Goodbye cruel world!

 Some people are just crazy about their dogs. To the point that it is ridiculous. 

We have this friend who has a wiener dog that is about 130 years old in human years. She has spent so much money on it that it is criminal. She told me she spent $5,000 on dental bills last year! On a dog that is on its last legs!

So we are over her new house and I noticed something very strange. The poor sap is wandering around in his diaper walking into walls. First I see him dragging a rope and trying to throw it over a door knob. Then he was dragging a toaster toward the bathtub.

Finally I saw him trust his face into plastic so he couldn’t breath.

Do you think he is trying to tell us something?

Dog days

 

Andrew Cuomo never fails to be a douchebag. I am sure you saw the story where he abandoned his dog when he was being evicted from the governors mansion. Much like Biden and Obama he got a dog to "Humanize" him and act like he was a recognizable human being. He never cared about the dog. He never worked at training it. It bit people and generally terrorized his staff. The dog was part German Shepard and part Alaskan sled dog which is a bad combo as it was both very aggressive and very strong. A staffer brought it home and brought it back after a couple of days. Shelters across the state have said they would take it and retrain it and find a family that would give it the attention that the dog deserves. It really is a joke.

Oh by the way Andrew has my email. He sent me a letter to reassure me after he resigned. Here is a sample:

Dear James, 

Tonight, as you may be aware, I am stepping down as Governor of New York at 11:59pm. Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul will become governor, and we all wish her success. So I want to send my final note to you as governor.

 

New York's future is based on what we have accomplished together, and during my tenure we've shown that New York has a spirit that reaches for the skies. We have worked to make New York the progressive capital of the nation. From passing Marriage Equality and the $15 minimum wage to enacting Paid Family Leave and the NY SAFE Act, from building new bridges and airports to combating climate change, from fighting against hate to fighting COVID—together we did what no one thought could be done.

 

We didn't get everything done that we wanted to, and we didn't always get it quite right, but I want you to know, from the bottom of my heart, that every day I worked my hardest, I gave it my all, to deliver for you. Thank you for empowering me to fight for you. Thank you for your trust in me through COVID. Thank you for the honor of serving you.

I didn't know that he cared. He had to send my a personal message to praise himself before resigning before he was impeached. The arrogance and effrontery is off the charts.

They used to say if you wanted a friend in politics buy a dog.

Even that didn't work for this strunz.

Dog bites man....lets circle back to that one.

 

In their futile attempt at making Joe Biden seem normal the liars and fools of the Fake News Media made a big deal out of the Biden's bringing their "Rescue Dogs" to the White House. Now the rescue dog wasn't Kamala Harris but a pair of German Shepard's that they adopted. It seems that they are biters and went after some of the security personal who were most likely tasked with walking them. I mean you can't expect Jill Biden to do that. She's a doctor. Com'on man!

I thought it was bullshit that they adopted German Shepards. Man that is a real old school dog. When I was a kid they were very popular. We called them "Police Dogs" and people got them for protection.. Because they were mean and they would bite. In fact in my neighborhood the only dogs you would see were Shepards and Dobermans. Except for the gay guy across the street that had a poodle. 

Nowadays everyone has a frou frou dog. Little yapping lap dog pieces of shit that are really overgrown rats. Nobody has a big dog like a German Shepard. If they want a big dog for protection they get a pit bull. So I think Biden got the dog because he is senile. He remembered it from his salad days in the 1960's so that is why he wanted that dog. When he had no intention of caring for it Just like the country. 

He should realize that if gas goes to $10 a gallon and he starts another war the people are going to turn on him like his German Shepard's. I guess he doesn't care. Or even understand. Because he is gone man. There is no coming back for this sick bastard.

It's sick out there and getting sicker.

Stories

Today I was out and I heard a busker playing flute in the park. After a few numbers he set down the flute and picked up a tenor sax. Then he played Somewhere Over the Rainbow. Poorly. Set my teeth on edge. I turned to the woman next to me and said "You know, just last night I was listening to John Coltrane playing 'Blue Train". That guy over there should not be allowed to defile that tenor like that. It's just wrong".

All morning, while I was out, I kept running into dogs. All kinds of dogs. Well trained ones, wild ones, ones that wanted to bite my face off, sweet fluffy dogs, big dogs that make you think that someone left the saddle at home, and to everyone of them I said "Hey, buddy, how are you doing today". Every single one of them. "Hey buddy". That is my way. Then, as I was heading home I ran into a great little dog - somewhere around 15 pounds, he had kind of an overgrown Chihuahua look to him - bug eyes, short fur, but he was very friendly. Of course I said "Hey, buddy!" as I petted him - he was adorable. His owner looked at me and said "You know, his name _is_ Buddy." Well, says I, "I have been calling every dog I met today that name and finally I got it right!" On that note I took my leave of socializing with humans and canines, came home, mowed the lawn, sawed some wood and wrote this story.

