Bark Obama

All the dogs were BARacKing in the park on Wednesday and deserve tee-shirts like Fluffy and Mr. Fluffy's Stella has (Bark Obama 08). Well, the Dogs for Obama have it and Bush's Barney is cheesed off. He bit a reporter, a colleague no less. Laura says he's fed up with papparatzi. Well, he won't have long to wait before nobody's asking his opinion and we don't have to listen to his whiney owner. Here's an article that includes Barney's bad-dog-no-biscuit behaviour, wonders who the next presidential doggie will be and looks at presidential doggies throughout history:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=96736708

Woof! Woof! Woof! Woof! = January 20, 2009, the end of an error and a dog biscuit in every pot.

Koni with a K

It's 11PM. Do you know where your dog is? Apparently, Vladimir Putin needs a little help. He put a large a satellite-tracking collar on his dog, Koni, to track the dog's whereabouts. You can read about this and see a picture of Koni at:

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iWP4ZjvNCw4YM9GiSj1JbLPVaKHA.

I don't need such high tech devices. I know Coney's always in the right place at the right time, especially at dinner time.

Camper Van Continued, Nice Try TruGreen, Happy DogMa Day

Mea Culpa: My promise to myself and my faithful reader was that I would post an entry once a week. My excuse for missing an entry last week was going to be that I was busy mulching, but I didn’t end up doing much of that, either. Spent the time I could’ve been blogging thinking up excuses.

Camper Van Saga: We spent some of our time last weekend moving the camper van project along. Put the van into the capable hands of Steve at Lloyd Bridges so that he and his crew could fix the damage inflicted by the dealership, summerize it, wash it and ............... clean the inside! Steve was great. He said he’d seen worse. Got a call that day suggesting that we drive out to see the level of damage before he put it back together. Later in the week, Steve called to say the house battery (is that like house cookie or house chocolate?) was dead and would we like that replaced. Yes, please. Then another call to say that the battery housing was so corroded that he’d need to get a RoadTrek part from a dealer. Sigh. Needless to say, we haven’t made any concrete camping plans till we get the van in our hot hands. It’ll be right as rain soon (perhaps not the best phrase to use when talking about camping).

Nice Try TruGreen: Came home to find a 22 by 5.5 inch flyer from TruGreen wedged between the door jam and handle right next to the detailed No Soliciting sign. “Want a great lawn without the work?” “Free First Application” “Call Us Today” “10% Off”. My response to them is ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! We’re just not the types.

Happy DogMa Day: Finally, I would like to wish all you doggie moms out there a Very Happy DogMa Day!

Ooee, everything’s alright

Mulch in my driveway.

Flowers in my yard.

Dog laze in the afternoon.

Ooee, everything’s alright. Ooee, everything’s alright.

(Apologies to Country Joe McDonald).

On the Road (Almost), Dogs, Penguins & Bunnies

Hitch Up the Wagons: We’re getting the camper van on the road. Jump that battery! Pump those tires! Move it on into the Chevy dealer for a check up. Pinckney, here we come!

Dog Comfort: The ad for the raised outdoor doggie bed said, “Makes your dog feel as pampered as if he were given a place on the couch.” Ha! We’ve got four couches and I still have trouble getting a spot. First come first served and Coney has this uncanny ability to get to the couch first. We won’t even talk about the bed...

When Penguins Fly: Award for best April Fool’s joke goes to the BBC for their short video of penguins migrating to the rainforest for a little R & R, with Terry Jones doing good impersonation of David Attenborough.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23qDl1aH9l4

Inspired Architectural Detail: Copying The Ann Arbor Observer’s "I Spy" monthly feature, here’s an inspired architectural detail:

Joe, Dog Rain Coats, and Champleve

Joe: As a very fine young British director, James McRettin (John Cleese) says on the set of 20th Century Vole’s latest epic 'Scott of the Antarctic', “This film is basically pro-humanity and anti-bad things”. We got the word this Wednesday that Joe’s MRI films showed a lot of pro-humanity and anti-bad things. In fact, there were absolutely no bad things on the MRI at all. We drank to Joe’s health that night, and the next night and the next night and the next night ...

