What’s In A Name?
Here’s a new feature that will appear the fifteenth of every month. In theory, because you’ll notice this isn’t the fifteenth of any month yet discovered. It popped up on Chet’s FB page yesterday but will be here first from now on.
What’s In A Name, Part One: A couple of days ago reader Michael Morrison asked: “Speaking of ‘A Fistful of Collars’ where did a female banker named Oxley come from? How does a writer come up with names?” Ms. Publicist asked Spence about it.
Ms. Publicist: What about it, Spence?
Spence: Names are very important to me. That’s where I start with every character. I can’t write them without the name, and it has to be the right name.
Ms. Publicist: How about we go through the origins of some of the names in the Chet and Bernie series, say once a month? Let’s start with Ms. Oxley, Chet and Bernie’s bank manager, who’s mentioned once in the series so far and hasn’t yet appeared.
Spence: But may. Ms. Oxley is one of those names that suggests the character – kind of like Nurse Ratched without the cruelty. Not warm, a stickler for the rules, judgmental – exactly the kind of bank manager Chet and Bernie don’t need. When we were kids my brother had a friend surnamed Oxley, who actually wasn’t Oxleyish at all. The name just popped into my mind when Chet, for some reason, started in on the bank manager subject. The passage begins at the bottom of page 155.
Ms. Publicist: Thanks, Spence. See you next month, when the subject will be: Leda.
Today’s the 100 anniversary of the birth of Muddy Waters.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hEYwk0bypY
Welcome Elliott, settling in to a nice new home.
Tags: A Fistful of Collars, Ms. Oxley, Muddy Waters, What's In A Name
This entry was posted on Thursday, April 4th, 2013 at 8:08 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.
8:14 am on April 4th, 2013
First! Chet, We Love Being First!
8:18 am on April 4th, 2013
What fun!
Good morning all.
8:21 am on April 4th, 2013
Morning BSD and B. and everyone else. We hounds don’t read real well which is why mom reads to us but had some real trouble reading the subtitles on the Muddy Waters video.
8:22 am on April 4th, 2013
Hi Bear. One important thing that I didn’t mention yesterday about On Demand is that you have to be on the “On Demand” channel which has all of the menus. The channel form me is 1. Hope you have decoded your system and are enjoying the programs.
Staff: I like Pat Metheny.
8:25 am on April 4th, 2013
Good morning! We are looking forward to hearing the thought process for names of various characters from C&B’s cases.
Maybe on the 15th, we can each comment on how we got our own names.
8:35 am on April 4th, 2013
O’Howlers: Telling how we were named. What a Fun Idea!
B: Still playing with the New Controls. Heh.
Staff: A.Catty on NBC! This is big, Really Big.
Look how Professional she is…a Natural Commentator if we ever saw one.
Elliot: Your mom is famous!
8:48 am on April 4th, 2013
Good morning fellow Plunderers and Lurkers all.
Staff: Kool Pat Metheny video from last night. We were enjoying it again this morning.
Yes, we do have a old turntable here. As a matter of fact, it was only recently taken out of mothballs. Happily it still works, although the automatic turnoff seems to be failing.
8:58 am on April 4th, 2013
Greetings!
I like Pat Metheny and the Grizz and I still have a working turntable.
Way kool! A Katty on TV! Elliot, your mom rocks!
Welcome to your new forever home, FOC, Elliott!
O’Howlers: Love your idea about telling how we got our names!
Waaahhh! Yankees lose again to ‘dem Sox!
Oh, and BTW, AJ now has pants! Grizzly and I will fund the outstanding balance. Wooooohoooooo!
What’s up next?
9:10 am on April 4th, 2013
One can get Pat Metheny albums on CD audio and MP3 at Amazon.
9:26 am on April 4th, 2013
This is going to be a very interesting series by Spence on the 15th. We are looking forward to Leda.
Catty Liberian did a very professional job in the video. She looked nice, too.
Mom gave away her turntable to a 16 year old. The kid likes music like Glenn Miller, so she also gave him her folks record albums.
gasp, The Rockies are in first place in their division.
9:39 am on April 4th, 2013
gasp again….Lincecum cut his hair. He looks better and healthier…got his first win of the season last night.
9:46 am on April 4th, 2013
SiberH!…It’s all that medicinal pot he’s been smokin’…heh!heh!
9:50 am on April 4th, 2013
We have one word to say about baseball: TOMATOES! Snicker
We love the idea of the new series on the 15th. Can’t wait to hear about Leda.
9:53 am on April 4th, 2013
Go Rockies!
10:00 am on April 4th, 2013
Thank you, Wose.
