Too Bad They Have to Be Away

Daniel works weekdays, Paula works many nights. Occasionally, there is more time when some of them are away from home than when they are both here. Daniel worked today and Paula works tonight. I do not like it, it put higher demands on us dogs to protect the home. We are more allert and may bark more when only one of our humans is at home. They do not always like it, but it is for their own good, so they have to accept it. I wish bot Paula and Daniel could earn money without being away from home.

Song Contest

The first part of the song contest leading up to the final where a Swedish song for the Eurovision Song Contest this year was held yesterday. We were generally dissatisfied with the low quality of the songs. Perhaps it will be better in the upcoming parts, like it was last year. I sure hope so.

You have to be at least sixteen years old at the Eurovision final to be ble to compete. Few dogs get that old, I suppose that is one reason no dogs ever participate in the contest.

Volcano

A volcano has erupted in Ecuador in South America. This is a natural catastrophe and may be worse still, but must be a magnificent sight. Mum and April has lived close to volcanoes in America, but we do not have any in Scandinavia. I hope to see one, someday. Meanwhile, I hope all the people and dogs living by this erupting volcano will make it all right.

By the way, Mitt Romney, whom I wrote about last Tuesday, has dropped out of the race to become a Presidential candidate. I am glad, a man who has been cruel to his dog shall not have the most powerful job in the world.

High Life

Paula has a cold and rested in the bed a lot today. Some of us took the opportunity to play around in the bed to entertain her.



We really had some fun.

Auntie Linni as a Video Game Heroine?

Auntie Linni's real name is Fujin. It is a Japanese name that means 'feminine'. She reminded me about her real name today, showing me an advertisement next to an article on the Wall Street Journal's home page:



Linni, of course, tapped with her claw on the screen next to the name of the character in the middle of the picture.

It may be a coincidence, but it is a nice one. I noted, however, that while Linni did click on the link, she did not read much about the game. I may read more about it myself, perhaps the Fujin character is a villain? Maybe Linni did not really want to know and was satisfied enough with seeing her name on the advertisement? I did not pursue the question. Pehaps it is best just to be glad about the advertisement.

Super Tuesday

This is an exciting day. It is called Super Tuesday in America, but you can call it Super Tuesday in Sweden as well, though from a different reason.

In the USA, almost half of the States have primary elections today. It may be settled who will represent the two major parties in the Presidential election this autumn. The contest is very close among the Democrats, where Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are almost equal in many polls. Among the Republicans, it seems like John McCain will gain the most support. I hope John McCain wins over his closest contestant Mitt Romney, since Romney has a history of being mean to his dog.

What makes this a Super Tuesday in Sweden as well, is that it is the premiere for the semla, the Swedish specialty eaten from this day until Easter. It is a sweet bun with whipped cream and almond paste, and it is great.

Snow

Snow fell yesterday (Sunday, but this was posted Tuesday instead of Monday). At last, we had snow enough to play in. However, when Daniel had shoveled snow from half our drive way, rain fell and we noticed how the snow started to melt away. Daniel's work proved to be unnecessary. There is still snow left, but not much. While it may be several degrees below freezing, we still have to wait for a good layer of snow.

Potatoes

I got to go with Paula and Daniel when they went grocery shopping tonight. For some obscure reason, dogs are not allowed in grocery stores, but I watched the car instead while Paula and Daniel made the purchases.

We stopped by Paula's parents on the way home. It is always nice to see them, too bad it was only for a short while this time. Paula borrowed a special device that she wanted to use to cut potatoes for the dinner dish. It was an old, orange device that she remembered from her childhood. Unfortunately, the device did not work, so Paula had to slice all the potatoes by hand. The result tasted very well, nevertheless. Complicated devices are not always the answer. If they were, dogs would use them to eat instead of our sharp teeth.

Arctic Wolves Capturing Water Fowl

New photographs show humans what none have seen before: arctic wolves in Canada hunting water fowl, swiming to catch them. This is so cool. Humans should not be surprised, though. We canines are very resourceful, if waterfowl is there to catch and eat, we do it. I also felt akin to these wolves when I read that some of them had gone through the rucksacks of the film crew, spreading the contents across the ground. Curiousity is a nice thing.

Yesterday's Post

Yesterday, Blogger did not seem to work. It just gave me an error message saying it could not comply with my request to post what I had written. However, I can see today that the blog post was published, nevertheless. I wonder why. Very well, if you have a free blog service, I guess you cannot expect it to work every time. Over all, I am satisfied with my Blogger account.

There Were No Six Children

Some humans are stupid. Take the couple in Missouri, USA, who tried to make people give them money, by saying that they had had six children but could not afford the hospital care that the children needed. (While it is common for dogs to have litters with six pups or more, it is very rare that humans get more than one child at a time.) The scam was discovered within a month. If you do want to fool others, why not do it in a way that will not be so easily discovered? It is as if a dog breeder would claim to have a litter of six pups, and yet there were none. Of course people would find out.

This American couple is now sentenced to prison. That is good, stupidity shall be punished.

Robbers Mazed Themselves

It is never a good idea to commit robbery. However, if you are going to do it, make sure you are not so clumsy as the robbers in Stockholm today, who used their maze on themselves. Needless to say, they were not able to steal anything from the jeweler they were trying to rob. They had a scooter as an escape vehicle, but had troubles getting it started. At last, it started, and they left. They are now wanted by the police. I believe I would have made a better job, if ever I would consider a career as a robber.

Unofficial Dog Show

There was an unofficial dog show in our home town today, arraged by our regional Kennel Club. Daniel and Paula did not show any of us dogs there, since it was unofficial. They worked at the show instead, and April and I gott come along and watch the show. It is not that any of us have anything against unofficial shows, they have their merits and are great if you are a beginner and want to try to be shown (or show, if you are the human) at a dog show. For dogs like April and I, who have been shown so much already, there is not much use going to an unofficial show, though. Anyway, we were happy for Gozu, who is from the same breeder as Auntie Linni, who became 4th Best in Show.

