Keeping a low profile, but I thought I would share a few pics that might TOTALLY REDEEM the fact that I have spent the whole day in bed drinking decaf tea and diet ginger ale. First, here is Tammy’s Samantha celebrating her 5th birthday:
Up next, here is my brother’s dog Boghan, the wire haired pointing griffon, mauling mom while she is trying to watch sports:
Now pay attention. These may look like identical pictures, but if you embiggen the photo, you will notice that a certain Jack Russell terrier named Ginny has gotten her nose out of joint and has decided to nip this Boghan love in the bud:
Love that little doggie.
Comrade Mary
HI MRS. COLE!
Gee, you really are a family of blondes, aren’t you?
Ash Can
That’s some serious doggage going on there.
Steeplejack
My brother’s greyhound is the same as Ginny: she firmly believes that there is a finite amount of love in the world, and if she sees you petting Dick Cheney, the Italian greyhound, she will come over and demand to be petted with the same hand, because being petted with the other hand while he is still being petted is obviously not good enough.
liberal
This letter to the Wash Post is pretty revealing:
Mnemosyne
That Boghan photo reminds me of an old high school boyfriend whose family had a couple of Borzois who liked to stand — not lie, but stand upright — on your lap while you tried to watch TV.
And if you’re not familiar with Borzois, this is what they are. The freakin’ things are 3 feet tall sitting down, which makes it very difficult to watch television with one standing in your lap.
Comrade Luke
Your transformation wrt Rosie is every bit as dramatic as your political transformation. Nice work, Mr Cole!
Punchy
@Steeplejack: one of our greyhounds gets similarly jealous….she’ll park herself between your legs in a unambiguous “fuck you I SAID PET ME!” pincer move, should you ever show too much love to the other grey…
Mnemosyne
Also, apropos of nothing but this being an open thread, but we discovered Viognier at a wine-tasting room we went to in Santa Barbara. I had never heard of it, but we ended up buying a bottle because we really liked it. It was a nice balance between sweet and dry.
(This is the brand and their tasting room. It was a not unpleasant way to spend an hour in Santa Barbara, even if it was a little chilly on the wharf.)
max
These may look like identical pictures, but if you embiggen the photo, you will notice that a certain Jack Russell terrier named Ginny has gotten her nose out of joint and has decided to nip this Boghan love in the bud:
Points for difficulty, but Ginny hasn’t achieved the full on jealous cling.
max
[‘That would make it perfect.’]
tams
Love. Love. Love.
trollhattan
Boghan’s my kinda dog.
Shoveled all the sunlight offa our yard, finished at about 5:45, or whenever the thing set. Am ready for spring but we need rain and snow–both in short supply.
trollhattan
@efgoldman:
That’s the problem with water–liquid and the other kind–it’s always where you don’t want it, not where you need it.
Pics of the surf breaking over a seawall somewhere in Mass are mindboggling.
Face
When ya getting married, John? Can we come?
Violet
So cute. Samantha and her–what is that, a chicken?–are adorable. Love the mom photos. Boghan is so big!
TriassicSands
Cute dogs.
Many dogs and cats seem to operate under the assumption that they are transparent. My cats routinely situate themselves between me and anything I’m trying to look at — whether it’s a book, newspaper, a monitor, whatever.
Or maybe they’re just trying to get my attention. Naah, a cat would never seek to be the center of attention.
I have zero experience with Jack Russells, but reading BJ has led me to suspect they are a real handful.
Omnes Omnibus
@TriassicSands: The English cocker spaniel I had when I was grown up used to pose elegantly in front of the tv whenever we were watching it. I remain convinced that he was giving us an opportunity to look at him – you won’t convince me that he wasn’t vain as hell.
YellowJournalism
The cuteness factor of that picture will have us all crapping rainbows for the week.
hamletta
Oy. Cuteness.
I’m trying to git my Git back.
The prophet Nostradumbass
@Mnemosyne: I like viognier, but generally prefer something a bit drier than that. Speaking of Stearns Wharf, here‘s a picture I took from it about a year ago.
TaMara (BHF)
One of my boys was named Einstein and that Dane lived up to that moniker. My harlequin was princess and had no problem hogging all my attention. When Einstein wanted attention, he would go get her favorite stuffy, take it to her bed, lie down and start chewing.
She’d get all huffy, go over, get the stuffy, kick him off the bed and he’d come over to me for petting.
Worked every time.
r
Notre Dame-The Ville in the 5th OT!
