while looking at a cobra, i noticed the following sign:

'in the far east, the marks are thought to be the fingerprints of buddha, who blessed teh snake after it shaded him with its hood.'

it made me wonder: if a snake is symbol of peace and comfort in eastern religion, but a symbol of of evil in western religions, what does it say about teh difference of our cultures?

is this an obvious thought maybe? have other people had it? thanks.

The last part of my fall series from Kenosha Pass. Hope you caught one and two, I can't decide which day is my favorite yet between all three. Perhaps this whole series is my favorite on Cocktail Hour.

After yesterday's post about film coming out so much better than anything I took digitally, my Grandpa sent an email to say "...you must remember that film is capable of recording an image with more resolution and a greater range of color then our new technology, the digital chip."

How right he is, and thank you again for the reminder. My favorite person in the world to talk photography with and look up to in this lost art.

Hope you have enjoyed the series, this time of year is so beautiful. I can't believe over and over again how lucky I am to be out here in Colorado and experience what I believe is one of Mother Nature's favorite places in the world.

Stay warm.

Grand-daughter to Grand-mother

A personal classic of my grandmother and my cute cousin. Snapped in the summer of '03 in Australia, when I was there for holiday.

Performance

My friend Laurice. Doing an interpretive dance. I believe this was in '05.

While You Were Away

Another personal classic for me... My neighbour's dog staring sadly into the distance, like a lover waiting for someone to come home. Ok enough emo.

The Chrispy Johns @ Amir's

Ah I miss these boys. We were in a band... And we named ourselves Chrispy Johns. John D (with the snake round his neck) was the bassist. Chris on the right was the essential drummer. And me, in chest-baring unglory (in this pic) was on vocal/keyboard duties. This was taken with a timer and we were hanging out at Amir's place in the final weeks of '05.

Kaleidomae

If you look hard there's a girl smiling straight at you. A friend I knew back then and still do... (a lot less than I'd like to though haha)...

I hope to revive my camera craziness. But I want to get a fresh camera...

Over the hedge

Created by Michael Fry and T Lewis

****

VP hopeful and genuine crazy woman, Sarah Palin, decided to fling some mud at Barack Obama this week (Nanners prefers poo, but that's another story) in an effort to boost support of her Palin-McCain, err, McCain-Palin, campaign. She claimed that Barack Obama "pals around with terrorists." Harsh, misguided and disappointingly racist words.

Most thought Palin was referring to an old activist buddy Obama once met, a guy named Bill Ayers. In fact, Sarah Palin was actually speaking about Barack's PC tech-support relationship with Nanners, which is casual at best.

She has claimed 'off the record' that Nanners is nothing more than a "no good, two-timing towelhead--a true terrorist of America." Well, Nanners does like to wear a towel on his head, but that's just to be silly, or after a nice, hot shower. He hardly wears it for the deeply religious reasons various other cultures do.

As for being a terrorist, well, Nanners does support 'The Sea Shepherd,' which is widely considered a terrorist organization in some countries, but they fight to protect animals from extinction and to restore the balance of our unstable ecosystem. Perhaps being called a terrorist isn't always a bad thing?

Perhaps it depends on what the cause is--what's been done to determine such 'terrorist' action. Weren't our founding fathers considered 'terrorists' of Britain during our countries' volatile birthing pains? If Obama likes Paul Revere, does that mean he "likes terrorists?"

The way Nanners sees it, unless harm is done first by the organization, no harm should be caused. But he takes his 'terrorist' activities on a per-case basis, so Nanners suspects he won't be converting to any 'Extreme Islamic movements' in the foreseeable future. But if he sees eye-to-eye with a group that's hoping to restore balance, humanity and peace to our great nation, then he's all about being a 'terrorist.' 

Sarah Palin Video of the Day –

Comedian Sara Benincasa does an absolutely perfect imitation of Sarah Palin in "Sarah Palin's Vlog." Check them out, you won't be disappointed!

Dawwwwwwww!!

Eight or nine years ago, we decided to write a novel.

