No Like Boom

I decided not to go to the annual Hyack Festival Anvil Salute this year. Just didn't feel like leaving the house.

But that didn't mean that we missed out.

This was shortly after the first boom:



Doesn't really translate well in this crappy YouTube video, but the dog was vibrating so hard, it felt like I had stuffed a quarter up her butt. </magic fingers>

It also took a few takes to get it right. Apparently I shouldn't try to talk before I've finished my first coffee:



Ehhhh, whatever. Think I'll keep my day job.

Deck Furniture

So we got new cushions for the deck chairs:



And the dog inherited our old cushions torn cloth barely wrapped around fibrefill:



Classy!

To Market, To Market

Finally, finally made it to the Royal City Farmers Market. Its schedule and mine have never met, but I had a rare Thursday off and was able to see what the Hubster has been talking about.

Brat really likes the market. Here she is pulling us to our destination.



Taken from the top of the market pointing towards the river.



There were quite a few other dogs there. Brat didn't think much of this rambunctious little guy. She ended up behind the Hubster's legs after letting this puppy know exactly what she thought.



Bought a wonderful looking (haven't eaten it yet) loaf of cheese and roasted garlic bread from A Bread Affair.



Yum!



Little Qualicum Cheeseworks makes some truly magnificent cheeses. Here the Hubster is urging me to try their curds.



We ended up buying feta, monterey jill and raclette.



Every week they have different music and entertainment.




As well as Art in the Park.



Of course we had to have a nosh. How about a bison dog?



Gotta try this one. (Made with the brie from Little Qualicum Cheeseworks).



Good choice! That was one fine dog.



Time for a bit more shopping.





Bubbles!




Alas my cold is getting the better of me and it's time to go home with our loot.



I don't want to go. You can't make me! (You can't really tell. But she had completely put on the brakes here)



A very enjoyable (& delicious) visit. Awaiting next week's when I'm feeling better.

Lots more photos from the RCFM site here.

If you'd like to check it out, the market is located here.

I Hate School

Brat's most embarrassing picture is now up on for all to see on Stuff On My Wiener.

I should never have taught her to type

One Wiener To Rule Them All

Brat would probably lay down in the middle of the track and look @ us like we were nuts.

More here

I'm So Comfy!

Guess who got a new chair?



Only good to 60 pounds, so no sharing with Mommy

Dogs Just Wanna Have Fun

Yeeehaaaa!

Get a load of all the dogs in the Loews Coronado Bay Resort Surf Dog Competition

[surfing dogs]


I wonder if Brat would be willing to learn?

Maybe if we start small:

[Biscuit the dachshund surfing]


And move up to the tougher stuff:

[Surfing Weiner Dog]


Not. A. Hope.

Brat's been in the water only a few times, and really doesn't like it much. I think we coaxed her about three inches from shore.

Still you gotta admit that surfing dogs are pretty cool, and they sure don't do any worse than humans:

[Surf accident !]

Traveling in Style

We've never taken Brat on Vacation with us.

For one thing it would be a logistical nightmare. E.g. finding dog friendly hotels (that always charge a goodly surcharge) and having to stop often for piddle breaks.

And for another, how boring would a loooonnnng car trip be for an small, active dog - very!.

But apparently we just haven't given it enough thought. Looks like next year we'll be going on a sea cruise.

(click to embiggen)

[From Popular Mechanics. Aug, 1939]




I love the wiener life jackets.

Graphic Humour

I'm afraid that even at my advanced age I'm a big fan of I Has A Hotdog! and I Can Has Cheezburger?

Well the producers of those two sites have another site that I just discovered: GraphJam: Pop culture for people in cubicles.

Basically it's a site full of graphs. Bar graphs, Pie Charts, String charts, charts that I don't have a clue what they are called. But unlike your economics 101 class, these charts are entertaining.

Most refer to pop culture (hence the name), such as song lyrics, or movies. Others seem to be created by people that are pissed off at something.

If you're anywhere around my age it should take you all of 5 seconds to figure this one out:



Looks like this person spent the night at a really dull party:



I couldn't agree more!:



Many of the charts have a "See Cheat Sheet" link that leads to a helpful video. Good thing too as it's the only way I got this one: (clicking on charts will take you back to source)



have a look, it's an enjoyable time waster.

Celebridog...

Brat took (with the assistance of my paws) the Dogster "Which Celebrity Is Your Dog" quiz. And she is...



I couldn't agree more!

I Can Haz LOL?

A friend commented on an old, old, picture of Brat that I used in 2005 post:

"This is worthy of becoming the Loldog equivalent of a Lolcat..."

