Rottweilers. Computers. Cameras. World Domination. Not necessarily in that order.
Alphie is running for President Obama’s vacated senate seat, and he didn’t offer money to former Governor Blagojevich for it either. Okay, no, not really. He is my sister-in-law’s agility-titled rescued pit bull (one of two pit bulls that her family has rescued). Vote for him, please and thank you!
Stolen from Aerik’s blog because it looked like fun. Enter your blog URL in Wordle and it will produce a “word cloud” from your blog feed. Anyone surprised to see “dog” as the featured word in mine?
See the full-sized version here if clicking on the thumbnail doesn’t bring it up (image courtesy of http://www.wordle.net/).
Because I am so lame, I have been visiting the AKC site every day once a week had passed since Axel’s show debut weekend, waiting to see evidence of his official points progression. Never mind that the website clearly states that it could be several weeks before points are officially recorded.
I was quite busy at work on Monday and Tuesday, brought work home on Monday evening, and had no internet at home on Tuesday evening. So today during lunch I finally had a moment to check again. Look!
For those who remember that I said he has three points, apparently his point for the February 1 show did not make this report.
Of course we made some time to watch the Westminster Kennel Club show on Monday and Tuesday nights. The internet has made this event better for me, since Westminster KC now provides streaming video from each day’s breed judging. Rottweiler #10 in the breed judging video is Freya’s half brother Odin, by the way.
I always enjoy watching the TV broadcast of the group judging, particularly the Working and Herding groups. I was pleased to see 10-year-old “Stump” get Best in Show and his moment in the spotlight, but I honestly don’t know enough about the Sussex Spaniel standard to make any intelligent comments on the win.
I was looking at the #westminster Twitters after the fact, and it was fun to see what the general public tweets about dog shows. It was pretty obvious to me which tweets were from dog fanciers and which tweets were from people who think that dog fanciers are “psycho dog people.”
One tweet that left me perplexed was one where someone wondered why none of the female handlers wore high heels. Umm. I hope the tweeter was watching the Toy group judging at the time they tweeted. In the other groups, it would have been evident that you have to run down and back, and around the ring, with your dog. Personally, any scenario I can come up with that involves a show ring, my dog, running and high heels does not have a happy or pretty ending.
I was watching rather than tweeting myself, except for a tweet in which I wondered who the new co-announcer was. I really did not care for her at all.
I haven’t been to a dog show myself in quite a while. I’d like to visit Axel this weekend, but so far it’s not looking good for that. Maybe I’ll go to the International Kennel Club show for the first time in several years the weekend following, though.
I have always loved that pink hotel, the Royal Hawaiian Hotel.
The hotel was closed for a major renovation last year. Certain areas began reopening at the beginning of January, and the grand re-opening is set for March.
Banquet facilities and more guest rooms were opened a few weeks ago, featuring a gala inauguration ball on January 20. However, with the full re-opening over a month away, it seemed like a good idea to make sure all was well for our personal vacation tradition of having a drink at the Mai Tai Bar on the last night of our stay.
All is well:
Looks like they still have more work to do, but we’ll be able to enjoy some cocktails here on Tuesday evening.
The photo links to a few more Royal Hawaiian photos. If you like pink, that is.
And not to forget Axel. Final update for the weekend: Sunday, Winners Dog and Best of Winners for one more point. Three total points for the weekend, 12 more points and two majors needed for his championship. Good start for his very first weekend out! I am very proud of my puppy boy.
