Tuesday, July 31, 2007

A Good Driver Is Not Always a Safe Driver

Three time formula 1 champion Nelson Piquet will have to take driving lessons to get his revoked driving licence back. He has been speeding and breaking other traffic regulations. In a statement, he says he has to pay for his mistakes. When you are a former formula 1 champion, there is no doubt that you are a good driver. This does not mean, as is obvious from Mr Piquet's example, that you are a safe driver. There are differences between driving in the street and driving in a race. I guess it is the same with everyone who competes. I would not act the same in my ordinary life as I do in the dog show ring, for example. Well, I am sure Nelson Piquet gets his driving licence back soon.

Monday, July 30, 2007

Defeat and Death

The Japanese PM Shinzo Abe's party lost the upper house election yesterday, but he refuses to step down. The deputy party leader has decided to step down. Maybe Shinzo Abe should too? It will be interesting to see what will happen.

In mass media across the world, one of the biggest head lines right now concerns a Swede, though. The famous film director Ingmar Bergman is dead. I have never seen any of his films, but rumour has it they are good if you are in the right mood, that is if you feel a little philosophical or just a bit sad. Maybe I will see one of his films, they will certainly be aired on some TV channel within the close future to celebrate him. I wonder if he made any film where a dog has an important role.

Sunday, July 29, 2007

Election in Japan

The Japanese people elect a new upper house of the parliament today. Although Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is not directly affected by this election, some say that a heavy defeat for his party may result in his resignation. I do not keep a very close look at Japanese politics, but I am aware that Shinzo Abe is not very popular. This is partly due to the fact that Japan's economy is not very good. Be that as it may, I would feel a little sorry for Shinzo Abe if he would have to resign, given that he has not been in office for a full year yet. You cannot expect him to have much impact on the economy or policy in such a short time. We will have to see what happens.

Saturday, July 28, 2007

The Party

Paula and Daniel went to Örebrofesten tonight, that party in the centre of the town that I wrote about the other night. It must not have been very fun, because they went to the cinema as well, so I am not that sorry I did not get to go. They saw the new Simpson movie, which they thought was fairly good.

Friday, July 27, 2007

The King and Sport

It has been a well spread "truth" in Sweden that King Charles XVI Gustavus is a fan of the sports team AIK, from the Stockholm suburb of Solna where he grew up on a castle called Haga. In a recent interview for the small town news paper Kalmarposten the King suddenly reveals that his team is actually the Stockholm team Djurgårdens IF.

Questions, so many questions appear! Daniel is puzzled. He is a Djurgården fan and a royalist, but he does not know what to think of these news. Can you trust a man who changes sports teams, even if he changes to the team you love? Normally, you can change a man's views on just about anything but what sports team he loves. On the other hand, it actually seems from the article that the King has always been a Djurgården fan.

The journalist did not pursue the question, but I guess most Swedish sports fans would like to know if the King has changed his views or if he has always been a Djurgården fan. In the latter case people would also want to know the reason why he has accepted an untrue rumour that he was an AIK fan. Oh, what a riddle this is! It is interesting, but now I am glad that I am not as interested in football and ice hockey (both sports where both Djurgården and AIK has prominent teams) as Daniel is.

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Party

There is a party in the centre of our town, Örebrofesten. Parties are fun, so I told Paula and Daniel I wanted to go there. They are not going themselves, however, saying that it is for younger people than they are and that there are no good musicians playing anyway. They would not let me go there alone. Of course, it would not be as fun without either one of them, so I settle with that. We can have more fun at home and on upcoming dog shows, anyway.

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

At Kesshi's

We have been at Kesshi's tonight, Paula, Daniel, Mum, April, and I. It was fun, we did not come home until quite late, so now I am tired and will not write more than this.

Monday, July 23, 2007

A Small Hero

Even a small dog can be a big hero. The chihuahua Zoey in Colorado saved her owners' one year old grandson by defending it from a poisonous rattle snake. Chihuahua is the smallest dog breed there is, but you can count even on such a small dog to be man's best friend.

Sunday, July 22, 2007

Canada Geese

A lot of Swedes are annoyed by all the feeces dropped by Canada Geese around Swedish waters, where people want to bathe in the summer. There is a simple answer to this, though. You hunt the geese and eat them, they are rumoured to taste well. I would like to try.

April did not do very well on the dog show today, but she got a first prize in quality and was third best bitch. She will do better on future shows, of that I am sure.

