DEACON MELMOTH SPEAKS

We serve only the best Dogma within these portals: the finest of canine confections and ecclesiastical entrees seasoned with history and myth.

For those with an appetite for the absurd we have just the repast to sate your hungers: the pataphysical, the metaphysical and the merely physical. A diet rich in irony, sautéed in satire and garnished with whimsy is a necessity in any healthy and wholesome life. The Dog does not disappoint in matters either of nutrition or contrition.

The High and Holy Dog Heads were first brought among the people under the pretense of being "signage" for a regional fast food chain known as: Doggie Diner. These "restaurants" were, in fact phylacteries of a soon to be released sacradotalism. Many in the Bay Area (the doggies were a regional phenomenon) ate their corndogs and burgers under the benevolent/malevolent grimaces/smiles of the looming Dog Heads.

Children were enheartened and/or terrified by the looming, sphinx like visages as they clutched at their father’s hand while waiting their turn to order a hotdog with everything. Many still remember stopping at the Doggie Diner after a Giants game or a visit to the Zoo or a matinee at the Regency, the New Mission or perhaps the Fox. Little did they know back then in the 50’s, 60’s or 70’s that food was only a small part of what the Doggies were offering.

Real history occurred at these temples to American commercial culture. The Jefferson Airplane ate under the sign of the Dog: it was Grace Slicks favorite; Dan White turned himself in at the Doggie on Van Ness; Eldridge Cleaver, Huey Newton and their cohorts used to talk strategy at the Doggie on Telegraph in downtown Oakland; their nemesis Oakland DA Ed Meese was a regular; Phil Burton the most powerful politician in the state for 30 years, the man who weaned Willie Brown, regularly stoked his indigestion at the Doggie Diner. Politicians, prostitutes, police, plumbers, photographers, pillars of the community, plebian pariah, they all ate (or at least drank coffee) at the Doggie Diner. Each and every one of them, whether they remember the onion ring induced indigestion or not, all retain, in the deepest wells of child like memory, the enigmatic, glowing and spectral visage of the hovering Dog Head.

This website domain name was given to me as a 41st birthday present by my good friend and partner Scott Beale and his lovely lady Lori Dorn.  In all good faith I was compelled to do my feeble best to honor their gracious gift by compiling and disseminating all information and image Dog like to you. I then enlisted the aid of two old friends, Sebastian Hyde and Kevin Evans in producing DoggieDiner.com  These two original painters and computer artists are responsible for this singular and entertaining web site!

And so, this site will, hopefully, reflect all noble and positive that is contained in our collective imaginings of the unlikely and inevitable Dog Heads. So, we offer stories, sightings, myths and collective imaginings of this unlikely subconscious icon that we have been fortunate enough to help rescue from obscurity.

We have a variety of categories to peruse: History, Political efforts to save the last stranding Doggie, personal accounts from visits past, Doggie inspired artwork, articles past & present, a photo gallery and doggie inspired events and web links. We hope you enjoy this site. If you have any personal stories and/or photos, we request that you allow us to include them in this archive.

Please send us your Dog stories and inspirations. We will do our best to include them in this compendium of all that is Doglike.

cheers- Sebastian Melmoth