Mnemosyne
My cold is annoying me, so I’m trying to decide if I should take some Nyquil or just cut to the chase and make a hot toddy.
I think the toddy may be winning.
raven
Notre Dame Ville in the 5th OT!
Yutsano
PUPPEH!!
Relaxing and contemplating a bowl of chocolate cornflakes to cap off the evening. Oh and the kitchen’s clean too, so I feel all productive and stuff.
Mnemosyne
@The prophet Nostradumbass:
I think that’s the exact same spot we were sitting at on Thursday watching the sun go down. There was a sailing lesson going on and G got some good photos of that.
I go back and forth between liking drier wines and sweeter wines, so the Viognier was right in that perfect in-between spot for me.
Roger Moore
Sorry, Mr. Cole, but if you want to TOTALLY REDEEM yourself, you need to include at least one picture of you feline overlord. We demand TUNCH and will not be bought off with dog pictures.
raven
LAPD To Give New Truck To Women Shot By Officers
Read more: http://ktla.com/2013/02/09/delivering-newspapers-then-caught-in-a-hail-of-lapd-bullets/#ixzz2KTGsQC8m
Read more at http://ktla.com/2013/02/09/delivering-newspapers-then-caught-in-a-hail-of-lapd-bullets/#r4GwRgK4YQgxesj2.99
Fuckin A!
Linkmeister
Speaking of dogs, we just adopted what we’re told is an Australian Cattle Dog today. She’s got spots, lots of spots, all-black ears, and she’s got black toenails, which I’ve never ever seen before.
Roger Moore
Just came back from my parents’ 50th anniversary party. I guess 50 more would be asking a bit much, but can I at least ask for another 25?
Yutsano
@efgoldman: I do have a degenerated disc, but since that pain is more or less under control I can live with that for awhile. The next surgical thing coming up will be for the hips. I get a bit more info on that next week then I’m meeting with the surgeon March 7th. Then we get the FMLA paperwork done and decide on the next steps from there. Odds are I may be out for another six weeks again depending on what they decide to do. I’ll keep y’all updated.
@Roger Moore:
THIS!!
raven
@Linkmeister: Look at that sugar. I was walking my dogs in Atlanta today and a guy said, “they look like rescues” and I said, “yep”. He said “thanks for rescuing them”. I thought it was kind of funny but now I want to say it to you!
pseudonymous in nc
@Mnemosyne:
It’s a French grape that shows up in southern white wines, usually blended, but because French wine is largely labelled by region and not grape, you wouldn’t know it from the bottle. The Aussies do good things with it as a single varietal, and even blend it with Shiraz, along the lines of Côte-Rôtie. American growers are also doing smallish-scale production with it.
raven
@Yutsano: My bride is battling the disc thing and is getting nowhere after 6 months of therapy, injections and advice.
Debbie(Aussie)
@Linkmeister:
Looks like an Aussie blue to me, although they, more often, have a bit more soldid patches of colour around head and neck. Abbey is a beauty :)
Yutsano
@raven: If she’s going to go surgery (which actually is the next step if nothing else is working) then I HIGHLY recommend researching the fuck out of your surgeon. I picked mine apart but I had no problems going with a well-trained Army doc. In fact I’d almost suggest looking into coming up here just to have him do it, he’s that good.
@Linkmeister: OMG PUPPEH!! There definitely is Aussie cattle dog in her but she’s got something else in the mix too. I’ve never seen a shorthair Aussie.
@Debbie(Aussie): I think you’re right there, taking a second look. And blues do have a shorthair variant.
Paddy
Reposted from the other Open Thread because I know the rocking geniuses here will help me with options.
Grassy in advance.
raven
@Yutsano: Her osteopath does not feel that the location of her pain is amenable (is that the right term) to surgery. We’ve gone to watchful waiting as PT and manipulation have made shit worse more often than not.
Mnemosyne
@pseudonymous in nc:
Mine is definitely a California wine since I bought it at the winery’s tasting room in Santa Barbara. I’m a little hazy on exactly where their vineyard is, but it seems to be Central California/San Luis Obispo-ish.
PeakVT
Now this is the kind of drill, baby, drill I can get behind.
Mnemosyne
@Mnemosyne:
The toddy won. Decaf Blackberry Sage tea (old can from Republic of Tea), honey, lemon juice, and a shot of Bushmills. I should be face-down on the keyboard in about 15 minutes.
