Forward...into the past!

Looking for an entertaining way to avoid some chore or homework or relationship maintenance or whatever? Here are some cool and distracting links. If at least one of these things doesn't amuse, fascinate or educate you, I'll eat a bug. Small one. Ants are bugs, right?*

( DON'T LOOK IF YOU REALLY CAN'T AFFORD THE TIME!! )

For those of you that ARE too busy-- have my favorite dog lol of 2012:

Omigosh! I almost forgot-- Tomorrow is R0ndo's Adoption Day! 11-11-05



Now I have to figure out how to celebrate...definitely a big treat. Hike? Beach?

Any suggestions?

We took a chance and went up to Mulholland to try and see the shuttle fly-by. I wanted to avoid the crowds and give the dogs someplace to run around, so I picked up Roz and we headed out.

Here's the tiny Flickr set

...unfortunately, the routes taken by the shuttle were such that it was only visible there for about two seconds as it flew along the coast. We missed even that by minutes. Stil, it was great to be around a small crowd of shuttle-enthusiasts also hoping that Endeavour would swing through the Valley.

I wasn't that disappointed, though: we knew we were taking a chance going there. I feel bad for the people at Huntington Pier: this -was- a scheduled fly-by and they got skipped. This had my original plan: go to the dog-beach and watch the flyby. I would have been MUCH more disappointed if I drove down there, paid for parking and did not see the shuttle.

The reason I wasn't as let-down as I might have been is that we did get some decent dog-frisbee time in. There's nothing like doing something with a happy dog to give you some perspective.



It's a good thing R0ndo isn't 800 feet tall: he would gladly have fetched the shuttle back for Valley-folk to see!

We took a chance and went up to Mulholland to try and see the shuttle fly-by. I wanted to avoid the crowds and give the dogs someplace to run around, so I picked up Roz and we headed out.

Here's the tiny Flickr set

...unfortunately, the routes taken by the shuttle were such that it was only visible there for about two seconds as it flew along the coast. We missed even that by minutes. Stil, it was great to be around a small crowd of shuttle-enthusiasts also hoping that Endeavour would swing through the Valley.

I wasn't that disappointed, though: we knew we were taking a chance going there. I feel bad for the people at Huntington Pier: this -was- a scheduled fly-by and they got skipped. This had my original plan: go to the dog-beach and watch the flyby. I would have been MUCH more disappointed if I drove down there, paid for parking and did not see the shuttle.

The reason I wasn't as let-down as I might have been is that we did get some decent dog-frisbee time in. There's nothing like doing something with a happy dog to give you some perspective.



It's a good thing R0ndo isn't 800 feet tall: he would gladly have fetched the shuttle back for Valley-folk to see!

Flicker Set- it's my photoblog!

T and I went back during the day and discovered that the area we wandered around in the other night was just a small part of the faire! We had seen only about a third of the whole area. While most of the other sections were much of the same, it was still fun to wander around and see everything. There were hot air balloons in the sky, adding the the majesty of the cathedral and its grounds.

Most amazing was the food! It was -very- good and extremely reasonably priced! They also do not have paper cups: they give you your drinks in an earthen mug and charge a 3euro deposit. You can then either return the mug for your deposit or keep it as a souvenir. That alone really reduces the amount of trash at the fest.

One thing that intrigued T and I: a cotton candy maker who had to twirl around the swarm of wasps that were crawling all over the floss. We kept imagining the horror if he missed one...spicy!

I also saw -3- border collies at this event! Including a very cute one that reminded me of Tass.

Complete Flickr Photoblog Set
[This is the picture set of the convention. I've separated out the costumes (mostly) and food pics again. Those will be in their own sets.]

The convention was fantastic. Every year it gets bigger and every year they manage to pull it off and run the most enjoyable convention I attend.

The charity this year was "Far From Fear", a German organization that does for the Spanish Galgos dog what Greyhound rescue does for greyhounds over in the US. I had never heard of the Galgos dog breed before: they are a Spanish sighthound that is actively used for hunting and coursing. After a few years, they are either killed or bred to death. This organization works with their Spanish colleagues to have "retired" dogs shipped to Germany, where they are found permanent homes. The dogs are very much like greyhounds or whippets in form and personality, but sized somewhere in-between those two breeds and with very long, slender tails. They had several at the convention: while a couple of them got uneasy at the noise and crowds, they were all very shy and (if you were gentle) friendly dogs.

The GoH was Peter S. Beagle! It was a pleasure listen to him speak about himself, his writing and his love for music. Small cons like this are ideal venues to hear your heroes speak: the panels are intimate and cozy. He was very approachable and enthusiastic about everything around him.

Best sign at the con:

(On the door to the fire escape.)

Check out the photoblog to get a better idea of what the con was about.

Complete Flickr Photoblog Set
[This is the picture set of the convention. I've separated out the costumes (mostly) and food pics again. Those will be in their own sets.]