What Daniel Brought Home

Daniel went to his parents last night and came home tonight. He has helped them to make their house look better. They will sell it because it is too big for them since their children moved out. When Daniel came home, he brought a big basket with stuff for small children (a child is a human pup). Maybe there will be human babies as well as dog babies born in our house sometime in the future.

Late

Arggh! It is late, very late, and I have forgotten to write in my blog. Long time readers know that I am really trying to keep it daily, to be true to the blog's name. Now I have no time to think of anything better to write about than the fact that I am really late. If I would have logged in just a little later, it would have been past midnight and then the blog entry is registered on Friday instead of Thursday. Daniel is a bit disappointed, we were supposed to have gone to bed already, but I tell him I have to make my blog entry. Now I have to stop writing.

Just Another Day

I have not done anything special today. It has just been one of those days when you feel like there is nothing about it that you will remember later in life. We had a little snow again, but it was less than a centimetre and not worth playing in. Both Daniel and Paula were away from home for a while in the evening, but there is nothing unusual about that. I could use this dull day to write more than I use to in my blog. On the other hand, what is there to write about on a dull day? I think this will have to do. Meanwhile, I hope for a more exciting day tomorrow.

Ice Hockey Victory

Daniel's favourite sport to watch is ice hockey. Since he is from Stockholm, his team is Djurgården. They won the game tonight against Färjestad, the first victory in a while. I do not care that much, but Daniel is happy, and that makes me glad.

Fifty Years of Smurfs

The small, blue characters called smurfs turn 50 years old today. They were first introduced in a comic strip in 1958. Most smurfs are blue. Since I am black myself, I find it a bit sad that the only black smurfs had that colour because they were infected by an illness and became evil.

Many Visitors

I have no idea how many people read my blog. I hope there are a few. My breeders have a counter on their homepage, and they have just gone past 42,000 visitors. That is nice.

Another nice thing is that we have a new washing machine.

In the USA, they will elect a new president in November. It seems like the candidates for the two main parties will be John McCain (R) and Hillary Clinton (D). However, it is still too early to tell for certain.

Picture Proof

From time to time, Paula and Daniel hear people expressing doubt that I am the one who write my own blog. They often believe Paula or Daniel do the actual work. For those of you who may have doubted, here is picture proof that I am the one who write the blog:



This photography was taken yesterday evening, when I wrote the blog entry about Bobby Fischer. So you see, I am the one doing the job. Daniel often helps me reaching the keybord, that is all.

A Hero Is Gone

The famous chess player Bobby Fischer - world champion in 1972, as a sole American breaking the dominace of the chess players of the Soviet Union - is now dead. Hunted by the American authorities for breaking sanktions on Yugoslavia in 1992 by playing a game of chess there, he finally got refuge in Iceland. He gave up his US citizenship for an Icelandic one and never returned home to America.

Bobby Fischer was regarded as a hero in 1972. It surprises me that he did not get a pardon twenty years later. Once a great hero, should you not always be treated with the respect that a hero deserves? What he did in 1992 could not have been so bad that it erased all the heroic status he had, could it?

It should be noted that I see Bobby Fischer as a hero for defeating competitors from the Soviet Union. This was an important victory against representatives of an evil country. However, I strongly disagree with the opinions that Mr. Fischer expressed on the Holocaust and his defamatory remarks about Jews.

I Thought I Was Really Black

There are differences in the shades of black. Dad and I are black, but there are things that are blacker than us. Our car is black, but there are different shades of original black paint, so if you want to touch up the paint, you got to know what black paint to use. American scientists have now discovered a material that is the blackest ever found. The material was made in a US laboratory from carbon nanotubes, sheets of carbon atoms an atom thick and rolled into cylinders. It reflects less light than any other material. - I thought I was really black, now I do not feel quite as dark as before.

Wordless National Anthem

If you are Spanish, you cannot sing your national anthem. There are no words for it, just a melody. Proposed new lyrics have just been rejected. Of course, for Spanish dogs, this does not matter. Dogs howl proudly in the same way to any anthem.

Upset By a TV Show

We saw a documetary on TV about a person who had assaulted a little pup. The pup had thirteen broken bones and scull fractures. How can anybody do a thing like that? I am at a loss of words.

Cosmic Collision

A huge gas cloud falls towards the Milky Way galaxy, where we live. Its speed relative to the galaxy is about 24 kilometres per second, so it is really fast. It is huge, too, 11,000 light years long and 2,500 light years wide. However, it is still so far away that it will not reach our galaxy for at least 20 million years. There is thus no cause for alarm. It is still interesting to know that human science may foresee some things that will happen so far into the future.

Daily Blog Entries

I have been bad at posting daily the past week. This happens once in a while. Sometimes, I forget to write anything. Whenever I remember again, I pledge to myself to try to be better.

We have a problem at home, the washing machine has broken down. This does not affect us dogs, we have dirt resistant coats that do not need the washing machine. Paula and Daniel are upset, though. The washing machine was so old it is hardly worth it to get it repaired, and a new one costs a lot of money. We will have to see what will happen.

Nuclear Power

The Finns have decided a while ago to build another nuclear power plant. Now the Brits will probably also build more nuclear power plants. I wonder if this will make people in Sweden think about another Swedish plant. The future will tell. As a dog, I have a warm coat to keep me warm in the meantime.

A Foreign Secretary in Green

Swedish foreign secretary Carl Bildt recently handed out a prize at the Swedish Grammy Awards, dressed in a green, yellow, grey, and black jacket. From the pictures I have seen, I believe it is hideous. There were, however, some people who were there who really liked it. I think a foreign secretary should dress with more class, preferably in black. April and Auntie Linni beg to differ, though, and claim that this is just because I have a predominantly black coat myself. They asked me what I would have said if Carl Bildt would have worn a jacket in the colour of a red Shiba Inu. Since April and Linni are red themselves, I understood that they were trying to make me insult them. I did not, but wrote this piece in my blog instead. Maybe Linni and April are right, but in that case it is only on a subconscious level. I cannot be fully responsible for subconscious views. Still, I did not change my mind.

