Strange Fruit Performing Arts Company

As seen in downtown Los Angeles, Strange Fruit.

The name of the group is an odd (even disturbing) choice.

Winston enjoys the show:

Winston just had his teeth cleaned. He was adopted by my friend Terrie from the pound, and it appears that his previous dental care was minimal. He has periodontal problems. He also has allergies, so determining the correct anesthetic for him is tricky. He also needed some flea pills.

Total bill: $452. I could take that amount and wrangle a fairly nice weekend in Santa Barbara.

I didn’t grow up with pets and it takes a big stretch into the outlands of empathy for me to understand People and Their Pets. I know they provide emotional, mental and physical FDUs* for their owners.

*FDUs – Final Degrees of Utility (though apparently ‘marginal’ is the more accepted term these days) – The Scout uses this term to talk about the cost of something relative to its perceived value. For example, he will get up early and drive to Malibu to play golf, because the FDUs of being on that particular golf course in the early morning light and air outweigh an extra hour of sleep followed by a round at (the much less expensive) Brookside. Similarly, the FDUs of Patron Silver make it Scout’s exclusive choice of tequila (despite the hefty price). Other tequilas simply do not taste as good to him. In fact, he’d rather go without than drink the other stuff. (This brings the concept of the artist’s ideal hunger to a new level.)

FDUs are in the eye of the beholder. I’ll stoop to drinking a margarita made with Cuervo or whatever the house is serving. I’d rather have the couple extra bucks in my pocket than in my gullet. Oh I can taste the difference alright, it’s just that I don’t personally get enough FDUs from Patron to make it my tequila imperative. Once in a while, yes. Every time, no.

I find it interesting that partners/couples develop shorthand ways of communicating with each other. FDUs is just one example from this household. We need it because we each have different ideas about what constitutes a true FDU. Other prevailing concepts tossed around this house that I may (or may not) write about in the future:

• Surface Area – As applied to the size of ice cubes, methods of drying what needs to be dried, and grilling.
• “It goes on, Judah” (Messala in Ben Hur) – As applied to politics, fundamentalist expressions of religion, and trying to find the right light bulb for the refrigerator.
• The healing power of making up alternative lyrics to familiar songs to help one deal with life’s funky and amazing situations.

The Scout insists that I include this example (who’s driving this blog, anyway?):  Upon seeing the Pope coming down Broadway (downtown LA)  in the popemobile  through a 1,000 millimeter lens, The Scout riffed on Barbra, “Papal – Papal who needs people..”