Sunday in the Park with a Lynx rufus

October 1, 2026 ~ gigicatchesair ~ Leave a comment

Good afternoon. It is I Gigi the parti poodle here to introduce this week’s blog. Crispin contacted Bebe, the bobcat, and invited her to join us neighborhood pets for a tete-e-tete in the park. We agreed to meet with her on one side of the playground and us on the other for safety’s sake. The cats have been less than enthused about giving up a portion of their food to appease her. But I tell them that we must negotiate trust between our domestic selves and local predators that live in the wild.

“I think it is unfair to make us give this wildcat part of our food,” Edison the Manx said as we stood waiting for the creature to emerge from the woods.

“The coyotes have been most cooperative with us Canis lupus familiaris,” I said, “after we agreed to provide them with a portion of our dog food.”

“I agree with Edison,” Madeline the British Shorthair said. “I am sensitive about sharing my food with others.”

“It’s not that big of deal,” Ruffles the bulldog said.

“That’s easy for you to say,” Edison said. “Your owner gives you ample amounts of grub.”

“You’re just saying that because I’m bigger than you and need more to eat.”

“I detest the idea of giving this creature payola,” Artemus the Persian said. “Especially after dealing with black market criminals who kidnaped my sister.”

“Here, here,” Demeter her sister said.

“The rest of us Canis lupus familiaris have not complained about providing the coyotes sustenance,” Charlotte the chow said.

“Not even me,” Bruiser the Jack Russell said. “And I like my food. I like it a lot. I must jump now.”

We all turned and watched Bruiser jump up and down for a moment before returning to our conversation.

“When is she coming?” Titus and Tyler, the dachshund twins simultaneously asked as they chased each other around in a circle. “When is she coming?”

“She will be here soon,” I assured them. “It is almost twilight.”

Suddenly, from out of the foliage a creature emerged. She was sleek, swanky and intimidating. She moved in a way that was both luxurious and menacing. She was larger and more muscular than expected and I quickly regretted bringing myself and my cohorts to this meeting. The creature sat down on her haunches and licked her paw. Then she stared at us with looming amber eyes and said, “Well, I’m here. Talk.”

I cleared my throat and said, “Greetings, madam bobcat. My name is Gigi the parti poodle and I welcome you to our meeting.”

“Yeah, and?”

“And we would like to discuss the possibility of you accepting a portion of our neighborhood cats’ food in exchange for not attacking us or our bunnies and squirrels.”

“Hmm,” she said, swatting at moth that flitted near her. “How good is this cat food?”

“The best. Many of the Felis catus in this neighborhood get Smalls or Just for Cats, or The Honest Kitchen.”

“Interesting. I could go for making that deal with the felines and leaving the dogs alone as well. But I see no reason for you to negotiate for the bunnies and squirrels.”

“The bunnies and squirrels have asked me to speak for them on this matter.”

“I don’t know. I think I would get darned hungry living on left-over cat food alone.”

“With all respect, I believe you are being most obdurate in your assessment of our offer.”

The beast rolled her amber orbs. “A poodle using big words. Who would have seen that coming?”

“And quick to insult I see. To prove your misguided indignance, we are sticking to our offer of a fair and substantial amount of high-end cat food. And might I add, obstinate Lynx rufus, if you try to harm any single hair on any bunny or squirrel in our neighborhood, you will pay and pay dearly. Good day.”

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: THE KILLING OF A CHINESE BOOKIE (1976)-HBO MAX, & GLORIA (1980) ROKU**

This week in continuing with literary cinema, I thought I would feature two films from legendary independent writer director John Casseveties. Both films are about people who find themselves in dire straits, one due to their choices and the other due to choices which have been put upon them. Each of them is forced to use their own special set of skills to deal with their deadly situations. The films have a raw gritty feel and remain riveting from beginning to end.