The sky as I was mowing:

That really happened. Right on my street. As I was mowing.

The inimitable John Coltrane and an assortment of astounding sidemen.

While I was typing...

… my most recent post a storm blew up. Knocked out my internet connection. I let the machine sit overnight and everything was okay this morning. But for a minute there things were a bit dicey. The dogs started barking to come in - they were soaking wet - I didn't even know it was raining.

Then I heard thunder and saw some lightning very close at hand. The rain was incredibly intense. As I sat here typing I could see a rainbow in the receding storm.

So I grabbed my trusty cellphone and took a couple of pictures. First, the rainbow:

Then I noticed just how localized the storm was:

Click to enlarge - it really was an amazing storm.

People on the other side of town didn't even get any rain while we got a big ol' mess of it.

Ha!

Thomas Hart Benton

If I could paint and if I could see color I would aspire to paint like Thomas Hart Benton did. I really enjoy his work.

This is a detail from a painting he did of his son and his son's dog Jake. Words fail me.

But lacking any literary or artistic ability I take pictures of my dogs:

Those are my dogs being goofballs in the grapevine.

I am grateful for all I have.

What is good in life, Sixty?

To buy and sell, to create and clean up, to warm oneself by the fire, to feel the warmth of the sun, to work and to walk, to meet and greet dogs, to spend time with a 15 year old dog who knows what is good in life, and to see what beauty nature holds and to be here enjoying the day.

I have also watched way too many teevee shows. Some have great visual effects, excellent production values, but the story telling is so bad it makes the shows unwatchable. I want to watch muh stories but they really drag on way too long. On a more cheerful note, here is the third of three great composers born in 1685 - talk about an alignment of stars!

Handel, low and slow. 1685 strikes again.

The man who planted trees

From 1955 until 1965 I lived on Ridge Road.

Grant Wood knew that life could be difficult on that road.

This is a picture taken a few years ago of our old house. I haven't been there in over 25 years, a friend took this picture when he was in the old 'hood. The conifers in the front yard were our live Christmas trees which we planted after the Christmas season was over. I remember planting three of them - a Scots Pine, which we called a Scotch Pine, a spruce of some sort, and a fir. I would use a mattock to chip a hole in the frozen earth and tip the root ball into the hole, pile the loose dirt onto the burlap that was wrapped around the roots, pour on a bit of water from inside the house and hope for the best.

In the intervening years all of them have grown. It is kind of impressive - there were no trees at all in that neighborhood, being on a ridge and all, when we moved there, now, 52 years after we left it is covered with 'em.

This afternoon I took a picture of my dog out by a walnut tree I planted when I moved to my current abode 6 years ago:

I was recently reading about the fable "L'homme qui plantait des arbres", again, then I stumbled across the picture of the grown trees I posted above, and being in a reflective mood I considered all the trees I have planted wherever I have lived. I transplanted a white oak from my old house to the one I am in now and some Mexican sunflowers hitchhiked in the root ball, and this is how they looked last month:

The Metasequoia glyptostroboides I planted at my old place around the year 2000 or so are now close to 90 feet tall. The first time I ever saw a Dawn Redwood was in the Arboretum at UC Berkeley. I had driven up there to see the works made by Ishi, a Yahi Indian from northern California. The thing that struck me about the display of his works was how nice his workmanship was, but also how few items he had left behind. I compared and contrasted that with an artist whose work I always liked, Alexander Calder. Calder, it has been said, made, on average, one piece of art a day for 50 years. Others suggest that he only made 15,000 pieces. Whichever number is correct, the man kept busy and was no slacker. My goal is to kind of split the difference.

As I say, I am in a place where I am looking back and looking forward. A couple of months early, certainly, but I have my reasons. Will I be remembered for the things I made? For the trees I planted? For my shitty attitude? For my generosity? One thing is certain, I won't know how I am remembered. Others will do that for me.

Later on this winter I will transplant a Liriodendron tulipifera that has sprouted up next to my heat pump. There is also another white oak that needs to be moved, if I had a mind to, I could probably reforest my entire front yard. Ah, wouldn't that be nice - less mowing for me. In fact, that is a seed of a good idea - there are a couple of magnolias that have volunteered underneath my spruce - hmm...

