you a most nerve-jangling adieu. And Happy Oscar Day on Sunday!

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: THE WILD ROBOT (2024)-PEACOCK**

One of the strongest Oscar categories this year, if not the strongest, is Best Animated Film, and this week’s pick is one of the finest of the five. Not only is this movie stunningly beautiful but the story is top notch as well. In addition to Best Animated Film, the movie is also nominated for Best Sound and Best Original Score for Kris Bowers.

Based on the beloved children’s book of the same name by Peter Brown who co-wrote the script this marvelous tale written and directed by Chris Sanders starts with a shipwreck. A humanoid style robot ROZZUM Unit 7134 or Roz for short (beautifully voiced by Lupita Amondi Nyong’o), wakes up and finds herself alone in the wilderness. She is factory programed to be a helper to her owner. She tries to assist the woodland creatures on the otherwise uninhabited island but finds them to be less than welcoming and injures herself in the process. Shortly after, she is chased by a grizzly bear named Thorn (Mark Hamill) and accidentally falls onto a goose nest crushing both parents and all but one of the eggs.

Determined to protect the one remaining egg she carries it with her but runs into an opportunist fox named Fink (Pedro Pascal) who tries to steal it from her. But Roz succeeds and the egg hatches. Roz suddenly finds herself a mother to a Canadian Goose and names it Brightbill (Kit Conner). Brightbill turns out to be the runt. But Roz is determined to make it a proud member of the island’s gaggle of geese.

Tripping

February 20, 2025 ~ gigicatchesair ~ Leave a comment

Good morning. It is I Gigi the parti poodle and today I have been whisked off to the great beyond. My novelist has decided to take me off on an adventure. I am terrified, of course, as I am terrible at traveling inside automobiles. However, it is better than being left with a babysitter. My novelist told me she was going to leave me with my usual guardian, but the guardian said they could not fit me into their schedule today. So, here I am, the fearless traveler on route to…somewhere. Perhaps to the mountains or the ocean. Maybe we shall hop on a train and have lunch as we watch the landscapes pass by. We could go shopping. I love to go shopping. I can always use a new chew toy…or a diamond studded collar. Maybe we’ll take in a movie or a museum. The world is my oyster today. I don’t think Bernard D. Bunny is happy about it though. He gave me that look when I was climbing into the car. I barked to him that I would try and bring him back a souvenir. I don’t even think that appeased him. When I get back, I’ll tell you how it went. Until next week, I wish you happy travels.

MY BOOKS

**STREAM OF THE WEEK: A DIFFERENT MAN (2024)-HBO MAX**

This smart unique little film received well-deserved Best Makeup and Hairstyling Oscar nominations for Mike Marino, David Presto and Crystal Junado. It also won a Golden Globe for Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy for Sebastian Stan’s fabulous performance. Sebastian Stan is having a much-deserved banner year and was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor for the movie The Apprentice. It is a shame that A Different Man didn’t receive an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay as it is a terrific story from top to tail written by Aaron Schimberg who also directs this engaging cautionary tale.

Edward (Sebastion Stan) is a man who suffers from Neurofibromatosis which causes him a disfiguring facial condition. He works as an actor, getting jobs in corporate films for sensitivity workplace training. His new neighbor Ingrid Vold (Renate Reinsve), an aspiring playwright, befriends him and he starts to fall in love with her. One day he goes in to see his doctor who tells him about another doctor who is doing a study involving experimental medical treatment for Edward’s condition. Edward, who has always dreamed of being physically attractive, decides to take the risk. He is skeptical but holds out hope it might work, and Ingrid might develop feelings for him.

As he begins the treatment, strange things begin to happen to his body, and he becomes frightened wondering if it is working or not. But nothing prepares him for the nightmarish events which follow, including meeting his own doppelganger, a man named Oswald (Adam Pearson).

Roadblocks

February 13, 2025 ~ gigicatchesair ~ Leave a comment

Good afternoon. Gigi the parti poodle here and I am delighted to announce most of our snow has melted and I am again going for walks. My novelist has been feverishly working on her novel which concerns me. As many of you writers out there know it is difficult to firstly choose a subject to write about and secondly after you’ve chosen one how to handle the many roadblocks which will inevitably arise. My novelist detests roadblocks. They keep her up at night, often trying to figure out every misstep she might have made. I try to convince her that all writers make mistakes and to “carry on” as our wise neighbors across the pond would say. And she does, but still, she remains concerned. She is a writer who embraces research as well. Even if it is research which may be a bit futuristic where you must follow the logical chain of science beyond what has already been discovered to where the trajectory of that discovery leads. Before she began writing her present novel, she had written a science fiction book which required her to do so and was debating on writing another one and the one she chose. She has confided in me it may have been easier to write the science fiction book. Pragmatism and logic come to her more readily than, dare I say, feelings. She is more comfortable writing a hero’s journey than a heroine’s. Solitude is her weapon as it were, not her enemy. But I have faith she will find her way to the end of the story. She has with all but one of the others. I, in the meantime, shall scribble away at my short stories and see what I can concoct. Until next week, I bid you a happy adieu.

MY BOOKS

**STREAM OF THE WEEK: CONCLAVE (2024)-PEACOCK**

Winner of the Golden Globe for Best Screenplay for its writer Peter Straughan and nominated for eight Academy Awards, this taut thriller based on the 2016 novel by Robert Harris takes a unique twist on the mystery/thriller genre. Set in the Vatican where the Pope (Bruno Novelli) has just passed away from a heart attack, Cardinal Thomas Lawrence (brilliantly played by Oscar Nominee Ralph Fiennes) finds himself tasked with the daunting job of leading a conclave to elect a new pope.