Practical Dog Fashion: I broke out Coney’s Fido Fleece rain coat on rainy Thursday and left a note for her “au pair”, Barb, about it. Barb thought it was the bees knees and took some pictures of our fashion plate. If she can have pics, so can you. Here’s one I took a while back:

Pretty Pins: You say cloisonne, I say champleve. Let’s call the whole thing off and call it enameling*. That’s what Bill Spear does. He creates beautiful pins of realistic birds, dogs, foxes and lots of other things. Peaceable Kingdom on Main St. in Ann Arbor has a selection of them or you can order them from the W. M. Spear website:
http://wmspear.com/catalog.php

* Cloisonne (derived from the French word for partition) is an enamel where the lines which divide the different patches of fields are composed of metal wire secured to the ground, often copper. Champleve is an enamel in which the ground is engraved or scooped out to receive the enamel. W. M. Spear creates a steel die to make the copper ground. Here’s a link to the description of their process:
http://wmspear.com/process.php

Joe, St. Pat's Day, Dog Historic Marker, Like Camping, Pandora

Joe: Things are moving right along. To work in the Z. Home from work in the Z. An occasional detour to St. Joe’s for a diagnostic MRI or two.

St. Patrick’s Day Hoo Ha: In the early 70’s, the only place you could get a drink on St. Patrick’s Day in Dublin was at the dog show. Things have livened up since then. Read all about it:

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9902E0DA153DF934A25750C0A9679C8B63

I treated the G35 to a car wash on Monday. I went for the premium wash since it was the same price as a regular wash. They squirted blue gunk and yellow gunk on the car (what is that stuff?!), added water and guess what! You have green gunk for a perfect St. Patrick’s Day car wash!

Make Your Own Dog Historic Markers: I inadvertently made my own Dog Historic Marker this week (see 2/24/08 entry). I pulled out the dog treat bag while on my neighbor’s sidewalk. It had a hole in it, so it was, “Every time it rains it rains Kibble from heaven...”. Coney and I check out this spot every day now.

Just Like Camping: Had a nice chat with Jim at the water treatment plant on Saturday morning after getting an automated alert about a water main break that affected our neigborhood. We had a precautionary boil water which felt just like camping. 1855 is a very comfy camper van.

Paean to Pandora: Try pandora.com, the window into the Music Genome Project that let’s you listen to and create music channels full of music you like for free. I love it. You will, too:

http://pandora.com/

Joe, Lavender Larry, and Math & Science News

Joe: Here’s a picture of Joe’s triumphal return to work:

and here’s a link to a larger version so you can wonder at details like the guy in the front seat and those oxen tailgating on US 23:

https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/citd/RussianHeritage/6.PG/SCMEDIA/4.6.Celebration.gif

Lavender Larry: After seeing the Multipet plush “Loofa Dog” featured on Puppy Bowl IV, I knew Coney needed one. In fact, I knew she needed two. The blue one is being held in reserve, but Lavender Larry is on active duty. Larry is 18” long (they’ve got a jumbo 24” pup now!) and is the perfect recall companion. Coney brings Larry back and forth to Joe and me for our evening recall practice. The squeaker in da rear emits a pleasant honk, the bod bends as necessary to get through tight spots and that smile can’t be beat. An end-to- end favorite.

Math and Science News: March isn’t just for ides or St. Patrick’s Day anymore. I don’t know how I could have missed knowing about Pi Day, 3/14 ... 3.1415926535... There’s a website, of course, piday.org. We celebrated with pie, of course, Achatz Michigan Four Berry, available at Produce Station. We’ve been celebrating a lot with pie lately. “Why is you so obsessed with thoughts of pie?”

