A Little One

Yesterday, Orange got a puppy. I en yttre her a little. It is nice having puppies, small and cute as they are. You just cannot do anything but love them. It is the most fantastic feeling.

These days, I am too old to get puppies. I hope I can play with Orange's puppy, when she is old enough.

Pup

Hello, Orange here!

I have got a pup again! She is a red little girl and exceptionally cute.

You have to excuse me for not writing anything more, but I have a pup to take care of.

Rain

It rained this morning. Spring is definitely here, otherwise, snow would have fallen. Rain is pleasant, when you are indoors. Unfortunately for us, though, the rain started when we were out on our morning walk. I wished it would have started a little later. You cannot control the weather, though. It could have been worse, like a more intense rain.

We had beautiful spring weather in the afternoon. The Sun was shining. I liked that.

Free

We have all taken a day off today. Paula and Daniel have been home from work, because it is the second day of Easter and a holiday in Sweden. This means we dogs can take a day off from our working day housewatching duty. It has been a good day, free of stress and work. I like it this way.

Daylight Saving Time

This Easter Day, I thought I would blog about Easter. I happened to miss the official midnight, however, and did not get to write anything until after midnight. This is due to daylight saving time. It is a shorter time from sunset until the date turns into next date. I did not consider this, we just changed to daylight saving time last night. I think it is stupid, turning the clocks twice a year like this. It is proof that not all humans are very intelligent.

Defacing Flags Is Wrong

Long time readers of my blog are probably aware of my disdain for the Peoples Republic of China. It is a country where dogs are tormented, humans oppressed by a dictatorship, and the government are provoking neighbouring countries by agressive and expansionist policies in the South China Sea. Still, I do not think defacing the flag of this country is the right way to go.

The president of the PRC will visit Prague and prominent Czech politicians next week. PRC flags hoisted in Prague for this occasion have been defaced with black paint.

Defacing a flag is a cowardly and stupid way of protesting. You may do it, if it is a flag you own yourself, in the name of freedom of speech. However, it is a stupid form of speech. It is like just saying "booh" to something you do not like, without explaining why you think so.

Besides, the people defacing the flags did not own these flags. It is, thus, damage done to the property of others. This is unlawful, regardless of any laws of freedom of speech.

If you want to protest against the PRC, I urge you to do it. The regime deserves a lot of critizism. However, you should say what the PRC regime is doing wrong and what should be done instead. Defacing flags does not do this.

Good Friday

It is Good Friday, and we consider the torments of Christ, almost two thousand years ago.

As far as is known, Jesus Christ did not have a dog. I believe his dog would have been devastated, but followed Christ to the crucifiction, to the grave, and then would have been really happy when Christ returned from the dead. This would have been described in some way in the Bible, I am sure. Perhaps this is just as well. What would the disciples have done, when just the dog would have stayed by Jesus' side?

Easter

It is Easter. Tomorrow is Good Friday. We will sleep until late in the morning, I hope. It is a holiday.

Helping Paula to Study

Paula has an important exam tomorrow. We are staying up late to help her study for it. That is, all of us dogs are staying up late. Daniel was too tired, he almost fell asleep in the sofa. He went to bed without helping Paula anymore. She has the help of every dog, though.

Terrorists in Belgium

Today, our thoughts go to the inhabitants of Belgium, where terrorists detonated bombs this morning.

I have family ties in Belgium, my paternal grandfather was born there. Regardless of this, the whole civilised world must stand up on the side of the innocent victims in Belgium today.

There are too many terrorist attacks. Something has to be done about it. The question is what can be done. Terrorists seldom play by the "rules" of war, there is no front line where you can attack the army of the terrorists. If you force some terrorists to an unconditional surrender, it does nothing to stop other terrorists. On one hand, you have to force the current terrorists to stop. On the other hand, you have to convince young people not to become terrorists. Both parts are hard, but have to be done. Where are the world leader to make this happen?

Sakura

It is spring and time for the famous bloom of cherry blossoms of Japan. In Japan, this is called sakura.

The cherry blossoms is the defining thing of Japanese spring. The whole population look forward to seeing the pink flowers, they often even take some time off to experience it.

If I ever go to Japan, I would like to go in spring and see the cherry blossoms.

Formula 1

The 2016 season of the world's premier motor sport, Formula 1 car racing, started today. It was the Australian Grand Prix, so we had to get up in the early morning, Swedish time, to watch it. Daniel always make sure to watch Formula 1 races, if he can (dog shows may stop him, of course).

It was an exciting race. The Mercedes cars have been the best over the latest two seasons and were the best today too, but Ferrari looked almost as strong. German Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg won. It would be nice if the world champion of the latest two years, Lewis Hamilton, would not win. We like him, but it is more entertaining if the championship title is rewarded different drivers in different seasons.

Unfortunately, there is no Japanese driver to root for. The Swedish driver Marcus Ericsson did not do well and retired with an engine faliure.

Gladiators

Tonight we watched a "gladiator" Tv show. Dogs would have fared better than the humans who competed, I believe.

Dancing

It is Friday evening and Let's Dance on TV. Paula always wanted to watch this show.

I do not really understand the concept of dance. What is the purpose? Dogs never dance. It can look nice with the music on, but I would not want to try it myself.

There is a dog sport similar to dance, called freestyle. I have never understood the purpose of freestyle either.

Boohoo

We often watch game shows on TV, like Master Chef. Paula likes these shows. Every episode, one contestant loses and have to leave the competition. He or she believes this is very sad. Like Daniel, I sarcastically say: boohoohoo, when they cry.

They would be glad to leave, and get home to their dogs. Of course, if they have no dogs, it is not much of a home to go back to. Ghere are no dogs in the Master Chef TV shows either, so this would make it a lose-lose situation. Still, I sarcastically say boohoohoo, when they lose and cry.

