The early bird gets the first post. ;-)

I used to be of the mindset that if they ever asked for volunteers to colonize Mars, I'd be one of the first in line.

Now that I can see 40 hurtling at me (or me hurtling towards it), I think I'd rather colonize a balmy Pacific island where coconuts and shellfish are the staple food and clothing is optional.

One thing these Mars articles always remind me of... back in the 70s when Viking sent those first live pictures back one strip at a time. I remember being glued to the television and being so sure that the next strip would reveal a little green guy waving from behind a rock.

Previous photos from Mars were always nothing but rocks and pebbles. Now, with advances in imaging technology we can see rocks, pebbles and dust.

//Its atmosphere was blasted away by meteor and comet impacts//
This sounds rather dubious to me.

*reposting as promised*

Slyness, I salute the happy couple as they begin their journey, and applaud them on their choice of a special day. Of course, you described it to a T. *hugs all around*

:-)

American Southwest???

*comparing Opportunity's photos to those of that crater out in Arizona*

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...

Where's my "Capricorn One" theme music???

//Its atmosphere was blasted away by meteor and comet impacts. It lacked the volcanic activity that could recycle carbon//
Meteors and comets not only add to the atmosphere itself, by adding mass they increase the planets ability to hold one. Mars probably lost its atmosphere when the magnetic field degraded and the solar wind blew the gasses away.
As to no volcanic activity, the largest ex-volcano in the solar system is on Mars. Whether or not plate tetonics occurred is another question.

Having once been in the petroleum business, I often ponder the below-surface aspects of the various planets, and what might reside there. Water on Mars exists in large quantities, I suspect, somewhat far below the surface. What's the average depth of the Martian water table? That's what I'd like to know. I assume the stuff makes it to the surface in large quantities extremely rarely. I think of this possibility as a Martian "lava." Since tectonic and marsquake activity is supposed to be extremely rare, this may indicate that the water that remains may be fairly well preserved at some depth.

As well, I learned something about the increasing heat gradient as one drills into our crust, and I extrapolate this too to our planets. If you go down about 25 feet, the temperature is the same all year round. Although this temperature would be higher if drilling from the equator, and lower if drilling from the polar regions. A loose rule of thumb we used in the some 35,000 feet of sedimentary basin in Texas was that you increase temperature by one degree Fahrenheit for every 60 feet deeper you drill. Routinely I experienced extremely hot specialty tools withdrawn from gas wells: 400 some degrees even after the time spent withdrawing the tools (15 - 30 minutes if running your winch at high speed).

Geologically, Mars (and our moon, too) is thought to be internally much cooler than the Earth, so one assumes the temperature increase with depth would be less on Mars.

At some depth below the surface of Mars, shielded by a permafrost at its upper boundary, perhaps, a source of water might easily exist, waiting to be tapped.

Why did the New Englander go around all day saying "Ahhh?"

I wonder if the orbiter could pick up Wile E. Coyote's dust cloud when he falls into that crater!!!

Jumper: Practicing his pronounciation of the letter "R?"

Rove's *explanation*: It wasn't our fault!

http://time-blog.com/allen_report/2006/11/the_architect_speaks.html?cnn=yes

Tasmanian Devil on Mars
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/mer/images.cfm?id=1682

GOOD MORNING, TEAM -- haven't read the kit yet, but will do that when I get back from Mom's. Going down to pick up *her* dog, Jake, who will be spending the coming week with Aunt Annie and Cousin Lukedog. And I must say, whoever said that having two dogs is not twice as much work was absolutely correct. It is four times as much work. But worth it, especially when it's cold and you can have a canine snugfest. Also getting a houseguest for a week. The human houseguest speaks limited English and the canine houseguest has no opposable thumbs, so the demands of hospitality may limit boodling time for a few days.

BPH was indeed fun, but AGAIN there was no Curmudgeon and there were no $1.99 cheeseburgers. I am beginning to think both those things are just bait-and-switch lures. When I see, then I will believe (hi, SF, *waving*)

LOSTINTHOUGHT: Please do call or e-mail. We should continue our conversation, helpful to both, I am hoping.

IVANSMOM -- How was the slumber party. Hope your strategic reserves of wine held up.

YOKI -- Will think of you especially in the coming week. My unofficial rule has been that the net weight of all dogs must never exceed the net weight of all humans in a household. When the houseguest leaves, I will be outnumbered and more importantly outweighed.

PAT -- have been thinking about you and about Betsey's family and about the funeral service. Do you know whether the Ave Maria was the Schubert or the Bach/Gounod?

SCOTTYNUKE -- oh, brave, brave man!

WILBROD -- way to go, with the table strategy! You have hit on the ONE THING capable of enhancing BPH quality of life even further (other than if those mythical $1.99 cheeseburgers actually existed).

See ya, gang.

'Twas "Talk like a Pirate Day."

I swear it looks like footsteps in that Mars picture. Or perhaps roadrunner tracks.

This is such a classic Achenbach column. It should be framed. Nobody else can do this stuff as well. And in case there is anybody out there who doesn't realize it, Joel explores these themes in his book "Captured by Aliens" available on Amazon or, I have been led to believe, Joel's basement.

What always strikes me when thinking about extraterrestrial life is the underlying assumption that its discovery would have massive world changing implications as we all undergo a profound philosophical paradigm shift. Somehow one envisions the populace running around igniting things. I wonder. Remember back when it was believed that evidence had been found of ancient life on a Martian meteorite? I question how many people actually followed that story long enough to learn how it all turned out.

I think it would be exciting and thrilling to discover life beyond the Earth. It would be nice to know that we are, in fact, not alone. But I wonder if it would really change the fundamental issues of earthly existence.

Unless, of course, new toys are involved.

Jumpah and Bad sneakah, funny!

Will leave Annie to the fur snugfest and endless licking-- adolescent labs tend to lick at the drop of a hat (and also gobble at the drop of a ham).

I got to look at Afganistan on a fly-over and it looked like the red rolling hills of Mars, indeedy. It's hard to believe there are any people down there.

EVIL LEAF BLOWER MORNING!!!

I can take a lot of heavy machinery noises, but outside my front door and nonstop for hours on end? Wilbrod wondered why I had my head under the bed.

By the way, I found out the Mars Rover isn't a dog at all. It's something like a leaf blower, instead.

If there are no trees, no dogs, I'm not going to Mars, nuh-uh.

Re. the "turnout" of the Martian Microbe - Okay, how DID it turn out?

I remember at some point in Monicagate it was indignantly stated that the Presidential Goat had leaked classified material to Monica - and that the info was the Martian Microbe news, while it was still classified. Which led me to a sense of outrage - not that he had leaked it, but the story that someone had actually classified this news, however briefly. That's just weird. I still think about that.

I worked hard to get rid of my Boston accent after hearing myself on tape when I was a teenager. "S" used to be in radio so has no accent at all. The woman next door is a sweetie but has the most exaggerated Boston accent I have ever heard. It's so extreme that it borders on parody. Both of my daughters speak without much accent but my granddaughters, for some strange reason, both pronounce "soda" as "soder." It drives me nuts. By the way, Ted Kennedy does not have a Boston accent. It's more of an Irish-Brahmin one.

"In space, no one can hear the leaf blower."

I realize that my post was totally off topic. But I'm feeling rather giddy and not focused as my kitchen is FINISHED!!!

There were more families at the Remembrance Day ceremony in Ottawa than usual in spite of the traditional drizzle. Many little kids wore bright red hats or toques looking like smiling poppies among the somber crowd.
Several years ago the remains of a WW I Canadian unidentified casualty was returned from France and interred in the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the National Cenotaph in Ottawa. After the ceremonies as the crowd was breaking up several people took the poppies from their lapels and placed them on the newly consecrated grave. A good idea catches on quickly and the Tomb was soon covered. I feel lucky to have witnessed group impulse that is likely to become a tradition.
Lest We Forget.

Hooray, BadSneakers! Are you sure your kitchen doesn't need one more thing, such as a hungry dog to help clean the floor?
Or a handy cooking alarm service with fur?

What time is dinner, Bad Sneakers? Should we bring anything?

Congratulations, Bad Sneakers! How to celebrate?

Front page: Democrats want to cut taxes.

If buttercups buzz'd after the bee,
If boats were on land, churches on sea,
If ponies rode men and if grass ate the cows,
And cats should be chased into holes by the mouse,
If the mamas sold their babies
To the gypsies for half a crown;
If summer were spring and the other way round,
Then all the world would be upside down.

Hi annie! *waving*

Hahahaha, I like your rule about not being outnumbered or outweighed. I've surrendered on that one when I'm alone with the beasts. They are all very sweet, so it's not really a problem. My concern is, you know how one dog will do something fairly disgusting from time to time? Well, when you have multiple dogs in the household, the disgusting behaviour is pretty much continuous. Blech.

On a more practical note, when we have been dog-sitting some not our own (we've had 7 Berners in the house at one time, more than once) one path to harmony is to give them lots and lots of exercise. I also do a lot of clicker training, even with dogs who have never been exposed to it before, since they pick up on the point of it within minutes. It keeps their minds focussed, so there is less mischief in the house. And of course, because they enjoy it so, when they are not thinking about working, they are thinking about me as the source of all good things. Cuts down on grumblies between them.