BBL
10:07 am on April 4th, 2013
Don’t waste good tomatoes! Looking forward to 15th 🙂 Leda???
10:10 am on April 4th, 2013
Hey everyone.
Barb- that was a good one!
We have a Famous Plunderer. Way to go, Catty.
Sun is out and temps heading towards the 60’s. gotta love it
11:07 am on April 4th, 2013
We finally were allowed to go back to last night’s blog to click on Staff’s links. Catty is a great news anchor! Did she have to take lessons for that, or is she just naturally talented? The other link gave us the old “not available on this platform” message. Grrrrrr
11:15 am on April 4th, 2013
Fumagated!…My friend sent me a text on my little Go-Phone. She said the boney-fingered one just sent out an email saying no one could call in sick during two specific weeks out of each month…heh!…My friend is fuming – not that she ever calls in sick, but how can someone dictate when another person will be sick or not?…grunt!
11:27 am on April 4th, 2013
In today’s NYTimes there is an article/interview with Mike Sandlock, who, at 97, is the oldest living former Dodgers player.
11:27 am on April 4th, 2013
Ms. Catty is pretty and famous! My Two-legged and I can’t decide which of the Sisters Three has the best smile.
11:34 am on April 4th, 2013
Rose & Griz: you guys rock! Now the Giant is clothed! Not that I was worried…
I also need to announce that I am near outfitting the dog team with coats but will be sending an email to the Plunderers in a few minutes. I don’t have quite all the coats needed and Anchorage and Fairbanks stores have no more and the size needed is no longer available online. Perhaps there are a few out there in Plunderland. I will send you photos of what is needed and the chain store I used. If we end up with a few extra, all the better!
Go team! 🙂
11:37 am on April 4th, 2013
Why, B, I do believe there is a piece of pie with your name on it.
11:40 am on April 4th, 2013
Masquers: LOL. My favorite is chocolate cream.
11:46 am on April 4th, 2013
Hello all. Leda, the swan . .
I need to go back and check the videos from last night.
Way to go to our Hobbit!
I took Mattie and Grace to my acupuncturist today. They were very well behaved even though they wanted to sleep on the paws he put the needles in. 🙂
It’s a funny story, but I will wait until I’m at the big computer to write it.
11:46 am on April 4th, 2013
Oxley: A perfect name for the character.
Rio: A Catty Librarian would look even younger than me if I updated my avatar.
Belle Starr: We sisters will all have our best smiles on when we are all together in May.
Wose: I am sure that the Giant is very grateful to have his pants finally sponsored.
11:46 am on April 4th, 2013
Coming right up!
11:56 am on April 4th, 2013
Thanks from us to C.Hobbit for outfitting the team, and to Rose for pantsing the Giant.
We will be on the lookout for the Hobbit’s email, and for any news of a wish list registry for Snowhook.
12:04 pm on April 4th, 2013
Siber, here is your dream job:
http://www.yukonquest.com/site/news-articles/?articleid=2151
12:42 pm on April 4th, 2013
Let’s see they say SOME weekends and nights are required? We are talking the Yukon right? snicker.
Amazing Grace and Waltzing Mathilda’s Day at the V E T’s
Our appointment is for 10:30. I take the Ladies out to the Element at 10:15 and discover that I still haven’t taken the 2 40 pounds bags of kibble into the house.
Do that. Get their water, get the Puparonies, get my coco, and now get on the road. We are ten minutes late. JG has decided to take advantage of the sun and has let his chickens out in his yard. The dogs think this is really cool. Luckily, they are not Sibes.
JG’s dog is out protecting is flock. Bear is a Canaan Dog. He does not bark, he yodels. Grace and Mattie thought this was excellent. Chickens and a weird dog. Bear goes into the house, JG comes out with his stickers.
12:50 pm on April 4th, 2013
First up is Mattie. She does not want to lie down on the side where he can get to the torn ligament, she wants to get petted. We finally get her down in the perfect position, when the small yappers comes over from the next door neighbors. These dogs love to intimate JG’s human clients. They are not friendly. I took one look at them, snapped my fingers, pointed to their house and said “checcccchh.” They left.
JG starts putting in the stickers. Dogs return and get closer because their human is with them. Grace and Mattie are watching with more interest. Mattie tries to get to her feet. JG yells to their owner that he is treating two dogs outside and he needs hers to go in. She puts them in.
Stickers go in. I have my hand on Mattie’s neck, petting her and making sure she doesn’t get up. Now Grace has found this very interesting and sniffed each sticker before it went in. Now that it’s done she’s bored and decides to take a nap right on all the stickers.
Move her. Take stickers out of Mattie, take a Puparonie and water break.