It was actually our second attempt; the first one  -- a satirical look at internet start-up culture in the late 90s -- we had retired to the desk drawer after sending it around without much luck.

This new one was more ambitious: it was rooted in Wagnerian opera, Lou Reedian post-punk, the philosophy of Schopenhauer, Jungian psychology, the life and death of cities, French aestheticism, the magic of memory, gay identity and -- most importantly? -- cats. It srsly took forever to write!

And when it was done, it was literally 1000 pages long.

We sent out some queries and a few people expressed interest. But everyone was like: "Hey, what century do you think you're living in? Good luck selling a 1000-page novel about opera and philosophy and French aestheticism!"

Whatevs. We started this blog and tried not to think about it too much until someone (somewhat tersely) suggested we send a blind query to a "big-concept" agent, which we did.

And he wrote back! And not only that, he helped us streamline the story, so that it actually held together (or so we hope) instead of drifting off into so many theoretical tangentzzzzzz.

These revisions took the better part of a year, but the resulting novel was at least 1,000,000 (one million) times better than the original version.

And then -- just like that -- he sold it!

Given the choice between a few smaller "literary" houses and a gigantic, multinational conglomerate, we went for the latter. Ha -- we sold out!

But not really, because the editor really loves the book, and so does the publisher. Here's how cool our editor is: she just bought a memoir by Belinda Carlisle (yes, of the Go-Gos!) and she also acquired the NA rights for Girl in a Blue Dress by Gaynor Arnold, which was nominated for the 2008 Man Booker Prize. (So take that, literary cred!)

Of course there will be more revisions and editing, but we're looking forward to it. We'll obvs keep you posted as things progress.

But right now it feels like more of a dream. We ask how this could be happening, when the odds were so long.

There's also an irrational fear that it will all fall apart.

But for now, it's on.

We read about it this morning in Publisher's Marketplace, as if we were reading about someone else.

Oxford University Press editor Matthew Gallaway's THE METROPOLIS CASE, the sweeping tale of an unlikely quartet, bound together by the strange, spectacular history of Richard Wagner's masterpiece opera, Tristan and Isolde, to Suzanne O'Neill at Crown, by Bill Clegg at William Morris Agency (NA).

3 Among the animals, whatever divides the hoof, having cloven hooves and chewing the cud—that you may eat. 4 Nevertheless these you shall not eat among those that chew the cud or those that have cloven hooves: the camel, because it chews the cud but does not have cloven hooves, is unclean to you; 5 the rock hyrax, because it chews the cud but does not have cloven hooves, is unclean to you; 6 the hare, because it chews the cud but does not have cloven hooves, is unclean to you; 7 and the swine, though it divides the hoof, having cloven hooves, yet does not chew the cud, is unclean to you. 8 Their flesh you shall not eat, and their carcasses you shall not touch. They are unclean to you.

Deuteronomy 14:3-83 “You shall not eat any detestable thing. 4 These are the animals which you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat, 5 the deer, the gazelle, the roe deer, the wild goat, the mountain goat,^[a] the antelope, and the mountain sheep. 6 And you may eat every animal with cloven hooves, having the hoof split into two parts, and that chews the cud, among the animals. 7 Nevertheless, of those that chew the cud or have cloven hooves, you shall not eat, such as these: the camel, the hare, and the rock hyrax; for they chew the cud but do not have cloven hooves; they are unclean for you. 8 Also the swine is unclean for you, because it has cloven hooves, yet does not chew the cud; you shall not eat their flesh or touch their dead carcasses.

Video from the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Commision
(this is not our house - but the topography, vegetation... and swarm... sure look like ours)

They swarm. Millions of them.  To get an idea of what it felt like in our yard today -- cast Zip as Tippi Hedron, Audie as Rod Taylor and turn horrid little things into flocks of marauding birds.  This leaves me as Jessica Tandy and casts Audie (appropriately) as a momma's boy.  Mark makes a cameo appearance as Hitchcock.