Lawrence is conflicted about the job as he is struggling with his faith, mostly with praying. And it doesn’t help as he tries to figure out which candidates are worthy of the position, and which are not. Cardinal Bellini (Stanley Tucci) from the United States is a favorite liberal candidate who believes if Cardinal Tedesco (Sergio Castellitto) a favorite conservative candidate from Italy is elected he could put the Church back decades. Cardinal Joshua Adeyemi of Nigeria (Lucian Msamati), a social conservative candidate is also a favorite. Cardinal Tremblay (John Lithgow), a moderate from Canada, another popular candidate, was the last person to speak to the Pope before he died. According to Janusz Woźniak (Jacek Koman) the prefecture of the papal household claims that on the night the Pope died of a heart attack, the Pope demanded Tremblay’s resignation all which Cardinal Tremblay denies. And then there is the mysterious last-minute arrival of Archbishop Vincent Benitez (Carlos Diehz) of Kabul, who after some investigation turns out to be a cardinal in pectore a position the deceased Pope secretly bestowed upon him one year prior.

Never Leave a Poodle With a Babysitter

January 31, 2025 ~ gigicatchesair ~ Leave a comment

Good afternoon. I am Gigi the parti poodle and I am upset. Yesterday, without warning my novelist took off and left me home alone. I couldn’t believe it. I was entirely by myself. I detest being left by myself. I heard all sorts of strange noises outside that horrified me. I had to bark at Alexa to play soothing music for dogs.

I was all alone from 9:45AM until 2:20PM. That’s when the Dogsitter arrived. I was taken outside and then returned indoors. The Dogsitter then prepared my lunch. I of course refused to eat. My novelist was not home, and I was not about to dine until she was. This young person, this Dogsitter, was not going to make me dine either. And I went on a proper food strike. The Dogsitter soon grew tired of me and left me to my own devices. I spent most of my time lying on the couch thinking about a nice slice of roasted chicken. I would occasionally wander over to the front door and whine wishing for my novelist to return. I penned my sorrows in my notebook. I could think of nothing creative to say except how heartbroken I was over this unspeakable act of abandonment.

It was not until almost seven thirty in the evening that I saw my beloved novelist again. I ran to the door and jumped up and down and up and down catching magnificent air. Joy had returned to me once again. But not before I reprimanded her for abandoning me. How could she do such a horrific thing? She said, “But I had the Dogsitter come and make sure you were well.” How does that account for you leaving me on my own for over four hours and then not returning home until after seven in the evening? Outrageous! She told me she needed to go visit a relative. After this heated discussion she prepared my dinner, and I ate it voraciously. Next time she had better take me with her. Until next week, don’t let your novelist run amuck.

MY BOOKS

**STREAM OF THE WEEK: A REAL PAIN (2024)-HULU**

This week’s pick is an excellent, sometimes humorous, sometimes sobering buddy road picture nominated for Best Supporting Actor for Kieran Culkin and Best Original Screenplay for Jesse Eisenberg who in addition to writing the script also stars in and directed the film. The story opens in a New York Airport where laid-back Benji Kaplan (Kieran Culkin) calmly waits for his high-strung cousin David Kaplan (Jesse Eisenberg) to arrive. David calls Benji on his cell phone multiple times asking if Benji is on his way to the airport, tells him about the traffic, all the while suspecting that Benji may be running late. David is surprised to see Benji is already there. The two of them are about to embark on a trip to Poland courtesy of their late grandmother who has given the money for them to travel there as part of her will. Her hope, it seems, is to both reunite the estranged cousins and have them take a Holocaust tour to see the Majdanek concentration camp where she was held captive and miraculously survived.

The two board the plane and fly to Poland where they meet the rest of the members of their tour which include James, the tour guide from England (Will Sharpe), Marcia (Jennifer Grey), Diane (Liza Sadovy), her husband Mark (Daniel Oreskes) and Rwanda genocide survivor Eloge (Kurt Egyiawan). As the tour commences Benji charms the members of the group while David, who suffers from OCD, largely remains on the outside. But here and there Benji acts irrationally both with David and around the other members of the tour as the two cousins face some of the darker aspects of their present and past relationship.

Happy Oscar Nomination Day!

January 23, 2025 ~ gigicatchesair ~ Leave a comment

Good afternoon. It is I Gigi the Parti Poodle once again. My novelist is better recovered from her RSV this week and continues to steadily work on her novel. We of course took some time this morning to watch the Oscar nominations. We were heartbroken not to see Pamela Anderson receive a nomination for her work in The Last Showgirl. We are, however, intrigued by some of the other nominations for the films we have had a chance to see and others we have not. Amongst the most fascinating films we have not seen are The Substance, Anora, Conclave, I’m Still Here, The Brutalist and Flow. Amongst our favorite movies to get nominations we have seen are The Wild Robot, Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl and A Complete Unknown. This, of course, gives us an excuse to attend some more films. I relish this as I am a popcorn fanatic. That is the best part of going to the theatre. I love to sit in the dark and partake of the crunchy snack. I adore sitting in the plush seat with the extendable footrest where I lie down on my blanket next to my novelist and lean over and eat popcorn out of the bag as the movie runs. Ah, the life of a parti poodle. And with that, here is my novelist’s stream of the week.