Yappers come back now 5 feet from car. I walk towards them. Their owner is calling them names I wouldn’t call my dogs. I close the hatch to the car. Walk up to her and say, “I have two 155 pound dogs in the car getting treated. They are getting very interested in your dogs.” Dogs leave and don’t come back.
(Grace and Mattie were actually sleeping)
12:54 pm on April 4th, 2013
Grace is next. She is perfect. The stickers go into her wrist. I think she’s training to become an acupuncturist because she watches everything. Either that or she is planning a great practical joke.
Mattie is snoring away. Grace goes to sleep. Take the stickers out and off we go . .
Dog, they are funny.
1:00 pm on April 4th, 2013
I take it we can’t vote for A Katty?
1:39 pm on April 4th, 2013
Fellow Sibers, That would indeed be a perfect job. I wonder if they would be amused if a Siberian Husky applied for it.
Stover, Thank you for more baseball information today.
Rose, Thank you and the Prof. taking care of the rest of the Giant’s clothing fund.
And, Thank you C.Harris for taking care of the Snowhook dogs clothing needs. We want to do our part to help.
1:46 pm on April 4th, 2013
Donation!…I will donate my Coat of Many Colors to Snowhook…sniff!…If I could find it that is…grunt!
2:18 pm on April 4th, 2013
Now Rio…you might be as big around as a Snowhook dog but you lack in the length of the spine. But I guess it is the thought that counts.
P.S. You have the same problem I do: I never would have had a weight problem in the first place if I were 10″ taller.
2:51 pm on April 4th, 2013
Even ‘tho a dawg dr. was involved, we loved Melanie’s story. Always love it when someone learns something, other than us…
3:02 pm on April 4th, 2013
Stories!…Sometimes I have a hard time figuring out what Melanie’s stories are about…sniff!…Then I read every other word and they make sense…snort!
3:18 pm on April 4th, 2013
Coat!…Here is what the Petco in my town has to offer in coat apparel…snort!
3:20 pm on April 4th, 2013
This is Great…catching up on those late night episodes of Justified we missed…ON DEMAND!
WoooHooo!!!
Melanie: Shame on you…Threatening those poor little doggies with your Big Bad Newfs…snicker.
3:21 pm on April 4th, 2013
Rio, snort is right. We wouldn’t put that on a goldfish…in the rain!
3:23 pm on April 4th, 2013
Hey, watch out for angry newfs, they’ve been known to sit on and head butt the emeny!
3:33 pm on April 4th, 2013
Bear!…Which ones are you watching?….wheeze!…This season is particularly interesting, what with you know who getting knocked off…sniff!
3:40 pm on April 4th, 2013
Bear!…After you finish Justified, watch the show called “The Americans” – find it in the “A’s” under Americans…snort!…I don’t know if they still have the first shows available. You have to watch it from the very beginning, no matter what…heh!
4:01 pm on April 4th, 2013
I can’t picture Junior in that coat.
4:12 pm on April 4th, 2013
Rio, I hope that someone in your friend’s office who gets the stomach flu goes into work as ordered. Then that person can make a pitstop at the bony-fingered one’s desk.
4:25 pm on April 4th, 2013
Sammie!…You think the same way my friend does…heh!…She said first thing she would do if she had to go in sick was cough all over the boney-fingered ones computer keyboard. I think she should lick her mouse too, That’s what I would do…sniff!
4:57 pm on April 4th, 2013
Rio, With you on this one. Was having trouble following Melanie’s story too. Thought maybe she meant stitches instead of stickers. But then I decided she must be talking about an acupuncturist and not a v*e*t.
5:10 pm on April 4th, 2013
Whoo Hooo.
I called and then went to the local Petco and they had put aside 2 of the wrong ones. (So hard to describe over the phone) So I showed them a picture of the right one and they found one tiny one. Then the nice asst. mgr, Kathy, called around. She came back with sort of good news. She found one in Blaine a North suburb of the Twin Cities. Too bad I wasn’t in Grand Forks because “they had seven’! Yes!
My friend Karen will pick them up for me! 5 are the correct color and 2 are black and red, but since they were only 9.00 each on markdown I bought those also and they can be used for training to save the correct ones for the big race. At least that is how I justified it. I just called Carol and let her know.
I wonder how many more we want? I could probably go get the one in Blaine if I have several hours away from Dad in a row.
AND, THE SKU CODE FOR THIS ITEM IS 155-2023 XXL/XXXL EXTREME COAT
5:10 pm on April 4th, 2013
Plunderers: check your email for an update on dog coats (2 emails, one from me and one from one of youse). Whooo Ooooo
5:11 pm on April 4th, 2013
ha, ha. Thanks Staff. We posted at the same time!