If they are really restless, I don't do what we call "obedience games" but real games. 100 Things to do with a Box, or Over and Under, or Dog Sandwich. I've never worked with a dog who didn't enjoy those.

Bad sneakers congratulations, what are you cooking to celebrate.

Boko thanks for the recap, we ment to watch the ceremony with the kids but got caught up in usual Saturday stuff - rushing to hockey, groceries, cleaning, laundry etc etc. I feel bad. Watch a show on the history channel last night on the battle of the Somme. There were trying to verify some film footage from that battle as authentic and it also told the story of two newfoundlanders, my age and former Canadian soldiers tracing the steps of two of their relatives who were in the battle of the Somme (1 died, 1 was one of the 68 Newfoundland survivors out of 700 plus). It was very interesting.

Thanks to dr for giving me a heads up to look for it.

I know there are many complaints that young people today do not know the history of the wars, but the Remembrance day attendance at the various ceremonies is increasing and my daughter spoke of the lessons they learned yesterday about Remembrance Day. Never having experienced war I don't know how we can expect them to fully understand, I do not myself, I can only be greatful for their efforts.

It does always seem grey and gloomy for Remmbrance day, rainy and cold here today, as sombre as the occasion.

Thank you for attending Boko.

You should describe those games for us all, Yoki, or post the links. I know about 100 things to do with a box, but I've never heard of dog sandwich.

I often buy kid toys to see what my dog will do with them. He was scared of hula hoops at first but now loves them, especially shaking them.

I think freestyle games rather than rigid obedience is more fun anyway.

I was able to take my dog over a rally-o obedience course without any problems except for my understanding of the diagrammed instructions.

Rally-O is freestyle obedience course-- you see diagrams stuck on signs, then direct your dog to do it-- can be done offleash and all waving and commands are allowed. AKC and APDT both offer those, but I've only tried the APDT course, and I hear it is rated a bit more fun than the AKC stuff by some ;).

--Not on topic.--

So, I might have missed this on a previous boodle, but it looks like Rummy's troubles may have just begun.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/6138480.stm

He might have to face criminal charges in Germany for abuse in Gitmo. hmmm...

sorry to bring up politics.

Well, that will be interesting to watch. The United States isn't very thrilled with German Law because there are too many cases of parents who have dual german-American citizenship fleeing America with their own kids, then claiming German citizenship, and under German law they can deprive the other American-born parents of all parental rights.

So I don't really see a lot of cooperation with extradition or respect for the legality of German law's ability to prosecute cases occuring on foreign soil.

EVEN if Bush wanted to throw Rummy to the wolves in Germany, the Dept of State would not particularly like this idea.

Bunny rabbits are not ostentatious! Harumph!

Do we know each other, Caged Rabbit? Do you want to be friends and let me sniff you?

Cheer to all boodlers!

haven't read the new kit yet either. just wanted to say hey:

wilbrod is a dame? Wilbrod, I had you pegged as a guy! dunno why -- I guess you're posts are gender-neutal -- no talk of experiences as woman (or a man).

S'nuke -- what a privilege for you to be the token guy at the BPH. Perhaps this was a nod to your service for us as a veteran. :-)

Kerric -- I know they make manual cruise contols -- but the continued shifting of gears in city environment was causing further wear and tear on mangled right shoulder -- and leg pain to boot.

But I have hit the brake on the new automatic more than once in an attempt to shift gears.

tangent -- thanks for the link to Rummy and war crimes charges. Very fitting. I don't think anything will come of it -- but it's stunning to see a U.S. SecDef
as a war criminal.

i don't disagree. Just a sign of how low our currency is.

Another brilliant November day -- nearly 80 degrees and cloudless. gonna go and play again.

chow

Hey, Bayou Self! How's it going?

My husband mentioned the Rumsfeld war crimes thing to me the other day. I never know quite when to believe him, because his news sources are a bit suspect. But I guess he was right about that (I couldn't get to the link just now, though) - and he was right about Kissinger advising Bush, too.

So what's happening with the Mars rover anyway? Are they still trying to figure out how to maneuver it into the crater without sending it rollers over teakettle?

Dog Sandwich is: have three large dogs, all in a long down. Place one in the middle of the room, with one each at either end. The one in the middle is to stay, while the other two crawl (keeping tum on the ground) forward so that you end up with three dogs, ribs touching, in the middle. Bread and filling. Of course, when I play this, I am the filling, since I love to be sandwiched between panting drooling black fuzzy animals. And it is easier to train when I am the filling, because they want to snuggle with me anyway.

The only time I had trouble with this was with a very dominant female who did not think that she had to obey when I was lower than she was. She learned, but it was a slow process and my happy voice was strained by the time it was complete.

Over and Under is simply teaching the animal to go over and under a hurdle on word (or sign) command, and then speeding it up, raising and lowering the bar, and combining them so that the animal is moving fast, pivoting quickly and alternating or randomizing over and under. It is fun, intellectually engaging for them, and can be tiring (a good thing!). Gus was my largest dog (135 lbs., 29 inches) and he could get under an amazingly low bar by the time he'd mastered it. I never tried having him do it to the Limbo song, in rhythm, but it would have been a good freestyle maneuver.

Because all the pups I have now have hip, knee, elbow problems, I can't do agility, drafting or rally-o with them. Gentle dog games take their place.

Wilbrodog,
As long as there is no licking.

I hear senior dogs can do freestyle, just not the more acrobatic moves.

Heck, some of those superfancy moves we couldn't do because my dog'd flatten me jumping on me ;). I think like dressage for horses, properly done, freestyle can be a real benefit for keeping strength and balance on aging joints.

(Dressage has been termed body-building for horses).

When things are set up again, I have to enroll Wilbrodog in a freestyle class. He'll love working around other dogs for the opportunity to BE around other dogs.

It's been tough to do classes with instructors since I'm always confused and always nervous about setting up a chain dog-owner wreck by going in the wrong direction, but I've heard good things about an instructor out in Burke Lake.

Thanks all. Wilbrod, I have two huge granddogs and I'm sort of dreading the fact that one of them will be here for Thanksgiving dinner. She is a great Great Dane, and rather drooly. I fear for my newly refinished floors. As long as she doesn't scratch them, I guess the rest can be cleaned up. I love dogs but don't think any dog could replace the one I grew up with, he was the best dog in the world (to me).

Just went out to buy swordfish, ("S" did so much work inthe kitchen and that's his favorite thing) but ironically, we cook that on the grill. But there will be creme puffs for dessert. Yesterday I made cranberry bread and hermits, today I bought some very expensive blueberries as I missed having my traditional summer blueberry cake. Next weekend, when I have unearthed the lobster pot, I will get a couple of 2 pounders and we'll feast on that. And then of course there's Thanksgiving dinner coming up. Need to beef up my cooking/baking muscles after five months of microwaving. I will be celebrating the ktichen right up through the Christmas season as I do a lot of cookie baking then to carry on my mother's tradition.

Bad Sneakers, congrats on the new kitchen! Sounds like you're going to enjoy breaking it in. Time for me to do my semi-annual clean-the-stove-and-oven activity before the heavy duty baking and cooking for the holidays.

Speaking of dressage, last week I was watching a jumping competition on the Canadian channel (natch), and one of the horses had been a dressage competitor previously. The commentators noted his propulsion from his hindquarters and responsiveness to his rider. Where else could I share that?

Oooh, gotta go - sunshine!

Joel, Joel. The Kit is a brilliant exposition of the mythical expedition to Mars, but they've got you again. The picture looks like the American Southwest, you say? Look closer -- it IS the Southwest! Scientists went in and pulled up the desert plants and carefully filled in the holes before setting up the shot. You know NASA, desperate for funding.

Really truly, it is amazing to think that we can now see pieces of Mars (bars of Mars? Mars bars?). I findit all too easy to take technological and scientific advances for granted, but this stands out.

I wish I'd pulled this up before the Visiting Boys all departed, to show them the picture. I'll inflict it on the Boy later. The sleepover (boys don't have slumber parties) went very well. They kept it down to a low roar, ate lots of spaghetti, popcorn and cinnamon rolls, drank lots of juice, and played heartily. I very sternly told them that bedtime was midnight, but they'd all conked out by 11:30. I picked up some fresh basil & mozzarella, Italian olives, dates and a Spanish Tempranillo, and had a lovely time. Ivansdad played computer games with them. Glad we're back to normal.

Sky report: Blue blue sky and cool, crisp air. Yesterday we had a vicious wind but today all is relatively calm. The leaves are mixed green, yellow, russet brown, and deep red, and really stand out against the blue.

Hi, Bayou Self!

Annie, don't kid yourself. We both know it was the Schubert. After hearing me sing this at several weddings and funerals, an acquaintance remarked that it was the only song a soprano needed to know. I said yes, it is hard-wired into our DNA. I myself prefer the Bach-Gounod, but nobody ever asks.

Well, you can put down carpet runners or something.