So of course I had to LOL her:


moar funny pictures

If You Really Love Your Dog...

[ejwines2's photos]

... give her a beer

Introducing Beer For Dogs.



That may explain this:


Disclaimer:apparently that dog is actually recovering from anesthetic

You may notice that Happy Tail Ale advertises itself as the "only beer for dogs". Apparently not.

Alas, Brat won't be having any soon unless she travels to the states.

Note: I never thought I would find anything on flicker by searching "dachshund beer", and was pleasantly surprised by the photo at the top of this entry.

III Dachshunds Beer Co. is a Wisconsin company that makes Cider, Root beer and a bunch of different types of beer

If I'm ever out that way I'll have to check it out.

Dogs Love Snow...

This month I'm spending all my work time on the computer. We are migrating 900 of VPL's webpages over to a new site using ExpressionEngine

I'm enjoying it (quite a bit actually [GEEK!]), but after 8 hours of keyboarding the urge to blog ain't there.

So for some filler I bring you dogs! who! love! snow!





Fun fact - Searching for snow dog on YouTube gets you 7,640 results (subject to change)

Ok. get your insulin ready:



Fun fact #2 - searching for dachshund snow on gets you 65 hits. Not enough I say.



And back for a repeat performance - Brat in the snow.




And what do I think about snow?



Although this snow is kinda fun.

(P.S. the new VPL site will be launching in the new year)

Strike - Day 34

BBQ @ Britannia Branch

I know that many people seem to believe that life on the picket line is just one big party. But trust me, we would rather be working.

It's very stressful being on strike. We don't know when we will be going back and it's shows. We all try to keep positive and cheerful but it's not fun not knowing if or when you can pay the rent / mortgage among other bills that we all have. Never mind that it pains us that our many, many library users are unable to take advantage of all the wonderful, free services that we have to offer.

So yesterday after a five minute conversation we decided to have a bar-be-cue at Britannia Branch. Gail - bless her heart - brought her little Webber grill and several kinds of hot dogs. And everyone else brought finger food so we wouldn't have to deal with paper plates and create any more garbage than necessary.


As usual in the morning the Flying Bicycle Picketers started their bike trek around the city spreading the good word of CUPE. Its fun watching them prepare by decorating their bikes. It reminds me of sports-day in my elementary school. At Carnarvon Community School we all decorated our bikes and had a parade. I have no idea if that was common practice in other Vancouver schools in the 1970's.





Cooper is a regular pooch picketer at Britannia. This is the perky poodle in a rare quiet moment. He's a real doll!



Prepping our hot dogs. A big thank you to whomever brought sauerkraut. I love 'kraut on my hot dog.



'Please sir, I'm a starving dog whose masters never feed me' Ya, right! Brat & Russ joined us on the picket line today and with all the stuff on the ground Brat did very well for herself. Don't you love the picket signs that Russ made for her? That's the CUPE 391 emblem @ the top



After lunch the bargaining committee came out to cover some of the details of where we are going (or not as the case may be) with out negotiations.



A little rest and time to chew on a tennis ball



Russell joined us for a couple of reasons. 1. Hot dog love. 2. To bring us FOUR boxes of Krispy Kreme and immediately become half the strikers fantasy lover. 3. As a welcome representative of the Canadian Merchant Service Guild. I think it's great that we are getting so much support from other locals and unions from all over. Group Hug to all.



We CUPE members may be serious about what we want and need in a contract, but it's just about impossible to get our canine friends to take any of this boring strike stuff seriously. Alas Brat & Cooper have better things to do. Fuzzy hearted little traitors.

Strike - Day 30

Here it is folks, pathetic strike hat number two.


A.k.a - Brat in a hat

Strike - Day 23

We are still in talks, and that is good.

I finished my first Knitting in Solidarity! hat. I was told it wasn't too ugly. Well we'll see if anyone wants it.

Knitting in Solidarity is a group of knitters on the line that are making hats and blankies for people on the Downtown Eastside. Also strikers have the opportunity to buy a hat with a $20 donation to the strike fund. I've seen the hats and (with perhaps one singular exception) they are beautiful. If I get a change I'll take (or hunt down) a picture.

Here are some of the hard core knitters with their signage

Pic courtesy of James & Annie

Deanne lent me her son's little chair to use for a while. It's tiny, and therefor lighter to carry on the train.

I brought it home and opened it to show a friend and Brat instantly jumped into it and tried to claim it as her own.



This photo better illustrates exactly how tiny this chair is.



One more time with feeling!



The first person to compare the size of the chair to the size of my ass is in deep, deep, trouble!