The World's Tallest Lift Tower

It sometimes seems like humans can set the most different kind of record, the tallest, smallest, oldest, or first of this or that. In Japan, Mitsubishi has built what is not the tallest building in the world, but what they call "tallest lift tower". It is 173 m high and built to test lifts for the next generation of very high buildings. For my part, I am satisfied with our single floor building, which is very easy to get out of when you feel like it. On the other hand, a penthouse with a private garden on top of a skyscraper would perhaps be something.

Snow!

A lot of snow has fallen today. It is almost a decimetre deep and very fun to run and play in. It is fortunate that Paula, Mum, and I decided to go home from Gothenburg yesterday, when the weather and road conditions were better.

Preparations

I have spent the day to prepare myself for this year's first dog show. Mum, Paula, and I will go to this show, which is in Gothenburg. I am so looking forward to it.

Politics in 2008

Mum says this new year will be very exciting, politically. There will be a new President elected in the USA in November. So far, nobody knows who the contestants for the two major parties will be. I am not as interested in this as Mum, but I will follow the news reports, nevertheless.

The Year 2007

This has been a fairly successful year in the show rings for me. My brother Jiro beat me to the goal of becoming a champion, but I am happy for him.

These are my results:

Six CC's,
four CACIB, one reserve-CACIB,
one Best of Breed, and
two Best of Opposite Sex.

My new year's resolution is to keep up the good work.

New Light Devices

How many scientists does it take to screw in a light bulb? Well, soon you will not need any. Some Glasgow University scientists have developed new technology for light sources that will be brghter and use less power than the most energy efficient light bulbs on the market now. This is good news for humans. It does not make much difference to dogs, though. We have much better night vision than humans as it is, so we have little use for light bulbs one way or the other.

Does Father Christmas Exist?

A Russian TV advertisement said that Father Christmas, Santa Claus, does not exist. This made the authorities mad, so they banned the advertisement. The Russian authorities thought that the advertisement would break the rule not to discredit parents and teachers. Declaring that Father Christmas did not exist implied that parents were not telling the truth, thus undermining childrens' trust in them.

Personally, I am not sure whether Santa Claus exist to bring Christmas gifts in this day and age. I have never met him, though I have received Christmas presents. It is clear to me that he did exist at one time, as Saint Nicholaus, but does this mean that he brings presents at Christmas in our time?

I have not seen the Russian TV advertisement. Nevertheless, it seems to me that it was wrong to ban it. Are not children supposed to believe more in their parents than in TV advertisements, anyway? I know I did as a pup.

Free Trade

The US Congress has ratified a free trade agreement between the USA and Peru. Next in line is a free trade agreement with Colombia. This seems to be good ideas. Trade gets you what you want, free trade even more so.

Other happy news is that Kesshi comes home today! Do I need to say more? I will be back with more news on Kesshi later.

Visitor

We have a visitor here tonight. Paula's sister Mia will stay the night on our living room sofa. Her dog, our friend Kesshi, will probably come home from the hospital in a few days. He has healed quicker than anyone thought possible. Then again, Shiba Inus are fighters and will never give in. I am looking forward to seeing Kesshi again.

The Things That Can Happen if You Don't Have a Dog

There are many burglaries in Sweden during the Christmas holidays. One news paper wrote about couple whose home had been burglared, where the thiefs opened up all the Cristmas gifts and stole those that they liked.

I believe the burglaries depends on the fact that there are many people who are not at home at Christmas. If you are not at home, you cannot protect your house from a burglary. We have always had someone at home in our house. Any burglar that comes to us has to face many dogs. If you do not have dogs, your house is much easier to break in to. This is but one of the many advantages of having dogs.

Kesshi

We are getting daily updates on Kesshi. He is making progress.

Meanwhile, we have a fairly good Christmas without Kesshi. There is, however, no snow on the ground and we had some rain today. It is not like your typical post card Christmas. However, some people say that rain is tears of the angels, maybe the angels shed tears over our friend Kesshi's injuries. He may be making progress, but we are all sad about his fate.

A Christmas prayer to my Kesshi...

Kesshi was attacked by a terrier two days ago. Unfortunatly, he was badly injured and became paralyzed in his back legs.

He was under emergency surgery last night at a big animal hospital. Luckily he survived the surgery. Now we pray for Kesshi to recover. All my thoughts goes to Mia, Paulas sister and her Emil. They are devestated, as you normally would be if your beloved dog would be severily injured.

Therefor. My Christmas vacation from the "Daily Hailey" ends in sorrow and grieving. I so hope for a Christmas miracle. I want Kesshi to be well again. I want to kiss him and play with him soon. Im so sad. I will only update this blog due to the state of Kesshi.

The last thing I'll do now is to send a Christmas prayer to my Kesshi. Get well, you are loved by me.

Crackers

It is customary to fire off crackers at twelve o'clock on New Year's Night in Sweden. Nowadays, however, some people start to fire crackers weeks before New Year's Eve and keep doing it for many days afterwards. Some dogs are deadly afraid of crackers. None of us in our family are, fortunately, but this does not mean we like crackers. Some crackpot just fired off a load of crackers in our neighbourhood, and we competed with each other to bark the loudest back at that person. Daniel got mad, he did not want us to bark, but the cracker noise did stop. Daniel does not believe our barking made it stop. He cannot prove that, though. What we do know is that the noise stopped when we barked. I take comfort in believing that our loud barking did make a difference, no matter what Daniel says.

What is more important is that we have received Christmas cards from my brothers Jiro and Kiko. Everything is well with them, for which I am very thankful.

Travelling in Europe

Nine new countries join the border free area in Europe under the Schengen agreement today, an area where humans may travel freely without stopping at border checkpoints or showing passports. Sweden has been a member for several years. Among the new members are Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland on the other side of the Baltic Sea.

The open borders for humans does not mean the borders are open for dogs. Sweden and Norway are rabies free, which Finland and continental Europe is not. This means that dogs who will go to Sweden or Norway from other countries has to be vaccinated agains rabies and have proof that the vaccine works. This affects Swedish dogs as well; if we want to go abroad to another country than Norway, we have to have the same vaccination and paperwork in order to be able to come back to Sweden.

