Digits

For long-time readers you may remember that I once worked for the Walt Disney Company as a Director /Cameraman at the Disney Studios in Orlando Florida when I lived in the “other world”.
One of my “creations” was a commercial that involved a scene where Mickey, Minnie and Pluto the dog were in a television control room directing a show. I had Mickey and Minnie standing on the right side of the frame and I put Pluto, because of his size, seated mid-frame running the switcher. (A switcher, simply put, is a panel full of buttons that select what camera is on the screen.) I finished the shoot and edited the commercial and, as was customary, I sent it off to California for approval. Two days later I got an email from corporate ( we used to call them the “character police”) that said I would have to re-shoot the commercial because Pluto did not have articulating digits (fingers) and he would not have been able to operate a switcher. I substituted Goofy (also a dog) for Pluto in the re-shoot and everyone was happy because Goofy does have articulating digits.


I told you that story to tell you this one.


The evening that I got back from my nieces’ wedding I went out to sit on the porch of the cabin and smoke my usual Swisher Sweet Double Barrel Rum Outlaw Cigar. Sitting next to my chair was a new ashtray made out of a

river mussel shell attached to an 18” maple stand. At first I thought Firewood Kenny may have made it for me but then I saw Dooley the dog peeking around the corner with a big grin on his face.
“You made this Dooley?”
“Sure did”, he said.
“It’s beautiful, I love it”
Imagine that, my wonderful dog made me an ashtray…..and all without articulating digits. Take that Disney!

(Ok, …you know and I know that Firewood Kenny helped put the ashtray together...but Dooley doesn’t need to know we know…so shhh!)