Anne Laurie
@Linkmeister:
Congratulations on your new housemate! ACDs have a bit of a reputation for being both smart & stubborn — any dog that works with cattle needs to be smart enough to avoid getting kicked in the head, and tough enough to come back for more when they miscalculate. Abbey is striking, but watch out with those black toenails, they’re tricky to trim because you can’t see the quicks the way you can with unpigmented ‘white’ nails…
@Debbie(Aussie): Yeah, the ACD name is what we call those exotic beauties you know as Aussie blues (and Aussie reds) or blue heelers. Romantic American owners have also claimed they’ve got dingo blood, which the Australians firmly deny!
Anne Laurie
@Yutsano: You sure you’re not confusing the cattle dogs with the Australian shepherds, the dogs that usually get called “Aussies” here in the States?
Yutsano
@Anne Laurie: It’s entirely possible. I’ve been the exemplar of the xkcd rule before. :)
Debbie(Aussie)
@Mnemosyne:
Sleep well, and to your cold I say p*ss off :)
SatanicPanic
@PeakVT: the mars roved is really cool stuff. I hope I get to see humans visit Mars someday.
Linkmeister
She’s very very calm and quiet so far. Getting her outside is easier on a leash than it is when I try just shooing her out to roam in the fenced back yard.
She’s skittish, as though she’s been scolded a lot for being in places somebody thought she shouldn’t. When she was exploring I found her in a back bedroom and she jumped and ran out of the room like she’d been told she’d been a bad dog, and I hadn’t said a word (and wouldn’t have cared anyway).
Patience. We’ve had her less than six hours. ;)
Debbie(Aussie)
@Anne Laurie:
I was thinking he might be talking about border collies. (‘Dog’ from Footrot Flats)
Yutsano
@raven: I would second opinion the osteopath. There are several surgical options besides a microdiscectomy that might be appropriate here. I would also question their comfort level with back surgeries. Granted the no relief with the steroid injection is not a good sign, but there has to be a SOMETHING to alleviate the condition.
karen marie
@trollhattan: Yeah, you say that, but come back and talk to us after you’ve been living for a month with a dog who does that. I live with a couple guys who thought it was really fun having my 20-pound Cavalier/Cocker mix jump up, plant her paws on their chests and face lick until it was no longer a novelty. Now they’re all like wanting her to sit down and shit when she’s in their laps.
Poor little dog!
trollhattan
@Mnemosyne:
Here shall ye find out much more about California’s Rhone varietal efforts.
http://www.rhonerangers.org/
Turns out our climate is a hell of a lot more like the southern Rhone than Bordeaux or Burgundy, which ain’t necessarily a bad thing.
Have a couple cases of Terre Rouge (Amador county) Viognier and Roussanne in the basement. Life, she’s good.
Anne Laurie
@Debbie(Aussie): Here in America, where there’s enough sprawl for all our immigrant ancestors to come up with different
liesromantic theories, we have Border Collies and Australian Shepherds (who were not from Australia, but the sheep they worked were) and English Shepherds and even North American Shepherds. And rescuers who work with these breeds (not me, but my Dog Guru) joke that if the unknown dog that’s just been dumped at your shelter is black & white, it’s a border collie. If it’s red merle or blue merle (Abbey is a blue merle) or missing any part of its tail, it’s an Aussie — but not to be confused with the short-haired Australian Cattle Dogs, who also are sometimes bobtailed or tailless. If it’s undersized, it’s a North American… and if it doesn’t look quite like any of the pictures in the breed books “English shepherd” sounds sooo much more adoptable than “crossbred”. (Warning: do not tell this joke around professional dog breeders, they will not appreciate the humor.)Donut
@Mnemosyne:
I lived in SB for a couple of years. Winters there are pretty sweet, if you don’t mind that slight chill (I don’t). Your brief description shot my head full of memories of sitting outside up on the Mesa at this time of year, having a smoke or two. I quit smoking eight years ago now, but that gave me a real craving for a second or two.
mai naem
@Paddy: Depending on how much money you want to spend – you can get cricket/simple/pagenet that are $35/mo for phone and around $50/mo if you want data and texting. If you want data TMobile also has an unlimited $50/mo. Sprint is cheaper but their coverage is not as good. Boost uses Sprint’s towers, so don’t get Boost. I would get a data plan if you’re going to be sitting around in waiting rooms. You can also get a card for around $100 for 1000 mins which is good for a year.
PurpleGirl
@raven: The cat shelter in the Seattle area (Purrfect Pals) whose volunteer has a live cam of kittens has a t-shirt that says “Rescues are my favorite breed.”