MY BOOKS

**STREAM OF THE WEEK: THE ILLUSIONIST (2006)-AMAZON PRIME**

To celebrate Edward Norton’s well-deserved Supporting Actor Oscar Nomination for A Complete Unknown, here’s a smart fun stylish film of his from 2006 directed by Neil Burger and written by Neil Burger and Steven Millhauser who penned the short story “Eisenheim the Illusionist” the movie is based on. Gigi and I happened to rewatch this gem last week and are delighted to have a chance to feature it as our Stream of the Week.

In 1900’s Vienna, a young illusionist named Eisenheim (Edward Norton) astounds audiences wherever he goes with his wildly popular, fantastic and complicated illusion shows. One night he asks for a volunteer from the audience and a beautiful young aristocratic woman named Sophie (Jessica Biel) steps up on stage. Eisenheim recognizes her immediately as his childhood sweetheart, but he keeps their secret and brilliantly performs his trick. Unfortunately, Sophie is engaged to Crown Prince Leopold (Rufus Sewell). Leopold is a ruthless man with a reputation of killing women at his whim. He is a frighteningly powerful and possessive man and has his employed Inspector Uhl (the fantastic Paul Giamatti) and his policemen follow her around for her “protection” and of course to spy on her.

Inspector Uhl soon finds himself not only following Sophie but also investigating Eisenheim which ends up getting him pulled in deeper and deeper to the intrigue surrounding these three people until he finds himself on a collision course with his own conscience and an unexpected crime.

A fun fact about the film is instead of using CGI to create the illusions in the film Edward Norton trained under British Magician James Freedman and American Magician Ricky Jay. You can see one of the interviews about it here.

Animation Rules Supreme

January 9, 2025 ~ gigicatchesair ~ Leave a comment

Good afternoon. Gigi the parti poodle here to tell you it is official. I have a grooming appointment tomorrow morning at nine. As much as I dread going in, I do look forward to getting this infernal hair out of my eyes. Not to mention my overtly long nails. My novelist purchased an electric nail sander for me some time back, but I hated it when she used it. I will only allow a professional groomer to file my gorgeous claws. Around the same time my novelist also purchased an electric grooming set. Her attempts to shave me were horrifying, and I put a quick stop to that wicked habit. However, my insistence on having these things done by a competent professional has made it difficult for me to go up and down stairs as my nails are a bit long and I am having difficulty seeing through my flowing curls. A bit of a conundrum you see as my groomer was on vacation during the holiday season. Therefore, much to my sorrow, I will go tomorrow morning to be clipped and shaved and washed and filed. Such is the life of a poodle.

Bernard finds the whole grooming affair amusing. I must say though, it is easy to laugh when one is wild, has perfectly beautiful fur all the time, and does not require grooming. However, I do like the comfort of living in a temperature-controlled house, having my meals at times that I designate, and sleeping in an actual bed. Bernard is just jealous. But then who wouldn’t be jealous of such an astonishingly perfect example of Canis lupus familiaris. And with that, here is my novelist.

MY BOOKS

**STREAM OF THE WEEK: WALLACE AND GROMIT: VENGEANCE MOST FOWL (2024)-Netflix**

The strongest movie category this year is animation. After suffering through some dull if not lousy storylines for the past few years, (except the shorts, and Ghibli Studios) 2024 animation is the shining star burning brighter than all the rest of the film categories. And that includes the ones that aren’t eligible for nomination for an Oscar because of archaic backwards thinking in Hollywood. And when more of these darlings are available on streaming, I will make it a point to feature them as my Stream of the Week.

Starting the list is this film from one of my favorite animation studios, Aardman. This is the second delightful and charming stop motion animation movie Nick Park has released in the past two years. Last year he gave us Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget that was unfairly snubbed by the Oscars. This year he has put together another whimsical delight for the senses aimed at kids aged one to one hundred. The film does an excellent job of being both visually stunning and entertaining while presenting a looming concern about the onset of AI and the sinister dangers it can cause when left in the hands of pure evil.

Park has dusted off a couple of his most famous characters, Wallace (voiced by Ben Whitehead) and Wallace’s best friend, Gromit. If you are not familiar with these two charming personalities, Gromit is Wallace’s wise non-talking dog and Wallace is an eccentric inventor who this time has come up with a “smart gnome” named Norbot (voiced by Reece Shearsmith). Wallace’s intent on creating the strange little creature was as a gift to Gromit to help with the dog’s chores. Gromit is skeptical of the invasive creature and is torn between making Wallace happy and disposing of this annoying little clay menace.

Meanwhile, over at the public zoo looms a captive by the name of Feathers McGraw, a psychopathic penguin who was once thwarted by Wallace and Gromit after trying to steal a large blue diamond. Being an evil mastermind as well as a tech savvy hacker, Feathers devises a plot not only to reprogram Norbot, but also to multiply the smart gnomes to carry out his vengeance most fowl.

Rounding out the cast are Lauren Patel who voices police officer PC Mukherjee and Peter Kay who voices Chief Inspector Mackintosh who together attempt to crack the case of the criminal smart gnomes.