Saturday, July 21, 2007

The Last and the Next Show

I had some success at a dog show in Tvååker in Halland on the Swedish west coast last weekend. On the first day, a national show, I became second best bitch and got a CC, beaten only by my own Mum - and Mum became Best of Breed. On the second day, an international show, I became Best of Breed, got a CC, and a CACIB. Later on, in the finals of the second day, I was picked out to the final ten, but was not one of the final five to get prizes. Nevertheless, this is quite a good result, I am really satisfied by it.

We are going to another dog show tomorrow, but only to cheer April on. She is the only one to be shown at this show. I have enough CC's to become a champion as soon as I get a single CC after my second birthday this September. Therefore, it is unnecessary that I compete with April for CC's and such until then. I will be back in the show rings later on.

Friday, July 20, 2007

Vacation

I have had a voluntary vaction from writing in my blog. A lot of humans take vacations in the summer. A pet dog is on duty the year round and a show dog works more than ever in the summer, and I am both. However, a blog writing dog can take a vacation anytime she wants to. This is exactly what I did. Now I am back, so stay tuned for new daily blog posts!

Sunday, July 08, 2007

Do Not Vote for This Man!

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney strapped his Irish setter to the top of his car during a 12-hour family drive from Boston to Ontario. The dog, called Seamus, was placed in a kennel attached to the roof of Romney's Chevy station wagon. Seamus was terrified and suffered a diarrhoea attack. Mitt Romney stopped and washed down Seamus, the car, and the kennel - then drove off again with the dog still on the roof.

This happened in 1983, but it is still animal cruelty. You cannot trust a man who is cruel to dogs, especially not his own dog. If you are eligible to vote in the USA, please vote for any of the other candidates, of either party.

Protests in Colombia

There are protests going on in Colombia against the wide spread kidnappings and the long time civil conflict. We are happy that there are. There are hundred of thousands of Colombians participating in the protest, indeed a great display of opinion. It would be great if Colombia would become a peaceful country which you could travel to without the fear in the back of your mind of its reputation to be one of the most dangerous countries in the world to be in. We would all like to see Colombia, the country where Paula was born. I believe reports about protests like this, for peace and the freedom of people, should be at least equal to that of the Live Earth music show for the benefit of the climate debate.

Friday, July 06, 2007

Repairing The Car Is Always Expensive

The inner rear view mirror in our car has fallen down. It used to be glued to the inside of the windshield, but the glue must have been old and some of the glass was shattered when the mirror was accidentally hit.

Daniel and Paula first tried on their own to put the mirror back with glue, but this did not work. Then Daniel called a garage whose expertise is car windows, they said they could put the mirror back for 160 SEK. This seemed like a bargain, too good to be true, so Daniel accepted it. However, when he got to the garage, the manager there looked at the mirror and the windshield and said that there was too much of the glass that had been lost from the windshield. He said he could not glue the mirror back on and guarantee that it would stick or that the windshield would not break. The whole windshield have to be exchanged for a new one.

Even though the car insurance will pay for some of the cost, Daniel will still have to pay 1 562 SEK. This was no bargain. If you ever think something is too good to be true, it probably is.

Thursday, July 05, 2007

Coincidence

Paula was born in Colombia in South America, by far the world's foremost provider of emeralds. Mum was born in Washington in North America, where the biggest city is Seattle and has the nickname Emerald City. This nickname is due to the evergreen trees surrounding the city. Is it a coincidence that the two most important females in my life have connections to the same jewel? I do think so, but it is still a sparkling coincidence.

Wednesday, July 04, 2007

Dangerous E-mail

It is the fourth of July, a day of celebration, especially for Mum and April. It is the national holiday of the USA. In Sweden, people go to work just like any other day.

Daniel told us about a thing at work that made Mum upset. People had used her national holiday for evil purposes. Daniel got an e-mail from the computer department at his work, warning everyone about e-mails with headlines connected to the fourth of July. These e-mails would have computer code inside, which would pose a potential hazard to the computer if the e-mail was opened. Mum does not understand how you can be so mean that you use a national holiday for the Land of the Free to do something so evil. I have a hard time understanding it myself.

If you get an e-mail with a headline about the fourth of July, be aware that it might be harmful to open it.

Tuesday, July 03, 2007

Most Annoying Song

In a recent poll, the Black Eyed Peas' song My Hump has been elected most annoying song in a poll by American music magazine Rolling Stone. I don't agree, I really think it and some other songs on the list are quite good. Well, taste is very personal and I don't judge others for having a different taste than I do - as long as their choices do not annoy me.

Monday, July 02, 2007

Back Home

There's no place like home. We had a successful weekend, April was BoB on Saturday and got a CC, Mum was best of breed on Sunday, and I got the CC and a CACIB on Sunday. Thus, we each got some. Mum was also best veteran of the breed both days. Still, it feels good to be home.