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Mom's In honor of Tony, this one is labeled "Toby v. Godzilla" and shows a teeny dog attacking a monster...reminds me of Tony and the Pit Bull (see right) Household Hints from A Medieval
Home Companion: On queens They say that queens, after they are married, never kiss a man--neither father, brother, nor relative--except the king, so long as he lives. Why they refrain from this, or whether it is true, I do not know... (they obviously knew a different kind of queen than I do!!!) I am a theatre critic OK...so it's a new "career", but if you're interested in reading my reviews, go here Updated 3/10/01 WHAT I'M READING... I was able to get into this book while waiting at the doctor's office yesterday. Fascinating book!! Fascinating country!! WHAT I
WATCHED... That's it for today!
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FAREWELL, SWEET POLLY 22 March 2001 Norma McMillan died. We are in mourning. The name might not mean anything to you, but Norma was the voice of Sweet Polly Purebred, the girlfriend of Underdog (When Polly’s in trouble, I am not slow...it’s up up up and away I go!). She was also the voice of Gumby. And the voice of Casper the Friendly Ghost (can a "ghost" die?) Over the years we’ve followed several cartoons. Not with the intellectual eye of an adult animation fan, but as parents of kids who watched a lot of cartoons when they were little. We knew a lot about Underdog (and his alter-ego, the mildmannered Shoe Shine Boy) and we have a dog named Kimba because we watched "Kimba, the White Lion" a lot. That was one of Jeri’s favorite. Sort of a Lion King for the 70s. + And Speed Racer, of course. Speed Racer is one of those cartoons which is enjoying a rebirth and a whole new gang of fans, if the souvenir shops are to be believed. And then there were the Superheroes--I can’t even remember them all. I’m sure DiaperMan wasn’t one, though Tom once had a Halloween Costume of DiaperMan. But now the voice of Sweet Polly has been silenced, and I guess ShoeShine Boy won’t have to come to her rescue any more. We’ve experienced another sad loss around here too. Jeri called this evening to report the death of her cat Tony. Tony was a very special cat. I remember before Jeri got him. She asked me if I thought she had what it took to be a good cat mother. She brought Tony into the apartment she was sharing with Dave, the year before his death. Tony quickly took charge of the place and didn’t suffer fools gladly. After Dave died and Jeri had to move, Tony started having a bit less settled life. Still, he took it all in stride. She was telling me today about the pit bull who was afraid of him and who wouldn’t come around her apartment because Tony would scare him off. When Jeri decided to go to school in Boston, she knew she couldn't take Tony with her and had to find a home for him. He moved in with friends of hers. It hurt her to discover, on her first vacation back, that the lean and mean Tony machine had grown fat and complacent. But he was still "her" cat, even though he had not lived with her for a long time. When Tony’s caretakers decided to move to Dallas, Tony was once again without roots and he was taken in by other friends in Berkeley. They were on the same wavelength, Tony and these folks, and it seemed that he’d found a good home. Everybody agreed it was a temporary home. They all agreed that he was really still Jeri’s cat and that his new caretakers were just taking care of him for the caretakers who had to move away. But Jeri was one more step removed from Tony. And then the parents of the new caretakers lost their own cat, who had lived a happy long life and died of old age. The parents were going to get a new cat...or Tony could go to a good permanent home. Apparently there was a lot of discussion among all of the people who loved Tony and ultimately it was decided that it was in the best interest of the cat to have a stable home life of his own. And so Tony moved to Marin County, where everyone had every expectation that he would live out a long and happy life with many mice to catch. Nobody bargained for the coyote that slunk down from out of the hills and who was a bit less intimidated than the pit bull had been. And so Tony finally met his match and was not equal to the task. Jeri is angry with Dave, whom she asked to act as a guardian angel for Tony. But perhaps he just missed the cat too and decided that he could give it a more permanent home than he could have here on this earth--even in the wilds of Marin County. I’d like to think that somewhere in some place called "heaven" Tony is curled up on Dave’s lap and maybe they’re both watching Underdog and hearing Sweet Polly Purebred call out for help once again. One
Year Ago: oops...there wasn't one on March 22, 2000, so you'll just have to put up with this entry for 2 days. |
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Created 3/20/01 by Bev Sykes |