Poodle Superstar

The biggest spider web ever.

2007-09-30T08:39:00.000-05:00

Some of you who read yesterday's post (okay, no one...) may be wondering where Poodle's new friend Henry the Spider suddenly popped up from. Henry was visiting his spider friends at Lake Tawakoni State Park a few weeks ago when Poodle and I ventured out to see the giant spider web that had been in the news. The spider web was HUGE - covering 2 football fields worth of trees. Unfortunately, there had been a storm the night before we went, and most of the webs had been knocked down. Still pretty impressive, though. Poodle was a little concerned that the 2 million or so spiders involved were going to tie him to a tree, but he managed to get away safely. Henry will be moving to the Netherlands in a few months, but but he promises to keep in touch.

Elvis and the Balloons

2007-09-29T07:44:00.000-05:00

I've always felt a little sorry for Elvis, having died at the height of the worst fashion disaster in history. Even though Elvis Presley Enterprises has been very helpful lately in supplying us with loads of items depicting 50's and 60's hot -looking Elvis, the iconic image seems to be 70's large, jumpsuited Elvis. Poor guy. Had he lived a few more years maybe he would have ditched the jumpsuits and gone with a slightly better look. It seems the me that the cartoonish 70's look has almost overpowered his singing abilities and accomplishments. I'm afraid that the kids these days are only going to think of him as "that fat guy in the rhinestoned jumpsuit", and that's kind of sad. With that said, let me change gears and confess that I've always been partial to the kitschy goodness that is 70's Elvis, but that's the only Elvis I'm old enough to actually remember. And well, I love kitsch. Sorry, Elvis. What does any of this have to do with Poodle or balloons? It seems that this year's Plano Balloon Festival ( held last weekend) hired Kraig Parker, Grand Prairie's Finest Elvis Impersonator to entertain the crowds on Friday night. Poodle had other plans, so I had to go without him. (Okay, I forgot to put him in the bag...) Anyway, this fellow put some actual effort into his show, and was really pretty good. He had the moves, and sounded right. He even did the whole bit with the scarves. It was fun watching the old ladies in the front get all excited.

Day 2 of the balloon festival found me out before dawn, Poodle in tow, watching the balloons inflate in a valley full of fog. Pretty cool! Poodle got to see his new friend Henry the Spider , and all was done by 9AM. My personal favorite was a balloon shaped like a daisy. Poodle was fond of the Pirate balloon, but didn't really approve of the one shaped like Felix the Cat. Grrrr!

Return You Must!

2007-08-02T19:10:00.000-05:00

Episode III : Return of the Poodle

When we last saw our hero, he was being brainwashed by Darth Vader into believing that his true identity was Poodle Deathstar! After a long drawn out battle, the details of which we will likely never know, Poodle was apparently rescued and deprogrammed by Yoda. (Thanks Yoda! ) Equipped with a shoddily made spaceship, Poodle was sent on his way back to Earth. Lacking navigation devices, Poodle sadly missed Roswell NM, (where this type of thing is normal) and touched down in Southeastern Colorado instead. I got the call to come pick him up last weekend.

Poodle seemed lightly stunned from the rough landing, but recovered enough on the way home to pose for a photo in New Mexico before passing out again. Poor Poodle. He loves those volcanos.

Poodle Trouble!

2007-07-24T16:48:00.001-05:00

Even though Poodle has been kidnapped by the Dark Side, he still can sense when one of his own is in distress... Blue Poodle is in trouble!
icNorthWales - Poodle becomes victim of identity theft

Poodle Deathstar

2007-07-02T15:52:00.000-05:00

Episode II : Poodle of Darkness

"Come to me, Poodle, allow me to draw you to the dark side with the scary red tractor beam emitting from my head." Could it be that Poodle has been brainwashed by the Dark Lord of the Sith? Or is it that Poodle's natural red color was a clue to his true identity? His identity as ....Poodle Deathstar!!! Say it isn't so, Poodle! Perhaps this explains why I caught Poodle standing on R2D2's decapitated head last Friday.... Bad Poodle!

Poodle Superstar, Jedi Master

2007-03-25T19:13:00.000-05:00

Episode I: In the Mouth of the Droid

Poodle keeps many secrets. This week when I caught him commanding a small army of R2 units across the metroplex it became obvious to me that there was more to Poodle than meets the eye. Use the Force, Master Poodle!

Poodle's Big Irish Spectacular !

