Ask Luke’s Mother-in-Law: How CHiPs Gets It Wrong. Also, Pet Detective!

Martha Boyd is not just Luke’s mother-in-law – she’s also an ex-cop, a landlord, a self-described crazy cat lady, a major Star Trek geek and the widow of a green beret. So go ahead: ask her anything. And we mean anything. Just be polite when you do.

Wow, it has been busy since we last chatted. I went to the First Joshua Tree Film Fesitval. Have sent a pic of the fest’s founder, “Q” (no not Q from Star Trek). He is on the right and the pet detective Mr. Jack Tyler on the left. We saw the documentary ” If Only Cats Could Talk” by Signe Veje from Denmark. It is the story of 2 cats – one a missing one out of Huntington Beach, CA and the other a cat who lives in a library. Anyway I got to speak with Mr. Tyler prior to the screening. He is a cat naturalist and tracks missing cats in their ecosystem. He said that missing cats don’t generally wander too far from home unless they try to hide in something like a truck bed or open car. Cats like to hide and will generally lay low. Generally a house cat when it escapes will return and come out of hiding in about 8 days.

He is also the inventor of the Cat Flasher, which is a device you can attach to the cat’s collar. It senses temperature so when it gets dark and cold it sends out an SOS in a red flash so the human can zone in on the hiding kitty. You can get more information at jacktyler.name; you can also google Jack Tyler Pet Detective and he will pop up.

Now, about the Joshua Tree Film Festival. This is where Q comes in. Out here in the desert we have many creative folks who try to help bring people to the community and Q is one of those folks. He is the founder of the Joshua Tree Shakesphere Society and now also the founder of the Film Festival. His real name is Eric Quander and he is a very talented man. Feel free to look up his bio. Anyway, from now until January 2015 there will be a screening of a film which is doing the festival circut. The first was If Only Cats Could Talk. The show will be the 3rd Thursday of each month with open doors at 7pm show at 7:30. There is always the possiblity of Q&A after. The next show will be Oct 16 if I am reading my calendar correctly.

In January of 2015 he is planning a short film fest to be held in Joshua Tree. Then in September of 2015 plans are in the works for a 3 day fest. As things firm up and I get more info I will pass it along. The October show will be Skanks, which was released in 2014 (video on demand). It follows the play and behind the scenes of Skanks in a One Horse Town which was presented in 2012 in Birmingham, AL . It was selected at Slamdance, Indie Grit, Roof Top Films and Boston LGBT festivals. The show is free to all who can make it, though donations are requested for food/drink. You can learn more on Facebook at Joshua Tree International Film Festival. Please give it a like.

So who says there is nothing to do in the desert other than fry in the heat? There are even more events that I will be going to in the next few months. So between work and events I am going to be one busy gal.

Now for the questions of the week.

clashctyrkr:
which was better The Dating Game mid ’60s-’70s or the Newlywed Game from the same period?

Oh gosh. Big fan of both and went to the studio many times to see both taped. But I would have to say I would give the edge to The Newlywed Game. Loved Bob Eubanks. It was always so funny when the answers were revealed and the looks they gave each other when they were wrong. Those cards could be lethal.

The Dating Game was good and I know several people who were on the show both as the 3 possibles and as the person asking questions. Several were just on for the free date and they had reqular boyfriends/girlfriends. It was also a publicity thing for young Hollywood at the time.

Rx79immigrant84:
Hi LYT MIL,
Question: I sometimes have to help care for my brothers dog. She is sweet and very friendly, which is her only problem and why I need help. Every time she sees another human or dog, she wants to meet them and play with them to the point that she won’t obey. How can I get her to listen?

Spoke to my vet tech friend on this one; she also trains dogs. Currently she is working with a huge dog who outweighs the owner. So far so good on this one. They are teaching the dog as to who is the boss and what the dog’s place is in the home and outside. They are doing weekly sessions with dog on leash and going over and over commands. During the week the owner has to work with the dog. They work on a treat system when the dog obeys. They have gotten the dog to stop knocking the owner over and trying to be a lap dog. So lots of training. Have you tried a class or two?

chaoslex:
My wife and I went to Las Vegas for our 1st wedding anniversary. While we hit the buffets most of the time, we went to Gordon Ramsay Steak at the Paris on one night of our stay. Probably the best meal either of us have ever had. The beef wellington was to die for. My wife is still irked that there are no places in Baltimore (or Maryland in general) that serve it. None we’ve found at least. Could’ve done without the $300 bill though. LOL

My best meal ever was New Orleans on our honeymoon. It was at the Fairmont Hotel and cost $600 back in 1980s dollars. Dinner started at 6 p.m. and did not finish until after 11 p.m. Totally to die for.

