Minnie the Poocher
To Westhill Hall, which is a little community hall tucked away behind some flats about five minutes walk away. My neighbour Mark Bassey was doing a gig organised by his dog-adoring partner Hilary in aid of Canine Partners. It was a pleasant night sipping from warm tins of beer watching Mark, and an excellent pianist, drummer and bassist combo on a little curtained stage. Little stages always remind me of David Lynch these days, and the jazz and dogs comination was rather Twin Peaks.
Mark was a very likable stage presence. And in his last trombone solo, one of the dogs joined in and they had a brief, but memorable duet. And the dogs even had their own raffle with things like pull toy prizes.
Lorraine and I sat with Gary and Alex, two denizens of the Twitten. Gary talking enthusiastically to me on the way home about British Jazz in the 50s and 60s, and was rather impressed when I said Mum had worked in Ronnie Scott's as a stripling. He wasn't much one for rock, although he mentioned his nephew was Steve Harley who, with his band Cockney Rebel, were incredibly famous for a while in the 70s.
Reading a leaflet called Discover more about Canine Partners was fun too. For some reason thinking about dogs with human traits always makes me laugh, which is why talking dog jokes are the best jokes of all. Lorraine started reading out this bit:
"Some of the tasks a trained canine partner can carry out include:
To Westhill Hall, which is a little community hall tucked away behind some flats about five minutes walk away. My neighbour Mark Bassey was doing a gig organised by his dog-adoring partner Hilary in aid of Canine Partners. It was a pleasant night sipping from warm tins of beer watching Mark, and an excellent pianist, drummer and bassist combo on a little curtained stage. Little stages always remind me of David Lynch these days, and the jazz and dogs comination was rather Twin Peaks.
Mark was a very likable stage presence. And in his last trombone solo, one of the dogs joined in and they had a brief, but memorable duet. And the dogs even had their own raffle with things like pull toy prizes.
Lorraine and I sat with Gary and Alex, two denizens of the Twitten. Gary talking enthusiastically to me on the way home about British Jazz in the 50s and 60s, and was rather impressed when I said Mum had worked in Ronnie Scott's as a stripling. He wasn't much one for rock, although he mentioned his nephew was Steve Harley who, with his band Cockney Rebel, were incredibly famous for a while in the 70s.
Reading a leaflet called Discover more about Canine Partners was fun too. For some reason thinking about dogs with human traits always makes me laugh, which is why talking dog jokes are the best jokes of all. Lorraine started reading out this bit:
"Some of the tasks a trained canine partner can carry out include:
- Opening, loading and unloading a washing machine
- Retrieving items such as keys or crutches
- Picking items off supermarket shelves
- Handing over a purse at the checkout
- Assisting with dressing and undressing in private
- Response procedures in case of an emergency."
I know I'm weird but I liked this a lot. These dogs should be more widely available.
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