It is a happy coincidence then, that our veterinarian had the time to give me my first rabies shot today. I am thus on my way to get vaccinated and get the paperwork that allows me to travel Europe as freely as a human. This feels great.

Egg Nog

Since Christmas is coming, Daniel had an egg nog late tonight. It is a drink often had for Christmas. I am usually interested in anything edible, but it was too late for me to feel any urge to try the egg nog. It felt a little strange, but if you are tired, you are. Consequently, I cannot say whether it was good or not. Daniel said it was, though.

Christmas Is Getting Closer

It is Christmas in less than a week. We all look forward to it this year. It is not like last year, when April was less than a year old and I had to teach her about Christmas so she would not be afraid of it.

At the same time as I think it has been a long time since last Christmas, time has flown away. It all depends upon what I am thinking about. The dog show season was long and I have a lot of memories from it to think about, but at the same time, dog shows are so much fun that it feels like it was over too soon. The every day life does not leave many memories to dwell upon, so it seems like it has gone by quickly, but at the same time I know how long an ordinary day can seem when there is less to do than on other days. Not that I have many days that are slow, I usually have a lot of things on my mind and a lot of things to do, but there is such a slow day once in a while.

We may go to Paula's parents the day after tomorrow to prepare for Christmas celebrations. I am looking forward to that.

I'm Happy Again!

If somebody would have asked me yesterday afternoon if I thought mum, April and Primus would come home soon I'd probably said no. I was so bored and felt upset beeing left at home. Honestly, I was a bit jealous too.

Late at night I was happy again. Mum burst into the house and straight to the cookie jar. We all barked of happiness. The family was together. At last. Daniel gave us all cookies and we were happy.

In two weeks I will go to a big show with mum. Haha. I wonder what April will say then. Supposivly she will not be so stucked up as she was yesterday. My sweet baby sister could be such a brat sometimes. Even though she is so sweet and nice. She is forgiven. I love her anyway. We are family and should stick together. If somebody would be mean to her I would cover her back. I know she would do the same thing for me.

Waiting for the Others to Come Home

Paula went to Stockholm for a dog show yesterday. She brought Mum and April, but I had to stay home. We know that they will be back tonight, but it is half past seven and we have not heard from them for a couple of hours. I want them to come home, it is more fun when I have April to play with and feels better when Paula and Mum is around.

The show was neither a great success, nor a total failure. Dad's breeder Christen Lang won very much with his dogs, so Dad is pleased with the results. He says it only goes to prove you have to come from Norway to be really successful. I guess Mum would not agree, considering that Mum is from America and is Swedish and Norwegian champion, while Dad is neither. Well, I let Dad brag about his home country. After all, I am half Norwegian myself through him.

I will go to dog shows again next year. I am looking forward to it already.

Will Bolivia Split Up?

Tension grows in Bolivia in South America. The four provinces Beni, Pando, Santa Cruz, and Tarija want greater autonomy, especially since President Evo Morales has stated that he want more central control over the provinces and more political distribuion of wealth. The army and police is on allert. Will the country split up? Personally, I believe it would be interesting to see new countries formed. I think a province should be able to become independent, if the people really want it to. The most important thing is, though, that the people treat their dogs well.

About Formula 1

Fernando Alonso went from McLaren to Renault a few days ago. This made us wonder where Renault driver Heikki Kovalainen would go, and who would take Alonso's seat in McLaren. Today it turns out that Kovalainen goes to McLaren. This means that there are two drivers from Finland in the two strongest teams, Kovalainen in McLaren and of course Kimi Räikkönen in Ferrari. I guess we must not wait very long for another Finnish world championship.

Where are all the Swedish drivers? How can it be that Finland, with little more than half the population of Sweden, have so many more great formula car drivers? Sweden has not had any since the 80's and has not had any good one since Ronnie Peterson in the 70's. Why can't there be at least one, when Finland have two? While I wait for a Swedish driver, I guess I have to hope for success for the Finnish and Japanese drivers.

Barking at Lucia

We celebrate St. Lucia in Sweden today. On the morning walk, we saw some young people walking in a St. Lucia procession, singing Lucia songs. Daniel got really mad when I barked at them and told me to stop. I did, of course, but I could not stop glaring at them. I was the only one who barked, so I was the only one Daniel got mad at. Was I the only one who heard that they sang out of tune?

Grooming

We have a huge show on Sunday in Stockholm called "HUND2007" or Dog 2007 in English. This year the show is also the Nordic Winner Dog Show which means that every BOB and BOS gets the official title "NORDV-07". Well. Here in our house we have several dogs entered. This means that some lucky Shibas will have to go into the bathtub tomorrow. We will all be bathed and groomed to perfection. It takes a long time for each of us, standing still on the grooming table, waiting for Paula to get us dried and groomed. I do not mind the grooming part. I love to feel pretty and be in the centre of attention. Paula is also so nice that she gives us a lot of treats every now and then so we can feel even more pretty and not so bored.

Me and my gals at home thought that even our "mama" Paula needed a grooming session. We want to have a sparkling handler so we can be a perfect match. Today we sent Paula to town and her favourite hair dresser. It took 3 hours, some boring time waiting for her to come home (which I by the way used to bark at the neighbour horses) and some chewing bones until she found her way home. The result is splendid, if I may say so. Paula was satisfied and this was the main purpose. She also told us that she too got some snack while beeing groomed (haircut and colouring). I'm not jelous because I know that tomorrow, I will get some nice treatment too.

I guess that on Sunday it will be one sparkling handler and some sparkling Shibas from our household. It seems appropriate to say that: "In our case, It is polite to stare".

Daniel's Name's Day

It says Daniel in the Swedish almanack on the 11th of December. Thus, we celebrate our Daniel. He got some Swedish "ostkaka" (litterally cheese cake in English, but that is something very different), which he really likes. I wish I had a Name's Day, but as is normal with dogs, I do not have a name that is common among humans or come from an important human saint or member of the royal family. Maybe there could be a dog almanack in the future with common dog names in it?

