Strange Story

We watched an episode of the American TV series CSI New York tonight. CSI New York is a good series and this episode was not bad. One thing struck us as odd, though. One of the murder victims in the episode was a business woman who was described as "the most cold hearted woman on the Upper East Side". However, she had a dog, a Norwich Terrier, whom she took very good care of. How can you say that a human is cold hearted, if said human takes very good care of her dog? This does not make sense. You cannot be cold hearted, if your heart is warm towards dogs, can you? We do not think you can.

April Is a Champion!

Today, we congratulate April. She got her final CC and thus became Swedish Exhibishion Champion (SUCH). This is a great achievement of her. However, Mum said to April when she got home, that she has nothing compared to Mum's USCH NUCH SUCH, so she should not get any ideas.

As I told my readers yesterday, I abstained this time. I have more CC's than April and believe that I would have beaten her to it at today's show as well. April should be grateful I decided not to go. My fans will have to wait a little longer before I become a champion.

Primus also got a CC today, his second in two shows. Congratulations to him too!

Nice Niece

Paula and April is now in Halland before the dogshow tomorrow. They have met my niece Ninja there. She is the daughter of Dad's son Molle. I believe Ninja is a very nice Shiba, though i have never met her myself. I believe so from what I have heard about her and from the fact that she, like me, is a black and tan. Ninja and I would have a lot in common; I guess we would become good friends.

Duties

I have helped Paula prepairing for her trip tomorrow. Yesterday she and Daniel bought a new trolley to match our new car. Today I assisted Paula in putting it together.

Paula asked me but I decided not to go along though I have some duties at home I felt was more important than a road trip. I have to save my strengh for the world show next week.

April and Primus will go along with Paula. Just as good. April is stealing all the attention from our boys at home. It makes me jealous and I don't feel like sharing the scen with her.

Luck Running Out

If you are lucky beyond what seems probable, your luck will eventually run out. Nobody had guessed that Turkey would get to the semi finals in Euro 2008, but they turned three games around in the end and got there. Against Germany tonight, they got a tie with just minutes left to play, but then Germany scored again and won by 3-2. This was logical, I believe Turkey had the weakest team of those who were left. We will have to see if Germany meets Spain or Russia in the final.

Luck is bound to run out sometime, but so is unluck. This is something to consider for everyone who feels unlucky.

The Lawn

The Wimbledon lawn tennis Grand Slam tournament has started. They could not play any tennis game on our lawn, though, the grass is too high. After a couple of weeks without rain, there has been many small showers the past days and the grass has started to grow with high speed. Daniel has not had the opportunity to cut it yet. It is better with a shorter cut lawn, even if you do not want to play tennis on it. High grass make perfect cover for ticks, for example, horrible little creatures that suck blood from innocent dogs.

Happy Birthday Calvin!

Today Calvin is turning 1 year old! He was born on June, 23d 2007 in USA.

I hope that we will have some cake for dinner. The extra amount of treats are the thing that makes birthdays extra fun and special.

Silence Device

Sometimes, Paula and Daniel are angry with me, because they think I bark too much. Their irritation may soon be a thing of the past. Scientists have published new findings on something that could be called a cloak of silence, a device that would really make things soundproof. It would be manufactured by "sonic crystals", designed to produce specific acoustical effects. With this, I would be silent. Now, I will also be silent.

Midsummer Day

We slept until noon today, since Paula had worked night and we all love to sleep. As usual, Daniel had taken us on a morning walk before Paula came home, this makes it easier for us to sleep for a long time with her later. In the afternoon, April and I got to go with Paula and Daniel for a ride in our new car. It is really a smooth ride. We visited Paula's parents, which is always quite fun.

Midsummer Eve

Yesterday was Midsummer Eve, one of the days each year that Swedes celebrate the most. We celebrate the time of the year when there is the most light, and indeed it is light almost around the clock. We were up until late yesterday. I do not carry a watch, and since the darkness of night come so late, I do not always realize when we pass midnight. This was the case yesterday, thus I forgot to write in my blog yesterday. I will make up for this today, with two blog entries. This is the first one.

Watermelon

We had some watermelon as a snack tonight. A watermelon is a fruit, but carnivore as I am, I still like it. Perhaps this has got to do with its sweet taste, perhaps with the colour of the edible parts, which are red like fresh meat. Be that as it may, I like it. I wish we get some more tomorrow.

Germany beat Portugal in the first quarter final of the Euro 2008 tonight. It was a good game with many goals.

Death

We found a dead magpie (pica pica, or "skata" in Swedish, if this helps you to know what I mean) in our yard today, probably killed by the owl that lives in our neighbourhood. It was a sad sight. Perhaps it was also a bad omen. Tonight, Sweden played Russia for a place in the quarter finals in the Euro 2008. The Russians killed the Swedish championship dreams with a 2-0 victory. It was closer to 3-0 or 4-0 than a single Swedish goal. The Russians played fairly well, but the main reason for the Russian victory was, in my opinion, that the Swedes played to slowly and badly.