In The Killing of a Chinese Bookie, we meet shady burlesque club owner Cosmo Vittelli (Ben Gazzara) who’s place is called Crazy Horse West located on the sunset strip in LA. Underneath the seedy exterior, Cosmo is a bit of an artist who writes and directs all the performances on stage. Unfortunately, he is aware patrons watch the show not for his efforts but for the nude women.

He has just paid off a gambling debt he’s had for several years to a mobster named Marty (Al Ruban) and decides to take three of his female workers out for a night on the town with his three favorite dancers Sherry (Alice Friedland), Margo (Donna Marie Gordon) and his girlfriend Rachel (Azizi Johari). They head out to Marty and his partner’s gambling establishment where Cosmo racks up a debt of $23,000. He and the three ladies are held at the establishment overnight where Cosmo says he’s good for the money. But Marty and his partners are not convinced. They tell him he must sign over the Crazy Horse West as collateral. Reluctantly he does and he and the three women are finally allowed to go home.

But the next night one of the partners Mort Weil (Seymour Cassel) and his “associates” head to Cosmo’s club and take him out to a restaurant. There they discuss his debt and tell him he can lower it substantially if he does one thing: kill a Chinese bookie named Harold Ling.

In Gloria, we meet the Dawn family. Jack Dawn (Buck Henry), a mild-mannered family man who works as an accountant for the mob. Jack has been acting as an informant for the FBI. When his wife Jeri (Julie Carmen), a beautiful Puerto Rican woman comes home from shopping and notices sinister men in the building she finds out they have figured out what’s going on. The couple rushes to get her mother Margarita (Lupe Garnica), their daughter Joan (Jessica Castillo) and their young son Phil (John Adames) out of the apartment to safety.

As they are getting ready to flee their neighbor Gloria Swensen (Gena Rowlands in her iconic Oscar nominated performance) stops by to borrow some coffee. Gloria, who is good friends with Jeri, understands the situation but wants no part of it. But Jack and Jeri convince Gloria to take the kids and hide them. However, their daughter Joan refuses to go. So, Jack gives Phil his small book he’s been keeping information in about the mob, tells him he is now the man of the family and Gloria takes him back to her apartment just before the thugs get to the Dawn’s apartment and shoot up the place.

Gloria reluctantly realizes they need to get out of there. She’s a frugal woman who has saved money her whole life and now must use it and her wily survival skills to protect Phil’s and her own life and get away from the mob and the people in it she is connected to. This is no small matter as Gloria doesn’t like kids and Phil is a bit of a handful. But after escaping from the apartment building and rescuing Phil from a carload of gangsters preparing to take out Phil, the two start to form a bond that will either lead them to survival or doom.

Happy New Year! One More Gift for You!

January 1, 2026 ~ gigicatchesair ~ Leave a comment

Happy New Year! Since our weekly Thursday blog landed on Christmas this year, we put all five Musicology books up for free for three days. This was the first time we have ever offered all the Musicology books for free. As New Year’s Day has also landed on a Thursday, we are going to give out one more gift. From New Year’s Day until the end of Saturday 1/3/2026, we are offering our blog readers my short novel Chicane for free on Kindle. It is our way of saying thank you very much for reading and subscribing to our blog. We hope you enjoy it!

Here is the link for Chicane.

Good morning and Happy New Year. It is I Gigi the parti poodle here to make my first spectacular appearance of 2026. As you know, the neighborhood pets and I have been distraught over the disappearance of two of our feline friends: Dimiter the Persian and Madeline the British Shorthair. Everyone has been on edge. It has been a terrifying holiday season as neither one has turned up. Dimiter’s heartbroken sister Artemus has been caterwauling every night because her sibling is missing. A haunting sound if I ever heard one. As there have been coyote sightings, I have started buying groceries for Bernard D. Bunny and his sister Belle. This is no easy task at this time of year. The stores are crowded, and it is most difficult for a toy parti poodle such as myself to navigate my way around the store. I finally managed to learn how to drive the scooter. It is a bit of a stretch, but I can turn it on and navigate my way down the aisles. However, I have somehow managed to upset some of the senior customers. One even had the audacity to tell me poodles are not allowed to ride their scooters. How rude.