My question is, do you have HBO? If so, what are your thoughts on shows like Game of Thrones, The Leftovers, Boardwalk Empire etc.? If not, does anything you’ve heard about those shows tickle your fancy. Thanks in advance! 🙂

No, I don’t have HBO – no cable where I live and we never got around to getting satellite. But I recently got Amazon Fire. Before that I could and still do watch things on HULU on the computer. I like Boardwalk Empire; have not seen the rest. I spend a lot of time with MeTV.

Rx79immigrant84:
@chaoslex haven’t been in years but have you tried Ruth’s Chris or Fogo de Chao

Ruth Chris – there was one in Anaheim, CA where I grew up. Loved it. Where I live now the best steak in town is Sizzler – pathetic

Gallen_Dugall:
QUESTION! Any thought on the Scottish Independence vote – by the time you read this it should be resolved.

Yes, it went pretty much the way I thought it would. I really could not see them separating from England. I am part Scottish on my dads side of the family (Grant Whiskey). no current connections. Scotland is way too tied to England financially. England funds so many projects, foundations etc in Scotland. I did not really see how financially this would work.

Gallen_Dugall:
QUESTION! If you formed your own government what kind of government would it be, and what would you call it, and what would your role in its administration be?

Well we have our own little government in our house . I am the surpreme ruler and my cats are my subjects. Oh, now I got that backwards. They just let me think I am the head nut.

Currently watching Utopia on Fox. Starting a new government is not seeming to work all that well. Generally you get a bunch of kooks and nuts.

Gallen_Dugall:
QUESTION! The Scottish referendum on independence, not resolved as I write this, has opened many discussions across Europe and here in the USAlund. Do you think there is any inherent advantage to more localized governments over more distant centralized administration?

Localized govenment is good in a lot of ways as often issues can be solved faster. However, you run into funding propblems; it is harder for smaller towns, countries etc to get funding without higher taxes. Larger tax bases tend to get larger projects like infastructure funded.

Scotland has been so tied to England for so many years that keeping many projects funded seemed to be the biggest hurdle that they could not overcome if they split.

Canadian.Scott:
Long time reader, first time questioner…Is there a product out there like a TV Show, Movie, Video Game or even book that you sit and think “Man that is exactly how it was when I was on the force!”

Yes: anything by Joseph Wambaugh. Sgt LAPD. He was working in Central Div when I was there. My 1st training offier in Central division was who the Bumper character was based on – old, crusty beat cop. The Choir Boys – yes, that does happen; the setting was MacArthur park in LA, but we went to the 2nd street bridge in downtown and partied on the railroad tracks. Most of this stuff took place after 2nd shift; the 3-11 pm group. On dull nights the graveyard cars knew where the party would be. Sgt Wambaugh changes names and setting, but he was pretty right on about the happenings.

The stuff Jack Webb did was also really good and was used for PR between LAPD/LAFD and the public, so it was more case-orientated and not like Sgt Wambaugh who showed the more human side of the department

CHiPs – well, what can I say about that one. Yea, Ponch and John were great eye candy. I have lots of respect for the CHP, but they are traffic officers. They are even given their powers by the State of CA under a different section of the code then Police Officers. Pretty much jurisdiction stops at the end of the freeway. But on CHiPs they are running around doing things they would never be doing. Like I was watching it last night and they were talking an old man out of a house – wrong, they would have had to call the local PD to do that. Also they were out on their bikes in the rain – wrong, when it rains and you are at start of shift you get put in a car. If you are out and it starts, you take the bike to the barn and get in a car.

OneMinuteGalactica:
That’s more like it!

Then again, someone reads the stupid comments I write on this site and actually does what I say? That’s kinda scary.
[RE: the Vulcan salute]

I could not resist your request. Not very often you get someone to request the greeting from our home planet.

Well, that’s it for this week. Wednesay night Julia was performing at the Comedy Store in LA. Hope some TR friends were able to make it. I could not get away from work to go, but I know she kicked some funny booty. Getting a new garage door installed on Friday – after 20 years, I’m going to have one I can close. There is a concept.

Been enjoying the new schedule on MeTV. CHiPs is now on M-F at 6 pm, Also enjoying on Sunday morning Green Hornet, and He-Man. Later in the night The Man from UNCLE. Saturday we get the original Superman. Also just found that on MeTVnetwork you can watch classic Roller Derby. When I was in High School every month we would go to the Roller Derby games at the Anaheim Convention Center. Go T-Birds!!!!!

Well, as always, be good to each other this next week and Huggs.

As always, keep your questions coming, be they foolish, philosophical or anything else! Any questions on any topic submitted in comments below will be included in future columns.