Good luck, drool at least is easy to clean up. I would probably suggest keeping some dog treats in a location well away from the kitchen-- easy way to distract the dog away from the floors ;).

Great Danes tire easily so they're pretty good house dogs past the puppy stage. Their thin fur also means they like the warm parts of the house (huh-oh, kitchen), but they'd rather lie on something soft and warm than on cold floors, unlike Wilbrodog who seems to think it is his mission to warm up linoleum.

As for dogs-- it's very true that no dog as an adult is quite the same as the dog you had growing up as a kid. I waited 11 years to get another dog.

However, you certainly can appreciate your first dog as an adult in a different way. For me, it's the fact I can train my dog more than I did as a kid, that he also is a working dog and does much more for me in many ways.
The lifestyles between then and now are just so apple and oranges, that I feel no guilt feeling he's the best dog I could ever have right now, while still thinking my old childhood dog was a great dog and extremely smart (but not extremely trained).

I mean, if we owned this dog as a kid, he'd be jumping over our 3 feet fences all the time-- my old dog just opened gates. I accidentally learned he could jump 3 feet before he was 14 months old by trying to have him paws-up on a stone wall over 3 feet high.

The next instant, he was on top of the wall. I didn't even see him move from a stand right next to the wall. I had NO idea dogs could jump like cats from a standing start.

My old dog likely had hip problems all her life-- she took some teaching to jump anything, and then she would hop over little dogs. Never would she try (or could try) jumping on that wall.

I could see Wilbrodog wouldn't be so great for back then, but absolutely great for right now. Maybe choosing a different sex and breed mix helps-- the difference in grooming alone is nice.

He's just a different best friend for today rather than as a kid.

n my excitement I forgot the sky report. Pale blue sky with blurry looking high cloulds in streaks across it. Quite mild here for this time of year, around 60. Perfect for yard work, although all the leaves aren't down yet. I did do some cleanup this morning before the baking frenzy overtook me. The sun's angle is so low now, it's only 2:30 but the shadows are very long across the yard. Looks like this is the last of our nice days, rain and an east wind coming, it might be a good time to check out our fireplace.

Good afternoon, friends. What those pictures make me think of is a place that is oh, so, lonesome. It does look like our American Southwest, but the loneliness and lack of life, just kind of jumps out at you.

Good writing, JA.

Martooni, great to hear from you, hang in there.

Glad to hear from you, bayou self. Hope everything is going well for you.

I am going to miss Ed Bradley on Sixty Minutes. I loved his easy going style, and relaxed interviews. He was a great journalists, and paved the way for many. He always seemed intensely interested in the person he was interviewing, and I can imagine that was part of his success as a top-notch journalist.

Glad you got the kitchen finished, Bad sneakers. I hope you enjoy it all the year, and especially during the holidays.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend, folks. I'm hanging in there. Life does go on, although at times it does get heavy. Thank you for thinking of me, and as always prayers have been said for all, and blessings asked, and placed at the feet of God who loves us so much more than we can imagine through Him that died for all, Jesus Christ.

The g-girl flooded the bathroom yesterday, and I was so wiped-out by the time I cleaned that mess up, I went to bed. Still tired. When I got to the bathroom door everything was floating towards me. Ah, life, isn't it grand?

You are very wise, dogwise, Wilbrod. True that I'll never replace my childhood companion but, except for his very long fur, he was part collie and part english setter, he'd still be a great friend today. He loved bike rides and long walks on the beach (that sounds funny!) and he was the only reason that I, as an overprotected only child, was ever let out of the house. I can still hear my father saying when I asked to go somewhere, "take the dog." Of course I would require a dog today to be better trained but times were different then, no leash laws, for example.

The Great Dane is really a good dog. She can't help that she drools. She loves something called pig ears but boy are they messy. I know my daughter will take her for a long walk before she comes so that she will be tired. I just have to figure a way to keep her off my new beige sofa!! She is definitely a lap dog. I once dog sat for her. She slept on the futon in the living room til about 6 am, then showed up wanting to join me in the bed. She likes to be tucked in and have a pillow. Did I mention that she is spoiled rotten? But cute.

...out of the loop, as always.

Thursday morning my bedside Bose radio reported that recently the moon belched out one huge cloud of gas. Probably methane. i rolled over and went back to sleep.

On Veterans' Day afternoon I listened to NPR "Talk of the Nation" which played a two hour "Living History Project" narrated by Walter Kronkite--interviews with WWI survivors.

Site should be thelivinghistoryproject.org

SOme years back I interviewed, at the family's request, the oldest Wyoming survivor of WWI. He had ridden a plow horse in to the enlistment center in Indianapolis. Was put on a two horse team which pulled a cannon. Two horses, side by side, drew each cannon, both saddled, but there was a rider on only one. He described how many, many horses were lost during the course of the war.I asked what kind of activity, celebration occurred among the men when the armistice was finally settled. He said they began to see trucks with headlights on driving at night on the roads, but they were so exhausted they just went to sleep. He suffered lifelong problems with lung difficulties due to phosgene and other gasses but eventually worked for the Forest Service. Am glad I was able to do that for the family.

Oh, I hear you on that, Bad Sneakers. Wilbrodog likes pig ears, but I feed it to him very rarely-- expensive, and basically junk food.

I can get cuts of Steak that's cheaper per pound than pig ears. I also found pig neck bones are really nice and cheaper too.

I once held a plate of steak and a bagful of pigears and asked which he wanted.

His expression was priceless "Am I dreaming?" He looked back and forth and finally extended a quivering nose at the steak. (Yeah, he got some of the steak, I wouldn't tease a dog like that.)

BTW, I'd suggest draping your sofa to be safe. Wilbrodog wants to say HE never goes on the furniture, can he be invited too?

Son and husband just left to see Borat. I'll get the full report when they get back.

In the meantime, here are two comics from a guy named Drew. He does two Internet comics, Toothpaste for Dinner and Married to the Sea...

This one seems appropriate for the pointy, science-types here:
http://www.toothpastefordinner.com/111106/math-is-addictive-dont-try-it.gif

This is for all of our bloggers (pardon the language):
http://www.marriedtothesea.com/110506/blogmonks.gif

Hey! I don't have any haircuts!

To all you veterans and those still in uniform, I say: Thank you.

Scottynuke, having an evening with a brace of lively, intelligent women that you aren't related or married to - you lucky, lucky guy!

A morning sky report: I looked at the horizon where the sun would rise, and I shivered a little in the cold predawn air. The sky above the horizon turned maroon, then blood red, as a chilly wind blew at my face. I narrowed my eyes, looking for a certain blue star that I knew would precede the sun into the sky. That cruel cold wind carried tears back from my face and into my ears, as the sky lightened into a pinkish orange and the sun crept over the horizon.

I heard the door shut behind me and a *crunch crunch CRUNCH* of footsteps coming towards me as she made her way across the dusty, rocky ground. Dejah Thoris wrapped her arms around my ribs from behind, snuggled against me and laid her head on the base of my neck.

"You still want to go home," she said, softly.

"My home is here with you, my love," I said. "My heart wants to visit the green fields I knew as a kid, but my head knows that they're long gone. I'll always be *of* the Earth I knew, but the reality is that it's gone. I don't suppose I'll ever really be over it. But I'll try to put it behind me, because we have a life to build, and a lot of work to do."

She pulled even tighter against me, and whispered fiercely,
"*Don't* forget it, darling! I am of *this* world and not yours, and I am asking you to help us not make the same mistakes your people did. Your broken heart may be the difference between returning this world to the lush, beautiful place it once was and our destroying it through anger or carelessness. You may be here by accident and alive because of your intelligence and will, but I think you have a purpose here with us. And with me."

She grabbed my arm and spun me around to face her. Princess she is, and strong as she is beautiful. I looked at her flawless red complexion and into those impossibly green eyes, and kissed her.

She drew away, grabbed my hand and led me back to our tent, which was the only sign of life in the expanse of barren landscape.

She smiled coyly at me over her shoulder as she opened the door, "And for our children."

As I ducked my head to go in, I looked back at that blue green star as it faded in the pink sky with the coming of the sun. A dust devil kicked up in the cold breeze, and I was reminded of an old song:

"...all we are is dust in the wind.."

Perhaps. Perhaps not.

bc

Thanks, TBG, I was just sitting here trying to think of a worthy subject for my weekly blog entry, and that cartoon really boosted my self esteem.

Speaking of self esteem, I'm looking forward to the VonDrehl discusssion, when we all express our disdain for everyone who goes through life "getting by on their looks" instead of taking the much more elevated path of "success through intellectual achievement." How I pity those poor, beautiful people with the supremely symmetrical features.

Oh, wait, today's topic was Mars? Sorry.

When I look at those Mars pictures and then look out my back door, the contrast could not be greater: my yard looks positively juicy with life. There is vegetation covering every inch of ground and also the bricks and pavement, where we haven't cut it back lately. One of the citrus trees is in the process of being engulfed by a strangler fig. I fought the strangler fig for a couple of years, but the other members of my family have told me to stop cutting it back and let it live. It's healthier than the host tree and in a few years it will almost literally have "eaten" the citrus tree. It's kind of a fun process to watch. And very unlike Mars, for instance. Of course, plant life is only part of the picture. Lizards, squirrels, birds, spiders, all kinds of insects. Oh, yeah, we're on the right planet, for sure.

