Gothland

We are going to Gothland for the weekend, I will report from there on Monday. See ya!

A Polar Bear Called Knut

There is a polar bear on a zoo in Berlin who is famous because he was orphaned at an early age. Aunt Linni does not think this is a big deal, her mother abandoned her when she was just a couple of weeks old. I think Knut was cute on the first pictures of him that I saw, and considered whether I could get a polar bear of my own. Now he is way too big, so I am glad I did not get any polar bear. Perhaps a cat would be a better deal?

Taking the Laundry Outdoors

Daniel took some laundry out of the washing machine and hung it up to dry outdoors. He said we will save electricity and thus money when we do no tumble the laundry dry and that the clothes often smell better when they have dried outdoors in the sun and wind. When all the laundry hung outside, he went in and checked the weather on the Internet, to make sure no rain would fall on the clothes. I thought this was a rather backward way of doing things, I would have checked the weather forecast before I took the laundry outside. Daniel said, however, he had heard earlier in the day that the forecast said there would be no rain until tomorrow. He only wanted to get the last update on the weather front. When explaining it that way, I understood. Although Daniel is no Shiba Inu, he can be rather smart occasionally.

Judge Pearson's Pants

There was a judge in Washington, DC, Roy Pearson, who left his trousers to a dry cleaner, but never got them back. His pair of trousers were gone and lost forever. Judge Pearson, a lawyer by trade and judge on a federal court, thus filed a suit against the dry cleaner for approximately $ 54 million. This is ridiculous, but nevertheless a true story. Luckily, the dry cleaner won. Judge Pearson is also supposed to pay the court costs. I wonder why a judge would want to make a mockery of his own trade by filing a suit like this? The whole story would never have happened at all, if Mr. Pearson would have done like dogs all over the world do and chosen not to wear pants at all. He is a human, but a human without pants would surely be regarded as a wiser man than a human filing a suit like the one he filed.

Foolish Fashion

Rumour has it, it is fashionable in some big cities in the world to have accessories with communistic slogans. Actress Cameron Diaz had one on her bag when visiting Peru. This was a misstake. The bag had a red communistic star and a slogan of Chinese dictator Mao, and Peru was terrorized by a Maoistic guerilla for many years in the 1980's and -90's. I cannot understand why you would want to wear such a bag in the first place, bringing it to Peru is even more foolish. Some people seem to be foolish.

Rain, Rain, Rain

We are celebrating summer solstice yesterday evening and today, one of the great holidays of Sweden. We would like it to be sunny and warm, but instead, it is rainy and grey. Rain has been falling, on and off, for many days now. The only thing thriving in this weather is the vegetation. The grass is growing longer and longer, since you cannot mow it when it is too damp. Well, we are dry, warm, and comfortable indoors, anyway.

Pride and Prejudice

We saw a movie today on DVD, Pride and Prejudice, based on a novel by the English 19th century authoress Jane Austen. It was an interesting movie. People in the English upper classes were very polite to one another, for good and evil. Sometimes, they were so polite, they could not rightly say what they meant. Nevertheless, politeness is a virtue. The politeness of these people were almost as that of the Japanese nobility and samurajs of the same age. As a dog of a breed famous for its Japanese manners, I rather liked this politeness. The main character, Elizabeth Bennet, finally got the man of her dreams when she realized that he had the finest of manners. I hope I can get the Shiba Inu male of my dreams, too.

The Northwest

Mum sometimes say she is from the Northwest in the USA, but I have challenged her on that statement. She says she knows better than I do, because she is born and raised in America whereas I have never been there. She is correct, at least if you count the 48 States of the Union that lie lumped together in the centre of the North American continent. There are, however, many parts of North America that can be called the Northwest. There is Alaska, which is a State on the very northwestern edge of the continent. There is also a part of Canada called the Northwest Territories, and there was a part of the USA south of the Great Lakes that went by the name Northwest Territory from 1787 to 1803. There is also an American airline called Northwest Airlines, this corporation has its headquarters in Minnesota. Given these facts, I say it is not self evident what part of North America can be called the Northwest. Mum just growls a little about me being a spoiled brat and walks away without answering. Thus, she cannot give me a good enough answer, so I guess I am not completely incorrect.

Mowing the Lawn

The grass is growing fast in the hot and humid summer weather. Daniel has wanted to mow the lawn for a couple of days, but he cannot do it if the grass is to damp from rain. There have been short rain falls in the afternoon both yesterday and today. I don't care much, I run around just as easily in a little higher grass. We will have to see if the lawn is dry enough tomorrow.

Who Don't Want Their Own Dogs?

There are more and more dogs in Sweden, but this has a downside. More and more of the dogs are abandoned, killed, or left to dog shelters. How can humans do that? Don't they know that nobody can love a human more than a dog do? Think about it, a dog loves his or her human more than the human usually loves himself/herself. Why abandon a love like that, just for the short time convenience? It makes me so upset, I am at a loss of words.

An article in Swedish about the phenomenon.

