The mystery of Gandalf's genetic makeup deepens ...

When we adopted Chocolate the Wundermutt 3 years ago, we tried to crate-train her. All of the books said this was the golden ticket towards optimal canine behaviour. Given her abandonment issues, Chocolate wanted no part of this crate business. After a year and some successful car rides in the crate, Chocolate started to enjoy her little cave. Just as the books promised, Chocolate started sleeping in her crate with the door open.
But .. why does Gandalf, the beast of the NNY moors, like to sleep in there?

 

Oh, the weather outside is frightful ...

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow! 

Which Monty Python character are you?

: "
You are the Minister of Silly Walks


What Monty Python Sketch Character are you?
brought to you by Quizilla"

And now for something completely different - a newly discovered species of lemur has been named after John Cleese.

If you could see the looks on their faces ..

Today's trip to Rosamund Gifford Zoo in Syracuse proved to be a little more ~ahem~ educational than I had anticipated.

I'll pause for a moment to allow you to absorb my meaning.

Yeah, that's exactly what I mean.

Dammit

Bill O'Reilly makes my head hurt. Life would be so much easier if he was consistent in his jack-ass routine. If he would just stick to being a blowhard and a bully who encouraged Al Qaeda to blow up San Francisco, he would eventually lose all corporate sponsorship and end up in a van by the river eating government cheese.

But noooooo .. he had to go and say something downright humane:

"(T)he issue this evening is helping the children of military people, who have been killed in the war on terror. So far, about 1,100 American children have lost a parent in Iraq, and hundreds of other kids have had parents killed in Afghanistan.

We believe the U.S. government should pay college education costs for those children. At a time when patriotic Americans are volunteering to protect their country against evil, the government should step up and look out for their kids.

So we're asking congressmen and senators to draft legislation and pass a bill providing college tuition to the children of slain military people. We owe it to those who have died in the struggle to help their kids. And "The Factor" urges our federal leaders to directly contact us if they believe that as well.

Remember, the 9/11 families received government assistance. So this is a fair and logical proposition. We also encourage you to contact your congresspeople and senators and urge them to back this proposed legislation. "

John Cusack for President.

Because he is a witty genius, and because he has the stones to write something like this.

Remembrance Day - Veteran's Day

What is the proper salutation for this day? Yesterday, Shelagh Rogers ended her show on CBC Radio with "Happy Remembrance Day." That doesn't seem quite right, does it?

I struggle with the meaning of this day and the differences in the way it is observed on either side of the border. In Canada, the emphasis is placed on honouring the soldiers, sailors, and airmen who did not return from war. It is a somber day, marked by two minutes of silence at 11 AM, and the placing of wreaths at cenotaphs across the nation.

In the United States, Veteran's Day honours all who have served in the military, and Memorial Day is reserved for those who have made the ultimate sacrifice. November 11th does not seem to carry the same gravitas south of the border, at least in the eyes of this wife of a veteran.

I was in Canada this morning, and stood in silent contemplation at 11 AM. Today, with bowed head and closed eyes, the concept of loss was no longer abstract. Now, I actually know someone who has been lost to war.

The tradional Canadian Remembrance Day service includes the reading of these lines:
They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old.
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun, and in the morning,
We will remember them.

Rest in peace, Leon. You are not forgotten.

Doublespeak, anyone?

"The stakes in the global war on terror are too high and the national interest is too important for politicians to throw out false charges." - George W. Bush, speaking at Tobyhanna Army Depot in Pennsylvania, Veteran's Day, 2005.

Hmmmm

Garage doors in Ottawa are working again and the mysterious radio signal has disappeared.

No further comment.

Some recognition for Vicki Keith

As you will recall, Vicki Keith did completed a record-breaking 64-hour marathon swim a few months ago.
The accolades continue. She is mentioned in the current issue of Sports Illustrated. Funny, isn't it? A woman who can actually swim, in a swimsuit that will actually see water, is in Sports Illustrated. Will wonders never cease?
Check out Vicki Keith's fundraising efforts at Penguins Can Fly.

