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It’s Time for Dodger Baseball

When Vin Scully’s passing was announced during Tuesday’s Dodger game, along with millions of others, I felt as if I ‘d lost a family member. Touching tributes have been pouring in from around the world. I just wanted to add my own small note.

Anyone who’s a Dodger fan is a Vin Scully fan. He was the face and the voice of the team. The legendary broadcaster was one of my idols. Hearing him say, “It’s time for Dodger baseball,” always made me smile.

Many years ago, my late brother Stan, a television director in San Francisco, had the joy and privilege of working with Vin at a Giant’s game. What struck Stan was his ease at broadcasting.

Vin Scully was known for his storytelling. My brother said what amazed him was that Vin would be chatting with him during a break, turn around to announce the game, then turn back and pick up right where he’d left off without missing a beat.

I’d always been excited to catch glimpses of him in the announcers’ booth when I paraded around the warning track during the annual pups in the park event at Dodger Stadium. Then, thanks to Charley and Elbee, I had the chance to meet him in person.

**Pups in the Park with Charley & Elbee**

I was walking with the dogs at an upscale mall in Calabasas, when, to my delight, Vin came walking out of a store. As soon as he spotted them, I heard that familiar voice say, “Will you look at that!” For a groupie like me, it was a surreal moment.

ELBEE It’s probably totally inappropriate to comment here, but she really owes me for that one.

While he waited for his family to come out of the store, we talked dogs and Dodgers. He was even nicer than I’d hoped he’d be.

This week, during all of the accolades, I heard so many people refer to his incredible sixty seven years in the broadcast booth, beginning with the Brooklyn Dodgers. They shared fond memories of listening to him on the radio in his early days.

It brought me back to when I was a little girl in Syracuse, New York and my dad had baseball games on in the car. We didn’t have our own team, so he could easily have been listening to the Brooklyn Dodgers.

At the time, I was not really a fan so it seemed like background noise with a lot of static. Now to think that I may have heard that familiar voice all of those years ago takes my breath away.

Vin, you touched so many lives without taking credit for it. Your grace, your kindness and your humility are an inspiration. This Dodger fan thanks you.

Valentines, Nostalgia (& a Little Flexing)

This was a big sports weekend with the Olympics and the Super Bowl taking place simultaneously. Then came Valentines Day which isn’t a sporting event but is still a major occasion. I’ll explain why that combination made me think of my first bodybuilding competition way back in the eighties.

ELBEE I’m sure it had nothing to do with that flexing in the closet incident last week.

The show was Ms. Heart of California.

ELBEE Okay, I get the valentine/heart thing but I’m not buying it. It was the closet.

I came in third but still received a trophy, the first trophy of my life! I was given a second trophy that read “Most Shapeliest.” I confess the grammar bugged me so much that I had it changed to “Most Symmetrical.”

ELBEE Sadly, she’s not kidding.

My weak attempt at pandemic closet cleaning and sorting, led me to another memory. I found this photo of my late brother Stan with the poet Rod McKuen. Stan, a television director in San Francisco, met him when he made an appearance at the station.

A few mean critics have called McKuen the “King of Kitsch, but I was a huge fan of his poetry and songs, some of them perfect for Valentines Day. Stan used to tease me about it so much, I’m sure he thought it was pretty funny when he surprised me with this picture.

While I was on the nostalgia train, I began thinking about past Valentines Days at UCLA. Traditionally, the PAC dogs, in festive attire, deliver gifts and cards to the patients and staff. They bring the holiday to the hospital.

Last February, due to COVID, we were only able to do virtual visits. I was so hoping that this year would be different. Unfortunately, cases spiked and it wasn’t meant to be. The greatest Valentine present would be if next February, they are able to deliver in-person dog love along with the homemade cards.

On the bright side, I didn’t let it stop me from dressing up the dogs.

ELBEE I’m very proud of the little guy Gus. He’s come a long way since he sort of posed for this photo with me and my brother Charley years ago.

It Was the Best of Times. It Was the Worst of Times.

Not another stolen title. It’s obviously from “A Tale of Two Cities.”

CHARLEY He’s read Dickens? Who knew?

GUS & STANLEY He suggested we read it but it’s a little slow for our taste.

COVID-19 is creating the best and the worst of times. People are social distancing when we’re out walking but there’s a real air of camaraderie. Strangers are waving and commiserating with each other from across the street.

Dogs are enjoying the best of times. I have never seen so many out with their owners. With the gym and everything else exercise related closed, taking the dogs out has become a perfect alternative.