The World's Longest River

It is generally thought that the Nile in Africa, which ends on Egypt's north coast by the Mediterranean Sea, is the longest river in the world. However, scientists in Brazil and Peru now claim to have found a new sorce of the Amazon River in the south of Peru, making the Amazon the longest river. My Pharao Hound friend Primus, whose breed count its origin from ancient Egypt, does not believe in the new findings. Even though they are true, he says, the water of the Amazon river is still not the foundation upon which one of the greatest cultures of history has been built. Well, I say we just have to wait and see whether the claim can be accepted or not.

Formula 1 in India

There seems to be more and more formula 1 races in Asia. The next new Asian race on the schedule will probably be one in India, the first one in 2009. I don't know much about India, but it is a country with a large population and I guess many of them are happy to get a Grand Prix of their own.

This Sunday, the formula 1 drivers will compete in Indianapolis in the USA. Mum claims this is the most important race of the year, since it takes place in her home country. It will be interesting to see who will win, the fight for the world champion title is still wide open.

Banning Baggy Trousers

Sometimes, you get to hear of laws you feel are silly. There is a town in Louisiana, Delcambre, in the southern USA that is going to ban the use of baggy trousers that show off underwear. The showing of underwear will be defined as indecent exposure. It is fortunate for all the dogs of Delcambre that they don't show underwear.

About that Watch

I commented on Prsident Bush's watch yesterday. He has now told the world he took it off himself, so it did not disappear after all. Why he did it still seems to be a riddle. My guess is that he just thought it was uncomfortable. There must be a warm summer in Albania, just as here in Sweden, much farther to the north. I rather go without collar than with one, Daniel sometimes take his watch off in the summer heat. Oh, well, I really think it is a storm in a tea cup.

Watch Theft?

US President George W. Bush is visiting Albania in the south east of Europe. He is rumoured to have lost a wristwatch when greeting people in a crowd. He was first observed with a watch on his wrist, then the watch was suddenly gone. US officials deny that the watch was stolen.

No matter what happened to the watch, I hope Mr. Bush can keep track of the time by other means. I know how important humans think the exact time is, Daniel is constantly keeping track of the time, especially in the morning. Personally, I settle with the built in clock that we dogs have, that simply tells us if it is morning, mid-day, afternoon, evening, or night. Since we are on duty as pet dogs day and night, we don't need anything else. Perhaps Mr. Bush could try to do the same, Mum says that the President of the United States is also on duty day and night.

I Was Left at Home

Paula took April to a dog show today. She did not let me come along. Naturally, this made me angry, so I barked at them when they left. Why could I not come along? We now know that April got a honourary prize and was second in Junior Class. I am pretty sure she would have done better with me around as her coach.

Chikai got four daughters and one son in his first litter, the one I told you about yesterday. This is great. Dad has not had many daughters, but is happy to have a son who has.

Blog Post D - I'm an Aunt!

For those of you who do not read Roman numerals, this is my five hundredth blog post. D is the Roman numeral for 500.

My Dad became a grand father for the first time today, as his son, my half brother, Chikai, became father of two puppy girls. (Jbax Chikai-Yorokobi was the only pup by Dad's second marriage, to Cronhagens Taiyo-Terahime.) This means I'm an aunt. I have been an aunt ever since I was born on Mum's side, since she had had litters before the one with me in it. This is the first time I can call myself aunt to puppies on Dad's side. It is also the first time I am an aunt to pups born in Sweden.

Dad and I plan to celebrate this evening. Mum says she does not care much. I know Mum has never been fond of Dad's marriages to others than her, but I am certain she will feast just as much as the rest of us at the food we are having for the celebration.

Sweden won the Euro 2008 qualification game against Iceland this Wednesday by 5-0. Today the European Football Association decided that the game against Denmark last Saturday would be considered a Swedish victory by 3-0. This result was anticipated, but we can still be happy for it.

Days of National Festivity

Tomorrow is the Swedish National Festivity Day. Today is the Danish Constitution Day, which is their equivalent. I don't know much about Denmark. Mum's been there on a dog show once, but she did not like it very much and did not get a CC. Denmark was of course the opposing team to Sweden in football last Saturday. Anyway, I wish all the Danish humans and dogs a nice Constitution Day. I hope ours will be just as sunny as this day has been.

BBC on the Scandal

You can read here what the British Broadcasting Company say about the Saturday game between Denmark and Sweden. It is interesting to see what people from other countries than Sweden think about it.

What a Scandal!

There was a Euro 2008 qualification game in fotball, Denmark versus Sweden in the Danish capitol Copenhagen tonight. We saw it on TV. The game ended in a scandal, when, at the standings 3-3 towards the end, Sweden got a penalty shot and a Danish fan ran out in the field and hit the referee. The safety could not be upheld, so the referee declared the game finished. Thus, nobody were allowed to see the exciting final minutes of the game. It looks like Sweden will be declared the winner of the game by 3-0, as a penalty against Denmark. Even though it is nice that Sweden wins, it would have been much better to win by 4-3 after scoring at the penalty shot. This was a scandal that must be debated across Europe in the days to come. The Danes must do something about the safety at their football stadium.

Wolves Taking Over

Our wild cousins, the wolves, have taken over the maintenance of elks in a hunting district close to Örebro. The wolves kill so many elks that there are not enough left for the human hunters to kill. The humans will have to look for other food sources, I know they can, too. Way to go, wolves!