Nobel Day

The Nobel Prizes are handed out in Stockholm today. I was not invited to the festivities this year either, but then no dogs ever are. The King is handingout the prizes, but not even his dogs are allowed to come. I can watch it on TV instead, it is calmer.

From the world of sports we can note that Fernando Alonso returns to Renault, the Formula 1 team with which he became world champion in 2005 and 2006. He got a two year contract with Renault. I guess it is good for him, but he may have given up on his old goal to become champion in at least two different cars in his career. The future will tell.

The Day of Rest

Sunday is normally the day to rest on. But this was not to be today. I woke up early on with a lot of things on my mind. I let Daniel and dad out so they could rake the lawn and clean it from all the leaves laying around. Me myself was very busy, helping Paula clean the house inside. I had to watch the young "kids" April and Primus from making too much of a mess. They can be hopeless sometimes. In the afternoon I thought it was time for dinner so I made it with a little help from Paula and mum. Needless to say, I'm proud over myself today. Not resting but helping around here at home.

Saturday!

It is Saturday, which means that Daniel does not get up early to go to work, and that he does not drag us dogs up almost as early to take a morning walk. I cannot understand how Dad, for example, is always so eager to go right away. I would rather sleep for several hours more. I try to tell Daniel every morning, I am always the one he has the hardest time to wake up, but I always come along anyway. Today I could sleep much longer, since it is Saturday. This is one of the reasons I love weekends.

Idol 2007 finale!

Tonight is the season finale of Idol 2007. A music competition that is aired on channel 4 on Swedish television. Daniel and all of us dogs don't care so much, but Paula is. We love Paula so much so the entire family will support Paulas wish of watching the Idol. I can always bark if somebody sings off tune or too bad.....


My biggest idol is my mum. Mum always covers my back. We are a team. One day I hope to be such a successful show champion as she is. Im on my way though. Winning 6 cc's, 3 cacib's, 1 BOB, 2 BOS. Im currently no # 3 shiba in Sweden according to both the Swedish Shiba Club and the private site shibainfo.com. I am the only Swedish born non-champion of top 10*. That's hot! Mum is in place # 6 and April is placed as #7. Mum and April are the only imports listed of the top 10. That is cool!

My beloved mum Sunni.

* April is the other non-champion.

Finland's Liberty Day

On the 6th of November 1917, exactly 90 years ago today, the Finnish parliament voted in favour of a bill on national sovereignty from Russia. It has since been celebrated as Finland's national holiday.

Finland had been a part of Russia since 1809 with very limited rights to decide its own destiny. The latter decades, Russification had taken place. The people of Finland deserved its freedom, but they had to fight for it in three wars: a civil war against communists in 1918 and two wars where they defended the country against Soviet aggression in 1939-40 and 1941-44. Our thoughts go to the brave people of Finland today. Hurrah to the home country of the Moomin trolls!

Christmas Party

Daniel spent the evening at work. They had a Christmas party there. I think it is too early to celebrate Christmas on the 5th of December, but Daniel said it can be like that on workplaces. Nevertheless, I am certain we had a better - non-Christmas - evening at home.

Not Always Easy Being Rich

A white Maltese called Trouble inherited $ 12 million from her human last August, and is thus probably the richest dog in the world. I am not jealous, however. There are only so many treats you can have in a day. Trouble is in trouble for other reasons too, she has received several death threats and is now in hiding. I wonder whether she would have received so many threats, had she not been rich. It is not always easy being rich, even though some money helps in life.

Hearts

I read in the news that on this day forty years ago, i.e. in 1967, South African surgeon Christiaan Barnard performed the first successful human heart transplant. This must be a great thing to commemorate for humans. It did not say when the first successful heart transplant was made on a dog, though. I looked into the matter and found out that the first succcessful heart transplant on a dog was made as early as in 1960. This is half a dog's lifetime before the same feat was performed on a human. Some would say that the humans only used dogs for practice. I, however, prefer to see it as proof that humans are concerned with developing dog surgery too, because they care so much about us. This is a better interpretation of history, I believe.

Beowulf

Last night Paula and Dan was away and watched Beowulf on the big screen. Both told me that this was an extraordinary movie. One of the best they have seen in a long time. The music was fabulous. Well we had a blast at home. Playing and resting waiting for them to come home.

This is the lyrics of the closing song of the movie. To listen to the song, click here.

Out of the mist of history
He'll come again
Sailing on ships across the sea
To a wounded Nation
Signs of a savoir
Like fire on the water
It's what we prayed for
One of our own
Just wait
Though while he may roam
Always
A hero comes home
He goes where no one has gone
But always
A hero comes home
Deep in the heart of darkness sparks
A dream of lies
Surrounded by hopelessness
He finds the will to fight
Theres no surrender
Always remember
It doesn't end here
We're not alone
Just wait
Though while he may roam
Always
A hero comes home
He goes where no one has gone
But always
A hero comes home
And he will come back on the crimson tide
Dead or alive
And even though we know the bridge has burned
He will return
He will return
Just wait
Though while he may roam
Always
A hero comes home
He knows of places unknown
Always
A hero comes home
Someday they'll carve in stone
"The hero comes home"
He goes and comes back alone
But always
A hero comes home
Just wait
Though while he may roam
Always
A hero comes home

Dad Is Upset

Dad heard on the radio today that Russian authorities did not want to accept fish imported from norway. The Russians claim there are health issues due to lack of hygiene in Norway. Dad does not believe this for a second and cursed at the Russians. He asked me to write about this in my blog, so I did.

A Quite Quiet Sunday

We had a fairly calm and quiet Sunday today. This is good, since Sundays are supposed to be days of rest. Paula and Daniel were away for a while in the middle of the day, but that is all right. We dogs are all grown ups and know how to handle being without them at home. Paula and Daniel thinks it is a bit annoying that I usually barks when they leave, but this is not anything that I keep up for long. I just want to tell them that I do not want them to leave, especially not without me. There is a difference between finding it all right to be alone at home and liking it.

I got to go with Paula to her parents later in the afternoon. That was fun.