A nice mix of Barbara Cartland and Stephen Colbert's Tek Jensen.

I drove several hundred miles in a snowstorm and back yesterday and this morning. It leads to much contemplation. We listened to the rembrance day services on the radio, though I dearly missed the tv coverage. In the end, it matters not. I will remember anyway. My deepest prayers are that we would learn live in peace.

My Remembrance Day thoughts led me to Cassandra. I read about all the sorrows you carry, your prayers, and your doing something to make things right in ordinary little ways, one step at a time. I find myself not a little in awe of the generosity of your spirit. My sons was playing Johny Cash and when I heard these lyrics, I thought of you.

Man In Black
Well, you wonder why I always dress in black,
Why you never see bright colors on my back,
And why does my appearance seem to have a somber tone.
Well, there's a reason for the things that I have on.

I wear the black for the poor and the beaten down,
Livin' in the hopeless, hungry side of town,
I wear it for the prisoner who has long paid for his crime,
But is there because he's a victim of the times.

I wear the black for those who never read,
Or listened to the words that Jesus said,
About the road to happiness through love and charity,
Why, you'd think He's talking straight to you and me.

Well, we're doin' mighty fine, I do suppose,
In our streak of lightnin' cars and fancy clothes,
But just so we're reminded of the ones who are held back,
Up front there ought 'a be a Man In Black.

I wear it for the sick and lonely old,
For the reckless ones whose bad trip left them cold,
I wear the black in mournin' for the lives that could have been,
Each week we lose a hundred fine young men.

And, I wear it for the thousands who have died,
Believen' that the Lord was on their side,
I wear it for another hundred thousand who have died,
Believen' that we all were on their side.

Well, there's things that never will be right I know,
And things need changin' everywhere you go,
But 'til we start to make a move to make a few things right,
You'll never see me wear a suit of white.

Ah, I'd love to wear a rainbow every day,
And tell the world that everything's OK,
But I'll try to carry off a little darkness on my back,
'Till things are brighter, I'm the Man In Black

That is how I see you, carrying the troubles of so many. May you be filled with the grace of rainbows.

Hey, I heard those interviews with WWI survivors yesterday. Wonderful stuff.

I saw "Borat" a few days ago, still laughing about it. There are a couple of scenes I'm going to remember forever. And the line, "I'll get the wedding sack ready." I wouldn't recommend it to everyone though.

bc

After all the dust, dirt, boxes, and general upheaval of the last 5 months, I would really like everyone who comes for Thanksgiving, including the dog and my granddaughters, to wear full body condoms with a circular tray around their waists (or neck in the case of the dog). That way there would be no shedding, drooling or spilling in my clean and orderiy (at last!) house. But I will protect the sofa with something, just in case. If Wilbrodog wants to dress accordingly, he is welcome.

A dog story you will like, Wilbrod. This afternoon my daughter (the little boy I didn't have) was tossing a football around with a friend. The Great Dane got into the spirit by tackling my daughter, whose head ended up in the dog's mouth. If you know GD's, you know their mouths are plently big enough to fit a head into. My daughter claims to be unhurt, it was all in fun, but I think she has a few scratchs on her face.

I hope the dog got a full halt of the play and a solid ignore.

Wilbrodog learned by a few "bite inhibition lessons" that he is not allowed to put his mouth anywhere near my body because it's too easy for wrong moves to be made and for his teeth to hit me-- hard. It took 20 minutes and he likes to jump up near me but turn his head. Only one time did I excite him so much he forgot and opened his mouth near me, and he accidentally nipped my elbow.

I did the same thing-- stop play and ignore. Then I asked him if he would try that again. "No."

After that he was so careful he wouldn't even react to my play invites for a while. LOL. "I'm not even responding to THAT! It'll only end in trouble for me."

Since one reason I did not want a pure lab was that every lab I've seen wants to jump on people, I appreciated that WIlbrodog was trained not to jump on people-- almost-- he still does it once in a while out of the blue, but he doesn't TACKLE people.

He stands on his hind legs like a poodle, not so good right now he doesn't practice much, but he startled me once when he did it right in my face and then nuzzled me on the cheek-- eye to eye with a dog!

There is no "all in fun" when a dog grabs any part of the person's body in my book, but that's because most 8 years old are taller than me and I don't think it's a good habit for a dog to tackle people my height at all.

Mind you, he will still resort in rough play with me similar to what the Great Dane did-- the difference is his head is always turned away to avoid any accidents.

Once when running a bit and letting him try to "herd me", he ran at me while I was standing, jumped up and it was only when I felt sudden wet on my hand that I realized he had put his mouth around my hand and let go while jumping.

Dogs do have very good eye-mouth coordiation and can wrap mouth around things without biting, but add in unexpected human movement, and it becomes much less safe.

The "Looks Issue" of the WaPo Sunday Magazine is indeed full of good stuff. Learning about "The Pencil Test" alone was worth the price.

A BPH picture or two on my blog!

wilbrodog.blogspot.com

Not good pictures, but as I explain, I had a lousy view of things.

Grading papers, here. Lurking to reword myself after three papers done...but must ask RD P.

Pencil test: regarding female upper story anatomical charms?

Is there another pencil test?

--
Love the doggie stories. The dog deity has been very good to this household -- long life to very good accidental or rescue pets...I have had only four dogs in my entire life....two overlapped. I know of a great dane whose ashes were comingled with his "mommy" five or six years later when a darling mom of four died way too early...urn sat on mantel for years....like a beloved human bean.

Without looking at the article to which you are referring, Padouk, please know that the pencil test must be at least 20 years old. The first time I remember reading about it was in Glamour magazine when I was just a nubile young thing. There is some history there that goes back to the women's lib days. Yawn.

Pencil test has many meanings:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pencil_test

The one Loomis is thinking of, I never heard of-- in any case would not have needed to take it.

By the way, I am verklempt that Loomis would confess to having read Glamour.

_I_ have never read Glamour.

O.K., I went to the Rachel Manteuffel article (what a name...means "man devil" auf Deutsch).

Wilbrod, all my memories are associated with the second definition given by Wiki. *Back in the day* it was Glamour's way of helping a woman decide whether or not to go braless. Pencil falls to the floor, fling the bra out the window or hang it on the bedpost. Pecil stays in situ, well, they don't nickname it "the over the shoulder boulder holder" for nuttin'.

I'm more interested in passage from DVD about why women with hard lives, from the lower socioeconomic ladder, were ruled out when it came to mesuring estrogen (estradiol IIRC) levels?

You make a good point about dogs mouths, Wilbrod. I'm afraid my daughter, for all of her love of animals, isn't the best disciplinarian (she also has a nine foot red tailed boa and used to own a Belgian draft horse). If I ever get a dog, I know who to go to for advice.

Update on celebratory dinner for new kitchen. Swordfish was grilled perfectly by "S." Cream puffs came out great, light, crispy but tender. Just got back from what should be our last trip to Lowe's for a while. Ready to curl up and rest.

SCC: Pecil...pencil, in passage..in a graf

Pizza's ready! Can't concentrate. Dinner's ready!

*wilbrod, I probably subscribed to Glamour for about 15 or 20 years when I was younger*

From Wiki: three or four down the list --

An informal name for the vertical line test or a hands-on approach to this test. A person places a pencil vertically on a graph, then moves it horizontally across the portion of the graph depicted on the paper. If at any point the pencil intersects the graph in two or more points, it is an indication that it is not a function.

--
Ah AH! The Official Tin Hat Pointey-Sciencey Pencil Test

If you don't like tin, substitute alumninum.

For those in the DC area, WETA TV is showing "The Maltese Falcon" tonight at 9:00. Wonderful, wonderful movie.

Did annie say that M&S no longer has the $1.99 cheeseburgers for the BPH? What's the story with that? Did we eat them out of house and home?

It's Monday through Thursday only, that got forgotten in the excitement. Their regular menu prices nearly gave me an heart attack.

Ah, that makes sense. Thanks, Wilbrod. Yeah, their regular prices ain't cheap. It makes the comparison between the happy hour prices and the regular prices pretty shocking.

Hey... maybe I missed it, but did ScienceTim and DadWanneBe ever find each other over there at Rocket Scientist Central?

Oh yeah, it was beautiful. Apparently Dadwannabe had bought a bike from SciTim once upon a time, and it all clicked.

I wept.

What a beautiful day we've all had!

The weather could not have been more perfect - a Carolina blue sky and temps in the upper 70's. I had to get the dress sandals out, the closed-toe pumps just wouldn't have done. Younger daughter made the trip from Chapel Hill and couldn't wear the fancy winter sweater I had bought her because it was too heavy.

My elder daughter and the bride blew through just before lunchtime, still in their jeans, from having their hair done. Bride in jeans with tiara, veil, and full bridal makeup. Hilarious!