I would like to apologize for the disjointed nature of this post - it's been a tough week, but here we are, and Saturday will be here ere long.

 The correct musical link would be Ottorino Respighi's Pini di Roma, but that is a long work, so here is Casta diva from Bellini's Norma. Renee Fleming is amazing.

KLEM TV

link

I don't usually get sucked into random YouTube ads but this one made me watch all the way through.

There is more info about their true story here. 

Those Pesky Little Pomeranians...

...nipping at her heels!

Link to original

Angela Merkel's CDU 'suffers Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania poll blow'

Former GDR people even!
_____________

[added] Lem links the following cartoon:

Dog post

Dog takes a bullet for owner

View post on imgur.com

Police dog chase

THIS MADE MY DAY https://t.co/CkRKodod7R

— Raylo (@Powerful) June 3, 2015

A question of priorities

Golden Retriever Really Wants To Race But.. First Things First.

"Nathan Cirillo's dogs patiently wait for his return"

"The large dogs were seen at Cirillo's family home in Hamilton, Ont. on Thursday, poking their heads under the gate of the wooden fence, resting their heads in their paws and waiting for the soldier to come back."

The dogs calmly watched as strangers approached the fence around Cirillo's red brick home, where a makeshift memorial of flags, flowers and cards continues to grow.

Cirillo was killed in a shooting at the National War Memorial in Ottawa, where he was serving as an honorary guard.

Flyball Dogs

Jardin de Julie

Grandmother, what big ears you have!

"things humans do that dogs hate"

"Dogs try to be our best friends, but boy do we ever make it difficult sometimes. Here are some of the things we do that might make dogs question whether they want to remain best buds or cut ties completely."

Using words more than body language
We’re a vocal species. We love to chatter away, even at our pets, who can’t understand the vast majority of what we’re saying. Dogs might be able to deduce what a few key words mean — walk, treat, toy, off — and maybe even learn hundreds of words as some border collies have done. But they can’t understand human language.

Hugging your dog
While you might love wrapping your arms around a furry canine friend, most dogs hate hugs. We as primates think hugs are awesome and express support, love, joy and other emotions through hugs. It’s
totally normal to us to wrap our arms around something and squeeze, and it only means good things. But dogs did not evolve this way.

Not providing structure and rules
Dogs want, need, and love having rules. You might think having strict rules makes life boring or unhappy for your dog. But dogs really want to know what’s what according to their leader. And really, it’s not so hard to relate as humans.

Going for walks without opportunity to explore and smell
There are walks, and there are walks. It’s definitely important to have a dog that knows how to walk obediently on a leash. However, it’s also important to allow a dog to have some time to explore her surroundings while walking obediently on a leash. Dogs see with their noses, and they place as much importance on their sense of smell as we humans place on our sense of vision for interpreting the world around us.

Jardin de Julie

Julie is carrying a garland in honor of spring. What Springtime traditions or chores do you perform that welcome the release from winter's stern grip?

Instapundit: "If you want to meet women, buy a French Bulldog. If you want to meet men, buy a Great Dane"

"As I approached four years as a widow, the loneliness of a one-person household began to drag me down. Acquiring a four-legged companion, rather than a two-legged one, appealed to me."

And so, in February, I adopted a 5-month-old puppy, a hypoallergenic Havanese small enough for me to pick up and carry, even into my ninth decade, when I travel to visit family and friends.

Havanese

While most dog owners I know encouraged my decision, several dogless friends thought I had lost my mind. How, with all my work, travels and cultural events, was I going to manage the care of a dog?

No one asked this when I decided to have children. In fact, few people consider in advance how children will fit into their lives. If you want a child badly enough, you make it work. (read more)

Dogs Family Tree: 'From tiny chihuahuas to rottweilers'

• Family tree highlights the diversity of dogs and how the pure breeds are interconnected
• Chart features 181 dog breeds from tiny ‘toy’ animals like the pug and the fluffy pomeranian to working dogs like the Alaskan malamutes and family favourites such as golden retrievers and terriers
• It might seem incredible that dogs with such different visible characteristics – from their size to their type of hair – can be so different, but it is because all dogs are members of the same species – Canis lupus familiaris

Zoom in at the Mail Online link

 Added: 

Blind couple who fell in love after their guide dogs became an item get married http://t.co/PnMxfrV6g1 via @femail pic.twitter.com/ahU0wfuNU3
— Daily Mail Online (@MailOnline) March 24, 2014