The moon of Saturn called Enceladus is getting a lot of attention from the Cassini cameras because it has a cool geyser of icy particles shooting out at 800 mph from its south pole. Cool! Go Cassini! Go!

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/13/science/space/13plumew.html?ref=science

Dog Bootie Redux, etc.

Joe: Still moving in the right direction. Like Spring, we’ll get there eventually. Joe made the most wonderful braised rabbit this week. Very tasty after a chilly dog walk (Coney thought so, too).

Coney Dog Sets Fashion Trend: You read it here first (see Iditarod Dog, etc. 2/10/08). Blue dog booties are the rage around the world, especially in Duesseldorf, where police dogs need to protect their feet against nasty bits of glass caught in the cobblestone streets.

Here's Coney Dog sporting her footwear:

and here's a Duesseldorf doggie:

Here's the description from an AP article found on Yahoo:

A police officer puts on shoes for his dog in this undated photo provided by police in Duesseldorf, western Germany, on Monday Feb. 25, 2008. Police dogs in the western German city of Duesseldorf will no longer get their feet dirty when on patrol: The entire dog unit will soon be equipped with blue plastic fiber shoes, officials said Monday. 'All 20 of our police dogs, German and Belgian shepherds, are currently being trained to walk in these shoes,' Andre Hartwich said. 'I'm not sure they like it, but they'll have to get used to it.' The unusual footwear is not a fashion statement but rather a necessity due to the high rate of paw injuries on duty. (AP Photo/Polizei Duesseldorf)

Of course, the Iditarod dogs have been wearing booties for years and they’re at it again. Today is Day 2 of the race.

Music Notes: I didn’t realize what a big deal Van Cliburn’s victory at the first International Tchaikovsky Competition, in Moscow on Apr. 14, 1958, was. I enjoyed listening to him speak with Scott Simon on NPR:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=87771963

There are lots of audio links on this page in addition to the interview, but I especially liked “How Van Cliburn Took Moscow” by Sara Fishko (scroll down near the bottom).

And, for you movie music buffs, don’t miss Andy Trudeau’s annual review of Oscar movie music:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=19251328

Dog Historic Markers, etc.

Joe: Things are hunky dory. Recent outings included a lovely, special dinner at Sparrow Meat Market and Produce (dreamy tiramisu) and another lovely, special dinner at Paesano’s (terrific chestnut puree soup). The Bolognese at Haute Joe’s was a one of several “delicio s” meals this week.

Dog Historic Markers: Dave Barry coined this term in his 1993 article “The Hidden Life of Dogs” http://www.funnytimes.com/samplepages/dogs.pdf The concept, described here, has a lot of resonance for us doggie owners. “... the house contains the most wondrous thing in the world: the kitchen counter. One time a piece of turkey fell off of it. The dogs still regularly visit the spot where it landed, in case it shows up again. There's an invisible Dog Historic Marker there.” Of course it’s invisible, Dave! We’re talking Smell-O-Vision here. Some local favorite Dog Historic Markers include the racoon house at the Summers-Knoll School dumpster and the woodchuck haven recently turned into a facilities building site at County Farm Park. Watch out County Parks and Recreation folks, you may need to “think like a chuck”, as our Antietam ranger friend told us, to prevent wily woodchucks from undermining your foundation. A less frequently visited marker is the Magical Bone Bush in front of a local church. Sniff, sniff, sniff the ground, raise your head and sniff, snatch that slice of cow femur hanging in the bush, trot, trot, trot home proudly. Crunch!

Art News: Parmigianino’s enigmatic Antea in a one painting exhibit at the Frick, “a beauty and a mystery”: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/22/arts/design/22fric.html?ref=design Some of you may recall from Art History 102 that Parmiginanino is not a famous cheesehead, but rather the painter of the weird Mannerist “Madonna of the Long Neck” http://www.artchive.com/artchive/p/parmigianino/long_neck.jpg. I like Antea better.