5:21 pm on April 4th, 2013
Having browsed dog stores, I have decided that I could never own a Princess Sammie dog as I’d have too much fun buying things and playing dress up. However I could travel with a Sammie dog whereas I can’t with my dogs. Sammie, do you come in purse size?
5:36 pm on April 4th, 2013
Yeep! Should I splort with excitement now and save it for a visit to the boney-fingered bossy pants at the workplace of Rio’s Friend?
5:36 pm on April 4th, 2013
HOH didn’t get email on extreme coats. Perhaps here where it’s been warmer, the store would have some. Size/color? Pls send.
5:55 pm on April 4th, 2013
Sharon. The preferred color is grey and black and the size XXL/XXXL is part of the SKU. In fact, according to Fiona at the Grand Forks store that SKU tells you the color also.
So see my earlier post for the SKU. It is a Petco brand product.
5:57 pm on April 4th, 2013
CHobbit – Sammie was a great purse dog but she grew just a bit too big. Maltese is supposed to be 4 – 7 pounds and she is now a whopping 8 pounds. Here’s when she was younger.
6:01 pm on April 4th, 2013
Thanks staff. Will check here.
6:10 pm on April 4th, 2013
Sammy is an accessory? I missed something here.
Yes, I should have said acupuncturist but my right brain and left brain have started fighting . . Sometimes I just smack both of the on the back of the neck. Then I end up with a headache.
I remember one of the Pack getting tired of a yappy dog. She put her paw on it and made it calm down. “Enough already!”
One of the puppies whose mom had a daycare center got very concerned about a new child who just wouldn’t stop. So the dog sat on him. The mother of the child wanted to take the dog home with her.
Time to read. Tacos made. Tacos eaten. Yum.
6:12 pm on April 4th, 2013
Hmmmm. Melanie’s stories always make perfect sense to me. 😀
Rio: I like that yellow MacIntosh. Having kissed the cod fish and drank the screech, I am an honorary (2 legged) Newfie and the yellow MacIntosh is almost a uniform for those old sea faring folks. Mine has a hat and trousers to match. Those may’ve come in handy at one point in Iditarod 2013.
6:19 pm on April 4th, 2013
Staff: no go on coats in south east TN 🙁
Mel: Had a new groomer call me once saying I needed to return quickly. My newf was trying to bite her (?????) When I arrived, the poor old girl (dog, not groomer)was tried of standing and throwing her adorable little head sideways hitting her to make her stop :I
6:22 pm on April 4th, 2013
Dawson, ha ha. Molly’s mom has that yellow stuff too. I found it when I was rooting around in one of her bags. That must have been the bag that she goes sailing with. She doesn’t know that I go through her bags. Ha ha ha. Actually I go through the bags looking for Chapstick, but you never know what I’ll find.
6:29 pm on April 4th, 2013
Rats! I’ve been looking at many, many Petco stores. Don’t they know that the Snowhook doggies are big, big, big? Largest size I’ve found is XL.
7:11 pm on April 4th, 2013
HOH, Newfs tend to let all know what they want. Dawson! An honor of drooly Newfs await your command. They look forward to seeing you in your yellow gear,but have declined wearing it themselves.
The only Petco I can get to will have to be a next week trip.
7:14 pm on April 4th, 2013
Mom just called us from the party they are out. Our team is finally winning! Woo Hoo!
7:16 pm on April 4th, 2013
We checked two local Petcos (by phone). One was being served by a complete and total blithering idiot who didn’t know what a “sku number” was or how to look one up. The other store had one, but mentioned that it had a large stain on it, and was therefore on clearance for $17.00.
So, we fell back on the good old Amazon. They have this:
http://www.amazon.com/Outback-Coat-XX-Large-Gray-Black/dp/B005UL5TH8/ref=sr_1_180?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1365118903&sr=1-180&keywords=dog+coat+XX-large
Whaddya think?
7:20 pm on April 4th, 2013
Guess we should correct our grammar – when we said, “The other store had one” we were referring to the dog coat, not to the blithering idiot. In our experience, most large stores always have one of those in stock
7:23 pm on April 4th, 2013
Oh, and by the way, Amazon does have the coats that the Hobbit told us about – right size, but there are only 4 black/blue ones and 4 black/red ones left, at $15.99 ea
7:24 pm on April 4th, 2013
I just got off the phone with Petco. The woman I talked to was very nice, but she might have been in training, since she put me on hold a few times to check on the preferred coat. It seems she was told that the L/XL would fit Siberian Huskies. I think not. I am very cynical? I her told it had to be XXL/XXXL, because this is what I was told, and I would be buying a lot of them, so I didn’t want to purchase the wrong size.
