The Second Annual Beast of the Bay Voting Party at Stray Bar in Bernal Heights was an indelibly colorful scene. Startling afternoon light pouring through the door. Patrons chatting away at barstool level while their dogs communed together “four-on-the-floor.”
Yours truly with Paul Kohut on bass playing the oldies with some originals thrown in. Mindy and Rocket (editor and chief) chatting up the crowd and handing out raffle prizes. Fun for all.
But perhaps the happiest one in the crowd was Lily the Labrador Retriever, whose owner Kip had won her a cloth toy squirrel. She was gleefully trying to shake its head off. I was content to lick the head of Guinness off my moustache, smile at the lively festivities, and find a song that worked for the moment, like that classic Sam Cooke ditty — “Let the Good Times Roll.”
Unlike my folk-singing friend Freebo, I don’t have a whole set of dog songs to play. But a few songs into the first set, I realized that since dogs are all about love and fun, most tunes are pretty darned applicable to the canine crowd. For example, that other Sam Cooke classic that could very well be a lament to a runaway dog. It goes, “If you ever change your mind about leaving, leaving me behind, oh, bring it to me. Bring your sweet lovin,’ Bring it on home to me.”
“My Funny Valentine” could certainly be an ode to a pooch. “Is your figure less than Greek [the Alopekis’ excepted]? Is your mouth a little weak [see that slobber all over my new shirt]? When you open it to speak, are you smart [well, they do tend to repeat themselves]?”
Then, of course, there’s “You’ve Got a Friend,” the most sentimental dog song ever written (Carol King even has a dog’s name). Makes you wonder how many of our favorite songs of love and devotion were actually inspired by dogs. Maybe “Tiny Dancer” was really written about a toy poodle and “Brown Sugar” about a chocolate Lab.
Dog lovers are always trying to imagine what dogs are thinking. That’s one reason why the movie “Up,” recently nominated for five Academy Awards, is so captivating. The main dog characters are equipped with devices that translate their thoughts into English and project the words from tiny speakers on their collars.
No professorial “Peabody and Sherman” characters for the “Up” writers. They know that the one thing funnier than a dog with perfect diction and coke-bottle glasses is just a plain old dog being a dog. When it comes to their obsessions, dogs are quintessential nerds and inherently hilarious. One of my favorite moments in the movie is when the old man, surrounded by hostile forces, desperately asks, “What are we going to do?” – then looks around to find his trusty canine companion completely absorbed in chewing up a tennis ball.
Another “Up” gag that has become a running joke among dog people is to stop in mid-sentence, strike a hyper-alert pose, and blurt out “Squirrel!” – Then, after a few seconds of listening in complete silence, you continue the conversation as if nothing had happened.
This joke originated with a trick Bob Peterson, one of the “Up” writers and the voice of Dug the Dog, plays on his actual dogs. After a run, when the dogs are huffing and puffing, he starts breathing hard with them then suddenly jerks his head up like he hears a little critter somewhere. Of course, the dogs freeze instantly right down to their respiration. When Bob resumes panting, the dogs join in. (Sounds like a good way to catch a dog with his “pants” down.)
Despite Peterson’s squirrelly pranks, I give “Up” two thumbs… well… up! Best kinda-sorta dog movie I ever saw.
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