Five days from J’s B-day, Three days from the Solstice, two days from J&B’s Anniversary and one day from Father’s day

The dog and I had a great walk yesterday in the park near our house. It amazes me how many times she can pee on a 40 minute walk. If I stored up that much liquid inside of me it would come blasting out of my mouth every time I opened it. And anyone who knows me can tell you I open it a lot.
She enjoyed a bone from the steaks we grilled last night, so much so that I nearly broke my ankle stepping on it this morning. She stashed it just in front of the door to the garage so the neighbor dog wouldn’t take it.

The dog and I were quite happy to see the Bruins capture the Stanley Cup after seven games. What a series! But that whole growing-a-beard-to-support-the-team thing really didn’t work for me. My attempts at growing facial hair have me looking like a werewolf with mange. It’s like patches of eyebrow-thick hair in random spots over my cheeks.
Anyway, Mark Recchi (43 years old, don’t ya know) and the boys dominated in the Garden. On the contrary, they played at a less than inspiring level in Rogers for all but the last game. The Canucks hit hard and played solid, fundamental hockey on their home ice for all but the last game, but seemed unable to find their way in Boston.
In the end the goalies made the difference. Timmy Thomas was amazing and certainly earned MVP honors for the series. It was terribly unfortunate that some of the fans gathered on Georgia and Granville streets in downtown Vancouver chose to abandon all sense of sportsmanship in handling the loss. Although having been in the streets of Vancouver with a crowd of mostly late teen to early 30s males during game two, I have to say I’m not surprised. Combining alcohol with testosterone rarely yields positive results.
The irony of it all; 70% of the Bruins are from Canada, eh, with two American players and Boston claims the only Vancouver, BC native in the Stanley Cup finals. The Canucks squad is 58% Canadian, eh, with six American players.
One bright spot to the sad affairs after game 7, the kiss.

While the dog can’t accompany me to the theater (but a miniature horse is considered a service animal in this state, give me a break) she loves Woody Allen and pirates:
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011, Disney, Dir: Rob Marshall)
Jack’s back with Penelope Cruz instead of Keira Knightly and looking for de Leon’s Fountain of Youth. I had low expectations, but must confess that I actually enjoyed it. It was certainly better than PotC III: At World’s End and as good as PotC II: Dead Man’s Chest. Of course the original, PotC The Curse of the Black Pearl is the best of the lot.
Midnight In Paris (2011, Universal, Dir:Woody Allen)
Am I the only one who’s wondered when Woody was going to return to making gems like Annie Hall, The Purple Rose of Cairo and Hannah and Her Sisters? The waits over. Midnight is a beautifully filmed, wonderfully scored, brilliantly written and superbly acted romantic comedy filmed in Paris. Go see this film now!

The dog laments over the cancelling of our DirecTV contract last fall, she and I have been watching the following on the flat screen (the dog reminds me that the surround sound is not properly installed):
Spartacus vs. Gladiator
Spartacus (1960, Universal, Dir: Stanley Kubrick)
Rebellious slave Spartacus leads a revolt to overthrow the Roman Empire after being trained to fight as a gladiator.
This film is long, 187 minutes with the restored footage. Kubrick's transitional shots are way too long and he features the moral discussion of slavery way too often. Dalton Trumbo, a black-listed screen writer, used the script as an opportunity to comment on the wrongs of the McCarthy era. Not to minimize the damage McCarthy caused in America, Kubrick and Trumbo could have told an effective story in a little over two hours and still been able to capture a strong editorial on the corruption of power, the ill-treatment of the working class (in this case slaves) and illustrate the struggle for balance and survival in an unfair world. I’m guessing Kirk Douglas had some influence over the finished product. He had Anthony Mann removed as director and was still pissed for being overlooked for the lead in Ben Hur. Douglas evidently wanted his own film version of the human condition on a grand scale.
Gladiator (2000, Dir: Ridley Scott)
Rebellious slave and former general, Maximus, attempts to lead a revolt to overthrow the Emperor of Rome after fighting as a gladiator. Russell Crowe stars in Douglas’s role. Scott’s transitional shots aren’t nearly as long as Kubrick's and the dialogs on corruption and man’s inhumanity toward man seems to flow more evenly and feel less repetitive than in Spartacus. Additionally, the fight scenes are way better.
White Collar: Complete Second Season
Neal Caffrey, an ever resourceful con man and world class art forger with friends in low places, teams up with the straight laced, FBI agent who busted him. Together they bring down criminals in the Big Apple.