7:29 pm on April 4th, 2013
Coats!….Zowie! XXXL Zowie!…heh!snort!…Sounds like we are going to have Coats out the Ying-Yang!….Woooooo!
7:32 pm on April 4th, 2013
Walk!…Someone is getting ready to go on her really long walk…sniff!…She is not takin us because we already went on our long walk…wheeze!…Someone figured out we have to walk before we gobble down supper because after eating we will not walk…..very…..fast….at….all…heh!heh!
7:48 pm on April 4th, 2013
RIO! Walking after you eat can bring on the possibility of splorting .
8:26 pm on April 4th, 2013
Rose!…That is correct. And another good reason to abstain from any kind of exercise or exertion…sniff!
8:27 pm on April 4th, 2013
Idol!…Plus, Idol is on and I want to see who gets kicked off tonight…snort!…That guy who stutters has got to go…dammit!
8:33 pm on April 4th, 2013
Rio: Finished the most recent season of Justified, not must go back to watch the rest of Season 3.
We were going to ask your opinion on the Americans…it does look good. Do you remember how many weeks it has been on?
8:36 pm on April 4th, 2013
OMYDawg!….That guy made it through again…grunt!…Its because he is so good looking – all the little girlies vote for him over and over and over…sniff!….He is no Philip Phillips thats for sure…grunt!
8:43 pm on April 4th, 2013
Bear!…I just checked ON DEMAND and the very first show is still out there. It has a date of Jan 30th on it…sniff!…Looks like all the shows are out there…chuffle!
8:49 pm on April 4th, 2013
Thanks, Rio, I’m on it! Off to watch the Americans.
Night All – Bear
8:58 pm on April 4th, 2013
Exciting!….WoooHooo! Bear and Maskers are in for an exciting evening watching The Americans…snort!snort!…The very first show is amazing! As they all are, but the first one really grabbed us by the tail…chuffle!
9:22 pm on April 4th, 2013
Nighty noodle. We will do more coat checking tomorrow. How many do we still need?
9:23 pm on April 4th, 2013
The Americans? If you see a bunch of KGB people standing waiting for a train, YSAS is one of them.
Hope the splorting over in Snowhookland is a good splorting and not a bad one.
TTFN
9:28 pm on April 4th, 2013
Melanie!…Do you know what episode that would have been?…snort!…I know of a train scene on one of the most recent episodes….chuffle!…I was watching the main characters though, not realizing my beloved Clarkson was on the show…heh!
9:43 pm on April 4th, 2013
Oficial state pie, pecan. just sayin’
10:29 pm on April 4th, 2013
Hmmm. Did any of you New Yorker’s see the cover of the New Yorker magazine this week? Mr.Staff just got his copy.
http://bats.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/03/magazine-cover-features-yankees-medicated-row/
teehee. Seems like the Yankees are in for a bad year. Ouch!
10:47 pm on April 4th, 2013
Heh-heh, Yankies lookin’ good. We have the “honor” of hosting the Angels and Slosh Hamilton for our home opener. There is a faction calling for dead silence when Ham comes up to bat. Yeah, right!
1:14 am on April 5th, 2013
Ok… if I am counting correctly, here are the coat totals:
Coat #1 deluxe plush (preferred) = the total now stand at 7 in grey/black and 2 in red/black, size XXL-XXXL. Goal is 16 coats if possible. Note: I also sent Rebecca a couple in the next smaller size but I don’t think she needs more
Coat #2 = total now stands at 11 in size XXL-XXXL. Rebecca has 2 in paw and the others will be shipped by next week. The lining is pretty thin so Rebecca will need to add fleece lining and modify the belly band.
My opinion is that if you can find any Coat #1 at a steal of a price, buy them. It is curious to me as to how I and staff got these coats on clearance for $9 and they were $33 in NY where Rose is (and not the right size). I probably wouldn’t buy them unless they were at some kind of sale price but I won’t hold you back if you feel otherwise. Coats not on sale might yet go on sale with the warmer weather.
Rebecca may have other opinions as to other coats. I know I found 3 in the right size that were better than coat #2 and I bought them (wrong color but I might try and dye them black). They had thick plush fleece lining but the belly band would still need modification by Rebecca. It is hard for her to determine things from photos so I would use caution in trying to buy other coats.
There will be future opportunities to help out 🙂
Thank you everyone. Plunderers are a power source in and of themselves!
8:27 am on June 7th, 2013
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10:54 pm on May 31st, 2014
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