Spring

Spring is in the air, as we say in Sweden. The snow is thawing, the days are getting longer, and the Sun's rays are warm. I like it. I never liked spring this much, when I was younger, but I guess warmth is something more valuable to an older dog like me. I hope spring and summer will bring us noce, warm weather.

Super Heroines

Humans are a little strange sometimes. This article about many new super heroine movies is interesting. The new movies show believable super heroines with complex personalities. This is all nice. The article still fails to mention the iconic super heroine of the mid 1900's: Lassie. She was a super bitch and had a personality as complex as any male super hero. Will we see a Lassie for the 2010's as well?

Upcoming Quarter Finals

The final stages of the Swedish ice hockey championships have started. Daniel's favourite team Djurgården succeeded in reaching the quarter finals. It did so by beating Brynäs. This makes us happy. Karstuhl's daughter Soya was not happy, however. Her human Stefan roots for Brynäs.

Ice hockey is serious stuff in Sweden, most Swedes have a favourite team. If you do, you will be disappointed once in a while. Still, it is generally more fun to have a favourite team, everything becomes more exciting this way. I have the same favourite team as Daniel has.

Being Grumpy

I have felt grumpy today. When the other dogs have messed around, I have been harsher than usual, growled more and even barked a little. This is not a mood I am proud of. Still, you have to be able to have a grumpy day now and then without having to explain yourself. Things will surely be better tomorrow.

Biathlon

The men's relay in the Biathlon World Championships was today. The Norwegian team won, which must have please them more than usual,  since it was on home turf.  Polly and I liked this, my father, her grandfather, was Norwegian, as you know.

We have a dear friend who is an Affenpinscher, Morran. She rooted for Germany, since this is where her breed is from. We understand her, but do not agree. Germany came in second, which is not bad.

Sweden ended seventh. This is not bad, given the quality of the team these days. It was fun to see Canada exceed expectations and become third.

Five Years Since the Tsunami

In Japan, they have commemorated the tsunami that hit the east coast in 2011. It flooded the nuclear power plant in Fukushima. It also killed a lot of dogs and humans. We are thinking about the victims today.

Cold

Daniel has a cold. It is an illness due to viruses, but it is never serious. There are some coughing and blowing of his nose, but it does not make him much weaker. He does not slow down when it comes to work, but he did cancel a work trip where he would have stayed in a different town over night. In this way, we are lucky Daniel has a cold, then we get to see more of him. I like this. It is not that I wish Daniel will get a cold more often, but there are some advantages to him getting it. This is good.

Solar Eclipse

There was a Solar eclipse visible from Indonesia today.

I am not really interested in Solar eclipses. Lunar eclipses are more cool. This does not only have to do with my name being Lunar Eclips, I really do think it is cooler staying up at night and seeing the Moon turning red, than black, instead of just seeing the Sun turning black while hurting your eyes.

Well, I guess the people watching the Solar eclipse still had a sight they will remember.

International Women's Day

Humans call this day the International Women's Day. It is aimed at the injustices between men and women, that almost invariably makes women less fortunate than men, just because they were born women. A lot has been done over the last centuries to make women equal to men. In many ways, they now are.

This is no problem among dogs. We do not need any International Bitches' Day. We have very few injustices between the dog sexes. Most injustices between the dog sexes are in favour of us bitches. We are the rulers of the dog packs, just like our wild sisters are of the wolf packs. I am proud of being a bitch. I have also never heard any dog complain about injustices coming from the fact that he was born a male.

The humans in our family are equal. This is good.

Snow

Snow fell this morning again. We got a rather large amount of snow, but at the same time, the temperatures was above the freezing point all day and well into the night. This snow will not stay for a long time, I am sure.

It is not surprising to get snow in March. Spring is on its way, but never comes when you expect it. This is one of the sweet things about spring. When it finally arrives, it is great.

Vasaloppet

The world's oldest annual and longest ski competition is always held on the first Sunday of March in Dalecarlia in Sweden. It is called Vasaloppet. It takes the skiers from Sälen to Mora, a distance of 90 kilometres. We went up early in the morning to watch it on TV.

Paula's father Nils-Olov was one of the thousands of participants who competed. He has participated many times and we always hope to see him on TV, but we never do. This evening, Paula talked to him on the telephone and he was quite happy and satisfied with his effort.

Going 90 kilometres on skies in one day is a great feat. Even though I would be able to ski, I am not sure I could do it. Nils-Olov is a hero who does.

Annual Meeting

Daniel went to the annual meeting where the board of the Swedish Spitz Breed Club is elected. He is a member of the board and was reelected. It is an important club, organising the Shiba Club of Sweden, Shiba-no-kai, among others. We are proud that Daniel is a member of the board.

Frost

There is frost on the ground and the trees. It looks like tiny, twinkling stars in the night. It is beautiful. This is one of the good things about winter, the beauty of it.

Royal Baby

Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden has given birth to a baby. It is a new membar of the royal family, a new person in the line of siccession. This is great news for Sweden.

Sweden now has a new prince in the line of succession.

Not Feeling Well

Hello, Karstuhl here!

Mommy is not feeling well tonight, so she asked me to make the daily blog entry. She did not say anything more, so I do not know if she had any special subject she had planned to write about. I have to make the best of it. It is not easy, not feeling well, bit I do not think there is any real danger. It does not seem like it would be.

For my part, I am feeling well. I like spring and the brighter days. There was a weather forecast about more snow later this week, but I am not sure we will get snow. We will have to see. It is so late in winter now, that I think a massive snow fall would feel useless. Whatever makes the weather the way it is, does not care wether the weather feels useless, though. We might get snow after all.