Happy Boxing Day

December 27, 2024 ~ gigicatchesair ~ Leave a comment

Good afternoon. Gigi the parti poodle here to wish you a joyful Boxing Day. The day after Christmas is always a challenging one. It is the day one wakes up and realizes Halloween is over, Thanksgiving is over, and Christmas is over. What lies ahead is New Years, Valentine’s Day and Easter. But the magic of the holiday season is quickly ending and there is nothing anyone can do about it. Not to mention I received a fluffy chewing toy but not a diamond studded collar as requested. There must be a way to get Santa to put one on his sleigh next year.

Today is also the day my novelist purchases Christmas wrapping paper for next year. She detests purchasing anything at full price. As she says, everything is prettier when it’s on sale. And so, she takes her annual voyage to The Container Store and procures paper there and goes online and procures other holiday wrapping items from Hallmark as well. Then she goes about putting them all away until next year.

I have become a bit shaggy and will need a trim soon. This, of course, is most distressing. My novelist will probably call tomorrow to get me an appointment. Dreadful. And with that thought here is my novelist’s stream of the week. Bonne fête d’Après-Noël!

MY BOOKS

**STREAM OF THE WEEK: JUST FRIENDS (2005)-HULU**

This week’s movie is not a deep and profound story. It will not change your life or make you into the person you’ve always wanted to be. But it is a holiday movie that’s a lot of fun and the story strangely holds up over time, especially having been made nineteen years ago. And since you are probably drained out and exhausted after the Christmas rush, it’s something to kick back and enjoy. The only characters in the film I don’t understand are the lead character’s two best friends. I believe you could tell the story without them. But that said there are plenty of characters to love. And unlike most romantic comedies the lead is a male instead of a female (like in The Forty-Year-Old Virgin)which gives it a fun twist

The story is simple. A tenderhearted and likeable overweight teen named Chris Brander (gleefully played by Ryan Reynolds) wants to be more than friends with his best friend the lovely Jamie Palomino (Amy Smart). One night at a party during their Senior year of high school Chris sets out to do just that and writes a well-penned letter expressing his feelings. Said letter, however, falls into the hands of the high school bully, Tim (Ty Olsson) who reads it to the party goers. Utterly embarrassed, Chris vows to make a name for himself and leave this town of losers behind.

Chris makes good on his promise and becomes a successful music producer as well as a ladies’ man. When his boss KC (Stephen Root) tells him he needs to babysit his pop music sensation the mentally unstable Samantha James (Anna Faris) who happens to be one of Chris’s ex-girlfriends and fly with her to Paris, Chris reluctantly agrees. But when their plane ends up in New Jersey near his hometown, Chris takes a chance at finally trying to ask Jamie out on a date while asking his younger brother Mike (Christopher Rodriguez Marquette) to babysit Samantha whom Mike has an obsessive crush on. But Chris finds his plan is not as easy as he realized when he realizes he has a rival in his fellow ex-nerd classmate sensitive guitar playing EMT Dusty Dinkleman (Chris Klein). Julie Haggarty rounds out the cast as Chris and Mike’s mother.

Happy Thanksgiving!

November 28, 2024November 28, 2024 ~ gigicatchesair ~ Leave a comment

Good morning and Happy Thanksgiving! It is I Gigi the parti poodle wishing you the most bountiful feast of this glorious holiday. I plan to spend today enjoying all the wonderful treats the holiday brings. Especially the pie. I adore pie. With whipped cream. I am presently lounging on my lovely couch watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Someday there will be a giant life size balloon of my likeness floating high above the New York City crowd. I plan to have a beautiful sparkling collar made of—

Not before I get mine.

Bernard D. Bunny. How marvelous of you to join us on this most auspicious occasion.

They are already designing a balloon for me.

No, they most certainly are not. You are a side character.

I am cuter than you.

I beg to differ, Bernard. It is my likeness that graces the web page of this blog.

I am going to get a giant balloon of my likeness in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade before you.

Not a chance, rabbit. But why are we fighting. Today is a day of gratefulness and peace. We should be peaceful to one another.

I’m telling you, poodle. My balloon is going to be flying sky-high next Thanksgiving. In fact, it will be the featured balloon everyone has been waiting for.

Don’t be absurd. People love dogs more than rabbits.

In your dreams. Bunnies are the cutest animals alive.

You are insufferable! How did you even get into the house anyway?

Your novelist left the door open.

Well, get out! Go eat grass or whatever horrific food you Oryctolagus cuniculus nosh.

Maybe I wouldn’t be so snippy with you if you had invited me to Thanksgiving dinner.

I mean the nerve…is that what this is all about, I failed to extend an invitation to dinner to you?

Quite frankly, yes.

Fine. Well then…I will. I will extend an invitation to dinner to you. Do you wish to join my novelist and I for Thanksgiving?

I need to bring my sister Bella.

Fine. Would you and Bella like to join my novelist and I for Thanksgiving?

MY BOOKS

STREAM OF THE WEEK: BUY NOW! THE SHOPPING CONSPIRACY (2024)- NETFLIX and MANUFACTURED LANDSCAPES (2006)-AMAZON PRIME VIDEO

Here’s a couple movies to get you ready for the holiday season. If you thought consumerism was bad when A Charlie Brown Christmas premiered on December 9, 1965, you ought to see it now. If there is one thing I detest about fashion, it’s fast fashion. And Buy Now! The Shopping Conspiracy does a solid job of showing how insatiable our unquenchable need for stuff is and why we keep buying it.