The dog and I have been groovin' to:
The Waifs – Temptation
Sisters Vikki & Donna Simpson along with Josh Cunningham form the core of the band from Oz (they expand to a quintet to tour). They’re quickly approaching their third decade together. Temptation, their 6th studio album, while not as good as the bluesy, jazzy, funky folk-rock disc Sun Dirt Water, it is a better example of their range. A little slower, perhaps a bit more thoughtful in the lyric department and featuring a wider selection of creativity. Bottom line, you can put the CD on and relax into the talent of three souls from the other side of the planet, preferably while sitting outside in the sun with a beverage and a group of your favorite people.
Tara Nevins – Wood and Stone
I’ve been a fan of Tara’s since the early days of Donna the Buffalo, but admittedly prefer Tara’s solo work. Mule to Ride was one of my favorite discs from ’99. Wood and Stone, released over a decade later, is a wonderful collection of American Roots music; Bluegrass, Folk, Country and Cajun, updated with a more contemporary sound. Tara’s voice is not the type of lead vocal you’re apt to hear on the radio today. She employs a simple delivery, nothing flashy, no vibrato, no 12 octive range, there’s no need for it. Her voice fits perfectly with her music.

What I’m reading to the dog:
A Long Strange Trip: The Inside History of the Grateful Dead by Dennis McNally
The Grateful Dead story, from their humble beginnings as a jug band on the burgeoning folk scene to one of the most successful, above mediocre live bands in the history of Rock’N’Roll. The creativity and energy they inspired in the community of followers is as much a part of the Dead as their albums and tours. The dog loves Dark Star in its many iterations (we have over 50).
A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
Toole was posthumously awarded the Pulitzer for this brilliantly humorous tale of the indignant, anti-hero Ignatius J. Reilly suffering the world’s fools and incompetents in New Orleans.

E's B-day and A's Shower.

It's E's B-day and A's Shower.

The dog and I are groovin to:
Death Cab for Cutie - Codes and Keys. Melodic and stable as one would expect from Ben and the boys.
Joan Armatrading - Live at Royal Albert. I’ve seen Joan four times and this is not the usual set list, but how many times can she play Willow? Nicely done.
Treme – Soundtrack. Music from the HBO series created by the producers of The Wire. The show features post-Katrina New Orleans and the stories of those who made it through and those who returned. The music helps tell the story.
Raphael Saadiq - Stone Rollin. Once again Raphael hits it out of the park with a truly retro, Motown sound that is sure to get the stodgiest curmudgeons tapping their toes.
Jason Isbell - Here We Rest. Former Drive By Trucker put together a solid collection of Folky/Country/Rock tunes.

I'm enjoying the 3rd season of True Blood (although too scary for the dog). Not as good as season one, but better than season two.
We recently saw the first talking version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931, Paramount, Directed by Rouben Mamoulian, starring Frederic March and Miriam Hopkins). Best Actor Oscar for March. Extremely racing and artsy for 1931! And we learned that there are 54 film versions of that story including a musical from 2001 with Mr. Cheeseburger/Baywatch, David Hasselhoff.

I'm a little over one third of the way through Scribbling the Cat: Travels With an African Soldier by Alexandra Fuller. An English born, Rhodesian raised journalist living in Montana returns to Zambia to travel to Mozambique with a born-again, soldier-turned-banana-farmer so he can face his demons. It’s non-fiction, you can't make that shit up. It's very good so far.

We spent last weekend in Vancouver, BC celebrating another year of patience, tolerance and understanding by my wonderful partner. The dog wasn’t able to come. She had a lot on her agenda. That city has miles and miles (kilometers and kilometers) of dedicated bike lanes and trails. The entire waterfront is a wide bike/walk/jog/rollerblade path.
We watched cricket on the green, but understood very little, and lawn bowling. They asked us to join the club. There was an ancient woman who couldn't bend over the pick up the balls (she used a stainless steel, cane-like hook), but man could she bowl. However, no roller derby or people balancing rocks on the beach this year.
Vancouver was bubbling over with Canucks fans full of Stanley Cup fervor, or is it fervour? Once the game started the typically polite and reserved Canadians were beginning to mimic their more obnoxious, sports-fan, cousins to the south. And the game was on everywhere we turned. Granville was shut down for blocks with thousands in the streets watching on giant TVs. We saw an altercation between two guys. After watching them posture and maneuver for position, I couldn’t help but think that even the fights are more polite in Canada. I was in Barcelona in 1982 for the opening ceremonies of World Cup Soccer. That was wild, but it pales in comparison to watching hockey with a bunch of liquored up Canadians, eh.

A question my partner and I have been pondering and sharing with others, “Who, in your community, inspires you?” This led to a discussion of criteria for inspirational efforts. We talked about some level of sacrifice being present and that a person’s act/s led to some action by you. So, “Who, in your community, inspires you?”

Recent solar flare activity has increased the dog's suspicion of the squirrels in our back yard. She’s on high alert as there’s no telling what new nadirs of sordidness squirrels will seek when the sun’s acting up.