When the bugs come, there are so many of them and they create such a nuisance for us here that we've resorted to a limited form of chemical warfare to fight them.  I detest using pesticides but before we did I'd have to sweep gallons of dead bugs off the floor of the training center and garage every day.  Did I mention that when the horrid little things are dead - they stink?  The ones I couldn't find were a bigger problem than the ones I did.  After they infested it, the place smelled like rotting, burnt piss fir all winter.

So, on warm October days we avoid the front doors of the house and training center.  The front door of the house faces south and the training center faces west - so pretty much any time between noon and 4 p.m. going through those doors feels like being cast in a miniature version of the infamous playground scene.

I don't feel bad about killing the Lady Beetles - they're not the least bit ladylike.  An exotic, invasive species that has been in our area for less than ten years - they don't belong.  In their natural habitat (which this is not) they prefer to winter over on white or light-colored cliffs.  When they can't find enough cliff areas, they swarm on light-colored buildings.  Our house is red brick - but the front porch is light.  The beetles love that front porch.  The training center is dark-colored too - but there are two very large, very  white overhead doors on the west side.  The %&#$*# invaders postively lust for those doors.

Once these unwanted, invasive aliens congregate on the outside of your building - they start looking for a way in.  And they're very good at finding ways to get in.  Once they get inside - they die.  And then they stink.  ...Did I mention that if they land on you before they die - they bite?

So, since they've got lots of lovely, light-brown cliffs along the creek below our house where the swarm can winter over in a safe and somewhat biologically appropriate manner (considering they aren't a native species here) - and - they'll very likely just die (and stink) anyway once they crawl into my house and outbuildings, I suppose our limited use of a professionally applied insecticide barrier is appropriate.

According to the Minnestoa DNR:

Asian lady beetle populations are increasing in Minnesota because this species presently has no known natural enemies to control its numbers. The worst news is that they are replacing other species of lady beetles that are native to Minnesota.

Where did they originally come from?  According to Iowa State's Integrated Crop Management Program website:

Their original distribution is China, Japan, and Siberia. They are not native to North America, but they have been intentionally released in the United States by entomologists. This lady beetle was extensively released for biological control of other insects beginning in 1916 in California. During 1978-1981, the beetle was additionally released by state and federal (USDA) agencies in several states along the Atlantic Coast and Gulf of Mexico, but the personnel responsible for these releases claim that the beetles never became established and eventually died out. Accidental entries have arrived on nursery stock at ports in Delaware and South Carolina. The first extensive populations were found in the United States in 1988 near the port of New Orleans, Louisiana, and it is assumed that these beetles arrived on a container ship from eastern Asia. Therefore, it is not known for certain whether the lady beetles' establishment in the United States was the result of accidental entries, planned releases, or both.

More bad stuff from China.  Cripes.  They probably turn into melamine when they decompose...

Marauding elephants, aggressive sea lions, snap-happy crocodiles... As animal attacks on humans reach frightening levels, scientists are beginning to understand exactly what the beasts are thinking. And it's not good. Will Storr reports.

It's happening everywhere.

Authorities in America and Canada are alarmed at the increase in attacks on humans by mountain lions, cougars, foxes and wolves. Romania and Colombia have seen a rise in bear maulings.

In Mexico, in just the past few months, there's been a spate of deadly shark attacks with The LA Times reporting that, 'the worldwide rate in recent years is double the average of the previous 50'. America and Sierra Leone have witnessed assaults and killings by chimps who, according to New Scientist, 'almost never attack people'. In Uganda, they have started killing children by biting off their limbs then disembowelling them.

There has been a surge in wolf attacks in Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Russia and France. In Australia, there has been a run of dingo killings, and crocodile violence is up. In Beijing, injuries from cats and dogs have swelled by 34 per cent, year-on-year.

In America, the number of humans killed by pet dogs has increased sharply since 2000. In Australia, dog attacks are up 20 per cent. In Britain, nearly 4,000 people needed hospital treatment for dog bites in 2007, a figure that has doubled in the past four years.

In Bombay, petrified residents are being slaughtered in ever-increasing numbers by leopards, leading J. C. Daniel, a leopard specialist, to comment, 'We have to study why the animal is coming out. It never came out before.'

