Rest In Peace, Pekona Boland

On 15 May 2010, our beloved beagle, Pekona was put down.

The night before, he was vomiting a lot. That morning I took him to the vet's office, thinking that he had some sort of stomach blockage (he ate a diaper a few nights before). The vet took x-rays and agreed that there was something possibly blocking his intestines. Surgery needed to be done, so I left him with the doctor.

That afternoon, the vet called me. When the opened him up to remove the blockage, they discovered that he had a large tumour on his liver and that the cancer seemed to have metastasized in other organs. We had a choice, they could remove the tumour and we could start taking him to a dog cancer specialist, but she (the vet believed the cancer was too far along), so the best option was to just put him down.

I will miss him very much. I was often accused of not liking Pekona, but nothing was further from the truth. I loved him. He was very obedient, loving, very tolerant of us and our quirks. He was a good friend to Sean Patrick, putting up with constant poking and prodding. He looked at our cat Kolohe as a peer.

He will always have a place in my heart.

Pekona Boland - July 2003 - May 2010.

Always a place in our hearts.

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"Primary Caregiver"

Let's face it, not many of us like to serve on a jury. It feels like such a waste of time. I myself am torn on the subject. While I know it's my civic duty to serve as a juror for my peers, it's such a hassle if I have to turn down weeks of work for the possibility of one week of jury duty. Does not help with paying my bills.

I originally got the summons for jury duty last October. Unfortunately for them, I was out on what could have been my last tour so I had to postpone my service. I wanted to back it up until November, but when I called in to postpone, the computerized answering service said, "The first available date is... May... 10th." So without thinking, I took the "first available".

We later found out that the week of May 10th was a bad week for jury duty. When I accepted the dates, we didn't know that Nicole had to go out of town for a couple of events that week and part of the next. Which meant I was to do the single parent thing for 10 days, trying to find activities for my son. There was nothing I could do, you only get one chance at postponing your service.

With the one day, one trial system here, I am "on call" for the week. So I called in Monday through Wednesday without having to report. Today (Thursday), I rolled the dice again and this time, had to show up. I called our sitter, arranged for her to come in early, and drove to the courthouse at the crack of dawn.

The first thing that happens is orientation, a nice lady stood in front of the crowd and welcomed us to our "civic duty". She then began to rattle off reasons we could be excused from service. "You are over 70 and have a medical condition, you are under 70 with a medical condition and have a doctors note, you are primary caregiver for an elderly parent, you are a primary care giver to a child under the age of 5..."

Hold the phone, I have a child that is under the age of 5 and I am currently the primary caregiver! I got up from my chair, reported to the clerk, who sent me to the "hall of records" to plead my case.

Once there, I had to fill out another form with the reason why I wanted to be excused from jury duty, "Primary caregiver to 19 month old son, spouse is on business trip." I wrote in bold black letters.

The clerk didn't buy it, "Just because your wife is on a business trip doesn't get you excused, only postponement."

"But I already postponed once."

"I know, but I can postpone you again from my computer. Pick a date you want to start."

I hurriedly looked at my calendar and chose the middle of August.

So far, august is wide open. Hopefully I can fill in some dates around my "one day, one trial".

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Not John Cusack Inspired.

I was driving back from Hollywood after working on Jimmy Kimmel Live listening to a mix CD I had found sitting on my desk. I had labeled it "Dance Hits of the 80's", and found the most ridiculous hodge podge of songs, from Bjork to The Jets and everything in between. While I was trying to figure out what I was thinking when I made the CD, "Waiting in Vain" by Bob Marley popped on.

I like that song. I actually played it a couple times in a row. Mostly because the bass sounds pretty good in my truck. But it got me thinking back to that old question, "What five albums would you have with you on a deserted island?" So here's my current list, subject to change as I get older and discover more music. No particular order, just what came to mind.


Bob Marley - "Legend" - Obviously the first thing to pop in my head after listening to "Waiting in Vain" last night. Not just that song, but every song on the list is a classic and worth a listen anytime.

The Smiths - "Louder Than Bombs" - Although I don't know if I can still listen to this album over and over, I did when I was younger from about 1987 until 1993. Whether it it's Morrissey raspy voice or Johnny Marr's twangy guitar riffs, it's forever in my brain, and worth a listen... maybe not twice in a row.

Israel Kamakawiwo'ole - "Facing Future" - I never really listened to Hawai'ian music when I was in Hawai'i. I guess I was too busy rebelling against the society I was surrounded by. When I moved to L.A., I started to listen more. Facing Future is the perfect album to get a cross section of the music produced in Hawai'i, short of traditional chanting. Even if I was on a desert island, I'd still fast forward over the first and last songs however.

Yanni - "Keys to Imagination" - When you're done laughing, I have a perfectly good explanation as to why this album makes the list. Inspiration. Not the kind of inspiration that Yanni claims his music gives, that his music can "heal" sick people. I know, what a nutter. This album reminds me of when I first discovered the sport of cycling. Before the magical land of Versus television brought us 6 hours of Tour de France coverage a day, the only coverage we got to see in the late 1980's (1986 and 1987 for sure) was on ABC's "Wide World of Sports". Back then, it was two hours every Saturday in June that would cover a week of racing. So for two hours I would watch and listen to this:
Yes, that is a Yanni song playing at the beginning of the clip. And being a fan of the 7 Eleven cycling team, first ever American team to race the Tour de France, why can't I find the music with the images inspirational? Besides if I'm stuck on a desert island, I'm gonna need some inspiration.

Jack Johnson - "In Between Dreams" - Although I'm currently mad at him and his management for again not hiring me to do his tour, this is a really great album. So great that Nicole and I chose our song off it ("Better Together"). This album never leaves the CD player in the truck. It's great driving music.

Like I said, this list is subject to change. Although I think most of those albums are timeless and can be listened to by anyone, any generation. Maybe not The Smiths...

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