Sabbatical

Things have been quiet around here lately, I know. We're leaving for Texas this morning, and for the last couple of weeks we've been busy preparing for the trip. Too busy to blog, I guess. And we'll be moving quite a bit for the next couple of weeks, so posts will remain spotty. But we will be back! So keep checking, or better yet, subscribe to the feed so you know when things are happening here.

There's much I want to cover, like a whole multi-subject dog post covering things like the puppy's progress, Rally's National Turtle, Randir's "real age", the best shot at the AR movement yet, and more...

So stay tuned.


UPCOMING EVENTS:

Oct 20-21 AAWC Hutto, TX
Oct 27-28 ASFA Greyhound Specialty Boswell, OK
Nov 2-4 Cirneco Specialty Cat Springs, TX

Lucky Dog!

Daisy experiences what other dogs worldwide only dream about.

We're Baaack.

Since the middle of last week, we were lost in the "wilderness" of the Finger Lakes Region of New York.. specifically, at the Wine Country Cluster of dog shows and performance events at Sampson State Park on the shores of Seneca Lake. A beautiful venue, but one lacking in the necessary essentials of blogging.... like an internet signal. Cell service was also spotty at best.

We're back in Jackson, MI getting ready to head on down to Indiana for the weekend. So here's a schedule of upcoming events:

October 6-7 LGRA/NOTRA OB National Racemeets Carthage, IN
October 13-14 MGA ASFA trials Gibraltar, MI
October 20-21 AAWC ASFA & AKC trials Hutto, TX
October 26-28 ASFA National Greyhound Specialty B0swell, OK
November 2-4 Cirneco del Etna National Specialty Cat Springs, TX
November 10-11 ASFA Region 7 Invitational Cartersville, GA
November 17-18 BGCC ASFA trial Columbia, KY
November 23-25 MAWA ASFA trials Les's new place, somewhere in Georgia.

I'll get the name of that town in there when I find out what it is.

EDIT: Calhoun, GA... that's where we'll be Nov 23-25!

Also, watch for an upcoming photo contest, and maybe some pictures of boy and girl dogs being bad.

Another Good Blog

I noticed Christie Keith's "Dogged" blog on Patrick Burns' blog list this morning. I've known who Christie is for many, many years from postings on the Scottish Deerhound discussion list, but I've not looked at any of her writings prior to this.

I figured, if Patrick likes it... it must be good! And the post I read today was damned good. All about a more than slightly disengenuous marketing campaign by a well known pharmaceutical company. Good enough to add "Dogged" to the blogroll on the right. There many more good dog-related, (and some entertaining non-dog-related, as well), posts. Check it out.

PSA

Mine was negative, thanks, but in this case the PSA refers to "Public Service Announcement". I get a daily "Wiki-How To" on my Yahoo home page... some are very whimsical, like "How to Be a Drum Major", to plain old dumb, like "How to Clean a Suitcase" (valuable, I suppose, if one has been smuggling cocaine into the country), and some valuable How To's, like "How to Prevent a Hangover".

Today's Wiki-How To falls into the latter category, especially for dog owners, (who probably make up the bulk of readers of this blog). It's "How to Avoid Foods Dangerous to your Dog".

Most readers I know, are familiar already with most of warnings here, but it's worth reading again. I always used to give Randir a little beer on my finger, (never let him lap directly from the pint, though), and he's eleven years old and going strong so, some things in moderation are OK, I guess. If you know folks less "in the know" than you are, pass this on.

Blatant Commercial Message.

A week or so ago, Margaret sent out about 500 email messages to people we have addressess for. Kinda like spam, only with a more valuable message. Her idea is to have periodic "specials" for our customers. The first of these specials is for a gen-U-wine art gallery style poster... 16x20, and custom designed by Margaret herself! These can be done from any picture we've taken in our "digital era"- from August 2003 to now.

Ideally, they will look a lot like this one of our staghound, Buffy.

Regular price for a 16 x 20 print is $40 + $6 for shipping. If you order by October 10, the price is only $25 for each, and shipping is only a flat rate of $6, no matter how many posters you order. So far, we've sent out about a dozen, and the feedback has been beyond positive.

About 70 messages bounced. If you didn't get one, or if you know someone who might be interested in this special product, pass this post on by clicking on the envelope icon at the bottom. To order, simply send your request to margaret@shotonsite.us. It's as simple as that to get the ball rolling.

See other samples at our event website.

We now return you to our regularly scheduled entertaining blog posting.....

Super Wide

Finally got the lens I've coveted for over a year. I would have had it long ago if Nikon would have anticipated the hit they had on their hands. The lens covers the range of super wide angle, 18mm, to telephoto, 200mm, thus replacing a couple of lenses in the bag. In addition to the astounding range, it also has vibration reduction... so I can handhold shots at slow shutter speeds I would have formerly had to use a tripod for.

This above shot is Sandia, on the loose, and having fun. Shot at the 18mm setting, this image has been cropped about 40%, and the puppy was only about 3 feet from the front of the lens, which accounts for the little bit of distortion.

And how good is the VR? This shot was taken in the Express, at 1/2.5 seconds... hand held. Other than cropping so you can see the detail, this picture hasn't been sharpened with Picasa editor. It is as it was. Click the image to enlarge and look at the detail around the eyes. Pretty cool. It helps when you can catch the subject in an abnormally pensive... and still... moment.

And the best difference between the 18-200 and the giant 80-200 f2.8 I've been using for the last 4 years is that it weighs almost nothing.. probably almost 2 pounds less I have to carry around all weekend. I love it!

And that's how you foist more puppy pictures on the unsuspecting public without boring them to death.