The convention was fantastic. Every year it gets bigger and every year they manage to pull it off and run the most enjoyable convention I attend.

The charity this year was "Far From Fear", a German organization that does for the Spanish Galgos dog what Greyhound rescue does for greyhounds over in the US. I had never heard of the Galgos dog breed before: they are a Spanish sighthound that is actively used for hunting and coursing. After a few years, they are either killed or bred to death. This organization works with their Spanish colleagues to have "retired" dogs shipped to Germany, where they are found permanent homes. The dogs are very much like greyhounds or whippets in form and personality, but sized somewhere in-between those two breeds and with very long, slender tails. They had several at the convention: while a couple of them got uneasy at the noise and crowds, they were all very shy and (if you were gentle) friendly dogs.

The GoH was Peter S. Beagle! It was a pleasure listen to him speak about himself, his writing and his love for music. Small cons like this are ideal venues to hear your heroes speak: the panels are intimate and cozy. He was very approachable and enthusiastic about everything around him.

Best sign at the con:

(On the door to the fire escape.)

Check out the photoblog to get a better idea of what the con was about.

Here's the complete, annotated Flickr set!
Running concurrently with (but separately from) EF was a "historical" festival called the KaiserOttoFest Magdeburg. The event is touted as a seriously historical affair, but really is about as historically accurate as a typical American RenFaire.

What set this event apart from its American counterparts is the Nightmarket: the faire stays open until about midnight and is lit almost exclusively by candles, torches and braziers. I can't describe how cool it is to wander in the near-darkness and visit the stalls selling their wares lit only by that golden flame-light.

The food was equally amazing: fire-roasted lamb, sausages and pork and savory turnovers and all manner of beer and wine.



All of this happens in the shadow of the great church and cathedral buildings, which add to the atmosphere.

Actually, a lot of this happened in May. I've been busy taking care of a lot of things and while interesting things have happened, nothing was so exciting that I actually sat down to post. My bad.


Full Flickr Set Here

It's spring in the San Fernando Valley: Not a bad time of the year...not as good as winter or fall, but not so bad, either. These two pics sum up my happiness visually: dogs enjoying a breezy day on a hike and the view of the moon over a tree on a nightwalk.

We have had our share of baking, hot days, however. One of our favorite hikes is in a mostly dry riverbed. Watching the dogs running in the tiny creek there and lolling in the water really had me envy their ability to run and splash and generally cool off there.


Sometimes you're just lucky: one of the hikes we enjoy is on a rarely-used trail: I love it because I can off-leash the dogs with little worry of bothering anyone else on the trail. I think I've met people maybe two other times over the course of a hundred walks there. One day we ran into a woman who was coming back down the trail. I apologized for the curious dogs, and she brushed it off-- but warned me (because of the loose dogs) that there was a large rattlesnake up the trail, near the bee-gate (despite never talking to anyone, I was amused that she used the exact same name that I do when referring to a park gate that has an active beehive occupying it). I thanked her and moved forward cautiously. I took a moment to grab a snake stick, just in case.


It's times like these when I really do believe the dogs and I have a guardian angel or something equally beneficent watching over us. The kind lady was right: just before the bee gate was the second largest rattlesnake I've ever seen. If we hadn't run into her first, the dogs and I would have walked right onto this creature. What are the odds? Secluded trail, middle of a weekday, rattlesnake. On a trail I took exactly because we rarely see other people and we'd never seen a rattlesnake on it. Since we'd had so much good fortune already, I decided not to push our luck and we turned around and headed home. Wow.


On to the odd and prurient, I'd been taking the dogs on late-night hikes around the neighborhood. It's quiet and we're left alone. I had seen this toy in an intersection that we cross nightly. Brightly colored, I had assumed it was a child's squirt-gun or maybe a ping-pong shooter. Then one day we did a daytime walk...imagine my surprise! I sure as -hell- hope it isn't some child's toy!




The O'Melveny Park coyotes are weird. My dogs react to them as most dogs do: chasing them with murderous intent (for my collies, the emphasis is more on the "intent"). Most coyotes either run off or, if defending a territory, will stand and fight or skirmish with the dogs. These coyotes are...odd. Several times now R0ndo and Apache have gone full-gallop into their pack, only to find the coyotes unconcernedly milling about. The dogs have no idea what to do-- so they mill around also. On a recent nightwalk, a solitary coyote did the same thing: the dogs would chase it, but it would just stay out of teeth range, then casually trot back like it was part of their pack. No aggressive posturing or bristling or anything, just a kind of, "Dude, chill. Wassup?" kind of attitude.

OMIGOD! Matt Cain just pitched a perfect game!!!?!!! Heeyahhhahaha!!! WOW!!

Now back to our regularly scheduled programming...