Paula Came Home

We cleaned the whole house today, to have it in great shape when Paula got home. It was really nice to see Paula again, as always. We had pizza for dinner. All in all, it was a day that I am rather pleased with. April did not do so well on the dog show in Norway, but this only goes to prove that Paula should have taken me instead.

Dog Show Without Me

Paula went to Norway for a dog show, but did not bring me. It is supposed to be April's turn in the show rings now. If I was sad yesterday, I am even more sad now. I want to go to dog shows. Dad did not get to go either, despite being born in Norway. We guess Paula thinks she can make it in Norway without Dad's expertise; after all, she has been in Norway many times before. However, Dad is not glad that he did not get to follow to see the land where he was born. We have to try to make it through the weekend anyway.

Things to Be Sad About

Sweden made it to the Euro 2008 in football in the final qualifying match yesterday. Dad is sad, though, because Norway did not make it.

April got to go with Paula to Mia and Kesshi. I am sad I did not get to go too. Auntie Linni is a bit sad that Paula did not stay at home.

Paula gave us food in the middle of the day. Mum is sad Daniel knows about this and will not give us more food. Mum loves food.

However, Mum could not care less about the qualifications to the Euro 2008. She does not care about sports where Americans do not participate.

On the other hand, we all have a lot of things to be happy about, too. So many things, in fact, that I will not enumerate them here.

At Paula's Grannie's

Paula, Daniel, April, and I went to Paula's grandmother Gullie today. She feels a little lonely, since she recently became a widow. She likes us dogs, but she said she is too old to be able to take care of a dog herself. Paula said that we could come to visit her often.

April, I, and the other dogs had bought a pair of socks for Gullie with toy animals' heads on them. They looked nice and were warm and comfortable. April thought they looked so much fun that she wanted to play with them, but it was not our socks anymore, so she could not. She did not quite get what it means to give something away, but maybe she learned it today. Gullie gave us some liver pate to eat, it was such a good treat that I took some of April's. That was only fair, to show her what it is like to be the victim when someone takes what is rightfully yours, just as would have been the case if April had taken Gullie's socks.

Requiescat in pace

V

Gunnar Nelvin

22nd of March 1918 - 26th of October 2007

Paula's grandfather

Always loved - never forgotten

Laid to rest today

A Population in Decline

The Japanese population is in decline and there are an increasing portion of elderly people. This is of great concern. If there are fewer Japanese humans, will there also be fewer Japanese dogs? It says in the article that I have linked to that, "in some suburbs, one young mother said, it was easier to buy clothes for the latest must-have accessory - a little dog - than for a small child." While it is not bad that dogs are a must-have, there is also something fundamentally wrong to a society where you buy clothes to your dogs and treat them as accessories. Also, if the population dwindles in size, there are less people who will become dog owners, if the percentage of dog owners will no rise very much, which I doubt it will. Since the largest population of Shiba Inus in the world is Japanese, this decline in the number of Japanese humans concerns me. I hope the Japanese will find solutions to this problem. They are smart people (as showed partly by their love of Shiba Inus) and I hope and believe some solutions will come.

New Stove

We bought a new stove today, but not from the store I comlained about yesterday. The stove looked fine when we got it from the store, but when Paula started to unwrap it, she saw that it was badly damaged under the wrapping. There were several large holes in the white paint. We could not know whether this reflected faults on the inside as well, chances are it did, and nevertheless, we did not want a stove that looked like that. Daniel called the store and got to go back and change the stove for another. We did not get any extra compensation, though. Well, we have a new stove now, and it works very well. Paula and Daniel cooked a nice dinner on it tonight.

Stove

I went with Daniel to buy a new stove today, but it was easier said than done. Stoves must be shipped and it can take up to a week. In the store where the stoves seemed to be cheapest, they did not have any list of the prices of the stoves not displayed on site. An employee in the store asked Daniel to go home and look up the prices on the Internet instead. Daniel did so, only to find that you have to order the stove in the store! What kind of service is that? The stove that seems to be the best buy comes from that store, but you would think they would have a little better service.

Bored

I have felt a little bored all evening. Paula went away to yet another dog show without me, but that is not the only reason. I have had troubles figuring out what to write in my blog tonight. I take pride in trying to keep this blog daily, in accordance to its name. Normally, it is rather easy. I find some news to comment or just comment on something that has happened to me during the day. Today, though, nothing special has happened to me and I did not feel like reading any news. It is just one of those days when I feel bored without really knowing why. I finally decided that this would be the subject of my blog post for today. It may be boring to read, but in that case, it is just a splendid way for you to get a feeling on what I have felt today. I have hopes for a better tomorrow, though.

Summit

The Japanese Prime Minister is visiting the US President in Washington. They are the most powerful leaders of two of the most important foreign countries in my life, my dog brees home country and my Mom's native country. It is widely known that US President George W Bush's father was President before, but perhaps less known that Japanese PM Yasuo Fukuda's father was PM before, in the 70's. It is not only monarchs' high positions in human society that are inherited. I believe it is only natural for the older generation to lay the best possible foundation for its children, thus enabling them to get to high positions as well. My parents have helped me a lot in life.

Lost Pants, Lost Lawsuit, Lost Job

This summer, I wrote in my blog about the American judge who lost a lawsuit about a pair of lost trousers. He did not have a life long appointment as a judge and it has now been confirmed that he did not get reappointed. His lawsuit on the trousers was dismissed by the judge hearing the case. Whether the lawsuit had anything to do with him not being reappointed is not clear from my news sources. It may have played a part, since it seemed like a rather frivolous lawsuit, thus putting his judgment into question.

The Heat Is On

The heat is on in our house again. It has been off since last week. The reason proved to be an electrical fault, probably due to the stove breaking down. I have not cared much, my coat is thick enough that I do not need much heat indoors. It is still better that the heat is on, because our humans feel better then, which makes them happier and that benefits all of the dogs in the family as well. I wish the heat will continue to work properly for very long now.