GUS & STANLEY We’re enjoying seeing all of our buddies but don’t understand why we’re not even allowed to sniff them.

I heard a piece of good pet news on the radio. More people than ever are going to the shelters to adopt or foster animals. Home confinement, along with stress and uncertainty, have created a genuine need for companionship and physical contact.

On a personal negative note, definitely not trying to downplay the terrible toll of the pandemic, this week the mountains were closed. My special healing, spiritual place is off limits. This photo says it all. I’m with the Doods next to my happy place but I’m also next to a sign that says we can’t go in.

Ironically, my last few hikes before the shut down, have been some of the best. It’s March, so the spring wildflowers have exploded in bursts of color. With the recent rains and with so many sheltering at home, the air is as clean as I can remember. The views are breathtaking. The temperatures have been perfect.

Beyond that, I have encountered things in the mountains that I’ve never seen up there before. Take goats for example.

GUS & STANLEY Goats? Do they bite?

Yes, goats. My friend Shelli and I were hiking and suddenly there they were, at least 10 of them coming up a hillside next to the trail. I later learned they were doing brush clearance but the sight of them was pure delight.

On another morning I met a transgender woman. I’m not judging. We chatted. People are friendlier now with the need to connect. She was one of the loveliest people I’ve ever met on my hikes, sweet and beautiful in a fabulous pink jacket.

ELBEE I can’t disagree.

I even had a celebrity encounter. A woman was hiking with an adorable little black dog that suddenly sat down and refused to move. Yenta that I am, I told her that my dogs will often do that when they want water. She thought that was a very good suggestion. Not until my friend told me did I find out it was the actress Calista Flockhart.

ELBEE For someone who was a total fan of Ally McBeal, she’s really losing it.

Gus is a Dodger Dog

ELBEE Oy, are you kidding me with that title?

It’s no secret that I’m a long time Dodger fan, the obnoxious kind who yells and screams. You can only imagine my excitement last Friday when several of the players made a special visit to UCLA Medical Center. Along with staff members, a few PAC teams were on hand to greet them. I brought Gus who, of course, was in a Dodger tee shirt with his ears, tail and paws temporarily dyed blue thanks to his “colorist” Marsha.

GUS I know she can’t help herself and I’ve been so many different colors that I’m starting to like it.

Donna, who is the person to Gus’s buddy Tommy, a Bichon, and I nearly lost it when their bus pulled up in front of the hospital. It was all we could do not to cheer when players like Cody Bellinger, Chris Taylor and Walker Buehler came through the door. It was almost surreal to be mingling with them. I think they were a little surprised to see the dogs, but seemed to love it.

Just when I thought things couldn’t get any better, I found out that each team would be partnering with a player to make patient visits. Pitcher Kenta Maeda would be joining me and Gus on pediatrics. Do you know how many times I’ve rooted him on or groaned when he had a rough game?

Once I got over “fan girling” as we were introduced to him and his interpreter, the next hour was truly beautiful. Faces lit up as we walked through the halls of the hospital. Kenta was incredibly sweet and kind to every single person.

It was when we went into the patients’ rooms that the magic happened. People did double takes when they saw a famous baseball player and a blue and white dog walk in to see them. With Kenta at his side and Gus cuddled on his bed, a young boy in the PICU quietly said that it made his day.

We walked into another room where the mother was a huge fan. The toddler in the bed was even wearing a Dodger’s baseball hat that had been autographed by several players. Kenta graciously signed the hat for her. Somehow Gus was lucky enough to end up wearing it. Gus also had a very special moment when Kenta picked him up and carried him!

ELBEE As a Dodger fan, I was maturely dealing with not being there but this photo put me over the edge.

When we made our way back to the lobby, I had the added treat of meeting Dave Roberts, the manager of the Dodgers. I’ve always loved his attitude and demeanor. He was as nice as I’d hoped. Unfortunately, when Gus and I, along with Tommy and his sister Finley, had a chance to take a photo with him, I came out with what was probably my dumbest fan comment of the day. I told Dave Roberts that I was a “granny groupie.” He managed not to laugh as he kindly said that he liked “granny groupies.”

Return to the Scene of the “Crime”

During a recent heat wave I decided to head to the beach with the dogs. Since I have no patience for sitting on the sand, I thought that Santa Monica would be perfect. The pier is a tourist attraction with lots of activity. Even better, there’s a pedestrian path that goes down to Venice.