The wedding went off without a hitch, I'm glad to say. I did NOT cry (at least, nothing running down my cheeks), although I got choked up when signing the register; they had the portrait of her father on the table. The bride was lovely and the groom was serious until she got up to hito the front of the sanctuary. Then he smiled and didn't stop smiling.

Good drink, good food, good fun at the reception. Since elder daughter wanted me to drive her car home, I sent hubby home without me and enjoyed chatting with the young people. I had a wonderful conversation with elder daughter's boyfriend when nobody else was listening. He lost his father back in the summer in sad circumstances and we talked about that. He is serious about my daughter, and I expect we will be doing this with them next year this time. That makes me happy!

A perfect wedding day, the kind everyone should have!

Now I get to rest.

Cassandra, you are in my thoughts and prayers. Snuke, thanks for your good wishes. Wilbrod, I never read Glamour either. I have to depend on the elder daughter to keep me from fashion faux pas.

G'night everybody!

Just got back from a meeting of the Emma Rose Jewelry (Collective)--the three of us will be doing the big handmade jewelry show in December. Worked out all the details, I'm happy to report that everyone is prepared to do more than their share, which makes it easier for each person to do her share alone. We all have different styles, and it's a nice group. I'm prepared to break records for a first show!

Re: dogs we've had at different stages of our lives. Wilbrod, I believe if you pick with your heart, you get the right dog for who you are now. (Warning: Not looking for pity here, but it's part of the story. If you want to comment, that's okay, but don't feel you have to. I'm good.). When I was a child, my mother was physically abusive. The emergency room staff knew me because I was so *clumsy.* And when I was about 6 we got a dog, a young adult boxer, not quite a year old. Something set her off, she started for us, and this new, skinny pup stepped between her and us kids, looked up at her and seriously growled. She backed off, and was never able to touch us in the house again. You may never know what position a dog really holds in a family.

Lucia, my unicorn lab, was the first dog I ever had who was only mine. I'd just gotten divorced and bought a new house, and although I got her at the shelter, she saved me. She was a kid's dog, puppy-like to the end, but I couldn't have afforded her when I was a kid--she wouldn't have been able to protect us. As an adult, I could just enjoy what she offered, as a friend--she re-childhooded me.

CP, I believe your pencil test works to define a function in math, but not Computer Science (how's that for a pointy-head comment?).

Bad Sneakers, dinner sounds wonderful. I envy your house being finished; I'm close, but not quite there yet, I need about another week of contractor time. Can we do one of those cookie exchange things at Christmas? It could be like a progressive dinner, but across state-lines and only dessert.

Wanted to ask if anyone else either takes Hyaluronic Acid or gives it to their aging pets? Worked for my arthritis, helped Lucie immensely, and now Cutter's benefiting from it. It seems to work better than glucosamine. I understand some of it metabolizes into glucosamine, but one of the real scientists here would have to speak to that. It also helps maintain the fluid in your joints.

Have a good weekend all, and thanks for reading. Sorry if I upset you, hope you didn't think it was inappropriate. They might be aliens for all I know, but it's magical how different species can live together here on earth.

A quick hello to those who might care.

I'm doing okay. I'm still in there, teaching journalism to high school students. I still have a class of beginning journalism students (out of three) that I could strangle. The photojournalism class is doing great and -- hard to believe -- absorbing the information I have shared with them. Most of them will have credited pictures in the yearbook. And the yearbook staff -- insert trumpet blare here -- is doing okay. Flash drives are the order of the day, as we share copy and pictures. Secretly, (and does this make me a bad teacher?) I look forward to next year, when I'll have kids working on the yearbook that I taught and trained.

This past week -- tie to Mars coming, perhaps -- the kids worked on skits (skits!) in groups (groups!) demonstrating the five elements of the First Amendment and how they can be controversial. I am videotaping them and the classes will help to review and grade them. Only one of the groups has a skit that mocks me, so I think it's an overall success.

But my videotaping skills aren't what they used to be. I'm shakier than I used to be. I work off of a tripod for one take, and then let them do it again with me working "off the sticks," as they say, or in "handheld" mode. So far, the video still appears (tie in to Mars now arriving) better than NASA-quality work.

Slyness, I thought about you today and was hoping you were having as pretty a day as we did.

Glad everything went well--sounds like lots of fun! I'm glad you checked in.

Bayou!

We were just asking after you last night at the BPH. I'm glad you checked in, too!

I disagree with Wilbrod.

The very worst thing one can teach a dog is that s/he may never put a mouth on human skin at all.

Wilbrod has written here at length about how dogs do not naturally move from the particular to the general. That is true. So if you teach a dog never to bite *you* that doesn't mean the dog will not bite someone else.

I take the position that any thinking dog must learn self-discipline. There is an acceptably soft mouth, and an unacceptably hard mouth, and I expect and teach my dogs to know the difference. They have to think about what they are doing. They *must* know the difference between a hard mouth and a soft mouth and know that only a soft mouth is acceptable on human skin.

Every dog has a breaking point, where s/he *will* bite. If you haven't seen your dog reach that point, it does not mean your dog will never bite, only that it has never been pushed to that extreme. And if that dog has not been taught to discriminate between hard and soft-mouthing, trouble ensues.

If you as the human/companion/owner decide when mouths can be used, the dog has no self-discipline, and is is not immune from becoming a fear/defensive biter.

If you as the owner are in charge of the dog's thinking, the dog is not thinking and has no judgment. That may seem like an ideal situation, until it isn't. And at that point, the situation may be desperate.

The dog should learn to know for itself when to defer. There is a very simple exercise to teach this, if necessary.

I'm sure this post is very boring to most of the boodle, but as a reluctant rescuer for over 15 years, I become angry when animals are surrendered to shelters and rescue groups when just a little understanding of their psychology could prevent that.

On this one small occasion, Wilbrod is just plain wrong. In spite of her very self-confident and flat declarative style that seems convincing.

dbG, you are very right. Never pick a dog you have doubts about. I was set to adopt another dog before Wilbrodog but I had nightmares for a few days and was glad to call it off-- in hindsight, I was extremely glad.

Then I decided to go look at this lab puppy that was obedience trained, but you know, a LAB... not my favorite breed (got the bite marks to explain it).

So I went, looked at him, realized he wasn't pure lab and acted vaguely like he had some herding dog in him. I'm like hallejuah. I tested him, and it was good and getting better and better.

By the end, I was not exactly ready to consider him a great snugglebunny or a magical personality, but I had already handled him much more thoroughly than I would ever do with a strange dog for fear of being bitten. Good.

But it was one certain moment sold me on his potential smarts, and desire to communicate with me.

Yoki: //The dog should learn to know for itself when to defer. There is a very simple exercise to teach this, if necessary.//

I'd like to hear how you teach this.

Wilbrod, prior to being trained to do shelter evals (by the lab rescue I volunteered with), my simple method for picking dogs for myself and friends was to ask the shelter staff which dog *they* liked the most and why. Maybe it's just the extra attention these dogs got from a staffer which helped develop them, or maybe they got the attention because they were extraordinary to begin with.

When I did evals, I might evaluate 3 or more dogs in a day from different shelters. There was always one where I'd write, "If we have 1 foster home, this is the dog." No idea where the certainty came from. Contrarywise, the most difficult foster I had was evaluated by someone else. She was a chocolate tornado (lab) and had a difficult personality. She wouldn't have been my "this is the dog," but she came around brilliantly and is still in a wonderful home where they love her for who she is.

I don't know--maybe all dogs AND all people are extraordinary, and it's positive attention by others which makes this manifest. When you find the right match, it's unbeatable.

How do you teach bite inhibition, Yoki?

I should have put it in. I understand your concern here.

It's very simple-- the dog bites too hard in play, you yelp, and ignore the dog.

(NEVER scold the dog, grab or otherwise try and control the dog's mouth.)

I assume this is what you mean, this is standard. It mimicks how dogs naturally learn bite inhibition when playing with other dogs.

Let me explain why my dog turns his head. It wasn't because I controlled his head at all.

The problem is that when he was playing with me he would whack me with a tooth by accident when jumping up on me with mouth open. It hurt, so I'd yelp, stop, and ignore.

MY DOG decided for himself that turning his head would solve the problem of further accidents. It did.

I did NOT turn his head or otherwise control his mouth.

He's only nipped me once since then and it was soft, so I'm not worried about his bite inhibition, since he understood such a soft nip was enough to hurt me.

Sadly, I think not. I have had, over the last 15 years, three fosters whom I loved dearly, but know could not be safely placed. The only good thing I could do was to acknowledge that they were ruined aggressive dogs, and hold them in my lap and whisper kind words in their ears while they went.

DBG said:
"CP, I believe your pencil test works to define a function in math, but not Computer Science (how's that for a pointy-head comment?)."

--
Hairsplittingly perfect. Or as Mary Poppin quips, "practically perfect in every way."

I appreciate all the dog sense, even complex ideas with edges between.

I am stunned, after all these years, to have had two rescue poodles. A black standard whose heart of gold lapsed on the day after thanks giving two years ago. 15 years of lanky, loyal affection.