Away in the Evening

Paula went away from home during the day, and I was not allowed to come along. However, she came back and took me as her only company to go to her mother's house. It is boring not to get to follow, but nice to be selected the next time. I believe I am such a good company that I could come along every time, but Paula and Daniel want to make it even between us dogs. I guess that is OK.

Dog Camera

In Lancashire in England, some police dogs have cameras. These cameras are strapped to the dogs' heads and may help the police for instance during gun sieges. Follow the link to see a picture of this.

At first, I thought it would be nice to have a camera of my own. I could, for instance, film a dog show from my own perspective, granted that the judge would allow me to wear the camera. Perhaps cameras of this type will be on the market in a while. The downside is that it would probably be uncomfortable to wear such a camera on your head. On second thought, I believe I would not want one. I will leave it up to Daniel and Paula to keep taking my pictures at dog shows.

Snow and Extended Parliament Session

We got some snow this evening. It is not more than a centimetre, so it is not enough to play around in. Since it is so little, I think it is of no use what so ever. It might as well have come as rain, like that which fell earlier today.

In Japan, the Parliament has extended its current session by 35 days. It was supposed to end this Saturday, but will go on so that there can be a vote on a proposal to extend a Japanese refuelling mission in the Indian Ocean that helps the US troops there who wage a war against terrorists. The opposition, which has the majority in the upper house of parliament, is opposed to this mission and claims it violates the pacifistic constitution of Japan. There are two opposing interests here for me: to uphold the constitution - if it is to be interpreted in the way the opposition believes - or to help the USA to fight terrorists. I am glad the decision is not up to me.

Dogs Honoured in Nepal

For the moment, I would like to be in Nepal in central Asia. They have a national festivity there where dogs are specially honoured on the second day of the feast. Do I need to say more?

Another Japanese Formula 1 Driver

The Japanese racer Kazuki Nakajima has signed for Williams for the 2008 season, after a great debute in the last race of this year. We wish him good luck! As Shiba Inus, we always hope for the Japanese drivers. We hope for Takuma Sato and Sakon Yamamoto too, but they drive in cars that are not as good as Williams. In a team like Williams, Kazuki Nakajima has the opportunity to make good results.

Just Another Day

It is Tuesday, and I don't know what to say. Nothing in particular has happened in my life today.

We could, of course, celebrate the Swedish victory in the battle of Lützen of the 6th of November 1632, but the Gustavus Adolphus cakes must have been sold out when Paula went to the grocery store rather late in the afternoon. Daniel says this tend to happen, stores often do not stock enough such cakes to match the demand. Well, we had a nice evening anyway.

A Visit

Paula, Daniel, April, Mum, and I visited Mia and Kesshi tonight. Daniel cooked dinner. The stove in our house is very old and broke this weekend.

Sweden is mentioned in international news today, because the legendary footballer and football coach Nils Liedholm has passed away at an age of 85. He was four years younger than Paula's grandfather.

In Kopparberg

We went to Kopparberg today, Paula, Daniel, April and I, together with Paula's mother. Kopparberg is about 80 km north of Örebro. We went there to visit Mia's boyfriend Emil. Mia and Kesshi were there when we arrived, so April and I had him to play with. Emil's parents were there too, and his mother gave us some dog candy. There is a woman who knows how to win a dog's heart. Over all, it was a nice stay, even though I did not get to taste the nice looking smörgåstårta that the humans had to eat. I would consider going there again.

Leaves and Wood

Daniel came home early today. He only worked for half a day, since it is All Saints' Day this weekend. It is fitting to remember the deceased loved ones when the nature around us is dying in the late autumn. For the first time, there is one deceased loved one that I can remember: Paula's grandfather. He held me in his hands when I was just a day old, though that is something that has been explained to me later. We will commemorate him and others this weekend.

Daniel spent the afternoon in the garden, raking leaves that had fallen from the trees. After a while, the handle of our old rake broke. He continued for a while, then he went on to chopping wood. It is nice to have a lot of chopped wood, if the winter will be cold. The wood, which comes from dead trees, will warm our bodies like the memories of our beloved ones will warm our souls.

Cold Outside, Warm Inside

It is November, late autumn, and the days are getting colder. Paula and Daniel has started to make fires in our stove. It is cosy and makes the inside of our house warmer. I hope there will be snow soon. Snow is the best thing about winter, it is so fun to play in. Daniel wish to finish raking the leaves from the garden before the snow falls, but that is not such a big concern for me. We will have to see if it will be a cold winter or not. Regardless, it will be warm in our home.

At Paula's Grannie's

Paula, Daniel, and I visited Paula's grandmother today. Paula's mother was also there. It was a nice visit, not only because I got some liver pate. It is always nice to visit places where you seldom are. I have been to Paula's grandmother's house before, but it was a while ago. We will have to see when I can come again. Liver pate is always tasty.

Corroding Lamp Posts

Some people say that there is a problem with male dogs urinating on lamp posts. The reason would be that the urine makes the steel that the lamp posts are made of corrode. There are some ideas on how to save the lamp posts, but none that are hailed with great gratitude by the lamp post owners.

I never urinate on lamp posts, I am no male dog. Dad does once in a while, though. I think an easy solution could be to just wrap the lower parts of the lamp posts in some plastic coating. It should not be more complicated than that.

Paula at Work

It feels like Paula just came home from America, but she left us again tonight. This time, it is only for the night. She went to work at the hospital. Nevertheless, I miss her more than I usually do, since she was gone for so long just recently. We will have to greet her in a nice way tomorrow morning when she gets home.

Early Morning

We got up early this morning, despite getting back one hour by the clock taken from us this spring. Paula and Daniel worked at an unofficial dog show and had to be there early. Some of us dogs came along. We were not shown, however. It would be of no use to show me at such a show, since you cannot get any certificate there, which is what I need to become a champion. Daniel and Paula thought it was fairly interesting anyway.

Loss

Paula and April got home today. Mum, Dad, and I came with Daniel to the airport to pick them up.

However, an important person left us today, too. Paula's dear grandfather left this life. We mourn with Paula.

