Visitation Writes

Katheryn's been at work all week, commuting between Tacoma and work, so it's been me and the Animals for the past week. Towards the end, they're not holding up their end of the conversation any too well, so it's always nice to get a visit. Last Saturday, Farmer Scott and the "Other" Steve Martin stopped by The Big Moat, and I walked onto the ferry and met them for a leisurely breakfast at The Greasey Spoon--a fine eatery in the lovely town of Schmuckitewya. It's been awhile since I'd seen them, me living so far away, and I appreciate the extra effort it took for them to make it out there.

I know it took an extra effort because they were both limping going into the restaurant.

But over coffee and hearty meals, we did some catching up. Farmer Scott is heading off to New Zealand for a farmer's junket, evidently to study how the Hobbits do crop-rotation (anti-clockwise in that hemisphere, I believe) and to site-Zea. Envious. Green, I am, and it's not easy, being. "The Other" is still cranking away out at Redmond, and making plans. It was good to see them, and I must say, that walk-on business is the only way to float the Moat. I just abandoned my cares and my car (with its freshly-done laundry) and hoofed it to the dock, where they let me on for FREE (I had to pay to get back, though)! We made promises that we'll get back to seeing movies together again...but damnned if we could come up with one that we regretted missing over the last summer.

Then, this past week, Director Dan came out to see the place. I get a call from him about every three weeks, checking in, and this weekend, he said, he was coming out.

To the Island.

After missing the place (by a good 10 miles), he doubled back and met me and Smokey down at the beach--that being neutral ground. Smokey's pretty territorial when it comes to the house...the car...us..., so Katheryn and I have been reading up on "Pack Psychology" in order to out-fox the dog. We're now being "quietly assertive pack-leaders," which translates to not yelling at him or kicking him in the head every time he barks. It's made a big difference in how he relates to us (but I have to admit missing the kicking part). So, by the time Dan walked up to us, Smoke' was otherwise engaged chasing a rubber, squeaking hamburger out into the waters of the Passage. By the time Dan got to throwing the burger, Smokey was won over. There was a little growliness when he saw him up on the porch of the house (He drove up from the beach, we walked), but some quiet assertiveness (reminding the dog that he was supposed to be "healing" and that meant staying out of the way of my feet) let the dog know that he was supposed to be a welcoming influence. When we were in the cabin, there were some more growls, but once attention was being paid to the cat (Dan and the cat go way back), the dog couldn't have been more solicitous...or obsequious...or other four syllable words that are far too complicated to explain dog-behavior. We fed the animals, and went out to dinner (Toby's, natch) and came back. Well, we're going to have to work on that re-entry because Smokey returned to his barking aggressive ways. Maybe we were too complacent. He's a work-in-progress.

Speaking of works-in-progress, here's one of Dan's films, courtesy of Ifilm. It's called "The Quest for the Noble Desert Poodle," and it stars a lot of our friends in a tale about "Science Gone Bad." I did the sound design for it.

Enjoy.

Or, at least don't spam me about it.



Update: I just heard from another Dan--Dan, The Morning Man of Cape Cod (he with the "voice like burnished oak," and, boy, is that a story to tell) e-mailed me to say that he was flying to swingin' London to see John Barry (briefly) in concert at the Royal Albert Hall. Barry is the film-composer responsible for "Born Free," "Out of Africa," and "Dances with Wolves," as well as scoring 11 James Bond films (woof!). Dan's taking a page out of my play-book, when I...well, that's a story for another time. Like tomorrow.

Coming up this week: a musical hero and a political Anytime Movie (like we need more politics in our lives)...