Wherein I reveal my paranoid tendencies and love of a good conspiracy theory

So, about six months ago, we bought a Sirius Satellite Radio. We enjoyed it, and all was well until about May or June. My husband was driving in a certain area on a certain military installation, and the radio stopped working. Period. Eventually, the kind folks at Sanyo sent us another radio, and all is back to normal. Chalk it up to strangeness, right?

One of my summer hobbies is to step out on the doorstep in the evening, and watch the bats flitting about. We have lots of trees, and there are usually lots of bats. This past summer, I saw a total of three bats. My contractor, a down-to-earth, organic kinda guy, has also noted the absence of bats this year. Bats, as my son will tell you in great detail, rely upon echolocation - sound waves in the air.

News stories about whales and dolphins usually catch my eye. There has been a preponderance of stories about aquatic mammal beachings, and some evidence of a causal relationship between Naval Sonar exercises and strange behaviour in whales.

See where I'm going with this?

Now, it appears that there is a mystery signal blocking Ottawa door devices. Garage doors, embassy gates, that kind of thing - all within a 25 mile radius - are refusing to operate.

Garage door openers operate on the 390 megaHertz band. So does the U.S. military's new state-of-the-art Land Mobile Radio System. And yes, there have been reports of garage door-opener failures around military bases in the U.S.

On the plus side - autumn usually brings cluster flies to my house. You guessed it. This year, there have been none. Coincidence?

If you'll excuse me, I need to make a new tinfoil hat.

The perch ... 

When's it gonna be my turn to cut the grass? 

Red sky at night 

Red Sky at Morning

Taken at 0628 this morning 

Crazy lady with all the pets

I can't get my cats to deliver an opinion on this DogCat Radio business. Chocolate the wundermutt is keeping her thoughts to herself.

On the other hand, I am totally digging the music they're playing.

Shania Twain, Stevie Wonder, the Bee Gees, and Elvis - lots and lots of Elvis - what's not to love?

I'm not quite sure what that says about my mental status ...

Do Mine Eyes Deceive Me?

Did the Fox News website actually post this article, saying that "the military's attempts to hide the truth about Pat Tillman's death dishonors a true hero"?

The piece picks up steam as it goes along, making these strong accusations as it reaches its crescendo:

"So what’s going on here? Why would the Pentagon and Army brass cover up Tillman’s friendly fire death? The answer may be that the Pentagon had too much invested in Tillman to concede that its own mistakes led to his death. Tillman’s decision to eschew the life of a professional athlete for a tour in the Army was a public relations dream for the military, and they treated it as such. This despite the fact that Tillman specifically asked that the military not make a spectacle of him (Tillman shunned requests for fawning interviews and fluffy media profiles).

It would have been tough for the military to concede its own ineptitude caused the death of the war on terror’s poster soldier in any setting. But just days after Tillman’s death, the Abu Ghraib scandal broke. The military was in desperate need of some good news. Recycling Tillman’s selfless bravery put torture stories on the backburner for at least a news cycle or two."


Is Bill O'Reilly going to sing Kum-By-Ya tonight? Will Hannity start wearing tie-dyed shirts and grow out his hair?

Or is my sinus medication stronger than I thought?

What a heavenly sight!

Could this be the Saint who will lead us out of the desert?

Give 'em hell, Harry Reid (D-Nev) !!!!!!!

Love this!

Over the years, a plethora of pets have joined our household. If it weren't for the rather small dimensions of our house, and the exhortation of our son that we have enough pets already!!!! we'd have a gaggle of greyhounds and/or a stampede of dachshunds, too. All in good time, all in good time!

We do show some restraint in our life with pets. We don't dress them up for Halloween or have pictures of them taken with Santa Claus. However, I think I've found a new indulgence for them:
DogCat Radio, The Radio Station All Pets Enjoy!

'Twas not this blogger

I see that I just had a whole slew of visitors from the army.mil domain, logging in from Fort Drum via Newzjunky. Hi there, welcome, would you like some coffee?