All the pets in the neighborhood have decided to spend today comforting Artemis. We are all going to her house for appetizers and sparkling water. Tomorrow we will restart our search for her beloved sister. Next week my novelist will restart her stream of the week. Until then, I bid you Happy Holidays. Adieu.

Coyotes

December 4, 2025 ~ gigicatchesair ~ Leave a comment

Good afternoon. It is I Gigi the parti poodle here to introduce this week’s blog. At two-thirty in the morning Sunday night after lying awake for hours, my novelist got up and went to the kitchen table to play a game of solitaire. Immediately after she’d finished dealing out the cards, she heard a horrible animal sound. She got up and hurried to the window to see what was making the noise. Suddenly, she spotted a coyote heading left. But she still could hear the sounds and was concerned the coyote had harmed a neighborhood dog. She ran to the bedroom and woke me up to tell me about the coyote. I sniffed and listened. I heard the creature. I barked incessantly as my novelist grabbed a flashlight and carefully went outside. When she shined the light down to the right, she was surprised to find it reflected the eyes of a second coyote standing there bathing in the streetlight! She swiftly stepped back inside, returned to the bedroom and told me the situation.

I realized then Demeter the Persian could have run into a coyote when she was out on her nightly stroll. The next day I called together Demeter’s sister Artemis, Bruiser the Jack Russell, Charlotte the chow, Edison the Manx, Madeline the British Shorthair, Ruffles the bulldog, the twin Dachshunds Tyler and Titus and of course Bernard D. Bunny. When I told them the story everyone was anxious. Was it possible Demeter wasn’t kidnapped after all but rather the victim of a prowling coyote? We all pondered the possibility. Finally, Ruffles who originally recovered Demeter’s nametag in the park said, “Wouldn’t there have been blood on Demeter’s name tag if that was the case? Artemis let out a loud sigh of relief. “Of course,” she said, tears streaming down her white fur. “And it hadn’t rained so it wouldn’t have washed off.” Edison the Manx said, “That is good to know but two problems remain: Demeter is still missing, and it is suddenly Coyote season. Bernard D. Bunny shuddered. “I cannot take any chances,” he said. “I will need to stay home and guard my younger sister Belle until the coyotes head out on their way.” The rest of us nodded in agreement. We must all be careful out there as we continue to search for the missing Demeter. Until next week, I bid you adieu.

MY BOOKS

**STREAM OF THE WEEK: THE CHAIR COMPANY (2025)-HBO MAX**

Starting last week, I decided it was a good time of the year to put the spotlight on outstanding streamers to watch during the holidays. One of the most surprisingly good shows of the year is this week’s pick: a dark horse for those who are looking for something highly entertaining, addictive, and very different. The show comes from the minds of Tim Robinson and Zach Kanin, and the season finale dropped last Sunday so you now have an opportunity to stream the entire first season. If you have passed it over or have not had the time to watch it yet, I genuinely encourage you to give this show a whirl. I will say the final scene of the final episode is downright Lynchian. Where it goes from there is anyone’s guess. To be honest, I almost gave up on the series after the first scene of the first episode which I thought was childish and annoying. But I was delighted I stuck with it because the payoff is quite good.

William Ronald Trosper (Tim Robinson) is a family man. He is married to his lovely wife Barb Trosper (Lake Bell) and has an adult daughter named Natalie (Sophia Lillis) who is planning her wedding and a high school son named Seth (Will Price). Ron has been assigned the position of lead project manager for a new mall development at his place of work Fisher Robay. The head of the firm, Jeff Levjman (Lou Diamond Philips), wants Ron to introduce himself as the lead on the project and give a speech in front of the employees to boost morale. Ron gives a solid speech and then goes to sit down at the side of the stage with the rest of his colleagues. But something terribly embarrassing happens. As Ron goes to sit down in his chair, it completely discombobulates. He lands on his back and finds himself looking up the skirt of his former fellow high school student Amanda (Amelia Campbell).