Debbie(aussie)
@Anne Laurie:
Thanks for the info Anne. It would seem that we are a little more pedantic about our naming of breeds. Also we have name for mixed-ups- bitza- bits of this & bits of that or of cousre ‘mongrel’ :) not particularly romantic tho
Higgs Boson's Mate
@Anne Laurie:
Giving a shelter dog a bit of luster is okay by me. What annoys me is the “doodle” and other cutesy-poo names that some people give to mixed breed dogs. Yes, I do tie onions to my belt, but I prefer “dog” or “mutt” or “mixed breed”.
Omnes Omnibus
@Higgs Boson’s Mate: There’s a line from one of the James Herriot books where an older Scots vet was asked by a well-off women what breed he thought her dog was and he responded he would call it a “wee brown dog.”
Anne Laurie
@Higgs Boson’s Mate:
No, see, those idiots (and the jackholes who prey on them) are deliberately combining two different breeds, because they’re under the mistaken impression that only the best traits of both will be handed down. They would be ten thousand times better off taking the time to find a nameless rescue that fits their lifestyle, but good ol’ all-American marketing has convinced them that “labradoodles” are hypoallergenic like poodles & easy-care like labs (so they get a dog that’s as dumb & hyper as a badly-bred lab, but with a lot more hair to shed). Or that “puggles” are an adorable advancement in (I swear to god) “dog genetics”… instead of a crossbreed that snores & farts like a pug, and bays & wanders like a beagle. There’s millions of dogs looking for homes, including purebreds & plausible-purebreds of every breed (our three current rescues are a purebred papillon ‘surrendered’ by his first family, a puppymill papillon who went thru multiple homes before ending up in a shelter, and a “papillon cross” — possibly with a border collie — who the local professional papillon breeders took in after she was seized in a neglect case). Anyone inventing new “designer crosses” to bamboozle idiots who think of dogs as fashion accessories deserves to be… well, since punching such people is incorrect, I can still lecture, okay?
Omnes Omnibus
@Anne Laurie:
Maybe it’s late and I am punchy, but, damn, that is funny.
Debbie(aussie)
@Anne Laurie:
Absolutely agree! My daughter volunteered with RSPCA (Brisbane HQ)for a few months and the stories are truly horrendous.
The prophet Nostradumbass
@Mnemosyne: It looks like their vineyards are in the Arroyo Grande area, which is in San Luis Obispo County.
Anne Laurie
@Omnes Omnibus: Apart from human vanity, there’s plenty of legitimate reasons for trying to tease out the more obvious ancestry of a mixed-breed dog in a shelter. “Looks” are no guarantee, but they can be an indicator, and no breed is perfect for every household. Beagles, for instance, tend to inherit the resounding ‘bugle’ voice that will make them unpopular with an apartment dweller’s neighbors. Terriers are hardheads, and need exercise & an experienced handler. Huskies and the other sled-dog breeds can be escape artists and incurable runaways. And crossbreds can inherit a tendency to their ancestors’ genetic diseases — liver problems in schnauzers, epilepsy in some spaniel breeds, anesthetic allergies in sighthound crosses, hip problems in big breeds & knee problems in toy breeds.
And sometimes “knowing” (suspecting) that a new adoptee’s less attractive traits are hardwired, and not just a result of unknown abuse or misfortune, can really help even an experienced human adjust their expectations to make the partnership work. The difference between ‘this dog is hopelessly broken’ and ‘this dog is a sighthound cross, so he won’t respond to the kind of training that worked with my golden’ is huge!
Omnes Omnibus
@Anne Laurie: The only dog I have ever had was a paper-carrying English cocker. housing and the fact that no one could ever match that demented ball of muscle, fur, and devotion have prevented me from having others. I have seen how various breeds do really have strong characteristics and, like people, they respond differently to different types of interaction.
Mino
@Mnemosyne: They are very narrow. You can see around them. So there.
pat
@Paddy re: Cell phone
I posted in the other thread but you might have missed it.. Check out Tracfone at any Walgreen’s, ShopKo or maybe Target or Walmart. Anyway, you buy the phone for about $10 and then buy minutes, as many as you want for as long as you want. Voice mail is also possible.
No internet but who needs that, it’s a phone for petessake.
OT, FYWP. I had to enter my name and email again, and yesterday when I tried to edit a comment, I was informed in RED lettering that I WAS NOT ALLOWED to edit.
Just PLEASE do not switch to DISCUS.
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