My Dog Tulip

Over the weekend, I saw an article in the New York Times about the upcoming movie My Dog Tulip. It's based on the book of the same name by English writer J.R. Ackerley. I've never read it. I will now, and I'll review it here. (Without fear of input from a disgruntled author, mind you. Ackerley's been dead since 1967.) Today the NYT gave the film a quietly rave review. It's a beautiful film, judging from the trailer (click below). The animation is all hand-drawn, and the voices are by top-rate actors.  The images are spot on, too.  Dog Parkers will appreciate the film's treatment of a familiar view--that of a romping dog butt. Enjoy. -z

File Under "Double-Take"

Hi, all. Fellow Parker and blogger Michelle (Mindy) sent along a link to her friend Tony Chor's blog. Tony posted this picture. What do you think?

I saw it and thought, "There's something definitely wrong with that panda." Those of you who have had your coffee have probably already figured it out. That's no panda; it's a dog. Hunh. I had a similar reaction the day I looked out my window to see a neighbor walking the ugliest dog on the planet. Oops. It wasn't a dog; it was a pot-bellied pig.

At Dog Park, we have plenty of dogs named Bear (or variations, like Oso), but none actually looks like it could climb a tree or bust into your car (or your cranium) with razor sharp talons. The "panda" pictured here is eerily like the real thing. Plus, it really lives in China. To read Tony's entry and find a link to a CNN  story about China' new craze of dyeing dogs to look like wild animals (and even Ninja turtles), click here. Thank you, Michelle! Thanks, Tony!
-z

What Dog Park Blog?

Oh, right, this dog park blog. I've been cranking away on a manuscript--juggling the ancient Egyptians and the imperial Chinese. 2600 B.C.,  1400 A.D., I don't even know what millennium I currently inhabit. Throw in a new software program (I'm on a first name basis with the good but terribly confused people at Adobe) and an "urgent" proofreading assignment this weekend, and I'm completely knackered. So I go to dog park every night, but I'm not really there. I'm thinking about how to explain to twelve-year-olds that imperial China's most ruthless and effective ruler was a woman named Woohu, who got her start in life at court as a courtesan from a common family. Soon she was running the place. She married up, she plotted, she connived, she assassinated, she overthrew her own son, and she renamed a dynasty. Cool. No wonder she was the only girl. She tore the place a new one.

Right, so dog park. Look, I'm just going to play my bad hand here. My head's just not in the game. I got nothing. Bupkis. So, I took a couple hours off on Friday afternoon to watch a movie on my computer. I may be the last person on earth to have discovered A Town Called Panic, but I loved it. It's like a mash up of Gumby, Monty Python, and high school French club. Small, plastic molded cowboy, Indian, and farm animal toys come to life, playing piano, taking showers, drinking cheap wine, chasing mermen, and falling to the center of the Earth. Intrigued? Check out the trailer below. There are no dogs in the movie, alas, but one sat under my feet while I watched it.
-z