In Edinburgh, in June, there was a string of bizarre fox attacks - a pensioner was among the victims. >> The Telegraph (UK)

I, for one, welcome our new animal overlords. How would you feel if roles were reversed?

For example, salmonella illnesses are thought to stem from contact with lizards, turtles, and other reptiles. Hamster can also carry this germ, which can cause severe diarrhea, fever and stomach cramps. Salmonella also has been found in chicks, and young children can get it by kissing or touching the animals and then putting their hands in their mouths.
If you own one of these exotic and nontraditional pets, you should contact your veterinarians about specific risks and possible new homes for your animals before having your children at risk.
This doesn’t mean though that these pets are not worth to keep. Just make sure your children especially 5 years old are being look out before they get into danger by having these kinds of pets. Young children are vulnerable because of developing immune systems plus they often put their hands in their mouths.
It is recommended to have these kind of peculiar pets when you have no one below 5 years old in your house.

Male and female lynx only come together for breeding purposes, then the males depart. Kittens are raised by a single parent – the mother.

The birth weight of a kitten ranges from 4 ½ to 15 ounces depending on the species.

There are usually one to four kittens in a litter. COOL CATS!!!

My school's mascot is actually a wild cat! If you want more info on lynx go to the animal of the week page!

~daiseeeee

Oh, except the type of ladybirds that eats ladybirds... Harmonia axydris or the Harlequin Ladybird - this insect from east Asia is the subject of a special ladybird survey because it's invading the British Isles rapidly. A beetle with a big menu, including butterfly eggs, scale bugs, pollen, nectar and fruit juices. They might not be altogether bad news, as they're excellent aphid predators... but Harlequin Ladybirds are perhaps too voracious, and they're racing ahead of many usual predators.

Seven-spot Ladybirds (picture left) and the Two-spot Ladybird are the best known in Britain, but there are lots more - 46 species in the UK. These members of the family Coccinellidae are iconic animals noted in many cultures... the 2-spot and 7-spot are found across the whole of the Palaeartic region.  (7-spot ladybirds have been introduced to North America too.) Stories, songs and poems carry tales of ladybirds. No wonder this well-loved insect is a mascot for the charity Buglife.

Among the kaleidoscopic variety of ladybirds there are also 'dark forms' with coloration patterns that baffle and bemuse. (More cool ladybird photos here and here.) The example photographed below is a dark type of 2-spot ladybird. And its friend is some sort of fly... I don't know what!

And here's a yellow one! The 22-Spot Ladybird.

The sanctuary is basically in the bush, so its a great spot to have a walk although it was the last day of the school holidays so it was a bit crowded at times. We had a picnic and enjoyed the sun before heading back into Melbourne.

• I took the day off from work
• I got to see my girlfriend, Dani
• I audited a George Morris clinic

 You are about to be the lucky reader of the  copious notes that I took from the clinic.  But first, as usual, I need to give you all the usual drivel. 

The clinic started at 9:00 and according to MapQuest, the drive to Persimmon Tree Farm was about an hour and a half.  Before I could get on the road, Dani told me to bring my own chair, Sassy wasn't feeling well so I had to get her medicated, Dani and I planned on switching books (My Paul Cronin for her Geoff Teall), I knew I'd get hungry so I needed snacks...the list goes on...I kept remembering all these things I needed to bring and had to get it all in my car.   Yes, I should have done it the night before but hey, every now and then, I let myself off the hook and have slacker moments. 

When I got on the road (after picking up my McSkillet Burrito and sweet tea, of course), I had exactly and hour and a half to get there.  And as you may or may not know, I am a reformed vehicular hoodlum so I DO NOT speed anymore.

Somehow, I managed to pull in to the farm at exactly 9:00.  Which trust me, in GM time (that's George Morris time, not Greenwich Mean Time), that's about a half-hour late.  I found Dani immediately and quietly and carefully set up my camp, so as not to disturb the riders and their horses (we were sitting close to the rail) or George for that matter.