There were good news today as well. Paula and Daniel picked up our new car at the dealership, a Chrysler Grand Voyager. I got to ride it tonight, it was a sweet ride, suitable for Shiba Inus.

Hopes for Sweden Tomorrow

We all hope Sweden will make it to the quarter finals in Euro 2008. In order to do so, the Swedish team must at least get one point in the game against Russia tomorrow night. We hope for a victory, this is always the best result, but since a draw is enough for Sweden, this would not be a bad result either. Most of us are preparing for the game, discussing options and so on, which is fun despite the fact that our discussions will not make any difference. Mum do not really care, though. She is not very interested in sport and believes that if the USA or Americans do not participate in one way or another, there is no use being concerned about the outcome. I have managed to make April and Calvin more interested than that. They are younger than I am, thus easier to persuade. I am rather good at persuading the younger dogs in our home. This makes for a better feeling when we watch the game.

Go, Sweden!

We Did Not Get Caught in the Tornado

Last Saturday, we were in Avesta on a dog show. The dog show continued on Sunday, but was hit by a tornado. We were lucky not to be there at that time, our tent could have flown away. Nobody was hurt, but a lot of things were destroyed, not least for those who sold dog toys etc. Not that this is anything compared to the earthquake I wrote about yesterday, but I am still glad we were not there.

Earthquake and Landslides

After the huge earthquake in northern Japan, after chocks and landslides hamper the rescue work. The earthquake measured 7.2 on the Richter scale and was felt in Tokyo, 400 km away. Nine humans were killed and several were injuried. As is often the case, there does not seem to be any reports on how many dogs may have been killed or injuried. When a major catastrophe like this happens in Japan, I am always especially concerned, since there are so many Shiba Inus in Japan. I am sorry for the killed and hurt humans, and their families, but just like the lives of humans are closest to most other humans, the lives of dogs are closest to me. I also hope there were not many dogs who lost their humans or had their humans injuried. We should be happy there are never earthquakes of this magnitude in Sweden.

Congratulations

We congratulate our Pharao Hound friend Primus today, who took his first Certificate on an official dog show. In the Shiba Inu ring, I and April was second and third best bitch, respectively. These are not bad results, even though Primus' result is better.

Cutting Claws

I had my claws cut today. This is not something I love to do, but it is necessary sometimes. It would be uncomfortable to walk with claws that were to long. I wish I had inherited my Dad's claws, they are of a kind that grows slowly and he does not have to have his claws cut at all as often as the rest of us. I have bathed today as well, so now I look my very best.

We start to think that the Netherlands will win the Euro 2008, they beat Italy in their first game and won against France with 4-1 today. The Dutch play very well. On the other hand, nobody knows what will happen further on in the tournament - if we did, what would be the point? I still hope for Sweden.

Forest Fire in Norway

A huge forest fire has been raging in Froland in the south of Norway for many days. The fire is still not under control. Dad is concerned, even though the fire is not burning close to his breeder in Bergen. It is still in his country of birth. We all hope the fire will soon be put out and that no dogs are injuried by it.

Fuel Price Protests

In Spain and Portugal, there are vast protests against high fuel prices. Hauliers strike. Unfortunately, this has lead to the death of two people. Fuel is a valuable resource and the oil based fuels we use today won't last forever, so there are reasons for the high prices. Still, I can understand the protests. This is important even for me, personally. It may seem futile, but if fuel gets too expensive, how are dogs and their owners supposed to go to dog shows?

A Little Victory

On one hand, I would like to write about something else than football, since I have written about football for many days in a row now. On the other hand, I have to say I am glad that Sweden won its first game in this tournament, 2-0. I did think Sweden would beat Greece, but it was not easy and the first goal did not come until it was twenty minutes left of the game. The Greeks were not playing very well and I doubt that Sweden will have a task this easy in the upcoming two games in the group. Still, a victory is a good start and I think Sweden may get to the quarter finals.

Big Screen

Tomorrow night, Daniel and Paula's father will go to an event arena here in Örebro to watch Sweden's first game in the European championship on a big screen. Dogs are not allowed, so I cannot come along. I will go with Paula to watch the game at Mia's and Kesshi's flat instead. I believe we will have a greater time there, instead of among a lot of people whom you do not know.

