-
Recent Battles
Queen Victoria
-
Juicing The Sheep
09 April 2009 11:11 AM | No CommentsThe Journal of Queen Victoria Thursday, October 21, 1868 “Juicing the Sheep“ At a quarter to twelve I drove off with Louise and Leopold in the waggonette up to near the “Bush” (the residence of William Brown, the farmer) to see them “juice the sheep.”...
Read More -
Queen Victoria’s Border Collies
26 January 2009 4:40 AM | 18 CommentsFor well over a century the “Collie” name has been co-opted by show breeders who have created a monster whose face looks like a door stop with beady eyes set in triangular slits. These same people have co-opted the notion that Queen Victoria was deeply...
Read More -
Show Me the Collie
22 January 2009 3:38 AM | 1 CommentHaving established that Queen Victoria’s direct influence on the proliferation of the show Collie is insubstantial at best, let’s explore what impact the Monarchy may have, in fact, had on the culture of dogs during her reign. Five. If the show Collie owes more to...
Read More -
The Queen and the Collie
20 January 2009 2:57 AM | 2 CommentsThe old wisdom on the rise of the show Collie is that Queen Victoria met them on a trip to Scotland in the 1860s, became infatuated, acquired them, sponsored them in shows, bred them, and her abundant trend-setting prowess lead to their bountiful rise to...
Read More -
The Victorian Collie Myth
19 January 2009 8:03 PM | 5 CommentsThe prevailing creation myth among show Collie enthusiasts is that Queen Victoria’s infatuation with the breed set the ball in motion, elevating the humble farm dog to aristocratic splendor. Queen Victoria saw her first Collies in the 1860′s, and she enthusiastically began to sponsor them,...
Read More
-
Juicing The Sheep
Archive for March, 2008
-
Out of 100
Posted on March 24, 2008 | 2 Comments70% of Americans don’t know that Plastic is made from Oil. Stupid hippies; No Wars, No Oil. 76% of American adults believe that Jesus rose from the dead. And then disappeared for 2,000 years? What’s the point of rising from the dead if you just... -
On "Hallelujah"
Posted on March 24, 2008 | 2 CommentsFor the first post in the “Texutal Analysis 101″ series, I’d like to start with a song that is particularly vulnerable to shallow and hasty interpretations. The ironic and jaded lament for a lost and broken love, Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah. The casual reader might want... -
Pat is Wrong, Wright is Evil
Posted on March 21, 2008 | 6 CommentsPatrick Burns over on Terrierman has been on a several month long Obamathon, writing more often and more passionately about politics than about dogs. His response to the racist Reverend Wright scandal is to give us a self-admitted “lazy” lecture on what Jeremiads are, noting... -
Pacifist Hypocrite Shopping List
Posted on March 19, 2008 | 3 CommentsI was out running some errands today and there were a handful of protesters at a busy intersection waving home-made signs like “honk for peace” and “no war for oil.” I laugh at the naieve banality of such idealists. First, that waving signs makes any... -
Poison Prevention
Posted on March 17, 2008 | 3 CommentsThe third week in March (funny timing, this, considering all the people getting bombed today for St. Patty’s) is Poison Prevention Week. This is for humans, and animals alike. Since my dogs always find a way to be topical (today is Dublin’s adoption day after... -
Ultimate Dog Lover
Posted on March 16, 2008 | No CommentsGina at Pet Connection has been hard at work on her next book, The Ultimate Dog Lover, along with two other books on lesser animals. The publishers have graciously opened the pages of the book to submissions of prose and photos from the masses. Seeing... -
Off The Mark
Posted on March 10, 2008 | No CommentsI was in court all last week fighting the good fight and I’ll be there again this week. Think Erin Brockovich, only I’m brunette, a man, and my breasts are slightly smaller. And the crime at hand is securities fraud instead of hexavalent chromium poisoning.... -
Textual Analysis 101
Posted on March 1, 2008 | No CommentsWhen was the last time you carefully listened to the lyrics of your favorite song and asked what was really happening? Too often we are swept away by the melody and the words are just embellishments as this NSFW R-rated, but funny, ad demonstrates: .....
Queen Victoria's Border Collies