I have a hunch that they were looking for the authoress of the now-defunct Alpha Company xyz lockdown whatever whatever blog. Sorry, she is not me. I did have a chance to peruse that particular blog before it went dark. It was a rather interesting read, to say the least. That particular blogger was writing, in real time, about a particular episode of disciplinary action on an infantry company, how it impacted her family, and how she felt about it. The comments got rather incendiary, but that's par for the course when a commander makes a controversial decision. I've heard much worse in line at the commissary. The only difference is that the words were written, not spoken. One would hope that the commander who is willing to make tough calls (in accordance with the Uniform Code of Military Justice, of course) would also have a thick enough skin to deal with the fallout. Or a good supply of asbestos underwear.

It raises an interesting question. Is there a difference between venting while standing in line at the commissary, and venting on a blog? Assuming that there is no breach of operation security, if a blog documents "this is what I perceive to be happening and this is how I feel about it" .. what repercussions can there be? Is the blogger responsible for the comments left on her blog?

Cold as a witch's ...

I know this is St. Martha of Nutley's favourite holiday, but Halloween really doesn't do much for me anymore. Like most "celebrations" it is overblown and overcommercialized in my view.

Still, I was amused by this display in Vermont, which depicted a witch nursing a child. The artist chose gourds as her medium. I think it's clever.

Not all observers are amused.

Kym Goodnow, a mother of four living in West Brattleboro, wrote that she was not ready to explain nursing to her 4-year-old grandson, who spotted the display while they were driving home.

``I figured eventually we would cross that bridge, but to have to do it now because someone felt they had to shove it in our faces, it's just rude,'' Goodnow told the Herald yesterday. ``Halloween is supposed to be for kids, it's not for you to impose your beliefs on everyone else.''

Well, if you want to get nitpicky about it, most contemporary Halloween customs are remnants of the religious rituals and beliefs of the Druids and early Christians.

Furthermore..

Why the concern about exposing a child to a lactating gourd? Halloween has become a billion-dollar holiday, with decor so excessively gruesome that a woman who hung herself was mistaken for a holiday decoration.

Sheesh.

Check out the boobees

What were you expecting? Happy Halloween! 

Going crazy with the digital camera

A little more colour for your viewing pleasure. 

Oh Canada!

Lots of maple trees = lots of crunch! 

Nature's present to eight year old boys

What autumn's all about! 

Dude, you're like, famous or something!

My big brother, the absent-minded professor himself, is getting some great press! Well done, Jimmy!