Now I have his familiar in a twelve pound model. Children in the neighborhood think I have a "wittle- back sheep in my house."

I was bit once badly by a crabby dachsund who chased me into a large hole. The six foot whole was to plant a birch tree in (the six foot whole became a legend in our neighborhood.) My father kept filling it with leave mulch and fish offal. It was at least a sixth month project.

I ran from the dog and fell into the whole. The dog may have confused me with general fish offal-delish.

I am not afraid of dogs. But I don't eat fish. Period. No fatty omega-3 and 6s for me, via swimming senient beings.

Back to grade two more papers. More on Sunday. Sheep at my feet.

Did I say that I am not a puddle person? Meant to. But somehow these two are not twitchy. I have NEVER trimmed them into topiary, either. Some puddle people think I commit poodle abuse by not beautifying them, puffwise.

I go further, Wilbrod (though now I understand we agree about bite-inhibition training).

I gather you are very sensitive to dog body language. You and I both clicker train, so we share this. Yeoman and Broc and Libby (and Tod, Reba, Gus, Jeff, Cleopatra [Queen of Denial], Lucy and Phoenix), though, will pretend nibble near my hand; that is fine; they know that they are not allowed to bite, and are inhibiting their own excited bite response. That is what I was speaking about in my earlier post. Bite inhibition is more important to good dogs than bite prohibition.

As I say, this is easily taught, and if dBg would like step by step instructions, I can give those.

SCC:
When the dog nips too hard, you yelp, stop any contact whatsoever with the dog, turn your head and body away and ignore and wait until the dogs calms down.

From what I hear, this works with 80% of most dogs.

In my case, I did this 5 times in 20 minutes and after that he understood not to nip at all. After that, he'd hit me sometimes with teeth as his mouth was open (from the side) as it collided with my hand or fingers.

I think Yoki was set off by hearing my dog averts his head when jumping up on me and thought I used punitive techniques or otherwise to control my dog's nipping or biting behavior.

Not at all. I just used the same technique for hitting me with his teeth by accident-- ow that hurts, I don't want to play like that anymore.

He willingly shows his self-control so he can play exuberantly with me without hurting me.

I find it very, very scary for a dog to jump on a person's head or neck.

That behavior is unacceptable even in play. It doesn't have to be punished with scoldings, just shown that it is harmful to the owner and will result in no more play, and the owner also needs to calm the dog and cut off play before the dog is that aroused.

It's too easy to kill a human by mistake that way, even with a very mere nip, that there is NO difference between biting hard and biting lightly in that case. People can easily kill other people by grabbing them by the neck in play, without any excessive force, and dogs as small as chihuahuas have killed with neck nips too.

Nothing to do with fear bites here.

CP: //Sheep at my feet.
Did I say that I am not a puddle person?//

Love the sheep at your feet! I think puddles are very cute.

My dogs have gotten smaller over time. Somewhat similar to annie's rule, mine is I can 150# worth of dog--2 75# ones, or 3 50# ones, etc. It used to be 250#, but I started getting them smaller with Lucia. It must be nice to be able to get the same temperament/breed, just way smaller! Labs under 50# are called *pocket* labs, and generally they're in demand from rescues. As are *training-wheel dogs,* ones that are adults, calm, well-raised, can teach an inexperienced family all about how to live with a dog.

Hope you didn't mind the function comment. As a practicing professional, I can be excruciatingly precise in my terminology. Keeps my client-base in their place. :-)

No! I never thought Wilbrod used punitive training techniques. Never never. And neither do I. My point is, that the dog has to learn self-control and discipline. And then s/he will not be a loose-lipped biter.

To do that, Wilbrod and I agree, entirely positive training (even operant conditioning, which makes the animal *think*) is the way to go.

Thanks, Yoki, I'd appreciate it.

Emma nibbles near my hands when I come home, I know it's an affectionate response from her, it's very soft.

But I'm very aware that dogs sometimes end up in rescue because their person dies or is incapacitated. I'm careful not to encourage any behavior that might not bother me, but would keep them from being accepted. (I would never give up one of my guys willingly, but . . . )

It's also likely that I'll foster again, and I have had labs come in with very poor manners.

I will post some bite-inhibition training techniques tomorrow, if Joel says doesn't mind. Wilbrod has elucidated the natural pack-oriented way above. I have another one, quite unnatural, and entirely positive, and effective.

'Night all.

And now for something completely different--back to politics.

The illusion of control is a difficult thing to give up. Witness Rove's explanations!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/11/AR2006111101103.html

hahahahaha. So your adopters want house-trained, obedience-trained, well-behaved older dogs? Mine too. And these are the dogs that we are fostering???? Ya. No. We get the ones that have never been exercised, or groomed, or trained, or socialized. That is why it is called rescue.

Yoki: //hahahahaha. So your adopters want house-trained, obedience-trained, well-behaved older dogs? Mine too. And these are the dogs that we are fostering???? Ya. No. We get the ones that have never been exercised, or groomed, or trained, or socialized. That is why it is called rescue.//

Actually, they want house-trained, obedience-trained, well-behaved, calm PUPPIES! :-)

Yoki: //Joel says doesn't mind//

Indeed. Thank you, Joel, I'm sorry if I've been a poor guest!

Yes, Yoki--

I've heard there is a clicker-training way to do this with the dogs that don't understand the pack method of bite inhibition. Fortunately my dog understood A-OK.

I've read heard various techniques about asking the dog to hold the hand and so forth.

I'm interested in your method, since you obviously have used it on quite a few dogs.

I didn't know clicker training fully at the start, and not later when I was trying to teach my pup not to chew on everything he retrieved.

I used a ceramic mug that was the perfect size.

Everytime Wilbrodog tried to bite down on it, it shot out of his mouth. It was a hilarious 10 minutes of watching him as I kept encouraging him to try again and again and showing him how to hook a tooth through the handle.

He got the object lesson (pun intended) that that biting harder doesn't always mean a better grip ;).

It took me months before I dared let him work on retrieving cloth, and now he has a nice soft mouth and will retrieve lots of things happily and willingly.

Amazing when I think that he had no clue he was supposed to come back with things at the start.

Just a couple weeks ago, he went and retrieved a chocolate bar without bruising the wrapping (or eating it).

Quite a feat for "Jaws".

Yoki, if you would like, would you also repost your tips on my blog (credited to you)?

Wilbrod will be happy to add in links and book recommendations.

Wags to the YokiPack!

And I wish Wilbrod would stop talking about my puppy misdeeds.

I'm writing MY OWN book on my puppy day which will leave out most of the stuff embarrassing for me and include ALL of the stuff that will embarrass Wilbrod.

And I got the goods, believe you me.

boodle-skimmed to catch up for this week. weekend boodling will probably be my pattern for a few weeks as i've got to make progress on the diss.

i hope we can pull together a holiday bph. i was going to propose early in the week of december 18th (mon or tues) to avoid conflicts with other holiday parties. i see that nelson has requested the 22nd. i'll be within commuting distance from dec 16th to jan 5th, so i'm fairly flexible.

annie's comment about kerry's gaffe and someone's reply "what about gwb?" reminded me of one of my favorite bushisms:

"I have opinions of my own, strong opinions, but I don't always agree with them."

One final remembrance Day thought. I spoke earlier this week of a documentary series called For King and Empire about Canadians in WW1. Historian Norm Christie also did a series on the WW2, King and Country, and last night for the first time, I watched "in Korea", his program about Canadians in the Korean War. WE had 20,000 soldiers there, and this was the first time in my life I've seen anything about what they did there. It was illuminating and heartbreaking as all such stories are, made more so by the stories of the men who were there and were lucky enough to come home.

Good morning, friends. dr, what a lovely thought, and very beautiful lyrics. I never realized that song was so beautiful. Thanks so much for thinking of me, and the rainbows would be very nice. I truly love colors. Give me a large crayon box, and I'm in heaven.

Good morning, Slyness. And Nani, Error Flynn. *waving*

Bayou self, it sounds like you do great work. It was good to hear from you.

I do hope the weekend has been all you desired, and more. Today the g-girl and I will go to Sunday school and stay for church service. We may go to the park if the body is willing. May God bless you and your families, and allow all in His infinite wisdom to know that He loves us so much more than we can imagine through Him that died for all, Jesus Christ.

Yoki, re: your 12:04 a.m., of course I don't mind.

Saw Borat last night. I'd give it 2.5 stars (out of 4). The set-piece candid camera sketches are screamingly funny in most cases (Borat with a humor coach, Borat at a formal Southern dinner, Borat in the revival tent), but these documentary passages are linked by a silly fictional narrative (Borat in pursuit of Pamela Anderson). So it's a mish-mash of a movie.

Leaf report: nearly all the white oaks dropped leaves yesterday, with the rain ongoing sure to complete the job.

The sweet gum tree is still dropping orange, amber, yellow, and scarlet leaves.

I dropped my glasses in the leaves yesterday, walking home from a neighbor. Sigh: even flashlights last night, and mucking in the rain this AM had not yielded them.

Color: dark red, like some leaves!