The documentary features several different talking heads of professionals who had high positions in companies such as Addidas and Amazon. It then takes the viewer on a journey of how they got to a point where their conscience started to catch up with them. Mostly concerning how much waste their company put into the environment and the manipulative ways the company convinced consumers to put it there. They discuss bits and pieces of the “science” that goes into drawing you in and enticing you to become enamored of a product online and getting you to buy it. Things like urgency, insecurity, manipulation of information, and lies. The computer graphics are quite haunting and depict the grotesqueness of excess we have come to accept as an everyday way of life.

The film is broken into five sections which show the viewer, tongue in cheek, how to become successful in the retail business. One of the most frustrating parts of the movie dates to the early twentieth century where a group of businessmen got in a room and discussed the light bulb. They talked about how one could be made that lasted a very long time, but how it was better to build one with a planned obsolescence so the customer would have to purchase a new light bulb repeatedly. This is why products wear out. Not because they naturally must wear out but because they are built to wear out. How convenient. This applies to just about any object you can imagine which is why there is now fast fashion and not clothes which follow the natural model of seasons anymore. And it plays a large part in why there is so much waste lying around the planet. It’s why you keep having to buy new tires for your car every so often. It is possible to make a tire for a car which would last the automobile’s lifetime. But industrial greed keeps you buying new ones.

Manufactured Landscapes is a masterpiece of documentary filmmaking by Canadian director Jennifer Baichwal about photographer Edward Burtynsky. It is unrated and I encourage everyone to watch it at least once.The first eight minutes simply take you down the rows of a factory in China. The place is neat and clean, highly organized, filled with competent productive workers…and is gigantic. The sight alone is shocking. One of the best openings to a documentary I’ve ever seen. And then as the film progresses, we get to see the landscapes filled with waste in some of the countries around the world. The film focuses on clotheslines of sorts in factories with hundreds upon thousands of irons. And then the camera focuses on the metal bottom of an iron discarded in a gigantic garbage dump filled with metal waste. It also shows the massive amounts of cargo containers on ships and the yards where the ships themselves are built in contrast to the oil waste and the young people between 18-30 or younger that are employed to clean it up. Half of the movie or so has no dialogue. It tells its story through the camera lens and Burtynsky’s photographs. It is astonishing what we human beings have done to our world. As Burtynsky points out “We are changing this planet. We are changing the nature of this planet. We are changing the air, we are changing the water, we are changing the land. And that’s not just China, that’s the world at large.”

What’s fantastic about this movie is it doesn’t beat you over the head with a message. It simply shows you what the camera sees and lets you judge and consider what you are seeing. Manufactured Landscapes should be required viewing in schools. In my humble opinion there are at least two skills we skip over teaching kids. One is a thorough and well-rounded self-defense class which includes not only how to defend yourself physically but psychologically as well. The second is basic finance so you know how to set up a budget, invest intelligently, save money, and be frugal and neither cheap nor wasteful. This film would be a great tool in teaching the latter skill. An absolute must see.

Certified Sadistic Accountant Chapter Thirty-Seven

August 1, 2024 ~ gigicatchesair ~ Leave a comment

Good afternoon. Gigi the parti poodle here to introduce chapter thirty-seven of Certified Sadistic Accountant. This week was rotten to the core. My novelist took me in for my yearly check-up. They weighed me, they poked me, they prodded me, they took blood samples, they shoved something up my nose and blasted spray into my nostrils, and worst of all they cuddled me. I am not happy with my novelist at all. Not at all, mind you. Cruelty. Utter cruelty. This whole veterinarian thing is a nightmare. That said my report was a good bill of health. Apparently, I have tested negative for heartworm and tick-borne diseases. Disgusting but delightful. I continue to be a healthy Canis lupus familiaris specimen. Today, my novelist decided to back up her continuing torture of me by having…him put Frontline between my shoulders as directed. That was not exactly what I would call pleasant either. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day. And with that thought here is chapter thirty-seven of Certified Sadistic Accountant. Attention au vétérinaire.

Certified Sadistic Accountant

by

Gigi the parti poodle

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Deputy Gunther arrived at the unmarked van in the grocery store parking lot across the street from the Dupree Tax Agency. Two more officers were staked out inside The Steamed Bean and another two were staked out inside the presently closed gift shop located on the opposite corner of the street.

“How’s it going, Gunther?” Officer Steve asked after the deputy shut the side door.

“The employee Curtis Cook wasn’t home.”

“He hasn’t shown up at the agency either,” Sheriff Bob said looking through his binoculars. “I just called what’s her name…Makenna again. She says her coworker Cook still hasn’t showed up.”

“Sounds suspicious.”

“Maybe. Doesn’t sound good.”

“What now?” Officer Steve asked.

“We wait.”

“Weird this kidnapper or kidnappers didn’t demand money.”

“Could be a whack job.” Sheriff Bob picked up his walkie-talkie and said, “Unit two, any suspicious activity? Over.”

“Nothing yet,” a female officer staked out inside The Steamed Bean replied. “Over.”

“Unit three, any suspicious activity?”

“Not yet,” a male officer in the gift shop replied. “Over.”

“You get some of that coffee back there, Gunther?”

“Getting it right now, sheriff,” Deputy Gunther said and reached into the carry-out tray and retrieved a pastel paper coffee cup.

“I don’t know about you guys,” Officer Steve said, “but this is just about the most exciting thing I’ve ever done. Except maybe that time I went to this amusement park and road the Loopy-Loop-Dippy-Dip. I was upside down and the top of my car came open. Downright terrifying. A real I’m-gonna-sue-ya experience. I’m putting my wife through grad school with that one.”