Greetings and salutations

Most of my traffic comes from people who know me in real life, and from Newzjunky's NNY Blogs listing. From time to time, I see hits from .mil domains. They usually come from a web search for a casualty of OIF that I have mentioned on my blog.
I was quite surprised to see the search parameters that brought someone from an army.mil server to my humble abode. Miniature pythons? Huh? I didn't know that such a thing existed.

~~~shudder~~~

I was even more surprised to note that I was #1 on the Yahoo! search results.

Some free advice for a pseudo-celebrity couple

Several months ago, I had the opportunity to attend a PTO-related luncheon at The Bonnie Castle Resort in Alexandria Bay. (Food? Cooked by someone else? Adult conversation? I'm there!) One of the other PTO moms, from a different school district, told me of her efforts to reach out to the military spouses in the satellite army housing area in her town. (801 housing, for those of you who speak the lingo.) She was frustrated by the lack of response. While I applaud and appreciate her gesture, I can understand the reticence of said army wives to join the little kaffeklatsch. Our world is completely different. We really don't want to listen to women complaining about their husbands' dirty socks left on the floor, or, like, how hard things are when hubby goes deer hunting for two days and leaves them to cope with the children. The urge to slap them silly and scream "get a grip!!" is just too strong sometimes.

Which brings me to today's rant. It seems that a Rochester radio personality and her husband are having some problems in their marriage. Apparently, said problems have been discussed ad nauseum on her morning show for the past year. Shockingly, this tactic has not solved their problems, so they've taken their struggle to the next level: National Television. They agreed to have cameras installed in their home to record their bickering, and the results were shown on ABC's Prime Time. Evidently, they now see how ridiculous their behaviour has been - behaviour witnessed by their 7 year old daughter, I might add - and are in counselling. Good for them. I sincerely hope that they can work things out and alleviate their daughter's suffering. However, I think I can save them a whole lot of time and money with the following advice, and I think I speak for every military spouse who would give anything to see hubby's socks on the floor tonight:

Kimberley and Jason, pull your heads out of your f@#king a@#es and be grateful for what you have.

Are you sure they didn't dis-apparate it?

Mr. Weasley's enchanted car is missing!

Howlers will be sent. Beware.

2,000

``The 2,000 service members killed in Iraq supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom is not a milestone. It is an artificial mark on the wall set by individuals or groups with specific agendas and ulterior motives.'' - LTC Steve Boylan

With all due respect, sir, there is nothing artificial about my daily fear that an Official Government car will pull into my driveway to deliver unbearably grim news. I assure you that my constant worrying is geniune. The weariness that I detect in my husband's voice, on the rare occasions that he is able to call me, is absolutely real.

But you're right - I do have an ulterior motive in noting the 2,000th death. The daily casualty announcements have gone largely unnoticed in the last couple of years. This grim milestone has actually made the news. For once, the bloody sacrifices made by our military and their families are considered slightly more important than Britney Spears having a hangnail. Thanks for noticing.

As it happens, this attention-garnering "mark on the wall" happened on the same day that LTC Leon James was laid to rest. There is a picture of his three daughters on the cover of today's Washington Post. It is a heartbreaking yet beautiful photograph. Little Katherine is reaching up to comfort her older sister, as soldiers salute Leon one last time.

There is nothing artificial about the pain conveyed by this photograph. Trust me, it's real.

Companion animals and their footwear preferences

Who wears the boots in this family? Gandalf, that's who! This photo was not staged. Gandalf really does have a boot fetish:















Gandalf is a huge cat with strange tufts on his ears. He literally appeared on our doorstep one day, about 2 years ago. He was just a tiny, helpless, normal-looking kitten then, so we thought, what the hell? What's one more cat? Now, we're not quite sure what he is. Maine Coon? Part bobcat? Alien? Who knows? He is loveable on his own terms, keeps the mice population well under control (as evidenced by the regular appearance of the viscera of rodents on the doorstep) and keeps us amused with his quirks. I don't think he would enjoy wearing pink stilettos, though.

Quote of the day

The Pennsylvania Game Commission asks anyone who has seen a deer with a pumpkin head to call 1-814-643-1831.

From the Sentinel Online of Cumberland County, PA.

Touché

In this morning's New York Times, Dr. Abigail Zuger points out that our health-related fears seldom translate into the application of common sense when it comes to our behaviours.

We lived in Europe when the spectre of Mad Cow disease first appeared. My neighbour informed me that the commisary had issued a recall for all beef products as some of it may have originated in the UK. Phil said, "I'm taking all our beef back in. I don't want to get sick!"

Then he took a good, long draw off his ever-present cigarette.