I saw "Avengers". Most fun I've had at a film since the last Harry Potter film. Had no idea Joss Whedon was involved...but I could see his touches in retrospect. My favorite bit was Thor and Hulk's bonding moment...not! By the Gods! What an entertaining film! Whedon -nailed- Hulk's character!

Also saw "MiB3": also fun, but only averagely-so fun. Plus, two huge plot holes (or something). "Secret World of Arrietty" was fun, but kind of "eh" compared to Miyazaki's other films. I'm pretty sure I saw something else, but clearly it didn't make that big and impression. Still love the 2nd run cinema in Simi Valley: Large popcorn, 2 large drinks, 2 large candy (true large, not typical movie-theater "large") and two tickets for under $20. Plus free parking. "Cabin In The Woods" is coming soon! Woo!

Lastly, I've been busy streamlining my life. Getting rid of stuff, raising money, cleaning out the house and work place. Also making a bunch of puppets! Dogs are generally happy and things are getting done, so I guess all's well!

Actually, a lot of this happened in May. I've been busy taking care of a lot of things and while interesting things have happened, nothing was so exciting that I actually sat down to post. My bad.


Full Flickr Set Here

It's spring in the San Fernando Valley: Not a bad time of the year...not as good as winter or fall, but not so bad, either. These two pics sum up my happiness visually: dogs enjoying a breezy day on a hike and the view of the moon over a tree on a nightwalk.

We have had our share of baking, hot days, however. One of our favorite hikes is in a mostly dry riverbed. Watching the dogs running in the tiny creek there and lolling in the water really had me envy their ability to run and splash and generally cool off there.


Sometimes you're just lucky: one of the hikes we enjoy is on a rarely-used trail: I love it because I can off-leash the dogs with little worry of bothering anyone else on the trail. I think I've met people maybe two other times over the course of a hundred walks there. One day we ran into a woman who was coming back down the trail. I apologized for the curious dogs, and she brushed it off-- but warned me (because of the loose dogs) that there was a large rattlesnake up the trail, near the bee-gate (despite never talking to anyone, I was amused that she used the exact same name that I do when referring to a park gate that has an active beehive occupying it). I thanked her and moved forward cautiously. I took a moment to grab a snake stick, just in case.


It's times like these when I really do believe the dogs and I have a guardian angel or something equally beneficent watching over us. The kind lady was right: just before the bee gate was the second largest rattlesnake I've ever seen. If we hadn't run into her first, the dogs and I would have walked right onto this creature. What are the odds? Secluded trail, middle of a weekday, rattlesnake. On a trail I took exactly because we rarely see other people and we'd never seen a rattlesnake on it. Since we'd had so much good fortune already, I decided not to push our luck and we turned around and headed home. Wow.


On to the odd and prurient, I'd been taking the dogs on late-night hikes around the neighborhood. It's quiet and we're left alone. I had seen this toy in an intersection that we cross nightly. Brightly colored, I had assumed it was a child's squirt-gun or maybe a ping-pong shooter. Then one day we did a daytime walk...imagine my surprise! I sure as -hell- hope it isn't some child's toy!




The O'Melveny Park coyotes are weird. My dogs react to them as most dogs do: chasing them with murderous intent (for my collies, the emphasis is more on the "intent"). Most coyotes either run off or, if defending a territory, will stand and fight or skirmish with the dogs. These coyotes are...odd. Several times now R0ndo and Apache have gone full-gallop into their pack, only to find the coyotes unconcernedly milling about. The dogs have no idea what to do-- so they mill around also. On a recent nightwalk, a solitary coyote did the same thing: the dogs would chase it, but it would just stay out of teeth range, then casually trot back like it was part of their pack. No aggressive posturing or bristling or anything, just a kind of, "Dude, chill. Wassup?" kind of attitude.

OMIGOD! Matt Cain just pitched a perfect game!!!?!!! Heeyahhhahaha!!! WOW!!

Now back to our regularly scheduled programming...

I saw "Avengers". Most fun I've had at a film since the last Harry Potter film. Had no idea Joss Whedon was involved...but I could see his touches in retrospect. My favorite bit was Thor and Hulk's bonding moment...not! By the Gods! What an entertaining film! Whedon -nailed- Hulk's character!

Also saw "MiB3": also fun, but only averagely-so fun. Plus, two huge plot holes (or something). "Secret World of Arrietty" was fun, but kind of "eh" compared to Miyazaki's other films. I'm pretty sure I saw something else, but clearly it didn't make that big and impression. Still love the 2nd run cinema in Simi Valley: Large popcorn, 2 large drinks, 2 large candy (true large, not typical movie-theater "large") and two tickets for under $20. Plus free parking. "Cabin In The Woods" is coming soon! Woo!

Lastly, I've been busy streamlining my life. Getting rid of stuff, raising money, cleaning out the house and work place. Also making a bunch of puppets! Dogs are generally happy and things are getting done, so I guess all's well!