A Lot of Sport

Sundays are normally days with a lot of sport events, but today it was more than usual. There were two games in the Euro 2008 football tournament, there was the Canadian Grand Prix in Formula 1, and there was the final game in the French Open Grand Slam tournament in tennis. We could follow the Grand Prix on one TV channel at the same time as the first football game was aired on another. Robert Kubica from Poland won in Canada in his German BMW Sauber car, just before Germany played Poland in the Euro 2008. In the earlier football game, Croatia won against Austria. In Paris, Raphael Nadal won his fourth French Open title in a row - he has thus won as many French Open in a row as Björn Borg did, but Borg won six titles altogether.

Over all, it must have been a great Sunday for people more into sports than I am. For me, dog shows are still more important and the most prominent dog show this year is yet to come: the World Dog Show in Stockholm. I will be one of a great many Shiba Inus shown there. I hope I will do good, but it will be a fierce competition. Regardless of the result, it will be a great experience to be there.

Euro 2008

This was the first day for the Euro 2008 football championship. Two games were played, both in group A. Switzerland lost against the Czech republic, 0-1. Portugal won against Turkey, 2-0. Portugal thus leads the group, which they deserved, because they played very well. The Swiss-Czech game could easily have ended with another result, but Portugal was never far from winning its game. Dad is sad that Norway did not make it to the tournament, but glad that Portugal beat Turkey, the country that defeated Norway in the last, decisive qualifying game.

Now I am looking forward to Sweden's first game this Tuesday.

National Holiday

It is the 6th of June and Sweden's national holiday. Swedes do not have the same tradition of celebrating their national holiday as, for example, Norwegians or Americans. This day is also called "The Swedish Flag's Day", but we do not have any flag pole on our yard so we do not fy the Swedish flag. Over all, it is rather rare that people in our home town have flag poles and fly flags.

It is nice that Daniel is at home from work. All of our family just take it easy today. This is a great thing to do.

Eating too Much?

Normally, I want to lay outside in the garden all day and guard it, but it was too hot for this today. I decided to be Paula's compaignon instead. We watched TV and slept on the couch.

A man in a town here in Sweden was banned from a restaurant for eating too much from the lunch buffé. Even though I understand his dilemma, I don't think it is appropriate to eat too much. It doesn't look good. It would be a different thing if the restaurant in mind had a sign telling: "Pay 70 SEK and eat as much as you want". As a good looking Shiba girl I watch my weight and is humble. Moderation is the key word! I know that I will have food in my bowl everyday and occasionally some treats. I'm settled with this.

Space Lab

The Japanese space lab Kibo (the name is Japanese for hope) is now attached to the International Space Station (ISS). The US lab Destiny and the European lab Columbus are already attached to the ISS, but Kibo is the biggest lab. It is so big it could not be fitted inside a single space shuttle and is being assembled in three parts. It is cool what Japanese humans can achieve. I am not surprised, since I am of a Japanese dog breed, I know fully well what Japanese dogs can do.

Accepting Defeat?

Many sources now say that Hillary Clinton is about to end her campaign to become the Democratic presidential candidate in the November election in the USA. She has gone a long way, but her opponent Barack Obama has all but won the nomination. You can admire her will to win, most people would probably have backed out earlier. Now, the chance is next to none that she will win the nomination, after the final primary elections.

The situation is as if I would compete in a dog show, get a CK but become second best in my class - there is a theoretical chance that I would win Best of Breed anyway, because the judge can change his/her mind. However, the likelihood of this to happen is very small. The Democratic party has something called super delegates. These are prominent members of the party who may vote on the party convention and are not legally bound to vote for any particular candidate. If all of the super delegates who has yet to make it public who they want to vote for would suddenly come out in favour of Clinton, she would have a majority. Then again, this is highly unlikely. I would rather bet that she gives up soon.

An Icon Has Passed Away

This Sunday, it was reported that one of the great ones in the human fashion industry, Frenchman Yves Saint Laurent (pronounced approx. 'Yv Son Loron'), has passed away. Yves Saint Laurent inherited the legacy of Christian Dior and was the creator of many aspects of fashion that humans now take for granted, such as the woman pant suit.

As a show dog, I feel rather close to the world of haute-couture. What we show dogs do in the show ring, the models of the great fashion houses do on the runway: we define how a dog or a human is supposed to look. What a lot of dog breeders do for the dogs, a few fashion creators do for haute-couture. This is fascinating. If I was a human, perhaps I would have wanted to be a fashion icon. In that case, I would have introduced Shiba Inu black and tan paterns into haute-couture.

Summer

It is the First of June, but the summer has been here for weeks already. It is warm and nice outside, if you do not stay for too long in the sun. For me and Dad, who have black coats, this is more important than for most dogs. The black colour does not reflect the heat of the sun, but preserves it. Our black coat is beautiful, but you cannot have all the advantages in the world because of it.

It has not rained for many days. We have a lot of water in the well and the vegetation does not seem to be dry, but a decent rainfall would be nice for a change. The nature often looks even better after a rainfall, it looks cleaner. I guess rain is bound to come sometime.