“Shh!” Sheriff Bob said. “Possible suspect approaching.”

The two officers leaned in towards the monitor and watched as a figure came walking around the corner. The three of them studied the subject as he headed from the corner where The Steamed Bean stood en route to the Dupree Tax Agency. They saw the figure draw closer and closer to the main door, look around, turn up his collar…and continue around the corner where the gift shop stood.

“False alarm,” Sheriff Bob said.

“Coffee’s good,” Deputy Gunther said. “Never had that brand before. Walked by the place a hundred times. Never went inside.”

“We’ve got another possible suspect.”

This time it was a guy coming around the corner where the gift shop stood. He headed towards the tax agency…and passed by it, lumbered down the street and turned into The Steamed Bean.

“Unit two,” Sheriff Bob said into his walkie-talkie. “Possible suspect wearing tan trench coat heading your direction. Over.”

“Copy,” the female officer replied. “Possible suspect matching description just headed into our location. Suspect is stepping up to the counter…suspect is placing order…suspect is stepping aside allowing next patron to order…suspect is walking to the end of the counter to pick up order…order appears to be a cappuccino…suspect is placing lid on pastel yellow cup…suspect is leaving location. Over.”

“Copy, unit two. We have eyes on the suspect. Suspect is moving towards target location…suspect has stopped and is checking his watch…suspect is taking a drink of his cappuccino…suspect is continuing towards target location…suspect is passing target location…suspect is turning the corner…unit three do you have eyes on the suspect? Over.”

“Copy on that,” the male officer said over the walkie-talkie. “Suspect is passing by our location…and heading north. Over.”

“This bites,” Officer Steve said. “You’d think the kidnappers would have shown up by now.”

Deputy Gunther grabbed a pastry out of the pink box set up in the back by the coffee and took a bite. “Yeah,” he said sarcastically. “You’d think they’d just show up and get themselves caught.”

“Hazardous Device Unit combed the business over for bombs, poisons and just about any booby trap possible. Doesn’t look like the kidnappers set a trap. Of course, they could bring one with them…”

“We’ve got another suspect,” Sheriff Bob said. The two officers saw a smaller figure in a black trench coat suddenly come into view, heading past the van towards the Dupree Tax Agency. “All units, suspect is moving out of parking lot en route towards target location. The suspect is approximately five foot five inches and wearing a black trench coat. Over.”

“Roger that,” the female officer replied.

“Roger,” the male officer replied.

“Suspect is stopping at target location,” Sheriff Bob said. “Suspect is unlocking door of target location. All units stand by.”

“Roger that,” the female officer replied.

“Roger,” the male officer replied.

“Suspect is engaging employees. Employees look distressed. All units move in. Repeat: all units move in!”

“Roger.”

“Let’s do this,” Sheriff Bob told his two officers.

Officer Steve pulled open the door of the van and he, Sheriff Bob, and Deputy Gunther all jumped out and moved swiftly towards the Dupree Tax agency. The two officers from the gift shop and the two officers from The Steamed Bean moved stealthily towards the tax office.

Everyone inside seems to be in a state of shock, Sheriff Bob thought. He tried to determine if the suspect had a weapon. But he couldn’t quite tell.

Then he saw…what’s her name? Makenna, that was it. Makenna look straight at him jaw dropped. The suspect must have noticed too because they turned around. His eyes widened in surprise.

“Hold your fire!” he demanded of his officers. “Nobody fire! Nobody fire!”

MY BOOKS

**STREAM OF THE WEEK: GODZILLA MINUS ONE (2023)-NETFLIX**

Why is it some years the most outstanding films do not get the credit they deserve? This is easily one of the very best of 2023 and yet all it was nominated for, and rightly won was Visual Effects. The screenplay is excellent. The dialogue is well written, and the payoff is outstanding. What was the academy thinking? A lot of the scripts they nominated though not terrible were mediocre including Poor Things, Barbie, Oppenheimer, May December and Past Lives. Although a lot of research went into the Oppenheimer script and I appreciate that, it came out long and convoluted. A more concise book like the Newbery Honor Book & National Book Award Finalist Bomb: The Race to Build–and Steal–the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin would have been an outstanding resource to adapt instead. Anatomy of a Fall was a solid but somewhat underwhelming script. Amongst the best scripts were The Zone of Interest and The Holdovers, both of which were stellar and yet neither one won. And to be fair I have not yet seen American Fiction or Maestro, so I cannot comment on those.

But Godzilla Minus One is exactly how an action film should be written. It is not about car chases or superheroes or lots of flashy sequences with no substance which was the problem with Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. It is gorgeous to look at but torture to sit through. There’s just no plot. But Godzilla Minus One is a fantastic retelling of the Godzilla story and roots its tale in honor, community, science, and love. Takashi Yamazaki, Ishirô, Honda, and Takeo Murata who penned the script deserved that nomination. Hollywood sometimes needs to remember it is not the genre that determines the quality of a script. It is the level of writing. And just like Dream Scenario which also should have garnered a writing nomination, the voters completely missed the boat. (No pun intended).

