Upcoming Events

Meet the NoToRIouZ Fuzzybutts at the following Upcoming Events

June 3rd 2012 Potter League Animal Shelter's Heart and Sole Walk.  The walk starts at noon and we'll arrive shortly before that.  The folks at Potter League were very helpful to us when we walked through Rhode Island and if you'd like to donate to the shelter on behalf of 2 Dogs 2000 Miles click here for the fundraiser page.

June 10th 2012 Canine Wellness Fair with the Dogs Scouts of America Troop 188 at the Agri-Science wing of Ledyard High School in Ledyard Connecticut.  We'll be there from 10AM til 2PM at the 2 Million Dogs booth.

June 16th 2012 Indiana's Birthday Party.  Come join us at Blue Hills Reservation for an afternoon of hiking, eating, and celebrating Moose's first.  If the weather permits we'll hike up Nahantan Hill to the scenic overlook of Boston otherwise we'll find a pavilion there.  I'll post more details as they materialize.

Memphis

I wish I had a really cool expression for Memphis like in the opening scene of Apocalypse Now... "Saigon.  Shit."  

It's a strange place for me; it's a city much defined in our story by defiance, redemption, and salvation and yet it will always be the capital of my absolute sadness.   

It's where everyone said there was no possible way Hudson, Murphy and I could cross the mighty Mississippi River but we did.  

It's where Murphy was given final rest.  It's where I fasted for 18 days in almost unendurable conditions then lost another mate to cancer, the incomparable Bud Man.  

It's a city that could have broken me many times over. 

But to use an expression from a John Donne poem, Memphis will always be a fixed foot for us and that's because of Mommy G.

Returning to Memphis for the first time was filled with mixed emotions but I did so because it was Ginger's inaugural Puppy Up Walk and there was no way the fuzzybutts and I were not going to be there to support her.  

And as soon as we arrived much to her surprise, she put us to work.  Scripting and shooting the Toyota video was one our top priorities there but her Pete's Pink Garden which I started last year was way up on the list, too.  

I built a raised bed for her and moved two yards of dirt, stripped her side yard of scrub brush and a Holly tree.  Mostly.  I hacked and hacked away at it with machete and chainsaw but like all of the Hollys I've dated in my lifetime, it was just too damn stubborn and got the better of me.

But it wasn't all work while we were there.  We went to Trolley Night - a curious celebration of Memphis Mass transit even though the Riverfront car we wanted to take on trolley night never actually arrived.  

I don't remember why knucklehead is sporting a jesters hat or where that fits into the story here - just like this red penguin. Who took that pic?  Must be a metaphor. 

We also had us some fine Memphis style ribs at Central BBQ with several of the out-of-towners who traveled many, many miles to participate in Memphis' first Puppy Up walk.  

Let's see.  On the left that's Pamela (w/Shaughnessy) and Jesse (camera guy), Hope, Dawn and husband, John (right), Sheila, Ginger, and Jeri.  

That's only some of the people from 11 states who showed up for the inaugural event.  Ginger draws the finest crowd.  

It was a good day and amidst the miasma of emotions from all of us who have lost and suffered and still grieve, it was impossible not to feel the undercurrent of hope and belief. 

Nicely done, kiddo.  You make us proud

Recipe: Tex-Mex Bangers and Mash

I bought a pound of some very exceptional chourico (chorizo if you're from the Gulf) sausage from a Portuguese butchery in Orient Heights for a different take on the Irish version of 'meat and potatoes'.  

1. Fry the sausage in hot chili oil (or olive oil with whatever heat you have on hand) with roasted garlic and cilantro.  

2. Boil and mash the potatoes.

3. The Sauce.  Mayo + Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce + lime + onion powder + garlic salt.  Adjust proportions to your palate but the tanginess from the mayo and smokiness from the chipotle sauce should balance.  Garnish with fresh cilantro leaves.  

4. Serve.  I made this for lunch when I had about 30 minutes and rolled the bangers and mash up in a tortilla but I'll probably come up with a more elegant delivery system at some point in our travels. 

2 Million Dogs Finalist in 100 Cars for Good

Over the past month we've had a stricket (as Hudsy says) project going on and boy was it tough to keep it that way.  We had hoped to make the announcement next week but the competition went live Monday and people are finding out.  

While we were in Memphis it was a tremendous honor and privilege to script, storyboard, produce and edit this beautiful video. Thanks to Jesse Muniz, our cameraman, for his discerning eye and taking two weeks of his time to help the cause.

Erich will post here about the details of the competition but I wanted to be the first to share the video.  Thank you to Toyota for selecting 2 Million Dogs as a finalist in 100 Cars for Good and thanks also to everyone who participated and contributed.  Puppy Up!

For some reason the youtube video is clipping so here's the direct link.  Please share and vote on June 20th  - YouTube Video

Bobbye Robinson

Coming off from a couple of weeks with Ginger, I wasn't sure whether I wanted to write, in the spirit of Mother's Day, about her as the original 'Mommy' to the Notorious Fuzzybutts; or her inaugural Puppy Up! walk in Memphis; or what it was like to return to that place for the first time since I said goodbye to Murphy.  

Then I realized I've only spoken of my own mother in brevity here and she deserves a lot more than that since she, in large part, made me the man I am. 

Bobbye Robinson was born to Robert Kraft and Doris Allen, a smallish woman who was given the sobriquet 'Big Momma' which I can only assume so from tales about her fierce ability to wield a skillet, take a broom to an ornery bull, and wring a chicken's neck without flinching.  

Mom grew up in their modest farm in Winnfield LA, a town whose sole distinction is the birthplace of Huey P Long, a fascinating man who was the American dictator who never was.  According to T Harry Williams's account, Huey was the only man FDR was afraid of.  If you're into history - read his book.  

I only mention this because my mother was a woman who lived by, and given the opportunity, probably would have died by her political convictions as Huey Long did.  

But family and her faith trumped politics and it was from my mother I learned about God's grace.  My mother gave far more than she ever got but that never stopped her from giving.  And not just to our family. 

To the best of my knowledge she is still the only woman named 'Man of the Year' by the Belton Chamber of Commerce because of her contributions towards economic development in central Texas. 

I've privately written that I got the brains for the walk from my father, the heart from my mother, and the balls - well that's all me. 

But in truth, my mom had them all.  

Happy Mother's Day.