Red Hair

Most Shiba Inus have red coat, but some, like Dad and myself, are predominantly black. Humans are different. The most common human hair colour is black, though there are people who hav brown, blonde or red hair. Red hair is the most uncommon colour. I am told Daniel's dad used to have red hair, before it went white with age. Recent DNA studies have now shown that even the now extinct Neanterthals - a different branch of humans - could have red hair.

This is interesting, it seems to show red har can originate in different branches of a species. Black and tan in Shiba Inus is a recessive gene, so I have no genes carrying the red coat colour. If I would get pups by a black and tan male Shiba Inu, we could not get red coated pups, unless there would be a mutation. Mutations are rare and far in between, but it has occured to me that there may be red coated pups anyway by a combination of two black and tans, in the unlikely event that there would be a mutation in the genes about coat colour. I would never expect this to happen to me, but it is interesting to think about it anyway.

Hunting Season

Sometimes, I wish I was a hunting dog, helping out in the hunt for big game in the forests at this time of the year. I believe I have some talent for it, but I do not know how much. However, neither Daniel nor Paula hunts, so it seems like I will never try. Perhaps it is not as fun as it seems to be when you hear about it? I guess I hope so.

Relatives in America

On the daily updates we receive from Paula and April, we got to know that they went back from California to Washington today. They stopped in Oregon on the way, to visit seven weeks old grandchilden of Mum. This means these pups are my nieces and nephews. Mum sent a special greeting back to the pups, to be delivered by Paula.

It seems like a long time ago that I was so young, yet it is not more than about two years ago. I am still young, but not that young, today I am an experienced young lady. Mum says I am not yet in the prime time of my life, but somehow, I believe I always am. I cannot help feeling happy about life.

I wonder if I will ever meet all of my relatives. Both Mum and Dad have many children besides me. I hope I can get to America sometime, like April. Maybe I can meet some relatives if I do.

It Is Not Over Yet

The result of the Formula 1 World Championships is not final yet. There were questions on the fuel temperature of the Williams and BMW Sauber cars. The stewards of the race decided that there were not enough evidence to justify sanctions, but this decision may ye be appealed. If it is overturned and the questinoed cars are disqualified, Lewis Hamilton will get enough points from the race to beat Kimi Räikkönen to the title. I cannot understand why this have to be debated. Of course there is the honour of winning and it involves some prize money and perhaps better sponsor deals, but a subsequent questioning of the result like this would be unheard of for example at dog shows. Especially if you have to appeal a decision by the sewards in order to become a champion, you are not a worthy winner. I hope there will be no appeal. Lewis Hamilton seems to be talented enough to become a champion later, anyway.

Winners

Well, South Africa won the Rugby World Cup. This is nice for us in a way, since the name of our kennel, Aangenaam, is in Afrikans, one of the official languages of South Africa. On the other hand, this is about as South African as we are. Paula and Daniel thought it was a nice word with a nice meaning. The fact that the name comes first in most alphabtical lists is nothing that they thought of in advance, but still nice.

Kimi Räikkönen from Sweden's neighbour country Finland won the Formula 1 world championship in his Ferrari. It was an exciting race to watch, even though the pancake that Daniel ate while watching drew a lot of attention from us dogs as well. We got to taste some, but just small bits. Daniel said we had already had food, which was true, but a pancake is always a pancake. Well, we were happy with Räikkönen anyway.

Finals

It is the final of the Rugby World Cup today, England versus South Africa. Argentina beat France in the bronze game yesterday. Tomorrow is the final race in the Formula 1 World Championship, and there are three drivers who have a theoretical chance at the title: Hamilton (GBR), Alonso (ESP), and Räikkönen (FIN). An exciting weekend, but since there are not much interest in these sports in Sweden - especially not in rugby though that World Cup is the third largest sports event in the world - there is not much hype in mass media here. This is all right with me. My favourite form of competition is dog shows, but they never say anything about dog the results at dog shows in mass media.

Friday, At Last

When Paula is off on her holiday, we dogs have to be alone at home more than usual. Daniel has worked from home a lot, but he has still had to go to work many times. This was the last time this week, though, since it is Friday. Now I find a greater joy that the weekend is here than I usually do. Paula and April will be back in a week from now, we are all looking forward to that.

Canine Walk of Fame

Famous dogs of the entertainment world will get their own Walk of Fame at Battersea Park in London, England. It is about time. Dogs are so important in society and entertainment that it is surprising this has not happened before. I assume a lot of people and dogs will go to this Walk of Fame to honur the dog heroes and heroines whose names will be displayed there. I know I would like to. We will have to see if I ever get to England. Paula has a dream about showing a dog at Cruft's sometime, maybe I will be fortunate enough to fulfill that dream. Then we may be able to see this Walk of Fame at the same time.

Not Done Yet

Sweden only got a tie against Northern Ireland, 1-1, in the Euro qualification game today. If Sweden would have won, the team would have been qualified to the tournament next summer. I still guess it will be so. Norway won its game against Bosina-Herzegovina and may also be on its way to the tournament.

We Miss Paula and April

This is my 600th blog post. I do not feel like celebrating, though. There is a general blue mood in our house today. We miss Paula and April. I believe Dad misses Paula the most, whereas I am the one who miss my playmate April the most. We have heard from them, there were no problems on their journey to America and they feel fine. Still, we would rather like to have them at home. Right now, it feels like ages until they will return.

Daniel is glad for one thing, though, that he does not own any Ericsson shares. He did, some years ago. The price of Ericsson shares plumeted on the Stockholm Stock Exchange today, when it was disclosed that the profits of the company was much lower than expected. Maybe, just maybe, it is time to buy Ericsson shares now.

Paula and April Left for a While

Paula and April left us to go to America for a while. April is going to some dog shows over there. I would like to see America, too. Mum says she has had enough of travelling, she does not want to go back there. It is different for me, I have never seen Mum's and April's country of birth. I have been to Dad's home country, Norway, but that is much closer, a neighbour of Sweden. It is not the same thing as going to another continent. When I was really young, there was talk about me moving to the USA in a couple of years. There has not been as much talk about that lately. We will have to see what happens in the future.