The story starts out at the end of WWII with a frightened kamikaze pilot named Koichi Shikishima (Ryunosuke Kamiki) who hides on an island where airplane mechanics are stationed including one named Sōsaku Tachibana (Munetaka Aoki). Koichi tells the mechanics his plane is having issues to avoid combat. While Koichi hides out on the island, a sea monster the natives call Godzilla rises from the ocean and terrorizes the station. Sōsaku tells Koichi to run for his plane and shoot at the monster. But Koichi freezes and almost all the mechanics on the island are killed. An angry Sōsaku blames Koichi for his lack of bravery.

The war ends and Koichi returns home to his village to find it destroyed. His family has been killed in a fire and a woman named Sumiko Ota (Sakura Andô) whose children were also killed reprimands Koichi for his cowardice and dishonor. Shortly after, a young woman named Noriko Oishi (Minami Hamabe) races up to him carrying an infant named Akiko. She hands Akiko to him and runs away from the people who are chasing her then returns to Koichi. She tells him her parents were also killed in the fire, and she is not Akiko’s mother. A dying woman asked her to take the little girl and protect her. Koichi reluctantly lets Noriko and Akiko stay with him. He gets a job on a minesweeper boat and works with a former Naval weapons engineer named Kenji Noda (Hidetaka Yoshioka), a young crewman named Shirō Mizushima (Yuki Yamada) and the captain of the boat Yōji Akitsu (Kuranosuke Sasaki). While out in the waters destroying mines they come across Godzilla and discover the horrifying creature is becoming more mutated and empowered by American testing.

Certified Sadistic Accountant Chapter Twenty-Seven

May 23, 2024 ~ gigicatchesair ~ Leave a comment

Good afternoon. It is I Gigi the parti poodle here to introduce chapter twenty-seven of my story Certified Sadistic Accountant. Yesterday my novelist got a couple of inoculations and is not her usual self today. I spoke with Bernard D. Bunny Wednesday, and he said he was sure my novelist would be down for the count. I said preposterous, my novelist can take a shot as well as the next human. But sadly, I am eating my words because Bernard has risen triumphant with his analysis. My novelist is not sick per say but she is unusually tired and worn out. She also pulled a muscle in her neck exercising and that makes her even more testy. And so, she is having me post both my story and her movie pic this week. I had to switch out her mouse for mine. She likes to use this large domed Microsoft mouse and I prefer the small purple travel one. Much easier for small paws. And as you can see, I was able to make it happen. Hoorah for me. After I finish, I am going to fix my novelist a nice hot cup of tea and invite Bernard out to lunch. I will have to make him a nice salad with the leftover iceberg as he is a vegetarian and all. Anyway, here is chapter twenty-seven of Certified Sadistic Accountant. Enjoy!

Certified Sadistic Accountant

by

Gigi the parti poodle

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Curtis checked his reflection in the vanity visor mirror. He put on the pair of his Aunt Odette’s glasses he’d grabbed before locking Fia in the attic. They were large thick rounded plastic aviator frames from the 70’s. They made the world blurry, but they also distorted his face enough to make whatever surveillance system they had in there recognize him.

He flipped the visor up, put on his leather gloves, grabbed the manilla envelope with the ransom note in it, got out of his Honda, and headed for the trading post.

The place reminded him of the bank from Dog Day Afternoon. There were two people ahead of him. He glanced at the distorted looking wall clock. Twelve-thirty in the afternoon. The lady at the front was trying to mail a package, but she didn’t have what she wanted packaged. The clerk was trying to help her pick out a properly sized box. Curtis marveled at how people with such minimal skills functioned in this world. The man behind her seemed remarkably patient but Curtis could tell he was starting to get annoyed. The woman was sweet enough. She just had too much air running between her ears.

Suddenly, Curtis noticed a small caramel and white kitten peek its head out of the enormous quilted calico bag the woman had slung over her shoulder. It looked at Curtis and hissed. Curtis furrowed his brow. First the delivery girl from the bakery and now this little furball. No one liked him.

“CeCe,” the woman said to the kitten, “behave.”

The clerk rang up the woman’s sale and handed her a slip.

“Thank you very much,” she told him. Then she turned around and looked at the man behind her. “And thank you for being so patient.”

“Certainly,” the man said.

The woman looked at Curtis as if she were about to say the same thing and got a strange look on her face and turned to leave. The kitten peeked its head out of the bag and hissed at Curtis again.

The man in front of Curtis stepped up to the desk and set what appeared to be a very heavy package about the size of two bricks stacked on top of each other down on the counter. “I need it there by tomorrow.”

The clerk weighed the package. “That’ll be three hundred eighty-five dollars and sixty-seven cents.”

“Jiminy Crickets!” the man said. “That’s highway robbery!”

“Do you need it there tomorrow?”

“Yes.”

“Well, that’s what it costs when it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight.”

“Listen wiseass, I could buy my wife a new engagement ring for that price!”

“I sincerely doubt it, sir.”

“Three hundred eighty-five dollars and sixty-seven cents is highway robbery!”

“But that’s what it costs.”

“I’m going to the post office. This place is a rip-off!”

Curtis watched the man storm out with his heavy package. He stepped up to the counter and set the manilla envelope with the ransom note down. The clerk weighed it on the scale.

“That’ll be twenty-nine dollars and sixty-seven cents.”

Curtis nodded, took out his billfold and slapped two twenties on the counter.

“I’m sorry, sir. Do you have something smaller? I’m running out of ones.”

Curtis pulled a ten dollar bill out of his wallet, set it on the counter, picked up one of the twenties and put it back in his billfold.

