Pawnbroker, Ukulele, Us (From Thereby Hangs A Tail)
“What a beautiful instrument,” said Mr. Singh. He turned it over in his hands. “Genuine Hawaiian koa, highly flamed, Sitka spruce top braces, bone nut. Do you play?”
“A bit.”
A bit? Bernie was a master!
“Would a brief selection be possible? Anything at all.”
Of course it was possible. How about “Waltz Across Texas?” “Parachute Woman?” “Ghost Riders in the Sky?” And there was always “Surfin’ U.S.A,” guaranteed to get them up and dancing. Suddenly I was in the mood to see Mr. Singh dance. I don’t exactly dance, myself, but when dancing starts up I’m no wallflower, either, kind of confusing, the wallflower part, because I’ve often seen flowers – even flowers growing by a wall – dancing in the breeze.
We learned so much about balls yesterday! Have to go back to it in the future, whenever that is.
Tags: Mr. Singh, Spencer Quinn, ukulele
This entry was posted on Thursday, January 28th, 2010 at 8:59 am and is filed under Chet The Dog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
4:36 am on January 28th, 2010
Hey everyone. My mom got our Little Detective Agency business cards yesterday. Definitely worth the wait –they are way cool!!!! And Cosmo, so good to hear that the tumor was benign; trust me that is very good news. I knew you were going to be just fine — double wags to you. On the ball thing, my view is if my people want the ball brought back to them, generally they can go get it themselves — they've got legs, even if only two. Alright, maybe I'll get it once or twice just to humor them, but after that, they are definitely on their own. Now chasing and chewing sticks, that is an entirely different matter. Yum. Your friend, Wookie
4:42 am on January 28th, 2010
Cosmo, so glad to hear the good news!!!
Chet, we can just see you dancing to Bernie's music!
5:10 am on January 28th, 2010
Wall flowers! Thats one of my favorite songs!
Countin' flowers on the wall
That don't bother me at all
Playin' solitaire till dawn with a deck of fifty-one
Smokin' cigarettes and watchin' Captain Kangaroo
Now don't tell me I've nothin' to do….
6:02 am on January 28th, 2010
Thanks again guys! Mom and I wish we could hear Bernie play, the ukulele is so cool, too bad he had to pawn it *sigh* finances. Rio, could you tell the story of Cat Voodoo? What does it take to set you off? If anyone else wants to tell a "ticked off" story, please share. I'm a really laid back guy, and it takes a lot to tick me off – BUT when my cousin Josie (by marriage, she's a Tibetan terrier) came over for Christmas Eve, it didn't take long for her to ruffle my fur! I have a big basket of rawhides that I like to take my time picking through and don't you know it, she took out every single one, sampled it and over the entire evening had them strewn all over the house! Then she kept coming over and snarling at me, in my own house! We got into a couple of tussles that had to be broken up. I think her parents were pretty embarrassed and she won't be coming over again. Phew – it was a rough night. That was the only time I really felt evil!
7:16 am on January 28th, 2010
I have suspicions about cat voodoo involving a stuffed kitty…
Cosmo, I'm so glad to here things are good with you! You're a member of this pack, and we'd miss you if you were feeling sick or tired and couldn't log on.
7:18 am on January 28th, 2010
cosmo – sometimes you just have to stand your ground, you know? that's not evil it's just putting rudeness firmly in its place. good news on the health report too! we are smiling! i hope that if we ever get to hear chet and bernie perform that my mom doesn't start singing. that would be very, very, bad…in fact rio, when mom read your post she said oh, rio, i haven't heard that song in forEVER and happily began "singing" it. i was like i'm off to the crate for some nap time…they say i make noise when i bark? yikes…thanks chet for providing us a place where we can network with the nation within a nation…you all have a great day! -s
7:57 am on January 28th, 2010
Cosmo! The Cat Voodoo story may not be appropriate for Chets page. I'm certainly not proud of myself losing control like that… it all ended pretty badly.
7:59 am on January 28th, 2010
Here's to Bernie not having to pawn the ukulele again, after he figures out his taxes.
9:32 am on January 28th, 2010
Yo! How come everyone quit talking? Its like a dark cloud is looming over the page.. don't worry, no cats were harmed yesterday, if thats whats on your minds…
10:30 am on January 28th, 2010
Riff Gretzky and Sassy Raff, Riff Raff are in the house.
I like the way Chet thinks. Why he couldn't understand Princess a little better is beyond us. We understand each other very well. Maybe because we live together and know each others body and scent language. We're looking forward to Chet and Bernie's next adventure. Hope it's not the aquifier going down!
12:36 pm on January 28th, 2010
A long time ago, Cosmo asked what sets me off. The answer is, when my someone takes my stuff. I have 10 rules about my stuff.
1. If I like it, it's mine.
2. If its in my mouth, it's mine.
3. If I can take it from you, it's mine.
4. If I had it a little while ago, it's mine.
5. If it's mine, it must never appear to be yours in any way.
6. If I'm chewing something up, all the pieces are mine.
7. If it looks like mine, it's mine.
8. If I saw it first, it's mine.
9. If you are playing with something and you put it down, it automatically becomes mine.
10. If its broken, it's yours.
3:08 pm on January 28th, 2010
Rio – Like your style. You forgot if you can eat it – it's mine (that's what my dog believes anyway.)
4:06 pm on January 28th, 2010
Cosmo! Great news buddy. Us tricolor's have to stick together. Glad to hear the news. All my staff have been working all day and then when they come home I make them be a lap. Man I really like laps. My favorite is the male staff. He has a lap just the right size. That makes me tired now. Better go nap.
[img ]http://chetthedog.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/1264730762-small lap abbie.jpg[/img]
5:26 pm on January 28th, 2010
I had three walks today, a short one with Henry, a medium one with Wojo, and another super short one with Henry to get the kids from the bus. (Well, I guess that would be four for me, with the one walking the kids to the bus earlier in the day…, but it was sans dogs, so I don't count it) The boys can't be walked together right now because they're both only a year old, and irrepressible. Ordinarily not a problem, but Henry has stitches from the vet yesterday, and he's supposed to take it easy for the next two weeks. So once again, lots of walking today– but I'm the only one who's tired.
9:54 pm on January 28th, 2010
Abbie! That looks awesome, tried that once, and let’s just say, I limped for a day. Rio, you r SO right. But I don’t feel like doing anything right now. I just. Chased a 8 year old cat today when Megab took me for a walk. One of her friends got to close, and I flew out of my harness, no collar mommy said, and ran into a big bush. Somehow the black male cat named Fluffy got into the bush with me. I squared him off, and it hissed at me! The next thing I knew, I was chasing it! It was pretty fast, though I kept up my pace. Megan was running after me, and her friend was running after her. Anyways, I. Based him into a portch, and it jumped out! If I could jump that high, I would lick human’s faces, not run away like a coward. When I turned around, I was being picked up, since I’m a pekignese, king Charles cavalier mix, and it turned out to be Megan. I got a punishment- no treats for the rest of the day. Did I mention Megan has this this called asthma?
10:55 pm on January 28th, 2010
Rio: loved your rules
Chet: you and Bernie might enjoy this cute article, "Puppies Headed to Shelter Take a Detour to Chase Suspect"
http://www.latimes.com/wdaf-puppies-car-chase-012…
5:14 pm on July 10th, 2010
I'm wondering how you all know that the tumor was benign. I'd like to know this answer because my girlfriend does not want to read the book if Chet is not ok. She loves him very much.
4:11 am on July 11th, 2010
The biopsy scene from To Fetch A Thief was posted a while back as a sneak peek. But summing up: good news.