The Dogwood Festival, the potential for zombie dogs, and my friends at The Family Dog

It was another beautiful weekend here in Atlanta, GA.
I was up fairly early both days and got lots done and had time to enjoy the sunshine and blue skies and met lots of great folks.

I made it to The Dogwood Festival to see my good friend Keith and his family.
I even got to hold his 3 y.o.'s hand and walk into a few booths to see quality art.
Logan was particularly moved by several horse sculptures.
Kelsey, Keith's little girl, let me kiss her right on the cheek when we said our goodbyes!
(No small accomplishment - the beard and the eye patch kinda freak her out.)

I rode the bike over to Oakhurst to have margaritas in the sunshine with new and old friends.
We had such fun cutting up that we eventually persuaded 2 other tables to join us + Boots the dog.
It was great.

I ended the afternoon at The Family Dog where I inserted myself into another table's conversation yet again and ended up making 4 new friends and having a bunch more laughs.
The group was enjoying an Eyepatch IPA so I showed them the ad I made last October for
Monday Night Brewing:

"Hi. I'm El Pinche Pirata del Fuego and after a long ride thru the scenic northwest mountains on my extremely heterosexual, American made, big V-twin motorcycle, nothing tastes better than an Eyepatch IPA from Monday Night Brewing Company.MmmMmm....I can already taste those hops and things and such that the fair maidens at Monday Night Brewing Company hand pick, at night, under a full moon, just to bring that hearty "Pirata" flavor to you.Monday Night Brewing Company. They're MY kinda beer."



I felt like myself again.
It was good to see me after several months of dealing with this S.O.B. doppleganger that's taken over.
That guy's' a jerk.
Nothing but bitchin' and whinin' outta him.



Yesterday afternoon I went out to pick up the dog from the kennel.
We've been working so much that he's been on lockdown for 57 days.
It's a bummer but when you're working 90 hours a week and switching back and forth b/n days and nights, there's just no time for pups.

The Schutzhund dog club that helped me train Mikey https://www.facebook.com/GreaterAtlantaSchutzhundAssociation were having a little impromptu training session and picnic - such a nice group of people and they invited me to put Mikey on the field for a minute.
We haven't trained much since NYC in 2009 so I took them up on it.

Good Lord!
That is one bad ass dog!!!

This isn't Mikey but that's what he was doing yesterday.

Jon, who had an arm in the sleeve that Mikey was trying to remove from his body said, "Oh, yeah.  You can see it in his eyes.  He knows what to do"

Then he said, 
"And, you know, the thing about a dog. He's got lifeless eyes. Black eyes. Like a doll's eyes. When he comes at ya, doesn't seem to be livin'... until he bites ya, and those black eyes roll over white and then... ah then you hear that terrible high-pitched screamin'."

I moved away slowly and excused myself from the field.

We're gonna start training again.
It was a good time and Mikey loves it.

Funny - an hour after trying to rip that man's body parts off, Mikey was at The Family Dog, tied up outside, and I bet 20 folks passed by and scratched his head and patted his butt and just generally stopped to love on him and would've never guessed how scary he can be.
Which is the whole point to the training:  a dog that knows the difference b/n a dangerous stranger who means you no good, and one that's just a little tipsy and overly friendly.

I also have good news to report in that Mikey is up for a part in The Walking Dead!!!
That's right, my friends:  Zombie Dog is upon us!

Can't wait!!



Best part of the day was walking into The Family Dog and seeing the bartender was wearing the
El Pinche Pirata 2012 U.S. Summer Tour t-shirt!!!

Love those guys!!!

(sorry - I've edited that image a dozen times and it keeps showing up on it's side.)(stoopid computer)