I am not glasses-optional! They slipped off when I looked done to navigate the rocks on the path between our fences.

Back to my least-fave pair.

Y and W:

I have a dog-jumpie behavior modification question.

Little twelve pound poodle came to me with two casts on her front legs. She was bitten by a chow. Both legs were broken.

She is doing well, but as you can imagine became quite jumpy, the minute the casts came off (two months ago).

We tried to teach her two commands, so we can inhibit this:

OFF! (back away from the person; get off the person's legs)

Down (lie in sphinx mode)

She seems to think that each person is a new opportunity to try the "Pick me up, pleassssssssssssssssse, I love you" move. Meaning, she does not do this to us. She LEARNED that we don't like this.

She is fairly good with a neighbor, too.

But each new person, and she does this again.

The OFF command puts in her in classic FiFi the Wonder Poodle Mode....up on her legs, balancing and sometimes twirling.

She is three.

I'd been wondering whether to go see Borat; 2.5 stars to me means "wait for the video." I've been intrigued by Ali G since I first heard about him, but I've never seen him in action. I think the character thing is great, but I'm disturbed by the trend in comedy that is represented by Howard Stern (I used to listen to his show occasionally back in my car-commuter days)--that is, what I call "prank humor" where the laughs are at the expense of an unwitting victim. Weingarten's phone call columns are a mild version of it, but at their worst these pranks cause real pain to people, and it is the nature of the exercise that the perpetrator cannot fully predict what will happen. I never feel more like an old fogey than when I am expressing this opinion. But I think humor should be fun for everybody involved. I think movies should feature *actors*, not people who were told they were being interviewed for a documentary. It would be perfectly easy to do, and would be just as funny. But it would cost more. Oh, now I understand.

'Morning Cassandra, 'morning, boodle. Lot of catch-up reading to do but up to speed now.

Scotty, you did yeoman's work at the bph, hanging tough against that sea of estrogen. Didn't realize you'd be flying solo and be so outnumbered, but even if I had, I'd have had every confidence in you. Will try to be a better wingman for you next go-round.

Pretty good outing of "Saturday Night Live" last night. Alec Baldwin was the host, and during a sketch commemorating his 13th hosting, tieing his record with Steve Martin's [no protests, please; during the sketch it was realized that SM has 14 guest hoistings, not 13, and so retains his lead], there was an unannounced but surprise guest appearance: Steve Martin himself. As he and AB were having a drink the waiter was another surprise guest: Martin Short, in a non-speaking part [when Short serves them two drinks and leaves, SM looks offstage after him and shakes his head and says, "sad," referring to Short's career]. Then a minute later, Short comes back bringing another famous person who has hosted a lot of SNLs: Paul Simon. Only it isn't Paul Simon at all; in his "confusion" Short has brought in Paul McCartney (the real Paul McCartney). So you have on stage Baldwin, Martin, SHort and a bemused McCartney. The audience, of course, has gone nuts.

Then later, in a sketch where Baldwin is doing his (pretty good) Tony Bennett impression, he brings on a local Tony Bennett impersonator, a guy named Anthony Bennedetto. This turns out to be the real Tony Bennett (and that's his real name), of course, who can hardly keep from breaking up watching Baldwin imitating him. Bennett later sings a duet with musical guest Christine Aguillera (in what seems a nakedly shameless promo for Bennett's duets album).

Tina Fey and Tracy Morgan had cameos, but they sorta don't count.

But to my knowledge, that was a record-setting number of heavyweight unannounced surprise guests: 4.

I was gonna do the leaves today, but it's raining here. Spent yesterday INSIDE painting rooms in the vacation house we're building, in absolutely gloriously beautiful weather. I had suggested to a certain spouse that given the weather and weather report, it would have been smarter to do leaves yesterday, and paint inside today. But I was overruled. I reckon this is Opportunity No. 15,873 to say "I told you so" to spouse, but of course I won't. I won't even arch an eyebrow. I'm sure of course no other husband has ever been in this situation.

*big sigh*

The new crab chowder recipe turned out to be spectacular. And I stumbled upon a really great way to "spike" canned beef gravy: add a half teaspoon of horseradish, a tablespoon of A-1 steak sauces, and a teaspoon full of beef base. {But it was the horseradish that really did it--it dissolved into the background and you wouldn't know it was there, but it gave the gravy a nice zip.)

Today might be an excellent day for a gigunda pot of homemade four-hour pasghetti sauce and meatballs and sausage 'n stuff. And some artisanal bread dipped in olive oil and pesto. And maybe a nice chianti absent the fava beans.

Just a quick note to say I am so glad I attended the BPH. I tried to lurk, but it was very crowded and loud, so I had to just put myself out there. All this time, I thought I was the lone odd-ball (read: non-sciency type). It's so nice to put a few faces to names, and I'd like to say for the record -- S'nuke is a manly man. He had no problem being the sole representative for his kind.
Thanks again to all for your kindnesses.

Well, here's some good news for a Sunday morning; I read it in my local paper but I'll give you the WaPo link:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/11/AR2006111101035.html

Excerpts:

"Ground will be broken in many ways tomorrow morning with a ceremony heralding construction of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial on the Mall."

"'It's very elegant and simple and moving,' Thomas Luebke, secretary of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, said. 'It's interesting that on part of the Mall, there is a theme developing. It is less about war and more about ideas and aspirations.'"

("It's about time." --kb)

kbertocci - I share your dislike for watching people squirm. Heck, I can't even watch Simon on American Idol. Although I haven't seen Borat, the reviews suggest that most of the wounds are self-inflicted.

Mudge, At the gentle insisting of the missus, I dealt with our leaves yesterday before the rains came. Yet, as I look outside on the vast Padouk Estates, I wonder why. I know, intellectually, that certain fundamental conservation laws preclude there from actually being more leaves than before, yet I wonder.

Perhaps the trees are still surreptitiously sprouting dead leaves just to torment me. Or maybe the fallen leaves are actually reproducing on my lawn.

Herbaceous fornication of a most foul and unnatural manner may be occurring. If left unchecked. I fear the house will soon be overwhelmed by their sinister progeny.

Or, maybe I just need to switch to decaf.

When I saw the column in Post Magazine I knew I only had a slim shot at making the first Capricorn I reference. Little did I know that window was only open for an hour. We need to find those four armed Green Martians around the Lost Sea of Korus.

I want to see the pictures from Venus with the flying cloudships.

#2 and I saw Borat last weekend. I thought it was about a 3 out of 5. As Joel said, the interactions with real people were funny and squirm-inducing in equal parts. The strengths for me were that a) Cohen is an equal-opportunity satirist; it is less uncomfortable when everyone is a target, and not just one group.

The part I really loved was when he was kind to the hooker; everyone else got a rough ride but not the most vulnerable character.

I would not recommend the movie to anyone, because it is strong stuff and you never really know what another person's sensitivities are.

Wilbrod, the mental movie of Wilbrodog coping with the large ceramic mug had me giggling. Dogs are great; they can be put in undignified situations without losing their dignity.

OK, so I have prepared several very long posts on clicker training - starting with the principles and standard techniques, moving on to shaping desirable skills like bite inhibition and related behaviours, and then extinguishing undesirable behaviours (jumping) as requested by College Parkian.

I also have a small bibliography as requested by Wilbrod.

With your permission, then Joel, I will post them over the course of the morning.

Principles of Clicker Training (Operant Conditioning)

Step 1. Establishing a Secondary Reinforcer

Click the clicker once and give your dog a treat.

Use something your dog really likes at first. Small (pea-sized) pieces of yummy food (I use boiled liver and other natural foods; books often recommend cut-up hot dogs or cheese, but both are really not good for dogs in quantity and you want to use a lot of treats in your training) are best because the dog can enjoy it and be ready for the next thing quickly.

Repeat this until your dog reacts to the clicker (by startling, pricking her ears, or suddenly looking for the treat). If she does, you're ready for the next step.

Try to keep your timing for treating random (1-5 seconds between one click-and-treat time and the next).

Remember, click first, then treat.

Some very sensitive dogs dislike the sound of the clicker. You can muffle it by clicking while it is in your pocket, or wrapped in a cloth. You do not want to use a word or sign instead of a clicker, because it is too slow. You want to begin marking desirable behaviors with a click the *moment* the dog performs it.

Step 2. Three ways to train: Capturing, Luring, or Shaping Behaviors

Capturing a Behavior

Wait for your dog to do something you like. It can be anything: lifting one paw, a "sit", touching your hand with her nose, even looking at you (for a distracted dog) or standing with all four feet on the ground (for a dog that likes to jump up).

When you see it, click the clicker during the behavior and give the dog the treat.

If your dog is too distracted to notice that you're giving her a treat, go back to Step 1.

Every time your dog does the behavior again, click and treat.

Timing is important. Think of the clicker as a camera that marks the instant the dog's doing the right thing.