2007-03-17T08:15:00.000-05:00

Everyone loves St Patrick's Day, and Poodle is no exception. Last year he met a real bagpipe player at the Greenville Avenue St Patrick's Day parade! Poodle was thrilled and barked about it for days. Who knows what this year's parade will bring? Now if he could just get this keg open....

Poodle Fetish

2007-03-04T09:29:00.000-06:00

More tails from the archives....

In the summer of 2005, Poodle was lucky enough to be included on a trip to Cortez CO, to participate in a weeklong beginner archeology class. It was nearly his last adventure.... Poodle had been hanging on the back of my backpack during a tour of the Anasazi village site where we would be digging the next day. Ducking under a low branch, I felt a little tug on the backpack, but thought nothing of it. A few minutes later, one of my classmates called out, "Look, a fetish!" I turned to see a very frightened Poodle being held aloft. Everyone had a good laugh, (except Poodle), and he spent the rest of the trip inside the backpack pocket. Well, almost. He did get out to help me dig in my pit the next day, and he helped check for artifacts in the tray. He didn't find much, just a few potsherds and tool flakes. He was still too unnerved from being declared a fetish the previous day to focus very well.

A Look Back

2007-02-18T19:07:00.000-06:00

Long before he was Poodle Superstar, he was just Red Poodle.

This week we look back on some of Poodle's pre -blog exploits.

In April of 2006 Poodle explored the Texas Hill Country, learning first hand about brewing in Shiner. He put that knowledge to good use a few days later in Luckenbach, where he bellied up to the bar like a pro. There's no telling who you're going to see at the bar in Luckenbach. Probably a bunch of tourists. Maybe a Poodle ...

Poly - Pop Poodle

2007-02-18T10:11:00.000-06:00

Ever since Poodle 's return from vacationing in our 50th state, he's been enthusiastically sniffing out all things Polynesian. This week found us at home in Dallas, out in front of the yet to be opened Trader Vic's. Once again, it was the windiest day ever. Poodle was in real danger!
This TV is actually opening in the same location as an old TV, so I guess it's actually a reopening. The original tiki for this location was an Easter Island style moai tiki that sat out closer to the street, but they chose to attach this new tiki right to the building. Looking around, there didn't really seem to be place to put a tiki by the street, and I'm sure zoning laws outlaw that sort of thing anyway.
Poodle is looking forward to Mai Tais on the patio when it's not so windy. Zoning laws probably outlaw that too.

Poodle, Poi, & Pineapples

2006-12-17T16:25:00.000-06:00

Poodle decided that a visit to the Aloha State was a fine idea. So while Poodle enjoyed the wonders of the inside of the backpack, I toured Oahu. Poodle wanted to get out at the top of Diamondhead, but it was the windiest day ever in the history of Hawaii, so I let him see the sign instead. No way was I going to be explaining to a Hawaiian Park Ranger that I'd gotten off the trail because my poodle blew away. Poodle did, however, enjoy sunning himself at Waikiki Beach. He's already red, so there's no way of knowing if he got sunburned or not. He told me later that his favorite part of the trip was the visit to the Dole Pineapple Plantation. (Probably since he managed to get out of the backpack for awhile.) Wow. All pineapples all the time! I did notice while we were there that a Japanese lady was photographing some sort of chicken beanie baby with the pineapples. I wonder if there's a chicken blog somewhere? I think Poodle posed better , though. The chicken seemed to be lying over the top face down. Amateurs.

Kinky's Back.

2006-11-18T10:14:00.000-06:00

.... with a new Christmas book called The Christmas Pig. He stopped by Dallas on his book signing tour this week, so I decided to take Poodle. Poodle had been awfully distraught about the outcome of the elections, (hence the lack of posts this week) and was blaming himself for the lack of Poodle turnout on election day. The evening went well, with a fine speech by the Kinkster about Texas politics and Christmas pigs, and he even read a few pages for us. Poodle was feeling better after the reading when I asked him if he'd like to personally speak to Kinky regarding the Texas Independent Poodle Initiative. Poodle declined to speak, but agreed to wordlessly pose for photos. No idea who that woman is who jumped into the picture. Must be a big poodle fan.

Election Day!

2006-11-07T15:31:00.000-06:00

Poodles for Kinky

2006-11-02T14:31:00.000-06:00

Election day is almost upon us, ( next Tuesday) and Poodle endorsed Kinky Friedman for Texas Governor way back in March at the scandalous Greenville Avenue St Patrick's Day Parade. " Here is a candidate that understands the needs of poodles, " thought Poodle, posing for a photo as Kinky's car passed by. It's hard to disagree with that thought , since Kinky has been operating the Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch for years. I'll imagine that he probably does know the needs of poodles. Though the Kinkster has been campaigning all summer in hopes of securing the all important poodle vote, there have been a few issues. Mostly the part about how poodles have not as yet achieved suffrage. So here is where you come in, poodle people! Hit the polls and vote. Let your poodles be heard! Just vote. Seeya at the polls.