ELBEE That sounded good to me. I like the beach although I’m not much of a surfer. I was, however, a little suspicious when I heard that Venice was on the agenda.

As soon as we walked up the steps to the pier, Gus and Elbee, with all of their hair blowing in the breeze, were surrounded by people. I lost count of how many wanted to take pictures. All that was missing were the “puparazzi.”

ELBEE I knew she couldn’t resist that lame joke. By the way, I’m pretty sure I saw Kendall Jenner and another model type on the pier. They had their own professional camera man with them. Why didn’t I?

Things stayed interesting on the ocean path. An adorable toddler in big sunglasses came over to pet the dogs. Two seemingly drunk men asked if I knew where there was a liquor store. Someone yelled out “Look at those diva dogs.”

ELBEE He was obviously very astute.

That last remark was our welcome to Venice Beach which is a crazy, fascinating place that has become even messier since the last time I was there.

Still, I couldn’t resist posing the Doods for these touristy photos.

ELBEE As for the one on the right, I don’t know which is worse, that she took the picture or that she’s sharing it here. And take a look at this one below. They’re opening a Muscle Beach History Museum! I think Pack Leader is hoping to secure a place. What is she? Arnold?

To be honest, I’m not sure if Venice Beach is the site of my former glory or of my former crime against “carpool momdom.” I had done a few bodybuilding shows before I competed there but they were sort of under the radar. The first was in Fresno. The other one or two were in places that no one in my daily life except my family would know about. Competing in Venice was like “Woo hoo, here I am.”

GUS “Woo hoo?” I don’t even say that.

To make it even better, Nicole, the middle daughter, was turning eleven and wanted to have her birthday party at the show. She probably wasn’t old enough to be embarrassed. To this day I wonder what the other parents thought about it. At least no one called child protective services.

Nicole had one special request. She asked if everyone could sing Happy Birthday to her if I won. I mentioned it to the emcee who loved the idea and brought Nicole up on stage as soon as I became Ms. Venice Beach.

ELBEE That was subtle.

Seeing the microphone in my face is probably disconcerting to anyone who knows about my singing. The good news is that with a thousand people in the crowd, no one could hear me

THE DOODS Amen to that. Remember, we’ve heard her in the car.

More Celebrities I’ve Sort of Met

In my last post I shared about meeting “Sully” Sullenberger, but thanks to the Doods, there have been other celebrity encounters. There was the time when Charley and I were in the Hollywood Christmas Parade, and I was doing my fabulous wave, that we met the dog whisperer, Cesar Milan. I ran into him again a few weeks later and was flattered that he seemed to remember me right away. Then he said, “You’re the one who looks like her dog,” but quickly caught himself and added that he meant it in the nicest way possible.

ELBEE OMG if he didn’t take a picture with her did she have to be so desperate that she photoshopped it? And by the way, that is the worst photoshopping I’ve ever seen!

And do you recognize the blonde behind Harvey Levin in this non-photoshopped picture?

I was walking on Third Street in Santa Monica, a real tourist mecca, when I saw they were filming People’s Court. The normally nosy me would have made a beeline over but I had just worked with the Doods and was a little tired. I crossed to the other side of the street to avoid the congestion.

THE DOODS Personally we were shocked that she didn’t run over. Harvey loves dogs, so seeing us, someone in the crew chased us down to ask if we’d be in the outside group scene. As for this photo, we were standing right in front of her and got cut out. Really? Who are the stars here?

I also met the legendary Vin Scully, the voice of the Dodgers. If Vin had groupies I would be one. I am a huge Dodgers fan and have even taken the Doods to Bark in the Park, with Nicole, the daughter who actually likes them.

THE DOODS We enjoyed the games and we hate to complain but the seats were a little small for us. We also have mixed feelings about the term “Dodger dogs.”

At the games, I only caught glimpses of Vin when we paraded on the warning track. My up close and personal was at an upscale mall in Calabasas, home of the Kardashians. Fortunately we didn’t see any of those. Vin was coming out of a store just as I was walking by with the Doods. He stopped to chat for a moment and was as nice as I’d hoped.

THE DOODS He had to stop and talk. She got so excited she almost ran us into him.

On a serious note, I just watched the Dodgers win their division as Vin broadcast his last home game after 67 years. I have never seen anyone accept accolades with more grace and humility. I was already a little teary eyed when they suddenly played a recording of Vin singing Wind Beneath My Wings, a song that reminds me of my parents who passed away when I was young. It was such a touching moment for me. Thank you Vin Scully!