“Thanks. Sorry about that.”

Curtis nodded. He did not want to say anything or look up for fear the surveillance system could pick up his face or voice.

“Here’s your change.”

Curtis took the change off the counter, gave the guy a quick boy scout solute, and headed out the door.

Curtis returned to his aunt’s cabin just after two o’clock in the afternoon. He headed upstairs to the attic and knocked on the door. “Fia,” he called knocking on the attic door, “Would you like to come downstairs?”

“Sure,” she said.

Curtis opened the door. He saw she was in the middle of rehearsal. “Would you like some lemonade?”

“I can’t drink lemonade.”

“Are you allergic to that too?”

She smiled. “No. I’m just yanking your chain.”

Curtis shook his head. “Come on downstairs. I’ll go ahead and make it.”

“My dad’s coming to my place on Wednesday to pick up my aunt’s paintings,” Curtis said as he sat in the bookshelf chair in the living room.

“The ones you had me help you with?” Fia asked, taking a sip of lemonade.

“Yes.

Fia nodded. She wanted to leave on Friday to get back in time for spring quarter. And she just plain needed to leave.

“Thank you for curling my hair today.”

“Of course.”

“I am aware this situation I’ve put you in is harrowing. And you have surprised me with your kindness. I am not used to people being kind to me.”

“You’re not hard to be kind to, Curtis. You might just need some time to work through your grief.”

“Maybe. But first I must take care of business.”

“What business?”

“The business of settling the score.”

“You mean revenge.”

“Revenge is a dirty word.”

“So is business.”

“I loved Haven and Lance and Makenna, and those other two bastards killed her. Do you have the slightest idea what its like to lose the one thing in this world that makes you happy?”

“No. I guess I’m lucky. All that ever happened to me was I got kidnapped.”

“Getting kidnapped isn’t all that bad. I have cooked for you, given you a comfortable room to sleep in, and let you work on your performance art in the attic. It’s been a better spring break option than what your father set up for you.”

“I wanted to be his receptionist for a week. The point was to take a break from school.”

“So, you’re unhappy here.”

“Except for being pinned to the ground when I tried to leave it hasn’t been terrible. But you can’t keep me caged here. Putting stress on my mom and dad like this isn’t fair.”

“Your mother yes, your father no.”

“And you’re stressing me out too.”

“I don’t like doing this any more than you like having it done to you. But if I let them get away with this without retribution they will never stop.”

“Retribution is just another name for revenge, Curtis. It leads you nowhere. Except you ending up losing your job, your license, and your life as you know it.”

“I think you need to go back upstairs now,” he said rising from his chair.

“Right. Because if someone disagrees with you, you lock them in an attic.”

“If possible, yes.”

“Curtis, think,” she said standing up and staring him in the eye. “If you let me leave right now, you get off scot-free with no one the wiser.”

“What are you going to tell your parents? The police?”

“I’ll tell them I went off to spend time with friends.”

“They’ll never believe you.”

“Yes, they will. It’s a perfectly plausible answer.”

“No, it isn’t. You’re too responsible. I was at work when your father came into the office the morning after I delivered the first ransom note. He was certain someone had abducted you. And he did everything a reasonable father would do to get you back.”

“I’m giving you a way out of this. Let me go now before it spirals out of control. I’ll tell them my friends sent the ransom notes as a joke. A sick joke, but a joke. All you need to do is move on.”

MY BOOKS

**STREAM OF THE WEEK: THE SEARCHERS (1956)-HBO MAX**

Although it’s great to pick a newer film or show for my Stream of the Week, I like to feature a classic occasionally because I find there are movie enthusiasts out there who may not have some of these films.

One of the greatest westerns ever made, the legendary John Ford’s epic masterpiece is not a typical western story. And its subject matter is not for the faint of heart. It’s ugly and relentless and shows ruthlessness on both the side of the settlers and the side of the Native Americans.

Based on the book The Searchers by Alan LeMay it is the story of Civil War veteran Ethan Edwards who comes home after eight years to see his brother Arron Edwards (Walter Croy) and his brother’s family: wife Martha (Dorothy Jordan), oldest daughter Lucy (Pippa Scott), young son Ben (Robert Lyden) and youngest daughter, eight-year-old Debbie (Lana Woods). Ethan has a large collection of gold coins for which he gives no explanation as to how he acquired them. Ethan finds out his brother has adopted a young man named Martin Pawley (Jeffery Hunter) who is one-eighth Cherokee which does not go over well with Ethan.

Not long after Ethan’s arrival Arron’s neighbor Lars Jorgensen (John Qualen) finds his cattle stolen. Under the leadership of Rev. Captain Samuel Clayton (Ward Bond) Ethan, Martin, and a group of Rangers head out to find what happened only to realize they have been tricked by the Comanche tribe who has led them astray so they can carry out a murderous attack. Ethan and Martin return to Arron’s home to find Arron and young Ben killed and scalped and Martha raped, murdered, and scalped. But the two girls Lucy and Debbie are missing sending Ethan, Martin, and Lucy’s fiancé Brad (Harry Carry Jr.) on a long and brutal Odessey to find them and bring them home. A teenage Natalie Wood rounds out the cast.

Some critics have suggested perhaps Ethan and his brother’s wife Martha may have had an affair and Ethan having been gone eight years and Debbie being eight may explain why Ethan left originally and why he searches so tenaciously for Debbie.