And then, I started taking notes!  I will start things off by giving my take on all GM clinics.  The instruction is always simple.  There are no tricks.  There are no short cuts.  There is no finagling with the horse's head.  There are no gadgets.  Everything he teaches, everything he has the riders do with their horses is basic, simple and done in repetition.  And everything that is done on the flat is in preparation for the jumping portion of the lesson. 

That last sentence is what kills me about a lot of other riders I've seen.  And trust me, by no means am I an authority on any subject, but I am one thing -- a good student of the sport.  I'm a 'Morrissian' ( a little term I made up all on my own).  What he says makes sense to me and I apply it and I think I'm pretty effective because of it.  But what kills me about a lot of other riders that I've seen over the years is for them, flatwork is simply a walk/trot/canter.  A warm up.  It walked, it trotted, it cantered, we're done. 

The last exercise we watched GM put the riders through was one where they cantered close to one standard, passing it, slipped into the line between the jumps, then jumped the other jump.  Some of the turns they did on other parts of the course required collection.  Everything they did required straightness.  So, quess what they did on the flat?  Leg-yields, shortening, lengthening, counter cantering, halting and so on.  And a few times when someone had trouble, he'd remind them they'd just practiced that same exercise on the flat.

So, as a rider, if you have a horse that falls in on one direction, why wouldn't you work on fixing that shoulder on the flat first before you jump?  Why wouldn't you work on that each ride until the problem no longer existed or at least until your horse responded quickly to your correction?

If you have never done so, you owe it to yourself to attend one of these clinics.  The $75 you plunk down to audit is well worth the information you pick up.  We're talking a guy who has produced our nation's top riders, trainers, judges for years.  He's an Olympian.  He has a system and it works, no matter if you like the guy's style or not.   So, if you want to attend a GM clinic, go to www.ghmclinics.com. 

The first group was started off on the flat at the walk.  He wanted active walks.  He said most riders allow the horse to walk too slowly.  4 mph is good.  When he moved riders up into the trot, he had them ride circles at intervals, they were to do this on their own about every 6 strides, then after doing the circle for 6 strides, go straight for 6 strides and so on.  Circles were about 30 ft in diameter.  Riders were to vary from the posting trot to the sitting trot.  So, while doing the circle, they'd do the sitting and while going away straight, the rising.

What does that do?  That helps teach your horse shortening, lengthening and helps supple them.  It also gets them on the aids.  Where they are listening to your hand, your seat, your legs.  All things you need a horse to respect while you are jumping.  According to GM, the exercise also distracts the horse.  It contains a horse and gives people concentration.  He said, "Freshness produces disobedience" and an exercise like that puts a horse and his mind to work and would help with a fresh horse.  Given the weather (slightly chilly/breezy), everyone was a little fresher than normal.

In the US, we speak in terms of feet, in Europe, they speak in terms of meters.  You'll also often hear the height of jumps in the jumper classes referred to in meters. 

1M = 3'3"

A volte (accent on that last e, if I remember correctly) is approximately 6M or 20'.  A volte is a small circle.  A little detail I'd forgotten since college.

While doing the exercise above, there were varying degrees of speeds of trots.  You should not have to kick to ask your horse to move forward.  Nor should you constantly have to remind a horse to stay forward.  This is a huge pet peeve of mine too.  I cannot stand to ride the horse that you have to constantly remind to keep forward, nor do I like the horse that completely ignores your leg.  Basically, the horse is not properly schooled to the leg and instead of beating the horse, I'd like to beat their owners (as we know, I'd never beat a horse anyway).  So, like GM, I am in the camp of using your stick behind your leg to wake the horse up.  Or as GM says, "stroke him with your stick".

GM sent riders up into ppsting trots (8 mph) and alternated between the posting and the sitting.

At the canter, he wanted to see people "sit the tack".  Certainly, while on course or in the hand-gallop, he expected to see the 1/2 seat or 2 pt.  The task of riding circles continued.  Riders did circles at the canter every 6-8 strides, then continued straight for 6-8 strides.  The canter should be about 10-12 mph.