Uh-Oh

Accuweather is warning of a superstorm this week as Hurricane Wilma, Tropical Storm Alpha, and the Jetstream converge on Tuesday along the Atlantic Seaboard of the US.

For you, Valerie!

We opted against the tinfoil pumps. Chocolate is more of a hot pink, stiletto heel kind of girl. I've often wondered what she does when I'm not here. Now her secret is out. 

A touch of autumn colour, for my friends who are living in a dry and dusty place right now. Wish you were here. 

Now that I think about it ..

I think that this is the more appropriate digital gesture to express my feelings about the aforementioned vehicles. Dad, this one's for you! 

I dare say I will try to contribute to this project

Although not with my son in the car!!

Offered without further comment.

Fleeting color

Full Hunter's Moon (almost), 20 October 2005. 

It wasn't me, I swear!

Although this canine looks exactly like mine, and although this might be something that I would do, I swear that I was not involved in this project.

I'm just sorry I didn't think of it first.

Because every other problem in Pennsylvania has already been solved ..

From The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette comes this breaking news from Pennsylvania's state legislature.

Rep. Tom Stevenson has introduced a bill which would mandate that dogs and other pets to be secured with pet seat belts or in crates while in automobiles. This would mean no more ear-flapping joy rides for Rover.

As I have previously mentioned, our dog rides in the crate when she travels with us. It makes life easier and safer for everyone. I wouldn't have a problem with Mr. Stevenson's proposal as such.

I do have a problem with legislative time and resources being tied up on such a frivolous endeavour. This ranks up there with efforts in New Jersey to ban smoking in private automobiles as a shining example of skewed political priorities.

Rick Mercer in Afghanistan

My travelogues are awfully boring in comparison to Rick Mercer's account of his recent trip to Afghanistan.

For my American friends who aren't in the loop, Rick Mercer is a Canadian satirist, probably best known for his saucy CBC specials, "Talking to Americans." You either love him or you hate him (Hi, Mom!) but he's difficult to ignore. He's an ardent supporter of Canadian troops, and sings the praises of their work in Kabul.

Sunset, Oct 17th. A touch of brightness through the gloom. 

Joy Ride

I don't know why, exactly, but the sight of a dog with its head poked out the car window always lifts my spirits. This big sheepdog (?) was checking out the sights, sounds, and smells of Picton last weekend.
Disclaimer: Chocolate the supermutt rarely enjoys this canine rite of passage. Car rides are a more pleasant experience for everyone involved when she rides in her crate in the back of the car. If she did ride up front with her head sticking out, she would do so while wearing Doggles.
 

In Memoriam

LTC Leon James II died yesterday as the result of injuries sustained in an IED attack in Baghdad on September 26, 2005.

What the sterile DOD announcement does not say, is that he was the loving husband of Sylvia, the devoted father of three beautiful girls, an officer who earned the respect of his soldiers, and a good, kind, and gentle man. Fare thee well, Leon.  

Ozark Maple Leaf Quilt. Made for my parents in honour of their 40th anniversary. 

Pythons and gators, oh my!

Here is an expanded version of the story I blogged about this morning. And there's a picture, too. Lovely, just lovely.

I'm sure there's a metaphor in here somewhere

I haven't had enough coffee yet to make any witty remarks about this bizarre situation, so I"ll cut and paste a few quotes out of this story.

A four-metre Burmese python recently burst after it apparently tried to swallow a live, two-metre alligator whole ... The snake was found with the gator's hindquarters protruding from its midsection ... (T)he alligator may have clawed at the python's stomach as the snake tried to digest it.

This is the fourth documented case of a gator-python encounter in the Everglades in the last 3 years. Burmese pythons are not native to the area. They have been dumped in the region by people who have reconsidered the wisdom of keeping constrictors as pets.

(shudder)

Happy Birthday, Mom!!!! 

We've been treated to some beautiful sunrises lately. I had to grab the camera and capture this shot a few hours ago. 

A quilt I didn't want to make

Quilt of valour for LJ. This one didn't take very long to make. The first QOV I made took a long time, because as I made the quilt, my thoughts would drift to the young amputees I saw at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in April, and from there, to the men and women I know who are currently in Iraq. When I found myself imagining my friends being the recipients of QOV's, I had to stop quilting for a while. Gentle reader, you know where I'm going with this. I don't have to type the logical extension of that train of thought.
One week ago, an IED took the lives of two soldiers from 2-78 TSB. SFC Casey Howe and MSG Tulsa Tuliau died instantly.
LJ was critically injured in the same attack. LJ is my husband's former Commanding Officer. I know his wife very well.
LJ is now in serious condition at Walter Reed. A quilt seems like such a small and insignificant gesture in the face of this tragedy - but that's all I can do.
 

Jump, fishies, jump!! We went to check out the running of the salmon at the Altmar Hatchery.