Gentlemen Prefer Poodles

2006-10-27T16:31:00.000-05:00

It's State Fair time again, (okay, the fair closed last weekend) and Poodle enjoyed his fair outing for the second year in a row. Though we missed out on the fried Coke, (I've heard it described as "syrupy doughnuts in a cup ") and the animatronic Marlon Perkins ( "let's observe elsewhere while Jim wrestles this giant anaconda!") display was gone already, there were plenty of corny dogs and chocolate covered turtle cheesecake on a stick for everyone. Personally, I like the key lime version better. Poodle has no comment. He never does. The unofficial theme of this year's fair (there's always an unofficial theme, which is always way better than the real theme. Last year it was Elvis.) was Marilyn Monroe, which consisted of a Marilyn themed art display complete with Andy Warhol prints and real movie-worn dresses. The dresses were much larger than I thought they'd be. They were....( gasp) normal sized. That's encouraging. They also had a Marilyn impersonator played by a woman who is also known for playing a Vampira -like character called Jami Deadly on cable access TV. I've never seen her TV show, but she seemed to have the Marilyn thing down pat. I was going to ask her if she's like to pose with Poodle, but it seemed a little awkward. All that aside, the real story was in the Creative Arts building where the 800 Pound Butter Marilyn resided. This was a major attraction, apparently, since there was a non stop parade of people coming through gawking at it and making the same comment over and over. "That's a lot of butter!" It was bit difficult to get photos , but Poodle pushed through.
That Poodle.... He knows everyone.

Green Poodle Checks In

2006-10-27T15:53:00.000-05:00

Green Poodle is Red Poodle's oldest pal. Though their earliest history is sketchy, I will assume they were plastic blobs together at the blow mold toy making facility in Hong Kong, and probably rode over together on the slow boat. Red Poodle's first adventures were spent with Green Poodle, traveling around Seattle, where they had been assigned to the same bin at Archie McPhee's wonder emporium. After the trip, Green Poodle went home to Portland, and Red Poodle hit the road. Earlier this week, Green Poodle checked in.....

Canton TX, junk capital of the universe.

2006-10-12T14:31:00.000-05:00

Poodle didn't think the flea market experience sounded all that great. Why would he want to go to a market to buy fleas? Ewww. After a short explanation of how flea markets aren't really markets for fleas, and that plastic isn't much of a flea conductor anyway, we set sail for fabulous Canton, the junk capital of the universe. Canton holds the mother of all flea markets on the weekend preceding the first Monday of every month. You can buy anything in Canton. Almost. Apparently you can't buy a 4ft tall Big Boy statue that would fit in the back of a Scion XB, but I won't hold my personal bitterness against the First Monday Trade Days Foundation. Perhaps we just missed the Big Boy booth. Upon arrival in "First Monday Park " which is indicated by a brown and white national- park -looking- sign on I-20 , we spotted this fabulous monument to commerce. "This is the place," I declared, unhooking Poodle from his carabiner. We had to wait for a pair of women to finish photographing their garden gnomes (soooo last year!) with the monument, and then Poodle was able to take his rightful place in Bennett, New Mexico. I suppose I should have talked to the Gnome People to see what sort of project they were doing, but I really just wanted to hit the junk booths. A million hours later, laden with felt elves, flocked reindeer, sock monkeys, a 25 ton bag of kettle corn, and a metal halloween cat clicker, we headed home confident that we would return again soon.

Poodle Superstar

2006-10-10T17:40:00.000-05:00

Of all the books written by John Steinbeck, the one that became my personal favorite was Travels with Charley. Charley, it turns out, was a standard poodle who rode with Steinbeck across the US in a camper, meeting all sorts of people along the way, and learning what it really means to be a poodle in America. I'd like to think Steinbeck's 46 year- old story of wandering and discovery was the inspiration for this blog. If only that were true. The real inspiration for this blog came from a poorly drawn map of Seattle, and a chance encounter with a bin of tacky 25 cent toy poodles in a novelty shop. It's now a year and a half later, and Red Poodle has embarked (ha!) on a dangerous life of adventure. Poodle, you're a star.