Ron is mortified by the incident and downright ticked off. He makes a gentle joke on stage to cover his embarrassment. But when the presentation is over, he hides in his office seething with anger and vowing to reign havoc on the chair company who brutally embarrassed him. He locates the broken chair in the garbage and finds the name of the company is Tecca. He starts searching for them on the internet, and his descent down a very bizarre rabbit hole begins.

Rounding out the cast are Joseph Tudisco as Mike Santini, Glow Tavarez as Jamie, Zuleyma Guevara as Brenda and Grace Reiter as Tara.

Abandoned

July 17, 2025 ~ gigicatchesair ~ Leave a comment

Good morning. It is I Gigi the parti poodle here to introduce this week’s blog. Last week when…Him came to the door I ran outside to greet my novelist and realized she was not there. I was most disappointed. The Dog Sitter hurried out, fetched me off the sidewalk and brought me back inside. The two of them seemed upset over my jubilant attempt to greet my novelist and I got a gentle reprimanding. I thought that was most unnecessary. Especially since I was quite saddened to realize my novelist was not there. She had left for her relative’s place. I was forced to spend the weekend without my beloved companion. Not to mention…Him is not generous with treats. In fact, he does not give them out much at all. Neither does the Dog Sitter. I found myself starving. I had to depend on my meals for nutrition, and I find that to be most gauche. I was grateful my novelist made certain my water bowl was filled with cold water and lightly seasoned with Aquadent before she left. Otherwise, I would have suffered from thirst. I don’t think either of them bothered to watch the waterline while she was gone.

Over the course of the next three days, I became quite lonely, and my schedule was altered. I am used to getting up just before six to walk all over my novelist until she gets up and we go outside. But…Him does not get up early. And the Dog Sitter certainly does not get up early. I was forced to watch the morning light stream into my bedroom for two and a half hours before I was able to roam about the grounds. I would spend time sitting in front of the door and looking out the window waiting for her to bring sunshine back into my dismal existence. Occasionally, the Dog Sitter would take me outside where there is an old picnic table. I worked on my upcoming blog story while the Dog Sitter wore headphones and sketched. In the evenings out of sheer loneliness I would cuddle up with…Him. His eye was on the television but mine was on the door.

Finally, sometime in the late afternoon to early evening on Sunday, my novelist returned. You cannot imagine my delight. I jumped up and down with joy as she came to the door and greeted me. You must never leave again, I barked. You must never leave again. I do adore her so. Until next week, may your novelist be there to keep you company during the week until we meet again. I bid you adieu.

MY BOOKS

**STREAM OF THE WEEK: MUD (2012)-PARAMOUNT+**

Jeff Nichols is a fantastic indi-film writer-director and this follow-up to his excellent previous movie Take Shelter is a homerun. Set on Mississippi River Island, it tells the story of two young teenagers Ellis (Tye Sheridan in a fantastic early performance) and Neckbone (Jacob Lofland who is also excellent) who live on the river in boathouses in a small town. Ellis lives with his fisherman father Senior (Ray McKinnon) and his mother Mary Lee (Sarah Paulson) and Neckbone lives with his uncle Galen (Michael Shannon who stars in all Nichols’s feature films) who dives for muscle pearls. The two boys who know the town like the back of their hand have heard about a boat on one of the nearby islands that has a boat inexplicably stuck in a tree. When they take a speedboat out to investigate, they find someone has been living in the boat and meet a strange man named Mud (brilliantly played by Matthew McConaughey) who lives off the land and is waiting there to meet his longtime girlfriend Juniper (Reese Witherspoon). He tells the boys he will give them the boat in exchange for food and supplies.

Neckbone is skeptical but Ellis believes Mud is truly planning to meet Juniper. The distraction is good for him since his parents are presently disputing whether to move off the river or to keep their home which, if they move, will be torn down by the state. As he begins to take more risks to assist his new friend, however, he finds himself in deeper trouble as Mud’s secrets slowly start to emerge.