Hola To The New Boy

I live at the Poderosa. I used to live alone at the Poderosa, but as you know, I now have become den mother of the cast of cartoon characters that have taken up residence here for one reason or other.

This of course started with Mr Peabody and Sherman, and Huckleberry Hound. Then Mr M sent Mr P (Peanut) my way, and Gossamer the monster came by to roost, and I have Good Luck Baby Lily, who Gossamer tried to eat on my birthday, but she's OK. Then Quick Draw McGraw was sent passage to The Pod by Sherman, as a Christmas present to me.

It's a happy commune we have here.

I didn't think I'd become a mother yet again, though, didn't think there was any room in my two bedroom home for more boarders. But I guess I was wrong.

OK, let's talk clarinets. I have a clarinet, actually that's a lie, I have two clarinets. They're both French - rude, spiky, French instruments of torture. My main clarinet is the beloved Buffet RC. My standby clarinet is the LeBlanc.

For years, Mr M's clarinet of choice was the Buffet R13. He'd had this instrument (of torture) for years and years, and was perfectly happy with it until he got the itch, and some extra money, and decided to try out the big new thing in clarinetdom at that time, the LeBlanc Opus. It was a hot horn, well, by reputation anyway, and so Mr M became the proud owner of one. It was a fine horn, but never a perfect fit for Mr M. He kept having to have keys adjusted to fit his fingers, and although it had a fine sound and all, Mr M lost interest rather quickly and ended up selling it. And the reason for that is because he discovered the World of Rossi.

And it's some world.

Rossi clarinets are part and parcel of one Luis Rossi, a clarinet player and maker from Chile. These clarinets are hand-made, by the nimble fingers of tiny Chileans, and depending on demand can take anywhere from six months to a year to arrive at your home after they're ordered. They're also outrageously expensive, about $5000, but they come with a really neat screwdriver for free, so I guess that makes it OK.

Mr M began with a Rossi B-flat clarinet. He waited close to a year to get this instrument (of torture), kept emailing no less a person than Luis Rossi himself to check its progress ("Si, Si - the right-hand C-sharp key went on today!"), and finally it was ready to ship. And then came the interminable wait for it to arrive at Poderosa East (which is another lie, because Mr M had it shipped to my house, Poderosa Main, and I was actually the first person to play it). During this wait, I kept telling Mr M the reason it was so slow in arriving is because Sr Rossi had his clarinets delivered to buyers by llama.

Anyway, the clarinet finally arrived, and a key came off of it the next day, but Mr M gives not a whit about that, he's eternally in love with his Rossi clarinet. In fact, at least a half-dozen times during a weekend visit I'll have to hear him say, "Have I told you lately how much I love my Rossi?" In that world where I'm free to marry my iPod, Mr M will be free to get hitched in wedded bliss with his Rossi clarinet.

In fact, he's so in love with this Rossi B-flat clarinet that he decided to test the waters of bigamy (let's all be big for a change!) and bring another Rossi into the fold, the Rossi A clarinet. I hate A clarinets, for reasons I'd rather not go into here (they're longer and useless), but that made no difference, Mr M wanted a new A clarinet and he wanted Sr Rossi to make it for him. That's $10,000 and two clarinets, and two screwdrivers, which will be extra handy as more keys start coming off.

And so he ordered the A from Chile. He had another long wait, not quite as long as for the B-flat (I'm assuming this is because, well, who in their right mind wants an A clarinet?), and finally got the email from Sr Rossi that the A was on its way.

It was being delivered by Llama Number 27, otherwise known as Che. Che Guellama.

We read tracking reports with interest in regards to Che and his trip north. He had a little trouble getting through customs in Miami, but once he'd crossed the border, it was a quick trot up to Virginia, where he delivered the clarinet to Mr M, and asked to stay the night and have a meal before heading back to Chile.

And it was there at Poderosa East, after that meal, he met me.

I like llamas. They're cute. And so I invited Che to come and have a little visit with me and the other Boys at the Pod before he set off south again, and he accepted.

He's still here.

Che's a fine llama indeed, and Sherman is crazy about him. He's not much trouble other than, well, I didn't really realize the high cost of oats before his arrival, and he does spit occasionally, and he doesn't speak English. I took Spanish in high school, but that was longer ago than I care to admit, and I didn't retain much. So there's a lot of smiling, saying "hola" and "si," and gesturing with hands and hooves. However, he's quite clean, and if I can get him to stay long enough, I see a free sweater coming out of the deal.

Sr Rossi emailed Mr M the other day to ask about his clarinetic satisfaction, and to ask about Llama Number 27, and Mr M had to tell him the news. That Che is on sabbatical. Will he return? One does not know.

Anyway, here is Che, welcome him to the Pod. He played tag with the Boys on Friday night, and did quite well. I guess tag is universal, and one need not speak English to play.




















Betland's Olympic Update:
* Acrowinners, we have acrowinners. So, what did you find when you cleaned out your closets? Everyone wins tonight - great acros!
- Honorable Mentions go to Lily G, with her, "Red leather c0me-on shoes," Flipsy, with her, "Ralph Lauren culottes on Sinbad," and Kellie (with an ie), with her, "Ratty lemon chinos. Orange shorts."
- Runners-Up go to Stennie, with her, "Rare leather-clad otter (stuffed)," DeepFatFriar, with his, "Raincoat, lederhosen, cello, oscillator, sextant," and Mike, with his, "Rover, lost canine of Seventies."
- And this week's winner goes to River Selkie, with her, "Rats living comfortably on Skittles."
- Special mention to Kellie's, "Ryan's Lost Crest: O'Seacrest," which made no sense at all but cracked me up.
- Thanks to all who played, you've all done very, very well!