The First Beagle on the Moon!
August is a silly month: too hot, too much traveling, hardly any decent TV on (now that So You Think You Can Dance is over…although at least Mad Men will be back in just a few days! Yippee!). Luckily it includes the birthdays of many of my favorite people to make it all worthwhile. :-)
If you’re looking for a brief escape from the boredom and heat, check out my fellow writing group friend’s story "Beautiful Beast" on the new Hunger Mountain literary magazine site. Mordena is a brilliant writer, and this is a great twist on the story of "Beauty and the Beast"!
And speaking of traveling, I think I forgot to tell you guys about the goofy fun thing we did on our last trip to California. (Yes, we’ve flown to California THREE TIMES already this year! Boy, I am so sick of planes…but on the plus side, now I have some great books to recommend when it comes time for my end-of-the-year favorite book list!) 🙂
We were staying outside of San Francisco for a wedding, and we just so happened to end up in a town with one of the cutest museums of all time. Here’s a hint:
Yes! We visited the Charles M. Schultz Museum and Research Center! Apparently this is where the creator of Peanuts lived for much of his life, and so now there’s a museum and ice rink and gift shop and cafe all dedicated to his work.
Can you think of a happier name than the Warm Puppy Cafe? I mean, seriously.
There are adorable statues of Snoopy and Woodstock everywhere, plus a very comprehensive exhibit hall devoted to Schultz’s life and the history of Peanuts, but I have to admit my favorite part was the small theater where they run all the old TV specials that were made in the 1970’s and 1980’s. I mean, we all know A Charlie Brown Christmas and It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, but it turns out there were about a trazillion others that don’t get re-aired every year, although I can’t imagine why not.
For instance, the one we stopped to watch was called Snoopy’s Getting Married, Charlie Brown, from 1985, and OMG, it was GENIUS. Really WEIRD AWESOME GENIUS.
It starts with Peppermint Patty demanding that Charlie Brown send Snoopy over to guard her house that night while her dad is away, but then Snoopy gets scared off by something mysterious, and Patty calls Charlie Brown in a huff to make him come be her guard dog instead, which he does, because he’s agreeable, put-upon Charlie Brown.
And then the next morning Snoopy shows up and announces that he’s in love and is getting married. OF COURSE she’s a poodle (Genevieve!), because cartoon boy dogs always fall for fancy poodles with silly haircuts and pink bows on their ears (my real poodle rolls her eyes at this).
But we hardly get to spend any time with her at all, because most of the show revolves around Snoopy’s brother Spike, who has this hilarious wispy mustache and fedora for some reason. He has to travel from Needles, California, to be the "Best Beagle" in Snoopy’s wedding, so almost the entire show is about him trying to earn money or hitch a ride to get there. So bizarre!
And then the big day arrives, and Snoopy totally freaks out and gets cold feet and bursts into tears at his bachelor party, poor dog. But there’s no reason he’s suddenly become such a commitment-phobe, other than apparently that’s what happens to all guys on their wedding day (!!ruh-roh!!).
However, before you start feeling sorry for Genevieve, it looks like Snoopy’s about to go through with the wedding anyway, until suddenly Lucy bursts in and announces: "I have good news and bad news. The good news is, we made a great feast for the wedding reception. The bad news is, the bride just ran off with a GOLDEN RETRIEVER!"
GASP!
And then everyone eats wedding cake and is perfectly happy. Awwww. What’s funny, though, is that afterwards those of us who watched it all agreed that we were afraid Genevieve was actually going to run off with Spike, since there was a moment in the movie where he was totes flirting with her.
And it TURNS OUT, according to Wikipedia, that in the original comic series this was based on, that’s EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED! Can you believe it? That hussy! That gal-stealing no-good brother!
But it’s OK, because when they get back to Needles, the poodle ditches Spike for a coyote. My goodness, she gets around. She may in fact be the exact fancy-looking poodle that every cartoon boy dog falls for! There’s just her, hopping from comic strip to comic strip! SO scandalous!
Anyway, it was one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen, and it’s a highly adorable museum if you ever happen to be in Santa Rosa, California.
Aw, dapper Snoopy. Yeah, I was in this photo, shaking his hand, but it’s such a horrifying picture of me that you don’t get to see it. Because I run this blog, mwa ha ha! 🙂
Oh, and my lovely friend Rachelsparkle got me this splendiferous fridge magnet from the gift shop, featuring my very favorite Peanuts character:
Yay! Yes, of course I love Marcie…although Sally and Woodstock are right up there, too. :-)
All right, I have to go work on revising Seekers 5 (I know, remember how I was all excited to turn it in a few weeks ago? Well, it’s BACK! And now I have to make it EVEN BETTER!). I hope you’re all staying cool and finding some way to entertain yourselves without TV! (Might I suggest…reading? Ooooo?). 😉
Quote of the Day: "This is my report on the importance of knowing how to read. If you can’t read and you get a love letter, you won’t know what it says. That would be very sad. Although in the long run, it also could save you a lot of trouble." — Sally in Peanuts