What does that exercise help your horse with?  Balance, collection, ratability of stride, suppling, and how to ride a turn.  All are necessary for use later on course. 

The next exercise was canter to posting trot, then sitting trot, then back to the walk.  Then, canter, slow hand-gallop, posting trot, sitting trot.  It should be obvious that this is an exercise that teaches the horse rideability and ratability of stride, shortening and lengthening.

There was some work on backing.  To back the horse, just use your hands.  It should be like squeezing a lemon.  If a horse doesn't respond, use your arms.  And if that doesn't work, use your weight (upper body) against his mouth.  This is the strongest form of asking.

Before moving into the jumping portion of the lesson, GM went around and looked at the bits in the mouths of some of the horses that were not responding appropriately.  One rider had a Happy Mouth pelham in.  He suggested a double wire snaffle.  The rider didn't have one and shortly after, Carolyn Krome jogged out with a double wire D-ring snaffle. 

Note to those wishing to do a clinic with George:

• have a range of bits on hand
• carry a stick
• wear a spur and have a range to choose from
• bring an assistant (friend, parent, whatever) to help you if you need to make a tack change

Skipping ahead a bit, but I was interested to see how the horse would go once the bit was switched.  Initiatlly, it was clear, he did not like the bit.  Shortly thereafter, and by the end of the session, this big horse with his tiny rider, was going much better and clearly accepting the bit.

I think this bugs people's eyes out -- GM's penchant for the double-twisted wire.  He says it is his favorite bit.  He likes to see a horse respond immediately to all cues from the rider. 

Next, he asked a girl without spurs to put a 'baby spur' on.  This is that little nubby spur, the Tom Thumb spurs.  He said that every horse can learn to accept it and that you'll never find him without a spur.  He likes the spur worn low.

Comments before the jumping phase:

• Don't let horses put their heads down while they are standing
• Horses are like children - they have to listen
• Hand-gallop = 14-16 mph
• Canter = 10-12 mph
• Posting trot = 8 mph
• Sitting trot = 6 mph
• Walk = 4 mph
• What is a half-turn?  It reverses your direction (the half-turn in reverse is done towards the rail)

He drilled and drilled each rider on the speeds of each gait.  All of it is in his book and it was surprising how many people didn't know the answers, even after others gave the answer. 

This group was started trotting over two poles, about 7 ft apart to three poles about 3 ft apart.  Trotting through the first set, the speed of the trot was not supposed to change.  Through the second set, horses had to compress their trot.

GM wanted to see horses with their heads up so the horse was not 'boring down' on you.  Horses that bore on the bit are 'out of control, out of balance'.  Never was there ever any correction given to a rider whose horse's head was not long and low like we see many of our hunters go.  However, he did not want to see 'star-gazers' either.  But the only correction for either fault was that he wanted to see your hands above and in front of the whithers.  Eventually, the horse will accept this contact and that hand.  I have watched this phenomenon in another of his clinics and yes, they all accepted in that very session.

Next, he changed the direction of the riders and had them trot through the 3' spaced cavaletti to the pole 7' to a vertical set at about 2' high.  He had everyone pull up at the end of the ring.  Wanted you to raise your hand when you halted and if they didn't listen, use your arms, then the weight of your body if they still didn't listen.

He said, "Horses boring on the bit are out of control - out of balance."

Eventually, he added in the next element, which was 18' to a 2'3" vertical.  Then, had people pull up in between two standards 21' from that.   A few horses seemed uncertain, some nearly stopped, one did stop.  He suggested that if you look up and ahead at a point, there'll be less chance of a stop or refusal.

After the one horse refused, dumping his rider (his other passes through the exercise were quite dramatic), GM wanted to know why that person's trainer was not dressed to ride.  He wanted to see professionals dressed in riding clothes to help out. 

A few,  during the halting exercise (once the goal was to stop at the end of the ring), had trouble getting the halt at the designated spot.  He liked to see that you finished your job, no matter what.  So, if that meant backing the horse all the way up to the spot where you intended to stop, so be it.

