Morkie On The Rocks

Daniel and I rode our bikes over to the Lake Harriet Bandshell last night to see a Neil Diamond Tribute Show by Karl Commers. Yes, you read that right! I am a huge Neil Diamond fan, whether it's hip to be one or not. I grew up listening to him every day and I think his music is the only reason why my mother survived her first 10 years as an immigrant and her rather tumultous marriage to my father.

2 years ago my mom and I got tickets to see Neil at the Target Center, and I'm not ashamed to say that it was one of the best shows I've seen. Yes he's cheesy, yes he wears sequin suits, yes he's popular with a much older crowd... but he's GOOD! And I can't help but be a fan.

Unfortunately I wasn't able to get tickets to the Neil Diamond show at the Excel Center a couple of weeks ago, so when I found out about this tribute show yesterday, there was no way I was going to miss it. I packed a picnic, a bottle of wine (should have packed two, Dan cashed the first one 15 minutes into the show) and a throw blanket, grabbed Daniel, and despite some hesitation, left the dogs at home. We don't have a doggie carrier for our bikes yet, so we would have had to drive in order to bring the boys along. Parking can be pretty tough around Lake Harriet, and I'm not even sure Gus and Charly would have been able to appreciate the concert.

Plenty of other people brought their dogs though. After a couple of songs and plenty of wine, Dan was limber enough to approach our neighbors about their friends. He found out that all three of their little dogs were designer breeds. One was called a Morkie (a Maltese Yorkie Cross), the other a Shih-Poo (you guessed it, a Shih Tzu Poodle Cross), and the third was a Whoodle (a Wheaton Terrier Poodle Cross).

I've found myself questioning Charly's identity several times. We know Gus is a mutt, some sort of Pit Bull mix. But Charly has papers and they say he's a Pure Bred Miniature Schnauzer. Yet he looks pretty different from most Schnauzers I've met. He's quite a bit bigger and has incredibly soft fur. I've had people tell me he must be a Schnoodle (Miniature Schnauzer Poodle Cross), but to be quite honest, Dan and I think he's a Schnau Wok. That's a Miniature Schnauzer crossed with an Ewok. If only he were a true Mini Schnau, I could have fit him in this awesome Pet Pack Carrier and biked over to the concert with him on my back.

Post Script: First person to name the Neil Diamond song in my title gets a free Neil Diamond i-Tunes download. Come on, you know you want it!