Don't bother saying the name of the behavior at this point. Dogs learn through association, and you want them to associate the cue (or command) with the complete, proper, and prompt action. Besides, you might distract your dog or yourself

Luring a Behavior

Hold a treat in front of your dog's nose. She'll probably try to lick it, but don't let her eat it yet. You can use it as a "nose magnet," since she'll probably follow it everywhere. You can "lure" or "guide" her into a position you want her to learn. For example, you can lure a "sit" by slowly moving the treat from her nose back towards the top of her head; keep it low, so she won't jump up.

As soon as she is in the position you want, click the clicker and give her the treat in your hand.

Shaping a Behavior

This is sort of an advanced form of "capturing". You start by clicking & treating the barest hint of the behavior you want to end up with, and then concentrate on taking small steps closer to your goal.

For example, you might click & treat every time your dog turns her head to the left. Soon she'll be doing it more and more. Then you only click & treat when she's turned it further. Then only when she turns it far and takes a step towards the left. Then a head turn and two steps, then three. Eventually you will get her to turn in a complete circle, and will only be clicking & treating for that. Then you wait for her to do two circles, and click & treat. Then only click & treat the faster ones. Eventually, you will have "shaped" a spin.

3. Add a Cue Word

When your dog is doing this trick reliably, to the point where you can predict when she's about to do it, start adding a cue.

For example, if you know she's about to sit, say "Sit". If you know she's about to lift her paw, say "Wave!" or "High Five!"

Match this cue with this behavior many times.

Dogs don't know what "commands" are. But your dog will learn that if she does this trick when she hears this cue, she'll get a reward.

Note: Say the command only once, and then wait for the behavior. If you get in the habit of repeating the cues, your dog will think the cue is "Sit-sit-sit", and he'll always wait for you to say it three times before responding.

4. Test the Cue

Try saying the cue word. If your dog does the trick, click and give her a "jackpot" -- a whole bunch of really good treats.
Whenever you really like something your dog does, identify it with one click and reward it with more or better treats (and I make a big verbal fuss over a dog when they've done something brilliant).

If she doesn't do the behavior when you say the cue word, you've been moving too fast Work on Step 2 (Getting the behavior) for a while longer.

5. Ignore Un-Cued Behaviors

When she's reliably doing her trick when you say the cue, stop clicking-and-treating her for doing it at other times. Just ignore these "spontaneous" behaviors. Continue to click-and-treat when she does it when you cue.

You might find that your dog starts doing this trick a lot right after you stop rewarding her. This is normal. It's called an "extinction burst". You probably do the same thing when an elevator button doesn't work immediately. Instead of trying something else or waiting, you just push the button several times, harder, before you give up).

Capturing is a good way to control unwanted behaviors, like barking or jumping up on you. But be ready for the "Extinction Burst." To keep unwanted behaviors under control, it's good to give the cue and reward the behavior every once in a while -- have a little barking or jumping session.

6. Become a Variable Reward Giver

Now try to get your dog to do 2 or 3 repetitions of the trick before you click and treat it.
Hint: it's still a good idea to say "Yes!" or "Good Dog!" each time, just to let the dog know she's getting it right.

This is called "putting the behavior on a variable reinforcement schedule". The dog doesn't know when she'll get the big reward, so she keeps trying.

Since you're rewarding less often, you can also get picky -- only reward the straightest sits or the highest paw-lifts. This is where behaviors get perfected. Note: Some people prefer to perfect the behavior before they add the cue.

7. Generalize It

Now teach your dog that this cue will work everywhere. Move to different locations in your house and try it. Go outside and try it. Try it with the leash on, and with it off. Try it in the car, in the park, and at the vet's.

You may need to go back a few steps, maybe even back to Step 2, if the distraction levels are too high.

You want to make the rewards big for each new accomplishment.

Your dog will "generalize" the behavior, and she'll learn that it's the cue word that's important, not the fact that she's in the kitchen or it's just before dinner or the leash is on.

RD, "fundamental conservation laws" do not apply to leaves. I have perhaps a hundred trees within leafing distance of the house. I am convinced, and I'm sure can back it up empirically if I wanted to make that effort (there's a parental statement!) that dead leaves continue to appear on the ground long after they fall from the trees and are raked or blown away by the wind. We live in leaf mulch. We don't rake the dog yard (about two acres) because it would deprive them of the leaves necessary to line their winter bunkers, and lessen their joy in watching us twist ankles and stumble to our knees in the hidden holes.

Perhaps we could get some of the private space companies (see Burns Flat, OK for instance) to generate income by exporting leaves to Mars. It would (a) liven up that Marsscape and (b) provide an interesting opportunity for experiments - leaf mulch on Mars.

Hmph. I think giving "Borat" 2.5 out of 4 is fair.

While some of it *is* hilarious and memorable, I couldn't help but notice some flaws. Also, I could see where the editors tried to cover up some deleted scenes, and messed up the continuity. Quibbles, perhaps, but they buggged me.

The Chasing Pam Anderson plot device to get Borat and Azamat from the east coast to the west was a good idea IMO, just not so well executed.

I don't really know if those set pieces were partially or completely staged with actors, but they worked. For excellent examples of completely staged uncomfortable set pieces, see "The Office" in BBC or NBC iterations. They both work.

bc

I'm writing something on topic for a change. From the first time I saw pictures of earth from space I've been in love with the look of it. We truly are blessed with an abundance of different, but definitely living landscapes. I haven't traveled that extensively, but with the exception of my return from Alaska, I have always been gladdened to see the familiar New England forests and waters when I fly back home. Obviously, we are all partial to where we live or to our favorite location so I don't expect everyone to share my love of this place. I have never liked the winter here as everything is gray and brown and barren, but this year, being so close to the ocean, I can at least watch the changing sea colors and moods. Also, having recently read "Mayflower, " I find I am looking around at sights mentioned in the book and seeing the ghosts of the pilgrims and indians walking along.

The volume of leaves here has been far less than at the previous house. There are fewer but larger trees, a few very big spruces and so far, mowing the lawn has picked up all but the ones (leaves not spruces) snagged in the plants and flower beds.

Back boodling and noticed the link to dogs in bee costume site from DbG. Thanks. I'll have to clear with my wife the posting of our dog. I'm sure she'll be in favor of it since she took the pictures in the first place.

Proving once again there is nothing too obscure for the interwebs.

GOOD MORNING, TEAM -- I am here in my parents' house, alone. The silence is not unwelcome, but it is unusual. It is not the silence of Mars: there is life. There are dogs snoring, a tea kettle whistling, and rain pounding the roof.

But normally, there are brothers. Shouting at the television set, when a putt doesn't sink or a ref makes a bad call. There are parents, pulling things out of the oven and reading aloud from the Washington Post, respectively. There are sisters-in-law, wondering anew what the he77 they have gotten themselves into. There are children.

I came down yesterday afternoon to do the scoop-and-grab of Cousin Jake the Lab. The canine cousins had a joyful reunion. Luke, the city cousin, rediscovered the joy of oak leaves, which my brother Michael had dutifully raked into a neat pile. Luke and Jake ran through them and wrestled for about an hour. I love the ceremonial Samurai Warrior Bow that dogs do, to indicate that the coming combat is all in good fun. I would say Luke's and Jake's was a draw. Perhaps that was by design. Then they collapsed in the sunshine, panting, happier than any of us will ever be.

But then it started raining, hard, and I thought, "What is my rush, to get back to the city? Maybe I should just raid this amazingly well stocked larder, settle in with a good book, and wait for morning. There's no shortage of beds."

Still raining. I knew we had a grandfather clock in this house. I used to hide in it, when I was small. But I don't think I ever actually heard its ticking, before.

Despite the large sums of money I ship off every month to Bank of America for my Capitol Hill apartment, this is still the place I call home.

Trying to honor the thread topic:

Pluto is great name for a dog.
Sirus is the dog star.

Once, I saw a sun dog and my life has never been the same.
--
Thank you for the clicker training ideas. But, it now occurs to me: what is the clicker? Petsmart, natch.

But the one in my mind's eye is the little metal froggie clicker thingie of long ago and far away.

Now, will somebody relate frogs to space ephemera?

Excellent post!

I use targeting instead of luring-- targeting is luring with the hands, not food. Pointing, for one thing.

It is AWESOME for helping the dog do the behavior you want.

I noticed my dog was paying attention to my hands and was able to follow classifiers in ASL-- which basically are uh, targeting signs after a month. I mean, the sign LOOK targets the eyes to stuff. Also, he would follow my hands when I mimed pulling on an imaginary leash, so I never had to teach him much.

Since then I've taught him his body parts and how to target them to my hands-- his hip targeting is still very weak.

With targeting, I was able to tell my dog to go and sit on a stair landing perfectly the first try, or detail where to put his paws for a complex fetch off furniture he's not normally allowed on.

I tried luring in a training class and I found it actually was awful compared to targeting. Luring does work in an emergency, but it doesn't teach the dog the behavior very quickly.

My dog just focused on the food, not his actions in following the food. It's like following a car to your destination-- you get there but you're so focused on the car in front of you that you really don't register what's going on.

Agreed, Wilbrod. I don't think I've ever lured. I like shaping best, and targeting next. Using a target stick, rather than a hand, is very useful in clicker training drafting, where the dog must learn to maneuver the cart (left right back, etc.)