The final element added after the 21' to the vertical was 36' to another.  He made certain people understood that he only added the elements as the group of horses seemed confident.  He said, "Repetition with confidence for the horse."

He then set up a small course.  It was a long approach to a vertical with one tip dropped down, left lead to an outside line in 6 strides, then, stop before an arena marker (heavy pole).  Eventually, he increased the size of the jumps and told people that as the jumps got bigger, they were to ride to them exactly the same. 

While the jumps were small, he said if a horse refuses, make him go.  He can pop over it at a standstill.

Someone was corrected for posting into the canter.  Sit -- don't do a posting trot.  The logic to this is, they are two separate gaits.  So, when you are asked to canter, you canter.  You are not asked to posting trot (in this case) then canter.

GM-ism for teachers:  "Practice problems, set up problems, get people to concentrate.  Set up problems people are capable of solving.  You have to produce an attitude of 'bold'.  Your best teacher is your horse -- a horse that suits you."

OK, that's it for my notes from Group 1.  Will add more on the other groups later.

One BIG Green Tree Frog!!

This handsome prince was singing to his lady!!  I took a lot of shots of him... wanted to make sure I had some good ones!!

But then he said, "THAT'S ENOUGH!!!"

So I obliged and went hunting for his princess!!  GOOD NEWS!!!  I did find her, but I'll add the photos later, so keep watching!!

*it wont let me embed, so just watch it here.

And yes, he was more adorable in person because he was only 8" high at the shoulder and very happy to get back scratches.  Normally I caution against petting strange pooches awaiting their owners, but he demanded attention with his stout blond gargoyle charm.

I replaced the aforementioned double pointed needles spent a few minutes coveting buttons.  There's people out there doing some really fun things with buttons as accessories on sweaters, gloves, etc. and I'm thinking I should get in on some of that action.  Right now I've got a big fat crush on this pattern from knitty.com, but who knows when I'll actually get around to making it.  Something about buying that many balls of yarn all at once makes me kind of queasy when you ring up the final price tag.  Plus I have no experience with bobbles.  And now I'm just making excuses. 

Keep dry out there kids.  The rain is back.

National wildlife refuges are dedicated to the conservation of fish and wildlife and their habitats. They also offer a wide range of wildlife-dependent recreation–from hunting and fishing to wildlife observation, wildlife photography, nature interpretation and environmental education.  The Refuge System includes 2,500 miles of land and water trails, and there is at least one national wildlife refuge in every state and one within an hour’s drive of most major cities.

“America’s wildlife refuges offer great places to teach our children the importance of making a lifelong commitment to our nation?s natural resources,” said U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director H. Dale Hall.  “Exploring the outdoors and learning how all living things are connected to one another is what National Wildlife Refuge Week is all about.”

This year, the annual Refuge Week celebration also highlights the 75th anniversary of the Federal Duck Stamp and the 50th anniversary of the Small Wetlands Program.  These two programs have helped the Refuge System expand to its current size of 97 million acres.

Ninety-eight cents of every dollar generated by the sale of Federal Duck Stamps goes toward the purchase or lease of wetland habitat for the National Wildlife Refuge System.  To date, Duck Stamp sales have helped purchase or protect more than 5.2 million acres of wildlife habitat.  For more information about Duck Stamps, go to http://www.fws.gov/duckstamps/.

The Small Wetlands Program was created in 1958 to allow proceeds from the sale of Duck Stamps to also be used to acquire waterfowl production areas (WPAs).  These WPAs provide habitat for migratory birds, protect native plants, help filter groundwater, control flooding and capture carbon from the atmosphere.   Close to one million acres of land acquired through the Small Wetlands Program is open to hunting, wildlife watching and photography and other outdoor recreation.

Evil Sarah Palin commanded her one of her bird minions to drop some shiz in the mouth of a liberal "gotcha" mainstream media reporter.  Hilarity ensues.

Sarah and her birdie friend:

If I can make a Disney reference, I'm going to...alright?

[Posted by Kathleen]